Daily Blog 1-31-18

Transitioning into Transitions

      Today in class we learned how to identify cuts. In our previous lesson regarding cuts and transitions we primarily discussed the definition of the terms. In today’s class, we learned how to identify these cuts within the film. This is a step up on the taxonimic pyramid, so now that we can identify these cuts we will then be able to analyze it, followed by evaluation. To begin class we reviewed the different type of cuts. He handed out cards with various types of cuts and as groups we defined the terms. Subsequently, we defined the terms as a class using our own words. My group recieved cutaway, match cut, cutting on action, jump cut and cross-cut. On the board we defined the words using our own words as follows.

• Cutaway- similar to the Alfred Hitchcock example where a seen is shown, then another scene is inserted in between then they cut back to the original scene to see the reaction of the character
• Cutting on action- is similar to a cutaway but involves movement on the screen which usually added to increase intensity or tensity within a scene
• Cross-cutting- is cutting between two locations usually used to show a phone call scene such as the scene in Get Out where Chris calls his TSA friend
• Jump Cut- is the type of cut often utilized in a montage where the camera angle is shifted in order to show the passage of time
• Match Cut- is cutting to a scene with the same composition so it will usually involve two characters in two different settings but are in the same position and the same camera angle is used
• Fade- the scene fades to a black screen
• Dissolve- a transition where one scene begins to dissolve while the next begins to materialize
• Smash cut- an abrupt and sudden cut it usually involves going from a quiet and low intensity scene to a loud high intensity scene or vice versa
• Wipe- most well known in the Star Wars films by George Lucas it is where one scene swipes from that scene to the next scene
• Invisible cut- a cut that disguises the cut to give the illusion that it is all one continuous shot
• *J and L cut see diagram

After we identified the cuts we watched the opening scene to Lord of the Rings and identified the different types of cuts within this scene.
In order to connect this to the outside world I identified some of the cuts in a film I recently watched which was Spectre. One of the cuts utilized in the beggining is the cutaway where we see James Bond then we see the helicopter and then we see Bond’s reaction. At about 0:26 there is a smash cut because there is quiet music playing and then it becomes abruptly loud.At 0:50 there are many jump cuts to make the illussion that they are falling a great height from a great distance. Finnally there is a quasi J-cut at 1:39. If Bond had died in this scene they would have chosen a somber minor chord proggression instead they end with an augmented chord which suggests that Bond might be okay before we actually see Bond.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM0hP-LZIvI

Daily Blog 1/31/18 Lock-down, Lock-down, Lock-down

Started class today with a lovely 15 minute long Lock-down drill.

Directly following the Lock-down drill we went over film editing techniques (cuts and transitions) in your our groups

Our group had

• Fade in/out - To fade from one scene to another through transitions (Tends to also be in black)
• Cutting on action - Cutting on action creates more of an effect on the people watching
• Match cut - To different scenes where they make two different things look very similar . (A murder scene begins when some one starts to cut up some fruits instead of a person.
• Cross cutting - A classic example of this is a phone call where to people are in different places and the shots keep crossing
• Jump cuts - Quick unpolished cuts that happen all in the same shot

The list went on and on the further we dove into class about all of this but if you still have questions about different transitions and cuts watch this clip: 

https://nofilmschool.com/2016/03/rocket-jump-film-cuts-and-types-transitions-editing

After reviewing the examples we watched a film clip and looked for the different cuts that were in the film.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jnfoMiyJ1vy2AOAsCVrF7H0Z2YnYNGPV/view

This film included a series of different cuts and transitions including:

0:26 - 0:35, the Title page fades in and out
...Couldn't get to work on anymore so will finish in class tomorrow.

When taking the lock-down that happened today, Mr. Rivers put it in a very great way that can be used at any time anywhere. Lock downs can be a very dangerous situation based on where you are when it happens. You'll never know when one is going to happen so you'll always need to know how to react when it happens. Say you're in the bathroom see if you can get into a classroom real quick but if not you'll have to think fast and hide in a bathroom stall. So whenever this happens in the future either you're at work, college, vacation, etc you'll always need to know how to react effectively and quickly.

Daily Log Blog 1/30/18

in Class Today:

Homework: 

Make sure that you hand in your film clip by tonight so that we can begin our annotation of the clips asap and if you can not access your film clip then you can send Mr.Rivers a screen shot of the video that you cant access so that he can talk to IT and get the video unblocked for you so it can be used in class.

Senior Paper:

How will you sequence your paper? How can you align your paper to maximize synthesis?

APA:

Title Page

Abstract**

Literature review

Synthesis Paper

References

MLA:

Literature Review*

Synthesis Paper

Works Cited

Proper MLA heading with title*

**Last piece to draft

When working on our senior papers make sure that you use your to do list that when created yesterday to either better your literature review, or your senior paper.

When taking this to a wide world aspect I can directly relate my senior paper to. I personally am writing my senior paper on physiology in Black Mirror. I have been going through a large amount of highly accredited papers so that I can support my claims and properly synthesis, I found something very interesting that even you could use in your daily lives. When researching I found a term named Socialization which is described as the way that people act with interactions with one another. I found this very interesting because this effects our lives every day whether we know it or not. Tomorrow when you wake up try to think about how you interact with one another and how it molds you as a person and how it can change your interactions with other people.

Daily Log Blog 1-30-18

       

A Senior Paper can't be made on an Assembly Line

        Today in class we started off by discussing the homework that is due tonight. Which is that you must find a youtube clip that will be used for our next project regarding editing. The clip should be 2-5 minutes long. If it is acceptable if it is slightly longer than five minutes however it two minutes a definitive minimum for the clip.  Mr. Rivers informed us if you cannot access a specific clip take a screen shot of the what you are searching for and the search results that appeared. In order to take a screenshot press control and the button with a rectangle and two lines simultaneously. Email that screenshot to Mr. Rivers he can see if he can find that scene without the restrictions he will also talk to administration about the problem.  After this we talked about the sequencing of the senior paper.
The senior paper is not necessarily a cookie-cutter format, while there are certain guidelines that must be followed the format of your paper is largely up to you depending on what makes sense for your paper. Because you are writing unique papers even if two people are writing two papers within the same discipline they could still differ in sequencing. The guidelines that must be used depends on whether you are writing an APA or MLA paper. If you are writing an APA paper then the order is title page, abstract(last item written), literature review, synthesis paper, references page. If you are writing an MLA paper it goes literature review, synthesis paper and works cited. Mr. Rivers emphasized that in the literature review you focused on breadth however in the synthesis paper you should focus depth as opposed to breadth. After this we began to write the synthesis portion of our senior paper. I, personally decided to format my paper so that there are three subdivisions throughout the review because that makes sense for my paper but you can assemble your paper in whatever format makes sense for you.
In order to connect this information to the outside world I decided to investigate the different assembly methods of pieces of literature and film. For example, in literature, The Great Gatsby, was assembled in such a way so that it was a framing novel. This was done in order to emphasize the importance of perception thus it was fitting for this novel to be assembled as a framing novel but a framing novel wouldn't work for other novels. In film, we see Pixar assemble Finding Nemo in such a way so that the opening scene is Nemo as an egg and his entire family being eaten it then fast forwards to when Nemo is a child. This shows an inconsistent timeline that made sense due to the movie’s intention. These example show that assembly can greatly impact the outcome of your paper so you should assemble your paper thoughtfully and however make sense for your paper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ9nbv1VK0s 

