Gladiator

Gladiator is a great historical epic movie. It starts out showing the historical part of what really happened in Rome. It shows every part of it how the government of Rome was overtaken by a corrupt Emperor. Showing how slaves have to fight up and fight for their lives to become men. But slaves in this time were just pieces of meat that they didn't mind sacrificing or killing. Also the senators had no say because there was an Emperor that didn't care what people said and all wanted to do was follow his fathers footsteps but Caeser didn't want that he wanted a real man a General Maximus Aurelis to rule the Empire. Also it's a great movie it shows through the actors and filming of how great this movie really is. It shows how the people talked in a different language you just have to understand that's the way they talked back then and people respected it. It's a great historical film and I think anyone who enjoys history should watch this. You'll definetely learn something from it and also the general idea of how Rome and the Empire was ruled and run.

The Real Robin Hood on History Channel

I just finished watching The Real Robin Hood, a History channel documentary. Spanning for about an hour and half, this was an interesting documentary that captured my attention the entire time. As everyone knows, Robin Hood is a legend that we learned as children, about an outlaw who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. This show interviewed many well known scholars and academics to trace the roots of the legend and try to find the truth on this character. Did he exist? Was there more than one 'robin hood'? Was he the actual leader of his gang, the merry men or was it his accomplice 'little john'? It explores these questions, demonstrating the evidence we have on file today, including texts and manuscripts, and shows the academics explanation. Also, this show constantly does interviews with Russel Crowe, the hollywood actor who plays Robin Hood in his television series. He provides insight into the character he portrays, and how they think the real Robin Hood, if he existed, would act like. My favorite part of the documentary is when they interview a military historian who demonstrates how Robin Hood would have used his bow and arrows, and the weaponry of the day. The camera angles are varied at this scene in order to show the full affect of the weapons. It mostly switches back and forth between interviews, scenes from Russel Crowe's TV show, and reenactments of famous battles. If anyone is interested in watching this, you can watch it on youtube. There is 6 parts.

Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dGizX3Ftpo&feature=related

Music Videos

An extremely popular phenomenon is choreographed dance sparked by music videos. Some music videos include dances to accompany the song. Usually hip hop artists are the ones who choose to develop a specific dance for a song. Some popular dances that come from music videos include the wop, wobble, dougie, soulja boy, stanky leg, and john wall. These dances are picked up by the audiences a lot of the time. Whenever the songs are played at parties people will then perform the dances.

The use of music videos to present choreographed dances for audiences is growing in popularity. The dances are usually pretty basic, and the audience can easily learn the steps. Typically, the dance is made just for the chorus and is just repeated each time the chorus is played. I know that I personally have jumped on the bandwagon where these dances are concerned. Anytime you are at a party or event, a large majority of the crowd knows popular dances to the songs that are played.

This is another way a form of media is used to spread an idea/movement. Even more choreographed dances to specific songs are being created now. The phenomenon is fueled by the utilization of music videos which is a unique way to use media forms.

Claymations

Over Thanksgiving break I saw a trailer for an animated movie “The Pirates! Band of Misfits.” This particular animation was claymation. Although we did not talk much about animated movies in class, I think that many of the topics that we have discussed can apply to this particular genre. Creating an animated movie, specifically a claymation, can be even more difficult than creating a live movie. Both kinds of movies have the three steps, preproduction, production, and postproduction, but there is one major difference, live movies have actors and animated movies have characters. In claymation, these characters have to be adjusted each time they are supposed to move because they are made out of clay. This adds another obstacle and more time in the production process. It seems as though, creating a claymation movie would require more time in each step of production. For example, in preproduction not only would the plot be established, but the characters would also have to be designed and prototypes would have to be created. Production takes more time in a claymation, because every time the character is supposed to move, the character must be modified to show the changes in movement. Finally in postproduction, the editing must be seamless to give the illusion that the clay character is actually moving. It seems as though it could take years to create a claymation. I think that it is going to be difficult creating a short film featuring live people, but I could not imagine how daunting it would be to create a claymation.

