...The first film I review was Ann Hornaday review about Ex Machina. She gave a great input in her article. From the Directors novel “The Beach” and other three movies “28 Days Later, Never Let Me Go, and Ex Machina.” Ann describes the Director as a spinning unsettling futuristic thriller with expertise and exquisite taste of a second veteran. Unfortunately, In the article, she doesn’t use any first person of what she said it’s more of a third person, such as He. The information that she includes is Caleb is a coder who works for Nathan. And created a Google Search engine called Blue book. She discusses that Caleb had won a ticket at work to see his boos in Alaska Mountain where he lived. Both spend a week together, discussing The introduction focuses on the plot she tells specifically little details about the movie trying to the reader’s apatite right before spoiling or giving away too much information about the movie. She discusses about the film techniques in her conclusion. She writes “film succeeding at ratching up the mood of quiet unease, provocatively engaging everything from intimacy, identity and agency to such hot button issues as corporate surveillance, sexual orientation and male...
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...betrayal are themes showed throughout the movie The Family that Preys; however Josh Tyler a movie Critic from Cinema Blend.com was not convinced. He thought it was the worst movie made in 2009, and that the only thing that saved it was its great performances by Academy Award-winner Kathy Bates and Academy Award-nominee Alfre Woodard; “[a]nd that warm, gooey glow that seems to follow every Tyler Perry movie.” The Family That Preys is a movie for anyone who likes close families, friendship, drama, and a whole bunch of nonsense. This movie is about a Wealthy Socialite, Charlotte Cartwright (Bates), and her close friend, Alice Pratt (Woodard), a working class woman. Their lives are turned upside down as their adult children's extramarital affairs, unethical business practices and a dark paternity secret threaten to derail family fortunes and unravel the lives of all involved. In the review, John says, “Charlotte seems almost to suffer from a split personality disorder. When she’s with Alice she’s a freewheeling, kind, and generous woman. Whenever we see her without her friend, she’s a horrible rich bitch, ripped straight off the set of Dallas or Falcon Crest.” In the movie, Charlotte is never snobby or two faced. She puts on a hard exterior while working because she is fighting an endless battle with her son, William. He believes she has lost her spunk and is trying to excommunicate her from the family’s successful business which Charlotte and her husband built. Josh then goes on and...
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...internationally towards the didactic message of the violence in the film. Once Were Warriors directed by Lee Tamahori grossed over $6 million in New Zealand passing Jurassic Park on the New Zealand Box Office. New Zealanders praised the film with most reviews receiving a high rating. When opened internationally it grossed over $2 million with reviews also achieving a high rating. Although most international reviews fail to see the message from the violence compared to local reviews, they seem to view the violence as nauseating and unnecessary while New Zealand sees it as strong message to the public. Strong examples of this are Mark Tierney, Lizzie Francke and David Stratton from New Zealand, and Kenneth Turan from America who had a strong opinion on the movie’s brutal violence leading him to give it a bad review therefore missing the didactic message of the film. Once Were Warriors is a film based from the novel of the same name, about a Maori family living in Auckland after moving away from tribal elders over a disagreement over their marriage. The main settings are the Heke’s house and the local bar both housing drunken violence. Beth Heke (Rena Owen) is the victim of domestic abuse from her husband Jake Heke (Temurea Morrison) leading her to question the relationship and stand up to Jake while also trying to sort family relations. There are many sub-plots in the film which affect the children, such as Boggy’s journey to adulthood, Nig’s gang initiation, and Grace’s struggle with...