Daily Log Blog 1/29/18

Today in class:
Make sure to read the comments that Rivers left on your Literature Review
Also make sure you signed up for your blogs
Senior Paper talk
Due date is officially February 16th @ 11:59 P.M.
We were given three main objectives within these
Rivers used a comparison of Three Act Structure and our papers, stating that basically our Literature Reviews will serve as our Act 1; introducing our topic, key researchers, and points of view.T he synthesis between our sources that will form the majority of our papers will be our Act 2. In this should also be a "Lock-In", which should establish the main conversation about these papers, which realistically will probably be our thesis statement. We should try and find a way to plan our paper that will maximize synthesis.
Research clusters should be sprinkled in between these sections, making sure that you have enough research and sources for your paper.
Connecting this with the vast world around us, we come to the topic of research and how important and how common it is. Whenever you are addressing a new topic, or even just wanting to learn about a new topic, you conduct research to learn the ins and outs of this particular topic and to become well versed in the subject for fear of looking like an idiot talking about something that they know nothing about. To properly do this research, you should use many credible resources to get a vast knowledge of this topic, especially if you will be writing something like a thesis or a paper of some other variety on that topic, which we will all basically be doing in the near future with our own senior papers

Daily Log Blog: 1/29/18

To start off today's class, we began talking about the idea of creating a tentative to do list for our senior paper. Before we talked about what makes a good to do list, we back tracked we discussed about the second marking period and the due date information for the senior paper. Second marking period grades should be set and no more grade will be going in, so what you have now is what you are ending with. On the hand the senior paper has a due date of February 16th at 11:59 pm on google classroom and turnitin.com. Mr. Rivers then went on to the point of staying proactive and if you ever need help with your senior paper email him or see him during lunch, before, or after school.

The next part of class was based more on the objective of making a to do list. The literature reviews seemed to follow a three act structure, but when we zoom out we discovered that it was in three sequences. The three sequences were the points of introducing a major speakers/topics/events, distilling the current state of conversation, and calling for research. After zooming out we tried to see the literature review as act 1 of the sequences. Then we were faced with the question of, in the three act structure, what are the narrative functions of act 1? (What does act 1 do?) We wrote down our thought then we came together as a group and discussed on what we thought the narrative functions of act 1 were. Next we came together as a class and discussed about the question. The points we came with were that it sets up everything else, creates a point of discussion: tension, introduces the setting, characters, point of attack, and it locks in the audience. After this discussion we had to synthesis these points and relate them back to our literature reviews. We then came together as groups to discuss our thoughts and then ended up sharing them with the class. Some points we came up with were that the setting = field of interest, characters = important people of events, and point of attack and tension = the purpose of research method.

 After finishing up what act 1 looked like we discussed what act 2 or the next step of our literature review will be. The next part of the literature review will be to synthesize. Depending on how you want to write the rest of the essay is up to you. How will you sequence your paper? How can you align your paper to maximize the synthesis? How do these research cluster relate to each other? Do you extend your literature review or find new research to go a new way? There are many different options and how you want to write the rest of the essay is up to you. For the next half of class, we worked on making a to do list for the rest of the senior paper. Staying organized and ahead of the game will benefit you very much.

Bringing these points together with the idea organization and synthesis data is huge in the outside world. These are two major skills that are very good to have in the future. Organization and synthesis data is seen in everyday problem solving. Looking at the bigger picture and taking similar or different objects and able to bring them together seen in many jobs and is a desirable skill to have. And without organization these synthesizing skills would be useless. If your thoughts are all over the place there is no way for you to take the two pieces and bring them together. Both of these skills go hand and hand and are a great asset to have for the future and the real world. 

Daily Log Blog 1/26/18

First day of the third marking period, everybody. We're now more than halfway done with our final year of high school.
With the start of the third marking period also comes the sign ups for blogs throughout the marking period. This time, all classes will be using the same document, so when you sign up for a spot, also add your period number at the end.

Also a reminder: Get it together, everyone. Let's not fail English our last year of high school. Rivers graded our Literature Reviews, make sure you look at them. If anything is unclear, or if you just would like extra assistance in English, Rivers is available during lunches and after school most days.

We then numbered ourselves within our tables using either 1, 2, or 3. We then conducted in-class Golden Globes voting between what we thought were the best sentences within each category, the categories being: Best Verb, Best Integration of Cinematic Choice, Best Evidence and Analysis Pairing, Best Synthesis, and Best Topic Sentence. We then were given two minutes to defend our given numbers sentence and state why it is better than the others. After this allotted two minutes, we were given 30 seconds to speak our minds on what really was the best sentence.

Connecting this to the vast world around us, this can be used to further emphasize the ability to look at things objectively and determine what is or isn't objectively good. For example, just because a particular sentence has bigger and more complex words in it does not make it a better sentence if the point the article is trying to convey is not a valid one. This will definitely come in handy later in the year when we are writing our senior papers.

Daily log blog - 1/26/18

Friday in class we started by setting up our marking period 3 blog schedule.  To make the scheduling easier all 3 classes will share one document rather than each class having their own.  Since we all share one document you should put your period number after your name when you sign up for your day(Example Erich S(5)).

After we set up the blogs we split into groups and discussed the various sentences nominated for the Golden Globes and then discussed why each sentence is a great sentence.  For example we reviewed the best verb candidates and discussed how a verb can shape the sentence around it.  Some verbs excel at this while others just fall flat.  For instance in the sentence  “For example we reviewed the best verb candidates and discussed how a verb can shape the sentence around it.”  “around” really helps to show the reader that the sentence revolves around the verb.  I could have just as easily said “how a verb can shape the sentence it is in.” but the verb “is” fails to convey the same message.  “Is” sounds much more neutral and make the sentence trivialize the importance of the verb.  By avoiding neutral verbs like “is” we can enhance our writing and make it sound much better(knotice how in this blog I purposefully avoided using “to be” verbs to enhance this blog).

Most news articles utilize this practice, not using neutral verbs, to enhance their writing and make it more exciting.  Of the 5 articles I checked online all but one of them only use the verb “is” during quotes from people.  And the one that used “is”, only used it 5 times.  It just goes to show you that by simply replacing dull words with more colorful words you can vastly improve your writing.