Trauma: Life in the ER

This show appears on the Discovery Health channel, and is fascinating for anyone interested in healthcare or medicine. The show's premise is following around a team of emergency room physicians at certain hospitals across the nation. We get a first hand account of the various situations that these personnel have to deal with and the stress and tenacity it takes to cure patients in life threatening situations. The cameras get up close to the action, filming right next to the team as they operate. We get views of the injuries, but often times they do not show as much as I would like. The gore factor probably is the reason for only showing a little bit of the wounds. Most of the time, the cameras focus on the physicians who explain the injuries, how they were attained and what the treatment options are. It is a great show for learning about hospital life, and the culture that it harbors. We see by watching that the surgeons are always the ones who are barking demands at the remaining staff, and they hold the greatest authority. The nurses are always the ones carrying out demands, but as we learn from one episode, they are vital for the success of an operation or the proper curing of a patient. The show also becomes inspirational when the patients interview at the end (they don't always choose to) and explain how their recovery process went and how thankful they are to be alive and cured.

Toxic TV for Women

http://missrepresentation.org/reality-tv/reality-tv-the-self-esteem-of-women/

Recently I've been getting into the OWN network. I never really watched Oprah when she had her talk show but I must say I am digging her new shows and she is really inspirational. I really appreciate her realness and her knowledge of the media world from a woman's point of view. While perusing her website I found a trailer for a documentary called Miss Representation made by Jennifer Siebel I wasn't able to watch the entire film but the trailer alone had so much information and shocking statistics that stunned me. This documentary is about how the media portrays women, since in the 21st century the youth especially spend over 10 hrs a day being exposed to Tv, Internet, Magazines, Video games, cellphones, social networking... ect., & how the girls are just soaking up all these images of the perfect models and glamourous ladies on TV feeling that they are not as pretty or just questioning their self esteem in general. & it's crazy because they edit photos to make that woman even more flawless, so really what we see isn't even the real them! The media has such power to manipulate anything how they want and it's a shame that the US is suppose to be one of the most powerful countries in the world when we are in 90th place in the world when it comes to woman's rights and equality. It doesn't surprise me one bit that Oprah would support this movement, she herself has already began to change what we see on TV she is the change we wish to see. I remember the first weeks of class we spoke about how they used naked women for the still shots, I thought it was for Art sake to show the movement of the body & was in awe when Dr. Brickman said, "No it was their way of advertisement." I for one strongly dislike when beautiful women are called fat or ugly when they have more curves or are more unique, we as women should be proud of our bodies it's what makes us so special and unique in our own ways. For having the first woman to run for president in 2010 I feel that we do feel the urgency to change the way America's media depicts women. Woman are more than a beautiful face and body to sell products we were made with more strength, intelligence, and agility than a man. We should quit competing against one another and start to work together maybe then we will make true progress in all aspects of life, as a woman of the 21st century I want to hear what more woman especially more powerful woman have to say.

Rudolph

"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is one of my favorite holiday stories and movies. I watch this movie every year at Christmas. I grew up watching it so maybe thats why I continue to do so. The classic tale of Rudolph trying to fit in. I'm sure most people know the story of how he got made fun of for his nose and then ended up saving Christmas by guiding santa;s sleigh through a winter storm. What would we do with out him? :) Other misfits are in the story as well, including the Elf that wants to be a dentist.

Watching this movie as an adult is a different experience than when I was a child. I find myself wondering what the heck are those things made of? Are they puppets? Are they some kind of stuffed animal? I'm really not sure. I think that they used the stop action technique for making this film. Every time they wanted the characters to look like they were moving they would cut, reposition the objects and shot again. This would take forever. I'm sure that editing this film was no walk in the park. Especially, having to sync the words of the songs with the characters. This process must have taken a long time. I looked up the year this was made on www.imdb.com and it said 1964. Wow, I had no idea this movie was that old. I like the fact that it still runs on TV every Christmas so future generations of kids can watch. My mom and dad watched it when they were young and so did I. I wonder if its fast paced enough or exciting enough to keep kids attention these days. With 3D movies now I'm not sure the simple "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" can compete.

