Animation

I had to think long and hard about something I’d like to have learned in this class. The only thing that I could think of that we didn’t really touch upon was the whole cartoon/animation aspect. Almost every time we spoke about Warner Bros. in class I automatically thought of Bugs Bunny. When we got to the television era I was definitely waiting on a cameo from him or maybe even Mickey Mouse…”Hey, Whats up Woll?”

I don’t know anything about the progression of animation besides the simple fact that everything used to be drawn out and now everything is done on a computer. Even claymation…how does that work? Do people really devote their time to sculpting all these settings and characters and move them bit by bit for each frame?

Bunny Shorts

My brother and I happened to stumble upon these today. I thought these really short film recaps with cartoon bunnies were funny enough to share. 🙂

Summer Blockbusters!

With the coming of the Filmschool Generation, the trend of summer blockbusters was born! Since summer is right around the corner I thought it’d be cool to share some I’m looking forward to.

1. The Avengers
Although part of me wishes Edward Norton was playing Bruce Banner, I guess Robert Downey Jr. compensates for it.

2. The Dark Knight Rises
I actually don’t like Christian Bale as Batman but I’m curious to see how Anne Hathaway pulls off Catwoman.

3. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

4. The Amazing-Spiderman

5. Brave
I plan on taking my daughter to see this. Even though I’d probably see it without her, I love Disney.

TrueBlood

As the end of the semester is rapidly approaching everyone is getting ready for the awesomeness of summer! Although I am looking forward to barbecues, beach and wonderful heat waves, summertime also means one other thing to me….TRUEBLOOD! Yes, I’m into that whole vampire craze but I liked them pre-Twilight. I can remember loving vampires since I watched “The Lost Boys” when I was like six. From remake upon remake of Draculas to Van Helsing, I pretty much will watch them all. Besides, throughout the many seasons, Alan Ball throws so many different types of supernatural beings in the mix that nobody feels left out. I’m actually really curious as to what he has left up his sleeve for the next season. It also doesn’t hurt that the cast is easy on the eyes 😉
But, back to the point. I was watching reruns to get my TrueBlood fix and found myself wondering about something. We have been learning so much about film and how basically everything on the big screen is just an adaptation of a book. This applies to TrueBlood as well. The show is based off of Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels, which I have partially read and like as well. The great thing about both of them is they although the show is an adaptation of the books, it doesn’t ruin them like many movies do. Ball is great at having similarities between them and adding certain twists here and there to make them different. What I really love is how he captures the characters so well.
I also wanted to point out that every episode title is the song they play during the credits. Who knew there would be so many songs to describe supernatural madness.

The Baby in the Bunch

Last week in class we had a small segment of how films we’re learning about now could bond us to different moments with our parents. I kind of felt left out because my parents are too young to have grown up watching Code era films, even films like “Bonnie and Clyde.” My feeling of being out of the loop finally ended when I realized we were going to see clips of “Jaws” and “The Godfather.” I thought to myself, “FINALLY! Movies that I’ve heard of and would actually watch prior to this class. (No offense to Old Hollywood.) Although I haven’t actually seen all of Jaws, I remember my dad telling me how terrified he was of that shark. He was like seven when Jaws came out, I could only imagine how that tune signaling the approach of the shark scared the living daylights out of him.
“The Godfather,” on the other hand I have watched with my mom since I can remember. She happens to be Italian and is obsessed with mafia movies. (So much that she named her car Luca Brazzi.) I’d have to say my love for mafia movies is up there with her, “Goodfellas” being my favorite movie of all. I thought it was funny that we discussed hearing parents talk about growing up watching these films and both clips related to my parents.

Bonnie & Clyde

In our previous lecture we viewed the film “Bonnie and Clyde.” This film is one of the first to mark the turning point in Hollywood after the Code was done away with. Immediately at the beginning of the film, the viewer sees major differences from movies made before. Bonnie, played by Faye Dunaway, is what appears to be completely nude. Although you never actually see her breasts or anything, the fact that she is roaming around topless had to be shocking for audiences in that time period. Besides the nude scene, there are a number of sex scenes that did not occur during the Code era. The viewer doesn’t actually see Bonnie and Clyde have sex. The film even goes as far as showing Bonnie attempting to give Clyde oral sex, which even surprised me watching it over 40 years later. I thought it was ballsy to address all these different taboos and throw impotency in the mix as well.
Besides all the sexual things occurring in the film, the fact that Bonnie and Clyde were kind of glamorized was definitely another difference. Even though what they were doing was wrong, they still had a heart for the common folk and they reciprocated their feelings. The film makes it seem like the banks are the evil ones, not the robbers. Also, the up in your face violence was a major difference. I didn’t expect someone to get shot right in the face at all. 

