Our Blog: This is my comment on Asher's blogpost that he posted on October 16th 2012 called the Dark Knight recipe. I commented on how much I was interested in this post because of how he took two different movies from separate ideas and related them very well to create his version of Batman. I talked about the great connections he made within his blog post and noted his creativity in which I personally found intriguing because most blogposts aren't as creative and well thought through. I also mentioned the idea of what makes the ideal "hero" in a action movie where there is a vast amount of crime and violence in each scene and how a character can prevail in the end. I, personally, think he did a great job in this post. Link: http://gunsgirlaction.blogspot.com/2012/10/dark-knight-recipe.html?showComment=1352192670695#c3727013440764988354 Other Blog: This is my comment on a movie review website I found fairly interesting. I wrote about how I felt about the blog and how it gave good reviews without exposing too much and still keeping the reader interested. I picked the review of the film The Dark Knight Rises because it was the last action film I had seen in the movie theatre and that the author of the review article practically took the words out of my mouth in how I felt about the film itself. Link: http://www.filmjabber.com/movie-reviews/batman-3.html
From his early work as a stuntman with Bruce Lee to his own starring movies, Jackie Chan has played an important role to the globalization and popularity of action movies. After Bruce Lee died at an early age Jackie Chan would be next in line to bring the culture of martial arts to America. His strong resemblance to Bruce and at times his knack of comedic relief brought a different taste for the audience. Some of his early works are Drunken Master and New Fist of Fury but we all best know him from the dynamic duo of Carter and Lee in Rush Hour. Combining action and comedy has always been the cornerstone of his work and what has grabs the attention of many viewers. This blend of genre has helped the popularity of action movies over the years. With action packed scenes and comedic relief by being clumsy or a little bit uncoordinated, Jackie Chan gave the audience the right balance of both genres. Lately he has stopped doing action and has got in to more dramatic movies but his imprint in the action world is forever seen. A martial artist, stunt director, stunt performer and action choreographer, there is nothing in Jackie Chans' resume that would have kept him from being one of the best action movie stars out there.
The soldier on the hill represents more than we can initially anticipate. The picture on the left is the cover photo for Saving Private Ryan, a war film set to take place during World War 2. To the right - me. It seemed as if, though unintentionally, I recreated a symbol of heroism. There is much to be said about this pose - the conquering of the hill, the horizon providing an emotional setting, and the gear used by the soldier that places the picture in an ironic state. This recreation of Saving Private Ryan's cover photo was not intentional, though I did find it surprising that I was not the only one posing on the hill. As the reader, I want you to look deeply into the background of each picture, and tell yourself what you feel. From there, add the soldier and all his gear. Your feelings and mood will change after analyzing these pictures, for they show the bravery of a soldier defending his ground - and conquering it.
"The Losers" directed by Sylvain White is about a black ops team that was set up to kill a drug lord. Everything was going to plan when children was involved and a mysterious voice was jamming their radar. They went in to save the children and deliver them to the chopper. The mysterious voice in their radar then executed and order to shoot down the chopper, killing 25 innocent children. Knowing they were the ones suppose to be killed, they faked their deaths and went into hiding in Bolivia, carefully planning their way back to the states.
Pros of this movie
Some action scene were good. The shooting and fight scene were well executed and very realistic.
Cons of this movie
I believe that this movie had all the right piece and the right idea to base it off. Although it was not well put together. The story of this movie was not bad, I get it! It is how they told the story that bothers me. Most of it has to do with the script. There are part in the movie were the lines did not flow and was not erecting the right emotion. The story felt choppy the way lines were said. The conversation between Max (the villain) and Wade (the henchman) were just awkward.
There are parts of this movie that was bad. In the beginning scene they had 25 kids in a half size school bus. No seat belts and everyone was on top of each other. They even hit a bump that made them glide 5 feet of the ground. Through out all that no one got hurt? Also two people were shot in this movie. One was shot in the shoulder. A day later he was able to climb and scale walls. The other was shot in both legs and was able to support his weight standing up! I have never been shot but I know he wouldn't be able to stand.
