"Sicko"

Universal Health Care? How come Americans don't have it? Do they even realise how amazing and wonderful it is compared to other countries, who don't have to be put on a waiting list for surgery or other medical needs. This is what Michale Moore's movie Sicko was all about. Why we as Americans don't have universal health care.

He starts the movie off in a very eye opening way if I may say so myself. He shows a man who can not afford heath insurance stitch up his own knee. Then he goes into detail on other people's life's who have been hit hard from not being able to afford health care because they get turned away due to pre-existing diseases. This movie at some points made me want to cry and feel bad for these people but other times when he would talk about other people's countries and how happy they are because they don't have to pay an arm and a leg for medical attention just seems to good to be true. It's like he is not exposing us to the whole truth. I feel like there has to be some sort of catch to how these people get there health care for free. I don't fully agree with everything he has to say.

According to an article review on Sicko done by MTV it sates, "Moore apparently expects us to witness this dumbfounding spectacle and ask why we can't have such a great health care system, too. I think a more common response would be, how can any country afford such economic insanity?" This is what I feel he's movie is based on. Only bring us the happy truths and the happy stories of how people love and enjoy there free health care. Earlier in this article it talks about how a man get three weeks paid sick leave and then ask the doctor for more because he still feels he needs more time to recover and then in the movie it goes on to show the guy hanging out in the beaches and doing nothing but soaking up the sun. It makes you stop and wonder what? How can this be true? Who is paying for him to do this? Will it eventually catch up to him? Will he have to pay someday? But Moore never talks about those kind of situations he only brings up the positive stuff and what we want to hear and see.

Another article review I was reading online states this about the movie and Michale Moore, "Moore's biggest enemy is entitlement: the American way of life as "I worked for it so I deserve the rewards" rather than "I worked for it to make our way of life better." I think Moore understands the American ways but he is trying to change it by making everyone gain the benefit of universal health care. Which to me is kind of like, you know I see where you are coming from and we tried this already with Mrs. Clinton and we see what other countries are doing but they also have their down falls too. Just because there country has universal health care does not mean that they don't pay for it somewhere else. Like in the movie they show a doctor I think it was who has to pay some enormous price for the apartment that he is living in, but he is so happy because he gets free health care. And to me it is like hold up a minute. So if Americans were to have free universal health care then prices of living and other things would go up greatly and then we as Americans would complain about that.

In conclusion, I know that I am not very knowledgeable on this whole Health Care. But I know that something about this movie did not sit with me right? It just does not make senses to me and throughout the hole movie it showed people in other countries who were happy with there heath care and then it showed the Americans who were suffering because they did not have any. I just feel that there is a lot more behind both stories that needs to be reviled before anyone can agree of disagree with this movie. I think it brought up a lot of eye opening situations on both ends of the spectrum but also it needs to back up and tells us all the little things about how these people get there free health care. Where are they getting all the movie?

The Matrix

Ring.....Ring....Ring....Ring. The telephone ringing was a very important part of the movie. For the when they answered the telephone they were brought back to the real world. There is a lot of controversy about this movie and how it relates to many different religions.There are many symbols throughout the movie The Matrix that make people believe this way.

According to the article The Journal of Religion and Film, it brings up many different examples where it relates to Christianity. For example, "Neo, like Jesus, is the long-expected Messiah who is ultimately killed only to resurrect as a fully "divine" creature." There was a part toward the end of the movie where it seemed like Neo was going to die and was about to take his last breath. But then he came back to life again. Just like Jesus died on the cross for our sins but he is still alive within us. The article also mentions the significance of The Oracle, she is like the god figure in the movie. Neo and Morpheus went to see her because she holds the key to the future and knows the plan to everyone's life. Just like she told Neo that he would have to choose between his life and Morpheus's life. Just like Christians believe that God is in control of the future and he knows our every move and each choice we make he has mapped out with a plan. Then the last thing that I pulled out of the article was the women in the movie named Trinity which means the father, son and the holy spirit. She was a key character in the movie, because no matter how many close calls she had she never died and she was always there being a strong key to fighting the Matrix.