Class Blog: 1-26-18

   

  Today is the beginning of the 3rd marking period, so that means the re-sign up for class blogs. So get your Fridays as you can. Also, one thing that you should do is to not wait for the last week or two for the blogs because you will most likely have to do your film blogs. And remember that the film blog will continue to grow in content and complexity. After everyone chose their days, Mr.Rivers started his lesson. In your groups, choice 1, 2, or 3. Then from the poll from yesterday using your number for the 3 different examples, 2 min. You are supposed to argue for the amount that you have. After 2 minutes are up, you have 30 sec to speak your truth. Today’s goal is to evaluate language and how to make good choices. The literature reviews are graded and commented. So spend time. Come to see Mr. Rivers if anything is unclear, and make sure that you have your works cited page. If you make that mistake then you will get a Saturday detention. Monday we are moving back into the groove of the research paper.

      We began in our groups with the best verb page. The first choice had focused, conveying, and Is. Is defines as to be. It sounds more scientific. The second choice was doing, insinuate, revolve. We want verbs that have taste and flavor in them. The Third choice is made, follows, tells. With a lot of complex adjectives in between. Remember that the best written sentences are written around verbs. All of the choices help you with close reading. Which is used for your own paper

    To connect to the real world, Producers with any movie needs to think of these Golden globe nominations. One of the nominations for the Best Motion Picture drama is Dunkirk. The movie deserves this because of astonishing scenes in the movie. The producer uses these choices to create the best movie possible. The movie uses these to review itself and make it more enjoyable. With more detail and make it the strongest it can be

Be Reel Blog: Snatched

As a lover of comedies, I can tell if I'm going to like a movie or not. "Snatched" directed by Jonathan Levine tells the story of a recently dumped on the eve of her vacation, Emily Middleton (played by Amy Schumer) persuading her cautious mother, Linda (played by Goldie Hawn) to go down to an exotic getaway in South America. As the Vacation starts, Emily meets this guy who in the beginning took her on crazy adventures, but ultimately had bad intentions of kidnapping Emily and Linda.

This movie was hilarious from start to finish. Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn are both amazingly funny. Sometimes serious in the film, it is immediately backed up with funny dialogue. It can also be quite distasteful at times when Amy Schumer's breast make an appearance, while also using harsh language, alcohol, and drugs. This movie is rightfully rated R.

With no other movie like this movie; no tropical vacation kidnapping, Snatched brought a whole new concept to cinema.

Overall, the movie was great to watch and I would give it a good good on the be reel scale. I would recommend this to anyone who loves comedy.

The End of the F***ing World- Jesse West

When Weird Becomes Weirder

The new Netflix original The End of the F***ing World is taking the world by storm. This new series is known as everyone next binge. Johnathan Entwistle, director of this series, was the creative genius behind this series. The show starts by describing the main characters life, James, and the struggles he has been through. He then is portrayed as a completely psychopath. When encountering his soon to be "girlfriend" he immediately doesn't like her. The best part about this show is the character development. The characters completely change through out the show keeping you on your toes the whole time you're watching it. Another fantastic aspect of this series is, how they show what the character thinks by incorporating flash backs and voice overs of their thoughts. In particular James's thoughts. The editing style choices add to the practical, and narrative aspects in the movie because of the flashbacks, quick action cuts, and more transitions, and. This show comes off abstract and competently odd, but sure is addictive. I overall rate this series a 97 out of 100 only because of the disturbing parts of the series.

A Life Sentence of Good Film- The Shawshank Redemption

Rated by Enterprise as "One of the 1000 must see movies before you die", The Shawshank Redemption is undoubtedly one of the most highly acclaimed movies in recent history. Frank Darabount's film tells the story of a wrongfully imprisoned man, Andy DuFresne, a banker from Oregon. He is given a life sentence without parole, and is sent to one of the most notorious prisons in the country, Shawshank. There, he forms a bond with Red, a fellow inmate played by Morgan Freeman. There, he had to adjust to prison life, even having to deal with a gang of rapists, who single out Andy for a long stretch of his sentence. The film takes a very humane approach, giving insight into the real personalities of the inmates. The film is cinematically extremely well made, with coherent, well made scenes and gives a very convincing sense of immersion. The characters are extremely fleshed out, with even the villains, mainly the Warden, being seemingly human. These choices help make the ending of the film much more emotional, and especially the scene where, once exposed, decides to take his own life rather than go to prison. This is an ironic moment, as the warden is the one who decided on the terrible conditions that led him to choose suicide over his own prison. Objectively, the film is extremely well made.

Subjectively, the film has its pros and cons. The feelings of connection to characters was one of the best parts of the movie. the connection between Andy and red, while a 2 person connection, made me feel as though I was a part of their connection, rather than a viewer. The suicide of Brooks evoked a sense of disappointment, rather than pure sadness. A man who spent 50 years in a prison, once finally released, became so accustomed to life inside that he couldn't handle what should have been a victory for him, and killed himself. Banter between inmates was a well needed relief from the depressing environment of the prison life, but it did not feel too forced like in recent movies that have dark topics.
Overall, I would give this a Good Good, with quality at its highest and enjoyment middle of the way up. The film did get monotonous at times. This, however, can be forgiven, as it was most likely done on purpose to reflect the monotony of a life sentence.

Tightly Packaged Nostalgia - Black Mirror Season 4 Episode 6 (SPOILERS)

Black Mirror Episode 6 Season 4, is directed by Colm McCarthy.  A continuation of the shows trend of having a sort of "season finale", Episode 6 titled, "Black Museum", is a three part mini series of an episode packed into an hour and a half of television. Black Museum goes against the model of the typical Black Mirror episode bu telling rushed mini stories and quite frankly terrible story telling. The episode follows a sadistic doctor, a couple with irrepressible differences, and the wrongful conviction of a suspect and his terrible life after death. All of these stories are told by the mysterious museum curator to a college girl seemingly on her way home to her parents, stopping to get gas. Back tracking a bit, this episode doesn't really feature and thematic elements or any overall moral ambiguity that are a staple of the show's content. Black Museum however, makes up for this lack of a lesson by presenting insane amounts of nostalgic and iconic pieces of nostalgia from previous episodes in the series dating all the way back to season one. It's a welcoming and enjoyable sight to see all these objects once more even if it was only for a minute. Throughout the episode we see the young woman feel concern for the curator as he seemingly has difficulty with the heat level within his building. Eventually, he starts to go into anaphalactic shock. She pulls a chair out for him and reveals the big twist. She was the daughter of the man who was wrongfully convicted of murder and is now an attraction at the museum where people can make a copy of himself re-live his death. Carrying a copy of her mother inside her head too, she poisons the curator, who had a hand in the not so happy ending of each mini story, and leaves him there to die, setting the store on fire. This piece of the episode is especially important because this ending gives the episode something to stand on, lacking any true lesson or underlying moral value. Bad Good

Link
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/black-mirror-season-4-black-museum-colm-mccarthy-directing-interview-1202640505/

Be Reel: Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (spoilers, if you really care?)

