Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with books and film

Women who runs with the Wolf Lecture

Ambrosia Voyeur — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:34:02 -0800

What have you heard about werewolves? I need to know everything there is to know about the mythology of werewolves, from media, from folklore and especially from batshit cryptozoology circles, for a surprise (as in, surprise to ME) lecture I'll be delivering next week. I'll be doing academic research on the topic on my own, but I thought this would be a good place to get a broad pop-cultural base of different facets of this concept in a hurry.

Some sample ponderings I'm beginning with:

- What are the "rules" of werewolves? Are they strictly involuntary shape-shifters?
- What other kinds of were-animals have there been in myth? (Cat People comes to mind.)
- What are some weird werewolf anomalies from werewolf stories you know of?
- Werewolves: sexy? hungry? what's their motivation?
- Are there werewolf myths from foreign lands?
- What's the moon significance? Is that a jacked-the-hell-up gender thing or what?

I've seen: Teen Wolf and its sequel, Wolf, An American Werewolf in London, and am familiar with Remus Lupin in book and film. I think that's about the entirety of my werewolf exposure. Any movies I MUST see ASAP? The class will be screening Ginger Snaps.

Since the class I'm lecturing for thematically treats issues of wildness vs. domesticity, any anecdotes or examples of werewolves interacting with wolf-wolves or with pet dogs would be good to come up with.

Obviously lots of kinds of info or pointers are welcome.

Please suggest books, movies or shows like Bel Canto

reenum — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:44:26 -0800

I loved the plot of Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Any recommendations for similar books, shows, or movies? I loved how Patchett's book showed hostages and hostage takers forming a sort of community within their besieged compound.

I also remember an essay with a similar theme by P.J. O'Rourke. It involved him being stuck in a hotel with a bunch of foreign correspondents during a bombing and talked about how they coped.

Any suggestions?

Help a 13 y/o get to know the Amercian soldier.

keith0718 — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:30:34 -0800

What resources (films, books, websites) can I share with my 13 y/o daughter who has expressed a recent keen admiration and care for the American soldier from the Vietnam War era to the present? I recently took my 13 y/o daughter to see The Hurt Locker, after which she expressed a deeply felt admiration for the American soldier. I told her that not everyone feels the same way; and that, especially after the Vietnam War, soldiers were subject to quite a bit of disrespect when they returned home. She was really interested in his phenomenon and I would like to direct her to some resources (films, books, websites) that help her explore it and empathize with the existential experiences of the American soldier both on the battlefield and at home.

What creative plot devices have been ruined by technology?

ckolderup — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:16:52 -0800

What inventions/societal changes besides cell phones have effectively "ruined" plot devices for stories in movies, TV, books, and so forth? It used to be that you could write a story in which tension is built or a problem is created because someone is trying to get in touch with someone else to get them information that they need immediately, but they have already left their house and will not hear the phone ringing. Nowadays, it is much more likely that the person would be carrying a cell phone and be reachable at almost all times. Have there been other inventions throughout history or massive changes in societal norms that have "ruined" similar plot devices?

Are there more that are endangered due to up-and-coming technologies that may not be extremely widespread yet, but are showing a promising adoption rate?

I want to see more bad people

reenum — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 06:48:37 -0800

Please suggest movies, TV shows and books that feature unrepentant, amoral characters I was a big fan of Seinfeld when it was on, and now love It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Eastbound & Down.

The common thread running through these shows is a character or group of characters who are often selfish at best, amoral at worst and unrepentant about it. Also, the characters don't seem to have an epiphany that makes them "good", like the case with many movies and books. For example, I loved the movie Roger Dodger until the ending.

I want more of this. I'd love suggestions on TV shows (except Weeds), movies, and nonfiction books or biographies. I've read about such characters in fiction, so don't need recs on those sorts of books.

Thanks!

Websites about South Asian culture

Ziggy500 — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:49:48 -0800

Recommend me some neat blogs, websites or news sources about South Asian culture, please. I read Sepia Mutiny and Ultrabrown, and am looking for more intelligent, entertaining commentary and news about South Asian culture (books, film, etc) along the same lines. Bonus points for blogs with a Bollywood-focus. Thanks for your help!

Girls through the looking glass

zoomorphic — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:55:53 -0800

I'm looking for both films, books, and short stories where the story of a girl or a woman is told solely through the perspective of a male narrator. I finally got around to reading Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides last week and subsequently watched the Coppola film. I realized that, like, Lolita, the story of the Lisbon girls is distilled through the eyes of male narrators. It's entirely possible that the scenes with only the Lisbon girls and their parents are confabulations imagined by the boys. If that's the case, both Lolita and the Lisbon girls have no control over their own stories. Are there any other works of literature that tackle this refracted narration?

