Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Watching each other

Why doesn't he mention Truman Show?

While Ben Elton may have captured the effect of finding entertainment in the actions of others - skewering it in his inimitable style - surfers of the Web don't just mind each other's business, they have a shared interest in cinema. With a virus keeping viewers at bay, opinions and insights about what we're watching is still of interest.

You can download movies through Usenet and they're a natural enough topic of conversation in newsgroups. Take your chat to message boards, ponder the effect of social media on cinema audiences.

Cinema Jam tells us through their online magazine The Spread their Top 10 Movies About the Internet

II

This may be a little abstract but let's run another comparison of media; this time looking at truth conditions. One should check the definition of course but a search tells us of a style of documentary film making called cinéma vérité and the journal Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy ponders Can Cinema Be Thought?

Palgrave Studies in Pragmatics, Language and Cognition published in 2005 Linguistic Meaning, Truth Conditions and Relevance. Yours for only 109,99 € or 93,08 € for the eBook. 'The main argument of this book is that the notion of truth plays no role in speaker-hearers' interpretation of linguistic utterances and that it is not needed for theoretical accounts of linguistic meaning either.'

Ceasefire magazine features Alain Badiou (whose name comes up when this subject is mentioned): Truth, Subjectivity and Fidelity

Given its academic bent it's no wonder that a look at newspapers is scholarly.  Given the successful - though irrational - gambit by a liar and cheat to question the validity of news reports and get others to do the same, truth conditions is a natural aspect to examine. Try finding anyone who subscribes to the fake news mantra reading Punch and the Tribune, never mind

Pragmatics of Truth and Modality in Newspaper
Editorials: An Example of the Punch and the
Tribune

 If you do read such material, you don't need convincing that journalism has its place and, while respecting critics who cast doubts on the accuracy of reports, politicians doing the same is a different matter; especially when the investigation is about their dealings.

Radio does get a mention in this paper (which actually looks at truth conditions). Television in this paper. Theatre in The Conversation.

You could just look it up on the Internet.

It's a bit hard and abstruse to make good blockbuster material, however necessary or worthy.


 

Friday, July 16, 2021

Return your speaker

Dead End Drive-In is postmodern and self-reflexive but probably not marketed that way. There's breaking of the fourth wall in Blazing Saddles and a fourth wall that's already broken in Deadpool

The Picture Show Man is about a man, his son, and a piano player traveling round Australia showing the first silent movies.

 Movie 43 takes aim at the producer,  8 1/2 at the director. The Aviator is a biopic of Howard Hughes, the famous director. Sunset Blvd. (1950) 'A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.'
While no doubt relishing the chance to test their chops, actors playing Charlie Chaplin and Peter Sellers should theoretically apply the same research and attention to detail as they would playing any other role. In addition to looking good on the CV, I can see some dimension where say Sellers plays Geoffrey Rush. The page that tells you of the seven actors who've played Orson Welles doesn't exist.
Drive to see one of a number of films about stuntmen or stay in to watch one on film making.

If they have shown signs of an uneasy relationship, film and television are fine; with movies about television and a host reminiscing about drive-ins on television and showing the screen classics.

Films about journalism show us what goes on in the newspaper world, as much as the story being covered. Large sections of the Press are concerned with Hollywood and the silver screen.

Books about cinema ''BookAuthority identifies and rates the best books in the world, based on recommendations by thought leaders and experts."
LIFESTYLE.INQ relates films with a love for books.

Films about magazines (or the magazine industry) and naturally the reverse.
Journals discuss film but the nearest I could find in returning the favour were films about academia - which can get general. 

Cinema is discussed on the radio and we can see behind the scenes in films set to radio. Film theatre and play to the camera.

II

Cinema is ephemeral in a sense as many places showing film did not appear in the lists I share. How do I know? Because we went to the Mukinbudin Drive-In every Saturday when the pictures were suitable for children. If there's a drive-in at Muka there must have been one at Nungarin?

The mention of halls and theatres does remind you how temporary the arrangement for so many film screenings. Cinemas become historic buildings or serve as markers for tourists.

 


Friday, July 02, 2021

Jaffas down the apple isle

 This former theatre in Hobart has a two-bedroom apartment -  realestate.com.au