Most Anticipated Films of 2012-Part 2

I was talking to Mathis earlier today about movies and we were talking about how excited we are for next year's movies to come out. So, I decided to blog about some of my most anticipated films of 2012.

The Hobbit

It's about time! I have been eagerly awaiting this movie being made as I grew up watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is hard to believe that The Fellowship of the Ring came out nearly a decade ago and we are finally returning to Middle Earth. With today's modern technology, and the fact that the film is being mad in 3D, I can't wait to see the improvement in visuals. I just hope I find myself accepting all of the new characters as I have grown attached to all of the characters from the original trilogy. But with Peter Jackson's repeatedly wonderful filmmaking, I'm not too worried.

Skyfall

"The name's Bond, James Bond." Man I can't wait to hear that line again! Daniel Craig will be back as Bond next winter and I really can't wait! It is going to be a great change of pace as this film will not follow the Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace storyline. Also, Sam Mendes is taking the director's chair which is very comforting considering he has made films such as American Beauty and Road to Perdition. Along with the gritty Daniel Craig, we will see Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes playing the villains. I can't wait to see Bond's classiness and hopefully we will see some cool gadgets.

Premium Rush

This film looks like a pure adrenaline rush. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as a bike messenger in New York City who must deliver an important message as a corrupt cop tries to chase him down and steal the letter. Levitt is becoming a great actor and I think it is really great to see him in movies as the starring role. Some of the camera angles look really awesome and unique. This just looks like a great cat and mouse movie and I just really like Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Definitely check out eh trailer if you haven't yet!

This Means War

This movie is the classic story of how to friends fall for the same girl...except with a twist! Tom Hardy and Chris Pine play as CIA agents who fight each other over the same girl, Reese Witherspoon, who is dating both of them. I thought how it was really clever and funny to take a classic plot formula and give it a twist by having the two guys be expert killers. This gives a great excuse to have great action sequences along with some funny humor as two boys fight for the girl of their dreams. Not to mention, the 3 leads are all fantastic actors which will make the experience even more fun!

Most Anticipated Films of 2012-Part 1

I was talking to Mathis earlier today about movies and we were talking about how excited we are for next year's movies to come out. So, I decided to blog about some of my most anticipated films of 2012.

The Dark Knight Rises

Forget about saving the best for last, I am really excited for Christopher Nolan's conclusion to his epic trilogy. The poster recently released implies that Batman may not have a happy ending. I am aware in the comic books that Bane, the villain who will be in TDKR, breaks Batman's back at some point. I honestly can't wait to see Bane's origin story and how Batman deals with his new foe. The real question is, can Nolan top The Dark Knight?

The Avengers

Ever since I saw the ending credits scene from Iron Man regarding the "avengers initiative" I have been really excited about this movie!  Captain America, Thor, Hulk, and Iron Man....need I say more? Joss Whedon's film is going to easily be the most ambitious superhero film ever to be released. Never before have we seen so many great comic book characters in a single film! Although it is a superhero film that will have some cheese factor, there are some great actors working together in this movie. I just hope Whedon can tell us a great story while balancing out the screen time of all these awesome characters!

The Vow

Just because action films are my favorite genre doesn't mean I can't enjoy a good chick-flick every once and awhile! This film stars Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams as a married couple in love until a car accident forces McAdam's character into a coma and awakes as she forgets who her husband is. I watched the trailer for this and I honestly think this looks like a really sweet movie. It looks like a film about second chances and the thrill and happiness of falling in love. I don't usually get excited about these kinds of movies but this looks like a great date movie and I am a sucker for movies about falling in love.

Prometheus

What is this about??? All Ridley Scott has said about this film is that it takes place in the same universe as the Alien films as a team of explorers try to discover the origins of Earth. This film is very secretive as of right now and I am REALLY curious as to how it ties in with the Alien films. I love science fiction films so I am really excited about this and I am also a fan of Michael Fassbender, who stars in the film. I guess I will have to wait and see who the antagonist will be until the movie comes out. Ridley Scott is a very talented director and I eagerly anticipate this science fiction mystery. 

Rosa

I was looking at www.Slash/Film.com today and I found a list of some of the best short films, commercials, and music videos of the year. I watched most of them but the one that really stood out to me was the short animated film called Rosa, by Jesus Orellana. The short film shows a robotic woman coming out of a capsule and explores a post-apocalyptic world only to discover that she is being stalked by two other robotic people.