Rudolph and Frosty's Funeral in July

Christmas in July is already a bizarre term as it is, the movie Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July is even weirder. In this crossover Christmas(?) movie, Milton the ice cream man comes to the North Pole. He tells Rudolph and Frosty if they come and star in his girlfriend’s circus by the sea, he will marry her. Frosty, his wife, and two kids all really want to go, but they can’t because they are snowmen, duh. Conveniently there is an evil wizard who was once in control of the North Pole before Santa and the misfits showed up. He promises Frosty and his family special magic amulets that will prevent them from melting, but if they don’t leave the circus before the 100th firework goes off, they will die. For some reason, Frosty risks his entire family’s lives to go see this circus, and accepts the offer. Rudolph says he will also attend, and Santa Claus promises to pick them all up from the beach before the 100th firework. Already, this is very sketchy, but Rudolph and Frosty’s family all fly down in Milton’s balloon. They get introduced to the woman who runs the circus, and Milton’s girlfriend, and begin work on their acts. The evil wizard, sends an evil reindeer to trick Rudolph into stealing all of the circus’ money. Now, everyone hates Rudolph and he loses his glowing nose because he used it for evil. The fireworks begin going off and Frosty and his family are very nervous, as Santa has not arrived yet (the evil wizard trapped him in an ice tornado). His kids start crying about how they don’t want to die, and Frosty patiently awaits death. However, Frosty and his family can be brought back to life with his magic hat, so the wizard must prevent this. He also wants the hat so he can clone a million Frostys for an evil army. So, he makes a deal with Frosty, give up the magic hat, and everyone won’t hate Rudolph. Frosty, for some reason, gives up his and entire family’s life so Rudolph is no longer a criminal? (A terrible trade if you ask me). Now, Rudolph thinks he can defeat the evil wizard and save everyone before the last firework goes off. So Rudolph breaks the wizard’s magic staff and he dies. However, so did the wizard’s magic, so those magic amulets that kept Frosty alive, disappeared. Rudolph in fact, melted, in which successfully killed Frosty, and his family prematurely. No worries, a whale with a clock in his tail shows up with Jack Frost from Costa Rica (what) and Jack Frost uses his magic ice breath to refreeze Frosty and his family. Conveniently Santa shows up right at the end to take them all home and they live happily ever after in the North Pole.

Now, after reading this, I’m sure you’re thinking, “This can’t be a real thing.” Oh no, I assure you it is very much a real, and hilariously depressing Christmas movie. It teaches you nothing, other than don’t trust evil wizards to change the laws of science so you can go to the beach, which is really just common sense. I have no idea how this was put into production and none of it makes any linear sense whatsoever. It really just ruins the cherished stop-motion Christmas brand we all love. Overall, this movie was not well produced, but it was a very enjoyable watch if I may say so myself. I rate this bad good, give it a watch next holiday season.


Here's the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ohKUcjl58

B- Reel Blog 1/18/18 (Jurassic Park)

Jurassic Park is an adventure inside of a movie. It has all the action you could ask for in a dinosaur movie. This classic movie was made in 1993 by famous director Steven Spielberg. The movie's special effects were very good, mostly because the dinosaurs were not CGI, they were actually robots with dinosaur skin on them. In the actual movie, the dinosaurs are really lifelike and it adds lots of good and positive feedback to this specific part. The overall quality of the film was decent because it had a good story and it had some good background, like 3D printing genes of dinosaurs from mosquitoes and then using that DNA to breed them. This makes the story enjoyable for all audience members because some people enjoy the action, while others enjoy other aspects of the film. Jurassic Park helps make that possible. There were also a lot of choices used in the film that made it be successful. Lighting was a key factor in the making of the film. For example, for the happy scenes, the lighting would be light and there would be lots of bright colors as well. For the suspenseful scenes, there would be dark lighting and it would be very dramatic as well. This also leads into audio. Audio helps make the scenes more dramatic in the film. For example, when you hear the footsteps of the dinosaurs, you would hear it very clearly, which makes you know, there is a dinosaur coming. These choices make the scenes a lot more enjoyable for suspense and plot changes throughout the story. The film overall had a great plot and a great setting to us in the film a woodland area with pre-historic animals living in the age of modern man. This movie was a great film to watch and it is a great film to watch with other people as well.

Be Reel Blog: Shameless NSFW

The hit TV show Shameless is a long running series about a dysfunctional family consisting of the drunk father, Frank, the mom who left them, Monica, the replacement mother figure, Fiona, and others. Despite all the booze, drugs, illegal activity, and narcissism, the family is held together by their bonds and the hard work of Fiona, who tries to run the household and manage the money while still barely being an adult. throughout the show we get to see multiple plot lines, including Franks addictive tendencies and its affect on everyone, Fiona and Steve's relationship, Lip´s rebellion against the system, Ian's sexuality, and many more. No matter what season you're on Shameless´ exciting plot and its ups and downs will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire episode. One thing I really loved about Shameless is the character development. I felt like watching the characters grow up and learning more about each character made it feel like I was actually living in the south side of Chicago. Another great thing about Shameless is that it always finds a way to play with your emotions. Whether it be making you laugh at sly marks and reactions or making you empathize for a character and their struggles it will always find a way to get a reaction from the audience which makes the show never get boring. Yet another great thing about the show is that most people have seen or are watching the show so it can always be something interesting to talk about or relate with. Subjectively I love this show and think that the producers did a great job with casting a bunch of lovable, entertaining characters to play the family members which allows the audience to become closer to them and enjoy the show even more. Objectively the show is also very good. The setting fits the plot and in most scenes the camera angle and lighting make it much more enjoyable. For example in scenes where the family is rushing about the house they have a bunch of tight shot clips that are transitioned back and forth to express a passage of time and give a sense of urgency to their daily routines. Choices like that help develop the narrative and theme of the show and add to its already fun and interesting plot. Overall I think Shameless is a great show and I´m excited to continue watching it. I would rate it as a good good.

Hardknocks with a Hard Review

Anthony Broccoletti
Film as Literature
Mr.Rivers
1/24/18

Hardknocks with a hard review

The famously known football reality show called "Hardknocks" follows an NFL team as it prepares for the upcoming season. The season i have recently watched followed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. First off picking a team that is arguably one of the worst teams in the league was the first heartbreak, but then they just happened to make it even worse. They followed the most known players of course, but then followed around basically "scrubs" on the team that are barely good enough to make the roster. no one and i mean no one wants to watch these football players basically "choke" on a reality show and not make the team. OH and that is just the worst part of it. They show the players getting cut right from the team. Yes it is interesting to see how they get cut, but for the sake of the player no one wants to see them get their dreams ripped right out of their hands. It is just painful to watch.