Film examples are perhaps trickier, since "perspective" can turn into the broader form of "cinematography," so I'm not looking for movies in which a girl's story is simply filmed by a man, but the narrative is otherwise hers. Obviously, I'm already counting both Coppola and Kubrick's adaptations.

Bonus points for any film/lit criticism about this subject that goes beyond the simple "male gaze" theories.

Books for the magic bus?

humuhumu — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 01:42:03 -0800

Into the Wild: what were the books which Chris McCandless took with him and read on the magic bus?

How can I best learn the French language, grammar, and pronunciation?

christopherbdnk — Mon, 26 May 2008 22:42:34 -0800

How can I best learn the French language, grammar, and pronunciation? I am hoping over the summer to learn French with my wife. I am looking less to be able to communicate verbosely and more to comprehend complex French texts (both written and spoken) that are currently without English translation.

With that in mind, I am hoping to stay away from the "learn French in 30 Days!!!" sort of stuff and stick more with learning through grammar, written instruction, pronunciation keys, etc.

What's available?

Filmmaker training, online?

pseudostrabismus — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:59:19 -0800

Suggest online or DVD resources for a new filmmaker to learn about lenses, film formats, shot composition, camera moves, dialogue staging, and other aspects of cinematography & directing? I'd like to get good at directing film, and learning how to do this using books seems old-fashioned.

I want so see examples of shots using different lenses, film formats, compositions, camera moves, camera angles, etc. I've read Film Directing Shot-by-Shot, which is pretty good, but I think that seeing this stuff as a moving visual would be even better.

Is there a website with video tutorials? Or a DVD course somewhere out there?
Other resources I should think about? And I'm open to more book suggestions, too.

Thanks in advance!

Examples of Mise en Abyme (in form)

0bvious — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 06:57:37 -0800

Recursion filter: I recently came across the phrase 'Mise en Abyme' and have become fascinated by recursion in literature, language and film. What writings have used these themes in their form to address the questions they posed? The idea of presenting the form of a text/film/critique so that it exemplifies the question posed fascinates me (so for instance, if I asked 'what is recursion?' and my essay contained a footnote which refered back to the text which then refered back to the footnote, then in some simple sense I have a form of recursion in my essay).

What writers, film-makers etc. have integrated aspects of Mise en Abyme into their work in this exemplary manner? (I am more interested in non-fiction pieces, but realise that a lot of fiction out there which has used this technique are formally very unique.)

I have a copy of Gödel, Escher, Bach sitting on my bookshelf, staring at me. I am also well versed in the works of Foucault, Barthes and Derrida.

Thanks for reading

Looking for fictional intragenerational incest narratives.

nobody — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:30:36 -0800

I'm looking for fictional intragenerational incest narratives -- books, film, television, etc. -- in which the relationship is presented as a tragic love, doomed to failure. I'm not interested in the probably more common (and more realistic) pure trauma narratives. The relationship need not necessarily be physically consummated. A few, as examples of what might count here: Geek Love, The House of Yes, The Royal Tennenbaums. Please, no intergenerational stories. That's gross.

Stories about healthy, "normal" marriages?

callmejay — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 00:29:41 -0800

Stories about healthy, "normal" marriages? I'm interested in reading, watching, or hearing stories about healthy, relatively "normal" marriages. Understandably, fiction and nonfiction often focus on unusual and/or unhealthy relationships. By (I'm not criticizing open/poly marriages or quirky people or whomever, but that's just not what I'm interested in.)

I remember being struck by the movie The Matador (otherwise unremarkable) which had a middle aged, long-married couple that was depicted as regularly having very satisfying, plain-old vanilla sex. That must happen all the time in real life, but in books and movies it's often about affairs or fights or kinks or what have you.

There are sitcoms like The Cosby Show and Mad About You which sort of fit the bill, but I know the hive mind can come up with more and better examples.

Looking for good mystery novels/films centered around missing persons.

SmileyChewtrain — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 19:51:07 -0800

I'm doing research (for a writing project) into Film Noirs and Mystery Pulps, and I'm looking for good selections of a certain plot type: the "missing person" scenario. Any recommendations for books or movies that are good examples of this "follow-the-clues" style story would be greatly appreciated. I'm fairly familiar with the genre, but as is usually the case when in need, I've forgotten most of the films and books I've come across that fit the bill for this project. As far as movies go, some examples I can give off the top of my head are "The Vanishing," "Chinatown," or "The Third Man." Unfortunately I can't think of any good Chandler, Hammett or Spillane books at the moment that fit this plot, but I'm sure I've come across a few.

I'm really interested in finding stories in which a small "personal" investigation gradually unravels to reveal a situation of a much larger scope. "Kiss Me Deadly" has this type of stake raising, only the investigation centers around a missing object, not a person.

