Christmas

         In this blog I will be comparing The Family Man to Its a Wonderful Life. These two films take place during Christmas.
         The first film I will be talking about is The Family Man which takes place in New York where Jack ( the main character) lives as a business man, during his glimpse he lives with his wife, Kate and two kids in New Jersey. Jack left Kate after an life changing opportunity came about. Later Jack became a businessman and very successful. He thought he had everything he wanted until a man came along and granted Jack a glimpse at what his life would have been like if he didn't leave Kate. In his glimpse Jack has two kids, the wife of his dreams, a dog, parent in-laws, friends, and a descent job.
         The second film I will be talking about is Its a Wonderful Life which takes place in Bedford Falls where George (the main character ) lives with his wife, Mary. George has many dreams he always wanted to travel the world but every time he tried something happened that interrupted his dreams. He had to be in charge of  his fathers old business, he got married, had kids, and saved his town from Mr. Potter (the villain). In his "glimpse" his guardian angel grants his wish. George wished that he was never born. He got to see all of the things that happened if he wasn't there to change them. His brother died as a child, his uncle was in an insane asylum, the town was now called Pottersville, and all the people that he helped over his life had something wrong in their lives.
         These two films have some similarities and differences. George and Jack both got a chance to look at their lives if they made a different decision or were never born. George and Jack were both businessman but Jack didn't think he needed anything and George thought he needed more. Both films had a guardian angel of sorts. The Family Man was in color but Its a Wonderful Life was in black and white.    

9/11

         In this blog I will be talking about how two films Reign Over Me and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close show how people cope with and make sense of 9/11. Both films deal with a character losing a family member during 9/11. I liked both films for different reasons. They both touched my heart in different ways.
         I will start off with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close which is a film that hits very close to home with it's message. I feel like I understand this film better because my uncle has Aspergers Syndrome. Some people don't understand Oskar because he's different. Everyone goes through loss differently. Oskar needed to understand his fathers death and the way he had to do that was to find out what the key he found opened up. Some people might think that is pointless but its his attempt on holding onto his father. If you lost your father wouldn't you want to do anything you could to hold onto the memory of them? That's all that Oskar is doing. In this film the director isn't trying to make sense of why the people ran a plane into a building but their trying to show you how the people felt that lost someone in 9/11 and what was going through their heads.
          I feel like Reign Over Me  was a little hard to follow at times. Charlie lost his wife and two kids and dog during 9/11. He didn't have anyone left. His parent and laws want to get him help and just want him to be apart of their lives because they lost them too. Charlie ends up getting close to Alan his old college roommate. Alan doesn't push Charlie like his parent and laws do. He does get Charlie to see someone and talk to her. This film was very well done but at times hard to follow. You did see that Charlie had a hard time losing his family but not in the same way that the other film did. The director wanted you to see what Charlie had to go through with losing everyone that was close to him.

world war 2

                 In this blog I will be telling you what Spielberg was trying to convey in 1941 and in Saving Private Ryan. These two films are very different in my opinion. 1941 is a comedy about world war 2. Saving Private Ryan was a very realistic portrayal of world war 2.
                The point of Saving Private Ryan was to show what the war was like for a foot soldier.  Spielberg didn't hold anything back in this film. He showed death, pain, regret, suffering, loss, and agony. The film was about a group of soldiers trying to track down the last son, Private Ryan of a woman that lost here other sons in the war. The group lost to men tracking down Private Ryan. When they found him he didn't want to go with them because his orders were to stay and protect a bridge. The remaining men stayed and helped protect the bridge because that meant that they deserved to go home. Many died in combat but there were some survivors including Private Ryan. At the end of the film you see that Tom Hanks says to Ryan to earn it. At the very end of the film you see Ryan and his family at Tom's grave where Ryan is talking to Tom saying that he thinks about what he did for him everyday and he hopes that he did indeed earn it.
                The point of 1941 was to show what it was like in Hollywood in 1941. The point was to show the different feelings during the bombing of pearl harbor. The emotions ranged from being scared to being happy. In Hollywood on that night you see soldiers enjoying themselves at a dance and at the movies. Then everything goes wrong and different people take different roles in stopping the bombing. Because Spielberg used comedy it was a little difficult to understand what it was really like in the eyes of the people that were there.
                I think that Saving Private Ryan really showed what it was like during the war you could feel what they felt it was almost like you were there unlike in 1941 which I think it was kind of a big joke it was just like a bunch of words and pictures with no connection between them. It didn't make you react like I believe Spielberg wanted you to.   
               