The 2010 film Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan is an
exceptional movie to say the least. This thrilling movie is about a thief who
gets a last chance at redemption by receiving a job of mastering the art of
inception--- being able to go deeper into dreams. In order to see his family
again he has to complete this difficult task for a powerful man named Saito and
for his own freedom. But to his surprise, he has something holding him back in
his dreams--- his dead wife. In the last
five minutes of the film Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Cobb, awakes from the
dream on a plane along with his team of specialists who just conquered their
mission of receiving information through the use of inception on Robert Fischer.
Not only did he get his freedom back but also, he was able to see his family
again. While his children run up to him with glee and climb into his arms, his totem
keeps spinning, which is used to decipher reality from a dream. But what if the
ending wasn’t quite as it seemed…
Cobb awakes
on the plane, with his totem clutched in his left hand and crumbs on his suit
pants from the peanuts he snacked on before the plane departed. He looks around
the plane to realize his team of specialists is slowly awaking from their sleep
of a perfect heist. Arthur, his right hand man in the mission, smiles sharply,
gives him a nod of endorsement and takes another sip of his Gin and tonic that
was a bit watery because he asked for ice hours before. He saves another quick
glance for Cobb when they both find themselves gazing out the slightly dirty
window on the left side of a plane as they hover over Los Angeles. Saito looks
over at Cobb after instructing the airline attendant to fetch him a hot towel,
he looks her up and down as if weary of her actions. He blinks a few times,
checks his pockets to make sure all of his important items were still in their
original places and adjusts his stripped tie around his neck. Cobb eyes Saito’s
phone in his pocket initializing the fact that they held a deal: if Cobb
completed the mission, Saito would grant him his freedom back through a promised
phone call. Saito never touches his phone.
The plane safely lands on the
speedway and everyone in first class stands up rubbing the sleep out of their
eyes, seizes their personal items and promptly walks off as if they did not
know each other from the very beginning. The mission was completed and it was
time for everyone to go about their lives; there is no more association. Cobb
reaches the airport, picks up his luggage and looks around the crowded airport
to see that his specialists were disappearing amongst the frequent flyers and
vacationers. Cobb gets a hold of Saito who was standing by a group of men in matching
gray suits frequently tapping on their phones and shaking hands. Saito turns
around, looks at Cobb’s hand on his shoulder and brushes him away. Cobb asks
sternly about the deal they made earlier, rephrasing how he was supposed to be
a free man once he touched American soil. Saito, embarrassed at this
interruption, excuses himself from the other men with hesitance and apology.
Saito looks at his watch eyeing the time that creeps up on five o’clock. He had
made dinner plans, in advance, with some old colleagues of his tonight at eight
and his car was arriving soon to pick him up and drive him to Malibu. He
quietly says, “How do you know me?”
Cobb looks around the airport, furrowing his eyebrows and
recollecting his thoughts at once. “Did you forget everything Saito? We made a
deal, I helped you and now it’s your turn to help me!”
“How do you know my name?” he looks around the airport with
distress. He eyes the men who seem to keep a close eye on him and nod with
disapproval. He lowers his head, fixes his suit and straightens his posture. “I
don’t know you.”
Cobb laughs with agitation. “Are you senile? We made a
deal!”
“I suggest you turn around and walk away from me! I know a
lot of powerful people who could have you gone in a blink of an eye. This deal you
speak of doesn’t exist, I do not know you!” Saito checks his watch once again
as Cobb taps his foot and tried to conceive everything that happened in the
past ten hours. Why did everything seem so wrong all of the sudden? Cobb’s
heart started to beat faster and faster as panic took over him, attacking his
arms first and then his legs. He fell back into a seat and rubbed his temples. “What
about Robert Fisher and Arthur? What about me?”
Saito then picks up his phone and
dials a number. He looks at Cobb as he puts the phone up to his hear and
listens impatiently at each ring. All he says into the phone was the words
“yes” and “thank you” and within two minutes, the airport police walk up to
Cobb and ask him quietly, to not make a scene, to accompany them in the back.
Cobb looks at Saito and then at the men in grey suits before standing up and
following the officers. Once they walk into the back room, they cuff his arms
behind his back and sat him down next to another man.
Cobb tried to feel for his pockets hoping to find his totem
somewhere hidden beneath his wallet but the cuffs were too tight. Cobb catches
an officer who walks by and informs him that he was innocent and had kids at
home that he was going to see, a son and a daughter.
