America and The Movies
July 9, 16, 23, 30 Aug. 6
On-Campus – Thursday – 1:10 pm – 2:50 pm
Celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation by exploring ten iconic movies spanning nearly a century. We delve into how movies have reflected and shaped American life, from early silent pictures to the modern blockbuster.
- Week 1: Early days
- The Birth of a Nation – first movie blockbuster but steeped in controversy
- The Jazz Singer – from silent movie era to ‘the talkies’
- Week 2: 1930s-40s
- Bringing Up Baby – Depression audiences escape into screwball comedies
- Miniver – Hollywood rallies for World War II
- Week 3: 1950s-60s
- This is Cinerama – wide screen technology fights TV threat
- Midnight Cowboy – how the rating system revolutionized movies
- Week 4: 1970s
- The Last Picture Show – the New American Cinema challenges Hollywood standards
- Jaws – inventing the summer blockbuster
- Week 5: 1980s and beyond
- A tribute to the late great Rob Reiner
- When Harry Met Sally – the return to romantic comedy
- A Few Good Men – American values questioned and endorsed
Joe Meyers earned his BA from Penn State with a major in journalism and minor in film. He is Director of Programming for the Focus on French Cinema film festival in Connecticut. He is co-host of the Spotify podcast ‘Now a Major Motion Picture!’ and wrote features about movies, theater and books for more than 30 years for the Hearst Connecticut Media Group and other publications. In the 1970s, Meyers ran the first (and only) art house on the Delmarva Peninsula—the Lewes Cinema. The Mystery Writers of America has awarded Meyers the Ellery Queen Award for his writing on crime fiction.