        

Racism in film

               In this blog I will be talking to you about racism in films that we watched. The films that we watched that deals with racism are Do The Right Thing by Spike Lee, Schindler's List by Steven Spielberg, and Glory by Edward Zwick. The question that we are supposed to answer is would these  films be different if they were directed by a person of a race. My immediate answer is yes it would be different if the director was a different race.
               The film Do The Right Thing is a film that is based on several races living and surviving on a typical day on this certain block in Brooklyn. The different ethnicities are Asian, Italian, African American, and Hispanic. This film mainly takes place in a pizzeria named Sal's Pizzeria. Spike Lee actually acts in the film as well as directed it. His character Mookie is African American and works at Sal's as a pizza delivery man. Sal's is owned by Sal an Italian-American and his two sons, Pino and Vino also work at Sal's making pizza. There are other characters that are vital to the plot but I wont be talking about them. Sal ends up getting in an argument with some of the African Americans that are angry and Sal for "being racist". Sal and the African Americans end up fighting and one of the African Americans end up dying and so the rest of the African Americans trash Sal's and set it on fire. I don't believe that this film could have been depicted the same way if another person of another race directed it. Even though this film had other races mixed in with it African Americans were the majority population. Lee knew what is was like being an African American so that's why the film was able to be depicted the way it was. If it was some other race the film would have followed their race or just not have been the same.
                The film Schindler's List is a film based on religion. This is based on World War 2 and how the Nazis' were killing and keeping Jewish people as slaves. This business man Schindler started to feel for the Jews and started saving as many as he could be moving them to his factory to work until the war was over and the Jews were free. He saves 1200 of them. I think that this film could have been done by a person of different race but it would be has meaningful and frightful.
                 The film Glory is about Robert Shaw leading the first volunteer African American company during The Civil War. I think that the film could have been directed by someone who was of a different race but it wouldn't have been the same.
                All in all these films would have changed and been different if they were directed by a person of a different race for multiple reasons one because no one person sees the world the same. Two because they have a different take on what happened.

RACIST

           There is no doubt that there are racist people in this world. The question is; does race and sports correspond? My opinion before I watched any of these films or read any of these articles is yes. Race and sports go one and one with each other. In this blog I will be supporting my opinion. The films that we watched that had to do with race and sports are Glory Road, We Are The Titians, and 42.
           All of these articles seem to be talking about the same thing no matter what words they use they are saying that still in this day and age racism is shown. In sports when you think about basketball you think of African Americans and how they are better at the sport than "white people". They are supposedly faster and taller so they become better. When you think of baseball you think of Hispanics being better pretty much for the same reasons that African Americans are better at basketball. When you think of football you normally think of African Americans as well. Sports seem to always have a race that fits them the best.
          We Are The Titians was the first film we watched. Its about this African American coach that doesn't care about race he just cares about having the best of the best on his team. He cares about people that work hard and work as a team. The team didn't like each other at first but later on they started getting along and working together. They ended up changing the schools look on African Americans. They also winning the championship game and the towns hearts.
           In some cases racism stopped in others it continued. The people in the films gained a certain respect and love for the black players. It was still a long bumpy road to the top.
          

