In my opinion,
Memento was a good movie. I usually
enjoy mysteries, so I really enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on and
what would happen next. The backward, flashback-like format was very confusing,
but this just made it more fun to try and predict things. It was so engaging
that it bothered me to have to wait a day until I could figure out what was going to
happen. I love stories, whether books or movies, that make you think, and understanding Memento took a lot of brainpower. The
idea of the film was also great. Having a guy that can’t remember events from
just minutes ago was really cool and allowed for all sorts of interesting
scenes. There were hilarious scenes like when the hotel manager tells the
protagonist, Leonard, that he is charging him for two rooms because he won’t
remember anyways, and intense scenes like when Natalie screams insults at
Leonard but he can’t find anything to write it down with so he forgets and
kills Dodd for her.
WARNING - THIS CLIP CONTAINS A LOT OF BAD LANGUAGE
The movie’s story may be disturbing, confusing, and violent
but it certainly isn’t boring. Another great aspect was the twist ending of
Leonard actually having lied to himself to go after Teddy, and the explanation that he had killed
his own wife. I was not at all expecting that so it made me rethink the whole movie.
I love endings that mess up everything you thought before. It was very exciting
and afterwards I wanted to go through the whole movie again to pick out all of
the clues leading to the truth. Overall I thought Memento was a wonderful
mystery movie with a great plot and unexpected finale.
I dislike this song and its music video
immensely. The song is bad enough on its own. I personally can’t stand rap
because it sounds like someone mumbling inappropriate nonsense to a repetitive
beat. To me, this is exactly what 50 Cent is doing. I can barely understand
what he is saying and the few words I do catch I wish I hadn’t. He also repeats
the same two lines over and over again which quickly gets irritating. The song
isn’t catchy either. I don’t like a lot of other songs like “Call Me Maybe” and
“Teenage Dreams” but they still get stuck in my head. “In Da Club” doesn’t even
manage that. The morals expressed in the song and video are also horrible. 50
Cent states, “I’m in to having sex, I’m not in to making love”. That’s a
terrible and heartless thing to say, and is not an honourable moral to live by.
The video is also 80% provocatively dancing women with very little clothing on.
That is giving girls a bad image and not something I particularly want to
watch. I don’t think 50 Cent should be promoting morals like this. Lastly, I
find the music video ridiculous. It is based around 50 Cent being a specially
designed ‘artist’ created by a team of scientists. This idea could have been
interesting (even though I don’t know what the scientists were thinking) if the
video had consisted of more than him working out and partying with half-naked
girls. There are maybe four shots actually involving the scientists. The
partying and working out doesn’t even make sense because if he is supposed to be a
manufactured singer, then why does he need to be incredibly muscular or good at
sitting down drinking alcohol? I suspect this is because he wanted lots of
shots of himself without a shirt on and an image of being a ‘fun’ guy. The
irritating music, disgusting morals and annoying video all combine to make me loathe
this song.
I loved Tim
Burton’s film Edward Scissorhands.
Burton’s style of darkness mixed with fantasy and humour is always odd yet entertaining,
and Edward Scissorhands is no
exception. Edward is kind of scary with his scissor-hands, all leather outfit
and abnormally pale face, but he is also funny and lovable. The settings also
follow Burton’s
style. Edward’s castle is creepy and shadowy, but is also fantastical and funny
with giant machines that make heart-shaped cookies. This mix of darkness and absurdity is very weird, but
definitely enjoyable. Burton’s
personal style makes the film more interesting. The plot is probably the best
part of the movie. Placing an anti-social teenage guy with massive scissors as
hands into an overwhelmingly suburban area is a hilarious twist. A leather-clad
guy interacting with gossipping, pastel-coloured women is ridiculous in a good
way. The story isn’t just funny though. It is also adorably romantic when
Edward falls in love with Kim and heart-wrenching when everyone turns against
poor Edward. The film is filled with unexpected twists like when Edward
accidentally cuts Kim’s little brother or when Kim’s ex-boyfriend confronts
Edward with a gun. In my opinion this film combines comedy, romance, horror and
action to make an incredibly fascinating story. Edward is also a large part of
why I like this movie. He’s so adorable with his innocent lack of social
skills, and is hilarious when put in new situations. All he wants to do is make
friends and help people, and that is cute to watch. Particularly great scenes
with Edward are when he is incredibly focused on picking up and eating one pea
during dinner, when he freaks out on the water bed, and whenever he smiles.
