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Books

Perplexing Plots: Popular Storytelling and the Poetics of Murder

On the History of Film Style pdf online

Reinventing Hollywood: How 1940s Filmmakers Changed Movie Storytelling

Film Art: An Introduction

Christopher Nolan: A Labyrinth of Linkages pdf online

Pandora’s Digital Box: Films, Files, and the Future of Movies pdf online

Planet Hong Kong, second edition pdf online

The Way Hollywood Tells It pdf online

Poetics of Cinema pdf online

Figures Traced In Light

Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema pdf online

Exporting Entertainment: America in the World Film Market 1907–1934 pdf online

Video

Hou Hsiao-hsien: A new video lecture!

CinemaScope: The Modern Miracle You See Without Glasses

How Motion Pictures Became the Movies

Constructive editing in Pickpocket: A video essay

Essays

Rex Stout: Logomachizing

Lessons with Bazin: Six Paths to a Poetics

A Celestial Cinémathèque? or, Film Archives and Me: A Semi-Personal History

Shklovsky and His “Monument to a Scientific Error”

Murder Culture: Adventures in 1940s Suspense

The Viewer’s Share: Models of Mind in Explaining Film

Common Sense + Film Theory = Common-Sense Film Theory?

Mad Detective: Doubling Down

The Classical Hollywood Cinema Twenty-Five Years Along

Nordisk and the Tableau Aesthetic

William Cameron Menzies: One Forceful, Impressive Idea

Another Shaw Production: Anamorphic Adventures in Hong Kong

Paolo Gioli’s Vertical Cinema

(Re)Discovering Charles Dekeukeleire

Doing Film History

The Hook: Scene Transitions in Classical Cinema

Anatomy of the Action Picture

Hearing Voices

Preface, Croatian edition, On the History of Film Style

Slavoj Žižek: Say Anything

Film and the Historical Return

Studying Cinema

Articles

Book Reports

Observations on film art

Piss In Public !!hot!! May 2026

In the heart of Tokyo, there was a small alleyway known as "Pis Alley" due to its notorious reputation for being a spot where people, often intoxicated, would relieve themselves in public. The alleyway was narrow, with tall buildings on either side, and was rarely patrolled by police. Over time, it had become a blight on the community, with locals avoiding the area and business owners complaining about the unpleasant conditions.

However, their efforts were met with resistance. Some locals were skeptical about the point of cleaning up the alleyway, while others were concerned about the cost. Taro's colleagues at work teased him about his crusade, saying it was a waste of time. piss in public

One evening, a young professional named Taro Yamada stumbled upon Pis Alley on his way home from a night out with colleagues. Taro was a tidy and considerate person, and the sight of the alleyway's state shocked him. As he gazed down the alley, he noticed a drunkard urinating in the corner, completely disregarding the people around him. In the heart of Tokyo, there was a

The next day, Taro began to organize a group of concerned citizens to clean up Pis Alley. They started by picking up trash and scrubbing the walls to remove graffiti. As they worked, Taro approached the local authorities, suggesting that they increase patrols in the area and install public restrooms. However, their efforts were met with resistance

Taro realized that his efforts had not only cleaned up the alleyway but had also brought the community together. He felt a sense of pride, knowing that he had played a role in changing the area.

Undeterred, Taro persisted. He rallied his friends, and together they continued to clean up the alleyway every week. Slowly but surely, the area began to transform. The walls were repainted, plants were added, and a public restroom was installed.

David Bordwell
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