...Beginning with the only two characters that are actually present within both versions: Victor and the monster. Victor’s conflict within the film is against nature to create an animate being–a human in particular. One may notice the faint similarity in the conflict that the young Victor faced in the novel before succeeding in his endeavours and setting off the subsequent conflicts that create the story of Frankenstein. However, the similarities end there. While the novel takes off with other conflicts for the maturing Victor, the movie adaption only presents one, main conflict for its Victor: striving to create life in human form. The film actually ends after he succeeds in creating the monster, and then killing it shortly after with the help of Igor–the main character and through whose perspective we witness the movie’s story. The creature, being only alive for a few moments in the movie faces no real, romantic conflict that of which its predecessor struggled with at great length. In the novel, the creature ponders, “But where were my friends and relations?... What was I” (Shelley 109)...
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...Scorsese’s overwhelming film Raging Bull has withstood the test of time, and as the films’ title character Jake La Motta defiantly tells Sugar Ray Robinson in defeat “You never got me down,” so the film and perhaps Scorsese himself can never be knocked down. The director himself attributed Raging Bull to saving his life and career. The film is as turbulent in its direction as it is in Robert De Niro’s extreme method acting, which set the bar higher for all actors. As rattling and real as taking a punch to the face, not only the acting, which has been discussed in every possible light, but the directing, the editing and the cinematography have become a hallmark and template of what a truly powerful film can be. Raging Bull was going to be Martin Scorsese’s final film, his goodbye to Hollywood. Shaken by asthma and depression, and finally derailed by a massive cocaine addiction and overdose, the acclaimed director had no desire to do a sports film or anything like it. Robert De Niro had been pushing La Motta’s biography on him for years, never with any returned interest. After his overdose however, De Niro continued to insist he take up the film, finally convincing the great director on the premise the work would save his life and in the end save his career. Scorsese has also said the gritty tone of the film, and its final theme of alienation redemption for the dark soul, or lack of soul, were a direct result of his own feeling coming through the film. At the time truly believing...
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...Film Critique ENG 225 Introduction to Film Instructor: Lynette Cahill Abstract This essay is a critique on Zack Snyder’s movie, 300. This is a film on Leonidas, who is the Spartan King alongside 300 Spartan Warriors that willingly volunteered to stand up against a Persian army, which were almost ten times as many as they were. After a careful look at the film for the following critique, it is clear that there is a general theme prevailing in the whole movie that, sometimes one has to make sacrifices to gain freedom. Film Critique The movie “300” finds its roots from a graphic novel named 300 also, that was written by Frank Miller in 1998. The movie is based on one of the fierce Persian Wars in 492-449 BC in a battle known as the Thermopylae Battle. This battle went down in the historical books as a war that was characterized with plenty of bravery. The Spartan King, who was known as Leonidas, was the leader of 300 Spartan warriors who engaged the Persian Army in a war, which intended to block them from going into Greece via a two-meter wide pass in the Thermopylae Mountains. In as much as the Persian Army greatly outnumbered the Spartan soldiers, they were held back for two days, and in those two days they encountered major losses, which outweighed that of the Spartan warriors by far. However, on the third day, all was lost when a traitor informed the Persian King of a Path...
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...300 Jonathan Hewitt ENG 225 Cicely Denean-Cobb October 2, 2012 The film I have chosen to do my critique on is Zack Snyder’s 300. 300 is a film about King Leonidas, the King of Sparta, and his 300 Spartan warriors who all stood up against the God-king Xerxes and his massive Persian army from annihilation. After watching the film very closely for my critique I believe there is a serious underlying theme that everyone has the right to be free and sometimes you have to stand up and make sacrifices to keep your freedom. Standing up for freedom is never an easy task as shown in 300 but, everyone deserves to be free. In discussing the storytelling, acting, cinematography, editing, sound, style and directing, the impact of society on the film, genre, a formalist approach to analysis, and the overall textual theme of 300 I will attempt to back up my belief. Storytelling 300’s narrative structure is the first-person point of view of Dilios, a Spartan solider under the command of King Leonidas. The film is presented in chronological order and takes place in Sparta and Thermopylae, Greece. The major conflict in the film is that the Persian army has come to Sparta and requests their submission or will kill them and enslave their women and children. King Leonidas makes the decision to stand up to the Persians but; is not allowed to go to war with the Xerxes, the Persian God-king, because the Ephors deny him the right. The Ephors are later found out to be traitors. Unfortunately,...
