...Brown Sugar Mary Smith ENG225: Introduction to Film Prof Nathan Pritts August 26, 2015 Brown Sugar A girl and boy who have been lifelong friends A&R Andre and Editor in Chief Sidney attribute their friendship to the day they fell in love with hip hop music. Time as past and the friendship has remained in tack despite their different career paths. It has been fifteen years later and Sidney moves returns home where she is now Chief and Editor of XXL magazine only to find out that the love of hip-hop is not the only thing that brings them back together again. Brown Sugar plot revolves around the relationship between Sidney (Sannaa Lathan) and Dre (Taye Diggs) who have been childhood friends. Sidney has taken the position of editor and chief of the hip-hop magazine XXL back in her home town Brooklyn. Dre is a partner in a music label called Millennium Records. Upon Sidney return to Brooklyn Dre reveals that he is preparing to marry Reese (Nicole Ari Parker) who is a successful entertainment attorney. This news sends Sidney into a subconscious tizzy. Sidney going forward after hearing the news of Dre getting married finds herself struggling to interact with Dre. After hanging out before his wedding Sidney impulsively kiss Dre and from that kiss lead them to a confusing night of intimacy and cracking doubt about everything between them. Dre goes through with the wedding and tries to settle in with his new wife and life. While in pursuit of a new artist Dre is...
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...FILM CRITIQUE (Final Version) Mona Lisa Smile At the very first glance, the title “Mona Lisa Smile” gives me an impression of mysterious and controversial, which is exactly the same as the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci. This impression inspires me to watch the whole film excitedly. The film does show a great 1950s period with the brilliant cast performance. The leading character, Katherine Ann Watson (Julia Roberts) is amazing. She is a very special woman who is the center of the whole story. She wants to make difference at Wellesley College - one of the most conservative institutions in the USA by encouraging the girls there to think more for themselves and make their own choices out of the tradition. It can be seen that Julia Robert really succeeds in showing Katherine’s psychological process. At the beginning of the film, Katherine appears to be very calm and independent woman; she strongly believes in the progressive thinking and supposes it will be good for all of her students. But as the story is coming to the end, I can realize that actually Katherine is not so sure about herself, especially after her student, Joan (Julia Stiles) decides to get married instead of going to law school as Katherine recommended. Even though Katherine follows the new movement, there are still some traditional ideas inside that prevent her from totally getting out of the conservative opinions and finding her own way. It is quite reasonable as the 1950s is the transforming period...
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...Film review rebuttal Objective: to use current level of knowledge regarding film (production, marketing, distribution, editing, sound, cinematography, elements of miser-en-scene, narrative etc.) rebut or critique the opinion of a professionally prepared film with which you personally disagree. Rebuttal critique guidelines: the paper should be at least three full pages, excluding supporting material and citation pages. the paper should be written in an essay format- that is, an opening thesis paragraph clearly stating paper�s intent, points to be covered, and direction; followed by well-developed paragraphs on each concept to be covered; and ending with a clear summery and conclusion. Direction: choose a film which you believe peer audience commonly would or should see and appreciate. Recent films are preferred (in the last three years) American films only. After you have selected a film, find a review of the film which you disagree with in whole or in part. The review to rebut must be written by a professional reviewer (a fan posting to a blog is not a professional review, for instance.) your disagreement with the said film review may address factors you believed the original reviewer left out or did not develop well enough. A copy of the review used must be attached to the final draft of the essay. Film review content and focus: the paper�s focus should be to write a rebuttal to the professional review chosen. The rebuttal review must cite at least three points in which you disagree...
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...John Carpenter’s Halloween: A Film Critique Michael Chapes Instructor David Hayes ENG 225 February 13, 2014 “It's Halloween, everyone's entitled to one good scare.” - Sheriff Leigh Brackett As long as there have been stories, there have been stories about the other, the unrealities we might categorize today as fantasy... Early myths in all cultures are populated by demons and darkness, early Egyptian mythology resounds with tales of a world beyond the physical, a realm of the spirits, to be revered and feared. Classical mythology is filled with monsters such as the Cerberus, the Minotaur, Medusa, the Hydra, the Sirens, Cyclops, Scylla and Charybdis, to name just a few. Every culture has a set of stories dealing with the unknown and unexplained, tales that chill, provoke and keep the listener wondering "what if..?" Horror films are the present-day version of the epic poems and ballads told round the fires of our ancestors. Horror movies of the 1970s reflect the grim mood of the decade. After the optimism of the 1960s, with its sexual and cultural revolutions, and the moon landings, the seventies was something of a disappointment. By 1970, the party was over; the Beatles split, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix died, while John Kennedy, his brother Robert, and Martin Luther King were all felled by an assassin’s bullet. These tragedies seemed to be just the first domino to fall, for then came Nixon...
