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Volume 14, Issue 3, 2023
- Editorial
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- Features
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“Wake Up!” with Narrative Film Music: Optimizing Narrative Power Through Spike Lee’s Compilation Soundtracks of Popular Music
More LessFilmmaker and director Spike Lee famously features popular music in his films, often incorporating compilation soundtracks that function as sonic narrative devices, sometimes alongside original scores. Through analysis of three of Lee’s films based on true stories—Malcolm X (1992), Crooklyn (1994), and BlacKkKlansman (2018)—and their soundtracks, it is evident that Lee’s use of popular music in his historical films not only situates the works in their respective time periods, but also emphasizes the relevance of each film narrative in American history, both past and present.
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Daydreaming: An Exposé on VR Technology as a Form of Digital Escapism and Identity Design
More LessThe presentation of identity in Paprika (2006) by Satoshi Kon is complex because of its encounter with virtual reality (VR) and the unprotected access to visit another’s dream. The aim of this article is to demonstrate how this film uses dreams as a media platform that connects people together with powerful VR technology, while also looking at the dangers of disconnecting them from their rigid reality. VR acts as a form of escapism and as a catalyst to the creation and subsequent loss of identity, leading to the exploration of identity as lacking a permanent location in the digital world.
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See No Evil: Audio Identification with the Monstrous in Under the Skin
More LessExploring the role of audio in connecting audience and narrative, this article discusses Johnathan Glazer’s Under the Skin (2013) starring Scarlett Johansson, outlining the multifaceted power of audio in creating audience identification. Through the film’s consistent rejection of visual pleasure on both a thematic and cinematic level, audio empowers the audience to identify The Woman character without providing definitive labels. This comments on the relationship between Clover’s Final Girl and the monstrous killer, deconstructing the visual binary which separates the two, allowing audio to redefine a scene through non-normativity.
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- Featurette
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Interview with Dr. Michele Meek on Her Recent Book Consent Culture and Teen Films: Adolescent Sexuality in US Movies
By Miriam HeathIn this interview with Dr. Michele Meek on her latest book, Consent Culture and Teen Films: Adolescent Sexuality in US Movies, the author and subject start by exploring a common theme in Dr. Meek’s work: consent. Dr. Meek explains her inspiration for the book and the driving forces behind the subject matter. They discuss the intricacies of consent in media, specifically youth-centric media, and how filmmakers can offer youth more agency in regard to their depiction in film. Finally, they discuss Dr. Meek’s latest short film, Bay Creek Tennis Camp, and how the process for creating this film incorporates many of the recommendations she offers to other filmmakers.
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- Book Reviews
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Consent Culture and Teen Films: Adolescent Sexuality in US Movies, Michele Meek (2023)
By Miriam HeathReview of: Consent Culture and Teen Films: Adolescent Sexuality in US Movies, Michele Meek (2023)
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 244pp., ISBN: 9780253065742 (pbk), $30.00, ISBN: 9780253065735 (hbk), $75.00, ISBN: 9780253065766 (ebk), $29.99
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Hollywood’s Embassies: How Movie Theaters Projected American Power Around the World, Ross Melnick (2022)
More LessReview of: Hollywood’s Embassies: How Movie Theaters Projected American Power Around the World, Ross Melnick (2022)
New York: Columbia University Press, 528pp., ISBN: 9780231201513 (pbk), $35.00, ISBN: 9780231201506 (hbk), $145.00
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Picnic at Hanging Rock (BFI Film Classics), Anna Backman Rogers (2022)
By Kayla SloanReview of: Picnic at Hanging Rock (BFI Film Classics), Anna Backman Rogers (2022)
London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 103pp., ISBN: 9781839023354 (pbk), $15.95, ISBN: 9781839023378 (epdf), $14.35, ISBN: 9781839023361 (epub), $14.35
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The Godfather (BFI Film Classics), 2nd ed., Jon Lewis (2022)
By Dason FullerReview of: The Godfather (BFI Film Classics), 2nd ed., Jon Lewis (2022)
New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 104pp., ISBN: 9781839024580 (pbk), $15.95
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David Cronenberg: Interviews, David Schwartz, ed. (2021)
More LessReview of: David Cronenberg: Interviews, David Schwartz, ed. (2021)
Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 239pp., ISBN: 9781496832252 (pbk), $25.00, ISBN: 9781496832245 (hbk), $99.99
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- Film Reviews
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Blind Faith in The Wicker Man
By Autumn BleesThe Wicker Man (1973)
UK
Director Robin Hardy
Runtime 88 minutes
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- DVD/Blu-ray Review
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Love & Basketball in 4 Frames
Authors: Joe Cockrell, Chloe Crawford and Holland ElanaLove & Basketball (2000)
USA
Director Gina Prince-Bythewood
Runtime 125 minutes
Blu-ray
USA, 2021
Produced and Distributed by The Criterion Collection (region A/1)
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