American Fiction
How does this 2023 film satirize the market forces in the publishing world? How does the market encourage those indulge and pander to liberal white guilt and traffic in stereotypes concerning black Americans? What, if any significant difference is there between the motivations and justifications Thelonius ‘Monk’ Ellision and fellow author, Sintara Golden, both upper […]
Signs
How does this 2002 film, about an unfolding alien invasion of Earth, use the premise to explore faith, the problem of evil and the differences between fundamental world views with regard to meaningful coincidences? How does the film’s pivotal conversation between Merrill and his brother Graham, a former Reverend who had lost his faith, illustrate […]
To Live
What does this 1994 epic tell us about the tumultuous period in Chinese history (the civil war of the late 1940s and the first decades of Maoist rule) that is its setting? How does the character arc of its protagonist, Fugui, convey his maturation, his growth as a husband and father, and the effect of […]
Dr. Strangelove
What does this 1964 black comedy about a nuclear doomsday scenario tell us about the strategic thought surrounding potential nuclear war between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. during the early years of the 1960s? How does the film play with the concept of a ‘doomsday machine’ as described in the strategic literature of the day? […]
Life is Beautiful
What does this 1997 film, set in fascist Italy during WWII, tell us about the gathering threat in Northern Italy for its Jewish citizens, and how the main character, Guido and his family cope with it? Why does the film explore the Holocaust in the guise of one half of the film being a romantic […]
Meet the Robinsons
How does this 2007 animated feature play with the premise of time travel and multiple histories or parallel universes? How does the film cause us to consider the plausibility of its main character, Lewis, being able to interact with his adult self after having time travelled into the future? How does the film illustrate the […]
Nineteen Eighty-Four
What does this 1984 adaptation of the 1949 George Orwell novel tell us about the totalitarian tendency in human history? How does it adumbrate upon the surveillance state as exemplified in Stalinist Russia? What role does emerging technology of the day play in Orwell’s vision? How does the film do as a portrait of the […]
I Am Legend
How does this 2007 film, based on the 1954 Richard Matheson novel, depart from that book? How effective is the film in focusing on the isolation and loneliness of its protagonist, Neville? How does the dog, ‘Sam’ serve to illustrate that loneliness? What other devices are used to this end? How does the film engage […]
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
How does this 2000 film engage with and differ from Homer’s epic poem, the Odyssey, on which it is loosely based? How do various characters in the film, which is set in the deep South during the depression, reflect famous characters in that story? How does the film portray the role of popular music in […]
Old
What does this 2021 film premised on the notion of accelerated aging, attempt to tell us about the emotional and psychological impact such events would have on people suffering through it? How does the film portray the rapid onset of maturation in the children involved? How do the characters of the two parents, Prisca and […]