Stephen King and George Romero

Stephen King’s Prophetic Early Work

King of Horror Stephen King celebrates his 70th birthday. Will he finally get the respect he deserves from academia and the culture industry?
DNA Strand

Using DNA As a Memory Drive

Scientists have successfully encoded a simple movie in bacteria DNA, and played it back. Using DNA for data storage is not as crazy as it sounds...
Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis: French Film Master

Jerry Lewis was lionized in France as a film auteur, a genius of movie-making. What did the French know that Americans didn't?
drive-in theater

Why Drive-Ins Were More Than Movie Theaters

Drive-ins embodied the suburbanization of middle class families -- and created an entirely new way of watching the movies.
Gene Wilder in 1978

Gene Wilder

Gene Wilder and the fan letters he got...from Gene Wilder.
Screenshot of Flower from the trailer for the film Bambi.

The Problematic Influence of Disney’s “Bambi”

Bambi has had a pervasive influence on how Americans view nature, and that might not be such a good thing.
Logo for Janus Films

In Praise of the Messenger: Janus Films & The Criterion Collection

William J. Becker, co-owner of Janus Films, was instrumental in bringing art house and foreign cinema to American audiences. We reflect on his influence.
Buster Keaton behind bars in black and white

Buster Keaton’s Humor Had a Dark Side

The dark side of Buster Keaton's comedic work
Black and white images of Humphrey Bogart lighting his trademark cigarette and Buster Keaton posed behind bars side-by-side

Don’t Say Cheese! The Smiles of Buster Keaton and Humphrey Bogart

Some celebrities like Buster Keaton and Humphrey Bogart are recognized for not smiling—and when they do, it comes across as, well, unnatural.
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Spike Lee, Danny Aiello
Credit: Universal Pictures/Courtesy Neal Peters Collection

Forming a Critical Sense of Race with Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing”

Interpretations of the film may differ by race, media scholar Kelli Marshall finds.