Carrie

I watched the 1976 version of 'Carrie' directed by Brian DePalma this past weekend. The premise of the story was a bit weird and cheesy for me. Carrie doesn't know what a menstrual cycle is and freaks out when she starts bleeding in the locker room. Carrie is being raised by her mother who is a crazy religious nut. I felt sort of bad for Carrie because people laughed at her behind her back and said mean things but really she didn't know any better.
Her mother was 'protecting' Carrie from sin but she ended up being the laughing joke of her school. She gets asked to the prom by the popular guy in school but only because his girlfriend forces him to. I was happy that she finally stood up to her mother and took control of her life. Carrie was a shy and confused girl. Even though I knew that the pig's blood was going to be dropped on her head, I so wished that it wasn't going to. It seemed like she was finally beginning to fit in. Earlier in the movie, we find out that Carrie has telekinesis and when the pig's blood gets dropped on her, Carrie looses it and basically kills everyone at the Prom. Even the teacher that was just trying to help her, which made me sad. It seemed like a very extreme case of bullying that went too far.
Remember kids. Bullying is bad because you never know if they're gonna retaliate with telekinesis and kill you. Be nice to people.

Mansome

The guy pictured above is a pro wrestler for TNA Impact. He says that he has to constantly shave all the hair on his body because American society thinks hairy men are disgusting. It is literally his whole upper body, including his back, chest, arms and stomach. The whole ordeal was a bit nasty and he even had to have someone help him shave his lower back.

Another man who is a professional 'beardsman' who competes in international competitions, showcasing his long beard. At one point, he says the reason why his beard is a different color than his normal head hair is because his beard hair is his 'man hair.' When they were walking in the streets, someone pulled on his beard and he retaliated with death threats.

Another person they interviewed was Ricky Manchanda who admitted to being bullied as a kid. He decided to take better care of his looks and admitted to being a meterosexual male. Which pretty much means he thinks about his appearance all the time and likes to find treatments and operations to be 'perfect.' This is an extreme example of something that has begun to be seen as normal. Men are supposed to look somewhat presentable. For example, for most women, hairy backs are a turn off and some men go to great extents to wax or shave their hairy backs. 

The whole documentary was a bit funny but also touched on some important issues. I wasn't sure if this movie was making fun of men who do 'manscaping' or if they were saying it was a problem. Either way, it was very entertaining. 

Once

Could you imagine meeting the person that changes your life on the street and that the thing that brought you together was a guitar and a vacuum? That is how the main characters in the movie "Once" meet. I was unsure about the guerrilla style that the film was shot in. The sort of home video, shaky cam thing. But the style added to the effect of it all. It made the events that were happening on-screen feel like it was happening right in front of you. The actors also felt like real people which helped me forgive some of the more technical aspects. I really didn't think it needed those stupid crane shots though.
It was heartbreaking for me to learn that when the guy asked the girl if she loved her husband, she responded 'it is you who I love.' Gahhhh! And then when I found out what the title of the film meant. It's the answer to the question: how many times do you meet the person that will change your life? Once. Gahhhh! And the fact that they didn't end up together! Gahhhh! All the feels. Oh, the music was good too.

Miss Representation

Most of the things that were said in the video were somewhat surprising to me. They ran through a bunch of statistics and showed examples of how the media affects girls into thinking they aren't good enough. A lot of it had to do with self-esteem and body image. The video said how we see more violence and sexual behavior in ads on TV, music videos, and movies.

I'm sure every girl has had those thoughts about the way she looks. The purpose of the documentary was to create awareness about this social issue. In my personal experience, I don't recall being subjected to what the media said about how I should act or look like personally. I'm sure it has affected my social and mental development some, but I don't cry myself to sleep every night wishing I looked like Scarlett Johansson or something.

Our society uses media to convey messages. Some can be good, others bad. As consumers of this media, it is important for us to learn how to read these messages carefully and not accept everything blindly.

Quiz

Pfffirate stood out to me in particular out of all the CGI short films we watched. It was a story about a balloon pirate in a ballon world. The struggle starts when a bird made of some sort of metal appears and tries to pop his ship. The pirate tries to kill the bird with balloon canon balls, which eventually hits the bird, causing it to plummet into the ship. Bad choice were made by the pirate that day.