The police officer laughed and patted his pocket. “Cobb, you
say this every time! We find you here almost every month saying the same old
things about children, totems, bad deals and some guy named Robert Fisher. I’m
surprised that they ever let you out of that Looney bin!”
“What?” Cobb grimaced as if he had a bad taste in his mouth.
“I’m telling the truth. Ask my friend Arthur, he’ll tell you everything. ”
“No you’re a schizophrenic Cobb. You were at the psychiatric
ward for five years after suffering a mental break down when your wife killed
herself. And you keep coming to the airport and bothering strangers and this
time we have consent to file a restraining order against you.”
Cobb looks around the room in shock. He takes a few short
breaths, winces at the white wall and closes his eyes. This must be a dream, he
thought and he wanted to wake up now. He then opens his eyes and waits a few
seconds for everything to come back to him. After his pupils adjusted
themselves to the intense lighting, he realized the man sitting next to him was
indeed Robert Fischer. He opens his mouth to tell the officer that the guys was
sitting next to him but before he could let the words dance upon his tongue,
the man he knew as Robert Fisher transformed into his wife Mal. He utters her
name but she only replies back with a smile. In the softest whisper she informs
him that everything would be fine. Suddenly, she disappears leaving Cobb
completely distraught.
No one will ever forget William Wallace and his speech on
the war front with his fellow Scotts men. Achilles and his love for his
soldiers expressed on that rocky boat is no less extravagant. And how about the
Gladiator, Maximus Decimus Meridius, uniting his troops on the forefront for
Rome? Maybe it was the infamous phrases of the Spartan king that stuck in your
mind.
So what
makes these war speeches spectacular and memorable like no other? There are
many aspects that go unnoticed that create an effect of amazement, heroism, and
excitement. The music, for example, stimulates emotion in the viewer. The soundtrack
of a scene is designed based on the sensation that the director wants
projected. Hope is usually the “drug of choice” when a hero addresses his army.
Sometimes, however, it can be a rush of action and anticipation, as seen in 300.
In this example, the Spartan king is giving his speech while another army is
charging his, waiting in anticipation for a blood brawl.
Also apparent
is the speech itself. Though ironic, the hero speaks to his army, usually
thousands of soldiers. The irony is that in “Hollywood” the speech seems to
have been heard by all the troops. In reality, only the first few lines of
soldiers would have been able to hear their general. What I do not understand
then, is how a story that is based on true events actually had occurred. Nonetheless,
both aspects – music and speech - solidify the protagonist’s heroism and
immortality.
The entertaining franchise of the
Fast and the Furious movies started early in 2001 and continued over the years
proceeding with Fast 2 Furious
(2003), The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo
Drift (2006), Fast and Furious
(2009) and lastly Fast Five (2011). Focusing on the last film, Fast Five, directed by Justin Lin
featured actors Vin Diesel (Saving Private Ryan), Paul Walker (Pleasantville) and
Dwayne Johnson (The Scorpion King).
In this first picture (left), the main
character Dominic is standing in the center of the photo wearing a white shirt
and a cross on his neck. He is the only character amongst the three men who
stand in front of the rest of the group that is wearing white, which is
associated with light, goodness, innocence and purity whereas black is
associated with power, elegance and mystery. Dominic is also positioned in a
stance where he is turned slightly to the right whereas O’Conner and Luke Hobbs
bodies are faced towards the camera.
In the second photo (right), both
characters Dominic and O’Conner are grasping two different types of guns in
their hands and looking off into the distance with an eerie vengeance. The size
of their guns and the way they hold them in their palms expresses the
characters lifestyles; Dominic cradles the gun like most men would who feel the
need to defend themselves from their enemies and O’Conner grasps his gun like a
police officer would with both of his hands on the barrel. The lighting in this
picture is bright, almost a white color, for the average photo and in the background
you can see palm trees, an ocean and hotel buildings, which makes the viewer
think of vacation spots as of Florida. The other noticeable objects on each
character are the cross and the watch. The cross on Dominic’s neck symbolizes his
religious backgrounds and beliefs towards a higher being which helps the
viewers realize he does have morals although he holds a gun. The watch on O’Conner’s
right wrist represents his perception of time and not having enough of it when
living such a hard lifestyle of recklessly driving fast and cool cars.