Bones

"Bones" has always been one of my favorite primetime television shows. It has an even mix of drama, suspense, romance, and gore. That being said, this season of "Bones" has been different from the rest. First of all, this season seems to be more gory than previous seasons. Although it makes the show seem more realistic, it also makes the show more disturbing. In seasons past, the dead bodies were usually skeletons, but now they have more flesh, which makes it more relatable to the viewer. Another change this season is the relationship among characters. Booth and Bones, two of the main characters always had sexual tension, but this season they are finally together. Many viewers wanted this particular relationship to develop, but what happens to the show if Booth and Bones decide to break up? Furthermore, six out of seven of the main characters are in serious relationships with one another. This makes the show a little bit boring because the underlying storyline never features any new characters. Bones is also pregnant this season, the writers incorporated the actress’ real pregnancy in the show. The writers did a good job making the pregnancy believable. Although, the seventh season of "Bones" is different, I think that it will be just as successful as the previous seasons.

Breathless Chase Short Film Canon 7D

This post is about a short film I watched on YouTube recently.
It is called: 'Breathless Chase Short Film Canon 7D'
In this Short Film, only 2 minutes and 19 seconds long, we see a guy who has obviously just stolen a brief case running through the streets of a big city (seemingly indicative of NYC), while being chased by a guy that is very similar in age, appearance, etc. This guy obviously represents the rightful owner of the briefcase, even if they both may be criminals?
Anyway,
What I like about this little 2 min. clip is the robust usage of camera angles. This film really revealed to me how much must go into every single chase scene that I have ever watched on TV, or seen in the movies.
A ton of XLA (Extreme Low Angle) was used to track the feet, lower half, of the thief, as he ran through the city streets.
Also used to bring the chase to life were: Over the Shoulder, XCU (Extreme Close Up), CU (Close Up), MS (Medium Shot), LS, HA, LA, etc.
And, to create fast paced movement: A hand held camera was used in parts, and a dolly shot, following shot, tracking shot, and possibly even a traveling shot were also used to stay closely entwined with the two men as they ran (the entire 2 min.).
They also used a ton of quick scene cuts to make the chase seem even more fast paced. Also, they would go back and forth between POV of chaser and chasee.
All of this combined was seamlessly spliced together with an adrenaline kicking bass drum beat and Electronica style rhythmic tune.
I thought it all worked very well together, and being a 2 min. clip, I did not expect the acting, or plotline to possess any more than it did...which was limited at best.

127 Hours

This blog is about the film '127 Hours', written and directed by Danny Boyle, and starring James Franco.
This film is about 127 of the most life altering hours in Aron Ralston's life. [Think 'Cast Away'] Aron Ralston is a young, American mountaineer.
This film is based on a true story. So, when I say "written by Danny Boyle", I mean the screenplay.
Moreover, this film, from what I have read, might as well have been written and directed by Aron Ralston himself, as he played a very active role in the day to day, on the set, directing. He did this, to make sure that his true story was told, and that nothing was being embellished or elaborated upon. These were his conditions, when he gave Boyle permission to make the film.

I may be particularly biased when it comes to discussing this film, as I am an avid climber myself, and enjoy anything having to do with the mountains, rocks, climbing, or outdoor adventure.
However,
The two things about this film that had the greatest impact on me were:
The soundtrack: The music is perfectly blended to the screenplay. From the opening scene, as the screen shots are diving between split images that compare urban city life to the wild outdoors, before we even meet Aron, the song playing in the background is called 'Never Hear Surf Music Again', by a band called 'Free Blood', and the lyrics are making the same argument that the screenplay is making...perfectly blended.
Later, during the absolute most epic moment of reckoning in the entire film (once again, think 'Cast Away' and Tom Hanks fighting the rain as he makes his desperation attempt to sail off the island...) a song called 'The Funeral', by the band 'Band of Horses', is playing in the background. Works beautifully together, and draws all of the desired emotion and intent.
The second most impressive and functioning piece of this film is the performance by James Franco.
His role in this film must have been the absolute most challenging piece to this puzzle. Not only is he, for the most part, the sole character on screen (meaning nothing but monologue 90% of the film), but he also is attempting to reenact a real, historical, epic, recent event, that actually happened to a guy who was there, on the set, every day.
And, to make all things harder, the event he is attempting to reenact, requires him to film himself, with a camcorder, while being filmed (This part of the movie must have been very difficult for the director as well, but they pulled it off beautifully).
Oh, and btw, he has to simulate what it would be like to saw off his own arm with a pocket knife.
The pocket knife sawing also did a great job with incorporating sound effects to further depict the level of pain and agony that Aron Ralston (real guy) must have been in when he was actually doing this. Particularly, as he touches the nerve in his arm, causing an 'Operation game' style burning alarm to sound out loudly.
Finally,
I noticed that this film used a ton of flashbacks, halucination scenes, elapsed time, fast cuts, more fast cuts, and internal thought/monologue...all of which did a great job at keeping the film fast paced, even as the underlying plot depicted a stranded climber, sitting in one exact place, for over 5 days. Pretty impressive. (Damn sure more entertaining than 'Cast Away', with none of the 'fall asleep in the theatre' time intervals)

