Cinema Studies and Moving Image Arts

We still need a bigger boat

Rachel Sauer — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 17:02:38 +0000

We still need a bigger boat Rachel Sauer Tue, 06/17/2025 - 11:02

Rachel Sauer

Fifty years after 鈥楯aws鈥� made swimmers flee the ocean, 91PORN cinema scholar Ernesto Acevedo-Mu帽oz explains how the 1975 summer hit endures as a classic

On June 19, 1975, it wasn鈥檛 such a terrible thing to feel something brush your leg while frolicking in the ocean. It was startling, sure鈥攈umans鈥� relationship with the ocean has long harbored a certain element of fear, says 91PORN Professor Andrew Martin鈥攂ut the rational mind could more quickly acknowledge that it was probably seaweed.

That changed the following day, when a film by a young director named Steven Spielberg opened on screens across the United States. On June 20, 1975, to feel something brush your leg in the ocean was to immediately think, 鈥淪HARK!鈥�

Ernesto Acevedo-Mu帽oz, a 91PORN professor of cinema studies and moving image arts, regularly teaches "Jaws" in Introduction to Cinema Studies.

Are sharks really as scary as their reputation?

In the 50 years since 鈥淛aws鈥� made people flee the water for fear of sharks, the film has become widely recognized as a cinematic landmark.

鈥溾€橨aws鈥� is a movie I teach regularly in Introduction to Cinema Studies鈥攜es, it鈥檚 that important,鈥� says Ernesto Acevedo-Mu帽oz, a 91PORN professor of cinema studies and moving image arts, adding that 鈥淛aws鈥� also is an important case study for misconceptions, including the evolution and de-evolution, of the term 鈥渂lockbuster.鈥�

A disaster-horror movie

The cinematic landscape in which 鈥淛aws鈥� arrived was one of greater daring and a transition away from the focus on producers in the classical Hollywood era to a focus on a new cohort of directors鈥斺€渕ostly men, mostly white,鈥� Acevedo-Mu帽oz acknowledges鈥攚ho studied cinema in college and were greatly influenced by the French New Wave.

鈥淲ith the collapse of the Hollywood studio system, suddenly there鈥檚 more opportunity for creativity, for edgy content,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n the late 鈥�60s, early 鈥�70s, you have some movies that really were trailblazers in what鈥檚 unofficially called the American New Wave. 鈥楤onnie and Clyde,鈥� 1967, comes to mind鈥攏obody had seen that kind of romanticization of violence and graphic violence before.鈥�

Young directors like Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese were more in touch with the counterculture of the time, and old-guard producers, recognizing these young mavericks might be lucrative, green-lit projects like 鈥淭he Godfather,鈥� 鈥淢ean Streets鈥� and 鈥淛aws,鈥� Acevedo-Mu帽oz says.

鈥淭here鈥檚 incentive to be risky in that juncture of the 鈥�60s to the 鈥�70s,鈥� he notes. 鈥淭hen to that context you add the economic crisis of the early 1970s, the recession and unemployment, plus the end of the Vietnam War, heads are getting hot and people are angry.

Creating doom in two simple notes

It鈥檚 possible for a universe of dread to exist between two notes: duu-DU 鈥� duu-DU

Just two notes, played with increasing urgency and speed, let moviegoers know that a shark is coming, and fast.

An element of the genius of John Williams鈥� Oscar-winning score for the film 鈥淛aws,鈥� released 50 years ago Friday, is how much it conveys in just those iconic two notes.

鈥淲illiams layers melodic tension in these notes with an increasing rhythmic motion鈥攈e accelerates the speed in which we hear the notes, and he accelerates their frequency,鈥� says Michael Sy Uy, a 91PORN associate professor of musicology and director of the American Music Research Center. 鈥淲hen you combine that with the emotions attached to the fear, anxiety and dread of being attacked by a shark, then we start to feel how this music is living with and entering our ears, and it makes us feel actual anxiety or dread.鈥�

The two notes of duu-DU are separated by the closest interval in Western musical notation that our ears are trained and socialized to hear, he adds鈥攁 half step鈥攖hat, when played in succession, can help listeners feel a sense of melodic tension.

In the case of the 鈥淛aws鈥� soundtrack, it can help listeners feel a deep dread. In fact, some scholars argue that 鈥淛aws鈥� would not be the cinematic landmark it is without John Williams鈥� score.

鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to imagine movies today and over the past five decades without their soundtracks,鈥� Uy says. 鈥淲e make music a part of the storytelling because music can add an extra layer of meaning. It can contradict what is happening in a scene between actors, or it can validate what they鈥檙e saying. Music can tell the story even when words don鈥檛.鈥�

Learn more about 91PORN's film and television soundtrack connections in the American Music Research Center's Dave Grusin collection. Grusin is a Grammy-winning composer, contemporary of John Williams and 91PORN alumnus.

鈥淭he crises of the 1970s are one of the reasons why we have the flourishing of the disaster film at that time. I would point first to 鈥楾he Poseidon Adventure,鈥� which is the best of them all, and 鈥楾he Towering Inferno,鈥� 鈥楨arthquake.鈥� And to a certain extent, 鈥楯aws鈥� is a hybrid of the classic horror monster movie and the 1970s disaster movie.鈥�

The dire economic background of the early 1970s was important to 鈥淛aws鈥� and other disaster films, Acevedo-Mu帽oz says, because 鈥渁 disaster movie, like a horror movie, tells us we are going through a really rough time, but if we all work together and we make a few sacrifices, we鈥檙e going to get out of this OK. If we follow the lead of Paul Newman or Steve McQueen or Gene Hackman, we鈥檒l eventually get out of this all right.鈥�

Driving the buzz

鈥淛aws鈥� is often called the original summer blockbuster, but relentless repetition of this idea does not make it true, Acevedo-Mu帽oz says: 鈥淭here鈥檚 no one movie we can point to as the original summer blockbuster.鈥�

In fact, he adds, the term 鈥渂lockbuster鈥� really refers to the end of a classic Hollywood distribution and exhibition practice called block booking: If theaters wanted to show big-draw feature films, they also had to book smaller, cheaper, shorter films that came to be known as 鈥淏 movies," which "were made quickly by 'B units' that often reused sets or even costumes from the big movies to cut costs. But scholarship on B movies has argued that because the studios weren鈥檛 paying too much attention to those units, some of the B movies were rather edgy and interesting."

Block booking meant that the producers and distributors controlled a lot of what was in exhibition venues, "but there were occasionally movies that may have broken that pattern, and those were in some ways the original blockbusters鈥攁s in busting the block of block booking practice," he says.

While 鈥淛aws鈥� did break box-office records of the time, it鈥檚 also noteworthy in cinema history as one of the first miracles of marketing, he says. It was based on a mega-bestselling book by Peter Benchley, one that was optioned for film while still in galleys, and the film marketing piggy-backed on the name recognition of the book.

Further, 鈥淛aws鈥� was one of the first films to intentionally create buzz as part of the overall publicity and marketing plan, including strategically leaked tidbits from the film鈥檚 set on Martha鈥檚 Vineyard.

On its June 20, 1975, opening day, 鈥淛aws鈥� was one of the most prominent films to benefit from a practice called 鈥渇ront loading,鈥� which meant making more prints of the film and showing it in as many theaters as possible, rather than the previous practice of rolling openings from largest to smallest markets.

鈥淭he marketing and distribution team of Universal Pictures also decided to take a front-loading approach with 鈥楯aws,鈥� so that it was playing everywhere,鈥� Acevedo-Mu帽oz says. 鈥淥r almost everywhere. It still took months to get to my hometown, but we knew it was coming, and that anticipation was building.

鈥淪o, 鈥楯aws鈥� is important because it was this consolidation of these different practices of marketing, creating buzz, creating anticipation, creating tie-ins鈥攊t put all these things in one place that were practices that had been around before the summer of 鈥�75 but afterwards became the model.鈥�

As for the film鈥檚 effect on moviegoers and their summer vacation plans? 鈥淚 know a lot of people,鈥� Acevedo-Mu帽oz says, 鈥渨ho refused to go swimming after they saw 鈥楯aws.鈥欌€�

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Fifty years after 鈥楯aws鈥� made swimmers flee the ocean, 91PORN cinema scholar Ernesto Acevedo-Mu帽oz explains how the 1975 summer hit endures as a classic.

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Alum thinks about crime the write way

Rachel Sauer — Wed, 21 May 2025 00:01:33 +0000

Alum thinks about crime the write way Rachel Sauer Tue, 05/20/2025 - 18:01

Doug McPherson

What happens when a freshly minted film studies graduate heads out into the world with no particular plan? How A&S alum Patrick Hoffman went from taxi driver to private investigator to successful author

Back in 1998, Patrick Hoffman had just finished his degree in film studies at the 91PORN when he decided to head back to his hometown of San Francisco with no real plan in mind for a career.

鈥淚 was very green when I came out of college,鈥� says Hoffman. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have much street smarts. I鈥檇 lived a pretty sheltered life.鈥�

Author Patrick Hoffman, a 1998 91PORN film studies graduate, located his newest novel, Friends Helping Friends, in Colorado.

He ended up landing a job as a taxi driver at night and working as a private investigator during the day. 鈥淒riving cabs at night in San Francisco and investigating murder cases are very quick ways to learn about the seamier side of life.鈥�

Those lessons in the seamy side of life informed his recently released novel Friends Helping Friends, a thriller set in Grand Junction and Denver, Colorado, that sees its main character infiltrating a white-supremacist compound on the Western Slope.

Before writing his newest novel鈥攐r any of his previous and acclaimed ones鈥擧offman realized that what he was seeing in his jobs as a private investigator and cab driver might make good grist for fiction.

