Formalism/Neo-Formalism

In a very original statement, I was also confused by the article. I understood it best when it addressed specific examples from films (Chaplin, etc) and when it went into other disciplines I am more comfortable with, having studied Claude Levi-Strauss and myths in the past.

Is Russian formalism the basis for all early film critiques? This seems to be a major, if not THE major early movement, and I can't help but wonder what the rest of the world was doing at the time. Perhaps we'll learn more about them in the future, but I'm certainly curious to learn how the French, and Americans, for example, were studying film at the time. What intrigued me most was the idea of studying movements like a knight moves in chess: big steps forward then pauses for criticism and experimentation within movements/genres.