MLA Commons | Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. | Activity https://mla.hcommons.org/members/ftomasulo/activity/ Activity feed for Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D.. Sun, 05 Apr 2026 06:05:03 -0400 https://buddypress.org/?v=10.6.0 en-US 30 hourly 2 1d629bf326a32ae11d6430a6403263d9 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. posted a new activity comment https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1664354/#acomment-1665459 Fri, 04 Oct 2019 13:49:08 -0400 Hi, Ryan! If you’re not familiar with it, you might be interested in my long-ago book chapter on the Rodney King videotape, which is accessible here on Humanities Commons: “‘I’ll See It When I Believe It’: Rodney King and the Prison-House of Video,” The Persistence of History: Cinema, Television, and the Modern Event, edited by Vivian Sobchack…[Read more]

In reply to - Ryan Watson deposited In the Wakes of Rodney King: Militant Evidence and Media Activism in the Age of Viral Black Death in the group Film Studies This essay explores the historical and critical legacy of the […] ]]> c02d13cf247547d7f26dc137e679cb7c Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited The Bourgeoisie Is Also a Class: Class as Character in Michelangelo Antonioni's "L'Avventura" in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657665/ Mon, 15 Jul 2019 16:49:31 -0400 This essay explores Michelangelo Antonioni’s “L’Avventura” from a Marxist perspective, including its depiction of the Italian bourgeoisie of “il boom” era of the 1950s and 1960s. Numerous frame enlargements are used to substantiate the claim that even the film’s style contributes to its representations of socioeconomic class.

]]> 0 54fb3c7cedb08f7fe89f418089834cd3 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited Italian Americans in the Hollywood Cinema: Filmmakers, Characters, Audiences Voices in Italian Americana 7.1 (Spring 1996): 65-77. Selected for reprinting in Voices in Italian Americana 26.1 (Spring 2015) as one of the most significant essays published in VIA in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657664/ Mon, 15 Jul 2019 16:49:28 -0400 This article investigates the representation of Italian Americans in classical and contemporary Hollywood cinema, expanding the research originally conducted by noted scholar Mirella Affron.

]]> 0 f47794188705ed67cb70ec91b072cb68 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited Japan through Others' Lenses: "Hiroshima Mon Amour" (1959) and "Lost in Translation" Japan Studies Review 11 (2007): 143-155. Also available on the Internet at http://asianstudies.fiu.edu in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657663/ Mon, 15 Jul 2019 16:49:24 -0400 This article compares and contrasts two films that take place in Japan but that were directed by French and American directors. Their “outsider perspective” is explored in terms of their respective films’ themes, characters, and cinematic styles.

]]> 0 e2bcf05abb4085fbda3b1571cfb211fd Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited IDENTIFICATION OF A WOMAN in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657662/ Mon, 15 Jul 2019 16:49:19 -0400 This is a review/analysis of the Antonioni film IDENTIFICATION OF A WOMAN (1982), occasioned by its DVD release by the Criterion Collection.

]]> 0 de5a14b86dfa125d1f9d110c1f483727 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited The Bourgeoisie Is Also a Class: Class as Character in Michelangelo Antonioni's "L'Avventura" https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657615/ Sun, 14 Jul 2019 17:46:05 -0400 This essay explores Michelangelo Antonioni’s “L’Avventura” from a Marxist perspective, including its depiction of the Italian bourgeoisie of “il boom” era of the 1950s and 1960s. Numerous frame enlargements are used to substantiate the claim that even the film’s style contributes to its representations of socioeconomic class.

]]> 0 401cffe2e0e72a8bc774e7cd90fcc9b7 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited Italian Americans in the Hollywood Cinema: Filmmakers, Characters, Audiences Voices in Italian Americana 7.1 (Spring 1996): 65-77. Selected for reprinting in Voices in Italian Americana 26.1 (Spring 2015) as one of the most significant essays published in VIA https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657614/ Sun, 14 Jul 2019 17:33:33 -0400 This article investigates the representation of Italian Americans in classical and contemporary Hollywood cinema, expanding the research originally conducted by noted scholar Mirella Affron.

