Study Like a Boss
Tony Montana has taken just so much shit his whole life. He’s been oppressed and repressed and mocked and called a spic and turned on by his own country (Cuba) that he’s just not going to take any shit anymore. He’ll shoot someone just for pissing him off, which is almost admirable, or at the … Read more
Jane Austin is ranked among the top 10 entertainers by Entertainment Weekly. She is seen as ‘the posthumous queen of genteel cinema’. Recent film versions of Emma invite speculation about the novel’s appeal in the 1990s. Written in 1816, Emma traces a classic comic arc: a misguided matchmaker, overconfident in her abilities, learns the error … Read more
Jack Black is very funny. He steals movies where he has supporting parts like High Fidelity, and his performance with Will Ferrell at the Oscars was the highlight of a very predictable awards show. Black’s persona is a fascinating paradox; I like the oxymoron that Entertainment Weekly recently created for him: the frenetic slacker. Black’s … Read more
The film Sunset Boulevard directed by Billy Wilder and staring the main characters of Norma Desmond, Joe Gillis, and Max Von Mayerling is ideal example of how important film making techniques help depict a movie’s core theme intentions with vivid clarity. Classic Hollywood is the first thing that comes to mind when one speaks about … Read more
Robert Gould Shaw was a son of wealthy Boston abolitionists. At 23 he enlisted to fight in the war between the states. The movie opens by Robert reading one of many letters he writes home. He is captain of 100 Union soldiers most of whom are older than himself. He speaks of the spirit of … Read more
Have you ever had a dream that you thought was so real? Well, what if you never woke up? How would you determine the difference between the real world and the dream world (Matrix,1999)? Some people in this world live their lives knowing that something is wrong. They can feel it in everything they do. … Read more
The film “The Atomic Cafe” brilliantly portrays the habitual life in U. S. society during the Cold War. The Cold War was a period of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, the two main superpowers at the time. During the war both parties developed nuclear weapons and therefore assured each other mutual … Read more
The Castle, directed by Rob Sitch, is an Australian comedy, which delves into the lives of a stereotypical Australian family, the Kerrigans. The film touchs on issues close to home in a humourous way. The audience is introduced to the classic Aussie family, narrated in the viewpoint of the youngest of the Kerrigans, Dale. The … Read more
Movie critic, Roger Ebert, has called him a “directing god”. He has been called the “most influential and best director of their time” by fellow director, George Lucas. Director Martin Scorsese has been an influential director for the past twenty years. In the 60’s class of directors that included, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Brian … Read more
The early 20th century produced countless numbers of famous novels, dramas, and films which are still critically studied in many different classrooms around the world today. I will be critically focusing on the two films that were presented in our class this term; Metropolis and Pandoras Box. In addition to these films I will use … Read more
Preston Sturges film The Lady Eve presents a love story in terms of recurrence and resolution. The first scene begins with a medium shot of the lovers usual meeting place on deck, where a cheerful and whistling Charles (Hopsie) paces up and down waiting for Jean to appear. The camera focuses on Charles pacing and … Read more
In a time when so few motion pictures leave an impact, Fight Club refuses to be ignored or dismissed. The experience lingers, demanding to be pondered and considered, and, unlike most of the modern-day thrillers, there is a great deal here to think about and argue over. Fight Club presents an overload of thought-provoking material … Read more
Tommy Boy is a hysterical comedy starring Chris Farley and David Spade. It takes place in the industrial town of Sandusky Ohio. Tommy Boy (farley) has to run his father’s auto business after he suddenly dies at his own wedding. He was getting married to Bo Derek and from that marriage Tommy Boy got a … Read more
What attracts us to the movie theatre on Friday nights? Is it the commercials we see? Or is it all the gossip we hear from friends and TV talk shows? Well for many, it is the critiques we read and hear almost every day. One who specializes in the professional evaluation and appreciation of literary … Read more
Exactly five seconds after he came into the world, Vincent Freeman was already considered to be a looser. His first genetic test revealed high probabilities of hyperactivity, sight troubles and serious heart diseases, a life expectancy of 30 years and 2 months and quite low intellectual faculties. At that time, the artificial insemination of test … Read more
Thus far, most discussions of cinema in the digital age have focused on the possibilities of interactive narrative. It is not hard to understand why: since the majority of viewers and critics equate cinema with storytelling, digital media is understood as something which will let cinema tell its stories in a new way. Yet as … Read more
The film industry would have never taken the direction it did without the incorporation of certain worker management techniques and capitalist vertical integration pioneered by the founders of Hollywood. The methods of operation that Hollywood established in the realms of production, manufacturing, exhibition and distribution of film has shaped the face of the industry to … Read more