On the other side of the ball their is some good coming out of this show. It shows that it takes a lot of work for one to not only make it to the league, but make the team. players were spotlighted on the team that needed a great summer to make it. Hardknocks followed them very well throughout the show and depicted the struggles of making the team and what happens if they don't make it. With them being followed it showed a lot of the football action up close. The cameras were all over the field giving the sense as if you were there. All this stuff is great, but why the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?!? The team has not made the playoffs in 10 years and only have 3 stars on the team and have no one else around them. It blows my mind.

In the end i am a little harsh on this season of hardknocks because of the lack of star power on the team and the team itself, but it does give a good depiction of the hardships players have to go through to make the team and basically secure a job. Action is subpar and the behind the scenes of the front office is decent at best. Jameis Winston was the only thing that let me continue watching this very below average season of Hardknocks. To conclude Great show, poor season, poor team with no star power and focusing on scrubs will lead to this harsh review.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxP209M1NLg
Little bit of how Jameis carried the show

Did Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Ace the Be Reel Review? - Gianluca Bivona

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, starring Jim Carrey, is a movie about a detective who solves petnappings. The movie is directed by Tom Shadyac. The story begins by explaining how our character is a pet detective and whenever a pet goes missing someone will typically call the police department but they never get the job done. When this happens someone will call Ace Ventura the pet detective. In the movie, the Miami Dolphins mascot dolphin goes missing and Ace has to find it.The whole movie continues with this ridiculous plot about finding out who kidnapped the missing dolphin how to get it back.

 The objective quality of the movie is ok. The movie is on such a strange level it is almost too stupid to watch. Don’t get me wrong it was great but some of the humor in the movie was a bit childish at times. The plot of the movie was also kinda predictable at times. The way it was written it would almost guide you to the next surprise. This may be because the whole point of the movie is to be a stupid comedy. Overall I would give this movie a six out of ten on the objective quality.

The subjective quality of the movie was also alright. I wasn’t super into because when I was watching the movie it made me feel very uncomfortable at times. The plot was also very simple. There really was only one issue that Ace Ventura ran into which was that the dolphin was missing. There wasn’t anything that drew you in to keep you watching the movie. This was because you knew that in the end they would find the dolphin and everything would be fine again. Overall I would rate this movie a six out of 10 on the subjective quality.

Little Snip-it from the movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1jnOLZES7I

Kitchen Nightmares or Kitchen Heaven?

Everybody has a favorite restaurant that they go to every now and then to get out of the house and avoid doing the dishes. People naturally have a high standard for quality of food and service wherever they decide to go. When the dining experience is not up to par or the management is in complete disarray, a restaurant is doomed to go out of business and close their doors for good. But fear not- Chef Ramsay is here to save the day and more often than not reunite families that are at each other's throats. 


The newest television goldmine I discovered is Kitchen Nightmares, a show that focuses on saving failing restaurants that are on the brink of bankruptcy and shutting down. It is similar in structure to other shows such as Restaurant Impossible or Bar Rescue. Gordon Ramsay travels around the United States and helps them improve food, management, and relaunches the restaurants with an upgraded interior and energy. Ramsay is known for his fiery temper, strict demeanor, and constant cursing like nobody else. He often makes blunt and controversial comments, including insults to staff or the quality of the food he is testing. Chef Ramsay has dozens of his own restaurants in the United Kingdom, North America, (rest of) Europe, Hong Kong, and Dubai. Gordon rose to television stardom after his first show Hells Kitchen became a wild success. Only two years later, he got his second show Kitchen Nightmares to help struggling owners across the pond. Needless to say, if he flew across the country to help you turn your business around, it would be a good idea to listen to his advice.


From an objective standpoint, I think the purpose and structure of the show are well formed. I enjoy shows that involve helping people get back on their feet. Kitchen Nightmares also can be an effective educational tool. Through the filming process, the viewers can see what goes on in restaurants in the front and back of the house. The often clueless staff show you exactly how not to run a business but by the time Ramsay is done with his renovation, they have improved dramatically. In addition, the show sheds light on something I think is extremely important- sanitation. When you go out to eat somewhere, you don't necessarily think about the cleanliness of the kitchen or if the chefs making your food are cross contaminating. In every episode, Chef Ramsay performs a deep and thorough inspection of the kitchen and food storages. Unfortunately, he always finds something rotten or potentially hazardous to the customers. Hopefully after watching an episode, you will realize that being successful in the restaurant industry requires much more than a little flair in the kitchen; otherwise millions of culinary school grads would have their own restaurant empires too.



My favorite subjective aspect is Ramsay's extraordinary temper and assertive presence on the show. People can argue that he is too mean or hurtful and that his words cut like knives. To anybody who is a critic of his, please cry me a river because his no nonsense approach got him 16 Michelin stars and a restaurant / television empire. There isn't a chef in the world that can go into a failing restaurant, show often stubborn or ungrateful owners that they have to get their acts together, and successfully relaunch the place in less than a week. If you watch the show, you will see that Ramsay is truly a cordial guy. He is always very kind to the waitresses and customers and by the end of the episode, the staff are exchanging tears and hugging him for saving them from financial disaster. 

Final Rating- Good & Good

WARNING: EXTREMELY VULGAR AND AWESOME CLIPS. COULD NOT FIND ANY GOOD CENSORED ONES

Be Reel Blog : Back to the Future 2 - SPOILERS INSIDE

Back to the Future 2, directed by Robert Zemeckis, is by far one of the best movies I have ever watched. The crazy plot remains unpredictable, despite following the three act structure, and the visuals and scenes are almost perfect as you progress through the movie. Characters in the movie show true emotion, and it feels as if the whole situation is real due to how good the acting is in the movie. On top of this, Zemeckis's scenes where Marty is years into the future seem like realistic portrayals for what would happen and cautions that would be taken if time travel was possible. The movie is full of suspense, despite it may seem obvious that the resolution would be Marty makes it back into the present day. Additionally, there are crazy plot twists throughout the movie such as Biff dating Marty's mom, or even the crazy enterprise that Biff had established through the crazy scheme he did when Marty was time traveling.

Overall, I really enjoyed Back to the Future 2, the plot kept me interested in the movie throughout the whole time it was playing. Additionally, the characters were funny, and had unique personality traits. Back to the Future 2. Every scene in the movie was clever and well put together, as well as having a consistent flow which allows the movie to keep the audience gathered. This film reportedly grossed 118.5 million in the US, as well as 230 million overseas, just to put into perspective how much this movie was enjoyed across the globe. Not only this, but the movie earned several awards, and is acknowledged to be revolutionary for it's time. Personally, I would rate this movie GOOD, GOOD on the Objective-subjective scale of movies.

Daily log Blog 1/24/18

Daily Log Blog 1/24/18

Hello classmates, we began class today discussing the karate film and how the Thematic,narrative, and practical pieces of the film were shown. The objective of the class is IWBAT analyze how choices in cuts and assembly contribute to the narrative, thematic and practical development of film. Be able to draft strong claims that synthesize text and choices. We start class with conversation from the scene of "The Protector" from yesterday. We begin to analyze the Cause and effect of editing choices.
Editing Choices-cuts,transitions,assembly ----------> Narrative, Thematic, Practical.Some examples regarding the scene from the Protector were...

