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COM 329, Contemporary Film, Fall 2014 Extra Credit Viewing Opportunities All due at the Final Exam (may hand in earlier) 9/9/14 version

You may receive up to 2% extra credit for each film viewed and analyzed (up to 4% for selected films showing at the Cleveland Cinematheque, the Cleveland Museum of Art, or area Film Festivals if ticket stub is attached), to a maximum total of 10%. Films must be from the list of approved films. However, there may be additions made in class, including some additional Cinematheque or Cleveland Museum of Art viewings. You may propose films to add to the list; if you wish to do so, please write me a note. If approved, I need to extend the offer to the rest of the class.

For each film viewed, you need to do just a little research. Use the Katz Film Encyclopedia or similar source (possibly even Wikipedia—it’s gotten much better) to learn about the main "players" involved in the film--the director, producer(s), writer(s), DP/, and main stars (IMDb is not sufficient for such biographical info, BTW). Also, check out Halliwell's Film Guide, Magill’s Survey of Cinema volumes, or Wikipedia regarding the film itself. The Katz book is available in the MU107 projection booth, and Magill’s is in the reference section of the CSU Library. Use your textbooks, too! (I’ve pulled some titles from our texts.) Beyond Wikipedia, some online sources are good, others are bogus.

The list of films is constructed with several goals in mind. First, a goal is to encourage students to see things you have not seen before! Thus, many outstanding contemporary films are not included. Second, the types of novel films listed are intentionally diverse: (a) Some “older” films (-1980s) are included because they represent key contributions to the development of what we call contemporary film, either domestic (e.g., Little Big Man, The Last Picture Show, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Pink Flamingos) or international (e.g., , ); (b) some listed are important early works by important contemporary filmmakers (e.g., , Milos Forman, , the ); (c) some listed are unique and/or outstanding examples of contemporary international cinema that most Americans have not seen (e.g., Hipsters, Uncle Boonmee. . . , Farewell My Concubine, , Old Boy, Little Otik); (d) finally, some are documentaries that focus on filmmaking in the past several decades (e.g., Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. . . , Constant Forge. . ., Overnight, Lost in La Mancha).

After viewing the film, complete a 2-page typed, double-spaced analysis, addressing the following issues:

1. Contemporary historiography in 2 parts: A: What about this film makes it important to the development and history of contemporary film? What is its contribution (in terms of technique, genre, movement, national cinemas, etc.)? B: What does this film inform us about the U.S. or the world? How does it inform us about the human condition?

2. Analyze the film in terms of the main "players" (director, DP, writer, etc., as noted above)--what unique talents did they bring to the endeavor? And, how do their contributions to this film fit into their careers? 2

COM 329, Contemporary Film Fall 2014 Approved Extra Credit Viewing Opportunities 9/9/14 version

* - Showing at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque; double extra credit points possible for each (with ticket stub) ** - Showing at the Cleveland Museum of Art; double extra credit points possible for each (with ticket stub) *** - Showing at the Chagrin Documentary Film Fest; double extra credit points possible for each (with ticket stub)

* - Polyester, 1981, U.S., John Waters—9/20 8:50 & 9/21 6:30 * - Next Stop, Greenwich Village, U.S., Paul Mazursky—9/21 4:00 * - This Filthy World: Filthier and Dirtier, John Waters in person—9/27 7:30 * - Nymphomaniac Volume I: The Director’s Cut, 2013, /Germany//Belgium/U.K., —10/12 3:30 * - Norman McLaren Centennial Salute, 1940-68, Canada, Norman McLaren et al.—10/18 7:00 ** - Agnes Varda: From Here to There, 2011, France, Agnes Varda—9/27 12:30 ** - Hester Street (and An Afternoon with Joan Micklin Silver), 1975, U.S., Joan Micklin Silver—10/29 1:30 *** - The Sax Man, 2014, U.S., Joe Siebert—10/8 4:45 *** - Perfect Strangers, 2013, U.S., Jan Krawitz—10/9 3:30, 10/10 3:45, & 10/11 2:15 *** - Mentor, 2013, U.S., Alix Lambert—10/10 1:00 & 10/11 1:30 *** - Alive Inside, 2013, U.S., Michael Rossato-Bennett—10/8 1:30 & 10/10 7:45

On-your-own viewing (regular extra credit, 2% each); listed alphabetically:

