CINE280 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Joshua Weiss CINE280 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/17/2026	Loved this course - basically just watch one movie every week and discuss it in class. Dr. Weiss is very understanding and accommodating if you just reach out. Just show up to class and talk sometimes and you will be fine. The course work included three papers and discussion board posts that took me like 5 minutes. Recommend this to anyone who loves movies or looking for a fun/easy gen ed.
Joshua Weiss CINE280 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/07/2026	10/10 really amazing class w/ Dr. Weiss if you love movies. Imo it’s still pretty easy even if you don’t watch the assigned movies but I would recommend that you still do :) Class structure: Every Friday he assigns a movie. You watch it over the weekend. The following Monday one group has to write a 400 word discussion board post responding to one of the prompts that he gives related to the movie. As long as you write something decent you get good points. The groups rotate every week so you end up doing the 400 word discussion board post 2-3x a semester. Everyone else not in the group is required to reply to someone’s discussion board post with a 200-300 word response every week. If you forget to reply to someone’s DB post once in a while it’s okay he doesn’t take off points I think. Don’t miss the 400 word post when it’s your week though. I think there were like two essays in the semester and a final paper. The essays increased in length each time. They were a bit difficult for me honestly. It’s not like a standard English paper each time. Make sure you read the syllabus for instructions. For example, our first paper was a Film Review essay, so you’re supposed to structure it like a Film Review. I recommend looking at the essays he provides in class or looking online for how to do these kinds of papers. The paper will be on one movie that you’ve watched in class that you select. Participation is a large chunk of your grade (~20%) and I’m pretty sure he actually takes attendance so make sure you can attend most classes. It's also only a 25-person class so it's easy to tell when someone isn't here. In class we usually discuss the movie we were assigned over the weekend. We might watch clips of it in class. Please actually watch the movie!! Or at least a good part of it. Discussions in class are so fun and it’s sad when no one says anything. In class we usually discuss the details of certain scenes, so I don’t think it’s helpful to just read a plot summary online. Some days Dr. Weiss would ask us to read an essay on the assigned movie before the following class so we could discuss the essay. As a person Dr. Weiss is a really nice guy. If you miss a class he’s usually very forgiving, and you can miss a few discussion board replies as well. You can tell he’s really passionate about the movies we watch in class, but also about media and cinema in general. You can talk to him about literally any piece of media; he probably has watched it or at least knows about it. He's also really funny. The one thing I regret is not going to office hours for help on the essays. He discusses the requirements of the essay in class but not really how to write the essay, which makes sense bc it’s not a writing class, but it does mean that you have to do a lot of your own research and ask for your help on your own in writing the essay. I’ve heard he’s very helpful if you ask though! He does have one peer review session before each paper is due as well. Good luck!
Porter Olsen CINE280 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/04/2025	The professor is really funny and nice and his class is pretty interesting. He's very passionate about film and I've never had trouble paying attention to class. The work is pretty easy just make sure you study for the exams.
Caroline Eades CINE280 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/14/2025	This course is definitely one of the best gen eds to take. Each week you must watch the film and submit a 300 word discussion post on it by Sunday night. Usually, there will be a guest speaker that comes to yap about the film during lecture and then you'll get an easy quiz in discussion on it. As long as you watch the films and complete the posts, you'll be fine. This course exposes you to some pretty interesting foreign films. Would recommend.
Mehdy Sedaghat Payam CINE280 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/07/2025	Best prof ever. So nice and genuinely cares about his students and wants them to do well. Flexible with deadlines and the class is fun and easy, definitely recommend
Mehdy Sedaghat Payam CINE280 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2024	Dr. Payam is an excellent instructor! I decided to take this class to fulfill a Gen-Ed requirement and maybe watch some movies while I was at it. Every class is a discussion of the movie you were supposed to watch the day before (according to the syllabus) and it was genuinely very fun and thought provoking! There were three major assignments (a presentation on a movie of your choice, a final paper or creative project, and a proposal for that final paper or project) + attendance. It wasn’t too much work and Dr. Payam graded fairly. I’d say if you have any experience in editing or camerawork, it’s easier to do a short film for final project, since the paper has to be at least 1500 words and well-researched. Overall, fun class, great professor!
William Pittman CINE280 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/25/2024	simply the best. extremely nice, no exams, extremely passionate about the content, always so fun to be in the class.
Dylan Lewis CINE280 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/18/2024	better than the actual instructor of the course. more organized, helped explain things, was understanding
Caroline Eades CINE280 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/20/2024	One of the few classes I actually looked forward to. Very light work load. One film to watch and a short review to write every week. There were a few pop quizzes but they are very easy. The final project is a five page paper about a film of your choice. The class discussions were interesting, we talked about our opinions of the film we watched that week. This is a class I really enjoyed and learned a lot from. 100% recommend it, especially if you enjoy watching movies.
Caroline Eades CINE280 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/15/2024	Nice class. The professor was very sweet. Easy, straightforward, and interesting class. There are weekly film responses, weekly in-class quizzes, and one final paper. Most weeks, there were guest lecturers who were a little boring. Really interesting and EASY elective if you are a movie fanatic who wants to get into international films.
Caroline Eades CINE280 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/09/2024	Course was super easy, just one film weekly to watch and write a review on. Occasional "pop quizzes" on the film that week (if you watched the film, it was hard to not get 100%), and a final paper to write. The prof didn't always do things a certain way that made sense on Canvas and typically the TAs would have to step in to fix it, TAs for this course were definitely what made it run smoothly. Most week's there were a guest lecturer who was an expert in that week's cinema.
Luka Arsenjuk CINE280 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/19/2023	This class was overall pretty interesting and very easy. Almost every week we have to watch a film (most of them were boring but if you watch them at 2x speed it's easier to get through) and then there's a discussion that's super easy - you just talk about different parts of the film. Then at the end of the semester, there is a final paper where you analyze one of the films. The lectures were also kind of interesting - there were guest speakers almost every week.
Luka Arsenjuk CINE280 Expecting an A Naruto 05/16/2023	Easy class, teacher doesn't respond to emails for some reason.
Valentina Rosales CINE280 Expecting an A Naruto 05/16/2023	Easy class, nice teachers, but she doesn't respond to emails for some reason.
Luka Arsenjuk CINE280 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/01/2023	This class is extremely easy. There are easy weekly one-page double-spaced reflections based on weekly readings (that you can skim) and weekly films (that I recommended putting on 2x speed). About 3 weeks in, there is a new guest lecturer each week who goes in-depth on the theme/film of the week. He's strict about talking in class, but other than that he's easygoing.
Valentina Rosales CINE280 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/12/2022	An absolute pleasure taking a class from her. I always looked forward to class. The class opened my eyes to so many films I never thought I would enjoy.
Valentina Rosales CINE280 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/14/2022	One of the kindest human beings I’ve ever met. Going to her class is always the best part of my day. Don’t take if you’re not gonna go to class or participate
Luka Arsenjuk CINE280 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/20/2022	If you want to learn about film or just have a few hours to sit in lecture and work on something else, this class is for you. Professor Arsenjuk doesn't really do anything or grade anything (except maaaybe the term paper). He just lectures and it is easy to tell he really loves film. The TA's are super nice and helpful. If you show up to most classes: easy A. The term paper is extremely easy to BS, and they were graded so quickly I highly doubt they were all even read thoroughly. Be ready to watch some dull movies that are hard to understand at 2x speed. Some of the assigned films are interesting, but those are dwarfed in number by the boring ones. In all, great prof and little effort required.