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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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...greatest actresses in the history of cinema. All her movies are beloved movies and are very close to the heart of the audience The proposal movie is a unique addition to her history. Sandra Bullock asserted in this movie how a skillful actress she is because she had the courage to choose a hateful mistress role and excel in it despite of being different from type of characters she used to present before, she could transit smoothly and professional from frigidness, to comedy, to romance, and she undoubtfuly could make us enjoy the movie despite of its easily predictable and stereotypic events. Bullock used to play the role of an ordinary woman who finds herself suddenly in the face of an extraordinary events and obstacles. Yet, in this movie, she portrays a powerful, cranky, pushy, and bossy woman. This “pitch” has been hated deeply by all her employees especially the miserable Andrew who had a lot of ambitions that he worked hard to achieve(). His devotion to his work is the thing that made him the perfect candidate for blackmailing by Margaret who threatened with ruining his future if he did not comply with her demands. She...
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...One of the most common types of a conversion is the change from one language to another, otherwise known as a translation. I believe that the common goal of a translation is to change the way an idea is formatted while still being able to have the idea to keep the same essence and spirit of the original copy. The same can be said for a translation of languages as to the translation from a novel to a movie. Although the format has been changed, the goal is to keep and convey the original message in a different medium. What a translation allows is the spread of different ideas to a wider and broader audience base that may not have been able to experience the idea otherwise. In the case of the novel East of Eden by John Steinbeck and the 1952 version of the movie East of Eden I view the movie to be a translation which becomes a broader and somewhat more accessible version of the original story. Even though the movie was created to capitalize on the huge monetary success of the novel, the film makers felt the need to drastically change the film in a way that changes the principal tone and meaning of the story. I feel that the arguments made in the movie are radically different from the ones made in the novel and by my definition, the movie a poor translation of the original novel. The original novel by Steinbeck had been highly anticipated and when it was release it found high sales while it received mixed reviews from critics and was highly controversial. 1950’s America wasn’t...
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...for best novel in 1985 and 1986, respectively (OSC). In November of 2013 the movie adaption was released to the public with a runtime of one hour and fifty-four minutes and was met with mixed reviews garnishing only a “74% fresh” on the movie critics site rottentomatoes.com (Rotten). Like many books that are adapted into movies, fans and critics usually side with the book being a better portrayal of the story than the movie version. Dennis Schwartz, a movie critic from Ozus' World Movie Reviews, expresses his views on the comparison between the movie and book by writing, “Might have worked as a clever thought-provoking read, on film it's a drag” (Schwartz). This common occurrence of the book being better than the movie can be easily explained by remembering that a movie should usually stay around the two hour time mark and that money is a big factor in adapting a book. The major differences between the book and the movie are that Ender’s timeline is completely changed, Ender is portrayed to be a more likable character, and that the cutaways back to Earth with Ender’s siblings Peter and Valentine are completely cut from the movie. These can all be explained through the logic that Lionsgate Films was trying to make a watchable picture that was closest to the book without breaking the bank in the process. The first major difference that I noticed when watching the film was Ender’s age throughout the movie was much different...
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...Criticism-Why is it typically thought of as negative? Most times when we think of the word criticism, we think of it in a negative way. However, there are many different ways that one can critique something. For example, Siskel & Ebert “Halloween” (1978) film review expresses that you can create a gruesome, but still entertaining movie. Criticism can also be a favorable praise (Siskel and Ebert); which is what they give the entire film. The mother played in the movie is independent, intelligent, spunky and interesting.” She is not portrayed as being the typical, clumsy female in average horror films. It shows that the writer is appreciative of women and film (Siskel & Ebert). They were not knocking horror films, just a certain kind and addressing...