21 JumpStreet

This weekend I decided to go see 21 Jumpstreet, for the second time. Yes, I thought it was that funny that I decided to see it again. The first time I saw it I only went because my boyfriend asked me to go. I was a little skeptical about Channing Tatum starring in a comedy. I do love Jonah Hill but there’s also that superstitious belief that when the fat funny guy loses weight, he also loses his funniness. Also, the only knowledge I had of 21 Jumpstreet before this was that it was a show in the late 80’s, early 90s that featured Johnny Depp and Richard Grieco. My Grieco knowledge thanks to “A Night at the Roxbury.” But back to the movie. I was completely wrong about Tatum. He was pretty funny, along with Hill. I have to also say that having Ice Cube as their captain caught me completely off guard because I had no idea he was in the movie. He was great too. I loved how they had cameos from the original Jumpstreet cast throughout the film. After seeing the film I watched an episode of the show out of curiosity. It wasn’t a comedy at all and had some bad acting but hey, I still really liked the film.

The link below was just a funny video I found addressing the fact that Grieco doesn’t make a cameo in the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shjORlm_LT4

Turtles Revival

Turtles Revival

Out of all the things I loved in my childhood, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is pretty high on the list. Although I’m sure most people are at least somewhat familiar with them, the basic premise is that they are four teenage turtles that are the same size as humans due to the fact that they mutated after encountering radioactive ooze. They happened to be accompanied by a rat (Master Splinter) when they began mutating who happens to be a trained ninja. He then becomes their paternal figure and teaches them the ninja ways. The Turtles are like accidental superheros with teenage humor. I’ve watched the cartoon, played the video game to no end on my Supernintendo and I love the movies from the early 90’s, especially the second one, “The Secret of the Ooze.”
So with that being said, I was pretty excited when I heard there was yet another Ninja Turtles movie in the works. Then I read up on it a little… Its supposed to be directed by Michael Bay, which is fine. BUT, apparently he wants to make the Turtles aliens, not mutants that grew because of a radioactive ooze. Talk about totally switching up classic-ness of a movie. I don’t see how this could be a good idea at all. What about Splinter? Is he just an anomaly from this “Ninja Turtle” planet? Besides this major change I’m also hoping that they still give the Turtles some teen spirit. Hopefully they won’t be turned into suck big action heroes that they won’t have time to want some pizza. Even though I do not agree with the alien origin, I still plan to check this out when its released. I’m curious as to how Bay is going to do the turtles justice. 

Kony 2012

Today I woke up to Kony 2012 flooding my Facebook and Twitter. I had no idea what was going on so I took a look at this Youtube video created by “Invisible Children,” a non-profit organization that uses the power of media to shed light on a bad situation in Uganda. This video is basically telling the story of how Joseph Kony abducts children to make them a part of his army.
I’m not the biggest on politics but I did watch this video. So many people were spreading the word and calling it “inspirational,” I just had to see what the fuss was about. Well, I watched it and although it did stir up emotion in me, I was just waiting for concrete facts to be thrown at me. It never happened. Instead, great music was playing in the background while a heartfelt storyline was pumped throughout the whole video. Even if this video did shed light on actual events and issues, it still did not win me over purely because of the lack of facts.
As I viewed my social network accounts throughout the day, more and more of my friends were geared up to donate and become part of the cause. All of this really made me think about how huge Youtube and even the internet really are. I even did some research outside of the video to see what I could find. Each time I read something I felt skeptical because you never really know if what you are reading is true. As of now this video has received over 11 million views and its only been posted for two days! Who would of known that all it takes is a successful Youtube video for a step in the “world peace” direction?

P.S.,
I know many of you are history majors/buffs. What are your takes on this whole Kony situation?

Project X

So last weekend I decided to follow the crowd and went to see Project X. Its basically a documentary style movie about three high school seniors who decide they are going to throw a HUGE party for one of their birthdays. They broadcast the party all throughout school, all over the web, EVERYWHERE! so that they can have such a successful party that they will essentially be “cool.” Ultimately the party becomes out of control and mayhem ensues.
Just watching the beginning of the movie made me think of Superbad(2007), which is one of my favorite movies. (Yes I like ridiculous profanity and dirty jokes.) That kind of annoyed me a bit. Costa, one of the main characters, just seemed like the outcome if Seth Green and Jonah Hill had a love child. Aside from that and a bit of predictability, I did like the movie’s OMGWOW*(&*&%$*!!!! factor. I basically had my mouth open in shock and awe for most of the movie due to all the ridiculousness that occurs at the party they throw. All in all I’m partial to the film. I’m glad I saw it but I’m not sure if I’d go buy it when it comes out on dvd.