Great I Am - New Life Worship

I love this video. The video is a combination of certain clips from the movie "The Passion of the Christ," along with the song "Great I Am" by New Life Worship. This video is extremely well made and very inspirational to me personally since I'm a Christian and the video is a combination of a Christian song and video. As far as the video side goes the video is just selections from "The Passion" so there is no difference except that the video contains only certain scenes from this movie. The music has no affiliation with the movie other than the overall Christian theme, which ties in the video and makes it inspirational to me. I hope yal will check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFa4Q6elRgE

Dorky Sweaters

The kind of humor I like is a humor that is a dumb and pointless humor. I like a lot of other types of humor and funny things, but if you want to make me genuinely laugh show me something dumb. A couple days ago one of my friends showed me a video that someone made called "Dorky Sweaters" and it was pretty funny just because of how dumb it is. The video is edited in a type of Grayscale look and the camera is just the computer camera so the angle never changes and is always a medium close up shot of him at his desk. All he does is just talk about his dorky sweaters and a couple other things, which are pretty funny. I wouldn't recommend this video just because most people don't have an appreciation for this type of humor, but if you do or want to give it a try go to youtube and type in "Olan Rogers Dorky Sweaters." Or just copy and paste this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoG1yVAcVmI
Enjoy!

The Audience Network

I just recently switched to DirectTV and as I've been getting acquainted with all the new channels, I've found one that is really different than most others: The Audience Network. I've watched a few different shows on the station and they all vary from documentaries to live performances. It really doesn't seem to have a 'genre', although I have noticed all of it's programs are directed to an audience somewhere between 14-24. I believe it aims at teenagers and young adults. I come to this conclusion because of the mix of live performances and documentaries on topics such as marijuana and the mafia--these are most popular with younger viewers. And as for the documentaries, they seem to be recorded in a different fashion than something you would see on PBS. They almost seem to be recorded and edited by less talented staff, although they succeed in providing informative information and good footage. I think it is the footage that gives it this amateur look. They have shyed away from the typical style of shooting, and I think this style is starting to become more popular; perhaps Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations had something to do with this new style. The rocking of the camera in the majority of his shows demonstrates his lack of caring for the typical procedure of the film-making process. In fact, No Reservations also plays on the Audience network. Overall, this channel seems to have the potential to form a special, devoted audience that is tired of mainstream television and ready for something different.

The One That Got Away

Often times, music videos are like short movies. They tell stories that have three acts, or a beginning, middle, and end. Similar to short films, music videos have a limited amount of time to make its point. Katy Perry’s new single, “The One That Got Away,” is an example of a music video that tells a story. The first act, shows Perry as an old lady, who obviously is unhappy with her life. Even though she has a nice house and a good life, the viewer can discern that something is missing. In the second act, the old Perry, reflects on her life when she was younger, specifically, the life she shared with her boyfriend. Through the flashbacks, the viewer is able to see the relationship and how it progressed over time. After a fight, the boyfriend dies in a car accident, and act two ends. Katy Perry visits the site of the accident in act three. This music video clearly tells a story of a relationship. It would be beneficial to watch similar music videos, or music videos that tell stories, in preparation for our final project. Although it can be hard to capture a complete story in three to five minutes, it is possible to accomplish. Katy Perry’s music video effectively told the story of a lost love.