In class that day we were talking about how people are concerned with making a 'Pixar short' that they worry about that more than the story or the characters. This student film plays to the strength of animation by making things look plastic. They also had the pirate not have any joints which relieved many problems that computer animation can cause. By playing to animation's strengths, they created a unique story and used the plastic element to advance the plot. Instead of throwing a lot of money at the project, they found creative ways to still achieve a good story. And that's pretty cool. One of the readings we did also mentioned the reasoning behind making a short film. It shouldn't be a way for you to get a job, you should make the film that you want to make and the rest will come naturally.

Blood Brother

(Rocky with Crew of 'Blood Brother')

It was interesting to see how an average person like Rocky could make such an impact to the lives of the children he helped. I was taken aback about the entire subject of the film. Documentaries I think are sometimes more powerful than regular fictional film because it is real. There is no hiding from what you see on screen. For the most part, documentaries are shot as the events are happening instead of staging them like in a regular film. This allows the story to be striped away from anything that can get away from raw emotion and gives the audience a sense that events are happening as they see it. 

The team is currently working on their second documentary 'Gennadiy' which follows the story of a man living in Ukraine who helps homeless drug addicted kids get back on their feet again. Sometimes forcefully. It seems to me that these young filmmakers are interested in human interest stories that deal with suffering children and someone who tries and helps them out of their situation. The film is scheduled to hit the film festival market in 2015. The crew had a kickstarter campaign that ended recently to help fund production. 

School of Rock 10 Year Anniversary EW Reunion

It's crazy to think that ten years has gone by since 'School of Rock' first hit theaters. I remember that I was so mesmerized by the film that I made my dad take me to see it twice. It has become one of my favorite childhood films. Can you believe that Miranda Cosgrove is 20?! She is currently attending USC and majoring in acting - go figure. 

Anyway, it was nice to hear what the band members are doing now, their favorite memory of Jack Black, and what they did with their paycheck. Not surprisingly, Miranda Cosgrove is the only one out of the bunch that went on to do bigger things. Most of them felt like acting wasn't their thing and pursued musical careers that haven't gotten them anywhere yet. Some saved their money and put it in a bank for later, while others spent it on new drums, coats or trips to different countries. 

Entertainment Weekly does a special issue every year where they 'get the old band back together' from T.V. shows, to movies. Others that were in this year's issue were 'Mystic Pizza' and 'Do the Right Thing.' I think that if a T.V. show or movie has become so popular that people want to know 'where are they now,' that it's sort of the pinnacle of what they set out to do in the first place: be memorable. 

Chicago

Chicago is a 2002 film that was adopted from a stage musical of the same name. It follows the story of Roxie, who wants to become a famous singer but runs into a bit of trouble with the law. The movie won six Academy awards including Best Picture. Chicago was the first musical since Oliver! to win the Best Picture award. The movie explores the themes of celebrity, scandal and corruption.

Chicago is presented in a unique way. The actors still randomly burst out into song, but the sequences are edited in a seamless way with stagey performances and accounts from what is actually happening. Some of them are quite clever, like "We Both Reached for the Gun" when Billy (Richard Gere) and Roxie (Renee Zellweger) are outside the courthouse answering questions to the press. Billy, who is representing Roxie in the trial, is like a ventriloquist, telling Roxie what she needs to say to win favor of the public. The stagey part of the song is a representation of what is actually happening on the courthouse steps. In the song he is like a puppeteer too, controlling the press with his words.

It's a pretty crafty movie, guys.

A Streetcar Named Desire

Marlon Brando is gorgeous. Now I can start this blog.

This film is based off of a play of the same name written by Tennessee William. Most of the actors in the play reprised their roles for the film adaptation. The movie went on to win acting award in three out of the four major acting categories. It was chosen for the National Film Registry for preservation in 1999. 

A Streetcar Named Desire follows Blanche, who visits her sister Stella in New Orleans. Stella's husband Stanley is sometimes abusive, but with news of a baby, he becomes a little less rough. But not really. Stella runs upstairs to her neighbors when this happens. Blanche prolongs her visit stating her lack of nerves from her husband's suicide. 

The story and its characters are very complex. Especially Blanche, who puts up a fake face to try and win the favor of others. It's interesting to see how her mental health begins to decay. She imagines things, and regresses further into herself. In the end, Stanley calls the doctors to take her away to a mental institution. 

A Streetcar Named Desire has many similarities to Woody Allen's new film, Blue Jasmine which also follows the story of a woman with serious mental problems. Cate Blanchett's character also visits her sister in the city. Her husband also committed suicide and her sister's boyfriend is abusive. The story is told in flashbacks and there are other subplots within it. However, many people have commented stating that Blue is a modern day version of Desire. 