• The wide angle of the scene causes a practical effect to see more action
• One continuous shot causes a practical immersion.
• The one shot creates a narrative for the scene to show how easy it is for him.
• No dialogues needed for the shot as it shows the narrative with action.

How can similar choices create different effects? Why would a director make these choices?
These question were then asked regarding Cause and effect of different cuts in scenes. Once discussion was over we watched two clips and compose an articulate paragraph that justifies your directional choices and include the director's text. One scene from Baby Driver which had these choices...

• The music from the scene syncs with Baby's actions
• The style goes along with the thematic piece.
• The part of keeping the camera moving adds that he is looking around heavily.

The 2nd clip was the music video "Sweatpants" by Childish Gambino. Class was almost over by the time all of class could reach a discussion about the music video, but we will tommorow in class. Also don't forget to hand in Be Reel Blogs by midnight!!!
Also by the beginning of tommorows class each group will write a paragraph regarding their thoughts on the tweet and how if we were the director responding to it.

Daily Log Blog 1/24/18

Today in class we opened up by reviewing the narrative, thematic, and practical purposes in a film. Mr. Rivers then reminded us that our final b-reel blog is due at 11:59 pm tonight. He then told us that we were going to synthesize two film clips like we did yesterday, and we are also going to be looking at cause and effect. Cause and effect is when choices used in the film have an impact on the purpose of the shot. We then looked at different prompts of text and we had to justify the choices that the directors made as our own, as if we wrote the script for the movie, between the two films. We first watched Childish Gambino's Sweatpants ft. Problem. After we watched it, we discussed how the choices used in the clip impact the film itself. Our group said that it seems like it is one long shot over and over again, even though there is a cut hidden. After that, we watched a clip from Baby Driver which was called coffee run. We then discussed the cause and effect of the video within our groups. My group said that the music in the clip suits the video because it's in sync with the actions in the clip. We discussed this with the rest of the class and then Mr. Rivers told us that we were going to be drafting paragraphs on one of the two clips. Our group did the Baby Driver clip. We said that the clip was good because in the clip, the music basically fits the entire clip and the lyrics were also in the graffiti in the clip, so it added more emphasis to the music in the clip. This makes the music part of the clip. When the bell rang, Mr. Rivers told us that this was going to be homework if not finished.

Be Reel - American Made

Recently, my parents and I had the great opertunity to watch the movie American Made, a true story about Barry Seal (played by Tom Cruise) who was a TWA (Trans World Airlines) pilot and was recruited by the CIA to provide top secret information on the communist threat in Central America. He ended up in charge of one of the biggest covert CIA operations in the history of the United States. The operation was so absurd that it spawned the birth of the Medellin cartel and almost brought down the Reagan White House.

Barry started off as a regular pilot, but decided that he didn't want to fly for a commercial airline anymore, so he got a job with what he thought was the American government, but instead was much worse. He worked for TWA before he was recruited by the CIA in 1978. The work that he was doing in South America eventually caught the eye of the Medellín Cartel, which was associated with the drug lord Pablo Escobar. The cartel needed a man with Barry's skill set in order to make delivers and various other trips for them. Barry eventually became a drug trafficker, gun smuggler and money launderer, eventually gaining the title, 'The gringo that always delivers'.

This movie had great cinematic choices, from its immaculate performance from the actors, to their appearance as well. The actors in this movie looked unbelievably similar to the characters they were portraying in real life (such as Pablo Escobar for example, played by actor Mauricio Mejía). The choices in angles in this movie was executed very well, especially for the scenes in which Barry is under cover. In this scene the cameras that we hidden were used as shots in the movie in order to show what the cameras were recording. Also, the movie had a lot of scenes from the point of views of various different people, such as the main character, his wife, the CIA, and the cartel themselves. Most of the film was shot in the outdoors, and in the sky. The cinematography and CGI in this film was outstanding. The flying scenes were extremely realistic looking and it was almost forgettable that it was a movie it looked so real! This film did an overall outstanding job in executing a true story as much as possible.

In my opinion, this movie was very overall, just entertaining. Throughout the movie I found myself leaning forward in my seat wondering if this guy was going to get caught or not. It is often hard to make a true story entertaining, let alone not a documentary. This film was so well executed I would watch it again, and again, and again. I found it so amazing and foreboding how his insane this mans life was, and how it was really a true story. I can not imagine having such a crazy life like his! All in all, I rate this film a GOOD GOOD and I recommend it to anyone who has enough time to sit down and get engaged in a thrilling experience.

Waking Sleeping Beauty, the Story of Disney's Return to its Prime

Waking Sleeping Beauty is a documentary released in 2009. It is directed and narrated by Don Hahn and explores what was happening within Disney's animation division between the years of 1984 and 1994. In this time, Disney Animation had lost its touch of magic, and its movies were failing to deliver in the way that their classics had. Among the most important people mentioned in the film is Roy Disney, who resigned from head of the company. He hired Michael Eisner and Frank Wells to take his place, and they hired Jeffrey Katzenberg to take over the crumbling animation division. Throughout the film, the audience learns how the animation division came back from its thirty year slump, and why what happened was so miraculous.
There is not much outside information required to view this film. The only question raised may be why the title is what it is. This is because the slump that Disney Animation hit came after the release of Sleeping Beauty in 1959. This film is titled Waking Sleeping Beauty because it follows Disney's efforts to awaken the golden age that was put to sleep when Sleeping Beauty released.

In terms of the film's content, there is not much of a plot because this is a documentary. The film is structured chronologically, and begins in 1984 with the production of The Black Cauldron. The animation team had spent many years and a lot of money attempting to push the envelope with this film. Unfortunately, they pushed the envelope too far and made a movie that was too dark for young audiences. In 1985 with the release of the film, Disney hit a new low.

The bulk of the film follows what happened in the years to come. Katzenberg began to crack down on the artists and tell them that no matter how much they wanted to make art, it was more important that they make money. Without money, there would be no next film. In 1986, production began on The Little Mermaid. The film would be the first fairy-tale since Sleeping Beauty, and they wanted to make it a musical. This is the point when Howard Ashman and Alan Menken became involved in Disney animation. They would go on to create some of the most beloved Disney songs of all time, and their first project was The Little Mermaid. In 1989 the film finally got released into theaters, and it was the first time in thirty years that a Disney animated feature was met with critical and financial success.
The Little Mermaid kick started what is today known as The Disney Renaissance, and ushered in a decade of remarkably successful animated films. This list would include Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, and Tarzan. 

Waking Sleeping Beauty is the ultimate underdog story and it shows its viewers that even at your lowest point, it is possible to recover. In under 10 years, Disney Animation want from losing millions of dollars on a film to producing the first animated film nominated for the Best Feature Academy Award.
Overall, if a person is interested in the history of film, specifically animated film, the this is the film for them. It is incredibly informative, surprising entertaining, and manages to create high stakes despite the outcomes already being known. I cannot recommend this film enough.