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...Week 5: Final Film Critique ENG 225: Introduction to Film Instructor Stephanie Miclot 03 Mar 2014 I have chosen the film Armageddon as the final film critique in this course. Armageddon was released to the America in 1998. The film was directed by Michael Bay, and written by J.J. Abrams and Jonathan Hensleigh. While there were a number of high-profile actors in this film, the undoubtedly biggest stars in this film were Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thorton, Ben Affleck, and Liv Tyler. (Imdb, 2008). Armageddon was a movie with a lot of potential, that was poorly written from the start and dismally executed on screen. While I am a fan of quite a few cast members, I was disappointed with this film as a whole. Albeit the storyline certainly lineal, the entire movie was fragmented with action sequences that left the audience wondering just exactly what was going on. “Take almost any 30 seconds at random, and you’d have a TV ad.” (Ebert, 2008, para.1). Armageddon seems to have been tossed together in haphazardly fashion by it’s writers, replacing real scientific facts with your typical inaccurate, and dramatized hollywood one-liners fired off by the actors in this film at every turn. An example of the diluted science in this film is in the plot of the story itself. An asteroid the size of the state of Texas is cutting through space on course for a head on collision with Earth, at which point, is certain to destroy our planet, and end life...
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...History 398 Fall Semester 2011 Film Critique In the movie The Missing a woman named Maggie and her two daughters Lilly and Dot live on a plot of land, that they farm in New Mexico in 1885. Maggie is a doctor and lives with her boyfriend who helps run the farm. A stranger visits to seek treatment for a wound and it is Maggie’s estranged father. Her father left her family when she was young to be with the Indians. Maggie does not like her father and eventually makes him leave. Her eldest daughter Lilly, Dot and Maggie’s boyfriend head out on a trip the next day with the cattle. The following morning Maggie is alarmed when they do not return and sets out to find them. She discovers that her boyfriend has been killed and her daughter Dot appears wandering out of the woods. Dot tells Maggie that Indians attacked them and took the older daughter Lilly. Lilly has been kidnapped by Indians and a male witch Indian. Maggie seeks help from the local sheriff who says they don’t have the resources and Maggie has to seek her father’s help. They head off in search of Lilly trying to track down the Indians before it’s too late. In the movie Maggie plays a very head strong, independent woman, who is the head of her household. Her character was not completely accurate because I don’t believe that a woman with no husband and runs her own “healer” doctor clinic is a very realistic idea in the West. She is treated with a lot of respect by all of the men and is even treated equally. They do...
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...Film Critique: INSIDIOUS Intro to Film 225 Vera Baber Instructor: BradWaltman February 12, 2012 If you are looking for a good horror film to sit down and cuddle up with, and you aren’t bent on happy or predictable endings, Insidious is a gem that will not only scare and surprise you, but keep you thinking and without all the blood and gore that most horror films rely on these days. INSIDIOUS is a film about a family who moves into a new home and begins to experience some very strange phenomenon, such as items being moved from one place to another without any explanation. The setting is an old creepy house; with an attic full of items from the past, and which seems to draw people in; first the mother, then the son. The son Dalton ends up falling off of a ladder while playing in the attic. He seems to receive only a minor bump from the fall, but during the night while asleep in his bed, he mysteriously drifts off into a coma and is unresponsive when his parent try to wake him for school. He is then rushed to the hospital emergency room where his condition baffles doctors. They cannot understand why there is no brain damage which is usually accompanied with a coma, but they have no idea what else to call it. He is ultimately sent home to be cared for by his mother with the help of a part-time nurse. It is during this time that the paranormal activity really kicks off in the story. Most of the paranormal occurrences seem to take place during the day while the mother is home...
