Cultural Materialism Raymond Williams was Professor of Drama at Cambridge University and one of the founders of contemporary cultural studies. He described his own distinctive approach as a ‘cultural materialism’, by which he meant a theory of culture ‘as a (social and material) productive process’ and of the arts ‘as social uses of material means […]

Things Heard & Seen (2021) PHOTO : ANNA KOORIS/NETFLIX © 2020 In the Amanda Seyfried starrer Things Heard & Seen, a Manhattan couple moves to a historic hamlet where they discover that their marriage has sinister secrets involving their new home’s history. The film was based on the 2016 novel All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage. The novel […]

Monster (2003) PHOTO : NEWMARKET RELEASING / COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION Charlize Theron won 17 awards, including an Oscar, for her portrayal of former prostitute-turned-serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Wuornos was convicted on six counts of first-degree murder — though there was a seventh victim — and was executed in Florida in 2002. ‘Dahmer’ (2002) PHOTO : EVERETT Jeremy Renner plays well-known serial killer […]

Open Water (2003) PHOTO : LIONS GATE/COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION A couple left behind in the open ocean after their scuba diving group left without them isn’t just the premise of Open Water, but the real story of Tom and Eileen Lonergan. The Lonergans were tourists visiting Australia’s Great Barrier Reef when they were left behind Jan. 25, 1998. The Lonergans might […]

‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’ (2005) PHOTO : SCREEN GEMS/COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION The story of Emily Rose is loosely based on that of Anneliese Michel, a young German woman who underwent an exorcism and later died from malnutrition and dehydration. Her parents and the priests involved were charged with negligent homicide following her death. This is director Scott Derrickson’s first […]