Examples of this plot type that have struck you as unique takes on the subject would be excellent, as would more typical (though "quintessential" would be preferred) examples. Thanks very much!

Who would sacrifice their reputation for the sake of the world?

Sticherbeast — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 16:56:18 -0800

Who would sacrifice their reputation for the sake of the world? I'm looking for characters in both fiction and history who allowed themselves to be either completely forgotten or despised in order to perform what they perceive to be the greater good. I'm interested in characters who are correct, incorrect, and/or ambiguous with regard to what constitutes the "greater good." Examples off the top of my head include Judas from Borges' "Three Versions of Judas" and John Smith from The Dead Zone, as well as some characters from Joss Whedon's stuff.

Does anyone know what this book and these films are?

angryjellybean — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 02:55:51 -0800

Does anyone know what this book and these films are? Okay, the book is a kid's book, it might only be British. It was a collection of short stories, one of which had a little girl who sent her parents all around everywhere because she was so fussy about eating, and then some kind of witch brought her some baked beans (I think they were beans). Another one of the stories involved a dog who got all its hair removed by some kind of cursed rock thing. No I wasn't on drugs when I read it. Oh, I think another story was a princess who was really snobby about men, and then she ended up getting eaten by a giant snake? Yeah..... just wondering if anybody has a clue what book this was.

Also I was trying to track down a movie, again for children, where a little girl goes on a hunt around Australia to find a baby kangaroo, who I think was called Joey (original!). But the movie started in real-life and then changed to a cartoon/animated style when she went on the adventure. It was kind of Aboriginal.

Then there was another movie which was in the EXACT same style as that 'Dark Crystal' film (the Jim Henson one) but it was actually about what I think was 'The Little Matchstick Girl'. But I've searched that on Google a lot and haven't found anything. It might not even be that story.

Thanks for trying to help, I know my descriptions are quite vague!!

Resources on the transformation of books to movies

meerkatty — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 07:44:28 -0800

Looking for books, essays, articles, any resources at all about film's relationship to literature. I'm working on a PhD chapter about film's relationship to literature and vice versa. I know very little about film so have picked up James Monaco's How to Read a Film and Bordwell/Thompson's Film Art: An Introduction. But I'm really looking for information on how the two mediums relate - in particular, what happens when books are turned into films. (Walter Murch & Michael Ondaatje's The Conversations has been somewhat helpful.) I also need resources on the function of documentary films.

So MeFites, whose knowledge base constantly blows my mind, any suggestions? Anything in regard to any of this would be immensely helpful as I'm really starting from scratch here. Thanks!

2nd person perspective narratives

0bvious — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 21:10:39 -0800

Fiction usually comes in two flavours: 1st person narrative or 3rd person description. What short stories or novels have been written in 2nd person perspective (i.e. from the reader's viewpoint)? Also, are there any movies shot entirely from this angle?

Books and films about Africa?

jdroth — Sun, 18 Sep 2005 21:46:48 -0800

Lately I've been on a sort of Africa kick. I'm mostly ignorant of the continent, and think that's a shame. Can you recommend good books and films on Africa? (Any aspect is fine: big or small.) I like fiction and non-fiction. I'm particularly interested in stories that reveal what daily life is like for the people who live in Africa. I'm a bit less interested on political matters from a macro perspective, but am very keen on how politics affect day-to-day life.

As a point of reference, I have read (or plan to read): Don't Let's Go To the Dogs Tonight (Rhodesia/Zaire), No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (Botswana), Cry the Beloved Country (South Africa), Things Fall Apart (Nigeria), The Sheltering Sky (Morocco & The Sahara), and Tarzan of the Apes (???). I've liked them all, though for varied reasons.

Films I've seen (or plan to see soon) include: Born Free (Kenya), The Flame Trees of Thika (Kenya), Hotel Rwanda (Rwanda), The Gods Must Be Crazy Botswana), and The Ghost and the Darkness (???).

I'd also be interested in rich web sites on Africa covering topics from the minute to the grand.

Crypto film rights

OmieWise — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 15:06:04 -0800

Have the film rights to Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon been sold? In general how does one discover the answer to such a question (what the kids call google-fu is weak with me)?

Staying Current

eatcherry — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 12:17:09 -0800

KeepingUpWithTheKidsFilter: How do you keep up with new books, music, films, etc.? More inside. I seem to have a hard time staying current when it comes to interesting books, cool bands, good films, stuff like that. I think it's because I'm a bit indecisive and I find it hard to deal with huge amounts of information and choices, so I'd like to find some sort of resource that would make it easy to see what's new and interesting and worth checking out without being totally overwhelming. Any suggestions?