The problem with Cargo 200, in a sentence: it wants to maintain the shocking locus of the film as both a thematically coherent linchpin of events, characters, narrative strands, etc. and as a decidedly “meaningless,” shocking violence that cannot be articulated, grasped, or accounted for “finally” by the film in which it appears. Accordingly, the [...]
Eli Thorkelson, of decasia fame, makes some compelling observations about “the gender of the academic name“: Anyway, my friend said she’d noticed that, when academics talk about other academics, they are likely to use the first and last name when referring to a woman academic, while men academics often get mentioned by last name only. [...]
After having established the “determinate functioning” and systematic appearance of the Cecafumo cityscape shot in relation to the narrative of Mamma Roma – “The shot is inserted each time Mamma Roma or Ettore begins or concludes a line of action meant to improve his or her social position” (116) – Rhodes now argues the opposite, [...]
Though interesting enough on their own, these two works by the Berlin-based Danish artist Nina Beier form something entirely new when taken together. In the first (and the order is important), a “horizontal skyscraper” is displayed in (possibly) unfinished form. We say “possibly” because, according to its placard, this “sculpture in process is exhibited or [...]
While doing research on Tarkovsky’s film Stalker I came across this titillating Chicago Review article by Stan Brakhage (as told to Jennifer Dorn) that recounts their amusing encounter at the 1983 Telluride Film Festival. Brakhage Meets Tarkovsky
Roger Rees (ed.), Ted Hughes and the Classics. Classical Presences. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Pp. xii, 348. ISBN 978-0-19-922971-0. $135.00. From Simon Goldhill’s review in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review: There are at least three types of reception study in classics. The first takes a work of the ancient world — the Aeneid, [...]
The Inhumanities and Speculative Heresy are hosting a cross-blog event on the topic of critical animal studies from the perspective of speculative realism. The first post up – on Levinas, the Other, and animals – has set the stage for what promises to be a lively, rich discussion, centered around the following question: While speculative [...]
The Enemy of All: Piracy and the Law of Nations by Daniel Heller-Roazen 295 pp. | 6 x 9 Available November 2009 FORTHCOMING from Zone Books: The pirate is the original enemy of humankind. Before humanitarian organizations, human rights, and the establishment of international law in the early modern period, the Roman statesmen already made [...]
Via Mariborcan, see Open Reflections‘ round-up of (and commentary on) the major text, philosophy, and theory sharing sites, which are: Fark Yaralari = Scars of Differance Multitude of Blogs Museum of Accidents Discourse Notebook AAAARD.ORG However, as counterpoint to Janneke Adema’s echoing of John Perry Barlow‘s well-known declaration that “information wants to be free“, it [...]
Amid growing international concern over the India-Israel arms trade, the Israeli firm Rafael unveiled the below marketing video — described by Stephen Trimble of The Dew Line as a “catastrophic collision of Bollywood and the arms industry” - at the Aero India 2009 defense convention in Bangalore. In the months since its posting, the video has become the [...]
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