Edward makes this movie even better because he is such an
innocent and lovable character. Overall, I love Edward Scissorhands because of
its ‘Burtonesque’ style of creepy fantasy, its captivating plot, and adorable protagonist.
I really disliked this comic book. First, the main
character is extremely irritating. He thinks he needs to do something horrible
in order to prove that being good feels better. He decides to kill Batman and
then compare that feeling to being nice. This is ridiculous. No ‘innocent guy’
would ever consider cold-blooded murder. Killing Batman would mean increased crime in Gotham because innocent people will have no protection. He talks about murder like there is nothing wrong with it. He just wants to try it out and can go back to being good afterwards. That isn't how it works though. I think that if you have killed someone you are stuck being evil, particularly isfthe victim is innocent. This guy is wrong and evil but won't accept that, and that irritates me. Even if the character did have a point about trying out good and bad (which he doesn't) he should do something smaller
that does not involve the murder of a celebrated hero and innocent
people killed by unrestricted super villains. With a crime
like stealing or kidnapping someone (then releasing them after) he would still
get the feeling of badness. His stupidity irritates me. Another reason I don’t
enjoy this comic book is the art style. I may be biased due to my familiarity
with beautiful, elegant manga drawings, but everyone in this comic appears old,
ugly, and exaggerated. The main character looks really creepy, which does not
at all fit with his title of ‘an innocent guy’. Everyone also has exaggerated
facial expressions that make them look both ridiculous and terrifying. Even
Batman, who should be a strong, admirable hero, looks disgusting and wrinkly.
The ugly art style is too distracting to even allow me to focus on the plot.
Batman's chin is weird and he looks about 60 years old.
Finally, the panels are way too crowded. It is too
difficult to focus on what is going on. This can be seen in the panels below:
The two bottom shots are absolutely chaotic. One includes Batman,
multiple computers, a dinosaur, a giant coin, the Bat-mobile, and a bunch of
bats, all stuck inside a cave. The picture ends up looking like a large black
mass instead of something cool. If this was in colour it would be even more
distracting and crowded. I find that this confusing layout takes away from the
story because I’m overwhelmed by so much happening in such a small area. To
summarize, I can’t stand to read “An Innocent Guy” due to the idiotic
protagonist, ugly art style and crowded format.
I enjoyed the short film Frankenweenie
a lot. Much like Edward Scissorhands,
the amazing dark yet whimsical settings were courtesy of director Tim Burton. Great
sets include the foggy pet graveyard and the attic with the crazy contraption
(including live fish and lightning) used to resurrect Sparky. The sets are dark
and weird but also very captivating.
2012 version of the attic contraption - very similar to the original
Next, I liked the main theme expressed in the movie. The
film focused on the idea that being different or ‘weird’ is a good
thing. Sparky tries to fit in after having been brought back to life, and his
owner, Victor, even has trouble fitting it. Both characters are actually really
nice but are distrusted because of their strangeness. I like this theme because
I completely agree that being weird isn’t a bad thing. I’m a bit different and
most of my friends are, so I see nothing wrong with it. I like that Tim Burton
conveys that through his film. Finally, I loved the ending of Frankenweenie. It ended happily with
everyone working together to revive Sparky, and he even got a girlfriend. I
can’t stand endings that don’t tie everything up, so I’m thrilled that the end
was so neatly wrapped up. It’s also hard to hate a happy ending, and
the reunion between Victor and Sparky was absolutely heart-warming. Frankenweenie’s
excellence is due to its ‘Burtonesque’ settings, great theme, and happy and
conclusive ending.