]]> 0 7fd3e06a34ee008b81e06b57d9e8fe67 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited Japan through Others' Lenses: "Hiroshima Mon Amour" (1959) and "Lost in Translation" Japan Studies Review 11 (2007): 143-155. Also available on the Internet at http://asianstudies.fiu.edu https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657613/ Sun, 14 Jul 2019 17:24:30 -0400 This article compares and contrasts two films that take place in Japan but that were directed by French and American directors. Their “outsider perspective” is explored in terms of their respective films’ themes, characters, and cinematic styles.

]]> 0 b601d7d5de9e3e63c30653282d2cf610 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited IDENTIFICATION OF A WOMAN https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657612/ Sun, 14 Jul 2019 17:13:41 -0400 This is a review/analysis of the Antonioni film IDENTIFICATION OF A WOMAN (1982), occasioned by its DVD release by the Criterion Collection.

]]> 0 8a4147eee31817a3f742a5ad59e0995b Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited Mr. Jones Goes to Washington: Myth and Religion in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657559/ Sat, 13 Jul 2019 16:26:05 -0400 This essay uses Joseph Campbell’s concept of the Monomyth to analyze both the mythic and contemporary implications of a “popcorn” movie that has numerous social and political subtexts for the Reaganite era.

]]> 0 b5080d6073d3f5db8854a4044f069cb8 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited "'You're Telling Me You Didn't See": Hitchcock's "Rear Window" and Antonioni's "Blow-Up" in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657558/ Sat, 13 Jul 2019 16:26:02 -0400 This essay compares After Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW and Michelangelo Antonioni’s BLOW-UP in terms of their similarities in narrative, characters, and cinematic style.

]]> 0 10990ea22b54f90e30dec66d9427c8dc Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited The Mass Psychology of Fascist Cinema: "Triumph of the Will" in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657557/ Sat, 13 Jul 2019 16:25:58 -0400 This essay uses the work of Wilhelm Reich to analyze the “mass psychology of fascism” in Leni Riefenstahl’s infamous Nazi propaganda film, TRIUMPH OF THE WILL.

]]> 0 b08e201ce34093133aba31de952a8b9d Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited The Gospel According to Spielberg in "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657555/ Sat, 13 Jul 2019 16:25:54 -0400 This article examines the parallels between the space alien in Spielberg’s “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” and the New Testament account of the life of Jesus Christ.

]]> 0 17738effc0e67173c4b2f681de9f7b22 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited Empire of the Gun: Steven Spielberg's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and American Chauvinism in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657554/ Sat, 13 Jul 2019 16:25:50 -0400 This book chapter analyzes Steven Spielberg’s supposedly anti-war SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1992) as a pro-war, pro-military, and pro-America movie.

]]> 0 ccb98d2dd574a2d011050fa2d29ac183 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited "I'll See It When I Believe It": Rodney King and the Prison-House of Video in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657553/ Sat, 13 Jul 2019 16:25:46 -0400 This book chapter analyzes the numerous responses to the famous videotape of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King at the hands of the L.A. Police Department.

]]> 0 2e5e5f3e2790196906e38f8d954abcf0 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited EROS and Civilization: Sexuality and the Contemporary International Art Cinema in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657551/ Sat, 13 Jul 2019 16:25:42 -0400 This essay describes and analyzes the anthology film EROS (2004), which consists of three short films by major directors: Wong Kar-wei, Steven Soderbergh, and Michelangelo Antonioni. The focus is on the cinematic depiction of sexuality as it pertains to the national origins of the three shorts: Hong Kong, United States, and Italy.

]]> 0 448722b5f32fef21cbc692d264ddc9b1 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited EL TOPO and the Midnight Movie Craze in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657550/ Sat, 13 Jul 2019 16:25:37 -0400 Alejandro Jodorowsky’s EL TOPO set off a trend for midnight movies that brought numerous esoteric films to an insomniac audience. This essay analyzes the surreal movie and its position as an early exemplar of independent cinema exhibited outside the mainstream patterns.

