PBS
Comparing Hemingway to Young Adult Literature
Challenge groups to create a recommended reading list of contemporary young adult fiction that explores the same themes found in Ernest Hemingway's short stories and novels. After examining a list Hemingway created and a list put...
PBS
The Old Man and the Sea: Critical Interpretations
Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; however, the critical interpretations of the novel have called it everything from "ordinary" and "schoolboy writing" to a "masterpiece." Readers are allowed to...
PBS
Hemingway’s Influences and Contemporaries
Three clips from the documentary Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick explore the events and people who influenced Ernest Hemingway.
PBS
Exploring Hemingway’s Style
The man, the myth, and the reality. Three clips from the documentary Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick introduce viewers to the unique features of Ernest Hemingway's writing style and the events in Hemingway's life that...
PBS
Hemingway and Gender Identity
After watching a short video clip from the documentary Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, learners read an article by Ursula Le Guin about gender roles and sexuality. Scholars then consider how an author's concept of gender roles is...
PBS
Hemingway: The Art vs. The Artist
Seven clips from the documentary Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick inform an investigation of how aspects of Ernest Hemingway's life influenced his writings.
PBS
Hemingway's Privilege and Social Position
Three clips from the documentary Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick form the basis of a lesson on Ernest Hemingway. Viewers use a graphic organizer to identify elements of privilege and social status that "aided him in creating,...
PBS
Reconstruction: The Birth of a Nation - Rewriting History through Propaganda
How historically accurate was the film The Birth of a Nation? Using a video that features clips from the film and analysis from historians, young scholars explore the connection between art and history. Additional activities...
Crash Course
Beasts of No Nation: Crash Course Film Criticism
Beasts of No Nation, a gripping tale of child soldiers, is the focus of an analysis that examines the techniques director Cary Joji Fukunaga uses to create his horrifying yet deeply compassionate film.
Crash Course
2001 - A Space Odyssey: Crash Course Film Criticism
Will the advancement of technology doom interpersonal relationships? Like the score for Jaws, the music for the opening sequence of Stanley Kubrick's 2001- A Space Odyssey stirs the imagination of viewers. Cinema lovers and film...
Crash Course
Moonlight
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences awarded its 2017 Best Picture award to Moonlight, which was written and directed by Barry Jenkins. The tender exploration of expectations for black men, contrasted with the reality of...
PBS
When the Book is Better than the Movie
Sometimes the book is better than the movie; other times, the movie comes out on top. A video discusses the topic of novels and their film adaptations, pointing out specific texts and how the tale translated to the big screen. The...
Crash Course
The Limey
Steven Soderbergh's The Limey may seem like a strange choice for one of the top ten films in a playlist on film criticism. The narrator makes clear that the story is a simple tale of revenge, but it is Soderbergh's filmmaking...
Crash Course
Apocalypse Now
A heart attack, threats of suicide, drug-fueled parties, typhoons, over 250 hours of film footage, two years of editing, Academy, Palme d'Or, and Golden Globe awards. It's time to discuss Apocalypse Now! The narrator of this...
Crash Course
Lost in Translation
The narrator of a film criticism episode on Sofia Coppola's bittersweet Lost In Translation asks viewers to consider the many aspects of relationships that Coppola suggests are lost in translation.
Crash Course
Pan's Labyrinth
Guillermo del Toro's beautiful and bloody Pan's Labyrinth, a fantasy adventure/political drama, is the focus of the ninth episode of a film criticism playlist. The narrator looks at the film through two interpretative lenses: as a story...
Crash Course
Do the Right Thing
Did Mookie do the right thing? Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing, which discusses race violence and community, leaves viewers to decide. The cogent analysis of a film criticism video examines not only Lee's filmmaking techniques...
Crash Course
In the Mood for Love
English-speaking viewers don't need to read the subtitles to understand Wong Kar-Wai's In the Mood For Love. The colors, the music, and the framing of the shots so beautifully express the emotions of the characters that dialogue, in any...
Crash Course
Where Are My Children
Lois Weber's ground breaking Where Are My Children is the focus of a film criticism video that explores not only Weber's treatment of the subject of abortion but also the techniques she developed to enhance the impact of her tale.
Crash Course
Selma
The 2014 film Selma is the focus of a film criticism video. The narrator examines how director Ava DuVernay brought to the screen the story of the voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama and how she uses...
Crash Course
Aliens
A playlist on film analysis and criticism continues with an analysis of James Cameron's 1986 sci-fi action classic Aliens, as well as why it is deserving of a place on a list of great films.
Crash Course
Citizen Kane
What's your favorite movie? Citizen Kane (1941) leads off a playlist on film criticism playlist that examines films that hold up due to their historical context and/or quality and deserve a spot on a best films list.
Crash Course
Experimental and Documentary Films
Some of the boldest films in history have been documentaries or experimental films. Explore non-narrative cinema and its avant-garde techniques with a short video about a creative faction in film history. Additionally, the video...
Crash Course
World Cinema Part Two
Explore the rich history of African, Middle Eastern, and South American cinema with a video summary of the most prominent filmmakers from these regions in the 20th and 21st centuries. It discusses Egyptian filmmakers Asmaa El-Bakry and...