Black Mirror, Hidden truths the mind cant see

Black Mirror created by "Charlie Brooker" takes average people, puts them in horrible, unimaginable situations, and takes the audience on a journey to see how the person reacts to the situation. Sometimes, it leads to the problem being solved. Other times, the audience is left with a cliffhanger. It takes the psychology of humans and uses it against us in a way. This show will completely mess with your mind and once you think its being messed with, you'll get messed with again and it will drive you mad. This show became very popular within the last year and they have been pumping out seasons as quickly as they can. They just currently came out with season 4 over winter break and all 6 episodes in that season are truly remarkable and truly describe Black Mirror.

One of my favorite episodes from the most resent season is "Black Museum" and is the last and I personaly believe the most enjoyable episode of the whole season. Right from the beginning of the episode you are immersed into the episode as the lead protagonist immediately meets the antagonist but the antagonist dose not know that hes me his worst enemy. Nish the Protagonist goes into the antagonists room of horrors and pretends to be friendly to him and plays along to all of his little games and as the story progresses it gets darker and darker in plot and theme and slowly starts to fall out of control overall ending up with the overall largest punishment the antagonist was asking for. To fully understand how in depth that episode goes and how messed up it gets you have to watch it for yourself and might as well watch a few more episodes while you're there.

I personally am in love with black Mirror and it has become one of my favorite T.V shows and has become what im writing my senior paper on. When ever i end up talking about film with friends or even random people I hardly know I always ask if they have seen Black Mirror and if they say no I force them to watch it as soon as they get home. The thrill of watching these episodes and truly experiencing fears that aren't expected to be is just a experience you shouldn't be missing out on. All though each of the episodes are completely different from one another including tone, theme, narrative, time, ect... objectively the film truly flows well together. The film makes connections where you wouldn't see them before truly making the whole show just a great experience. There would be no better way to make this film series run so smoothly. Also subjectively you already know that I think very highly of this film series and claim it to be one of my favorites of all time. I love how the film includes technology and social interactions, and love and a whole series of human emotions to create such a mind boggling confusing and enjoyable film series. There for I rate this Film series a Good Good and would recommend to anyone who is looking for a thriller style show.

Be Reel - Happy Gilmore

In the movie "Happy Gilmore," directed by Dennis Dugan, a hockey player turned golfer has to ascend to the top of the golf world in order to help his grandma pay for her house. Happy Gilmore's grandmother is about to get her house taken away and Happy (Adam Sandler) is refusing to let it happen. With his incredibly odd golf swing (he literally starts 10 yards behind the ball and runs up to hit it) Happy becomes a sensation. The people love Happy. Not only is his swing so weird but he does not abide by the golf sportsmanship rules. Happy can be seen screaming curse words, smashing his "clubs" (hockey sticks), and even getting into fist fights on the golf course. The professional golf association's board of director's has to get involved and tell Happy to relax on the course. Happy somewhat gets his act together and eventually gets into a showdown with the best golfer in the world, Shooter McGavin. This match is for all the marbles, Happy wins and his grandma keeps her house. Shooter wins and he takes the money with no house for grandma. Who will come out victorious? Can Happy save his grandma"s house?

Objectively, this film is very well made. The introduction to the movie sets up the events that unfold during the rest of the film. If we didn't learn that grandma needed the money then the conclusion to the conflict wouldn't be as interesting or important. It chronologically goes through all the events to set up the final scenes. Also, it uses some good elements of mise en scene such as diegetic audio. For example, when Happy starts fighting Bob Barker we hear the sound of punches being thrown and landed. Subjectively, this is an all time great movie. Adam Sandler does an absolutely terrific job in this film and it's one of his best movies ever. This movie is so funny and should be the basis for all comedy movies. If you understand golf and how it should be played then you will love this film because it bucks traditional golf. Ultimately this is one of the best comedies ever and will be watched forever by all sorts of people.

Here's a link to the scene of Bob Barker fighting with Happy Gilmore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SephOHlU1lo

The Italian Job

ATTENTION SPOILERS
The Italian Job, a movie created by the director, Gary Grey is a must watch film if you are into action packed heist films. This film features stars such as Mark Whalburg, Jason Statham, Edward Norton and more. This film starts off with a squad of people trying to take a safe from a house without being noticed or using any violence. They are professionals at cracking safes and do it for a living. The film does a great job on introducing the characters and their backgrounds. The team of high class thieves try to avenge the death of their mentor with the help of his own daughter. The main character of the film Charlie (Mark Wahlberg) who is the mastermind of a venice heist that ends up causing commotion because of all the money that is stolen in the heist.
One Man from the group turns on them and they seek revenge of their mentors death. As time goes on through the film they try to get their heist crew back together with a new addition being the daughter of the mentor. Throughout the film a plan is made to be perfect inorder to steal the gold back that was stolen from them in the first place. The acting and screenplay in the film is entertaining. In my opinion in the beginning of the film it starts off slow because nothing is explained and its a squad of men stealing a safe. As the film goes on it starts to develop itself into a coherent whole and each individual is explained. This helped me figure out why they break into safes and how efficiently it is done. The girls talent is eventually needed because she gets paid to open up safes and the man that took the gold killed her father and turned on the squad. This makes the film interesting to watch and see whats going to happen next. That is why i recommend this film to others and i would rate it as GOOD GOOD on the be reel plot.

Be Reel Blog - Team America World Police

Team America World Police is a satirical action comedy made by Trey Parker and Matt Stone(The creators of South Park). The schtick with this film is instead of using people for the characters it uses puppets. The film opens with a close up shot of some crude marionettes the camera zooms out revealing the city of Paris inhabited by little french puppet people. Everything is all happy until a pack of stereotypical terrorists start ravaging Paris. As soon as the terrorist start shooting Team America comes to stop the terrorists. A large scale fight ensues and the day is saved by Team America.

Team America really sticks to what Parker and Stone do best and that is making a joke out of everything. No ulterior motive, no political leaning it's all just a joke. This film takes jabs at everyone and everything. From Americas blow shit up method of foreign policy to making fun of actors trying to get political. Some of there Jokes just don't even make much scene but are still hilarious, for instance, There is a puppet version of actor Matt Damon in the film and all that this version of Matt Damon can say is his name in a very dim witted tone, The joke doesn't make much sense but is still hilarious. Team America is a well crafted comedy that doesn't hold back, It knows no boundaries. Team America World Police is a GOOD GOOD film 
 

"Who are you?" - Perfect Blue Review

What if someone else wrote your diary? This is the unnerving reality for Mima Kirigoe (Junko Iwao), the lead singer for the J-pop idol group "CHAM!" who decides to abandon her identity as an idol and become an actress.