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...Benedicte Kage Professor Kaur Introduction to Film and Media Studies Movie Analysis 5/26/16 Beyond The Lights: There’s More to it Beyond the Lights, is a 2014 Drama/Romance film written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood who also wrote and directed the classic love story Love and Basketball which came out in 2000. The success of Love and Basketball helped propel Prince-Bythewood career and reputation and Beyond the Lights definitely confirmed her talent and ability to bring us touching and heart filling love stories. Prince-Bythewood gives us a modern-day love story starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw who plays Noni, a rising pop star who makes provocative music although her talent is beyond that which the industry allows. Kaz who is played by Nate Parker is a Los Angeles police officer who sees the truth behind Noni’s fake persona. Kaz falls in love with Noni and despite the fact that his father objects because he wants his son to go further in politics. Though Kaz and Noni go through very difficult circumstances, they stay together because of the fact that they actually see each other in the way that no one else does. Noni on the other hand is a mixed beauty that is from Bixton, a neighborhood of South London. Though she gets personal inspiration from singers such as Nina Simone and is talented enough to pull off her classic song “Black Bird”, she is bullied into taking the easiest and most common path to what we call stardom. This path which so often includes sexualization...
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...around very negative people while being married to James. Of course misery loves company, so they all plant seeds of evil thoughts about men , all while treating the men like dogs Before she was with James she was in an abusive relationship so her trust factor, and letting men in was off. 2. Describe the divorce scenario in the movie by explaining the causes of Tanya’s and James’ breakup. James always tried to be a good man to Tonya but she could not accept his kindness without thinking that there was evil behind it. Tonya nagged James about the things he was doing right and that are what caused James to crack and breakup with her. Tonya was an angry black female throughout the relationship. Starting unnecessary arguments and calling James stupid . . 3. Interracial dating was clearly illustrated in the film. How do you feel about the comments that were made in the movie concerning interracial dating? The comments made in the movie were topically comments about interracial dating but I feel like people should have chosen to date who they want. No matter the skin color , religion, or family background if you’re in love and yall have the same mutual feelings and know yall are meant to be together than what is the color of your skin supposed to stop. 4. What role did significant others (peer groups) play in the film? Tanya’s friends inclined her judgment about James throughout the film. And one even envied what she had and tried to get her to notice what she...
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...“P.S. I Love You” Cindy Sheldon ENG225: Introduction to Film Instructor: Sarah Snook September 7, 2013 “P.S. I Love You” Introduction: For this film critique essay I will be writing about the movie P.S. I Love You (2007). This paper will explore the storytelling, the actors as well as how they act in the film. We will explore the cinematography, editing, sound, and the style and directing for this movie. The last few things we will explore are the impact this film had on society (if any), the genre, what is the best way to analyze this film. When all these aspects of the movie are examined we will see how a script comes to life on the big screen. Storytelling: This film is shot in non-linear form, it starts with the present and throughout the movie we are given glimpses into the past. This story takes place in several different places which include Ireland and New York City. The main female character (Holly) experiences an internal conflict when her husband Gerry passes away from an illness at a very young age. Holly is able to resolve her conflict with help from her friends, family, and her deceased husband. The symbolism in this film is that love can overcome anything including death. For us, the viewers, relates to our human nature. If we are lucky we have all been able to experience the type of love that is portrayed in this film. That love that we never see coming, but hits us like a “ton of bricks”. The kind of love most of us only get to experience...
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...Maureen Jacob ID # 14231227 Mej44f@mail.missouri.edu Film Studies 1800: Intro to Film Studies Question 1- Ever Since I was young I have enjoyed watching movies. I am the youngest of four kids, and that definitely affected my film watching experience as a kid; I always had to watch the movies my siblings wanted to watch, because of course the youngest, or at least me, did not have much say in those types of things. Although, at that point in my life I didn’t like being able to choose movies, now I realize it opened my eyes to a lot of different types of movies, even older films, since my oldest sibling is 10 years older than me. I have always been a huge fan of Disney and Pixar movies and still watch them today, when I’m bored or need some cheering up. I think that Toy Story is my favorite. I like the idea of channeling your inner kid and just being able to have some fun through your film watching experience. I also find myself looking in the Romantic Comedy section most often on Netflix. I like the balance of love and laughs. When I was young, my sisters introduced me to Sleepless in Seattle, and it is probably one of those movies I can watch time and time again. I like drama as well, I can honestly say that The Titanic is in my top five favorite movies, but that can also do with the fact that I love Leonardo Dicaprio. As you can see I like a very wide range of movies. I am not really to big of a sci-fi person and have never had interest in watching Star Wars, which...
