Go to the Movies
Valuing our cultural creations is a balancing act that requires wisdom and courage. Cultural educator and Vox film critic Alissa Wilkinson shares with us the future skills we can all hone for a fuller engagement with art and life. Alissa’s essays and reviews encourage us to be more attentive in our consumption—but not in the ways we might typically consider. Alighting on subjects as varied as C.S. Lewis, Alien: Covenant, The Good Place, and Breaking Bad, Alissa and I explore what it means to be a “critic,” how art can connect us through time and space, and how we can stay one step ahead in a new age of “creative machines.” We wrestle with how data literacy can change what we consider valuable—from diversifying the Oscars to the problem with Rotten Tomatoes. And we cover apocalypse anxiety! As co-author of the book How to Survive the Apocalypse: Zombies, Cylons, and Politics at the End of the World, Alissa offers insights to how we think about end times, and how to live with our connected individuality.
Show Notes
- Pieces by Alissa that we referenced during the show:
- “Did we even see the same thing?” How we watched and talked about movies in 2017
- After Columbine, martyrdom became a powerful fantasy for Christian teenagers
- On communities sheltering predators like Harvey Weinstein
- Why Woody Allen hasn’t been toppled by the #MeToo reckoning—yet
- A review of Alien: Covenant
- A review of War for the Planet of the Apes
- Rotten Tomatoes, explained
- What Is Design Thinking?—IDEO U
- More reading: An Experiment in Criticism, C.S. Lewis
- Watch The Good Place on NBC
- More about Stalker by Andre Rublev and Three Colours: Blue by Krzysztof Kieślowski
- Krista Tippett’s recent On Being interview with Brene Brown—underpinning the reality that we are all connected
- What about Creative Machines? Read more at Singularity Hub
- Read about Frederick Wiseman and his latest documentary, Ex Libris
- Watch the documentary The Work