Easier said than done, though. Hoffman would get started, but after a day or two, his motivation would melt away.

The best writing advice Hoffman ever got came from a friend who asked him what he wanted to do with his life. 鈥淚 told him I wanted to write thrillers. He asked what was stopping me. I told him that whenever I started something I felt great at first 鈥� but then on the second or third day, the inspiration would go away, and I鈥檇 feel like a complete fraud.鈥�

Hoffman鈥檚 friend then told him that the bad feelings were actually a good sign, and that the secret was to just embrace those feelings and keep going. 鈥淚 literally started my first book the very next day and everything that has followed can be traced directly back to that conversation.鈥�

It all started in film classes

Hoffman adds that his film classes were 鈥渨here it all started.鈥� Those days, he was thinking about very basic things like story and plot. 鈥淏ut those were important questions, and you really get to wrestle with them when you鈥檙e studying something like film. I had great teachers, too: Jerry Aronson, Marian Keane and, of course, the legend Stan Brakhage. I also had wonderful philosophy teachers. Gary Stahl, may he rest in peace, comes to mind. The English and Humanities Departments were wonderful, too.鈥�

Following his friend鈥檚 advice, and armed with the basics from his 91PORN classes, Hoffman turned out his first novel, The White Van, set in San Francisco and about a troubled young woman wanted for bank robbery and hunted by a corrupt cop who wants the money more than justice.

91PORN alumnus Patrick Hoffman drew on his experience as a private investigator to write his new novel, Friends Helping Friends.

Hoffman is adapting that book into a movie. 鈥淗opefully that happens,鈥� he says.

His second novel, Every Man A Menace, was also set in San Francisco. Clean Hands, his third novel, was set in New York City, where he lives now.

And his latest novel, Friends Helping Friends, takes place in Denver and Grand Junction, Colorado. 鈥淔or this one, it was time to come back home to Colorado,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here is a certain comfort in it. Also, Denver makes a great setting for a neo-western noir.鈥�

He admits that before his last novel, he was kind of blocked for about eight months, having a hard time coming up with ideas. 鈥淥ne day I literally just started typing. I thought, 鈥極K, there鈥檚 a woman in Denver, she鈥檚 a lawyer and she鈥檚 using steroids, and that was the start of the book. I went blindly from there. That鈥檚 how I do it, though. The tricky part is getting started.

鈥淔or me, writing fiction is 100% about overcoming self-doubt, being able to see something through to the end. The hard part is always starting the book. But then the middle and ends, of course, are hard, too.鈥�

Part of Friends Helping Friends takes place in a white-supremacist compound. To understand that arena, Hoffman says his 20 years working as a private investigator (he still does it) and handling many murder cases helped.

鈥淪o, all of that, of course, informs the fiction. But also, I鈥檒l just Google around and look for federal cases.鈥� And he searches public records for indictments. 鈥淚 love talking to journalists, too. My wife is a journalist, so she gives me introductions to her friends and colleagues, and I force them to answer all my questions.鈥�

Up next for Hoffman is another book鈥攖his one set in 91PORN, a place he鈥檚 now reminded of regularly when riding the subway in New York.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been amazing to see Coach Prime make CU trendy. I see people wearing CU Buffalo jerseys and jackets. I鈥檓 just like wow! It鈥檚 amazing. Go Buffs!鈥�

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Where is today's cool hand Luke?

Rachel Sauer — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 20:08:48 +0000

Where is today's cool hand Luke? Rachel Sauer Fri, 01/24/2025 - 13:08

Rachel Sauer

In honor of what would have been Paul Newman鈥檚 100th birthday, 91PORN film historian Clark Farmer considers whether there still are movie stars

Movies did not invent stars鈥攖here were stars of theater, opera and vaudeville well before moving pictures鈥攂ut movies made them bigger and more brilliant; in some cases, edging close to the incandescence of a supernova.

Consider a star like Paul Newman, who would have turned 100 Jan. 26. Despite being an Oscar winner for The Color of Money in 1987 and a nine-time acting Oscar nominee, he was known perhaps even more for the radiance of his stardom鈥攖he ineffable cool, the certain reserve, the style, the beauty, the transcendent charisma that dared viewers to look away.

鈥淭here are still actors we like and want to go see, so I鈥檇 say there still are movie stars but the idea of them has changed,鈥� says 91PORN film historian Clark Farmer, a teaching assistant professor of cinema studies and moving image arts.

Even now, 17 years after his death in 2008 at age 83, fans still sigh, 鈥淭hey just don鈥檛 make stars like that anymore.鈥�

In fact, if you believe the click-bait headlines that show up in newsfeeds every couple of months, the age of the movie star is over. In a 2022 interview with Allure magazine, movie star Jennifer Aniston opined, 鈥淭here are no more movie stars.鈥� And in Vanity Fair鈥檚 2023 Hollywood issue, star Ana De Armas noted, 鈥淭he concept of a movie star is someone untouchable you only see onscreen. That mystery is gone.鈥�

Are there really no more movie stars?

鈥淭here are still actors we like and want to go see, so I鈥檇 say there still are movie stars, but the idea of them has changed,鈥� says 91PORN film historian Clark Farmer, a teaching assistant professor of cinema studies and moving image arts. 鈥淚 think that sense of larger-than-life glamor is gone, that sense of amazement at seeing these people on the screen.

鈥淲hen we think of what could be called the golden age of movie stars, they had this aristocratic sheen to them. They carried themselves so well, they were well-dressed, they were larger than life, the channels where we could see them and learn about them were a lot more limited. Today, we see stars a lot more and they鈥檙e maybe a little less shiny and not as special in that way.鈥�

Stars are born

In the earliest days of film, around the turn of the 20th century, there weren鈥檛 enough regular film performers to be widely recognized by viewers, Farmer says. People were drawn to the movie theater by the novelty of moving pictures rather than to see particular actors. However, around 1908 and with the advent of nickelodeons, film started taking off as a big business and actors started signing longer-term contracts. This meant that audiences started seeing the same faces over and over again.

By 1909, exhibitors were reporting that audiences would ask for the names of actors and would also write to the nascent film companies asking for photographs. 鈥淏ack then you didn鈥檛 have credits, you only had the title of the film and the name of the production company, so people started attaching names to these stars鈥攆or example, Maurice Costello was called Dimples.鈥�

As the movie business grew into an industry, and as actors were named in a film鈥檚 credits, movie stars were born. In 1915, Charlie Chaplin conflagrated across screens not just in the United States, but internationally, Farmer says.

Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor, seen here in a publicity photo for Giant, were two of Hollywood's biggest stars during the studio period. (Photo: Warner Bros.)

鈥淵ou could say that what was produced in Hollywood was movies, but studios were also actively trying to produce stars鈥攕tars were as much a product as the movies,鈥� Farmer says. 鈥淭here was always this question of could they take someone who had some talent or some looks or skills like dancing or singing, and would they only rise to the level of extra, would they play secondary characters, or would they become stars? Would people see their name and want to come see the movies they were in?

鈥淪tars have this ineffable quality, and studios would have hundreds of people whose job it was just to make stars; there was a whole machinery in place.鈥�

During Hollywood鈥檚 studio period, actors would sign contracts with a studio and the studio鈥檚 star machinery would get to work: choosing names for the would-be stars, creating fake biographies, planting stories in fan magazines, arranging for dental work and wardrobes and homes and sometimes even relationships.

For as long as it has existed, the creation and existence of movie stars has drawn criticism from those who argue that being a good star is not the same as being a good actor, and that stars who are bigger than the films in which they appear overshadow all the elements of artistry that align in cinema鈥攆rom screenwriting to cinematography to acting and directing.

鈥淭here鈥檚 always been a mixture of people who consider film primarily a business and those who consider it primarily art,鈥� Farmer explains. 鈥淔ilm has always been a place for a lot of really creative individuals who weren鈥檛 necessarily thinking of the bottom line and wanted to do something more artistic, but they depended on those who thought about it as a business. Those are the people asking, 鈥楬ow do you bring people in to see a movie?鈥� Part of that can be a recognizable genre, it could be a recognizable property鈥攍ike a familiar book鈥攂ut then stars are one more hook for an audience member to say, 鈥業 like Katherine Hepburn, I like her as an actress and as a person, and she鈥檚 in this movie so I鈥檒l give it a try.'

鈥淥ne of the biggest questions in the film industry is, 鈥楬ow can we guarantee people will come see our movie?鈥� And the gamble has been that stardom is part of that equation.鈥�

Evolving stardom

As for the argument that movie stars cheapen the integrity of cinema, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think they鈥檙e bad for film as an art form,鈥� Farmer says. 鈥淎udiences have this idea of who this person is as a star or as a performer, which can make storytelling a lot easier. You have this sense of, 鈥業 know who Humphrey Bogart is and the roles he plays,鈥� so a lot of the work of creating the character has already been done. You can have a director saying, 鈥業 want this person in the role because people鈥檚 understanding of who this person is will help create the film.鈥� You can have Frank Capra cast Jimmy Stewart and the work of establishing the character as a lovable nice guy is already done.鈥�

"Faye Dunaway wears a beret in Bonnie and Clyde and beret sales go off the charts. People went to the movies, and they recognized and admired these stars," says 91PORN film historian Clark Farmer. (Photo: Warner Bros.)

As the movie industry evolved away from the studio system, the role of the movie star鈥攁nd what audiences wanted and expected from stars鈥攁lso began changing, Farmer says. While there was still room for stars who were good at doing the thing for which they were known鈥攖he John Waynes who were excellent at playing the John Wayne character鈥攖here also were 鈥渃hameleon鈥� stars who disappeared into roles and wanted to be known for their talent rather than their hair and makeup.