According to our books, The Art of Watching Film, they state that, "Once we have completed our personal and subjective evaluation, we may want to approach the film from several rather specialized angels or critical perspectives." They go on to say how this is key because it helps you to look past what you think and to see what other people have to say about the film. I am pretty sure that if I did not read the article that I quoted from above I would not have put together that Neo could be seen as Jesus. So reading what other people's thoughts are about a movie helps everyone to kind of come to a better understanding and view point of the movie. But then on the flip side the book talks about how, "We may agree with the critics on many points and disagree completely on other points." So basically to just keep an open mind. The movie The Matrix has a lot of people going in different directions about their opinions and what the movie actually means but in the end all that matter is if you like the movie or not.

In conclusion, The Matrix I would have to say was an ok movie. It had a lot of good things going for it like the special effects but there was also quite a few things that I did not like about the movie. I feel that they kind of dragged out the ending. With Neo and Trinity going to save Morpheus I thought it was going to end there. But then Neo did not make it out so he had to fight the Matrix and then he went back in with Trinity and it just seemed like it went on and on and on. In the end, I am still undecided if I will ever watch The Matrix again.

The Dark Knight

"Why so serious," Was a line used many times throughout the movie The Dark Knight by the Joker. Heath Ledger who I believe did a wonderful job of acting throughout the whole movie which contributed to the success that the movie had world wide. The Dark Knight used many different movie techniques that helped it to become so great. You had the special effects of what Batman could do from his outfit all the way to his bat mobile, you had amazing actors and you had an attention seeking plot line that all come together to grab my attention for the two and half our long film.

As states in our book, "The ultimate goal of any actor should be to make us believe completely in the reality of the character." Heath Ledger summed this statement up quite well. He did an amazing job of getting himself to play the Joker. Every scene that he was in from the way he talked to the way he walked stayed consistent throughout the whole film. Every time he was on the screen I was just shocked and all my attention was focused only on him. Also I think what made him such a good actor is all the other actors around him who where just as good playing their parts. I feel that it helped to contribute to why the Joker or Heath did so well, is because he had everyone around him playing their roles right which helped him to play his well. Another line quoted from the book, "An actor's goal is to obscure his or her own personality and to become another person on the screen, the actor must learn to behave reflexively and naturally as this new character." Heath did a wonderful job of acting natural when playing the role of the Joker throughout the movie. No matter what situation the Joker was in Heath personality and character really adapted to each situation and make his acting be really believable. I also want to taught a little bit on his make-up. I think for him being able to see what he looked like helped to grasp the whole concept of the Joker and helped him get in the Jokers shoes. Because it was not his face that he was seeing in the mirror it was the new character the Jokers face with all the paint and I think being in that costume and being someone totally different then who you truly are helps to make the acting come easier.

An article I read on the Internet that went along with Heath Ledger's acting that I thought really caught my attention to his death and the movie is, "And this misery loves company, harm for harm's sake Joker isn't joking when it comes to threatening that dramatic balance of power, while laying the blame on his devil make me do it bad childhood." Playing a role like Heath did and putting yourself in a situation like that and actually acting it out would take a toll on somebodies mind and the way they view the world. He's part as the joker I am not going to lie almost scared me just by his out word appearance the way he talked, the attitude of the character. If you play that role for long enough I can see it becoming a problem in your real lifestyle. Just have to have the Jokers mentality daily would be enough to screw me up.

Another article that I read on the Internet from Seacoast states this, " 'The Dark Knight' may refer to Christian Bale's Batman but it is wholly owned and operated by Heath Ledger's Joker." The article goes into further description but I would have to agree with this statement. I went into the movie as a first time viewer and I thought that the focus was going to be Batman from past experiences on watching Batman movies. But I was wrong like I said before every time the Joker came on the screen I was just totally hooked on that character and I could give a careless about Batman. In conclusion I really enjoyed watching this movie, the acting was amazing and it will definitely be a movie that I will watch again.

