Thursday, February 23, 2017

"Beneath the cobblestones, the beach": Theory, Situationism and Cultural Resistance

Hans Magnus Enzensberger - Constituents of a Theory of the Media (1970)

Extra:
John Downing - Radical Media in Italy

How To Talk Like A Situationist

Guy Debord - Report on the Construction of Situations and on the International Situationist Tendency's Conditions of Organization and Action (1957)

If you are interested in reading more of the Situationist International's documents, manifestos and screeds (they are always fun, engaging and inspiring) you can find an excellent selection in the anthology edited by Tom McDonough and published by MIT Press titled Guy Debord and the Situationist International: Texts and Documents. Modern day situationists have made the book available here. Of course all of the Situationist documents are also available online at the Situationist Online Archive which is a true treasure trove of material. There are many other sources for Situationist materials freely available online, a direct result of the 'proto-free culture' approach the Situationist International always promoted.

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

More Net Neutrality Newz

An Anti-Consumer Agenda at the F.C.C.

Trump’s F.C.C. Pick Quickly Targets Net Neutrality Rules

U.S. telecommunications regulator closes 'sponsored data' probe

FCC to vote on advanced U.S. broadcast TV standards

New FCC chair vows to shrink industry regulations

FCC led by Trump pick starts to reverse Obama policies

Say Good-bye to the Last Pillar of the Free, Open Internet

Net Neutrality & Comcast: We (Almost) Own Everything...No, Really, We Do.

Four Infographics Reveal Why the Comcast Merger Is Bad for You

The Comcast-Time Warner Deal, by the Numbers

Netflix To Pay Comcast to Not Ruin Your Evenings

Why YouTube buffers: The secret deals that make—and break—online video

Comcast claims competition from Google Fiber, Netflix & Hulu are reasons to approve merger

Netflix Quality Sucks Because ISPs Won't Bother Fixing It

The Real Problem with the Comcast Merger

Monday, February 20, 2017

Cinematic Specificity: Language or Reality

On Montage:
Vsevolod Pudovkin, "On Editing" from Film Technique
Sergei Eisenstein, "Methods of Montage" from Film Form

On Realism:
André Bazin, What is Cinema, Vol. 1
(nb. please only read the essays at pg. 9 and pg. 41: "The Ontology of the Photographic Image" + "The Virtues and Limitations of Montage (aka Montage Interdit).

The In-Between Years (or The Empire Strikes Back)

The Folk Revival:

The Kingston Trio - Tom Dooley
Pete Seeger - Turn Turn Turn!
Joan Baez - Silver Dagger
Bob Dylan - Masters of War
Lyrics here.

Surf & Hot Rod Combos:

The Beach Boys - Surfin USA
Dick Dale & The Del-Tones - Miserlou
Link Wray & His Ray Men - Rumble (Outtake)
The Stingers (Jack Cole) - Mustang

Uptown R&B from Motown/All songs by Holland-Dozier-Holland:

Martha & The Vandellas - Nowhere To Run
The Four Tops - Reach Out I'll Be There
The Supremes - You Can't Hurry Love
Marvin Gaye - How Sweet It Is

Girl Groups/Phil Spector Wall of Sound/Songs by Weill & Mann:

The Ronettes - Be My Baby
The Crystals - Then He Kissed Me
The Crystals - Da Doo Ron Ron

Cynthia Weill & Barry Mann songs NOT produced by Phil Spector:

Lesley Gore - It's My Party

The Wall of Sound in full-effect:

Ike & Tina Turner - River Deep, Mountain High

The Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling

Readings:
Keightley, "Reconsidering Rock"

nb. You will not be responsible for this reading for the midterm. We will discuss the issues and concepts raised in it after the exam. I do however urge you to read it as it offers a lot of points that would help your review of material that will actually be covered on the midterm.

In Garofalo you should read up to and including Chapter 6.

Monday, February 13, 2017

R'n'R or Transubstantiated R'n'B?

Elvis Presley - That's All Right, Mama + Blue Moon of Kentucky
Bill Haley & The Comets - Crazy Man Crazy
Fats Domino - Ain't That A Shame + Blueberry Hill
Little Richard - Tutti Frutti
Chuck Berry - Almost Grown + Little Queenie
Bo Diddley - Pretty Thing
The Chords - Sh-Boom
Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers - Why Do Fools Fall In Love

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Enough to Make Strong Men Weep: HK Cinema and John Woo by Bordwell

David Bordwell on the Hong Kong Action Cinema and John Woo.
You'll find three chapters from Bordwell's Planet Hong Kong here. Chapters 1&2 look at HK cinema from an industry and mode of production perspective and provides a comparative discussion of HK with the CHC. The third section (Chapter 4a) is a specific analysis of John Woo's filmic style.
from David Bordwell, Planet Hong Kong: Popular Cinema and The Art of Entertainment; 2nd Ed (Irvington Way Institute Press: Madison, WI, 2011) -- if you are interested and want to read more (and why wouldn't you) you can visit davidbordwell.net to purchase a pdf copy of the complete book. You'll also find other books by Bordwell at the same link.

The Technology and the Society: A Critique of McLuhan

In order to be done with ol' Marshall (even though you're never done with him).
Raymond Williams, "The Technology and the Society" from Television: Technology and Cultural Form

Hot and Cold Media Is the Message in the Global Village of the Guttenberg Galaxy

Eisenstein Diagram

Here are the 'notes' re: the taxonomy of Hot and Cold media. Below is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's 'Conference' program from 1977 where McLuhan discusses and responds to audience questions on his main theoretical ideas. If we don't get to watch and discuss this in class please watch it on your own:

Monday, February 6, 2017

Whitey's Lindy Hoppers: Something Wild

This is the Lindy Hop, the Jitterbug, the Suzie-Q. The clip is an excerpt from H.C. Potter's Helzapoppin' (1941). The Lindy Hoppers doing "The Big Apple" in 1939 are here. Enjoy.
In this clip the dancing starts at the 2:15 mark.

from Jonathan Demme's Something Wild; The Feelies play David Bowies's "Fame" and Jeff Daniels dances with his eye on the 'Other' for cues.

Groovy Movie (1944): Instructional Video for the Lindy Hop