Celebrating the 10th Anniversary
of the Film and Media Studies major!

As our national and international cultures become increasingly dominated by visual culture, we acknowledge the need to become critical viewers, knowledgeable in the history of the most popular art forms of our time and possessing the analytical skills to understand and interpret visual forms of expression. The undergraduate major in film and media studies requires the rigorous study of history and aesthetics in an attempt to understand the creative force of an individual art work, its relation to other artistic production, its place in culture, and its relation to industrial and business practices.

The Program in Film and Media Studies has many of its courses cross-listed with Performing Arts, Comparative Literature, English, American Culture Studies, Germanic Languages and Literature, Art History, History, Music, Romance Languages.

DECENT GRADES? Up-and-coming (and soon gone!) noteworthy films, as reviewed by your devoted faculty...

FOOD INC.
Participant Media hits home by tackling the short term thinking of the food industry's race after profits. Some indelible images and unconscionable practices are revealed---> A must see, beyond the grading system (pm)

UP
It is hard to choose between the cantankerousness of old age and the optimism of youth, both have their charm: one is full of knowledge, the other, full of innocence and hope. No need to choose with this film, we get them both at the same time, and with the third character being the archetypal home, its 3-D quality brings out at times a quality rare in animation, tears---> A (pm)

SHALL WE KISS?
What could have been too cute of a question becomes a uniquely French humorous investigation. As the characters make every effort to rise above the confines of their skin, this comedy flows like chamber music to explore the danger of focusing only on the present moment's desire---> A (pm)

TULPAN
Strong winds, birth and death will keep us honest. Add to it the stark steppes of Kazakhstan and a camera that loves its actors (and its animals), and you have a rich and intimate portrayal of Kazakh country life that will revive most wearied Western viewers---> A (p.m.)

TOKYO SONATA
One might be reminded of the two outstanding films, "Nobody Knows" and "Time-Out" but this film stands on its own, in a more muted way, as a tale of contemporary Japan, struggling, beyond appearances, to manage its limping---> A- (p.m.)

GIGANTIC
Featuring Paul Dano, Zooey Deschanel, Ed Asner, John Goodman and Jane Alexander, this offbeat fresco of individuals shines through its tight dialogue. Each pithy scene reveals one delusion after another---> A- (p.m.)


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