Category: Film

May 4, 2012

Interview with Ross Melnick, author of American Showman: Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel and the Birth of the Entertainment Industry, 1908-1935

We conclude our week-long feature on American Showman: Samuel “Roxy” Rothafel and the Birth of the Entertainment Industry, 1908-1935 with an interview with the book’s author of Ross Melnick. For more on the book, read excerpts from the book looking...

May 3, 2012

The Birth of Radio City Music Hall and the Figurative Death of Roxy's Career

“Unfortunately for Roxy … Radio City’s opening night on December 27, 1932, was a critical disaster.” The excerpt from Ross Melnick’s American Showman: Samuel “Roxy” Rothafel and the Birth of the Entertainment Industry, 1908-1935 in yesterday’s post looked at Rothafel’s...

May 2, 2012

Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel, the Roxy Theatre, and the Roxyettes

In the following excerpt from American Showman: Samuel “Roxy” Rothafel and the Birth of the Entertainment Industry, Ross Melnick explains the explosive growth of the Roxy Theatre, the birth of the “Roxyettes,” and the reaction against it as a symbol...

May 1, 2012

Ross Melnick — How Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel Changed Movies

We continue our week-long focus on American Showman: Samuel “Roxy” Rothafel and the Birth of the Entertainment Industry, with an excerpt from the book’s opening pages: Film historiography has often focused on production, stardom, and/or the intricate operations of the...

April 20, 2012

Peter Decherney on Copyright and the Netroots Movment

“This netroots infrastructure has proven to be an important corrective to the backroom policymaking of the past.”—Peter Decherney In the conclusion to Hollywood’s Copyright Wars: From Edison to the Internet, Peter Decherney looks at how academics and netroots movements are...

April 19, 2012

Kenneth Anger, Martin Scorsese, Todd Haynes, and Copyright

In the following excerpt from Hollywood’s Copyright Wars: From Edison to the Internet, Peter Decherney discusses how Kenneth Anger’s Scorpio Rising influenced other filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Todd Haynes. Specifically, Anger’s use of public gave them creative inspiration...

April 18, 2012

Why Alice in Wonderland Matters to Hollywood

Peter Decherney’s expertise on the importance of the public domain for Hollywood led him to file an amicus brief the Supreme Court case of Golan v. Holder that discusses Hollywood’s reliance on the public domain. (Watch a video of Peter...

April 17, 2012

Peter Decherney on Can the Supreme Court Save the Public Domain… and Hollywood?

In the following video, Peter Decherney, author of Hollywood’s Copyright Wars: From Edison to the Internet Hollywood’s Copyright Wars: From Edison to the Internet, discusses how Hollywood has benefited from works being in the public domain and why its current...

April 16, 2012

Book Giveaway! Hollywood's Copyright Wars by Peter Decherney

This week our featured book is Hollywood’s Copyright Wars: From Edison to the Internet, by Peter Decherney. Throughout the week we will highlight aspects of the book and we are also offering a FREE copy of the book to one...

April 12, 2012

Udi Aloni and Slavoj Zizek in NYC

Over the next couple weeks, New York City is going to be treated to a couple of unique events featuring CUP author Udi Aloni and CUP Insurrections Series editor Slavoj Zizek.

March 28, 2012

Noah Isenberg on Billy Wilder

On the tenth anniversary of Billy Wilder’s death, Noah Isenberg, author of Weimar Cinema: An Essential Guide to Classic Films of the Era, has written a great review of the director’s life and career for the Los Angeles Review of...

October 5, 2011

Kashmir: Journey to Freedom — A Film by Udi Aloni

When Udi Aloni comes to New York to discuss his new book What Does a Jew Want? On Binationalism and Other Specters he will also be screening and talking about two of his films, Local Angel: Theological Political Fragments and...