Film
Long Day’s Journey into Slight
Gravity is at the center of Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up, an apocalyptic comedy in which Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio play twin Chicken Littles gesturing broadly toward a falling sky. But more than anything it’s gravitas that McKay seems to be after. Don’t Look Up was recently voted the winner of this year’s Writers Guild Award for Original Screenplay, and, this Sunday, it may win a few Oscars as well. The film, which was subsidized by Netflix, is a messy and inane statement of purpose by a director who is drowning in purpose—and statements. At this point, another statuette could serve as a life preserver.
Which Philosophical Problems Should Be Made Into Movies or TV Shows?
There are already lots of philosophical fictional movies and television shows, but not as many as there could be, and perhaps not as many as there should be.
Some philosophical problems get a lot of attention from the filmmakers, such as knowledge of the external world (The Matrix, The Truman Show, Vanilla Sky, Inception). Others, not so much, such as nominalism vs. realism regarding universals.
This may be owed to differences in the degrees to which the problems lend themselves to stories, or to stories that benefit from being told in a visual medium. But it may also be owed to a lack of familiarity with certain philosophical problems and how they might be an important part of a story.
So here is a chance to share your own, “Wouldn’t it be cool if they made a movie about _____________?”
If you can, give us a one or two sentence sketch of a story, too, or at least a line about how it lends itself to story that would make for a good movie or television show, if it’s not obvious.
Digital Rocks
Eventually DCI scrubbed celluloid film almost entirely from the film industry, ushering in the most significant technological shift since the introduction of sound. The digital revolution transformed nearly every aspect of filmmaking for Hollywood and independent filmmakers. This revolution was invisible, and it was designed to be that way. Its success depended on audiences never noticing at all.
Cartoon: Threats all go to the movies!
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