Now as we are rapidly approaching the Millenium many people are getting the blues. This seems absurd because this offers all of us a perfect chance to start again. NASA is embracing this chance to grow and expand their departments. The phrase, “Space, the final frontier,” expresses the world’s obsession with space travel, that started … Read more
Michelle hears some noises in the house, after a while see finds out that its a missing girl, the girl is trying to get revenge for her death. First off, I would like to say that Michelle Phieffer is great in this movie; she carries her character strongly from start to finish. And unfortunately The … Read more
The film Since You Went Away was released in 1944. This epic film attempted to relate to the American audience that was dealing with the war foreclosing and he flux of soldiers coming home at the time. The Hollywood studios were constantly trying to do their part for the war buy making films about the … Read more
Hollywood has gone digital, and the old ways of doing things are dying. Animation and special effects created with computers have been embraced by television networks, advertisers, and movie studios alike. Film editors, who for decades worked by painstakingly cutting and gluing film segments together, are now sitting in front of computer screens. There, they … Read more
The song lyrics above are from the soundtrack of the film Menace II Society and correspond directly to the hardships that people are given when growing up in the ghetto and when surrounded by a life of violence. Because they know nothing other than this aggressive and brutal way of life, they continue this violent … Read more
We live in a society, which relies on fairy tales and mythology to entertain and take us off to a far away place where we can identify with our imagination. The Star Wars trilogy is a classic example of the hero cycle. A young man is brought up believing the light side of the force … Read more
The Roman Army was a masterpiece in itself. There was no other army like it, and was impenentrable. This was probably because of the extreme patriotism and pride in battling for Rome, and maintaining their superiority. Gladiator, “RomanArmy. com”, and The History of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire all portray this patriotism … Read more
Beginning roughly with the release of Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Stopped Worrying and Loved the Bomb in 1964, and continuing for about the next decade, the “Sixties” era of filmmaking made many lasting impressions on the motion picture industry. Although editing and pacing styles varied greatly from Martin Scorcesse’s hyperactive pace, to … Read more
The film Cruel Intentions is a narration based on a bet between two step-siblings exploring society’s sexual boundaries. We are first introduced to Sebastian, a fifth year high school Senior with no respect for anyone/ thing except his own reputation of sexual conquest. His stepsister Kathryn is, well, as she puts it “I’m the Marsha … Read more
This film, from 1979 was directed by Francis Ford Coppula and starred Martin Sheen (Capt. Willard) and Marlon Brando (Col. Kurtz). The film takes place during the 1970’s in the middle of the Vietnam War. Coppula was rewarded for his hard work by winning the Academy Award for cinematography. The story is based on the … Read more
In this paper I will discuss Brazil and its current film industry. I will elucidate its role in the Brazilian economy, and also what part the government deals in the industry itself. Certain Brazilian films will be given as representations towards my theories. Within a year of the Lumiere brothers first experiment in Paris in … Read more
This is a critique of” Roger And Me”, a documentary by Michael Moore. This is a film about a city that at one time had a great economy. The working class people lived the American dream. The majority of people in this town worked at the large GM factory. The factory is what gave these … Read more
Thirty-five years ago, Japans entertainment industry found an answer to its problems. Still developing in the aftermath of defeat in World War II, and the subsequent restructuring plan instituted by the United States, Japan was without surplus resources. There was no money for the production of films. American films soon began invading the Japanese entertainment … Read more
In the film, “Citizen Kane” directed by Orson Welles, Charles Foster Kane had built an entire empire around Xanadu. With all of his money, he was never truly happy. He had bought many things for the wives that he had, but they too were also never truly happy. His wives wanted something from him that … Read more
The film La Triviata displayed a fundamental romantic attack on conventional bourgeois morals, arguing that a good heart is more important than social acceptance, that the distinctions which split the beau monde (socially elite) from the demimonde (courtesans) are harsh and hypocritical, and that true love must triumph over all. Alfredos father destroyed this relationship … Read more
It seems to be quite amusing the way that so many people get so bent out of shape about a movie not following a book exactly. That is the beauty of prose, and the wonder of cinema. Why should there be a word for word visualization of something that already exists quite happily? Lolita is … Read more
Lolita is one of the most unconventional literary classics of the century. Lolita is a twelve-year-old girl, who is desired by the European intellectual Humbert Humbert. As the narrator of the story, Humbert chronicles his abnormal childhood, adolescent experiences, and an adventure in a booming American as a European tourist and pedophile. But it is … Read more