Let me start of by saying that this reminded me a lot of The Matrix. The woman coming out of the capsule reminded me off when Neo enters the real world as he disconnects from the matrix. The green color tone of the short film is also looks like The Matrix but the contrast is much more vivid. Also, there are some great hand to hand combat fight scenes which sporadically throughout  the film.

The beauty of this short film is most definitely the atmosphere. The post-apocolyptic setting is gorgeous and filled with detail. I also noticed how this film contrasts technology and the environment together beautifully. All of the people are robotic and the setting is industrial as it is filled with abandoned streets and damaged buildings. But then here and there a butterfly passes by the screen or you see gorgeous vegetation of green leaves and luscious flowers. The art style of this film is simply beautiful and you can tell there was a lot of detail put into this.

I feel like there is a deeper meaning to this film but I still haven't quite figured it out. The ending is definitely interesting and imaginatively fabulous. The villains motives are never quite explained but maybe I missed something. All in all, Rosa was a really enjoyable and really well-made short film! If you are into animation you should definitely give this short film a look!

Dead Island Trailer

WARNING: If excessive violence and gore bother you then I would advise you not to watch this trailer.

So one day I was looking up some cool trailers for various video games until I stumbled upon the video game Dead Island. Dead Island is a video game where you play as a survivor of a zombie apocalypse on an island resort and you must fight to survive. The game itself pretty much involves slicing and shooting at zombies as you travel around the island. The game itself is good and all, but what really interested me was the announcement trailer for it.

The trailer starts off showing a young girl dead on the ground. That's right, a young, dead, girl just laying there. Right off the bat you are entranced by the shocking image that you see. Then suddenly the girl flies up through the air into a, once broken, glass window of a hotel room. As you see this happen you also see  flashes of the same little girl running down a dark hallway as she breathes heavily from exhaustion and being frightened. You, as the viewer, then realize the trailer is showing you the beginning and the end of what happened to this little girl and her mother and father during a zombie apocalypse.

Let me say for a trailer that is very graphic and disturbing it is also very emotionally engaging, well-made, and beautiful. Some may say "beautiful" wouldn't be a good word to describe the trailer but it's beautiful in the sense that it accomplishes making you feel emotionally different by the end of the trailer. The trailer showing the end of the girls life and what led her to that point tells a story in a unique way. By the end of the trailer you feel very sad for this family and you will be horrified of their inevitable fate. The icing on the cake is the subtle, yet very moving piano as the background music. This excellent trailer won the Gold Award at the Cannes festival and I completely understand why.

The Kingdom Review

I watched Peter Berg's The Kingdom with my friends a few days ago. The Kingdom is about how a team of FBI agents go to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to investigate the bombing of an international facility. The film's plot, script, acting, and cinematography are all great! It is a very realistic film and it is well directed by Berg. The emotion in the film is very personal as it deals with the horrors of terrorism.The film also includes an all star cast with Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman, and Jeremy Piven.

The best performance of the movie was Ashraf Barhom as Colonel Faris Al Ghazi, a man involved with the Americans' help in finding the person responsible for the bombing. Colonel Faris is easily the most emotionally interesting character of the movie. He is angry, concerned, protective, caring, and courageous throughout the movie. You become entranced in his desire for justice against terrorism and his respect for his family and country. As the film goes on, Jamie Foxx's character(also a noteworthy performance), Ronald Fleury, discusses his thoughts with Faris on the terrorist crisis at hand. I noticed that these two characters were very similar. Both of them want nothing but to find the terrorists responsible so they can protect their family, friends, and country. There is a emotional scene between Faris and Fleury as they talk about finding the terrorists...

Faris-"I'm forty-two years old. I have two daughters and a son. Beautiful son. And I find myself in a place where I no longer care about why we are attacked. I only care that one hundred people woke up a few mornings ago, and had no idea it was their last. When we catch the man who murdered these people, I don't care to ask even one question. I want to kill him. Do you understand?"
Fleury-"Yes, I do."


Although it bothers a lot of people, I liked the shaky camera in the movie. It makes the film more realistic as it should because the plot is completely plausible. The tension grows stronger and stronger throughout the movie as everyone tries to figure out the location of the terrorists. The final act of the film is a long action sequence between the American agents(and Faris) against the terrorists in a battle for justice. As much as I enjoy action scenes, this one was very well shot and emotionally engaging. I completely understood why the Americans were trying to kill the terrorists. Honestly I felt this could almost be a revenge film in reference to September 11th. Terrorists brought chaos to the United States, and every American immediately wanted revenge. But does revenge always solve the problem? This film suggests that terrorism and revenge doesn't allow anyone to win.