Hunger Games

                   We watched several films that showed the hero archetypes. Some Heroic Archetypes are Hero as warrior, lover, anti-hero, romantic, scapegoat, and super heroic. When watching a film that fits the hero story you have to think about what kind of hero they are, the journey they go through, stages of the journey, and characteristics of the hero's journey. Ill be writing about the Hunger Games and how it fits the hero archetypes.
                    The main character is Katniss Everdeen and the film starts out with her and her family (mother and sister, Primrose) getting ready for the reaping. Where everyone in your districts names get put in a jar and they have a drawing to be put in the Hunger Games. This is the first year that Primrose is put in the drawing and she is very scared. During the reaping Primroses name gets chosen and before she can get to the stage Katniss volunteers as tribute in her sisters place. This is the first time you see the hero archetype come in play. The other person to be pulled is Peeta Mellard.
                    The Hunger Games is a way for the Capital to stay in control yet have the 12 districts to have hope. Its a game where a boy and a girl are picked from each district to play in a game. There is only one victor in the games. If you lose you die, President Snow pins people against people to kill one another.
                    During the days before the games the tributes go through some tests and trials. During this time the tributes are suppose to get people to like them and to show of just enough of their skills. Katniss isn't about making friends, she said herself that she isn't good at it. She just wants to survive.
                    Once the games start there is so many deaths in the first two minutes. Katniss runs straight for the woods because during that time you don't need to get supplies you just need to survive. After the deaths of almost half the tributes there is a little alliance going on between some of the tributes including Peeta. Katniss is confused by this but it turns out Peeta just wanted to find her. After some more deaths and after Katniss finds Peeta wounded and tries to help him the Capitol interrupts the games and tells the last couple of tributes that there can be to victors if they are from the same district. They also tell the remaining tributes that have some gifts from the capitol and risking her life to save Peeta's, Katniss goes and almost dies getting medicine for him. After that there are only three tributes left and they all make it to where they started the game and the boy from another district gets eaten by dogs. The capitol then says there can only be one victor. When Peeta tells Katniss to kill him she doesn't. Instead she gives him poison berries and tells him to trust her. They then attempt to eat them when the capitol decides to let them both live because there must be a victor.
                   Katniss fits the hero archetype for several reasons. The first reason is because she has the love interest Peeta and also Gael. Also she has the person she is saving her sister Primrose and Peeta. Her magical weapon is her bow.

dad and son

           We have watched several movies with the concept of father son and mother son. All of the movies were different but shared one common characteristic the bond between family. In this blog I will be talking about how each relationship in these movies were alike or different. The movies were Road To Perdition, Field of Dreams, October Sky, Big Daddy, and Click.
           The Road to Perdition was about the relationship between Michael JR and his father who's name is also Michael. Michael JR didn't really get along with his father at the beginning of the movie. After a tragic event happened to their family they left to try to find the man that ruined their lives and kill him. Michael JR realized a lot of things about his father that changed his perception of his father. They ended up becoming very close to one another and at the end of the movie Michael saves his sons life so he didn't have to turn into the man that Michael was.
           Field of Dreams had a couple of different relationships. One is between Ray and his daughter and the other Ray and his father. In this movie the main relationship is between Ray and his father. Ray didn't have the best relationship with his father when he was younger but after his fathers death Ray started hearing things and ended up building a baseball field. His father ended up coming to it and he made up with his father.
           October Sky had a relationship with father and son. Hommer the son never got along with his father because they had different ideas on what a man is. Hommer didn't want to work in the mines but his father thought that every man had to work in the mines. Hommer also thought his father didn't care about him and only cared for his other son. At the end of the movie Hommer's dad finally took interest in Hommer and what he cares about.

road to perdition

               Road To Perdition was a very good film about gangsters, love, and lost. The question that I will be answering in this blog is, is this film a modern day example of film noir? Noir legitimately means black and film noir movies are generally black and white movies. Except the film Road To Perdition is in color so is it an example of film noir? To be considered film noir it has to mislead you to think there's a happy ending, there are dark and dreary areas in the film, everybody smokes everywhere, women have no fear to betray you or kill you, women wear low necklines and mascara and lipstick, and men wear suites and fedoras and ties.
              In the film Mike and Michael finally think that they are done running and killing people and that they can relax but at the end of the movie you see Mike looking through the window watching Michael play with his aunt's dog and finally feeling that they can settle own and put the past behind them and live their lives without fear. At that moment you see the photographer shoot Mike in the reflection of the window and you can almost feel the pain that is going through his body. At the moment that Michael comes in the house and sees that after all that his father and himself had gone through was for nothing he pulls out his gun and aims it at the photographer. You think that he's going to shoot him and his life will turn out like his fathers until Mike pulls out his gun and shoots him so he can save Michael from the type of life he lived. So in the very end of the movie Michael takes his dog and moves in with the older couple he had stayed with before and he never touched a gun again so even if they tricked you about the film having a happy ending Michael still never had to live the life his father did so a good thing came out of a bad situation.
               The film had a very dark mood to it even if the film wasn't in black and white it had the feeling of a black and white movie. Even in the homes they used the same concepts they would use in a black and white movie. They definitely used their lighting as an advantage. They weren't always lit up so you could see them but that's the whole point to knowing where your light is so you can tell a story better.
               Mr. Rooney thought of Mike as more of a son to him than his actual son, Connor. Even though he loved Mike he still let everyone go and try to kill him. So I guess blood really his thicker than water. In the end Mr. Rooney still chose Connor and Mike chose Michael. Mike also chose to spare Mr. Rooney's life so even though Mr. Rooney tried to kill Mike, Mike still cared about Mr. Rooney.
              With all of this in mind I truly believe that a Road To Perception was a modern take on film noir. But you can make your own decisions on whether you believe it is film noir.

