Lesson plan

Targets

Targets is a 1968 American crime thriller film directed by Peter Bogdanovich in his theatrical directorial debut, and starring Tim O'Kelly, Boris Karloff, Nancy Hsueh, Bogdanovich, James Brown, Arthur Peterson and Sandy Baron. The film depicts two parallel narratives which converge during the climax: one follows Bobby Thompson, a seemingly ordinary and wholesome young man who embarks on an unprovoked killing spree; the other depicts Byron Orlok, an iconic horror film actor who, disillusioned by real-life violence, is contemplating retirement. Produced by Roger Corman and written by Polly Platt and Bogdanovich, the film was loosely based on the case of Charles Whitman, a mass shooter who committed the Tower shooting at the University of Texas in 1966. The film was shot in late 1967 in the Los Angeles area. Released by Paramount Pictures shortly after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, it was considered a box-office bomb. Despite initial commercial failure, the film was well received by critics, and was included in the 2003 book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

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Article summary

Targets is a 1968 American crime thriller film directed by Peter Bogdanovich in his theatrical directorial debut, and starring Tim O'Kelly, Boris Karloff, Nancy Hsueh, Bogdanovich, James Brown, Arthur Peterson and Sandy Baron. The film depicts two parallel narratives which converge during the climax: one follows Bobby Thompson, a seemingly ordinary and wholesome young man who embarks on an unprovoked killing spree; the other depicts Byron Orlok, an iconic horror film actor who, disillusioned by real-life violence, is contemplating retirement. Produced by Roger Corman and written by Polly Platt and Bogdanovich, the film was loosely based on the case of Charles Whitman, a mass shooter who committed the Tower shooting at the University of Texas in 1966. The film was shot in late 1967 in the Los Angeles area. Released by Paramount Pictures shortly after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, it was considered a box-office bomb. Despite initial commercial failure, the film was well received by critics, and was included in the 2003 book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

Key claims

  1. release date: 1968 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. release date: 2003-08-12 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  3. release date: 2023-09-25 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the release date is "1968". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the release date is "2003-08-12". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. The record states that the release date is "2023-09-25". What evidence would count against this claim?
  5. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  6. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1366393239

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.