The Kingdom is quite an emotional action film. The movie dives into how terrorism emotionally affects individual lives and how it can only makes things worse. Jamie Foxx and Ashraf Barhom both do a fantastic job of portraying honorable men who want to fight back for their friends, family, and country. The terrorism in the film feels shockingly real and is the central discussion of the film. The quote above pretty much sums up the message of the movie. Revenge is a powerful emotion, but  does it always solve the problem? The Kingdom suggests that terrorism and revenge doesn't allow anyone to win.

My Photography Part 2

Earlier in the semester I blogged about some of my photography from my high school years. I said I would post some more and here they are! These pictures are actually some of my favorite that I have taken. Looking at these again makes me want to do more photography just as a hobby. As much as I like taking pictures, I like making movies more because they are moving images. I think it would be really fun just to look at a picture and then use that picture to make a movie.

Honestly, I prefer doing things that involve imagery rather than words. I have never liked reading because I don't retain information very well. There is just something about pictures and movies that sticks with me more. So instead of reading and imagining what's going on, I take pictures or videos of different things and I edit them into my own imagination.

Pictures and videos also allows us to look at things differently and from different angles. For example, many people just see hands as a human tool to carry, hold, or touch things. I see hands as God's gift to pray, help others, and lift up to praise Jesus Christ! Also, hands reference how Jesus' hands were nailed to the cross in order to save everyone from their sins. That is why I tend to take a lot of pictures that involve hands. In fact, my favorite picture among these is probably the one with the two hands that come together to form a cross. I thought this was a unique camera angle with the hands and I wanted it to be personal by drawing a cross on them to reference Jesus. I also really liked the texture of the hands in the photo because it gives it depth, character, and a sense of realism.

My other favorite picture is probably the one with a tree and empty grassland. I like this picture because I feel it represents that at the end of our journeys, there is beauty and accomplishments. The grass path and wasteland represent the journey's we take through life and how sometimes they can feel empty and meaningless. But it's not about the what happens during our journey, it is about the destination that we arrive at. The tree symbolizes the beauty and feeling of accomplishment every time we complete a trial, task, or journey. Our lives are the journeys in which we travel, and our destination is the Kingdom of Heaven.

That's pretty much all I have to say about my photography. I know my pictures aren't the best quality but I am proud of what they represent. I feel it's always important to have some form of message or moral in my work.

The Boondock Saints Review

So I recently watched The Boondock Saints for the first time. I kept hearing how "amazing" this movie is, but honestly after watching it I thought it was good...not great. The film is about two Irish/Catholic brothers, Connor and Murphy(played by Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus), from Boston who decide to become vigilantes by killing anyone they believe is evil. Ultimately, the point of the film is to bring up the question of whether or not killing evil people is good or bad. Thus, the film had multiple violent action scenes, which were very well directed. My favorite aspect of the movie was how they showed the aftermath of the action sequences through crime scene investigations. William Dafoe's character, FBI Agent Paul Smecker, leads the investigations of the "Saints" killings and uses clues to figure out what happened. The film then shows what actually happened in comparison to Agent Smecker's assumptions thorough flashbacks of the "Saint's" murders. This worked really well because it was interesting to see the result of the crime scene first, then guess along with Agent Smecker with what really happened, and then see the result through some great action sequences. Although the movie had an interesting story and cool action scenes, I found some gripes with the film that kept it from being great. While I liked the brothers/Saints in the movie, pretty much the rest of the supporting cast was really annoying.The "Saints" had a partner in crime, Rocco(played by David Della Rocco), was supposed to be the comic relief in the story but I found him more annoying than funny. Also, I found William Dafoe's character to be distracting because of how overly dramatic he was in the film. Don't get me wrong though, The Boondock Saints is a good movie in regards to story and action, but the acting could have been better.