]]> 0 eb4cc7afe5104e0d72fed890f393c17e Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited Mr. Jones Goes to Washington: Myth and Religion in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657515/ Fri, 12 Jul 2019 22:13:01 -0400 This essay uses Joseph Campbell’s concept of the Monomyth to analyze both the mythic and contemporary implications of a “popcorn” movie that has numerous social and political subtexts for the Reaganite era.

]]> 0 b8555476902dd24eb07dd3e6a5e4f710 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited "'You're Telling Me You Didn't See": Hitchcock's "Rear Window" and Antonioni's "Blow-Up" https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657514/ Fri, 12 Jul 2019 22:06:54 -0400 This essay compares After Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW and Michelangelo Antonioni’s BLOW-UP in terms of their similarities in narrative, characters, and cinematic style.

]]> 0 76724a36dfc8d698ee983f33afaaab00 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited The Mass Psychology of Fascist Cinema: "Triumph of the Will" https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657513/ Fri, 12 Jul 2019 21:57:25 -0400 This essay uses the work of Wilhelm Reich to analyze the “mass psychology of fascism” in Leni Riefenstahl’s infamous Nazi propaganda film, TRIUMPH OF THE WILL.

]]> 0 91141fb4861bd654aa235addcbd4588a Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited The Gospel According to Spielberg in "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657476/ Fri, 12 Jul 2019 15:51:34 -0400 This article examines the parallels between the space alien in Spielberg’s “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” and the New Testament account of the life of Jesus Christ.

]]> 0 828bc9e3cb4b869d958a9675370c3653 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited Empire of the Gun: Steven Spielberg's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and American Chauvinism https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657472/ Fri, 12 Jul 2019 15:36:32 -0400 This book chapter analyzes Steven Spielberg’s supposedly anti-war SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1992) as a pro-war, pro-military, and pro-America movie.

]]> 0 741867441e21ebac2e43b5145f32ce92 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited "I'll See It When I Believe It": Rodney King and the Prison-House of Video https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657471/ Fri, 12 Jul 2019 15:27:32 -0400 This book chapter analyzes the numerous responses to the famous videotape of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King at the hands of the L.A. Police Department.

]]> 0 769981e2730ea1a325dd18033b41ff24 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited EROS and Civilization: Sexuality and the Contemporary International Art Cinema https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657469/ Fri, 12 Jul 2019 15:17:50 -0400 This essay describes and analyzes the anthology film EROS (2004), which consists of three short films by major directors: Wong Kar-wei, Steven Soderbergh, and Michelangelo Antonioni. The focus is on the cinematic depiction of sexuality as it pertains to the national origins of the three shorts: Hong Kong, United States, and Italy.

]]> 0 ca875b430e8d51b10c0754c182c19acb Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited EL TOPO and the Midnight Movie Craze https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657467/ Fri, 12 Jul 2019 15:02:40 -0400 Alejandro Jodorowsky’s EL TOPO set off a trend for midnight movies that brought numerous esoteric films to an insomniac audience. This essay analyzes the surreal movie and its position as an early exemplar of independent cinema exhibited outside the mainstream patterns.

]]> 0 bce03a69015d346a5c8b7463943bd76c Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited Colonel North Goes to Washington: Observations on the Intertextual Re-Presentation of History in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657394/ Thu, 11 Jul 2019 16:25:25 -0400 This essay examines the parallels between Frank Capra’s MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON and the televised Oliver North hearings 40 years later.

]]> 0 96310849cbac3cd8251146d77f389811 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited Narrate AND Describe?: Point of View and Narrative Voice in CITIZEN KANE's Thatcher Sequence in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657393/ Thu, 11 Jul 2019 16:25:21 -0400 This article examines the theoretical aspects of point of view and narrative voice in CITIZEN KANE’s Thatcher Sequence, with an eye to untangling the thorny aspects of subjectivity in that reticular film. In addition, there are larger implications that pertain to ALL narrative cinema in terms of who or what generates film images and sounds.