mr deeds goes to town

               In Mr. Deeds Goes to Town it is more of a serious movie rather than a comedy like Mr. Deeds. Both movies have similarities and differences here are some examples. In the first movie the very first thing you see is Longfellow's uncle driving off a cliff but in the second movie you see his uncle is climbing a mountain and makes it to the top and freezes himself to death. After that you meet Longfellow and you get an idea on who he is. In the movies Longfellow gives off a vibe that he is lost in the world of business and that he is not very intelligent in the eyes of the wealthy. In the first movie Deeds writes poetry and in the second movie Deeds still writes poetry but in the for of greeting cards and he tries to sell them to Hallmark. In the first movie Deeds loves playing the tuba and in the second movie there wasn't a tuba. In the first movie it definitely is about love but it has a lot more about the business aspect of it. The second movie doesn't have nearly as much about the business and more about the love connection between Deeds and Babe. In the first movie Babe named Deeds as "The Cinderella Man" and in every article that name showed up unlike the second movie which that name didn't show up at all. The love story varies between the movies in the first one Babe takes awhile before she realizes what she is doing is wrong and that she is in love with Deeds. In the second movie Babe stops reporting all about Deeds because she could really tell that is was a true and kind man unlike the men you generally see in New York. Another difference is that in the first movie Babe's undercover name was Mary and in the second movie it was Pam. In the second movie you really see how much Deeds loves Babe he takes her to her "hometown" that she made up and at the end you see how much Babe truly loves Deeds when she goes to Mandrake Falls to get deeds back. In the second movie Deeds actually doesn't own all of that money it goes to Blake's lovers son at the end of the movie.
                All in all Mr. Deeds Goes to Town is a better movie. Why is this? Because There is so much added into this movie that the other one left out. This movie has the main storyline in it. The dialogue is so much better. In this movie they don't have to swear to get their point across. The older movie is so much classier and doesn't need the raunchy humer to stand out.  
              

          Back To The Future begins in the year 1985 where our main character Marty has his life set for him. He's got a great girl that he's about to take out for the night with his dads car. The day the film starts he gets back home from school and his dads boss Biff totals Marty's dads car and ruins Marty's chances with his girl. When the film jumps to the future Marty messes with his parents lives and when he ends back up in 1985 some things have changed. One of thoughs things is Biff ends up doing everything for Marty's dad and the car wasn't totaled it was in fact being polished by Biff for Marty's date. These events happened because when Marty arrived in the future he messed up his parents falling in love by diving into the road and pushing his dad out of the way of his grandfather hitting his dad. That was the moment that his dad and his mom fell in love but instead Marty's  mom fell in love with him. Marty kept a picture of his siblings and himself in his wallet and when he went to look at it his brother started to disappear out of the photo. Marty then went to The Doc because he knew he was the one person that could help him. Because of that one moment across from his mothers house it changed everything which made him have to get his parents together before he disappeared himself. So he tried to take advantage of his mother at a dance so his father could be the dashing hero but instead Biff ended up taking advantage of Marty's mother and his father ended up punching Biff which finally let him stand up for himself. Another thing Marty does to change the future is he writes Doc a letter informing him that he will be shot the day that he goes back to the future and that he needs to do things differently so he can stay alive. Doc gets the letter and rips it up because he doesn't want to change the events that lead to the future. But Doc ends up taping it back together and in the year 1985 he puts a bullet proof vest on that saves his live. The last thing I have to point out is in 1985 Marty's mom is and overweight alcoholic and in the future Marty tells her she shouldn't drink. When we get back to the past Marty's mom doesn't drink that much and shes thin and happy.