Twlight

Last night I started to watch the first Twilight to get ready for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, which comes out on Friday! Now I am not one those obsessed girls over Edward and Jacob, and the first time I watched Twilight I had absolutely no idea what it was all about. Immediately I feel in love with Bella's and Edward's love connection they create very early in the film. Last night for the first time (and I've watched it a lot!) I noticed the first line in the film and how awkward it was. Bella states as she's leaving her mom to go live with her dad, "I had never given much though to how I would die, but dying in the place f someone I love seems like a pretty good way to go." I found this line to be awkward but at the same time foreshadows what is going to come. She moves in with her father, who lives in a dark, dreary town called Forks and is very quickly intrigued with this mysterious character named Edward. He has red eyes, pale skin and has insanely quick reactions, which helped save Bella from getting killed by a car. This begins her suspicion, which leads to them in a forest and Bella tells him that she knows he is a vampire. I believe the first movie have been by far my favorite because their connection is deeper than ever and also so much goes on, making you want to keep watching and wanting more. The end of the film is Bella getting attacked by another vampire and Edward and his family protecting her. She wakes up in a hospital telling Edward he can never leave her and he romantically replies he won't and basically can't. Then them attending prom and adding suspension by showing the bad vampire lurking around looking for Bella. I can not wait for the new Twilight!!!

Harry Potter and the Trilogy

Last night I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 the very first time I've seen it since in theaters. I have been waiting for it to come out because I truly love Harry Potter. One time I watched every Harry Potter all in one day but it took just about 24 hours. I really think that the Harry Potter series is the series of our generation for us. Because it came out when we were kids around Elementary school and have been watching it ever since. As the series goes on each movie gets longer and more violent. Which I guess isn't the best thing for the kids that want to watch it now but it really shows how great Harry Potter is. In the movie it also shows how three friends can become best friends. They worked and acted throughout these movies since they have been ten years old and now they are twenty and twenty one years old. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson are going to be known forever as Harry, Ron, and Hermione. These movies also show a great entertainment of the wizarding world. These movies have also influenced kids to actually play out scenes or spells from the movies. I've been watching these movies since I was a little kid and I still love these movies, I could watch these movies all the time. It just really shows how great these movies were made and how long they brought out the series. It also is one of the most money making Cinema income in the world.

Mr. Steven Spielberg

I'm not sure if anyone has blogged about Steven Spielberg yet but he is a MUST mention when talking about film. Not only is he a legend in the film industry and one the most wealthiest film makers in the world but he is just plain genius!

I popped in an old VHS the other day (yes I still own a VCR & video cassettes) of "Hook" I must have watched that thing like 1,000,000 times growing up but for the first time did I care to ask myself, "Man, who directed this?" & of course only Mr. Steven Spielberg steals the show again! Sure this movie doesn't come close to the great masterpieces he's worked on such as E.T., Star Wars, Jurrasic Park, ect. but it's one of my favorite! ^_^

Steven Spielberg just has so much creativity and knowledge of how to quite simply make movies people will love. He is always able to take a common story everyone knows and make into something you'll never forget! All the movies he's ever done show the massive amount of work and thought put into every last detail; The team he must works for or is able to put together are almost flawless. I miss movies like these that showed geniune talent and sophistication! I mean he was able to take 10.5 millions dollars & gross $359.2 million just for the movie ET! His films, in my opinion, are the reason people make movies. I'd hate to have to compete with this man, but there are NO movies like a Spielberg movie. Now personally speaking Spielberg isn't my number one favorite director I don't think I can say that I haven't liked a single movie he's done. 

So while working on my documentary I'll try to harness the Spielberg within myself. :/ yeah, right! 

Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park is a movie that I grew up watching. I remember loving this movie when it came out in 1993. I was 7. I think it was a pretty big movie when it came out because I remember all my friends had it on vhs. I was fascinated by dinosaurs when I was younger. I have to admit they are pretty awesome. Jurassic Park gave viewers a glimpse of what the world might be like if dinosaurs still existed. The story is a pretty classic adventure tale of an archeologist couple digging up dinosaur bones. The twist is when they discover a man is creating an amusement park filled with real dinosaurs. They go to the park to see if its for real. Anyone who has seen this movie knows that the computer programmer guy (Newman from Seinfeld.... hello, Newman) sabotages the security system and the dinosaurs get loose. The humans become the hunted prey of the dinosaurs.