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...Critique: BTTF Mathew Peppersack ENG 225 Introduction to Film Professor Ryan Ogrodnik March 2, 2015 Critique: BTTF To critique a film is to analyze the substance of what makes up the movie. The story and its plot, characters, technical choices for scenes, and the overall production that the film shown to give the audience a final product. The number of people who visited the movie theater to watch it does not determine greatness of the film; or the amount of money the movie studio made after the budget was settled. A movie is great if it reached a large percentage of the population and that population determined through criticism and good reviews that the movie is worthy to be seen for a second, third, or fourth time. Another justification of greatness is if the film warrants purchasing the film on Blu-ray disc or a digitally copy to put on your computers hard drive. I will be critiquing the 1985 film Back to the Future starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. These are the main characters of the film for which the story revolves around. Michal J. Fox plays the main character, Marty McFly, who travels back in time in a Delorean time machine invented by Christopher Lloyd’s character, Dr. Emmett Brown. Lea Thompson plays Lorraine McFly, Marty’s mother, Crispin Glover plays George McFly, Marty’s father. Thomas F. Wilson is the antagonist as Biff Tannen. There are plenty of supporting roles throughout the film but...
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...Final Film Critique: Light it up, 1998 M.parker ENG 225: Introduction to Film Instructor: Jenessa Gerling January 21, 2013 Final Film Critique A critic is one who should educate others what the meaning of a film is so viewers can form their own educated opinion about it. Koontz & Jacobs, 2011 states “the local critic should be part of a community discussion, not as the final word on the matter, but merely a starting point” (Koontz & Jacobs, 2011). This critique will discuss the movie Light it up and how this movie is a reflection of problems faced by youth in American society at the turn of the 21st Century. Light it up takes place in the late 90’s in New York City. The story begins with one of the main characters Ziggy giving the audience a background on each of the other six main characters. After learning of the characters backgrounds the movie is then brought into the present day. Starting out at Lincoln High, which is the school that all of the main characters attend in one way or another. The audience is introduced to the poor condition that the school has been allowed to slip into. Not only is the school in an almost uninhabitable condition, the principle has also hired policemen to be on guard full time during school hours to keep the “peace”. The picture that is painted for the audience in the first five minutes of this film is not a very good one. As a viewer you are shown and made to believe that these kids are low life thugs who are nothing more...
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...Understanding Movies Film Critique # 4 University of Maryland University College ARTH334/ 5160 August 11, 2013 VERTIGO I do not whether I like this film or not. I say this because, the film had a dark yet dry feeling to me. I am not saying that the story was not good. Somehow the film’s sound and effects and plot did not really capture my attention. That being said, I thought that the film had many good qualities to make it a great film for this time. The acting was pretty dry, by that I mean that movements and dialogue were slow at times. My guess is that the director intended to create a feeling of confusion or build a sense of feeling of that of someone with vertigo. The script was good, and it really follows the story it intends to tell, in its dark dramatic ways. It was a drastic way of telling a romantic story, but very much inline with Hitchcock’s The scenes transitions were very fluid, motion, the landscape was complementing to the plot. This film was very diverse in the use of colors, sounds, and especial effects; from the introduction to some of the screenplay action, all of this effect added to the emotion it intended to produce. The locations were suiting to the setting in which the story could be more effective. The actors seemed to be very original or involved into their characters. The editing of this film must have been very complex, especially when the soundtrack had to be match to the scenes. The scenes in which the director wanted to have a...
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...Final Film Critique – LA Confidential Adam Ehinger Ashford University: ENG225 Instructor Michael O'Donnell 1/31/2015 Sometimes a movie makes a lasting impression on you as an individual, sometimes you'll come back to this movie time and time again. LA Confidential (1997) is a combination of a star studded cast and a scintillating detective story set in the 50's. The movie combines all aspects of movie making, from acting, directing, writing, mise en scene and all sorts of film techniques to make one of the most entertaining noir's you'll ever see. LA Confidential (1997) is directed by Curtis Hanson, he doesn't have this prolific history of stunning movies like some other directing heavy weights but he handles an a-list cast and directing duties admirably here. While most of the big names in the cast weren't technically BIG names yet they must have still had personalities or needed work to get the job done. Notably at least to me is Kim Basinger, someone who usually I do not enjoy, usually a weak point in movies for me, but in this she is perfectly fine, nothing to much, but not noticeable like usual, a feat in directing to me. The cast is name after name, Russel Crowe as the ham fisted Officer Bud White, Kevin Spacey playing the mercurial Detective Jack Vincennes, Guy Pearce in my eyes as his break out performance playing the golden child Ed Exley. You have a plethora of famous character actors to back these boys up, David Strathairn as...
