Tag Archives: movies

History is turned on its head

Posted on February 8, 2016 by jyourist

Today is the 100th anniversary of the opening of Birth of A Nation, at Clunes Auditorium in Los Angeles. The first feature length film ever produced (three hours and ten minutes), this film was the technical and acting tour de … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil War, film, history, movies, Reconstruction | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“I do not fear death”

Posted on April 5, 2013 by jyourist

The following is reprinted from Roger Ebert’s book, Life Itself: a Memoir, as was reprinted on the Salon website.  As the eulogists and commentators wax eloquent about the life and work of Roger Ebert who died yesterday, his own words, inspired and … Continue reading →

Posted in aging, death | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Modern Times

Posted on March 2, 2012 by jyourist

While the students have been working on their research papers and getting their presentation boards prepared at home, in class they have been working on their roles in the Pullman debates to take place on Monday. We have talked about … Continue reading →

Posted in labor, movies | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

De Duva

Posted on February 27, 2012 by jyourist

I saw this spoof of Ingmar Bergman in 1969(?) as the short (remember those?) before the film Easy Rider. A student of mine came into short films last Friday wanting to see this because his father had told him all … Continue reading →

Posted in movies, short films, videos | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“King of Comedy”

Posted on January 17, 2012 by jyourist

I’m a silent film buff. I love the early, sometimes raw but ever imaginative and experimental early films. Today is Mack Sennett’s birthday (1880-1960), known as the “King of Comedy” whose more than 1000 films pushed the limits of filmic … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Transporting and transforming

Posted on December 23, 2011 by jyourist

We just went to see Scorcese’s Hugo, based on Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret, an amazing graphic novel in its own right. This movie was a beautifully emotional and visually awesome paean to the magic of film, the poignancy … Continue reading →

Posted in movies, transformation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Run! Run! Run for your lives!

Posted on December 6, 2011 by jyourist

In one of our conversations this week about Fahrenheit, the students were amazed at the shallowness of the women in Part II talking about their two-dimensional, passionless, superficial relationships with their children and many husbands. I mentioned that the scene … Continue reading →

Posted in movies, politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The hardest to fathom

Posted on November 29, 2011 by jyourist

It was really windy today. In fact, on the way to work along Lakeshore Drive I shouldn’t have been so surprised to see how high the waves were, crashing against the shore. At several points the smashing of the waves … Continue reading →

Posted in movies, transformation | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Symbolic stage directions for language

Posted on February 3, 2011 by jyourist

Punctuation marks are the symbolic stage directions for language. These “stage directions” tell us to pause or use a specific inflection, to soften or emphasize, to slow down or to speed up. They help us to make sense of and … Continue reading →

Posted in collections, grammar, humor, movies, performance, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments