Course Description
Discover and discuss masterpieces of American cinema in this class for intermediate and advanced English speakers. You’ll watch a film at home on streaming, or borrow the DVD from your local library, before a lively and engaging discussion in class. You’ll be assigned one scene to watch at least three times! Every month you’ll view a film from an influential director so you’ll come to know the stylistic hallmarks of favorite genres and filmmakers.
If you love the movies, this course is an enjoyable way to increase vocabulary, get comfortable with idiomatic expressions, improve your conversational skills, and deepen your understanding of American culture and cinema.
Films for the Winter 2026 trimester:
Stand by Me (1986) directed by Rob Reiner, with Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, and Corey Feldman. Based on a Stephen King novella, the film is set in the fictional town of Castle Rock in 1959 where four boys set out on a journey to find the dead body of a missing boy. Critic Carrie Rickey (Philadelphia Inquirer) described the film as “a small, quiet film that walks tall and resonates long after.”
Annie Hall (1977), an iconic New York film directed by Woody Allen from a screenplay written by Allen and Marshall Brickman and starring Diane Keaton and Allen. Alvy Singer, played by Allen, tries to figure out the reasons for the failure of his relationship with the eponymous female lead, played by Keaton in a role written specifically for her.
Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), directed by Susan Seidelman, with Rosanna Arquette, Aiden Quinn, and Madonna. Set in New York City, the plot involves the interaction between two women – a bored housewife and a bohemian drifter – linked by various messages in the personals section of a newspaper. In her review for The New Yorker, critic Pauline Kael referred to Madonna as "an indolent, trampy goddess.”
About the instructor:
Ellen Feldman grew up in Philadelphia and currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She holds a Ph.D. in cinema studies from New York University and has taught film studies at the State University of New York, Geneseo campus, and Brooklyn College.