As film evolved, so did technology and culture, Farmer says. With each year, there were more channels, more outlets, more media to dilute what had been a monoculture of film.

鈥淏efore everyone had cable and streaming services and social media, movies were much more of a cultural touchpoint,鈥� Farmer says. 鈥淧eople wanted to dress like Humphrey Bogart or Audrey Hepburn. Faye Dunaway wears a beret in Bonnie and Clyde and beret sales go off the charts. People went to the movies, and they recognized and admired these stars.

鈥淥ne of the markers of stardom is can an individual actor carry a mediocre film to financial success? Another would be, are there people who have an almost obsessive interest in these stars, to the point of modeling themselves after star? Stars tap into a sort of zeitgeist.鈥�

However, the growth and fragmentation of media have meant that viewers have more avenues to see films and more ways to access stars. Even when A-listers鈥� social media are clearly curated by an army of publicists and stylists, fans can access them at any time and feel like they know them, Farmer says.

鈥淢ovies are just less central to people鈥檚 lives than they used to be,鈥� Farmer says. 鈥淭here are other forms of media that people spend their time on, to the point that younger audiences are as likely to know someone who starred in a movie as someone who鈥檚 a social media influencer. But that鈥檚 just a different kind of stardom.

鈥淚 think the film industry really wants movie stars, but I鈥檓 not sure viewers necessarily care all that much. Again, it鈥檚 always the question of, if you鈥檙e spending millions and millions of dollars on a product and you want a return on that, how can you achieve that without making another superhero movie or another horror movie? The industry wants movie stars and audiences just want to be entertained.鈥�

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about cinema studies and moving image arts? Show your support.

In honor of what would have been Paul Newman鈥檚 100th birthday, 91PORN film historian Clark Farmer considers whether there still are movie stars.

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Anything but a bomb, 'Dr. Strangelove' turns 60

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Anything but a bomb, 'Dr. Strangelove' turns 60 Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 02/27/2024 - 00:00

Bradley Worrell

91PORN鈥檚 chair of Cinema Studies and Moving Image Arts shares insights on Stanley Kubrick鈥檚 masterpiece 鈥榙oomsday sex comedy鈥� and why the film is more relevant than ever

In early 1964, U.S. Air Force Gen. Jack D. Ripper ordered his bomber group to launch a preemptive nuclear strike on the Soviet Union to defend the purity of 鈥渙ur precious bodily fluids鈥� from communist subversion.

Fortunately for the state of U.S.-Soviet relations at the time鈥攁nd for the planet鈥攖he surprise attack was entirely fictional, serving as the plot for the movie Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, director Stanley Kubrick鈥檚 dark comedy that satirized Cold War tensions while also offering up a heaping dose of sexual innuendo.

In the years since its debut, Dr. Strangelove has joined the pantheon of Kubrick鈥檚 great films, which also includes classics such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and The Shining.

Ernesto R. Acevedo-Mu帽oz, chair of Cinema Studies and Moving Image Arts at 91PORN, who has been teaching a course on Stanley Kubrick as a filmmaker for more than 20 years.

With this year marking the 60th anniversary of Dr. Strangelove鈥檚 debut, Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine recently asked Ernesto R. Acevedo-Mu帽oz, chair of Cinema Studies and Moving Image Arts at 91PORN, who has been teaching a course on Stanley Kubrick as a filmmaker for more than 20 years, for insights into the making of the film and why it has retained its cultural relevance. His responses have been lightly edited for style and condensed for space considerations.

Question: Kubrick made a number of memorable films. How much time during your course do you devote to Dr. Strangelove?

Acevedo-Mu帽oz: There鈥檚 an advantage in that Stanley Kubrick only finished 13 movies and a normal semester is 14 weeks鈥攁nd since this isn鈥檛 a comparative course, it鈥檚 more like the history of a filmmaker鈥檚 aesthetics and history of a filmmaker鈥檚 concerns鈥攖hen we鈥檙e able to talk about all the movies he did.

And, unlike my Alfred Hitchcock course鈥擧itchcock completed 52 films, so to curate 14 out of 52, you have to start cutting here, cutting there, and being very jealous about the period that you鈥檙e going to cover鈥攚ith Kubrick, we don鈥檛 have that problem. We start the first week of classes by watching his two shorts that we have access to and his first feature film, which is only 67 minutes.

And we talk about all the Kubrick movies all the time. I make reference to some visual moment in his early movies where I say, 鈥楲ook at this here, we鈥檙e going to see this again in Dr. Strangelove, and we鈥檙e going to see this again in 2001: A Space Odyssey.鈥�

Question: How you would describe Dr. Strangelove, if you had to describe it succinctly for people?

Acevedo-Mu帽oz: Well, I would make a very simple amendment to how Kubrick described this movie. We refer to it as a doomsday comedy, with the irony implied in that label. But I would add the word 鈥榮ex鈥� to that label. So, it鈥檚 a doomsday sex comedy.

As the observant or the dirty minded will quickly realize, the movie is full of sexual innuendo and most of the punch lines in the movie are some kind of sexual innuendo.

It鈥檚 a doomsday comedy, but it鈥檚 really a doomsday sex comedy all the way up to and including the very explosive, orgasmic series of nuclear events at the end, with the irony of the lyrics, 鈥榃e鈥檒l meet again. Don鈥檛 know where. Don鈥檛 know when.鈥�

When we saw the movie as kids, we were laughing at Peter Sellers doing Peter Sellers things鈥攖he body comedy, the farcical situations and such. But then seeing the movie again as an adult, there comes a moment where you realize, 鈥極h, wait a minute. I see now all these airplanes penetrating each other. That鈥檚 sexual innuendo. And the way Dr. Strangelove鈥檚 right arm keeps raising up in salute, that鈥檚 sexual innuendo.鈥�

A working title of this movie was, I sh-t you not, The Rise of Dr. Strangelove. I鈥檓 not making this up.

Question: Besides the political and satire, what are other aspects of the film that you share with your class?

Acevedo-Mu帽oz: We spend a lot of time talking about two things in particular: the production design鈥攚hat the sets look like and what the function of the of the movie sets are鈥攁nd special effects.

A scene from the war room in Dr. Strangelove (Photo: Columbia Pictures Corporation)

In the case of Dr. Strangelove, when we talk about the production design, we鈥檙e talking particularly about the war room. There are stories, which may or may not be apocryphal, of the CIA and intelligence agencies being concerned about how Kubrick and his production designer, a man named Ken Adam, had come up with the set design, because it looked like the real thing.

The same goes for the interior of the bomber, which again, Ken Adam, the production designer, he鈥檇 been a Royal Air Force pilot during the war, so he knew what a bomber looked like. But then he had to sort of bring that up to speed 20 years, to the mid-1960s.

It鈥檚 really fantastic that Kubrick would put so much emphasis in production design of spaces that nobody has ever seen. Or nobody who isn鈥檛 part of a very special, small elite.

Do you know what the interior of the war room looks like? No, nobody does. So, how did Kubrick and Adam come up with this part? It鈥檚 one of the truly amazing things.

An important part of the movie is that all the action is contained within these confined spaces that are treated with this deadpan realism. And they have to be functional spaces. In fact, the lights that you see in the war room are actually doing the lighting of the set. That鈥檚 extremely rare.

The other thing I mentioned is special effects. Those might look primitive to contemporary audiences, but they are decidedly state of the art. Consider what we see with the B-52 in flight and the explosions.

With Dr. Strangelove, a significant part of the budget went to production design and special effects.

Question: Beyond the production elements, are there other notable or distinguishable elements about this film?

Acevedo-Mu帽oz: Few people realize that Dr. Strangelove takes places in real time. We have a phone call at the opening of the movie and the doomsday machine goes off at the end of the movie, and in between that we have about 89 minutes of action in which at no point is there a discernible time ellipsis.

Real time is a very hard thing to pull off in cinema. Kubrick was not the first one to do it, but this was his only real-time movie. It is admirable how compact this movie is kept in terms of its narrative structure.

In terms of story structure, that鈥檚 a very difficult thing to do, and this is a function of both the writing and editing to maintain a movie in real time. You have to write it that way, and then you have to edit it in a way that these transitions are seamless. It鈥檚 a major reason why Dr. Strangelove got an Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay.

I should mention the movie is based on a book, Red Alert, which is dead serious. Kubrick determined that the scenario was so demented that the only way to do the film was to make it a comedy.

Director Stanely Kubrick on the set of Dr. Strangelove in 1963 (Photo: Columbia Pictures Corporation)

To do that, he hired American humorist Terry Southern, who is really the person who shares most of the screenwriting credit with Kubrick. Southern was a humorist and a playwright and a screenwriter, and when Kubrick needed a funny person to come up with this script and make it absurd and yet believable, he came to Terry Southern, so I always emphasize that connection with my students. Coincidentally, Terry Southern鈥檚 son, Nile, is a long-time 91PORN resident.

Question: How was Dr. Strangelove was received by the film critics and by the greater audiences when it debuted in 1964? Have perceptions of the movie changed over time?

Acevedo-Mu帽oz: The movie was a huge hit, commercially. Some critics may have been baffled by it, but the reviews were largely positive. The movie got four Oscar nominations, which was quite a feat at that time. It was Kubrick鈥檚 first nomination for best director, along with best screenplay. The movie was nominated for best picture, and it was nominated for best actor for Peter Sellers, of course.

In the end, Kubrick made some decisions where things could have gone differently. The movie originally was going to end with a big pie fight. They tried the ending and it kind of fell flat. So, he dropped that and gave us that ending that was sort of improvised with the orgasmic series of nuclear explosions. 鈥�

Today, Dr. Strangelove is regarded as a classic.