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...The Elephant Man English 225 Introduction To Film 11/3/2012 I chose to critique the film “The Elephant Man” it is an iconic filmmaking endeavor. Director David Lynch shows the sadness and the scariness of deformities onto the audience in a way that touches your heart and leaves you with a sense of sadness and will also leave a tear in your eye. Most of the people who have watched this film are touched and completely changes the way they view crippled, weak, and deformed people in this world. The start of this film begins with Joseph Merrick’s incredible story being written into a play by Bernard Pomerance in 1979. This play is actually still performed from time to time and a wonderful play to see. Lynch’s film version was released the following year, and was not obtained from the play but it did give David Lynch his inspiration. Lynch based his film version of Merrick’s life on various biographical sources most of which were Merrick’s own words in his memoirs. The script, written by Lynch, contains information based upon Merrick’s memoirs and biography, as well as from Frederick Treves’ personal accounts. As far as historical accuracy is concerned, certain details have been altered to make the story suitable for film. For example, Merrick is referred to incorrectly as “John“. This inaccuracy is however, a perpetuation of the error that was made in history according to Frederick Treves’ account of the story. Lynch in an effort to maintain realism botches the name...
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...Water Diviner Movie Critique Water Diviner was a very captivating movie. It was the directorial debut for Russell Crowe. Russell Crowe played an Australian farmer who travels to Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli in search of his three missing sons. Other main actors/actresses in the film were Olga Kurylenko, Cem Yilmaz, Jai Courtney, and Yilmaz Erdogan. The movie was produced in the United States and release on April 24, 2015. The farmer, Joshua Connor, embarked on a journey to find his sons, however only found one alive while finding the others dead. The movie had a mixture of mystery and action, but was very slow and felt longer than it actually was. The good story plot of courage and bravery saved it from being too dull through the excess of unneeded chatter and boredom. I would give the movie a three star rating because it really hit home with me, but was not astounding. After watching the film, I believe that it would not have been worth it to go watch the movie in the box office. The movie felt more like a moral story than actual entertainment. It showed the everlasting love of a father and the losses that he had to go through during the war. Russell Crowe did an incredible job of forming the story of his character and the story of the lonely Turkish widow and her son. The characters in the film matched the descriptions and dialect of the people that they were to portray. Characters such as the Turkish commanders and the British commander showed...
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...Writing and Literary Critique of Asian/Pacific American Literature Throughout the history of the United States media, there are common stereotypes of females in films that are presented in the short story by Fong, Charlie Chan’ No More. I believe that the roles of Asian Americans are limited in films, such as gender and sexuality, by stereotyping females. Asian Americans are being portrayed as negative images through various media, from books, films, plays, and even television. “The audience would realize that media views Asians and Asian Americans as others that include exoticized women, asexual men, a yellow peril threat to the United States” (Ono & Pham, 2009). Throughout this essay, I am referencing the article by Fong, Charlie Chan’ No More, and Moon, a poem by Marilyn Chin, where they both talk about sexuality and gender. “Asian women, have often been depicted as almost completely sexual” (Fong, 177). In the short story as well as the poem, they can manipulate the messages of gender and sexuality of Asian American females that are being represented in both stories. Throughout Fong’s short story, there is a lot of controversy whether or not Asian American females are being portrayed with negative images, for example as sex objects. I also researched instances on the counter actions taken by Asian American females that protest the negative images, such as the dragon lady. I believe that Asian American females are being portrayed with such negative images, such as...