How did they ever make a movie out of Lolita? The tagline for Stanley Kubrick’s 1962 film version of Lolita said it all. Films and books “inspire, but may provoke”. They thrill but sometimes offend. And often the same artwork attracts both acclaim and condemnation. In modern times, censorship refers to the examination of media … Read more
Affliction, based on the novel by Russell Banks, was very interesting, mysterious, and kept you guessing up until it was over. The actors/actresses portrayed in the movie was Wade Whitehouse (Nick Nolte), Wade’s girlfriend Margie Fogg (Sissy Spacek), Glen Whitehouse (James Coburn), Rolfe Whitehouse (William Defoe), Lillian (Mary Beth Hurt), Jill (Brigid Tierney), and Jack … Read more
In that paper, I will try to compare two films which are A Birth of a Nation directed by D. W. Griffith and The Bicycle Thieves directed by De Sica. After giving the story of the films, I will try to explain their technical features and their similarities. A Birth of a Nation by D. … Read more
Stanley Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange was a deeply disturbing depiction of human nature that shed light onto dark thoughts in the character’s soul. Alex seems to have no regard for human decency or human life. He and his gang of friends kill at will. They have no purpose for their violent outbursts other than to shock … Read more
In Fail Safe and Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Sidney Lumet and Stanley Kubrick question the relationship between technology and humanity by emphasizing mankind’s tendency to create machines that cannot be adequately controlled. By blatantly revealing the absurdity of game theory (Mutual Assured Destruction as a reasonable … Read more
Pieces of a puzzle slowly fitting together, to reveal a picture. This is an accurate description of how the film, Gummo by Harmony Korine pans out. Through a series of quite disturbing yet visually stimulating vignettes, Korine somehow relays a tragic story. Essentially, the film is a collection of random events that are assimilated into … Read more
Director Ridley Scott’s Postmodern reply to the modern consists of recognizing that the past, since it cannot be destroyed, because it’s destruction leads to silence, must be revisited. So memories and emotions are meaningless without immortality. ” Like tears in the rain. ” Director Scott has a chilling story to tell, and there is a … Read more
The period of American cinema between 1965 and 1975 produced many films that almost completely restructured classical Hollywoods accepted genre conventions. A fine example of this would be Robert Altman’s iconoclastic take on Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe in The Long Goodbye (1973), a detective film based on the final book in Chandlers Philip Marlowe series. … Read more
The high school experience is something that will forever dominate the psyche of most American adults. It was an unforgettable time of fun, rebel-rousing, summer loves and parties. It was a time of warm summer days at the pool and chilly autumn nights, watching the football team and wondering were the party was going to … Read more
Lords of the darkness, Darkling Dancers, Nosferatu, Vrikolakas. And the list goes on like this. The vampire concept is thought by the most to be a myth that has crept into almost every culture. It has influenced many writers to write novels on them and many directors to shoot films on. Vampire myths go back … Read more
This film, I believe, deserves a higher status than that of cult, and is much more than just an acceptable homage to Philip K Dick, author of many original science-fiction novels, often laced with philosophical perspectives on the human condition. The film is multi-layered; thrilling and unsettling, part dark science fiction and detective film noir, … Read more
Movie critics and philosophers alike agree that the movie The Matrix is indeed based upon certain Platonic themes from Book VII of The Republic. In this story entitled “The Allegory of the Cave,” he describes a dark underground cave where a group of people are sitting in one long row with their backs to the … Read more
Fear in Different Genres By Michael J. Mizov Fear is defined as a condition between anxiety and terror either natural and well-grounded or unreasoned and blind. Fear is one emotion that everyone dislikes, and it is as unavoidable as night or day. Through the use of novels, plays, films, short stories, and poems it becomes … Read more
Apocalypse Now is a film about madness. In this film, Willard, played by Charlie Sheen, is sent through madness, reminiscent of Dantes’ journey through hell. His mission is to kill Kurtz, who’s gone insane according to military intelligence. Kurtz has gone on his own, starting his own society in Cambodia, where his troops and the … Read more
Thus far, most discussions of cinema in the digital age have focused on the possibilities of interactive narrative. It is not hard to understand why: since the majority of viewers and critics equate cinema with storytelling, digital media is understood as something which will let cinema tell its stories in a new way. Yet as … Read more
Whether it be through his epic Star Wars saga, or through the exalted special effects crew he pioneered, Industrial Light and Magic, he continues to amaze audiences world wide. His name in synonymous with famous directors/producers in the world. His impacts reach out in more fields than just film. He has created companies that produce … Read more