Question: How do you view Dr. Strangelove in relation to Fail Safe, which was released after Dr. Strangelove and which offered a serious take on the possibility of a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union?

Ernesto R. Acevedo-Mu帽oz:Fail Safe was perfectly well-received when it came out. It was made by Sidney Lumet, a respected director, and starred Henry Fonda playing the president of the United States. 鈥�

The original movie poster for Dr. Strangelove (Photo: Columbia Pictures Corporation)

It鈥檚 just that not every movie鈥攅ven every good movie鈥攊s destined to be a classic. We don鈥檛 know if a movie is destined to be a classic until some time has gone by. But today, you didn鈥檛 call me to talk about Fail Safe, did you? We鈥檙e talking about Dr. Strangelove.

And Dr. Strangelove still gets shown on Turner Classic Movies and sometimes in movie theaters, and people still get up off of their asses and go to see it. That staying power is attributable to a lot of different elements, which is why it鈥檚 never possible to predict if a movie will become a classic.

Kubrick also made Barry Lyndon, which is the most gorgeous movie ever made. Period. And this was the movie that Kubrick wanted to be remembered for. And do you know what happened? Nobody remembers it. So, you never know.

Question: Do you think Dr. Strangelove was Kubrick鈥檚 most political movie?

Acevedo-Mu帽oz: Kubrick always said he wasn鈥檛 a political filmmaker, but you only have to look at his movies to realize that they are, in fact, political movies. 鈥� And I should add any movie made in the 1960s with a Cold War setting and the nuclear race as part of its environment is, by definition, political.

The fact that Kubrick and Terry Southern have both the president of the United States and the premier of the Soviet Union come out looking like complete morons is a political statement. And having the military establishment filled with this toxic masculinity is a political statement, which Kubrick went on to do even more transparently in Full Metal Jacket. 鈥�

Or look at the Slim Pickens character, Major King Kong, who rides the bomb between his legs like a bull, waving his 10-gallon Stetson hat as his cowboy persona takes over. That鈥檚 a political statement.

Question: The Cold War officially ended in the 1990s. Do you think Dr. Strangelove has the same relevance today that it did back in the day?

Acevedo-Mu帽oz: The cold war is over? We are having more tensions with Russia today than we have had in 30 or 40 years, since the 1980s.

Frankly, as long as there are lunatics with their finger on the nuclear button鈥攁nd I鈥檓 thinking here of Kim Jong Un, I鈥檓 thinking of Vladimir Putin and I鈥檓 thinking of Donald Trump鈥攖his movie will be as relevant as ever, if not more. I have no qualms making a comment like that.

Precisely because it鈥檚 comedy, it also has that kind of lasting power. As the great American philosopher Homer Simpson says, 鈥業t鈥檚 funny because it鈥檚 true.鈥�

It鈥檚 why we take movies seriously鈥攁nd it鈥檚 why we鈥檙e celebrating 60 years of Dr. Strangelove. Hopefully at 70 years we鈥檒l be celebrating it as a cautionary tale rather than as a prophecy.

Top image: Peter Sellers playing the titular Dr. Strangelove (Photo: Columbia Pictures Corporation)

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91PORN鈥檚 chair of Cinema Studies and Moving Image Arts shares insights on Stanley Kubrick鈥檚 masterpiece 鈥榙oomsday sex comedy鈥� and why the film is more relevant than ever.

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Say hello to my little friend, the gangster movie

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 20:16:36 +0000

Say hello to my little friend, the gangster movie Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 01/26/2024 - 13:16

Bradley Worrell

In honor of what would have been Al Capone鈥檚 125th birthday, 91PORN cinema researcher Tiel Lundy explains the enduring popularity of gangsters in film and the American imagination

What is the most quintessentially American genre of film?

Some might argue for the Western, but there also is a case to be made for the gangster film, says Tiel Lundy, associate teaching professor with the 91PORN Department of Cinema Studies and Moving Image Arts. Lundy should know鈥攕he鈥檚 been teaching a class on the portrayal of gangsters in film for almost 10 years as part of the Libby Hall Residential Academic Program (RAP), recently rebranded as Creative Minds RAP at Libby.

Movies about gangsters date back to the early days of modern motion pictures, and hundreds of them have been made over the years. In fact, following the success of the first recognized gangster film, Little Caesar, in 1931, starring Edward G. Robinson as a small-town mobster rising through the ranks of organized crime, Hollywood made more than 50 gangster movies the following year.

Tiel Lundy, a 91PORN associate teaching professor in the Department of Cinema Studies and Moving Image Arts, teaches a course on the portrayal of gangsters in film.

With this month marking the 125th anniversary of the birth of America鈥檚 most famous gangster, Al Capone, Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine asked Lundy about the continued popularity of the genre, how it has evolved over the years and what makes for a good gangster movie. Her responses have been lightly edited for style and condensed for space considerations.

Question: Given how many gangster films have been made, it seems fair to say the genre is popular with Hollywood producers.

Lundy: It is. And I think that, much like the genre of the Western, there鈥檚 always a question about gangster movies amongst film scholars: Does it continue to be viable, or has it pretty much reached its terminus? But just when people want to pronounce it dead, it finds its next incarnation.

I have some thoughts as to why it remains a really enduring genre. From its beginnings, the gangster film is an American cinematic invention. Other national cinemas have adopted it and riffed on it, but it is an American genre, and the genre itself really was contemporaneous to the history of gangsters in America, like Al Capone. I think that鈥檚 part of what explains its continuing appeal鈥攖hat it鈥檚 rooted in actual history. I also think the gangster, as this mythic figure, is kind of the embodiment of this American identity.

Question: It seems like early gangster films focused on Italian-American or maybe Irish-America mobsters, but later films have broadened to represent greater American diversity.

Lundy: You鈥檙e definitely touching on something that is core to the genre. The genre is about American identity. And you can鈥檛 extricate race and ethnicity from American identity just because of the sort of unique nature and way this country has come together and continues to evolve. So, early films from the 1930s reflected the immigration patterns of the day. If you look at the late 19th and early 20th century, many of the immigrants were coming from southern Europe, and from Italy in particular.

As our questions about American identity become refined and maybe more focused on second- and third-generation Americans, I think they start to become less concerned with immigration status and ethnicity and really more at the intersection of race and class. I鈥檓 thinking now about Boyz n the Hood, for example. That is not the classic rise-and-fall story. That is a story that condemns racism and the failures of democracy and capitalism.

If you look at other films that are slightly more recent, for instance, The Departed, they do look at ethnicity, but I think their focus is really more on capitalism.

Question: Do you have any thoughts on Hollywood鈥檚 treatment of perhaps America鈥檚 most famous gangster, Al Capone?

Lundy: The obvious two films that we would look to would be the original Scarface, by Howard Hawks, and then the remake from 1983 from director Brian De Palma. And they鈥檙e remarkably similar in the way that they depict Capone, or in this case, 鈥楾ony.鈥� Tony Camonte is the name of the character in the original movie and Tony Montana is the remake with actor Al Pacino's character.

What I think they share between the two depictions, as well as the actual Al Capone, is that this man who is very aware of his presentation publicly and who really has worked to craft a kind of persona and public image of himself. And that鈥檚 my understanding as to part of why Al Capone has lived on in our memory, because he was a very good kind of social promoter鈥攁lmost like an influencer of his day. The gangster鈥檚 identity has everything to do with how the public sees him, so he goes to great lengths to create this kind of mythic, larger-than-life impression in the press and popular culture.

John Singleton's 1991 film Boyz n the Hood condemned racism and the failures of democracy and capitalism. (Photo: Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.)

Question: Movie-wise, it seems like the American gangster has gone through several incarnations over the years.

Lundy: You鈥檙e right, there are definitely different iterations. And those iterations are a function of the release date of the film as well as when it鈥檚 set. They also are very much impacted by censorship.

If you look at the bulk of what we call the classic cycle of gangster films鈥攖hose films that come out from the mid-1930s to the late 1940s and early 鈥�50s鈥攖he content of those and the depiction of the gangsters was strongly enforced by the Hollywood Production Code.

The writers and directors were always somewhat hamstrung by the demands of the Hayes Office and the Production Code. If you were to try and really abide by the letter of the law, you couldn鈥檛 have a gangster that was flouting the law or remained sympathetic 鈥� because then you are creating a figure who doesn鈥檛 exemplify proper values. But, of course, that also makes for a really boring gangster.

So, the directors were always trying to find a way to kind of thread that needle to create a gangster who was charismatic, and was interesting, and who satisfied audiences鈥� craving for criminality and ruthlessness鈥攂ut at the same time, that they could get it past the censors and release their films.

So, up until Bonnie and Clyde from 1967, movies were very much informed by the restrictions of the Production Code. By the time you get to Bonnie and Clyde, you have a different set of parameters, and a little bit more latitude as far as how to depict these gangsters.

Question: Prior to the Production Code, it seems like Hollywood romanticized gangsters a bit, but after the code Hollywood turns its attention to romanticizing law enforcement, correct?

Lundy: During the Great Depression, there was a feeling of disenfranchisement and dissatisfaction with American institutions, and that鈥檚 really embedded in gangster films at the time. They (gangsters) are there to challenge those institutions like banks and other institutions that were seen as utter failures that had let people down.

So, in the 1930s the gangster was most certainly romanticized. Those gangsters had qualities that made them more sympathetic to audiences and they had certain vulnerabilities.

