...Brooks was born Melvin James Kaminsky on June 28, 1926, in Brooklyn, New York. His father's family were Jews from Danzig, Germany (present-day Gdańsk, Poland); his mother's family were Jews from Kyiv, in the Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine). He had three older brothers: Irving, Lenny, and Bernie. Brooks' father died of kidney disease at 34 when Brooks was two years old.He has said of his father's death, "there's an outrage there. I may be angry at God, or at the world, for that. And I'm sure a lot of my comedy is based on anger and hostility. Growing up in Williamsburg, I learned to clothe it in comedy to spare myself problems—like a punch in the face." In middle age, Brooks became one of the most successful film directors of the 1970s, Brooks started working in various Borscht Belt resorts and nightclubs in the Catskill Mountains as a drummer and pianist. Around this time, he changed his professional name to "Mel Brooks" (from his mother's maiden name Brookman) after being confused with the Borscht Belt trumpet player Max Kaminsky. After a regular comic at one of the nightclubs was too sick to perform one night, Brooks started working as a stand-up comic, telling jokes and doing movie-star impressions. He also began acting in summer stock in Red Bank, New Jersey, and did some radio work. He eventually worked his way up to the comically aggressive job of Tummler (master entertainer) at Grossinger's, one of the Borscht Belt's most famous resorts. Brooks...
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...The Graduate Scene Analysis/Review Like literature, film is full of areas which can have deeper meaning than the actions occurring at the moment in the story. The magic of film however is that these actions can be visibly seen and can do this not only with the script but with camera angles, music, sounds, lighting and many other factors that would have to be imagined in a novel. One film that clearly uses this to its advantage is Mike Nichols “The Graduate” which is centered on Benjamin, a young man who finds himself in a love-based dilemma with a woman and her daughter. The film nearly abuses these techniques to create a masterpiece with both a meaningful and enthralling story. One scene that stands out from the rest in the movie is in a montage where Benjamin finds himself drifting in water and making the beast with two backs with the older woman. However, this montage comes to an abrupt stop when Benjamin hears his father’s voice calling to him in a rather upset tone. There is then a cut to a close up on the fathers face, blocking out the sun and giving him a darker more authoritative appearance. This creates the illusion that Benjamin’s father represents the strictness of reality compared to Benjamin’s drifting. And as the upset father talks to Benjamin about the life that he is wasting it becomes apparent that Benjamin’s laid back appearance lacks control when compared to that his father. Another noteworthy scene is after Benjamin buys gifts for Elaine, whose family...
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...Michele Cerami The American Cinema February 11, 2013 Analysis of Theodoros Armao’s Film Clip The first scene in this short film takes place in a parking lot. The food vendor is parked in the parking lot and the man outside is placing a food order. There is a story being exchanged between the two men with medium shots taken place. The man outside the vending truck seems like he has something planned and is up to no good. Although the film is in another language, we can get the jist of the story. As the next scene approaches, we can see that there is a woman, who is not fully dressed sitting on the couch in her apartment. Next there is a tracking shot, to where we see the thief coming in from the window into the woman’s apartment. After this shot, there is another full shot of the thief attempting to steal the radio. As he tries to steal the merchandise from this apartment, all of a sudden his stomach erupts and off he flees to the bathroom. I would have to wonder if the man who owns the food vending truck gave the thief something bad to eat on purpose knowing that he was planning to commit a crime? Perhaps the woman that the thief was stealing the radio from, was in fact his girlfriend or someone he was in love with, hence Lionel Richie’s song that is playing at the end of the film (Easy Like A Sunday Morning). The scene then cuts to the boyfriend or perhaps the husband of the woman, who is leaving his vehicle and then seen entering the apartment. As he enters...
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...Film Form and Analysis Cinematography Cinematography describes the process by which a film strip is exposed to light to create an image. It encompasses many factors: the camera’s distance from the action, camera angle and direction, type of lens, camera movement, and lighting, among others. The art of cinematography also includes mise-en-scène—the arrangement of objects and movements in the frame. Shot Types The amount of visual information included in the image depends on the distance of the camera from the action and on the focal length of the camera lens. Throughout the history of cinema, filmmakers have favored certain combinations of camera distance and focal length, or shot types. * Extreme long shot: Captures a scene in its entirety; used for establishing location in exterior shots. Used frequently in epic genres such as westerns and war films, it reduces human beings to mere dots on the screen. * Long shot: Accommodates at least the entire bodies of figures (if that is all the shot includes, it is called a full shot). Captures movement, background, and broad gestures and expressions. * Medium shot: Contains a figure from the waist or knees up. It is a functional shot, favored in classical Hollywood editing, often used for scenes with dialogue. * Close-up: Includes very little if any background, concentrating on an object or, if an extreme close-up, a fragment of an object, such as the human face. Close-ups often accord great significance and symbolic...
