Discusses the necessity of reforming the film studies system of the former Soviet Union and describes generalities and particulars of a reformed film school. (SR)

Traces the lethal seductress through Hollywood's "noir" history from "Double Indemnity" (1944) to "The Last Seduction" (1996). Examines how this figure largely abjures traditional romance and passive domesticity, choosing instead to apply her sexuality to homicidal plots toward greed. Argues that her narrative…

Describes a new nonlinear model that has crept into Hollywood's cinematic repertoire in which multiple story threads comprise the story. Examines how this thread structure differs from ensemble stories. Examines differences between traditionally linear films and films with thread structure regarding character roles and viewer orientation, shifts…

States several postmodernist currents of thought have rejected the modernist faith in a stable, autonomous self (and the natural culture it inhabits) as a pernicious fiction. Argues for a dialectical view of self and culture, exploring the weaknesses of both modernist and postmodernist models through an analysis of "Dances with Wolves,"…

As students, educators, outreach and community service experts enter their distinct professional worlds, each will be compelled to make a wide variety of decisions. The shaping of peoples' ethical beliefs occurs through personal experiences as well as family, culture, religion and peer pressure. In order for these students, educators, outreach and…

This article reviews what we know about integrating film into our foreign language classes and addresses the aspects of film and the media literacy issues that impact deeper understanding of the target language and culture. In addition, I illustrate the interplay of these factors in planning instruction that integrates film in the third and fourth…

The film documentary titled "Hip Hop: beyond beats and rhymes" captures ongoing conversations among scholars, cultural critics, and hip hop insiders about the state of African Americans by interrogating distinct expressive forms associated with hip hop culture. Durham draws from two scenes to describe her memories as the researched…

A Day in the Life is an interdisciplinary study of thriving 2-year-old girls and their families in diverse communities around the globe. We understand development to be active participation in cultural systems of practice, and examine children's interactions with their caregivers, other companions, and the environment. We focus upon children…

Media consolidation and convergence have increasingly changed the way individuals as both consumers and citizens access, process, and communicate information at the local, national, and global levels. Media industries and institutions influence public perception and occupy our time at work and at home more and more. Media literacy has become…

Spike Lee's documentary, "When the Levees Broke," provides an informative, enduring, and alternative presentation surrounding the human and man-made debacle associated with Hurricane Katrina. Levees centers the voices of survivors and others involved in the weeks during and after the hurricane, historicizes residents' understandings and…

The novel "Loving Pedro Infante" by Chicana writer Denise Chavez provides an insightful transcultural feminist critique of Golden Age Mexican cinema culture through a careful examination of gender roles. In the novel, the reception of Pedro Infante's films by spectators bridges generations and national spaces and leads to the formation…

In many of the U.S. History courses the author has taught, she has encountered students who refer to the second-wave feminists of the 1960s and 1970s as "bra-burners." Unsurprisingly, these students know very little about the origin of this epithet, and frequently, they know even less about the women's movement generally. Second-wave feminism, and…

Akira Kurosawa, the most popular Asian film maker with audiences in the United States, has found in William Shakespeare's plays themes and plots that resonate within Japanese culture. While the translations of "Macbeth" into "Throne of Blood" and "King Lear" into "Ran" are quite direct and literal with only…

The ten selections in this journal were among papers presented at two scholarly meetings on research on film conducted at the Center for Twentieth Century Studies. The papers deal with the following topics: narrative patterns in "Only Angels Have Wings"; "King Kong" and the ideology of spectacle; introducing narratology to film students via…

After presenting a chronological account of United States military documentary films from World War I through the Vietnam War, this paper reports on a study that compared the effectiveness of films prepared during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The first section, the chronological account, touches on such subjects as the…