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.