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...Seven E.T. The Extra Terrestrial is a film about a young boy that grows a relationship with a lost little alien and helps him find his way home. In many films, the director uses his skills to change the belief of their audience to accommodate the story. Many things taken out of context could be viewed as strange and wild, but with directing, your mind can be manipulated. In one of the first scenes of the film, the alien space ship is shown landing but with branches and shrubbery blocking the lens. This gave the feeling that something out of the ordinary was happening, something strange. This type of camera work is shown even when the aliens are moving about. ET was then shown with a clear, long shot showing the vastness of the forest he was in. Without any previous scene to compare to , the landing scene was automatically considered strange, not just for the use of camera work, but for the fact that we don’t encounter aliens visiting earth too often. When the cut to ET happened, the director traded the audiences place with him. We were first looking at something out of the ordinary but now it was ET's turn as he has never been to our planet before. Later on, it is shown that ET was left on our planet unintentionally. We understand this, so we feel a connection with ET making him feel more real and normal. When Eliot (Main Character) meats ET, he doesn’t take the encounter to lightly, and rightfully so. Eliot nor anybody else in the film has met an alien life form before. ET...
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...Unforgiven is a 1992 American western film directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, who also starred in the lead role. This movie is interesting as it shows how people without power try to gain it. The acting was good and the movie exceptional. The movie is about William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after he had turned to farming. Two cowboys disfigured a prostitute. The prostitutes got mad because the sheriff did not punished the two cowboys appropriately and the prostitutes decided to raise money and to punish the two cowboys the way they wanted. A lot of westerns are boring; usually with an exciting shoot out scene or two, but this one was slightly different. The story was full of excitement and perfectly...
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...trying to hold onto anything too tightly. 2. David (toby McGuire) and Jennifer (Reese Witherspoom) how does Pleasantville change them? David begins to realize that the perceived happiness in Pleasantville is not nearly as fulfilling as he hoped it would be. As a result, he slowly evolves from dreamy outcast to leader of the changes that take place in Pleasantville. Jennifer, through her own personality, sparks the initial changes in the town. However, as the story continues, she begins to understand the limitations she has placed on herself in her own life. Her reading of a D. H. Lawrence novel signifies her effort to change herself, and thus, affect her own transformation. By the end of the film she decides to stay and attend college. 3. What is the message the film presents 4. Language-how do the words set moods? 5. Is the real world, real? No. In the town of Pleasantville, nothing changes. The temperature is always the same, the weather is always nice, and no one has ever seen rain. Sex is an unknown word, passion is obsolete, and the most...
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...Adoptive mother, Sue Brierley, played by Australian actress Nicole Kidman, represents safety of Australia. The music soundtrack is provoking and minimalistic. Music producers take advantage of various elements to enhance the music. The musical styles composed by Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka develops an ambient and atmospheric score. The soundtrack opens the film’s theme with its dark, emotional minimalistic piano theme. It is most likely them most effective theme in the film. This concept gives the emotional representation of each character; Saroo in particular. During the first part of the film, the audio becomes more climactic with strings and swirling strings that encapsulated the somber of the piano. It also has a distinct clicking repercussion,...
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...Part one of the documentary, Prohibition, gives an unbiased perspective on prohibition and the people involved. The documentary is over five hours long and premiered on PBS in 2011. It gives insight on what prohibition was, how it affected the people, and the successfulness of it. Many people stood up for prohibition and acted to defend how they felt whether it was civil or not. The Anti-Saloon League, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and Home Defender’s Army are groups of people that stood for prohibition and acted for what they believed in. The Anti-Saloon League was led by Ernest Cherrington and Wayne Wheeler, a prohibitionist that believed forcefulness was the way to ban alcohol. The Anti-saloon League was a political pressure group...
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...Major Essay: Question One Musical films have been present in Hollywood since The Jazz Singer (1927) premiered. Mast states that a film is a musical when the primary entertainment and investment lie in the musical numbers (p. 309, Wood, 2008). Musical films are often a beloved or hated genre due to the unrealistic nature of characters erupting into song and dance. This essay analyse four main conventions of the musical genre the spectacle, the narrative, the adaption of established stories and the power the combination of lyrics and music can achieve on screen. Examples from different periods in Hollywood will be used to explore these conventions and how they apply and have evolved to suite conventions of modern cinema. Kellner (2005) explains spectacles have been present in different cultures since pre-modern times. Examples of these spectacles include plays, the Olympics of Ancient Greece, in Ancient Rome public offerings of bread, circuses and gladiator games (Kellner, 2005). The human desire for the spectacle has not fallen into extinction but rather evolved with society and technology. Entertainment has always been a prime field of the spectacle and film has been one of the most productive industries to utilise the spectacle (Kellner, 2005). Hello Dolly (1969), My Fair Lady (1964) and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1997) are three examples of film musical spectacles. All three of these movies contain elaborate costumes, bright colours and large dance...