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...Lambs: Film Critique Midari Marrero ENG 225 Intro to Film Instructor: Julie Pal-Agrawal June 25, 2012 It is uncommon in our day to find horror movies that can compare to the critically acclaimed film of Jonathan Demme's 1991 The Silence of the Lambs, starring Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter, the infamous and psychotic cannibal psychiatrist. This movie, along with Alfred Hitchock's Psycho (1960), is one of limited horror/suspense films recognized by movie critics as one of the greatest American films ever made. Critics had much to say about the “commercialization” of one of the most horrifyingly amazing characters in the history of American theatre, but even more interesting is the change that is specified through the character's approval in mainstream culture. Hannibal Lecter is a different type of monstrous cannibal than those formerly seen in horror films, as shown through his criminal activities, and has been acknowledged by its viewers as an “anti-hero” as opposed to the adversary or antagonist of the movie. The story line behind this movie captured the audience to want to watch this disgusting anti-human film, which included cannibalism. Everyone that was involved in the creation of this film from the film director, cinematographer, art editors, sound directors, the costumes the staging everyone had to be in that same dark place in order to make this a captivating need to watch film. In the following pages I would like to describe scenes of the film and by...
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...Understanding Movies Film Critique # 4 John Cruz University of Maryland University College ARTH334/ 5160 August 11, 2013 VERTIGO I do not whether I like this film or not. I say this because, the film had a dark yet dry feeling to me. I am not saying that the story was not good. Somehow the film’s sound and effects and plot did not really capture my attention. That being said, I thought that the film had many good qualities to make it a great film for this time. The acting was pretty dry, by that I mean that movements and dialogue were slow at times. My guess is that the director intended to create a feeling of confusion or build a sense of feeling of that of someone with vertigo. The script was good, and it really follows the story it intends to tell, in its dark dramatic ways. It was a drastic way of telling a romantic story, but very much inline with Hitchcock’s The scenes transitions were very fluid, motion, the landscape was complementing to the plot. This film was very diverse in the use of colors, sounds, and especial effects; from the introduction to some of the screenplay action, all of this effect added to the emotion it intended to produce. The locations were suiting to the setting in which the story could be more effective. The actors seemed to be very original or involved into their characters. The editing of this film must have been very complex, especially when the soundtrack had to be match to the scenes. The scenes in which the director wanted...
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...Final Film Critique– “The Help” Contextual Information Title: The Help Writers: Tate Taylor (screenplay), Kathryn Stockett (novel) Director: Tate Taylor Cinematographer: Stephen Goldblatt, Director of photography Major Actors: Emma Stone – Skeeter Phelan, Viola Davis – Abileen Clark, Bryce Dallas Howard - Hilly Holbrook, Octavia Spencer – Minny Jackson Release Date: August 10, 2011 Type of film: American Drama Based on a True Story Genre: Drama Black women raising white children, and the children loved them, and they loved them back, but yet were not allowed to use the toilets in their employer’s house. These are the moments of the black maids in 1963 in Jackson, Mississippi. Plot and Story The Help depicts the lives of black maids and their white employers exposing the racism that the black maids faced on a daily basis. The time is 1963 set in Jackson, Mississippi during the civil rights movement. The film that follows the lives of two black maids and a southern society girl, Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone), who returns home from college, eager to launch her dreams of being a writer. Skeeter wants to write a book to explain that racism doesn’t just mean withholding of education and voting rights. It is told from the perspective of the black maids so it is narrated through the movie as the voice of black maids that suffered the racism from their employers. The interviewing of the black maids, who spent their lives taking care of the prominent white...
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...Making a Difference Freedom Writers was a controversial movie based on a true story. Watching this movie it was clear that it was not going to be your average story about a teacher and her students, but instead it was much more than what was anticipated. It was hard not to be moved by the stories of each student and the difference this teacher was able to make in their lives. This story of a young, fairly inexperienced teacher named Erin Gruwell shows just what one person can accomplish when one cares as much as Erin did. She had to deal with much adversity while attempting to teach at-risk students who were dealing with their own every day battles. Erin gives her students a chance to share their own story by giving them each a notebook to write in about their life. The story of each student is brought to life through what they share on the pages of their own notebook. And this is how the title of the story, Freedom Writers was incorporated. Erin also learns, through a joke made on another student in the class, that they have never heard or know anything about the Holocaust. Erin is completely surprised and saddened to learn of their ignorance about such a horrific time in our world. After learning that her students were unaware of the atrocities of the Holocaust, Erin makes it her mission to make certain that her students learn what happened during World War II. After reading The Story of Anne Frank and visiting a Holocaust museum, the students...
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