The special effects and makeup in this movie are good, especially for the time. The dinosaurs look believable. One part that always had me on the edge of my seat was when they hear the pounding sound and then the water in the cup starts to shake. Then the massive t rex appears trapping the kids in their jeep and trying to get to them AHH! The music in this movie really has a way of enhancing the suspense. It also enhances the sense of epic adventure.

I didn't even notice until I just watched this recently that Samuel L. Jackson is in this movie! I wonder if this was one of his favorite roles? :) Overall good job Steven Spielberg. This will always be one of my favorites.

Captain America

For this blog post, I will briefly discuss Point of View (POV). Specifically, an interesting POV that would be fun to capture. While I am sure that I would likely decide on a different genre if I were to actually create a film, for the sake of this blog post I will simply reference a film I recently watched, and discuss the shots that jumped out at me the most. The film was Captain America.
I do not recommend this film to anyone because it was extremely predictable and beyond cheese; However, as with any action/superhero film, we get to see a ton of epic POV.
As I was watching this film, the POV that stood out to me the most was what I would describe as: 'everyone else.'
What I mean is, the POV that was used to introduce Captain America in all of his power and glory etc. This POV appeared to remind the viewer that he was far inferior in every way to this newly created superhero and the camera angles used to creat this POV emphasized auora, amazement, admiration, and respect. The most used were:
MLS, MCU, CU, XCU; and, TONS OF LA (low angle) where they would start at Captain America's feet, and slowly move the camera view up his body to his big chest and courageous face. This must have been how all children viewed Captain America, their hero. Also, the low angle was frequently (if not always) to make Captain America seem larger than life, and also to make certain that he was the central, most important focus of the shot. I also noticed that if there was a chance that he would appear shorter than another character in a shot, it (the shot) was being filmed with a high angle, in order to distort that reality.
These types of film tricks are often used in film, and for these obvious reasons.

All-American Muslim

TLC’s new show, All-American Muslim, is a documentary-like television program about Muslim families living in Dearborn, Michigan. The show follows five different families as they live their day to day lives, in the American city with the largest Muslim population. This is an intriguing show, one that gives the viewers a chance to learn more about American Muslims. As this show is a documentary, its focus is on creating characters, establishing the relationships between characters, and the framing natural storyline. Although the show highlights the differences between the typical American and a Muslim American, it also focuses on the similarities. An example of a difference is that many Muslim women wear hijabs, the traditional head covering. Contrastingly, a similarity is that one of the men is the football coach at the local high school. Even though the show is a documentary, the producers make it interesting, by not only following a variety of people, but by including group confessional/discussion scenes. These scenes offer a break from the actual footage, as well as giving further insight to an issue presented in the footage. This also gives that cast members a chance to discuss their personal beliefs with one another. The show is both captivating and educational. I think that this show is a success; it is an interesting documentary, and I plan to watch the subsequent episodes.

Good Neighbor

The other day, I watched the movie Good Neighbor. The movie was terrible, and I don’t suggest that anyone watch it. However, there were several devices that were used throughout the movie that caught my eye. A serial killer has raped and killed many women in a certain area. One of a the main characters, a skeptical female, becomes extremely paranoid about all that is occurring. When she walks back to her apartment by herself, an extreme close up of her face is shown as she hears someone walking behind her. All the audience can see is her face and a blurred figure behind her. Then, the camera looks ahead and focuses back on her face again. The camera looks ahead once again then turns back around, and instead of the woman’s face being there, we have an over the shoulder shot of a strange man in a hood. The camera angles and shots have created a feeling of suspense and fear among the audience. Without those devices, there would not be the sense of fear with the audience. Even though the man just walks around her because he accidentally bumped into her, the camera angles had instilled a sense of uncertainty in the audience. These same camera methods are used throughout the entire movie to create a feeling of uneasiness and suspense. The audience is never certain what is about to be seen or shown which allows the movie to be suspenseful. Overall, though, the movie is not good. There are neat camera angles, but the storyline is unfortunately bad.