Time-Lapsed Post-Apocalyptic Art

My friend and I were surfing through the internet the other day just trying to find some cool videos until we stumbled across a time-lapse of a magazine cover illustration. The video shows a man, Dei Gaztelumendj, starting from scratch with a piece of paper and pencil and ends up creating a beautiful work of art! I have always thought time lapse videos were really cool but this particular video made me realize how much work artists put into their work to make it look flawlessly great. The video is around 11 minutes long but I am sure it took this guy hours upon hours of work to finish this project. The image is of a boy holding a sword, sitting on a pile of garbage in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The boy looks very upset, giving the image a serious tone. However, the tone is also humorous because there is a smiley face on the boy's helmet and he is holding an abnormally large sword. I love the details that Gaztelumendj put into this piece, especially with the details of the tiny screws on the boy's robotic leg. He also did a fantastic job on the eyes, which is the focal point of the picture. The eyes really add to the serious tone of the art while giving it a sense of humanity. While it's not the greatest work of art I have ever seen, I just thought it looked really cool and unique and the development process was really fun to watch and admire. This video gave me a new appreciation to the people who work in the animation field.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Review

Last night I watched Scott Pilgrim vs. the World with my roommate. The movie is one of his favorites so he highly recommended that I watched it. I looked at the back cover of the dvd case and realized that the movie was directed by Edgar Wright. For those of you who don't know, Wright directed and co-wrote Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. I watched Shaun of the Dead during the past summer and I thought it was pretty funny so I decided to give Scott Pilgrim vs. the World a shot...and I am really glad I did! The movie is an adaptation from the graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley. The graphic novel and the film is about a young man named Scott Pilgrim who spends most of the time playing bass guitar in his band and playing video games. But when Scott falls for the girl of his dreams, Romona Flowers, he has to "defeat" Romona's 7 evil exes in order to date her.

The film's plot is ridiculous, but for some reason it works really well and it's really enjoyable. The film embraces Scott's interest in video games is reflected by multiple references throughout the entirety of the movie. For example, every time Scott defeats one of Romona's evil exes, they explode into arcade coins as the big letters "KO"pop up on the screen. Also, there is onomatopoeia through out the film such as "smack, blam, and pow." Visually, the movie is really fun to watch! Towards the end of the movie, Scott pulls a flaming katana out of his chest to fight the exes with, which looked really impressive and awesome! The comedy of the movie is the ridiculous things that happen. One of Romona's evil exes is a vegan, which evidently gives him psychic powers so he can fight Scott Pilgrim. You're probably thinking "What the heck???" Let me assure you that these random moments of the movie are really funny and enjoyable. Scott Pilgrim is played by Michael Cera. Cera's performance is unpredictably hilarious, making him the perfect choice for the film's tone. I was surprised to find some famous actors in such a ridiculous movie. Both Chris Evans(from Captain America) and Brandon Routh(from Superman Returns) make appearances in the film as some of Romona's exes.

Edgar Wright embraces the ridiculousness of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World's  plot by using unique visual and editing tricks. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a fun, unpredictable, odd, and visually stimulating movie.

I Remain

I Remain is a music video directed and edited by Ben Daron and I am really excited about it! Ben Daron created this music video for his Sight, Sound, and Motion class here at Huntington University. Alli Dozet performs and wrote the song while Anthony Frederick is on the guitar. Daniel "Sunshine" Evans did the cinematography for the music video and he did a really great job. I was fortunate to be a "grip" for Ben's project and it was a very fun learning experience. I just pretty much moved equipment around but I also was able to help set up some of the lighting for the video. The music video was filmed at the local coffee shop "Four Cups" above the 509 Community Church. It took 2 nights of filming, which ended up being about 10 hours of work. The music video will premiere within the next week. I have already seen some of the footage and I can tell you now that it loos BEAUTIFUL! The video is in in black and white with a sharp sharp contrast and the lighting is very pretty! We set up a lot of Christmas lights on the set, which created a great bokeh effect in background of the video. Alli Dozet's original song is also very catchy and you can really tell she put a lot of her own thoughts and emotions into her song which makes it very personal. You can check out some pictures of the set and the production process on the link below. Caroline Wilson took some amazing photos of the set! Anyways, I Remain is a very ambitious project with some incredible talent from Alli Dozet and Anthony Frederick! Look out for the premiere of the song sometime this week!

http://carolinenicolephotodesign.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-remain.html

Memento Review

 "I have this condition."

Wow... I just watched Christopher Nolan's Memento for the first time and I don't even know what to think. Without spoiling anything, the movie is about a man, named Leonard Shelby, who suffers from not having a short term memory as he tries to figure out who is the responsible for the death of his wife by using pictures and tattoos to help him remember. The really interesting aspect of this film is that the plot is presented to the audience backwards, rather than the traditional chronological order of events. This unique way of editing the film is really why it is so amazing. The audience is confused at first because one of the first shots of the film is the main character killing someone for no reason at all. But as the film progresses you realize everything is going backwards yet you are learning more about the characters and their motivations behind their actions. Guy Pearce plays his role as Leonard exceptionally well as I frequently found myself entranced by his determination of trying to find out who killed his wife. I won't spoil the ending but looking back throughout the film there are many subtle clues that imply the true murderer of Leonard's wife. That's what is so great about this movie too, because it will take multiple viewings (for me at least) to fully understand and catch the clues of the film. Bottom line, Christopher Nolan's brilliant Memento is a must-watch!

