more summer viewing

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Don't let the year or the fact that it's in black and white fool you - this is a must see.  For starters, it's a film that is often parodied/referred to by other shows.  And of course there's this famous line: "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the war room!"

Summer viewing

This is going to be one of the longest summer vacations students and teachers have had in a very long while.  Don't worry - 2013's summer vacation will be much shorter.  So in addition to suggesting books to pass the time, I'll also give you some movies to watch.  Here's one to start things off: 

Quiz Show

Quiz Show is a film based on the game show scandal that took place during the 1950's.  It's a well-acted, well-directed film (don't worry it's in color).  It stars Ralph Fiennes, better known as Voldemort, as Professor Charles van Doren, who NBC sets up to win the game show due to his popularity.  The film pulls a PG-13 for language, but that's it. 

The relevance to debate is that this shows how mass media, namely T.V., realized its power and lost its innocence as it manipulated viewers and lost their trust.  Ever since then, people have always taken game shows and reality t.v. with a hint of skepticism - a hint of "This is staged - not reality."

Watch it and post your comments here.