Cate Blanchett is generating Oscar buzz from her performance in Blue Jasmine.

Perhaps she will follow in Vivien Leigh's footsteps as she won for Desire. 

Moon

I have always wanted to watch Moon and I got a chance to last night. The premise of the movie was very interesting. Sometime in the future, we rely on the Moon's energy to power the Earth. To harvest this energy, Lunar Industries sends up one man for a three year contract to make sure everything goes smoothly. Things start to turn for the worst in the last few weeks leading up to his return.

Most times when there is an intelligent computer in a film, it usually develops a mind of its own and tries to go against the main character. In 2001, Hal ends up locking David out of the spaceship because he overhears that he wants to shut him down. In this film however, Gerty (Kevin Spacey) is a nice robot computer who has genuine feelings for Sam and his wellbeing. I enjoyed Gerty's many faces that made him have more human qualities.

Moon reminded me of another film I've watched, Adaptation where the main character has conversations with himself. I always wondered how they're able to pull that off.

(You'd think that having two of Nic Cage would be a bad thing

and in most cases it is. This is not one of those cases.)

Atonement

1. Amends or reparation made for an injury or wrong; expiation.

2.

a. Reconciliation or an instance of reconciliation between God and humans.

b. Atonement Christianity The reconciliation of God and humans brought about by the redemptive life and death of Jesus.

3. Obsolete Reconciliation; concord.

This weekend I watched Atonement with Nicole. Both of us didn't know what to expect, only that it was nominated for seven Academy Awards. The premise was very interesting and the film was excellent on all levels. I was amazed by the technical skill that went into everything. The cinematography, the acting, the score, all of it was spot on. I also enjoyed how the movie seamlessly moved from different time periods. 

I really disliked the younger sister and how she lied to everyone about what actually happened. Why did she do it? Jealousy? Her actions had consequences that ruined everyone's lives. She had to live with the guilt of tearing two people apart. I must say though, they casted really well. The actresses that played the girl as she got older looked like they could be the same person. If you haven't see this film, I don't think you would be disappointed.  

Glass Paintings

Nicole and I went to the gallery on the second day of its exhibit. I liked it because there was no one around, so we got to look at things closely. There was one exhibit in particular that I REALLY liked. I was taken away by the beauty of the series of photos that were on the left wall near the door. The pieces were all named after different strong characteristics of a person. You could really see the detail in the women's faces. All their imperfections made them beautiful. When I looked at these women, some of them strong, some shy; I felt something. Their eyes told stories about their lives and spoke a thousand words that they couldn't. I started to tear up at how wonderful it all was.

Huntington Drive In

Last night I went to the Huntington Drive In with my roommate. Our bowling coach is good friends with the owners and they agreed to show us around. 

John and Nelly have owned the Drive In since 2001. The Huntington Drive In is only one of less than 400 drive ins still operating in America. John showed us how he loads the film, how the projector worked, and let us sit in while he started the first movie. 

I have always thought that drive ins were something special. A different experience that you couldn't find anywhere else. It's sad that many of these American icons are disappearing because some can't afford the conversion to digital projection.  While John was showing us how things were done, I could see how much love he put into it that it was heartbreaking to hear that he might have to sell the place. 

With advancing technology, sometimes it's hard to forget about how far we've come. Or have we? Digital cameras make it so easy to shoot, playback and edit film, but have we lost some of the art form that goes into making it? All you have to do with digital projectors is hit a button and the movie starts playing. John  told me that the film comes in reels of 20 minutes and that he has to splice all of them together himself. Most movies are miles and miles long and it takes lots of time and care to put them together. If John really didn't love what he was doing, he would have quit a long time ago.

Drunken Angel

I didn't know what to expect from the movie going into it. After watching Drunken Angel, I didn't know what to think. I had trouble following the plot a bit and was only concentrating on that aspect. After we had the discussion afterwards, I felt like I wasn't even watching the same movie as everyone else. People seemed to pick up on symbols, metaphors and meanings very quickly and I realized that I missed all those things when I was watching. 

I felt like an awful DMA student. It's hard to process and analyze a film on the first take. I always found that multiple viewings made me think on a deeper level, and I would find things that I missed the first or second time. To me, the first time I watch a movie I just try to understand the story and the characters. The second time I watch something is always easier for me to pick up those things since I don't have to concentrate so hard on story. 

After having the discussion though, I appreciated the film more and want to someday revisit it. I applaud all of you who caught all the meanings the first go around. Excited to watch more! 

