Notebooking Cinema

These texts, presented as a three-part series, argue that the decline of traditional cinema attendance is not simply due to technological shifts or changing audience preferences, but rather a complex interplay of systemic failures within the industry and profound psychological changes in audiences. The author contends that  the physical cinema experience has lost its distinctive appeal , exacerbat...

"Il Maestro," by Martin Scorsese (Harper's Magazine, March 2021) "Opinion | Martin Scorsese: I Said Marvel Movies Aren’t Cinema. Let Me Explain." (The New York Times, November 4, 2019) a review of two essays by acclaimed director Martin Scorsese. The first, "Il Maestro," is a deeply personal tribute to the legendary Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini, highlighting...

This discussion is from another foundational article T titled "Circles and Squares" by Pauline Kael, published in Film Quarterly in 1963. Kael critically examines the  "politique des auteurs,"  or auteur theory, particularly as adopted in England and the United States. She argues against its core premises, including  technical competence, distinguishable personality, and interior meaning  as crite...

"The Death of Film/The Decay of Cinema” (Parts I and II) – Godfrey Cheshire (New York Press, July & August 1999) Author: Godfrey Cheshire Date of Original Publication: July & August 1999 Summary: Godfrey Cheshire's two-part essay, "The Death of Film/The Decay of Cinema," published in the New York Press in the summer of 1999, presents a prescient and critical analysis of...

Key Ideas and Facts: Cinema's Life Cycle and Decline: Sontag posits that cinema has followed a predictable life cycle: "an inevitable birth, the steady accumulation of glories and the onset in the last decade of an ignominious, irreversible decline." She notes that while admirable films still exist, they are "exceptions" and "violations of the norms and practices that...

Author: Pauline Kael Date of Original Publication: 1965 (within the book "I Lost It at the Movies") Key Concerns/Themes: Fragmentation and Incoherence in Film: Kael argues that movies are becoming less coherent, with traditional narrative structures being abandoned in favour of visual stimulation and shock value. This is a central thesis throughout the essay. Audience Acceptance of Fragmentation:...