Author Archives: Jake Rutkowski

Jake Rutkowski

Jake Rutkowski is interested in film genre and its place at the intersection of commodity and myth-making. He wrote his Master’s thesis at Rutgers University on genre semantics and the African-American hero in western films of the 1970s. Currently threading film criticism into his life as a university administrator, he writes at Cutting to Continuity.

Dunkirk: Depth to the Games

By Jake Rutkowski | Published: September 8, 2017
Poster for the Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk

The film is a study in learning from old masters as much as it is in bringing an old story to a new audience.

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More Branding: An Inconvenient Sequel

By Jake Rutkowski | Published: September 1, 2017
An Inconvenient Sequel

There’s no beating around the Bush with regards to how the 2000 election results impacted our present climate situation.

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Big Ideas – Alien: Covenant

By Jake Rutkowski | Published: May 19, 2017
Alien: Covenant

Covenant does a bit more than just lay out intertextual reference to spice up a familiar narrative.

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Everyday Noir: Old Stone

By Jake Rutkowski | Published: May 12, 2017
Old Stone Johnny Ma

For all the faults of his screenplay, Johnny Ma has a strong hand for visual storytelling.

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Tower: A Blind Eye Towards Evil

By Jake Rutkowski | Published: May 5, 2017
Tower film poster

Tower glows with the kind of heroism that represents the best qualities of humanity in spite of its worst.

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A Nightmare in Tune with the American Dream: The Founder

By Jake Rutkowski | Published: April 11, 2017
The Founder movie

Somewhere near its core, underneath the corporate-friendly narrative and the neon-tinged nostalgia, The Founder is a nightmare to the tune of the American Dream.

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On James Jones and the Limits of “Eternity”: An Interview with Tony Williams

By Jake Rutkowski | Published: February 20, 2017
James Jones The Limits of Eternity cover

There’ve been other negative eras in American history, but there’s always been that spirit of resilience and resistance.

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A Bold Look: Robert Kenner’s Command and Control

By Jake Rutkowski | Published: October 15, 2016
Command and Control film

Command and Control gives a mostly eyewitness account of an otherwise ordinary workplace accident at a nuclear warhead storage facility that could have led to full-scale devastation in the American South.

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