After watching Citizen Kane,
I have to disagree with the people that deem it the best movie of all time. In
my opinion, Citizen Kane is a GOOD movie, but definitely not the best.
The main reason I would only classify it as decent is because of my personal preference
in movies. I’d rather watch something along the lines of Lord of the Rings or
Harry Potter.
I enjoy fantasy films with action, romance, and humour in
them instead of a drawn out mystery involving politics and a sad life story. Basically,
I find Citizen Kane boring. The main
conflict (attempting to find out about Kane’s life) is just not as exciting as
a giant war between men, elves, wizards, hobbits, dwarves, and orcs, or the
adventures of a young wizard forced to save the world from evil. This is
entirely based on my preference of genres. Looking at the technical or
film-making perspective, I can see why Citizen Kane may be seen as such an
amazing movie. One impressive aspect is the acting. Excellent acting is demonstrated by
all cast members, but can be particularly seen by Kane (Orson Welles) and Susan
Alexander (Dorothy Comingore). One of Welles' best scenes was when Susan leaves
Kane and he goes completely insane in anger and misery. He walks around her
room upturning tables, ripping pictures from the walls and smashing a wide
variety of items. Orson Welles manages to make this look very emotional and
easily conveys to the audience how distraught Kane is by the loss of his second
wife. Worse actors may just look funny running around a room destroying things.
Dorothy Comingore is also an exemplary actor. She does a
very convincing impression of a depressed drunk person during both of Susan's
interviews with the reporter Thompson. She was also quite good when she freaks
out at Kane for allowing a bad review of her debut opera performance to be in
his newspaper, "The Inquirer". She seems genuinely angry even in
Susan’s annoying squeaky voice. This acting is particularly amazing when
compared to the awfulness seen in the Twilight
series. Kristen Stewart can’t act unless you count biting your lip, grabbing
your hair and breathing heavily as great acting. She only has one expression
which is a kind of zombie-like blank look.
Twilight is
absolutely awful and it is partially (but not entirely) due to extremely poor
acting. Citizen Kane did a fantastic
job in comparison. Another positive part of this movie was the creative filming techniques and special effects. For an old
film without a lot of technology, they managed many interesting and impressive
shots. A few specific examples include putting the camera through a sign before
and after Susan Alexander’s interviews, and through a table when Kane’s parents
are discussing sending him away with Thatcher. A great shot was when a nurse
enters Kane’s room to find him dead and she’s shown in the broken remains of
his snow globe.
Some awesome special effects were also seen at the beginning
when Xanadu was shown surrounded by fog on a hill. The giant palace actually
looked realistic, which is a great accomplishment for such an old movie.
These effects were way better than the ones in the 1981 movie
Clash of the Titans. Although it may
have come out 40 years after Citizen Kane,
the mythical creatures are nowhere near as realistic as anything in Orson
Welles' film. Sure, creating a static castle on a hill is a lot easier than
animating moving monsters, but it is more enjoyable look at a nicely created
palace than a giant slithering piece of play-dough (see video below). Citizen
Kane did a marvellous job using special effects that were not noticeably (or distractingly)
fake, particularly when considering its age.
Overall, I don’t believe Citizen Kane is the best movie
ever. I personally was not overly interested in the topic, making it a bit
boring. Despite this, the excellent acting and creative film-making made up for the slightly dull plot. All things considered, Citizen Kane was a decent and fairly enjoyable film even with my personal preference in movies.
*WARNING: This choice does not mean that I actually enjoy the artists (meaning Carly Rae Jepsen), song, or video!
I will be analyzing the music video for the song “Good Time”. It is by the wonderful OwlCity (AKA Adam Young) and features Carly Rae Jepsen.
To start, the reality constructed in this video is one where it’s always a good time. The people in the video are constantly having fun and laughing together and absolutely nothing goes wrong (unless you count a girl burning her marshmallow). The faultlessness of their reality is also demonstrated by them singing, “It’s always a good time,” literally twenty two times throughout the entire song. I think they present reality this way because it appeals to their targeted audience (teenagers) and everyone else for that matter. Who doesn’t want to live in a world where everything goes perfectly and you always have fun?