Joshua Weiss
CINE280

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/17/2026

Loved this course - basically just watch one movie every week and discuss it in class. Dr. Weiss is very understanding and accommodating if you just reach out. Just show up to class and talk sometimes and you will be fine. The course work included three papers and discussion board posts that took me like 5 minutes. Recommend this to anyone who loves movies or looking for a fun/easy gen ed.

Joshua Weiss
CINE280

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/07/2026

10/10 really amazing class w/ Dr. Weiss if you love movies. Imo it’s still pretty easy even if you don’t watch the assigned movies but I would recommend that you still do :) Class structure: Every Friday he assigns a movie. You watch it over the weekend. The following Monday one group has to write a 400 word discussion board post responding to one of the prompts that he gives related to the movie. As long as you write something decent you get good points. The groups rotate every week so you end up doing the 400 word discussion board post 2-3x a semester. Everyone else not in the group is required to reply to someone’s discussion board post with a 200-300 word response every week. If you forget to reply to someone’s DB post once in a while it’s okay he doesn’t take off points I think. Don’t miss the 400 word post when it’s your week though. I think there were like two essays in the semester and a final paper. The essays increased in length each time. They were a bit difficult for me honestly. It’s not like a standard English paper each time. Make sure you read the syllabus for instructions. For example, our first paper was a Film Review essay, so you’re supposed to structure it like a Film Review. I recommend looking at the essays he provides in class or looking online for how to do these kinds of papers. The paper will be on one movie that you’ve watched in class that you select. Participation is a large chunk of your grade (~20%) and I’m pretty sure he actually takes attendance so make sure you can attend most classes. It's also only a 25-person class so it's easy to tell when someone isn't here. In class we usually discuss the movie we were assigned over the weekend. We might watch clips of it in class. Please actually watch the movie!! Or at least a good part of it. Discussions in class are so fun and it’s sad when no one says anything. In class we usually discuss the details of certain scenes, so I don’t think it’s helpful to just read a plot summary online. Some days Dr. Weiss would ask us to read an essay on the assigned movie before the following class so we could discuss the essay. As a person Dr. Weiss is a really nice guy. If you miss a class he’s usually very forgiving, and you can miss a few discussion board replies as well. You can tell he’s really passionate about the movies we watch in class, but also about media and cinema in general. You can talk to him about literally any piece of media; he probably has watched it or at least knows about it. He's also really funny. The one thing I regret is not going to office hours for help on the essays. He discusses the requirements of the essay in class but not really how to write the essay, which makes sense bc it’s not a writing class, but it does mean that you have to do a lot of your own research and ask for your help on your own in writing the essay. I’ve heard he’s very helpful if you ask though! He does have one peer review session before each paper is due as well. Good luck!