Mirror's Edge

Beautiful, artistic, colorful, poetic, and exciting are only a few of the words I would use to describe the amazing video game, Mirror's Edge. I know some people don't consider video games as art, but I really think this game is artistic. Created by the video game developers DICE (Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment), the story is about a female "runner" named Faith who delivers messages to people around a fictional utopian city as the police and crime lords tries to stop her and the other runners from delivering their messages. The main gameplay system of Mirror's Edge is parkour, which is basically moving around obstacles the quickest and most efficient way. Faith uses parkour to run along walls, slide down sides of buildings, jump over fences, ride down zip lines, and balance across pipes. Although you fight cops, crime lords, and antagonist runners the main objective of the game is to run. Usually games like these would be played in the third-person point of view(you can see the entire body of the character) but Mirror's Edge is played from a first-person point of view instead (you play through the eyes of the character). This makes the gameplay even more unique because usually first-person games just involve shooting people, aliens, or robots. The main producer, Owen O'Brien, on the development team of Mirror's Edge didn't think the game would be successful because of the first-person view where the player just runs. Thankfully, O'Brien was proven wrong.

The beauty of Mirror's Edge is the gameplay and the visuals. There isn't a better feeling than out running gunfire from the cops by jumping from one roof top to the other while landing by doing a tuck and roll. You really feel like your put right into a chase scene from The Matrix. Once the chase begins, the heart starts pumping. Another great feature about the game is the unique use of colors in a really pretty setting. The setting is a fictional city that looks somewhat futuristic and is primarily shaded white. What stands out in the game is that interactive pieces of the environment are highlighted with a bright primary color. For example, the pipes you can climb up and the doors you can bust through are highlighted with a bright red color. The coloring is simple yet very beautiful as the drab white setting is filled with splotches of vibrant colors. The graphics engine also makes the colors and setting very sharp and crisp and there are some really great flares of light here and there. Mirror's edge is wonderful game to play and watch.

Now it may sound like I am some form of advertisement saying "Play this game!" but I really feel Mirror's Edge is a work of art. I also wanted to mention how the game's protagonist, Faith, disregards the stereotype of video games having the man being the hero and the woman is the damsel in distress. Faith is a female who gracefully parkours across obstacles, intelligently deals with problems at hand, and she isn't too afraid or weak to fight with whoever gets in her way. The soundtrack of Mirror's Edge is also worth mentioning because it's rhythm is beautiful and catchy. The main song, called "Still Alive," is performed by the Swedish singer Lisa Miskovsky. The tone and rhythm of the song just fits perfectly with game as you run across the rooftops of the utopian concrete jungle.

As I said before, the true beauty and fun of the game is running fast and efficiently past obstacles in a uniquely colored futuristic city. I think Tom Cruise's character, John Anderton, said it best in Steven Spielberg's Minority Report..."Everybody runs."

Freddie Wong's Videos

I frequently go to Youtube to look up whatever cool videos I can find. One day I was looking at some action videos on Youtube when I came across Freddie Wong. Freddie makes his videos based off of various video games and movies. What really stands out in his videos is the great visual effects. His gun effects are really great but he has also done some really crazy CGI effects. For example, Freddie made a video called "Flower Warfare" which is pretty much a gun fight scene but instead of the guns shooting bullets, they shoot flowers! "Chrono Trigger" is one of my favorite videos he does because the fight scene is really well choreographed and the guns' visual and sound effects are great! In some of his videos he uses some unique camera angles by showing a first person view were the audience and the main character are seeing the same thing. This camera angle is frequently used in the video game genre of "first person shooters."He also has a funny sense of humor because he frequently references movies such as Home Alone, Cowboys and Aliens, Star Wars, and Inception. In fact, Freddie actually worked with the director of Cowboys and Aliens(he also directed Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Elf), Jon Favreau, in one of his videos and he uses the actual wrist gun from the movie! Freddie's videos don't have any morals or messages in them, but they are really fun to watch because of his cool visual effects and funny sense of humor!