Sources:

The Dark Knight IMAX Movie Review: Heath Ledger Mesmerizes
By Prairie Miller
http://newsblaze.com/story/20080716055928mill.nb/topstory.html

‘Dark Knight’ review: Yep, Heath Ledger is that good
Best performance in years, if not decades, anchors long, dark, glorious film

http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080717/ENTERTAIN/80717021

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire takes you through a wild journey into the heart and soul of a young man named Jamal Malik, who is a slum kind from Mubai, India who goes on the local T.V. show in hopes of finding his brother and a girl that he adores but in the end walks away a millionaire. The movie grabbed my attention from the very beginning and keep me interested all the way through to the end of the film. According to an article which states, "We learn the history of Jamal and other principal characters in flashbacks, as Jamal answers the questions on the TV show not from book knowledge, he has known, but his own life experiences." That stated right there is why I think that this movie won so many Oscars and why I enjoyed it so much. It was not like all the other films that you see which take you thorough a boys journey from birth and then leads you to where he is today. But in this case the movie director and writers used flashbacks, which are the key in helping toreveal to the viewers the real meanings behind why Jamal is such a genius. For every difficult question that he had to answer they would flashback to his childhood and go through the journey that brought him to getting that answer correct. Jamal did not have to have any sort of book knowledge the only knowledge that he needed was the experiences and hardships that he faced. That is another main reason why I enjoyed watching this movie is that it really takes you into a deeper meaning then just winning a million dollars it takes you through a boys journey and the hardships that he faced and the reward for all that was a million dollars. Even after he won that he was happy more to have found the girl that he admired then actually winning the money.



Some examples of the flashbacks into Jamal's life that help him to answer all the questions right are; his brothers having to watch their mother die in an anti-Muslim riot, gave him the answer that it was a bow and arrow. Or the the child camp that Jamal had to go to in hopes of making money they had to sing at the camp and that gave him the answer to the title of the song. Then the last example was the for the million dollar question who are the three musketeer's and he remembered form his childhood his brother talking to him in the pouring rain while they were hiding in a covered area and debating whether they should let the girl in and saying how she could be the third musketeer so he uses a life line to call him but Latika the girl that he adores answers the phone and he is so shocked to hear her voice because not only does he get the answer right but he finds the girl that he was looking for all along. The use of every flashback in this movie was like a new eye opening experience that explained every detail to why Jamal won the million dollars.



Another statement quoted from a article, " The whoosh of action and romance pulls you in, but it's the bruised characters who hold you there. Every step Jamal takes toward his final answer could get him killed." This statement right here is the focus of what the whole movie is wrapped around Jamal life is being threatened because they feel that he is cheating but in reality these were all real life experience that he went through that help to shape him into becoming so smart. I was reading an article somewhere and it said something rather interesting about what the whole movie was trying to answer. It was like the movie was one big question and each part helped to lead to the final answer. "How did he do it? A) He cheated B) He's lucky C) He's a genius D) It's written" At the end of the movie the screen goes black and all you see at the left hand corner is D)It's written." Which is what everyone was quesioning thorughout the movie and putting his life on the line for all to find out that everything was written in his mind through due to what he faced as a child. In conclusion, I really enjoyed this movie for it was one that made me think yet touched my heart. It was so hard for me to watch and witness and see all the horrible things that Jamal and his family and friends had to go through. The whole purpose for Jamal going on the show was to find his brother Salim and the girl he adores Latika and I am so happy that the movie ended with him finding her. It put a happy twist to a horrible past for Jamal.

Memento

Where do I even start to begin talking about my feelings toward this film. Or maybe I should just start at the end. Memento was an interesting film of a man named Leonard Shelby who has a medical condition which causes him to have problems with his short-term memory. The story is told from the end of his journey and works backwards toward the beginning to find out who the killer of his wife was. He uses written notes, pictures and tattoo's on his body to remind himself of every little piece of information that he has learned and gained through his journey to find the killer.

After reading through the book, The Art of Watching Film it has helped me so much to understand and bring together the meaning and the points of why the film is made the way it is. For example, the book states, "The editor then links a series of scenes to form a sequence, which constitutes a significant part of the film's dramatic structure much in the same way that an act functions in a play." Just from reading this statement in the book my idea of why the movie flashes from the end to the beginning is because Leonard has short-term memory and he remembers what happen in the past but not necessarily the things that just took place so the editor is reveling to us and trying to put us in the shoes of Leonard and what he is facing each day as he tries to recall everything that happen with the death of his wife.