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...experimental indie film directed by Godfrey Reggio. Koyannisqatsi comes from the Hopi language; meaning “life out of balance”. The film is meant to show what happens when technology is introduced. The film includes many shots of nature and people excluding dialogue and narration. Music from Philip Glass featuring Hopi chants is played throughout the duration of the movie. The film was peculiar in a lot of ways. Koyaanisiqatsi begins with cave depictions and different shots of nature. It is meant to show a more peaceful time without technology. It makes a sudden shift to a coal mining trucks, oil fields, and atomic bombs. Reggio includes this to show destruction to nature. The film is meant to make you feel uncomfortable...
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...“Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.” ― Isaac Asimov 100 is a film written and directed by Chris Martinez, most notable for Here Comes the Bride (2010) which he directed and Caregiver (2008) which he wrote the script for. It was produced by the director himself along Marlon Rivera and Madonna Tarayo. 100 was one of the entries for the 2008 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. It bagged a total of 7 awards― Audience Award, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress Award for Eugene Domingo (Cinemalaya Film Festival), Korea New Network (KNN) Movie Award (13th Pusan International Film Festival) and Special Award (15th Vesoul International Festival of Asian Films). I granted the movie a 3 out 4 stars rating. The movie centers on Joyce―portrayed by the stunning Mylene Dizon―a woman who discovered she has cancer and in the verge of dying. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, Joyce listed the things that she would like to achieve, from paying credit card bills to kissing a stranger on the street to travelling abroad, before eventually kicking the bucket. Included on her list are: fix things with former and current flames, give her clothes to the homeless, choose her own coffin, clean her apartment, engage in an overseas getaway with her best friend, etc., The thing is, Joyce doesn’t want to be a dead weight to her best friend, Ruby (Eugene Domingo), her 2 brother, Gilbert (Simon Ibarra)...
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...Movie Review on Serendipity Walking into this movie I had expected to like it. I am a sucker for clichés. Cliché romantic tropes, and anything that has to do with things of that sort such as fate, and love. Things like 27 dresses, dirty dancing, and the notebook are a few examples of romances I’ve been automatically drawn to because it contained those aspects in it. As a hopeless romantic sap, I can’t turn away from these movies no matter how bad. And they do get bad sometimes they are almost always disappointing. The movies that tend to have these aspects in them tend to be awful, and extremely predictable. But I still fall for it every time. Because what is more heartwarming than a couple brought together by fate when they were separated to never see each other again? Love causing people to crash into each other, over and over again like the waves do when reaching out to the beach sand. That’s Romantic, and I can’t keep my hands off of it. In this movie the two Jonathan Trager (John Cusack), and Sarah Thomas (Kate Beckinsale) meet in a Burlington store looking for gifts for their significant others but when they both go to grab the same pair of gloves they end up face to face with each other. From then on they connect, and a short romantic sequence starts with them at a café called serendipity, and at ice skating bonding, and getting close. It’s a sort of instant love connection that they begin to form within a few ours that both began to feel confused about it...
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...The Sapphires Film Review The Sapphires is an original movie with great acting and sparkly costumes to tie it all together. The Sapphires is a spectacular movie about four aboriginal girls and an Irish man who set out on an exciting adventure to Vietnam. The five main characters are Gail (Deborah Mailman), Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell), Kay (Shari Sebbens), Julie (Jessica Mauboy) and Dave (Chris O’Dowd). The film and characters are based on a true story about the sisters Laurel Robinson and Lois Peeler and their cousins Beverly Briggs and Naomi Mayers. The Sapphires was directed by Wayne Blair and written by Keith Thompson and Tony Briggs. The film was set in 1968 and set in Cummeragunja; this is why they originally called themselves “The Cummeragunja Songbirds”. Throughout the movie they changed their name to “The Sapphires” because no one could pronounce their original name. The film is an amazing film filled with love, family and strong friendships. It presents the values, beliefs and...
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...favorite part of any film critic's job. So, let's talk about Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk, and your humble writer's self-created quandary. Nolan is a filmmaker who has earned my highest rating of 5 stars more than once, with his genre-defying Memento and his mesmerizing science-fiction espionage caper Inception. He has also earned huge accolades from me in nearly every other film he has...
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