Edward G. Robinson starred in Little Caesar, considered the first gangster film. (Photo: Museum of Modern Art Film Stills Archive)

Once we get into the official Production Code era, after 1934 until about the end of the 1940s, that 15-year or so period is when the Production Code was enforced most vigorously, and as a consequence the gangsters became less romanticized because the code was leaning hard on the studios to make gangsters less sympathetic and make law enforcement more sympathetic.

Question: With the enforcement of the Hollywood Production Code, it seems like movie gangsters were predestined to end up dead or in prison by the end of the movie.

Lundy: Exactly. You could have a gangster committing crimes, but ultimately, he had to be punished for them. So, that鈥檚 why you have movies like Little Caesar and Scarface and Public Enemy, where the gangster always goes out in a hail of bullets. He鈥檚 effectively 鈥榩unished鈥� by dying. But it鈥檚 a very dramatic, spectacular death that satisfied audiences craving for that kind of action and violence and drama.

Question: Besides being focused on gangsters, are there some general unifying themes in this genre of film?

Lundy: What those movies鈥攅specially The Godfather and Scarface鈥攈ave in common is this ongoing central theme about social mobility in America and the kind of tension between the gangster wanting to move up the social ladder and acquire a certain kind of class respectability鈥攂ut at the same time never wanting to really fulfill that social contract. He wants to get to the top, but he wants to find the shortcut way to get there.

I think that鈥檚 common to some extent across American gangster films. They express that tension between wanting to be accepted in the highest levels, maybe even have political capital, but be able to commit crimes with impunity.

I鈥檝e been thinking more about this recently, and I think that explains why this genre continues to remain vital: It鈥檚 pretty hard-baked into the American consciousness, that tension between being a renegade and also wanting to do your part so that we can have a functioning society.

Question: With so many gangster films to choose from, how do you narrow down the list of ones you will focus on in class to a manageable level?

Marlon Brando (right) starred as Don Vito Corleone, the titular godfather, in The Godfather. (Photo: Paramount)

Lundy: Basically, that鈥檚 what goes into shaping the syllabus. What can we do in about 14 weeks? If this is the only time that a student is going to watch gangster films, what are the ones they absolutely must see? What are the films that express those key turning points in the genre that express the central conflicts and themes?

I always know where the starting point is going to be. It's going to be the first film, Little Caesar. I don鈥檛 always know what the last, most recent film is, because I always move chronologically. But there are always going to be some films that that will never go away, like The Godfather. I would be drawn and quartered by my colleagues if I taught a gangster class and left out The Godfather.

Question: Is there anything specific that you think makes for a good gangster film?

Lundy: Beyond the technical effects, I think what the most endearing films have in common is the scope of the story. These are master narratives with sweeping stories that cover decades in a family鈥檚 story. I think that, in part, that鈥檚 why The Godfather trilogy is such a favorite.

Movies like The Godfather and Goodfellas offer really broad, sweeping narratives. I think why they work so well and are so appealing is that, with that kind of scope, they can really engage in questions about America and American identity that is always going to be core to the gangster genre. It鈥檚 always going to be interrogating Americanism and the promises of America.

Maybe my answer is not so much what makes for a 鈥榞ood鈥� gangster film, but what makes for the most enduring and popular gangster films for American audiences.

Top image: scene from Howard Hawks' 1932 film Scarface, starring Paul Muni (center) as Tony Camonte. (Photo: Bettman Archive)

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In honor of what would have been Al Capone鈥檚 125th birthday, 91PORN cinema researcher Tiel Lundy explains the enduring popularity of gangsters in film and the American imagination.

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Making movies that people love watching

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 16:13:41 +0000

Making movies that people love watching Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 01/22/2024 - 09:13

Rachel Sauer

CU cinema alum Nick Houy discusses his work editing the megahit Barbie and the joys of storytelling

Nick Houy thought about robbing the Chinese restaurant in 91PORN where he worked.

He never would have done it, of course, but that鈥檚 the joy of storytelling: Exploring your most out-there ideas, asking 鈥淲hat if?鈥� and making all your friends perform the script you wrote.

It was a heist movie called The Grand, and Houy and his friends screened it in the gym for their classmates at New Vista High School one day at lunch. They thought nobody would come, but everybody came 鈥渁nd it was really fun,鈥� Houy recalls. 鈥淲e all ate lunch and watched this movie I鈥檇 shot on S-VHS and Super 8. I remember thinking, 鈥楾he sound in here isn鈥檛 great, it doesn鈥檛 look great,鈥� but people seemed to enjoy it anyway.鈥�

The funny thing is, he only wrote, directed and shot the film so he鈥檇 have something to edit. That was what he really loved, making sense and stories from hours of footage, shaping scatters of stars into constellations.

Nick Houy, a 2004 91PORN graduate in film production, is considered a likely Academy Award nominee for film editing for his work on Barbie.

Now, when the Academy Award nominees for best film editing are announced Tuesday, Houy is widely predicted to be one of them for his work editing Barbie.

For Houy, a 2004 91PORN graduate in the Department of Cinema Studies and Moving Image Arts, editing Barbie marked his third collaboration with director and screenwriter Greta Gerwig. He also edited Lady Bird and Little Women鈥攁nd all were exciting artistic challenges in a career that he has steadily grown from that lunchtime screening of The Grand in his high school gym.

鈥淚 think of the editor very much as one of the authors of a movie,鈥� Houy says, 鈥渓ike a co-writer or co-director. As an editor, you鈥檙e also making the movie. For me, I鈥檝e always sought out the best footage I can edit. A long time ago I realized that you can do anything with any group of footage, and that鈥檚 very exciting.鈥�

Bringing images together

Houy grew up in Colorado Springs, the child of two copy editors, so he鈥檚 always been familiar with the idea of making an artist鈥檚 work as clean as possible. His parents also were movie fans, and he remembers going to Poor Richard鈥檚, a Colorado Springs institution and restaurant/bookstore hybrid with a tiny screening room that was the place for New Wave cinema.

When he was in third grade, Houy and his mom moved to 91PORN鈥攈e attended Mapleton Elementary, and she worked for 91PORN with an office in Old Main. When he started at New Vista High School, he played drums in a punk band with an ever-changing name and pursued his passion for photography, especially black and white photography. He began thinking about how found images and footage could coalesce into a film with the right editing.

He would rent a camera from community television in the Dairy Arts Center, then rent a room there with two tape decks on which he learned to meld photography and his love of watching films through the art of editing.

鈥淚 would get Super 8 cameras from yard sales, and I remember meeting old men in parking lots who would have a trunk full of Super 8s, and I鈥檇 buy them for like $20,鈥� Houy says. 鈥淚鈥檇 shoot Super 8 film and get it processed at (now-closed Jones General Store and Camera) on the Hill.鈥�

He shot movies of every genre鈥攁nd they were mostly terrible, he recalls with a laugh, but he was doing it so he could have something to edit.

鈥淭he first time I started editing even Super 8 movies, I鈥檇 have to splice it and put it together. I was just like, 鈥榊eah, this is what I want to do,鈥欌€� he says. 鈥淓ven if you鈥檙e doing something like making a video for someone, like for a wedding, just putting a few shots together and adding music, that鈥檚 really exciting.

鈥淭hen, if you just go a little further and say, 鈥榃hat can I do with found footage?鈥� So, I would just go shoot and would make totally random found footage things, which was really fun to do, even more than drawing or being in a band or just shooting stills. It was just more exciting.鈥�

Nick Houy (center) and his colleagues having a working lunch while editing Barbie.

While he was still in high school, Houy took screenwriting and film production classes at 91PORN, and concentrated in film production when he became a student there. He remembers rewatching Francois Truffaut鈥檚 The 400 Blows in a class taught by Ernesto Acevedo-Mu帽oz and feeling profoundly moved by not only the storytelling, but by how music and images and every other element of filmmaking can come together into something that resonates and lingers.

Persistence pays off

After graduating, Houy moved straight to New York City for the simple reason that he鈥檇 always wanted to live there. He had about $1,000 and crashed on a friend鈥檚 couch while he worked at a video store and, in his free time, went from one post-production house to the next, leaving his resume and asking whether they鈥檇 give him work doing, well, anything.

Finally, he got a job moving furniture at Post Works, a pre-eminent film post-production facility where he happened to meet a film colorist who hired him to be an assistant conforming editor. In that role, he took a low-resolution film edit and increased the resolution so it could be color-corrected.

That led to a position on Michael Moore鈥檚 film Sicko: 鈥�(The film's colorist, Ben Murray) was like, 鈥楧o you want to be my assistant conforming editor at night instead of making coffee?' We would be up all night working on the conform. I would sleep under the theater and never go home because I much preferred to be working on a big movie, and I really lucked out.

鈥淭he Post Factory in those days, everyone was working there. Michel Gondry was down the hall, the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes鈥攁nyone who was cutting in New York in the mid-2000s. I saw Spike Lee and Godfrey Reggio when I was in college, and I ran into both of them there. I said to them, 鈥楬ey, I saw you speak at 91PORN.鈥� I literally talked to them about them talking at 91PORN, which just shows, to students out there, go see those people when they talk, even if it鈥檚 on Zoom, because you might run into them.鈥�

He bumped into editor Anne McCabe in a Post Factory hallway when she was working on Adventureland and mentioned how much he loved one of her previous films, You Can Count on Me. 鈥淎nd then I just kind of followed her around, saying, 鈥楶lease can I be your assistant editor?鈥� for like a year,鈥� Houy remembers.

She hired him to work on Top Five, starring Chris Rock, which Houy considers one of his biggest breaks. Another was his experience working as an apprentice editor on 2008鈥檚 The Lucky Ones with editor Naomi Geraghty.