Another quote from the book that I found had a lot of meaning was, " Part of the editor's job is to weave a coherent tapestry of action and reaction, rendering the sequence of events crystal clear while building dramatic effect, tension, and suspense by cutting back and forth between the characters involved in the action and the action itself." I think that this statement from the book is perfect because the movie is filled with tension and frustration from Leonard trying to find all the pieces to his wife's death and the battles he faces with himself and others as he feels that people are hard to trust. They cut back and forth between characters and scenes and different time periods throughout the movie to create action and suspense. The editor also does a great job of creating action and reaction throughout the movie as some times I felt like he should have explained more but then latter the editor comes back to that scene and fills in the missing pieces.

The last little part that I picked out from the book that resembles this movie is Inside/Outside editing, "We are jolted suddenly from a line of action that we completely understand to a close-up detail in anew and unfamiliar place. We don't know where we are or what is happening." The editing during this movie resembled this statement because they zoomed and focused a lot on Leonard tattoos and the meaning behind all of them. He tattooed things on his body that were clues to remind him each day of things that he learned that were useful to helping him to come to the conclusion of his wife's death. Or the way they always had a scene of the telephone ringing and the phone resembled somebody that Leonard talked to about his problems and his daily discoveries. Even though he had no clue who he was talking to and neither did we for awhile the phone was a link to bring some missing pieces together. The movie also flashed from specific points and people that we understood to things that we had no clue were even apart of the overall plot until the end when they bring it all together.

In the end I found the movie to be very confusing just like life was confusing for Leonard as he was dealing with his wife's death. He was always trying to find people that he could trust and people that he could gain information from. I am just going to leave with a quote that I took from the movie, "We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are." I find this quote meaningful, Leonard needed the mirrors to help him cope with his life and to read quotes that he had written on his body. We as people use mirrors to see who we are and to give ourselves a good hard look at where our liefs are going. We sometimes use them as a reality check, we have all herd the expression something along the lines of looking in the mirror are you proud of the person looking back and the life you are living. In conclusion, I think in order for me to fully understand this film it is going to be one that I will have to watch over and over again.

American Beauty / A Beautiful Mind

American Beauty:

1. In the movie American Beauty the set of the film plays a huge role in the overall effect of the film. Most of the major events take place in the house. The whole movie I feel is centered around the house which is very symbolic because I feel that one of the struggles in this film was Lester, Carolyn and there daughter Jane trying to find some type of family bond and connection. Which is suppose to be found in the home life but in this case things seem to fall apart at the house.

2. I think that the film is shot at this particular location because it shows how the Burnhams family does not have a very stable home life. Things were falling apart throughout the movie and majority of the time it took place at the home. Lester and Carolyn were having problems with there relationship at home and in general which put stress on Jane. Then Lester and Jane's friend Angela had a few encounters at the house together. Also there was the neighbor boy Ricky who watched through his window into the Burnhams house and Ricky and Lester had there little drug deals and stuff going on in the garage of the house. So as you can see majority of the set of the movie is take place at the house.

3. The costumes throughout the movie have a lot to do with where the characters are in the immediate stage of life. For Jane at the beginning of the movie the mom said something along the lines of "can you try and match and make yourself look good." Jane was struggling with school, being popular, not having a boyfriend and dealing with her home life that she was caught in between a whole bunch of choices and decisions that reflect on her clothing. She never match which resembled the struggles that she was facing with her life not being able to find herself and a purpose for life. Carolyn on the other hand was always matching and looking her best. Which goes hand in hand of how up tight she was all the time and how stressed out she was about life and her relationship with her husband. She portrayed that everything was perfect in her life to the outside world but in reality nothing was perfect at all. Lester's costumes changed throughout the film. First he wore business suite and was looking all sharp. This was the stage of his life were he was also stressed about his life and having to deal with an unhappy relationship with not only his wife but also his daughter. Then as the movie progresses you see him change his attitude of being up tight and grumpy all the time to more laid back and more relaxed about life. He changes from business suit to muscles shirts and t-shirts when he goes on his big kick about working out. This to me shows that Lester is trying to find some time of thing in his life that makes him happy and working out is one of them for him.