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...Notable features of Gothicism in particular are Cecily’s daydreams of Algy being a medieval knight-in-shining-armor and her elaborate paintings of their imaginary love affair within the pages of her diary. Additionally, the change of scenery for Lady Bracknell’s interrogation of Jack depicts her as almost a sinister gothic countess. Instead of having the interview immediately upon the time of the engagement in Algernon’s apartment, Lady Bracknell chooses to have Jack come to her home the next day. Upon arrival, Jack appears to be miniscule compared to her towering, luxurious estate with a grand staircase. The interview is set in a rather large room with two servants sitting on either side of her, recording notes. Lady Bracknell has a glass of water, a bell, and a notebook for writing answers. This interpretation puts emphasis on her exceedingly superficial nature. In the original text, Lady Bracknell asks...
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...has occurred in the development of film is the linearity of narrative. The history of film spans over one hundred years ago, with classical narrative emerging in Hollywood around the nineteen thirties. The classical narrative period had a strong emphasis on linearity and coherence, where characters where goal centred and consistent in personality and action. In the nineteen sixties a change began to emerge in Hollywood, with Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960) breaking the editing rules, and narrative coherence, with the introduction of jump cuts. This film among others greatly contributed to the outburst of non-linear narratives, a narrative technique wherein events are portrayed out of chronological order. In the twenty-first century a range of independent films with a variety of non-linear narratives have been getting mainstream release. Within this essay I will briefly explain the different types of narratives and the reasons for their popularity. The directorial intent for many non-linear narratives can be to evoke mood, maintain suspense, indicate the malleability of memory, signify dream, and above all to provide visual pleasure. The involvement that a spectator can feel from a non-linear narrative can offer both a sense of pleasure and relation. The fact that it is up to the viewer to keep up, put things together, and make sense of the narrative provides a sense of satisfaction, and can become the reason they are watching the film. Removing the chronological order of...
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...the journalist, is always found near a rear window in his tiny apartment room, where he watches his neighbor and neighborhood every single day that he came to be accustom to it. He has a nanny, Stella, who comes daily to clean and look after him. Stella is none other than an observant, imaginative woman whom foreshadows “trouble” in the area. True enough, Jeffries witnesses fights between Mr. and Mrs. Thorwald in their apartment that leads to a suspicion that Mr. Thorwald has murder his wife, when suddenly, her existence in his rear window view is no longer seen. Jeffries seeks support from Thomas, a detective friend of his; however, Thomas is reluctant to help him, using all kinds of excuses to convince Jeffries that nothing particular actually happened. With the help of his nanny and girlfriend, Lisa, Jeffries fought to reveal the truth. Towards the end, Jeffries sends anonymous letter about Mrs. Thorwald saying, “I know what you did to her” to Mr. Thorwald to frighten him so that he would surrender; yet, it turns out that the action causes the discovery of Jeffries presence. Mr. Thorwald attempt to kill Jeffries by throwing him out of his rear window eventually result him in being recognized as a murderer and was arrested. James Steward – Jeffries Grace Kelly – Lisa Thelma Ritter – Stella Raymond Burr – Mr. Thorwald Wendell Corey – Detective Thomas Doyle Comparison between the Two Movie Reviews Both William Brogdon and Bosley Crowther reviews summarize the movie...
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...LACAN AND CONTEMPORARY FILM EDITED BY TODD McGOWAN and SHEILA KUNKLE OTHER Other Press New York Copyright © 2004 Todd McGowan and Sheila Kunkle Production Editor: Robert D. Hack This book was set in 11 pt. Berkeley by Alpha Graphics, Pittsfield, N.H. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Allrightsreserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from Other Press LLC, except in the case of brief quotations in reviews for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper. For information write to Other Press LLC, 307 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1807, New York, NY 10001. Or visit our website: www.otherpress.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McGowan, Todd. Lacan and contemporary film / by Todd McGowan & Sheila Kunkle. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-59051-084-4 (pbk : alk. paper) 1. Motion pictures-Psychological aspects. 2. Psychoanalysis and motion pictures. 3. Lacan, Jacques, 1901- I. Kunkle, Sheila. II. Title. PN1995 .M379 2004 791.43'01 '9-dc22 2003020952 Contributors Paul Eisenstein teaches literature and film in the English department at Otterbein College, Columbus, Ohio, and is the author of Traumatic Encounters: Holocaust Representation and the Hegelian Subject (SUNY Press, 2003). Anna Kornbluh...
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