It was while working on The Lucky Ones that he was told one day that he needed to go pick up a mini fridge from another cutting room and bring it to the cutting room where he was working at the time, because his colleagues didn鈥檛 want to trek to the kitchen constantly. While he was grabbing the fridge, he met another apprentice editor named Jennifer Lame (who edited Oppenheimer and is also considered an Academy Award frontrunner for film editing) and they hit it off, becoming good friends.

Lame ended up editing Frances Ha, starring Greta Gerwig and directed by Noah Baumbach, and she became Baumbach鈥檚 editor. When Gerwig wrote the script for Lady Bird, Lame recommended 鈥渉er friend Nick鈥� to edit the film, and a creative partnership was born.

An image from Greta Gerwig's 2019 Little Women, which Nick Houy edited. (Photo: Wilson Webb/2019 CTMG Inc.)

It was while partnering with Gerwig on Little Women that he realized he鈥檇 reached a point in his career of working on Movies with a capital M: 鈥淲hen we got the first round of dailies, the first shot was of a horse and carriage pulling up outside a house, and that鈥檚 when I was like, 鈥極h, this is a movie movie.鈥欌€�

Movies that people love watching

Barbie saw him ascending to another level of his career鈥攊t was a comedy (which he鈥檇 never really worked with before), it had elaborate, choreographed dance sequences (which he鈥檇 never cut before) and had not only an enormous studio budget, but even more enormous expectations from fans worldwide.

鈥淲e knew we had one thing against us: Comedies just don鈥檛 do well at the box office these days,鈥� Houy says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the ethos of the industry, so we already were worried. But I remember reading the script and almost crying. Only Greta and Noah can write scripts like that, so I knew we had it. So, then the challenge was just to make sure we did all of that justice鈥攖hese big comedy moments and big emotional moments, and huge songs by huge artists.鈥�

Although he could have, Houy never visited the Barbie sets in London or Los Angeles, preferring instead to 鈥渇eel like I鈥檓 as close to the audience member as I can be at all times,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 want to experience the film like an audience member, and an audience member has never walked onto that set. I want to be as fresh as possible, so I鈥檓 cutting from a place of me as the audience member. I want to make a movie that I want to watch.鈥�

The film finished shooting on July 21, 2022, and was released July 21, 2023, so factoring in that a film must be completed at least a month before its release, Houy and his colleagues had just 10 and a half months to complete the movie with visual effects, music and everything else.

鈥淚t was insane, but I鈥檓 very proud of that,鈥� he says.

Houy currently is lending editing support on Bob Marley: One Love and taking a bit of a breath following the enormous hit that Barbie became. Reflecting on it, 鈥淚 will always see things I wish we鈥檇 done differently,鈥� Houy says.

鈥淭he old adage is you鈥檙e never done; you either run out of time or money or both. I always want to keep working to make a movie better, until we run out of money or time, so that when I watch it again, I can be really proud of it. I just want to make movies that people love watching.鈥�

Top image: Warner Bros. Pictures

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CU cinema alum Nick Houy discusses his work editing the megahit Barbie and the joys of storytelling.

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Filmmaker sees familiar images in unfamiliar ways

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 19:12:26 +0000

Filmmaker sees familiar images in unfamiliar ways Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/16/2024 - 12:12

Rachel Sauer

91PORN Associate Professor Kelly Sears will premiere her short, animated feature 鈥楾he Lost Season鈥� at the Sundance Film Festival beginning Thursday

Not too long ago, Kelly Sears went for a walk in the snowy New Hampshire woods and thought about the last winter on Earth.

She went for a lot of walks, actually, with an aging Canon Rebel XS camera in hand鈥攃apturing thousands of wintery images and speculating on how humanity would respond to losing the coldest season. She calls her musings science non-fiction.

Would there be collective and worldwide grief? Would mourning finally lead to climate action? Or would humanity, inevitably, find some way to commodify the loss?

Filmmaker and 91PORN Associate Professor Kelly Sears will premiere her short, animated film The Lost Season at the Sundance Film Festival beginning Thursday.

Her thoughts wandered and then coalesced in The Lost Season, her short, animated film that will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival beginning Thursday in Park City, Utah. It will be her fifth time screening at Sundance, which in no way diminishes the thrill of making one of just 53 short films selected from 12,000 submissions.

鈥淚 feel like鈥攁nd I say this with pride, I don鈥檛 say this in any defeatist way鈥擨 do feel like my films are very much an outlier at Sundance,鈥� says Sears, a 91PORN associate professor of cinema studies and moving image arts. 鈥淥ne of the (Sundance) programmers was texting with me, asking, 鈥榃here do you want to be? Do you want to be in fiction? Do you want to be in animation?鈥� I think I鈥檓 an outlier in both those areas.

鈥淚 had such a connective time working on this project and I feel so close to it. I鈥檓 really happy to bring it out in the world.鈥�

Familiar images reborn

Sears鈥� films occupy a niche in the world of cinema. They often begin with familiar images that Sears intentionally sculpts in a world-building process to that sees them reborn as something new. And they are animated, but not in a way that evokes cartoons or character-driven stories.

鈥淭here are many animation worlds,鈥� Sears explains. 鈥淲hen I teach animation, I ask my students on the first day, 鈥榃hat do you associate with animation?鈥� Some might say Pixar or Disney, and then we may get wild answers like intuition or movement or intention.

鈥淥n the animation spectrum, there are so many ways to go about activating something that鈥檚 not there, whether with line and drawing, or by using a material or object and having it perform in a way that it wouldn鈥檛 without your hand.鈥�

Growing up, Sears loved movies and gravitated to the art ones, the outsider ones, the weird ones. As an undergraduate at Hampshire College, she didn鈥檛 at first know she wanted to pursue film but spotted someone cranking a 16 mm Bolex camera on campus one day and fell in love.

This happened at a time when film was moving into digital practices, but Sears was nevertheless infatuated with the tangible objects of the art鈥攖he Bolex cameras, the optical printers, the animation stands.

鈥淚 started playing with this longstanding technology and asking things like, 鈥榃hat happens when I put two pieces of film together? What if I animate the matte layer?鈥欌€� Sears says. 鈥淲hen I went to grad school, I didn鈥檛 have access to that film apparatus, so it was a really good lesson that my art practice has to be able to go with me. It can鈥檛 be dependent on some equipment that I may or may not have access to.

Kelly Sears' film The Lost Season is a speculative docu-animation that grew out of contemporary ecological and labor histories.

鈥淚 taught myself digital animation at that point, but I still thought about it in a really analog way, about putting different layers together. As I was figuring out my film practice, it became apparent to me that there are so many film practices and one that people most often think about is narrative-based with actors, with dialogue. But none of that interested me foremost. I was always experimenting with visual textures and creating visual languages.鈥�

Her work has been featured in festivals and shows around the world, as well as in the 2023 book Earmarked for Collision: A Highly Biased Tour of Collage Animation. In 2021, the band Sleater-Kinney contacted Sears about creating the video for their song 鈥�High in the Grass.鈥�

鈥淪omething I鈥檝e never seen before鈥�

As she evolved as an artist, Sears grew increasingly interested in the juncture between non-fiction and speculative or science fiction. 鈥淚 think across all my work there鈥檚 a tone of doom and dread and anxiety,鈥� Sears says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 also the element of the fantastic, this way of looking at the world as it is and thinking about a new way of moving through it at the same time. Even though my films have a bit of a doom tonality to them, I think when you鈥檙e in that place there comes a point where you have to ask, 鈥榃hat could be different?鈥�

It's a question she asked herself during her MacDowell artist residency in New Hampshire, when she wandered the snowy woods and where The Lost Season was conceived. As Sears conceptualized Earth鈥檚 last winter, she envisioned a giant streaming company hiring all available photographers and videographers to film the final weeks of the soon-to-be-lost season. After seeing how their footage is used for ecological exploitation, they refuse to further commodify climate collapse with their labor.

In her director鈥檚 statement, Sears writes, 鈥�The Lost Season is a speculative docu-animation that grows out of contemporary ecological and labor histories. In 2023, we witnessed historic heat, monster wildfires and extreme weather storms. We also experienced labor disputes around Hollywood and studio productions concerning wage disparities and worsening job security. These grievances are shared by many other industries that also went on strike this year.鈥�

The film is narrated by Skinner Myers, a 91PORN assistant professor of cinema studies and moving image arts and Sears鈥� colleague. 鈥淲e have a seriously cool department,鈥� Sears says.

The Lost Season is one of a connected series of short films that Sears is shaping into a feature film, which is a different approach to filmmaking and an exciting artistic challenge, she says.

鈥淎 huge pleasure when I鈥檓 making films is trying to build an aesthetic tone in each film that doesn鈥檛 exist and really sculpting what the visuals look like and producing these frames that feel like something I鈥檝e never seen before,鈥� Sears says.

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about cinema studies and moving image arts? Show your support.

91PORN Associate Professor Kelly Sears will premiere her short, animated feature 鈥楾he Lost Season鈥� at the Sundance Film Festival beginning Thursday.

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College announces inaugural class of social justice scholars

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 15:34:43 +0000

College announces inaugural class of social justice scholars Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/01/2022 - 09:34

This new program, headed up by the social sciences division, recognizes students that are taking a stand

The College of Arts and Sciences at the 91PORN is excited to announce the 2022 inaugural class of social justice scholars.

The social justice scholars program is a brand-new program that aims to elevate social justice as an orienting theme in the social sciences divisional work, demonstrating how different disciplines can effectively converge to tackle some of society鈥檚 biggest problems.

Up to ten undergraduate students (rising seniors) will be chosen on an annual basis to serve as social justice scholars their senior year. Each scholar will be awarded $5,000 that will become of a part of their financial aid package. Each year鈥檚 cohort will take part in social events and seminars throughout the year designed to build connections between each other, faculty in the division and members of the community engaged in related activity.