My "Star Trek" Edited Trailer

I just wanted to share my movie trailer project that I had to do for the digital tools class. I was excited about this project ever since I looked at the syllabus for the digital tools class and noticed the movie trailer project that I was going to do. I always enjoy watching movie trailers because they build up the anticipation for the film. After working on this project I have great appreciation for the people who edit movie trailers. The process takes A LOT longer than you may think because you have to make sure you set the tone of the movie, include a brief plot synopsis without spoiling the movie, and you need music that fits the drama of the movie. This project took me about 18 hours of work and I LOVED every minute of it. I chose to edit J.J. Abrams' Star Trek because I love action and science fiction movies. Also, Star Trek is one of my favorite films of all time because it is very well made, the visuals are amazing, and the cast is incredible. I may edit this trailer more in the future but I am pretty happy with what I have worked on thus far. Criticism is welcome just don't hate on it too much because I put a lot of work into it. I had issues uploading the video to my blog post but there is a link below. Enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/32287521

Crumb Impressions

Tonight at Signs and Wonders I watched a documentary film about a man named Robert Crumb. He is a very famous cartoonist known for his pornographic comics. The documentary revolves around Crumb's inspirations for his work and the people that have been involved in his life.

Basically, Robert began drawing comic strips when he was a teenager. Due to his looks and his overly enthusiastic interest in comics, Robert was made fun of a lot as a child (making him socially awkward). Because of this, Robert kept to himself and would draw whatever he saw. Also, Roberts parents fought a lot and his mom did drugs so Robert and his siblings witnessed unhealthy behavior frequently. The documentary shows interviews with Robert's siblings who are also very socially awkward and weren't as successful as Robert. He had a family(wife, a daughter, and a son) of his own but he had trouble showing affection to them because didn't really know how due to how he was raised. Robert was also very sexually interested in women so many of his comics involve large women with oversized butts and breasts. The women-related comics is what got Crumb really famous because they were very controversial, yet intrigued many artists.

I thought this documentary was very disturbing, awkward, and in SOME ways... real. Robert's comics are very sexually disturbing. One comic in particular, shows a father having sex with his daughter and a mother having sex with her son. I feel that because of Roberts social separation(because of being bullied and his parents fighting a lot) at an early age led him to become a man that viewed the world differently. Unfortunately, most of Robert's views were disturbingly different, while some I thought were actually good. One of his comics shows a landscape with fields, grass, and trees. But the comic changes and we see the process of industrialization transform the beautiful landscape into a busy street filled with cars, gas stations, telephone polls, and lights. I found this comic interesting because Robert shows how sometimes humanity can ruin true beauty. It's ironic though because Robert ruined true beauty by drawing VERY disturbing pornographic comics. The mind of Robert Crump is a very, very strange one.

Overall, the documentary was very disturbing and awkward but I also felt really sorry for Robert Crump because he is a tragic figure with some really messed up issues.

Forester Lecture

I know this is late but I wanted to write about some of the interesting points Nicole Dreiske brought up during the past Forester Lecture.

You can't have negativity and gratitude.
I never realized how true this is until Dreiske brought up this point. People who are negative all the time, don't really appreciate the things they do have. Negative people will always look for the bad in their life and they will always ignore the good things in their life so they can feel sorry for themselves. When we receive blessings and benefits we should feel thankful, not sorry.

Use your skills to help others.
This was a good point to bring up because I feel people don't do this enough. To many people seem to use their skills for their own benefits (to make money, fame, etc.) instead of using them to help others. If you think about this from the view point of the film industry, using your skills to help others is a necessity.  If GOOD films are to be made, every individual involved must use their  own skills to help others with the production process. Not everyone is good at directing, writing, or editing but if different people with these skills come together as one they can make a good film.

Choose what to take away from what you watch! We have a choice!
This was my favorite point that Nicole made. There are many people who assume that there is only one meaning behind the films, but this isn't always true. The great thing about watching movies is that people can from their own ideas and opinions from the films. Varying opinions and views on films is what creates conversations between people. If we all took away the same interpretation of a film then there would be nothing to talk about. I think it is great that people can choose what they want to take away from a film instead of agreeing with everyone else's opinions of a film.

Don't believe your own publicity.
It is unfortunate how many people DO believe their own publicity...especially in the film industry. People let the publicity get to them and they begin to think they are better than everyone else. Film directors gain a lot of publicity and they sometimes let it get to their head. For example,  Michael Bay became infamous for his movies with explosions every 5 seconds and a underdeveloped plot. A good story will always be more important than a good explosion yet Bay noticed that A LOT of people go to his movies because of his explosions. Thus, Bay continues to give what the public wants: more explosions! If Bay didn't let the publicity get to his head then maybe he good make movies with better stories.

