Hour 21: A Film and Interactive Media Blog

the reason  I haven't blogged for such a long time is because I am attempting to write two books, one of which is all about videogames and the other about films. I was debating whether or not to  post some of the content for the books up on this blog, but in the end I realized that they both work better in the larger form of a book than they do in  smaller form of a post. I will however attempt to update this blog more frequently with new and I hope interesting analyses, reviews and other insights Sorry it has been so long and thank you for reading Jed Qurnse

            This post is not so much an analysis of any film or game, but a question. Why are video games perceived the way they are perceived? There is this ongoing debate in both the videogame industry and popular culture as to whether video games should be considered art or not. Though in reality the real question should be, do video games elicit emotion or connect with the player beyond just being entertaining. To this point I would argue that yes, video games certainly do and have the capacity to be thought-provoking and emotionally engaging. Therefore, video games are art in the purest sense of the word.             The issue here than is not one of identity but of perception. For years people have been arguing about the merits and values of video games when in fact these things are self evident to those who understand and appreciate the media. Video games have a stigma attached to them. N...

            This past week I was finally able to play through the original Bioshock. Let it be said before I continue, and the whole  of the Internet comes down on me like a raging storm. I will not spoil the ending. In fact I won't even come close.              Rapture is a wondrous place, filled with mystery and intrigue, a place run by a  man seeking freedom from the morals of religion and the restrictions of science. Andrew Ryan builds Rapture with the motto "No God only man", and the player witnesses the consequences of this belief as they traverse the dilapidated halls of this underwater city. That is one of the many joys of  Bioshock, discovering what secrets the city holds, and how these secrets brought the city to its ruin.             Along with these secrets Bioshock offers insight into ...

I am putting the blog on hold for awhile to work on other projects. I will be back though. Thanks for reading, Jed 

More posts will be arriving in the coming weeks. I had to re-install my computer and was not able to post. Thanks for Reading, Jed  

 Both About Nice and Zero for Conduct deal with the complacency of the French upper class, and their inability to comprehend the difficulties, and challenges facing the poorer classes of French society. In some ways the two films represent a complete work, suggesting that Zero for conduct is the result of the complacency and boredom present in About Nice . Now, I am aware that Zero for Conduct depicts the inner workings of a boarding school, which suggests high society. However, this boarding school is  a microcosm of the French class system, with the students representing the lower class and the faculty representing the upper class. Thus, the student's revolt against their teachers, not only suggests the complacency of the French ruling class, but also their unwillingness to realize that it is the lower class which wields the greatest power.             About Nice seems to bolster the ideas present in Zero for...

        I have recently seen the full-length trailer for Zack Snyder's and Christopher Nolan's Man of Steel , and believe it  warrants some thoughts. First off  I should  note that I have never read a single Superman comic, though I have watched all of the Richard Donner films and Bryan Singer's Superman Returns . Secondly, I would like to thank Nolan and Snyder for going back to the roots of the character, not in the origin sense, but in the being sense of the word. With this trailer both Snyder and Nolan ask the question, who is Superman?             The answer, a god, more precisely God in the  Christian understanding. Superman is one individual with two distinct sides, mortal Clark Kent, and divine Superman it is this duality that defines who Superman is. Both Snyder and Nolan fully embrace the divine aspects of the character without any reserve or trepidation. As with the Donner origi...