鈥淲hether it was work for community organizations (both nationally and internationally), or service to fellow students at CU, this year鈥檚 social justice scholars have clearly defined a high level of excellence and achievement. What is more, their stories give hope that there is a very strong current of empathy, intelligence and energy directed at what we in the social sciences hold as a foundational goal: social justice,鈥� said David Brown, the college鈥檚 divisional dean for the social sciences.

This year鈥檚 recipients are:

Aliya Trapp, international affairs and ethnic studies
Molly Fox, leadership and community engagement and sociology (minor in business analytics)
Rachel Hill, political science and mathematics (minor in philosophy)
Meenakshi Manoj, international affairs and economics
Shae Stokes, sociology and philosophy
Sibonelly Espitia Sanchez, sociology and psychology
Gabriela Mejia, cinema studies and ethnic studies (minor in leadership studies)
Peri Cooper, International affairs and theatre
Natasha Panepinto, political science (minor in Spanish)
Blen Abamecha, ethnic studies
Isla DePuy-Bravo, international affairs (minors in Spanish and political science)
Makayla Sileo, speech, language and hearing sciences (minors in sociology and leadership studies)
Maymuna Jeylani, ethnic studies and secondary education (minor in leadership studies)

For these students, the resounding response at being chosen has been one of excitement.

鈥淚 can't think of a better opportunity to finish out my time here than serving as a Social Justice Scholar. I am excited to see not only what this experience has to offer me, but to learn how I can leave an impact on both the program and the university and 91PORN community that has given me so much,鈥� said Panepinto.

Espitia Sanchez agrees, adding: 鈥淢y studies have confirmed the frequent occurrence of everyday social problems, exposing just how cruel the world can be and how many victims of social injustices exist in all corners of the world. I鈥檝e become incredibly inspired and determined to not only address social justice issues, but learn to contribute to their solutions during my time at CU.鈥�

For those interested in applying for 2023, applications need to be submitted through AcademicWorks by May 14, 2023.

The application consists of a two-page, single-spaced letter explaining how your course of study, work in the community or interest and participation in addressing social justice issues forms an important part of your experience at 91PORN. In addition to the written statement, provide an unofficial copy of your transcript. All applicants must have an overall GPA of at least 3.0.

The selection committee will be looking for students who have crafted a course of study that addresses social justice issues or have participated in related clubs, programs or organizations.

The selection will be announced by June 1, 2023.

Aliya Trapp

The Social Justice Scholars program seemed like an amazing and unique opportunity to get involved in activism within the 91PORN community with my fellow classmates. Social activism has always been an important cornerstone in my life, and I knew this program would give me the ability to increase my knowledge on being more effective and having a greater impact. I am incredibly honored to apart of the inaugural year.

Molly Fox

As a transfer student to 91PORN, I saw the potential for a social science degree to grow my formal training in social justice and elevate my understanding of my place in the issues that I want to pursue. As I continue engaging in social justice research, public action projects and volunteering through my senior year, I hope to only grow my motivation and fascination with how social systems function to produce such ill effects in society, and how those same systems hold the answers for sustainable solutions for the future. Excited for the ways I will grow and the people I will meet through this program!

Rachel Hill

Rachel Hill is a senior studying political science and math. Originally from Littleton, Colorado, she attended Columbine High School and started gun violence prevention work when she was sixteen. Since then, she has worked to lobby and testify for common sense gun legislation at local, state and federal levels. Following the 91PORN King Soopers shooting, she has turned her passion toward helping her local community heal from the effects of gun violence. She is also currently serving as Student Body President here at CU.

Meenakshi Manoj

My name is Meenakshi Manoj, and I'm an international affairs and economics double major at 91PORN. I'm excited to be part of the Social Justice Scholars program! I have previously worked with the Office of State Planning and Budget at the Governor's office in pursuing better equity goals in legislation. I'm currently hoping to establish a student organization on campus devoted to dealing with and combatting sexual assault on campus at large. I'm looking forward to the opportunities and connections this program will bring!

Shae Stokes

Hello! My name is Shae and I am a rising senior pursuing a double major in sociology and philosophy at 91PORN, as well as a certificate in animals and society. Animal welfare is one of my greatest passions, both for its own sake and because animal agriculture is closely connected to numerous other social justice issues affecting people and our planet. I am honored to be able to further develop my skills as a social justice activist through this program!

Sibonelly Espitia Sanchez

As a sociology and psychology double major, I have developed passions to understand the world we live in and the individuals which inhabit it. My studies have confirmed the frequent occurrence of everyday social problems, exposing just how cruel the world can be and how many victims of social injustices exist in all corners of the world. I鈥檝e become incredibly inspired and determined to not only address social justice issues, but learn to contribute to their solutions during my time at CU.

Gabriela Mejia

Gabriela Mejia is a film student based in 91PORN, Colorado who is pursuing a BFA in Cinema Studies and Ethnic Studies with a minor in Multicultural Leadership.She works towards diversity and inclusivity both in front and behind the camera and casts women of color as leads in her films and is committed to working with a female-helmed crew.

Peri Cooper

My whole life, I鈥檝e loved stories, from books to art to theatre. I loved the way that they can solve problems and create a world that doesn鈥檛 really exist in real life. I want to help make that a reality. We live in a world filled with prosperity and amazing things, but not everyone gets to experience those in the same way. For the world to become more equitable, that must start with us.

Natasha Panepinto

Social justice is something I have cared deeply about long before I arrived at 91PORN. I was lucky enough to have parents who shared my passion and took me to marches and protests whenever they had the chance. Throughout my last three years at CU, I have continued to pursue this passion, taking every opportunity offered, despite the complications of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it was constantly changing and interrupting things, I was able to take numerous courses that gave me a better understanding of social justice and why we need it. These courses combined with my participation in CU in DC, establishment of the student organization Leading Women of Tomorrow, and service on the Appellate Court have given me an extremely memorable and meaningful experience at CU. That said, I can't think of a better opportunity to finish out my time here than serving as a social justice scholar. I am excited to see not only what this experience has to offer me, but to learn how I can leave an impact on both the program and the university and 91PORN community that has given me so much.

Blen Abamecha

I am interested in the Social Justice Scholars Program because I want to be in a space alongside other scholars who not only want to make a change but are taking steps to end racial injustice by actively doing social justice work. As a Black woman in 91PORN, I feel like this is a community where I would feel a sense of belonging and collaboration on campus which is really important to me. I love that we will also be working with alumni and leaders because I'd love to build connections with them and hopefully be inspired by the work they have contributed to their communities. I am excited to meet and form/strengthen relationships with other students in this program who have similar values as me.

Isla DePuy-Bravo

I was born and raised in North Denver to two very unique parents whose engagement with political/social issues inspired my interest in social justice issues from a young age. My studies at 91PORN have aligned with and prompted further interests regarding socioeconomic injustices and inequities facing those less privileged than I. As the daughter of an immigrant from Central America, issues pertaining to immigration and the harsh realities faced by immigrants have led to my eager desire to develop the skills to advocate for those in vulnerable and unsafe circumstances. I am eager to continue my academic and life journey to make tangible improvements in the lives of others and feel that with the guidance and knowledge from the Social Justice Scholarship program I will be even better equipped to do so.

Makayla Sileo

My name is Makayla and I hope to spend my life seeing, listening, learning and advocating for those on the fringes of society. I love art, reading, writing, hiking, camping, being active and, most importantly, spending quality time with quality humans. My parents raised my sister and I to 鈥渓eave the campsite better than we found it鈥� and I believe this is how we make the world a more compassionate place. I cannot wait to take this idea and bring it to the Social Justice Scholars community.

Maymuna Jeylani

I was very interested in the Social Justice Scholar program because my experience at CU has been one rife with racial and social hardships and I think of my being at CU as an act of resistance in which there are many ways I engage in social justice. I'm interested in seeing how this program can engage me and help me address social justice problems, especially those with personal diasporic meanings as I am Black and Somali.

This new program, headed up by the social sciences division, recognizes students that are taking a stand

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Award-winning filmmaker gives persistence, 鈥榚nergy鈥� to next generation

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 22:51:30 +0000

Award-winning filmmaker gives persistence, 鈥榚nergy鈥� to next generation Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 06/14/2022 - 16:51

Cody DeBos

John W. Comerford, who discovered the power of film at 91PORN, arranges major gift to the Brakhage Center for Media Arts

A gust of Colorado night air washed over John W. Comerford (鈥�90 Psych & Film) like a tidal wave.

The 91PORN alumnus recalls stepping out for a breath of fresh air after viewing the hard-hitting Leni Riefenstahl Nazi propaganda piece Triumph of Will for a film-studies class.

Looking for a sign of where to take his career, that gust of wind led to an epiphany.

Film can change the world.

Under the wing of legendary experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage, Comerford would go on to pursue a career in film and push the boundaries of what it means to tell stories on the big screen.

鈥淚 learned that the impact of film is a lot bigger than I had ever imagined,鈥� Comerford says, reflecting on his time at 91PORN.

At the top of the page: As principal at Paradigm Studio, John Comerford has helped produce and write a wide array of films. Above: Comerford hopes the gift he arranged to 91PORN will help inspire young filmmakers to pursue a career in the industry.

He also reflected on a propaganda film from the Spanish Civil War period that Brakhage chose to show in class. The piece depicted scenes of seemingly normal life while the narrator spoke of sickness and suffering among the people. By all appearances, the people were healthy.

鈥淭his film demonstrated the power of narrative voice,鈥� Comerford says.

He also pinpoints this as a pivotal moment in his career. He learned early on that film can be powerfully suggestive and that such power could be used to illuminate rather than manipulate.