The Island Review

Alright...Michael Bay may be known for directing mindless movies with random explosions, but I think Bay's The Island is actually a good movie. Sure the movie still has a lot of explosions but there is a good story and good message at the heart of the movie. NOTE: A part of my plot description and thoughts of the film contain some minor spoilers. I say minor spoilers because they are revealed in the first 3rd of the film so I don't spoil the ending.

The Island's plot revolves around Lincoln Six Echo (played by Ewan Mcgregor) who lives within a strict, underground, and strict society, controlled by Dr. Bernard Merrick (played by Sean Bean), that is supposedly keeping everyone safe from a deadly airborne disease. Everyone in the society have certain diets, they can't be romantically involved with the opposite sex, and they have daily jobs that involve some kind of chemicals. There are some benefits however, such as a daily lottery in which one person gets to permanently stay at "The Island" which is supposed to be a wonderful place. But when Six Echo's best friend, Jordan Two Delta (played by Scarlett Johansson), wins the lottery Six Echo realizes "The Island" isn't exactly paradise. MINOR SPOILERS!!!It turns out that everyone living in the underground society are actually clones of people that live in the real world. When somebody wins the lottery, they are actually taken to labs so doctors can kill and use the cloned organs for the real people. After this realization, Six Echo and Two Delta take it upon themselves to escape from the underground society and Dr. Merrick's bounty hunters.

MINOR SPOILERS!!!What I found most intriguing about this movie was the pro-life message.Should we be allowed to create other human beings? This film suggests that cloning humans is immoral. If modern scientists successively cloned a human being, would they treat it as such? Or would they treat the clone simply as another experiment? I also viewed this issue in terms of abortion. I know abortion is a very problematic topic, but I am personally against it, as is The Island apparently. Is it truly right for us to create life and then take it away on the spot? Should we really kill another soul in order to keep our lives intact? I just really appreciated how this movie suggested how cloning (and possibly implying abortion?) is wrong. Any human being we create as a soul, and that soul should be respected. By the way, if anyone in this class is pro-abortion I mean NO offense to you, these comments are just MY opinions.

I felt the film's plot was very interesting, different, and it continued to throw something new at you. The science fiction element was pretty cool and it wasn't overdone. I thought one the coolest science fiction element was the motorcycle that could fly! The action scenes were impressive (something Michael Bay always gets right in my opinion), especially the highway chase scene. The film has a lot of bright lighting. It's almost as if 75% of the movie was filmed during sunrise or sunset with the lighting that they used. Ewan Mcgregor and Scarlett Johansson's performances were good enough but they weren't outstanding. I blogged briefly about it before but the music in the film is wonderful, especially in the final scenes of the film.

I applaud Michael Bay for this film. Although it has his typical, over the top explosions, Bay seemed to focus more on the story for once in his life. This is Bay's best movie in my opinion. It's a shame that The Island didn't get the attention that it deserved.

Winter's Bone Review

Winter's Bone, directed by Debra Granik, is a very different movie. The story revolves around Ree, a girl who is raising her younger brother and sister and takes care of her sick mother as she looks for her lost father in the backwoods of the Ozark mountains. While I appreciate the film's gritty/realistic atmosphere and the theme of how women are capable of doing the same things as men, I didn't really enjoy it.

If someone was to ask me what happens in this movie, I would simply respond "This girl walks around from house to house asking where her dad is at." That's what is what I mostly remember about this movie.  I got bored and started to fall asleep after Ree asked the the 3rd house where her father was. The film just had a really slow pace and I feel like nothing really significant happens. It is definitely not a movie that I would want to watch over and over again.

All of that being said, there are some things that I really liked about the film. First off, the setting and scenery of this movie has a very realistic feeling. The poor and gritty backwoods of the Ozark mountains really makes you feel like you are there. The acting in the film is quite fantastic. Jennifer Lawrence's performance as Ree is very focused and determined as you can really get a vibe from how badly she wants to find her dad. It was interesting to see Ree as the girl who had to take charge since there aren't any guys in her life, as she says in the movie. She cooks, she takes care of the kids, and she does the yard-work/chores. This provides a interesting message on how girls can do as much as guys can and girls can do it just as good. I felt the real star of the show to me was John Hawkes performance as Teardrop who gives an engaging and realistic performance as a conflicted man who struggles with staying on the surrounding community's side or his family's side.