]]> 0 e72202eeb26f0654ed7a5a72767c7341 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited The Sounds of Silence: Minimalist Acting in BLOW-UP in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657301/ Wed, 10 Jul 2019 16:25:45 -0400 This essay explores the use of understated modernist performance tropes in Michelangelo Antonioni’s film BLOW-UP. The filmmaker relies on directorial prerogatives such as camera angles, lighting mise-en-scene, editing. subtle gestures and facial expressions, and other minimalist cinematic techniques to convey meaning and mood — rather than overt…[Read more]

]]> 0 ad9111acdf28e318a13dd3487a15ec1b Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited BICYCLE THIEVES: A Re-reading in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657300/ Wed, 10 Jul 2019 16:25:42 -0400 This article investigates the mixed ideology of Vittorio DeSica’s classic neorealist film, BICYCLE THIEVES (1948) from a cinematic and political perspective.

]]> 0 57cba8114dcfe859142d8565c732b69f Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited The Politics of Ambivalence: APOCALYPSE NOW as Pro-War and Anti-War Film in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657299/ Wed, 10 Jul 2019 16:25:38 -0400 This essay investigates the possibility that APOCALYPSE NOW presents “mixed messages” about the Vietnam War to a divided U.S. audience.

]]> 0 9ce30ee654985546617d6b4009fc3ccf Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited The Architectonics of Alienation: Antonioni's Edifice Complex in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657298/ Wed, 10 Jul 2019 16:25:34 -0400 This essay explores the use of architecture in the cinema of Michelangelo Antonioni.

]]> 0 75b257f4cb4aa0cc878639e3bcf83dc6 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited Colonel North Goes to Washington: Observations on the Intertextual Re-Presentation of History https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657288/ Wed, 10 Jul 2019 14:35:58 -0400 This essay examines the parallels between Frank Capra’s MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON and the televised Oliver North hearings 40 years later.

]]> 0 404423744a3a0cc2629aa47b5cb243dd Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited Narrate AND Describe?: Point of View and Narrative Voice in CITIZEN KANE's Thatcher Sequence https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657286/ Wed, 10 Jul 2019 14:24:41 -0400 This article examines the theoretical aspects of point of view and narrative voice in CITIZEN KANE’s Thatcher Sequence, with an eye to untangling the thorny aspects of subjectivity in that reticular film. In addition, there are larger implications that pertain to ALL narrative cinema in terms of who or what generates film images and sounds.

]]> 0 ab6ccc30a079bf03515a604640b3a5b7 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited The Sounds of Silence: Minimalist Acting in BLOW-UP https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657179/ Tue, 09 Jul 2019 19:49:16 -0400 This essay explores the use of understated modernist performance tropes in Michelangelo Antonioni’s film BLOW-UP. The filmmaker relies on directorial prerogatives such as camera angles, lighting mise-en-scene, editing. subtle gestures and facial expressions, and other minimalist cinematic techniques to convey meaning and mood — rather than overt…[Read more]

]]> 0 e982ad5fe1f76e816c8902d7919f8b12 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited BICYCLE THIEVES: A Re-reading https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657177/ Tue, 09 Jul 2019 19:42:09 -0400 This article investigates the mixed ideology of Vittorio DeSica’s classic neorealist film, BICYCLE THIEVES (1948) from a cinematic and political perspective.

]]> 0 989618c3eb64b173a517c2c13926934a Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited The Politics of Ambivalence: APOCALYPSE NOW as Pro-War and Anti-War Film https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657176/ Tue, 09 Jul 2019 19:37:17 -0400 This essay investigates the possibility that APOCALYPSE NOW presents “mixed messages” about the Vietnam War to a divided U.S. audience.

]]> 0 73d1dcae7c4d4a70f936b795004ed46a Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited The Architectonics of Alienation: Antonioni's Edifice Complex https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657174/ Tue, 09 Jul 2019 19:30:26 -0400 This essay explores the use of architecture in the cinema of Michelangelo Antonioni.

]]> 0 c99762be5ff3a20a764987e6078de0d6 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited ADAPTATION as Adaptation in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657158/ Tue, 09 Jul 2019 16:25:36 -0400 This essay analyzes the process of adaptation from Susan Orlean’s book THE ORCHID THIEF to the motion picture ADAPTATION (directed by Spike Jonze)

]]> 0 0c8dd7a377ba1cc9731d1dfd0e239b17 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited 1976: Movies and Cultural Contradictions in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657157/ Tue, 09 Jul 2019 16:25:32 -0400 This chapter traces the social and aesthetic implications of the five Academy Award contenders for Best Picture in America’s Bicentennial year, 1976.