ROLL TIDE

Last night I watched the Roll Tide / War Eagle documentary.  I drove to my boyfriends house to watch it, and I was a few minutes late.  I must have gotten three text messages asking where I was and informing me that I was missing the "best documentary ever".  I have to admit, it was definitely a great documentary, in my opinion.  I enjoyed hearing all the details and facts about the rivalry, it really has gotten me even more excited for when we play Auburn in a few weeks.  There was talk about the championships, Ingram's heisman, Scam Newton's heisman (and all of his controversies), and of course, the poisoning of the Toomer trees.  The documentary touched upon each event that has altered the rivalry.  The part that gave me chills was when they mentioned the tornado.  As everyone knows, and has experienced, the tornado is a huge topic that is sensitive and hits close to each and every person in the Tuscaloosa community.  The documentary talked about how for a moment the rivalry was the last thing that mattered.  Auburn students and fans and various members from the community came down to Tuscaloosa almost immediately.  There were interviews where Auburn fans were saying how they just hoped the best for Tuscaloosa and were sorry for the tragedy.  For a moment, there was not Bama vs. Auburn, just Alabamians.  Then the documentary cut to a recording of an Alabama fan and an Auburn fan bickering and yelling at each other... the rivalry had not gone anywhere.  What I took from this documentary is that although there has been trivial things as well as important things that have altered the Alabama/Auburn rivalry, great rivalries are what add even more intensity and excitement to sports, and while there is humanity even in that rivalry, it is never going to change.

Blow: True Story of the Man Who Started The Cocaine Epidemic

I recently watched the movie Blow, and even though I've seen it many times before I wanted to share it with those who may have not. This movie is based on a true story about a man named George Jung, aka Boston George. He successfully partnered with the medellin Cartel and Pablo Escobar to smuggle in 85-90% of the United States's supply of cocaine during the 70's and early 80's. This is one of my favorite movies not only because of the good performances by Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz, who are two of the main characters, but also because of the style in which the movie was produced. Ted Demme, who is now deceased, filmed this movie in 2002 and employed a number of directing techniques I admire. For example, there is one scene where he attempts to convey a period of a few months where the main characters were on a high roll, everything was going well for them, there was many parties, acquaintances, and money made, and to do this he shows a series of about 50 shots that go by so quick that you almost can't tell what they are, but the number of them and the length allows you to see the general picture. He employs a lot of mid range shots that include 2 actors fairly close to each other, either speaking or fighting. Also, he used actors that looked very similar to the real characters in which they were based on. This is a big plus in my book considering the story is based on truth, and I want it to be as authentic as possible. He does a good job at showing a timelapse of about 30 years, starting with the 60's, through the 70's and into the 80's, and he does this with transitions with subtext and by changing the attire of the actors as they change with the times. This is a great movie, although graphic, and I suggest everyone watch it if they are interested in the story of the man who is responsible for Cocaine being such a popular drug in this country.

In honor of Halloween, I invested a whole bunch of time in horror flicks. That would include renting several horror films (Halloween, Friday the 13th, etc). Also downloaded a documentary done by a guy named Zack. Zack has his own show on the Discovery Channel called "Ghost Adventures." Apart from Zack being a straight-up tattooed tool bag, the show seems relatively adventurous; maybe even legitimate. The documentary was done before Zach got his personal trainer and discovered hair gel, and took place in Arizona. He brought along two friends who acted as camera men to an old abandoned hotel which was said to host the 7th portal to hell. In the documentary, there is a scene where a brick is thrown across the room, some boards move, and other things shift. This is the kind of stuff that is scary to me. There is heavy breathing and a lot of Blair Witch point of views going on, with night vision being the guys' best friend. This is super scary and I was afraid to go to sleep. It is the stuff that seems real that makes it the scariest. Paranormal Activity was considered one of the scariest movies to come out in a while. Blair Witch was also a good one. After watching Hocus Pocus to calm my nerves (with Bette Midler and S.J. Parker), I did feel better- but now I am on a horror flick kick. I would love to redo Hocus Pocus as an actual scary movie...