4. The lighting throughout the movie, I got the feeling of being dark especially whenever they were at the house. The major parts of the film were taken at night when things were dark. Whenever something bad was going to happen it seemed to me like things would get a little gray and darker, not as much color was present.

5. I think the director chose this type of lighting because it sets up the feeling of somebody being trapped and can't escape because the darkness is caving in around them and enclosing them. Also it helped to set the mood for Lester and Carolyn's relationship because a marriage is suppose to be happy and something that you want to do and in this particular case it was far from them it was eating away at them just like darkness eats away at the light. I feel like the lighting is fitting for the movie because I feel it is show how the dad is trying to escape the darkness and the dark feelings of his unhappy life. Lester is trying to reach the light and he is trying to take the proper steps to better himself and his life. For example he gets a new job with less responsibilities and he is working out more trying to make himself feel better about his life.

6. The color that is most prominent throughout this film is red. According to the article Why 'American Beauty' Works, the movies focus on the use of symbols in trying to get across a general message and the article provides a lot of information on the what the color red means to each character. For example, to Lester red is the drive for lust and his sexually desires. When he dreams about Angela she is in a bath of red roses and when he has the close encounter with her on the couch there is a vase of red roses behind them. For Carolyn red is the meaning of life force and when she cuts the red roses at the beginning of the movie it shows how she is unhappy with life and wants a change. Some other ideas that I had is a red rose has a meaning for love and passion for one another. How ironic is this because Lester and Carolyn do not show each other love anymore they do not mean it they are struggling with life and there relationship so it seems kind of funny to me how red roses show up everywhere. Maybe it is trying to show that both of them are looking for this romantic love but they both can not find it because they are so unhappy with there life's at the present time.

A Beautiful Mind:

1. In this movie I find the overall set, or location to not have a large effect to the overall make of the film. True, the beginning did need to be in a prestigious university setting to one show that John Nash was a very brilliant mind and two it also portrayed how much of a competitive drive he has with his fellow class mates. I believe that it was the time period that had the biggest influence to the movie, how John came to Princeton in 1947 and came to his governing dynamics theory, but; he portrayed a view that some people did have in the 1950’s some thirty years after the “Red Scare” and most recently of world war 2, where Russians spies were every where, how they were transporting bombs through the united states. This was of course fiction, but in Johns mind these things were a reality.

2. The set that sticks out most prevalently to me would have to be John while he was in the University setting at Princeton in 1947. I think very strongly that the reason the film was shot here was to again show you how brilliant and how complex his mind really was, his ability to see the solutions, but most of all to show his passion for winning and his competitive drive to get to the top or in this case his placement into Wheeler Lab. In this setting you also get to meet the first of a couple people in his mind, his prodigal room mate Charles, someone he see’s because of his medical condition schizophrenia.

3. In this case the art director is trying to convey to us more a time period then a message, he/she is showing us how students, adults, and family members looked like in their different settings whether it be a lab or on a rocking chair on the front porch of a house. I think that this is all about the time period.

4. Yes the lighting was very appropriate mostly because it illuminated the right moments and captured the thematic moods. I believe that this movie was in the middle when it came to being harsh and direct or soft and diffused because it portrayed both when things were busy or bustling or dangerous the lighting became harsh and direct but, then again when the movie takes a turn to the more relaxed or sensual side then it does become a lot softer and diffused.

5. I think the director is trying to show the audience that John is having trouble dealing with his schizophrenia through the shadows and the gloomy lighting. Also the lighting throughout the film portrays that we need to be careful of what we do and to watch out for each other in times of darkness.

6. “God must be a painter, or he would'nt have given us so many colors” said by Johns Wife on their first date together. I believe that there was not one color that stood out from the rest that just blew me away but, if I had to chose at least one color that stood out to me it would be green. Green because I believe that in this movie it signifies his life, and that in the start of the movie it signified his beginning and as the move progressed I find that it also signified his health by becoming more and more of a dull color. I also think that green represents his need to change and realize that some of the things he see’s are not real and he can deal with them to again, change and grow to become better.