I really want to like this movie, I just feel that it's so boring. The plot is by the book and I thought it didn't have a very satisfying ending. Don't get me wrong, there is work of ambitious filmmaking and some very interesting themes here, it's just not my kind of movie.

Alive in Joburg and Landfall.

In 2009, Neill Blomkamp's District 9 was released into theaters. The film is about crash-landed aliens, aka "prawns," living in current day Johannesburg, South Africa which is broken up into multiple, military-controlled "Districts." When an operative, namedWikus van der Merwe, from the corporation Multi-Naitonal United is assigned to investigate District 9, he gets caught in a 3-way war between violent gangs, military units, and prawns. If you haven't seen the movie and you are interested in the science-fiction genre, I highly recommend it! Be warned however, the movie contains gory violence and vulgar language if that bothers you. What many people don't know about this movie is that it was based off of Neill Blomkamp's 2006 short film, Alive in Joburg. 

As you can see, Alive in Joburg is more of an interview podcast of the natives of Johannesburg about what they think of the aliens living among them. While both Alive in Joburg and District 9 cool visual effects, the theme of these films is what is truly impressive. I found it very interesting that African Americans, an ethnic group that was unfortunately oppressed for hundreds of years because of their looks and beliefs, were talking about how the aliens didn't deserve to live among them. Sound familiar? These films are supposed to mirror how people treat others indifferently based upon their looks or beliefs. I find this theme to be very important and intriguing as it reminds us that we, as humans, should treat one another with respect regardless of our looks, traditions, and beliefs. And I bet you thought you were just watching another science-fiction movie.


Speaking of science-fiction...Neill Blomkamp also directed a short science-fiction film called Landfall. While not as thought provoking as Alive in Joburg and District 9, Landfall is based off of the popular video game franchise called Halo. This film is more for the cinematic experience and actually acted as a marketing device prior to the video game release of Halo 3. Blomkamp was in-talks for directing an actual Halo movie but the project was scrapped and he went on to make District 9 instead. Anyways, enjoy Landfall!

Blood Simple Review

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Signs and Wonders screening of Blood Simple, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film is about a wealthy man named Julian Marty who is jealous of a man named Ray because he is sleeping with Julian's wife, Abby. Julian's jealousy goes too far when he tries to hire an private investigator, Loren Visser, to kill Ray and Abby for revenge. Unfortunately, Julian's plan doesn't work out the way he intended.

My initial thought of the film is that it builds really well with the tension of the plot. I felt the beginning of the movie started off slow when Ray and Abby are having an affair in a hotel and Julian finds out thanks to his private investigator, Loren. Things take an interesting turn when (SPOILERS!!!!!) Julian is killed by Loren. I honestly wasn't expecting this because you would have assumed that either Ray or Abby would have been murdered because of Julian's jealousy. From there, the movie's plot got interesting because nobody knows that Loren killed Julian besides Loren himself. Ray thought Abby did it and Abby thought Ray did it. Also, the movie's ending scene in the apartment was very intense and very satisfying.

I felt that the cinematography was very engaging with it's strong contrast of light and dark. Two particular scenes come to my mind with this interesting contrast. First, the infamous scene of when Ray is trying to cover up Julian's murder. The dark, panned shot from the car's headlights to the the hole Ray was digging was creepy and chilling. I feel that the spotlight of the cars headlights shining on Ray signifies that we can't hide from our sins even if we shy away in the dark. The other scene I really found fascinating was towards the end of the movie when Loren is stuck in the window sill of the apartment and he tries to shoot Abby through the wall. The audience hears "BAM! BAM! BAM!" as each bullet creates a new hole of light from the bathroom that Loren is in. Not only is the scene gripping and beautifully shot but I also felt the same message of how we can't hide in the darkness when there is sin on our plates.

I also wanted to point out this movie is fairly similar to the Coen Brother's Academy Award winning  No Country for Old Men. Both films...

have similar opening scenes.(Voice over of the characters with still shots of the Western landscapes)

have similar settings.(Texas)

have hired-guns.(Loren Visser VS Carson Wells)

have characters that desire money.

have main characters that aren't good people.( Julian, Loren, Ray, Abby VS Llewelyn Moss, Anton Chigurh, Carson Wells)


Overall I really enjoyed this movie(especially the rising tension and the cinematography) and I was very impressed when I heard that this was the Coen Brother's very first film. Amazing!