For years, Maya Cade longed for a resource that catalogued Black cinema and its availability on streaming platforms. With the vastness of the internet and countless streaming services — both niche and popular — tracking down these films wasn’t often easy, and it became yet another barrier that kept audiences from discovering the rich history… Read more »
Bite-Sized Blogs
Paranoia, Claustrophobia, and Flamethrowers Galore: The Thing From Another World and The Thing
This fall, IU Cinema presents Re:Made, a thrilling series that pairs an original film with its remake to articulate how filmmaking, film culture, and film impact evolves as the industry, audiences, and cultures change. To celebrate our first Re:Made pairing — Howard Hawks and Christian Nyby’s The Thing From Another World (1951) and John Carpenter’s… Read more »
Wait, You Study That?: The Academic Scholarship of Cat Videos
Many of us watch cat videos without a second thought. We follow cats on Instagram, subscribe to multiple cat-themed sub-Reddits (r/startledcats, anyone?), and own Lil BUB or Grumpy Cat merch. Cats are weird and cute; why overanalyze it? Some researchers seem to agree, using cat videos as the frivolous internet foil to their serious subject…. Read more »
New Americas Cinema: What is international about international cinema, anyway?
Guest post by Dr. Alicia Kozma, Director of IU Cinema. International films are central to the core of the U.S. art house. In the 1950s and 1960s, art house theaters were often the only places you could see international films. Today, it would be rare to find an art house theater worth its salt that… Read more »
Eight Legged Freaks and the Good Rental
This June, Establishing Shot will feature a miniseries we’re calling Here’s Looking at You, 2002 as we take a look back at films celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. Today, Laura Ivins makes us nostalgic as she reminisces about the rise of the DVD and the charms of the video store. In 2002, the DVD format… Read more »
Five Reasons to See Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1952)
An underrated gem in the filmography of Douglas Sirk, Has Anybody Seen My Gal is a 1920s-set comedy that proves the director was adept at more than just tearjerkers. Read on to see what makes this film so special and why it is absolutely worth seeking out. It was Rock Hudson and Douglas Sirk’s first… Read more »