Florence and the Machine "What the Water Gave Me"

One of my favorite groups is Florence and the Machine. On there new album the song "What the Water Gave Me" in a hit. I love the song! The video incorporates their signature sound that I love. It has a 70's/hipster/bohemian vibe to it. They also use some really cool camera affects including a mirrored effect and something that looks like a double exposure. These effects are repeated throughout the video. I noticed there are a lot of extreme close up shots in this video. There is also over the shoulder shots and an rewinding effect. It just looks like the film goes backwards for a minute which I really liked. Over all the video has some great effects that I think enhance the song even more! I have tried to put a link to the video but you might just have to copy and paste this to your browser.

http://youtu.be/am6rArVPip8

Remeber the Titans

This is by far one of my favorite football movies, and ABC family have a double shoot of it on tuesday! This "Based on a true story" in the 1970, in Alexandria Va. This film is very inspiring and a great one to watch with a family. The music is awesome and really fits the time line. The Flim images really capture not only football but how people struggled with Race back then.

3 high schools were forced to intergrate (2 white and 1 balck), their students and staff and become one high school. As a result in that, the head coach of one of the white school (Coach Yoast) was asked to step down, in his place of head coach, a black man (Coach Boone) would take his place. As you can imagine, the white society about had heart attack and hated what was going on. Even the white football players did not want to play. Coach Boone offer Coach Yoast a coaching job, and after a few days he takes the job. The coach take the boys to a 2 week camp and works them to death. He pushes them hard then they have ever been pushed before, and shows them that they may not have the ame color skin, but they are the same.This Team would be set apart from the others, because they are the only intergrated team in their region. With this, they could either be held back or over come it and become a strong team. At first, noone was getting, but Coach Boone gave them no other choice but to be friends. He set the rooms up, 1 black and 1 white. Although race is th big issue, there is one gay guy in the mix , sunshine, who moves to Va from Cal. He is the quarterback for this team, but people still give him the respect he deserves! When camp is over, the boys return to their families and home towns to see that the riots against blacks and whites is still going on. Even some of the familys are not liking how close the boys have gotten. But the relationships they made during camp amongst th boys stay strong. Football season starts, and they started winning everygame. Although after a winnig a big game, everyone is celebrating and having a good time. Gary, one of the starting players was very badly injured in a car accidnet, and would never be able to play a game again much less walk. While in the hospital, he only wants to see one person. And that is one of his black team mates who had become like a brpther to him. Eventhough Gary was would never be able to walk again, he still watched every game and pulled for his team. The Titans won Champion ship that year. The Movie ends with the football team reuniting at Garys Funeral 10 years later.

This Movie has always been one of my favorites, i remember watching it in theathers with my parents and thinking how crazy it must have been to live back then. If you havent sen this movie i really suggest you do!

Scary Movie Marathon

Since the day I was born I had sworn off horror films! Since starting this class I am able to look at them from a different point of view, the writers and the directors. Ok, so this halloween I was determined to watch a few/ forced to watch one in particular; which were: I Spit on your Grave (1978) Halloween (1978) Wrong Turn (2003). I'll start with "I Spit on your Grave," I wasn't too sure what to expect from this movie from just the title so after the 101 excruciating mins all I can say about this film is ... AAAHHHHH!!! It's said to have the most graphic rape scenes known to the horror film genre, being new to this genre I could see why! She's raped numerous times & still seduces them while seeking revenge. This was a horror film that put the viewer in her shoes & made you feel horrible for even watching them rape her & not being able to tell on those pervert, heartless, moral-less, creeps!!! & then showing you her rage in how she killed them it was scary but not like in "Wrong Turn" where these guys are imbreed sick "humans" just killing people to feed themselfs. The villans in this movie were (to me anyway) more "costumey" more fiction-based. Yes, these guys were in a terrifying situation but again in my opinion your chances of being eaten in the woods by crazy people are 1/100,000,000,000... (if that's a #). & last but not least after being teased with clips of it in class I finally watched the entire 1st original "Halloween" which by surprise did not give me nightmares :) It was pretty entertaining, I liked the storyline. It did seem a little slow compared to "Wrong Turn" but would recommend it for sure! Can't wait to see the rest of the series!