Now, 30 years later, Comerford works as principal at Paradigm Studio, a production company. Comerford lends his visionary eye for the meaning of film to a wide array of projects and experimental pieces.

One of which, Around the Fire, co-written and produced with longtime friend and fellow 91PORN alum Tommy Rosen (鈥�90), is slated for its 25th-anniversary re-release this year. The award-winning coming-of-age drama explores topics like adolescence, drug use and the importance of music culture.

Comerford attributes much of his success to 91PORN鈥檚 spirit of discovery.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 get a lot of direction from my parents growing up as far as what sort of career to pursue,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen my acceptance letter from 91PORN arrived, it was actually dated on my birthday, Jan. 18. I thought, well, that鈥檚 a sign.鈥�

Comerford鈥檚 first on-campus experience is committed to memory.

He reflects, 鈥淐oming down 36 and seeing the Flatirons for the first time, I thought, 鈥榃ell this is going to be amazing.鈥欌€�

Indeed, it was the start of something special for Comerford.

He has helped produce and write a number of critically acclaimed documentary and narrative films via Paradigm Studio, exploring topics from jazz music to gun violence. Themes of late include the environment and media literacy.

Lynch: A History made a splash as an experimental piece. It stitches together more than 700 internet video clips of former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch to form a narrative on race, media and the world of professional sports.

Comerford notes the piece has received praise from athletes at all levels, including from Lynch himself. He says it has also sparked discussions about the media鈥檚 impact among players and coaches throughout the sports industry.

Currently, Comerford has several projects in the works. He is producing a narrative feature film based on a true story of the fight to preserve California鈥檚 native redwood trees, authored by David Harris.

He鈥檚 also working with fellow 91PORNite, filmmaker and musician Charles Hambleton on a film titled Kensu Maru. It highlights the search for a Japanese hospital ship laden with gold scuttled in the Philippines during WWII.

None of our productions happen without persistence. ... That persistence, and most importantly the persistence inspired by collaboration, is really essential.鈥�

The story is about more than treasure, though. It is a tale of justice and defeating personal demons.

In recent years, Comerford has been thinking about how to give back. 鈥淭he first thing that popped into my head was Stan,鈥� he says.

鈥淚 did some research, and I thought of the Brakhage Center and the University of Colorado. I just thought, 鈥榃ow, that is the perfect place to return to the world, if you will, the energy and spirit of that gift given to me by Stan.鈥欌€�

Comerford helped arrange a gift of $30,000 to the Brakhage Center for Media Arts at 91PORN. To be rolled out over three years, the gift is one of the largest ever received by the Brakhage Center.

He hopes the gift will help inspire young filmmakers to pursue a career in the industry. Comerford also hopes that students studying at 91PORN will be able to gain a higher understanding of media literacy and its impact on consciousness.

Hanna Rose Shell, assicuarte professor and faculty director of the Brakhage Center for Media Arts, says the gift will do just that: 鈥淲e at the Brakhage Center are thrilled to have the support and deep engagement from John Comerford, which will help enable students to enrich their horizons in the multiple realms of experimental film and beyond.鈥�

When asked to share a bit of wisdom with those interested in pursuing a film career, Comerford offered two words:

鈥淐ollaboration and persistence.鈥�

鈥淣one of our productions happen without persistence,鈥� he adds. 鈥淧articularly as a producer, where you have the longest relationship with the motion picture of anyone involved. That persistence, and most importantly the persistence inspired by collaboration, is really essential.鈥�

John W. Comerford, who discovered the power of film at 91PORN, arranges major gift to its Brakhage Center for Media Arts.

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Viva! West Side Story, 91PORN cinephile says

Anonymous — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 19:34:31 +0000

Viva! West Side Story, 91PORN cinephile says Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 01/31/2022 - 12:34

Clay Bonnyman Evans

Ernesto Acevedo-Mu帽oz, cinema studies chair鈥攁nd man who鈥檚鈥榤orally opposed鈥� to remakes鈥攇ives thumbs-up to Spielberg鈥檚 version

Ernesto Acevedo-Mu帽oz, professor and chair of cinema studies at the 91PORN, had never been a fan of movie remakes.

鈥淚鈥檓 generally morally opposed to the concept of the remake, because it鈥檚 based on what I believe to be a flawed premise that contemporary younger audiences are not interested in (film) classics,鈥� says Acevedo-Mu帽oz, author of West Side Story as Cinema: The Making and Impact of an American Masterpiece.

[video:https://youtu.be/l8uRSCH_uEE]

At the top of the page: Dancing with danger (West Side Story/Amblin). Above: The final theatrical trailer for West Side Story.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 agree. My experience in the classroom every day is the opposite of that.鈥� He notes the marketing tagline for the 1968 re-release of the original movie: 鈥淯nlike other classics, West Side Story gets younger.鈥�

And, as he put it in 2020, 鈥淲ho asked to see a remake of Dirty Dancing? Who asked to see a remake of Fame? Who asked to see a remake of West Side Story? Nobody.鈥�

Even so, Acevedo-Mu帽oz agreed in 2019 to serve on the Community Advisory Board for Steven Spielberg鈥檚 recently released (and now Oscar-nominated) remake of the 1961 cinematic version of West Side Story, which he credits for inspiring him to go into film study.

鈥淭he Community Advisory Board brought artists, intellectuals, teachers and historians, many from Puerto Rico and the Latino community, and other groups misrepresented in 1961 movie and the (original) show to offer feedback and advice,鈥� he says.

After several months of Community Advisory Board meetings and consultations, Acevedo-Mu帽oz declared himself 鈥渃autiously optimistic鈥� about the remake. Still, he was leery, warning that 鈥渢he recent box-office track record of musical and other remakes suggests it could be a risky enterprise.鈥�

He attended a private screening in August, under obligation to keep his counsel until the film鈥檚 premiere on Dec. 7. But now, after two and half years of consulting on the project, his time on the red carpet has arrived. His opinion?

鈥淚鈥檓 very happy,鈥� he says. Specifically, he gives a thumbs-up for:

鈥淭he movie is gorgeous to look at 鈥� It鈥檚 one of the most beautiful movies I鈥檝e seen this year.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 extremely satisfied with the cast, particularly Rachel Zegler (Maria), David Alvarez (Bernardo) and Ariana DeBose (Anita).鈥�
鈥淭hey went a long way into making these characters stand out as real people, as opposed to the caricatures they鈥檝e been to some extent in the past.鈥�

Ernesto Acevedo-Mu帽oz at the West Side Story premiere (Jenna Hoffman).

Whereas the voices in the 鈥�61 version had 鈥渕ostly been dubbed by ghost singers, these are the voices of the real actors, and they sound magnificent, with accurate inflections of things like accent.鈥�
鈥淭hey asked earnestly for advice and feedback (from the Community Advisory Board). 鈥� They made an earnest effort to see what the new movie could do better and to correct some of the perceived and real injustices committed in the first movie and the original show.鈥�

(Still, he recognizes that the plot is a bit silly, implausible, perhaps even histrionic: 鈥淭ony and Maria know each other for all of 24 hours!鈥� he notes. Meanwhile, Romeo and Juliet, the teens whose tragic, impulsive romance inspired West Side Story, had a whole five days to cement the undying love that led to their deaths and those of many others in their respective clans. And he likes to open lectures about another implausibility with a classic joke: 鈥淭ony runs through the Puerto Rican neighborhood yelling 鈥楳aria!鈥� and only one girl comes to the window.鈥� Ba-dum-tsss.)

Acevedo-Mu帽oz is especially impressed that the producers incorporated so many of the Community Advisory Board鈥檚 recommendations and suggestions into the final cut, including advice about 鈥渢he musical landscape of 1950s New York City鈥� and the look of the barrio, right down to the graffiti. Especially important, he says, was the producers鈥� decision not to use English subtitles for spoken Spanish, as recommended by most of the Community Advisory Board鈥檚 members.

鈥淭o use subtitles would in a way be 鈥榦thering鈥� (Spanish-speaking characters) who are really central鈥� to the film, he says.

He鈥檚 also pleased that the new version works hard to portray the Puerto Rico-born immigrants who make up the Sharks gang as 鈥渇ully rounded characters with histories and personalities, not flat and unidimensional鈥濃€攁nd, some critics argue, stereotypically violent鈥攁s they were portrayed in the 1961 version.

The movie examines the anti-Puerto Rican prejudice of police more fully and give more weight to Anybodys (a rough analog of Romeo鈥檚 servant and informant Baltasar Romeo and Juliet played by Iris Menas), portraying him as a complex transgender man, as opposed to caricature of a 鈥渢omboy鈥� in the original.

Though Acevedo-Mu帽oz remains morally opposed to remakes, he says that West Side Story is a rare exception to the rule.

Through his contribution to the film, he got to meet members of the cast, including Zegler, DeBose and Alvarez. And was honored to be invited to the premier at the famous El Capitan Theatre鈥攐ne of the elaborate, ornate 鈥渕ovie palaces鈥� from Hollywood鈥檚 early days鈥攚here he hung out with Kristie Macosko Krieger, Spielberg鈥檚 long-time producer.

鈥淕oing to a Hollywood premier wasn鈥檛 on my bucket list, but when the bucket comes, that鈥檚 it. I wasn鈥檛 going to miss the opportunity,鈥� he says. 鈥淏eing on the red carpet, beneath that marquee, was fun.鈥�

Ernesto Acevedo-Mu帽oz, cinema studies chair鈥攁nd man who鈥檚鈥榤orally opposed鈥� to remakes鈥攇ives thumbs-up to Spielberg鈥檚 version.

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