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...tears. The screenplay for the 1994 movie was written by Eric Roth, based on the novel by Winston Groom. The story follows Forrest through 30 years of trials and tribulations, placing Forrest within historical moments of history, and in pursuit of his one dream–his “most special friend,” Jenny. According to the Washington Post, Forrest Gump won Oscar awards for Best Picture, Best Actor (Hanks), Best Director (Robert Zemeckis), Film Editing, Visual Effects and Adapted Screenplay. The movie was well deserving of these awards since the acting and the visual effects were extraordinary. The films’ actors success in portraying their characters is a major factor in the film’s awards. Tom Hanks and Robin Wright worked well together, just like “peas and carrots.” The on-screen chemistry between the two was phenomenal. I felt a real connection between the two, finding myself mad at Jenny when she blew Forrest off and in tears when he told her that he was heading to Vietnam. Mokui’s Movie Review states “Tom Hanks IS Forrest Gump…He breathes life into the guy and you will feel what Forrest feels” (1994, par 1). James Berardinelli states, “Robin Wright gives the best performance of her career, surpassing what she accomplished in The Playboys” (1994, par2). Another performance that stands out is that of Gary Sinise. Sinise plays the part of Lieutenant Dan Taylor, whose life is saved by Forrest during the Vietnam War. James Berardinelli writes, “In this movie, his Lieutenant Dan Taylor is riveting”...
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...Critique: Stealth Stealth was made in 2005 and is presented by Columbia Pictures, directed by Rob Cohen, Produced by Mike Medavoy. The Executive Producer was Arnold Messer. The movie starts out with wording and music, similar to Star Wars, giving the prologue of the movie. I feel that the Director’s vision is that he is trying to warn us about what the future is capable of happening, if we put “brains” in computers. In this thesis I will be telling you about the movie so you will be able to understand what is happening. I will also be telling you who is in the movie and what their roles are, the style and directing of the movie. I will also Critique the film regarding the flaws that was done, the editing to the style and the acting. The Original music was done by BT. Music plays throughout the movie; the colors are neutral at the beginning of the movie with certain key items showing full color, in one scene a United States flag is flying on a building. Dean Semler does the Cinematography’s work. His work includes Secretariat (2010) and Mad Max: Fury Road (pre-production) (2012). Stephen Rivhin did the film editing. His most recent work was Avatar (2009), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006). Making a movie is a genuinely collaborative effort. Large films employ literally hundreds of people who work together to create the finished product. Yet as with any endeavor that enlists the labor...
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...Far & Away by Ron Howard, 1992 Summary: The film takes place in Ireland in the 1890’s. The main character is a young farmer named Joseph Donnelly. Joseph is angry with his landlord Daniel Christie who had the Donnellys’ farm burned down due to the lack of rental. He goes to the Christie family’s estate with the intention of killing his landlord. Here he meets the beautiful daughter Shannon Christie. She is dissatisfied with the “old way of living” she is with her parents and longs after a modern lifestyle. With Joseph facing eviction and Shannon longing for a modern world, they run away towards America together. They start in Boston where they struggle and work hard to live and save money. Joseph works as a barehanded boxer, which brings him lots of positive attention, but when he is beaten their money is taken away and they are left homeless on the streets, while they are dreaming of owning their own land. When Shannon later gets reunited with her family they go separate ways. At last they meet again at the Oklahoma race in 1893 and conquer their own land together. Review: Far & Away is both historical and humorous and contains a lot of American values. We are given a clear picture of how “The new world” was appealing to European citizens and how the shaping of America took place. When Joseph and Shannon first arrive at Boston, they have nothing and they have no other solution than to start working their way up. This is a good example on the strong American belief...
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...I will provide a review of the movie starting with the plot, then working my way through the meaning behind each main character, what theme and audience it may affect. I will finish with why I believe the movie became popular during the Christmas season and what biblical perspective the movie portrays. Let me start with a review of the movie. The beginning of the movie starts a few days before Christmas and it shows everyone excited and having fun because Christmas is coming soon. Many people were window-shopping on the streets of the downtown city and enjoying the season. It was a joyous time for everyone except for one person Henry Brougham, who was the Bishop. The Bishop was working on building a new cathedral for his people and the slow process in acquiring the money was depressing him. He was hoping to have it funded by a wealthy but stern widow named Agnes Hamilton but it was not going as planned because she wanted it designed her way. He was working so hard on the new project that he lost sight of his family. All his thoughts were toward the cathedral and the time spent with his wife was almost like being alone because they did not communicate on the level they did prior to this. All his uncertainties overwhelmed him so the Bishop sought help by praying and asking God for guidance and out of nowhere, there appeared Dudley, an angel from heaven. Dudley was there to help the Bishop and honor his prayers but Dudley does not only help him he helps others. He also starts to...