Another aspect of their made-up reality is that everyone is attractive and dressed up in fashionable clothing. They constructed it this way because no one really wants to watch a bunch of ugly people. It’s horrible and shallow, but most people want to see actors and actresses that are thin, dressed perfectly, and are basically plastered in make-up because it’s just not as fun to watch normal people.
The world that is portrayed in this video is definitely not realistic. Bad things do happen, whether they are small like embarrassing yourself, or large like having a friend getting hurt. It’s not “always a good time”. This reality is also meant to be true. The people in it are relatively normal aside from their beauty, and nothing particularly crazy or unusual happens. The video seems to attempt to be realistic, even though it is not.
Some codes and conventions of pop song music videos include having a crazy party, casual/bright clothing, going on a trip somewhere, lots of sun, and outgoing people. The song is usually upbeat and cheerful. All of these aspects combine to create an overall ‘fun’ and laid-back atmosphere. This “Good Time” Video includes all of these. Half the video is the group doing various enjoyable activities like driving together on roads with scenic views, swimming in a lake, or hiking; while the other half is shots of a giant, loud party. Combined with the bold, brightly-coloured trendy clothing everyone is wearing and all of the smiling and laughing, this video constructs a 100% fun and care-free environment. It seems to have encompassed nearly all of the pop video stereotypes.
A creed/value statement expressed in this music video is that it’s important to have fun. I think this because it is clearly the main focus of the video and is the name of the song. Also, every single person in the video is having fun whether they are swimming, driving, sitting around a campfire, dancing, or running through a forest with a giant butterfly on a stick. Nothing goes wrong, showing that it is alright to cut loose.
The lifestyle choice demonstrated is very similar to the value statement. It shows a life of having no responsibilities and just being able to have fun with your friends. Furthermore, although they do have a party, there are no signs of drugs or alcohol like in many other music videos. Therefore, I believe drugs and alcohol are specifically NOT part of the portrayed lifestyle.
The “Good Time” video did not include very many different groups. It did contain both white and black people, but at least twice as many were white than black. This is probably because pop songs in general are predominantly white. It’s like how rap songs usually have more black people. I don’t believe the song is meant to be racist though. Next, the genders were not even. There was at least half the amount of boys as girls. This could be due to the target audience being primarily teen girls who should relate better to a mainly female cast in the video.
The video for “Good Time” targets teenagers because the majority of them just want to have a “good time”. Teens don’t want to work or have responsibilities, they want to hang out with friends and have fun, and the song is about just that. The video fits with the fun-filled song since it is like an example of the perfect day for most teens. It starts out with you and a bunch of attractive friends driving together to a rustic cabin where you meet more outgoing, attractive people. From there you eat slushies, swim, make flower chains, fish, have a campfire with roasted marshmallows, and then finish with a dance party. For most teenagers, that would be one amazing day. In addition, two popular artists are featured in the video, instead of just one. This would therefore appeal to fans of both OwlCity and Carly Rae Jepsen, giving the song twice as many fans. People who loved both singers would be super-excited too. Due to the fun atmosphere and the multiple artists involved, the video and song should effectively sell to the average teen.
Whether “Good Time” by OwlCity and Carly Rae Jepsen is actually a good video depends on who is watching it. Personally, I don’t enjoy it at all. I’m not a social person, so the partying really doesn’t appeal to me. The girls’ clothing also bothers me. Carly Rae Jepsen is barely wearing anything at all! Furthermore, I think the video is a bit boring. Sure, it includes lots of activities but the video itself is nothing special. It has little to no depth and isn’t too artistic. This is just my opinion though. I’m sure most teenagers would enjoy the video as it features two popular artists and follows a fun-filled story. The song is upbeat and catchy, and therefore should be enjoyable to listen to. In general, this would be a great music video for the average teenager.