Read Between the Lines

I really enjoyed re-watching School of Rock. I think it was my first Jack Black film and I loved it so much that I made my dad take me to the theater twice to watch it. After I saw it the first time, I was really interested about the music that was used in the film and started to listen to it. I love how the movie uses music to transition between scenes.

The film poses many good points. "Rock ain't about gettin an A." "One awesome rock show can change the world!" I love how Dewey tells his young students that it's about the music and not selling out just to make money. I think as creatives, that is a really important lesson for all of us. I hope that we can all be just as passionate about film, animation, etc as Dewey is about his music. 

Even though School of Rock isn't the 'best movie,' it has a lot of charm that most films lack. I could tell that all the people involved in the project really put their hearts into it. Sometimes that's what's missing from films now. 

The Fox

This is probably the stupidest video I have ever seen. It's even worse than Rebecca Black's song "Friday." Were these people on crack when they wrote this? I felt like my brain was turning into jello every passing second I continued to watch. If you haven't had the pleasure of watching The Fox, please do so. It will change your life.

Reservoir Dogs - Tipping Scene

In the beginning scene of Reservoir Dogs, the gang is at a restaurant finishing their meal and it's time to cough up some money for the tip. Mr. Pink, played by Steve Buscemi, who is also in Boardwalk Empire, refuses to pitch in his share. He says that he doesn't believe that he should automatically tip just because society says he should. Mr. Pink says that it isn't fair that waitresses should get tips, but other people that work at McDonald's or other food venues typically don't get a tip. He asks why it is acceptable to tip waitresses and not the others. Mr. Pink says that he will only tip if they actually do a good job and put forth the effort to give good service. 

The others in the group disagree with him and say that waitressing is a hard job. Mr. White says that it is the number one job for women without college degrees because they can live off of the tips. 

I always tended to agree more with Mr. Pink about tipping. Especially if I didn't get good service, I normally only give the waitress my loose change. Today, a group of friends and I went to Applebee's for their half off apps. The waitress took almost fifteen minutes to take our order, another thirty for our food to finally arrive, and fifteen minutes to get our check. The restaurant wasn't crowded at all, and the week before, we came with even more people but our service was much faster. There was a group that came in after us and left before us which I thought was very strange. In this instance, I didn't feel that the waitress really deserved a good tip. Maybe they think that since we are young teenagers, that we aren't going to tip well anyway so what's the use in even trying? 

I have worked at minimum wage jobs where I have served food but have never gotten any sort of tip. I think that waitresses probably do work hard, but that doesn't mean the people at McDonald's or anywhere else don't work as hard. It's not fair to just tip waitresses and not tip everyone else. Unless the waitress deserves the tip. What do you think?

Love Somebody - Maroon 5 Music Video

I was driving around town back home in Hawai'i listening to the radio with a friend. This song came up and she started to describe the music video and how they used paint in it. I thought it was an interesting idea but never got around to actually watching the music video until recently. 

Wow! I felt like my mind was being blown. I loved how only the painted parts of their body were shown and it gave a different perspective on a music video that could have easily been dull and boring. As the song goes on, Adam Levine, the lead singer starts to rub the paint over his body, exposing more of himself. I thought it was such a great symbol for the song itself. The lyrics go, 'I really want to touch somebody...' and how they interpreted that literally was awesome. 

While watching it, I thought that they used a green screen and maybe painted their bodies the same color and then with another color of paint on top of that. And when they started to rub the paint to erase it of themselves, I thought they reversed the footage. So they were actually putting more paint on, but in reverse, it looked like it was coming off. 

I was happy to find that there was a making of video. They actually used blue paint and a white backdrop then made it black and white. Maybe they overexposed the whites so that it looked as if those areas weren't there. It was neat to see and I am glad I finally got a chance to watch it!

Emerald Leong

My name is Emerald Leong and I am a freshman Film Productions major. I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii which is about 5,000 miles away from Huntington. Most students that I meet are surprised and sometimes envious that I live there. One of the reasons why I chose to go away for college is because the mainland has a lot more opportunity then Hawaii. I'd have to say, I'm kinda glad

we don't have cicadas though.
My favorite things to eat is sushi, pasta, watermelon and cereal. I enjoy sleeping at every opportune moment and trying new things. I love driving around, taking walks and drinking tea. My favorite artists are Justin Timberlake, Jack Johnson, Adele, Bruno Mars, Imagine Dragons, Maroon 5,
and Eminem. I'm excited to learn more about digital media and film this semester and can't wait to get to know everyone!