Pro/Con Papers

13 Ways of Looking at Bill Murray:
Cons: There's a lot, but mostly, this just is not a scholarly article. There are no sources! It even contradicts itself! There aren't even 13 ways of looking at him...
Pros: It is entertaining, if only because Bill Murray really is awesome.

Transmedia Adaptation in the Work of Orson Welles
Cons: I found this paper kind of boring, and I'm not sure I got why transmedia adaptation was important, only the comparison between the play and the film. This would really only be an interesting presentation if the writer showed us the script and/or pictures from the play alongside the film.
Pros: It is well written, although a little redundant, and he does do a good job of drawing from multiple sources and providing specific examples.

A Radical Expedition of Cinema's Birthplace
Cons: Excessive use of jargon. This writer obviously owns a thesaurus and likes the word indubitably. The introduction feels very long to me, and I feel like the paper could have been a little shorter and still get the point across.
Pros: However, it is well written and I found the content very interesting. I totally get the comparison being made, there is a good use of sources and specific examples and it really makes me want to see the film.

Cinematic Expression of Ghosts in Japanese Film
Cons: Very redundant and doesn't seem to actually make a point. There was not enough context for the films or the ghost stories. Also, there is some weird grammar in there.
Pros: I like that the writer provided pictures and I would be interested in seeing the video clips that go a long with the film.

Murders Unavenged
Cons: A little boring, it will be interesting to see what this writers plans to show in the presentation. Also, there are a few grammatical errors, mostly typos.
Pros: It's very well written, he uses good specific examples and appropriate sources. For the most part, I understood the point he was trying to get across.

Irreversible and Techniques of Looking
Cons: I wish he explained what exactly masculine sympathy is supposed to look like earlier on in the paper, I feel like it wasn't really addressed until the end. I also wish that he had talked more about the female directors in this sort of genre
Pros: It's very well written and I appreciate that it works to actually focus on the techniques and formal concepts. I'm hoping he wouldn't show the 9 minute rape scene though, I understand that it's important to the paper and should be studied, I just don't really want to see it unless I choose to.

Blues Brothers & Bollywood Masala
Cons: The structure of the paper is confusing, the thesis statement was not presented until the 6th page of the paper, over halfway through. The writer presented the specific examples first, and then, much later, how the apply to Bollywood cinema, so it seemed disjointed. 
Pros: It is an interesting and original topic, and I agree that it is beneficial to reexamine films in different contexts. Also the Blues Brothers are a sort of universally loved film. 

The Unfilmable Lightness of Being
Cons: It's very long, so I would be worried that the presentation would go over 20 minutes easily. Because there is so much detail and context given, it gets a little wordy
Pros: However, I also really appreciate how much detail it goes into; I feel like this paper actually taught me something. Although there are a few typos, this paper reads like a scholarly article that could be assigned in a class

Multi-Screen Film
Cons: Although I understand the broad topic, I felt that there was no real thesis statement and it is unclear if the writer is trying to make an argument or just compare two films that use multi screen projection. I felt there should have been a more solid claim.
Pros: The content/topic is interesting and original. I am curious to see how this would be presented, and I think looking at film exhibition, esp. in installations, would contrast nicely with the other papers.

Cinema Du Corps
Cons:   
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Boys Will Be Girls
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Storybooks and Female Empowerment
Cons: Mostly just nit-picky stuff; I wish the paper were not single spaced and I would be worried that it would exceed 20 minutes
Pros: It's well written and researched. Even though Pan's Labyrinth is a more common topic film, it's because it's so interesting, and it's still balanced by the other film, which I had never heard of. I'm also all about female empowerment.