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...the verbal and visual texts. The film draws ideas from different books starting from Charles Perrault’s little riding text of 1697 (Catherine, 2002). The film further contains the depiction of the Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the 1982 text. In addition, the film is based on a book review of Little Red Riding Hood as portrayed by Charles Delarue’s works on French oral tales (Zipes, 2010). The books reviews have a historical dimension in their examination of the Little Red Riding Hood. Mathew Bright’s film was produced in 1996. It features the Little Red Riding Hood. The film is referred to as the freeway and it was cast in California. Little Red Riding Hood is depicted as a generation X character discerning from the way the character is clothed. The Little Red Riding Hood is shown in the film wearing saggy trousers, a jacket made of leather and combat boots that are prominent feature in hip-pop artist attires. In examining the attire it is discerned that the attire represent the people from social underclass who are closely associated with the hip-pop culture. The Little Red Riding Hood is further characterized by a voice peculiar to the marginalized youth. The voice can be classified as a class based voice since it presents someone who speaks in a manner that is typical of individuals belonging to the social underclass. The main character in the movies is Vanessa Lutz. Mathew Bright’s movie Freeway depicts the Little Red Riding Hood as a teenager...
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...Eng. 111 Thematic Movie Review My Life Without The Extras My life without the extras is depicted very eloquently in one of my favorite movies in the past year, The Single Moms Club. The Single Moms Club is a 2014 American comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Tyler Perry. Released in theatres on May 9, 2014 and to DVD on July 22, 2014, The Single Moms Club is an adequate depiction of the struggles in the life of these single mothers. The lead actresses of this movie are Jan (Wendi McLendon-Covey), May (Nia Long), Esperanza (Zulay Henao), Hillary (Amy Smart), and Lytia (Cocoa Brown). In The Single moms club, schoolyard child’s play at an Atlanta prep school brings a diverse group of women to the principal's office. Their misfits were caught smoking and tagging at school, so these culture clashed women are tasked with organizing a dance and fundraiser as the “parental punishment.” The plot and the characters make The Single Moms Club the wonderful and home hitting movie that I will watch time and time again. The moms are a diverse bunch. Jan is a stern, all-business type trying to make partner where she works but not without the snotty attitude of her little trouble-making daughter. In one of the film's many coincidences, she recently rejected a story idea from May for being urban. May is a journalist and aspiring author, trying to guide her troubled son Rick through the rough waters of having a father that does what he wants but at the expense of...
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...see the movie Precious. Rarely does a movie devastate and uplift you at the exact same moment. It will leave you reeling emotionally. In a nutshell, it is a movie set in 1987 Harlem about an overweight, illiterate, African American teenager who is a victim of incest. Among many things, it is a story of perseverance and survival. It also gives us a raw look at the connection between abuse and eating problems. Precious' excessive weight and eating plays a central role in the movie. Aspects of the story help illuminate many of the reasons emotional, physical, and particularly sexual abuse, are risk factors for eating disorders.* Abuse isn't a "cause." Instead, it puts someone at a higher likelihood of having eating issues (there are many biological and social factors that play a part as well). This includes anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder as well as emotional eating, obesity and body image dissatisfaction. Thus, it is no surprise that Precious, who was sexually abused by her father, struggles with her weight, body and eating. Sexual abuse violates a person's body and personal boundaries. Physical sensations, including sexual feelings and hunger, become severely disrupted. At times, Precious turns to food for soothing and comfort. For example, when hungry one morning, she seeks comfort food. She steals a 10 piece bucket of fried chicken, eats it all and then vomits it back up. Precious has lost of control over her body, particularly how to appropriately feed her physical...
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