Good Will Hunting

Good Will Hunting, in my opinion was a wonderfully written movie on the struggles and trials of a teenage boy. Will is a janitor at a prestigious college where he spends his free time solving challenging math problems on a chalk board in the hallway. One day to Professor Lambeau surprise the challenging math problem had been solved and the whole class was surprised and anxious to find out who the genius was that solved the equation. When nobody confessed to solving the equation in class, Professor Lambeau was on a mission to find out who this math genius was. Later in that next week, Will was caught by Profesor Lambeau and his encounter with Lambeau changed his life forever.

Professor Lambeau was amazed by Will's math abilities and he did everything he could to spend time with Will and seek about his guidance on how to solve the most challenging math equations. He went so far as to bailing Will out of jail so that he could spend more time with Will. Will new he was smart but at the certain stage in his life he could really careless. He was a boy that went through many hard times in life, growing up without a stable home contributed to the anger issues and the constant failure and trouble that he got himself into. As part of the agreement for keeping Will from being put in jail he was to meet with a guidance counselor named Sean who was Lambeau former college buddy. With the help of Sean the story takes an interesting twist on how Sean a counselor all his life helps Will seek out his problems and Will a teenage boy who nobody thinks has a future helps Sean cope with issues that he faces in his life. The two grow throughout the movie and help one another to get over there challenges and move on with there life's. According to an Article on the Internet it states, "Sean, who seems to be unofficially using the meetings to work through his own life's central travesty, his wife's early death from cancer." So throughout the movie the two men form this bond and this open line of communication. For Will I feel he views Sean as a stable father figure that he never really had growing up as a child.

After reading thourough the book The Art of Watching Film there was a lot of things that I found interesiting that realted to the movie Good Will Hunting. On paget 42 it talks about how a good story is credible and the reasons for why is is credible and one of them is because they tell the story the way things really are. In the film they did not try to cover up who Will was. He was a genious but he struggeled with life and got himself into a lot of trouble because he did not care about who he was, he had no one in his life that pushed him or helped him to succeed so he found no point in trying to better himself. I know a lot of people who droped out of High School because they had no real care but they were the smartes people you ever know. But they did not see a point because they had nobody to help guide them and praise them throughout there journey. So I feel that a lot of people can realate to this movie, because this kind of things happen in life. People go through struggles and hard times and once they get through them the world seems like a better place.

Another interesting piece on the significance of movie titles that I would like to quote from the book is on page 53 it states, "In many cases, the title has one meaning to a viewer before seeing the film and a completely different, richer, and deeper meaning afterward." I believe this statement is so true. Going into the movie I had no idea what the movie was going to be about I thoughy just from the title that it was a about somebody trying to find the will within themselves and they hunt for it. Little did I ever know that the main character in the movie name was Will Hunting. Now after watching the film the title represents to me how Will is trying to better his life and to become good again and to get rid of all his past baggage and start over new. Form a new begging with new hopes and dreams that bring good to him as a person and to his life. I find it so interesting and crazy how film makers put that much thought and time into just the title of the film.

Throughout the film there is also a lot of internal and external conflicts that come about. I not only read this in some Internet articles but also in the book on pages 58 and 59. Will faces internal conflicts with himself not being happy, not seeing a point for living and not feeling that he is good enough to get into a relationship with Skylar because he is afraid to share his past. It took him so long to open up With Sean, about the reason why he was hurting and Skylar he never wanted to take her to his house or meet his family because he was embarrasses of where he lived and he never really had a family. There was also external conflict with Sean and with Professor Lambeau that all helped to shape the theme of the movie. Trying to figure out who you are in this world and no matter what your past may be how happy or how sad it may be there is always a bright future ahead if you can just get over those trials and internal and external conflicts.

In conclusion, I just wanted to end with a quote from the movie that was a huge turning point and eye opener for Will and for me. Wills best friend told him one day something along these lines, "Everyday, I come here and knock on the door and for that 10 seconds I hope that you won't be there, because that means that you would be gone..." And he further goes on to explain how Will has this talent that he was blessed with and that he should go out into the world and use it because he has the opportunity to and he would be pissed at Will if he stayed there just because they were best friends. So his friend was trying to push Will and encourage him to move on with his life because he was smart enough to do so. In the end I loved the movie and I know that I will be watching it many more times.