]]> 0 58a64316847af5a5a5c8c280936c7d7d Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited The Maltese Phallcon: The Oedipal Trajectory of Classical Hollywood Cinema in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657156/ Tue, 09 Jul 2019 16:25:27 -0400 This essay uses a psychoanalytic and Marxist methodology to analyze the appeal of Classical Hollywood Cinema.

]]> 0 681888efa425043c7a4010021559b7f8 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited ADAPTATION as Adaptation https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657054/ Mon, 08 Jul 2019 19:32:09 -0400 This essay analyzes the process of adaptation from Susan Orlean’s book THE ORCHID THIEF to the motion picture ADAPTATION (directed by Spike Jonze)

]]> 0 302026faf5d1281c57a00f6a6c83bf91 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited 1976: Movies and Cultural Contradictions https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657053/ Mon, 08 Jul 2019 19:23:25 -0400 This chapter traces the social and aesthetic implications of the five Academy Award contenders for Best Picture in America’s Bicentennial year, 1976.

]]> 0 d0ffcf33ee0e28352832e79443c707f5 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. deposited The Maltese Phallcon: The Oedipal Trajectory of Classical Hollywood Cinema https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657052/ Mon, 08 Jul 2019 19:16:35 -0400 This essay uses a psychoanalytic and Marxist methodology to analyze the appeal of Classical Hollywood Cinema.

]]> 0 3cc113d99c70e64887312960b525c7ab Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D.'s profile was updated https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1657046/ Mon, 08 Jul 2019 19:03:41 -0400 0 ce0f534508f7803e6e38c924599c2d0a Frank Tomasulo edited the post Self-Censorship by Film Studies Faculty in the group Film Studies https://filmstudies.hcommons.org/2017/09/07/self-censorship-by-film-studies-faculty/ Mon, 18 Mar 2019 15:19:46 -0400 Dear All: Hi! I’m the Site Administrator and I’d like to share some thoughts with you and seek your responses. I do not see a method by which to attach a document or file here, so I’ve added some material as a link below…

In the current extreme “Politically Correct” climate, Film Studies faculty members may be at special risk because so many…[Read more]

]]> 43757983d04b918e8e9834c7a7c3be5d Frank Tomasulo deposited "The Gospel According to Spielberg in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" in the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1581308/ Thu, 14 Sep 2017 01:00:00 -0400 This essay makes direct comparisons and correlations between Steven Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and the New Testament story of Jesus of Nazareth. In addition, the article situates the film (the highest-grossing movie ever, at that point) in its political and historical moment, the Age of Reagan.

]]> 0 0a0b3578b0605f5b38971d25eccdcc31 Frank Tomasulo deposited "The Gospel According to Spielberg in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1581227/ Tue, 12 Sep 2017 20:21:53 -0400 This essay makes direct comparisons and correlations between Steven Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and the New Testament story of Jesus of Nazareth. In addition, the article situates the film (the highest-grossing movie ever, at that point) in its political and historical moment, the Age of Reagan.

]]> 0 a8ccb9eb65963bb1572a8fcc5f5b5963 Frank Tomasulo replied to the topic A few recent book publications... in the discussion Film Studies https://hcommons.org/groups/film-studies/forum/topic/a-few-recent-book-publications/#post-2324 Mon, 20 Feb 2017 13:35:56 -0500 Also speaking of Hitchcock, I heartily recommend the following new volume: Robert P. Kolker, THE EXTRAORDINARY IMAGE: ORSON WELLES, ALFRED HITCHCOCK, STANLEY KUBRICK AND THE REIMAGING OF CINEMA. Rutgers University Press, 2016.

]]> 0 fe4a5528cf2cb7f2de874437ea107edd Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D. created the group Film Studies https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1561559/ Tue, 07 Feb 2017 18:10:24 -0500 0 416905516ee7ab8271c807d77bd01ab3 Frank P. Tomasulo, Ph.D.'s profile was updated https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1561047/ Sat, 04 Feb 2017 00:10:14 -0500 0