The Works:
Memento: Director Christopher Nolan's groundbreaking film Memento (2000) takes the psychological thriller subgenre to new heights, using a number of tactics and devices that have helped to reshape the perception of mainstream film.
Hamlet: Shakespeare created Hamlet, a supremely rich and complex literary work that continues to delight and challenge both readers and audiences with the complexity of its themes, the breadth and depth of its portrayal of human nature and consciousness, and the nearly infinite scope of its interpretability.
Olivier's Hamlet: The classic film (1948) of Shakespeare's "Hamlet".
The Great Hamlets: In this program, each actor comments on the major scenes of the play, and, through excerpts from productions that range from the silent film era to the modern stage, we see various interpretations of those scenes. Trevor Nunn then interviews each actor about the source of his interpretation. The program includes both traditional and avant-garde productions. (Program 1)
The Great Hamlets: In this program Trevor Nunn probes the underlying dynamics of the play. He examines the psychological dynamics of Hamlet, the oedipal conflict and Hamlet’s madness, feigned or real. Nunn also explores the political questions that are raised in the play. The viewer learns that Hamlet is the most coveted of all performances in the classical repertoire, because, as Nunn says, "To act Hamlet requires nothing less of the actor than everything he’s got." (Program 2)
Hamlet--A Critical Guide: Shakespeare’s troubled character comes to life in this program in the capable hands of leading scholars, as they discuss the major themes of the play, its plot, and the actions of its main characters. Analyzing key scenes, scholars Russell Jackson and Stanley Wells of Stratford-upon-Avon offer insights into the underlying meaning of Hamlet’s eloquent soliloquies, as well as the play’s eight violent deaths, adultery, ghostly haunting, and ultimate tragic end.
The Hobbit--A Journey Into Maturity: The lecture reflects implicitly on the value of The Hobbit as Tolkien questions and ultimately affirms the dignity of fairy stories, not as folk artifacts or childish entertainment, but as expressions of a deep contemporary need.
The Importance of Runic Language: Ancient memorials called rune stones are inscribed in the Runic language. Tolkien added a Runic riddle to "The Hobbit" that is written in Runic. An ancient map is also written in Runic. Smaug, the last golden dragon, represents greed.
Dragon Allegories: The myth of the golden dragon that guards a horde of gold is almost identical to a plot in "Beowulf." Both dragon stories are allegories about the danger of greed.
Thinkers & Critical Thinking:
Plato: One of the most influential philosophers of the Western world. A philosopher is someone who studies logic, ethics (moral values), and other subjects for greater wisdom and experience.
Prelude--Interpreting Plato: One cannot understand Plato without paying due attention to his style.
Buddhism, Christianity & The Matrix: This essay analyzes the recent film The Matrix from the perspective of modern-day myth-making. After a brief plot summary of the film, I note the well-documented parallels to the Christian messianic narrative of Jesus.
Coded Discourse: Romancing the (Electronic) Shadow in "The Matrix": Haslam argues that criticism on the Wachowski Brothers' film, "The Matrix" (1999), has generally followed along the lines of early criticism surrounding the cyberpunk fiction of the late 1980s, which is usually seen as being founded by, and epitomized in, William Gibson's 1984 novel Neuromancer. Within this critical framework, "The Matrix" is supposedly the filmic refinement of the posthuman, indeterminate identity some see as being offered by cyberpunk fiction.
Jean Baudrillard: Hailed as a genius and as one of the most forward thinking social theorists of the 20th century, who utilized Marxism and theories of consumerism first and later utilized semiotics to explore everyday life.
Assessing A Revolution: Baudrillard, Unproductive Expenditure and the Legacy of the 1960s: This article seeks to develop the significance of the 1960s as a period of cultural revolution. Early Baudrillard is treated as the cultural revolution's equivalent to Marx. The idea of unproductive expenditure is seen as the era's central idea. Having discussed, as does Baudrillard, typical 1960s' phenomena as examples of unproductive expenditure, the question of the eventual fate of the cultural revolution is explored.
Nolan's Memento, Memory & Recognition: Gargett employes Deleuzian film theory in a general consideration of the relationship between thought and film. Gargett proposes that Memento acts as a intellectual stimulant that has the viewer deciphering a puzzle in process: what is identified in Memento is the way in which memory and the work of memory are presented in the film's narrative construct.
Out of Body Experiences (Virtual Reality): A surprisingly large number of people report having had an out-of-body experience. A common story is they find their awareness floating up near the ceiling. In this video segment, meet up with scientists in Switzerland who’ve been examining the phenomenon.
The Future of Realism: The representation of reality has become a cultural obsession in an image-saturated modern environment. Images take on new meaning in the information-infused context of virtual reality.
Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?: Social media—from Facebook to Twitter—have made us more densely networked than ever. Yet for all this connectivity, new research suggests that we have never been lonelier (or more narcissistic)—and that this loneliness is making us mentally and physically ill. A report on what the epidemic of loneliness is doing to our souls and our society.
Logic & Instinct in the Virtual World: Volunteers enter a virtual reality. Their responses are the same as they would be in reality. They must make instant, strategic decisions in the virtual world. Logic goes out the window and instincts take over.
William Shakespeare: English playwright, poet, and actor William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is generally acknowledged to be the greatest of English writers and one of the most extraordinary creators in human history.
J.R.R. Tolkien: He gained a reputation during the 1960s and 1970s as a cult figure among youths disillusioned with war and the technological age; his continuing popularity evidences his ability to evoke the oppressive realities of modern life while drawing audiences into a fantasy world.
Surrealism Finds a Place in Film: In 1928 the film "Un Chien Andalou" epitomized Surrealism and represented everything painting and literature was trying to do. Salvador Dali entered the movement as a performance artist.