After the Wedding (2006, , Denmark) (1973, , ) American Friend, The (1977, , ) American Movie (1999, Chris Smith, USA) (2001, Alejandro Inarritu, ) Andrei Rublev (1966, , Soviet Union) Apple, The (1998, Samira Makhmalbaf, Iran) Beaches of Agnes, The (2009, Agnes Varda, France) Bhaji on the Beach (1993, Gurinder Chadha, UK) (2010, Alejandro Inarritu, Mexico) Blood Simple (1985, The Coen Brothers, USA) Boxcar Bertha (1972, Martin Scorsese, USA) Boxing Gym (2010, Frederick Wiseman, USA) Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974, Sam Peckinpah, USA) Celebration, The () (1998, , Denmark) Clockwork Orange, A (1971, , UK) Closely Watched Trains (1966, Jiri Menzel, Czechoslovakia) Constant Forge, A: The Life and Art of John Cassavettes (2000, Charles Kiselyak, USA) Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, The (1989, Peter Greenaway, UK/France) Crazy Horse (2011, Frederick Wiseman, USA) (2000, Lars von Trier, Denmark) 3

Delicatessen (1991, Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, France) Dil Se (1998, Mani Ratnam, ) Diva (1981, Jean-Jacques Beineix, France) Don't Look Now (1973, Nicolas Roeg, UK/Italy) Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-And Rock 'N Roll Generation Saved (2003, Kenneth Bowser, USA) (1982, , Sweden) Farewell My Concubine (1993, Kaige Chen, China) Fireman's Ball, The (1967, Milos Forman, Czechoslovakia) Fountain, The (2006, , USA) Gates of Heaven (1978, Errol Morris, USA) Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The (2009, Niels Arden Oplev, Sweden) Greatest Movie Ever Sold, The (2011, Morgan Spurlock, USA) Gummo (1997, Harmony Korine, USA) Happy Together (1997, Kar Wai Wong, Hong Kong) Hard-Boiled (1992, John Woo, Hong Kong) Hipsters (Stiyagi) (2008, Valery Todorovsky, Russia) (2000, Kar Wai Wong, Hong Kong) (2002, Wai-keung Lau and Siu Fai Mak, Hong Kong) Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis (2007, Mary Jordan, USA) Ju Dou (1990, , China) Kandahar (2001, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Iran) Katyn (2007, Andrej Wajda, ) Kid Stays in the Picture, The (2002, Nanette Burstein & Brett Morgen, USA) (1962, Roman Polanski, Poland) Lagaan (2001, Ashutosh Gowariker, India) Last Picture Show, The (1971, , USA) Like Water for Chocolate (1992, Alfonso Arau, Mexico) Little Big Man (1970, Arthur Penn, USA) Little Otik (2000, Jan Svankmajer, Czech Republic) Live Flesh (Carne Tremulo) (1997, Pedro Almodovar, Spain) Lost in La Mancha (2002, Keith Fulton & Louis Pepe, UK/USA) McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971, , USA) Medium (1969, Haskell Wexler, USA) Monsoon Wedding (2001, , India) Mystery Train (1989, Jim Jarmusch, USA/Japan) Nasty Girl, The (1990, , West Germany) Night on Earth (1991, Jim Jarmusch, France/UK/Germany/USA/Japan) Old Boy (2003, Chan-wook Park, South Korea) Overnight (2003, Tony Montana and Mark Brian Smith, USA) Piano, The (1993, , Australia) Pink Flamingos (1972, John Waters, USA) Princess Mononoke (1997, Hayao Miyazaki, Japan) Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994, Stephan Elliott, Australia) Repulsion (1965, Roman Polanski, UK) Ringu (The Ring) (1998, Hideo Nakata, Japan) Horror Picture Show (1975, Jim Sharman, USA/UK) Scanner Darkly, A (2006, , USA) 4

Science of Sleep, The (2006, Michel Gondry, France/Italy) Sea Inside, The (2004, Alejandro Amenabar, Spain/France/Italy) Shaft (1971, Gordon Parks, USA) She's Gotta Have It (1986, , USA) Skin I Live in, The (2011, Pedro Almodovar, Spain) Sweet Hereafter, The (1997, Atom Egoyan, Canada) Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971, Melvin Van Peebles, USA) (2002, Pedro Almodovar, Spain) , A (1997, , Iran/France) That Obscure Object of Desire (1977, Luis Bunuel, France) 13 Assassins (2010, Takashi Miike, Japan/UK) This Film is Not Yet Rated (2006, Kirby Dick, USA) Three Colors – Blue (1993, Krzysztoof Kieslowski, France) Three Colors – Red (1994, Krzysztoff Kieslowski, Poland) Three Colors – White (1994, Krzyszttof Kieslowski, France) Through the Olive Trees (1994, Abbas Kiarostami, France/Iran) Touki-Bouki (1973, Djibril Diop Mambety, Senegal) Trainspotting (1996, , UK) Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/UK/France/Germany/Spain/Netherlands) Unmarried Woman, An (1978, Paul Mazursky, USA) Walkabout (1971, Nicolas Roeg, Australia) Wedding Banquet, The (1993, , Taiwan) (1987, Wim Wenders, West Germany) Woman Under the Influence, A (1974, , USA) Yi Yi (2000, , Taiwan) Zan Boko (1988, Gaston Kabore, Burkina Faso) (1991, Lars von Trier, Denmark)