Retro Picture Quiz of the Week (Feb. 16)

This alien appeared only briefly in a classic 1953 science fiction film starring Gene Barry. Can you name the film? Hint: This film was remade in 2005 with a big name in the starring role (and in my opinion the aliens in the remake did not look as good as this one!).

Image ©Paramount

Retro Picture Quiz of the Week (Feb. 7)

Who is this gorgeous movie star?

Photo courtesy of Dr. Macro's High-Quality Movie Scans

EMERGENCY DOUBLE-DOG SERIOUS MESSAGE FOR STUDENTS OF GREENBERG'S MONDAY MOVIE CLASS

The entire Notorious film is on YouTube in 11 parts.

Retro Picture Quiz of the Week (Feb. 4)

In this scene from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), this ape dude is vastly improving the odds that his descendants will one day rule Earth. What is he doing?

How real is Second LIfe?

After the demonstration of Second Life during class last Thursday (Jan. 29), I've been thinking about how powerfully immersive computer environments can be. We were shown a large, complex virtual world that, despite its reputation as being for shy introverts, looked incredibly interesting.

I suppose one of the most appealing things about Second Life is that it is so empowering. A person can construct their avatar to be whatever they want, to compensate for any flaws that the avatar builder deems appropriate. And the Second Life universe is waiting for users to use it, to explore it, to build on it. Physical limitations that we face in the flesh world do not apply.

People are imagining creative ways to use Second Life. Consider this announcement found on the Chronicle for Higher Education web site on Jan. 23:

"... the director of debate at St. John's University, in New York, announced what is billed as the first tournament debate held in Second Life. It will take place on February 4 at 8 p.m. Eastern Time in the university's virtual campus. ... A two-person team from St. Johns will go head-to-head with two students from the University of Vermont. The topic will be whether or not colleges should limit tenure for professors."

The Second Life environment actually functions as a debate hall!

Second Life graphics are merely okay — not nearly as good as many cutting-edge video games. But can you imagine how real and sophisticated the graphics will look, say, 10 years from now? 

This daydreaming leads me to a bit of a thought experiment. Imagine a time a few years from now when Second Life graphics are fabulous and the virtual world offers to all of its users an incredibly rich variety of experiences — warm personal relationships, interesting places to visit, dancing, gambling, even thoughtful campus debates! Now also imagine a person who has all senses linked to Second Life. They are fed through intravenous tubes. They stay alone in a room with a comfortable bed. They choose to be plugged into Second Life 24 hours a day. They never take off their "Second Life virtual reality apparatus."

Is that person's life any less fulfilling than yours or mine? In other words, is the plugged-in life with the real benefits of the virtual world any less of a life than the life of a non-plugged-in person who experiences life in the "real" world?

I'm not sure I have an answer for that!

Retro Picture Quiz of the Week (Feb. 1)

Can you name this venerable and respected actor who played Frankenstein's monster in Hammer films' The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)? Hint: This senior actor also played characters in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Lucas' last Star Wars films.

Policy Change: After meeting with several focus groups and looking ourselves in the mirror for several hours, we've decided NOT to reveal the answers to the Retro Picture Quiz of the Week until some unspecified time in the future! Ha!Ha!

Mission: Impossible

For my Aesthetics of Visual Perception Class, I have to write about one movie that is my "favorite" movie. Of course, this is nearly impossible to determine! I will write the paper, but as an extension of the assignment, here is a list of movies that I like...

Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Spielberg's take on extraterrestrial encounters still seems authentic over 30 years later. One shot I especially like comes early in the film when, from an aerial perspective, we see Roy Neary's tiny vehicle traveling the country road at night as a gigantic, ominous shadow passes over Neary's truck and the entire landscape. Sure makes him look insignificant. I wonder... does Neary ever return to Earth?

Star Wars: As a card-carrying nerd, I guess I am obligated to list this film. One nice thing about this film (besides great special effects, exciting story, brilliant musical score, among other things) is the way the script and dialogue of the film hint at so much more of the Star Wars universe that we are NOT shown. Clone Wars? Han Solo's Kessel Run? Womp Rats? Of course, since this first movie, much of this hidden Star Wars universe has been revealed in other films, animations, games and novels. Seeing all of this added detail of the Star Wars universe is nice, but it almost ruins the mystery of the first film.

The Godfather: All I'm going to say about this one is that the way Michael Corleone straightens his hair in the men's room before he goes back out to the dining room somehow brilliantly shows that he is scared... but he's going to kill those two slimy bastards anyway. Brilliant scene.

Last of the Mohicans: No film has a better ending than the last 10 minutes of this movie as Hawkeye and company pursue the Indians along the mountainside. A thrilling spectacle. Great acting throughout, especially from Daniel Day-Lewis.

Children of Men: Clive Owen is a brilliant anti-hero in this sci-fi movie that doesn't have a single  spaceship or alien in it. Owen's character doesn't seem to be able to influence the events of this scary future world much, yet he emerges as the savior of humanity. Great performance by Michael Caine, too.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978): Great remake of the alien invasion paranoia-fest. All-star cast (Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum). Convincing creepy  pre-digital special effects.

A Clockwork Orange: Maybe Kubrick's weirdest film. Good social science fiction with interesting questions posed about society. Kubrick actually makes you sympathize with one of the most brutal teenage hooligans ever shown on screen.

Blackhawk Down: One of my favorite directors, Ridley Scott, directs an all-star cast in a great, though troubling war movie. A director's film for sure.

Pitch Black: Vin Diesel is cool as the morally-challenged hero. Nasty monsters on a scary planet. At the beginning of the movie, maybe the best "crash-landing on a planet" scene ever filmed .

What About Bob?: Bill Murray is funny.

Toy Story, The Incredibles: Really, anything by Pixar. In Toy Story how can the creators of this movie possibly make you feel so sad when Buzz Lightyear realizes that he is a toy? But they DO make you care that much. Great stories — even more than cutting edge animation — makes these movies so good.

Yes, deciding which movie to write about will not be easy!