Porter Olsen
CINE280

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/04/2025

The professor is really funny and nice and his class is pretty interesting. He's very passionate about film and I've never had trouble paying attention to class. The work is pretty easy just make sure you study for the exams.

Caroline Eades
CINE280

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/14/2025

This course is definitely one of the best gen eds to take. Each week you must watch the film and submit a 300 word discussion post on it by Sunday night. Usually, there will be a guest speaker that comes to yap about the film during lecture and then you'll get an easy quiz in discussion on it. As long as you watch the films and complete the posts, you'll be fine. This course exposes you to some pretty interesting foreign films. Would recommend.

Mehdy Sedaghat Payam
CINE280

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
04/07/2025

Best prof ever. So nice and genuinely cares about his students and wants them to do well. Flexible with deadlines and the class is fun and easy, definitely recommend

Mehdy Sedaghat Payam
CINE280

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/18/2024

Dr. Payam is an excellent instructor! I decided to take this class to fulfill a Gen-Ed requirement and maybe watch some movies while I was at it. Every class is a discussion of the movie you were supposed to watch the day before (according to the syllabus) and it was genuinely very fun and thought provoking! There were three major assignments (a presentation on a movie of your choice, a final paper or creative project, and a proposal for that final paper or project) + attendance. It wasn’t too much work and Dr. Payam graded fairly. I’d say if you have any experience in editing or camerawork, it’s easier to do a short film for final project, since the paper has to be at least 1500 words and well-researched. Overall, fun class, great professor!

William Pittman
CINE280

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/25/2024

simply the best. extremely nice, no exams, extremely passionate about the content, always so fun to be in the class.

Dylan Lewis
CINE280

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/18/2024

better than the actual instructor of the course. more organized, helped explain things, was understanding

Caroline Eades
CINE280

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/20/2024

One of the few classes I actually looked forward to. Very light work load. One film to watch and a short review to write every week. There were a few pop quizzes but they are very easy. The final project is a five page paper about a film of your choice. The class discussions were interesting, we talked about our opinions of the film we watched that week. This is a class I really enjoyed and learned a lot from. 100% recommend it, especially if you enjoy watching movies.

Caroline Eades
CINE280

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/15/2024

Nice class. The professor was very sweet. Easy, straightforward, and interesting class. There are weekly film responses, weekly in-class quizzes, and one final paper. Most weeks, there were guest lecturers who were a little boring. Really interesting and EASY elective if you are a movie fanatic who wants to get into international films.

Caroline Eades
CINE280

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/09/2024

Course was super easy, just one film weekly to watch and write a review on. Occasional "pop quizzes" on the film that week (if you watched the film, it was hard to not get 100%), and a final paper to write. The prof didn't always do things a certain way that made sense on Canvas and typically the TAs would have to step in to fix it, TAs for this course were definitely what made it run smoothly. Most week's there were a guest lecturer who was an expert in that week's cinema.

Luka Arsenjuk
CINE280

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/19/2023

This class was overall pretty interesting and very easy. Almost every week we have to watch a film (most of them were boring but if you watch them at 2x speed it's easier to get through) and then there's a discussion that's super easy - you just talk about different parts of the film. Then at the end of the semester, there is a final paper where you analyze one of the films. The lectures were also kind of interesting - there were guest speakers almost every week.

Luka Arsenjuk
CINE280

Expecting an A
Naruto
05/16/2023

Easy class, teacher doesn't respond to emails for some reason.

Valentina Rosales
CINE280

Expecting an A
Naruto
05/16/2023

Easy class, nice teachers, but she doesn't respond to emails for some reason.

Luka Arsenjuk
CINE280

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/01/2023

This class is extremely easy. There are easy weekly one-page double-spaced reflections based on weekly readings (that you can skim) and weekly films (that I recommended putting on 2x speed). About 3 weeks in, there is a new guest lecturer each week who goes in-depth on the theme/film of the week. He's strict about talking in class, but other than that he's easygoing.

Valentina Rosales
CINE280

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/12/2022

An absolute pleasure taking a class from her. I always looked forward to class. The class opened my eyes to so many films I never thought I would enjoy.

Valentina Rosales
CINE280

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/14/2022

One of the kindest human beings I’ve ever met. Going to her class is always the best part of my day. Don’t take if you’re not gonna go to class or participate

Luka Arsenjuk
CINE280

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/20/2022

If you want to learn about film or just have a few hours to sit in lecture and work on something else, this class is for you. Professor Arsenjuk doesn't really do anything or grade anything (except maaaybe the term paper). He just lectures and it is easy to tell he really loves film. The TA's are super nice and helpful. If you show up to most classes: easy A. The term paper is extremely easy to BS, and they were graded so quickly I highly doubt they were all even read thoroughly. Be ready to watch some dull movies that are hard to understand at 2x speed. Some of the assigned films are interesting, but those are dwarfed in number by the boring ones. In all, great prof and little effort required.

Reviews for CINE280