Comments for Film and Lit 2008


I strongly agree about 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' -- I found it nearly insulting it was so very bad. I only stayed to the end because we eventually found some entertainment in laughing at it.

I'd add 'Cloverfield' to it's own list due to the nausea I felt after about 20 minutes of the camera swinging about wildly. It was probably a good film but I was too busy curling up in my seat and trying not to be sick.

by Michael at
Yay for obsessive ;-) collation: http://www.hampson.org.uk/artemis/view/mathampson/film/ - sadly I only got it running in October, but it's already taught me I watch way too many films (and don't read enough books: http://www.hampson.org.uk/artemis/view/mathampson/book/)
by Mat at
Whoops. Forgot to finish that sentence. Concluding Unscientific Postscript is written with another of Kierkegaard's pseudonyms, this time a detached philosopher who is trying to enquire into the basis of Christianity. As he delves further, he describes two types of religion - the religion of 'Christendom' and the religion of the person in their subjectivity. It's Kierkegaard's most philosophically dense work but I found it quite readable (but then, my standards are way off since I spend most of my time reading a mixture of academic philosophy and W3C Semantic Web specifications).
Fear and Trembling and Genealogy of Morals. Enjoy 'em? Shout if you want any other philosophical recommendations in the same vein.
@Tom - Yep, I did. I read them because I've been taking evening classes in philosophy (existentialism). Always happy to get some recommendations :)
by Frances at
For general academic recommendations, I strongly suggest http://www.ucl.ac.uk/philosophy/LPSG/ - topical book lists by subject. No existentialism on their list, unfortunately.

Kierkegaard is brilliant - I'd recommend Either/Or, especially if you can get hold of the Princeton edition rather than the Penguin edition.

With Kierkegaard, Concluding Unscientific Postscript is written with

Genealogy of Morals is one of Nietzsche's most scholarly works, which is why philosophers tend to like it and get their students reading it. His other work is far less organised and rational - 'Thus Spake Zarathustra' is worth reading as it's a sort of weird parody of the style of the Bible but with Nietzsche's übermensch ethic. Similarly, 'The Gay Science' is classic Nietzsche in his prime.

Albert Camus' 'The Stranger' and Sartre's 'Nausea' are both sitting on my bookshelf unfinished, but meant to be very good. And In Our Time had an excellent episode on Camus broadcast last January. It's sadly not online any more, but someone might still have a copy.

Lost At Sea is maybe my all time favorite graphic novel
by Sam at
@Tom - I got a copy of The Outsider (The Stranger for US readers, apparently) from PTG for Christmas, so I guess that'll be next on the reading list for me. I have some Sartre around somewhere, but definitely not Nausea so I'll look that up, and some Kant - although I find him a bit hard-going. Not exactly tube reading material!
by Frances at
[Rec] (2007) - f**k yes!

I need to do one of these posts. I've just seen Andy Budd's too.

[...] and Lit 2009 As with last year, I kept a list of cinema visits for the [...]