Perfect Blue is an psychological horror anime move, directed by Satoshi Kon, originally released in 1997 at the Fantasia Festival. The film itself is based on the novel Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis (which I haven't read), but in an attempt to make the story more interesting as an animation changes were made to the story. It was originally intended to be a live action film, but after the budget was reduced it was decided to be an original video animation, although if you want to see something closer to the novel without actually reading it you could watch  Perfect Blue: Yume Nara Samete which only has one thing under the reception on wikipedia to it that calls it "boring", so make of that what you will.

I won't pretend to know much about being a pop idol or an actress in Japan, but they're both celebrities, so it comes with many of the problems of being a celebrity like the pressure and stress of performing. Stress and pressure, of course, isn't an exclusive problem of celebrities, but with Mima's career change from an idol to actress it captures it perfectly. The movie does an amazing job of making the audience feel the stress Mima feels by not just shoving all her problems onto your face, but by slowly building the stress up, a feeling everyone should be able to understand. I even felt like collapsing under all the weight building up throughout the narrative.

The film also explores themes of perception and identity while critiquing society's obsession with celebrities. The difference between what others may perceive as you and how you perceive yourself is somehow interestingly represented. As an idol Mima at times doesn't feel as though her own life and identity belongs to her and not only is this critical of the our culture, but could go a step further to ask how much our affects who we are and whether we are who we believe that is.

Like any good horror, Perfect Blue doesn't rely on jump scares to bring in horror. The most scary thing the movie does is let you understand it. The movie may be hard to grasp at first, but the more you understand about the events transpiring the more your stomach may churn. What's even more horrifying is when you understand the psychology of the characters and, just as in the film, the line between fiction and reality blur (although not quite like the film).

If you want something that will scare you deep down rather than just shock you and forces you to question reality in more than the context of society all while gripping you to your seats I'd definitely check this out. Putting together the movie may require more than one watch, but I promise it won't bore you. I've watched it twice (years apart) and still found it to be a thrilling experience even though I'm not sure how much I've actually understood what REALLY happened. But to find out what REALLY goes down make sure you watch subs not dubs, an important scene is actually changed due to it and not for the better.

Be Reel Blog 2: Fuller House Tori Flynn

There has been many spin off shows from everyone's favorite 90’s- early 2000 television shows like Girl Meets World is the spin off of Boy Meets World and Raven’s Home is the spin off of That’s so Raven. There obviously has to be some changes in these spinoff just because they are usually decades later and the characters have aged. Sometimes people think tv  revival series may tarnish the memory of the original show. It may fail to recapture the magic that made people love it in the first place but, I don't necessarily find it a bad thing to add new memories.  Shows like these shouldn’t use the audience's nostalgia as a base because it could make people get their hopes up and then really tarnish their views.
I began watching Fuller House, a Netflix Original Series and binged watched the first 2 seasons in one weekend. (Yes I know that sounds a tad excessive but it’s true).  It has the same heartwarming  story line to start off the plot. DJ realized she is unable to cope with the demands of holding a full time job as a veterinarian in addition to raising three kids  after becoming a widow she has her sister, Stephanie, and her best friend and daughter, Kimmy and Ramona, move in with her back in the old Tanner family home. The “Fuller Magic” is kept today by having the same house with all the own memories associated with it. Except every scene is a little bit different now considering the fact you're no longer watching it with your family in the living room you're probably watching it on a computer or phone snuggled up in your bed alone binging the show in one weekend like I did. With each episode there is a lesson to be learned and advice to be given.   Also with every episode you can expect there to be a handful of  cringeworthy moments such as the Gibbler Gallop, Kimmy’s Huge Fat Head logo, and practically anything Kimmy does. Sometimes the older characters try to dirty jokes as an attempt to maybe demonstrate how their characters have matured but its just awkward and doesn't truly seem like the original.Full House. I would eat this show BAD GOOD  for the reasons that it is just so cringey sometimes but everything about it kind of works and is efficient in the means of making people laugh and putting smiles on their faces.

Above is the video of The Gibbler Gallop. 

Nurse Jackie- Mallory

Growing up I loved the T.V show House, my brother and I would always end up binge watching it. It was my go to show after school, and I would always end up rewatching. And comparing Grey's Anatomy, I felt that House was always the better show, entertainment and realistic wise.There is just something with medical based shows that always seem to intrigue me. Loving to watch medical shows, I was left heartbroken as House was removed from Netflix. Once my go-to hospital show was gone I went searching for a new binge worthy show, and that is how I came across Nurse Jackie.

   I am currently only 3 episodes into the series of 7 seasons, and I am already entertained. With the broody, comical characters and the realistic aspects of nursing, Nurse Jackie might be able to feel the void that House left. Realism is very important to me when I watch shows, unless its sci-fi or fantasy based. So having a medical t.v show where there wasnt stupid drama in every corner, cough Greys Anatomy cough, was very refreshing. Not only is it on the more realistic side of shows with its comes revolving around doctors and nurses, but it is very comical as well.

    Although there are some stupid/cheesy moments within the show, overall I would rate it subjectively and objectively good (so far). I definitely recommend this show for anyone considering the nursing field, as it shows the realistic qualities that nurses have to go through within the medical industry.

                                                               

Bright: The mythological mystery

Bright, a classic cop duo that defeats evil with a slight twist. Famous actor Will Smith and director David Ayer decided to take a leap into uncharted grounds. They took an action packed cop film and decided to add mystical creatures like fairies, orcs and elves. This results in a huge clash between all the species clashing causing violence and poverty across the city.

Writer Max Landis decides to dive right into the movie with the lack of back story of how this human and mythological creature world came to be. All the audience knows is that a couple thousand of years of go, some kind of race war was fought and magic is what brought them together. The audience is only allowed to see the different sections of Los Angeles that the elves and orc occupy. All the audience is faced with is a city littered with racism and police brutality. 

From the start the audience is introduced in police brutally and the hatred between races. Somehow the main characters Daryl Ward (Will Smith), a human and his partner Nick Jakoby (Joel Edgerton), an Orc. Daryl is resentful towards his partner Nick only on the point of that he is an orc. This human and orc duo creates a lot of attention towards them and builds a lot of tension between the two.

Another part of the movie that leaves the audience scratching their heads is the dark lord. This brings it back to the lack of story development. The whole movie is based off of the point of trying to keep magic out of the bad peoples hands. There are federal magic task forces with the job of hunting down wands. If bad people get there hands on the wands they can harness the wands power and summon the dark lord. The audience is left spinning around trying to follow the story of the movie, while trying to piece together the backstory.

All though the movie is lackluster in plot development, it does not fall short in cinematography. The movies action scenes are dense and filled with good camera placement, lighting, and special effects. The action scenes leave the audience feeling immersed in the fighting and helps create tension. Slow motion, cuts, and transition leave the audience on edge and help pick up for the lack of plot development.

While Bright is filled with extravagant action scenes, it is missing plot and character development. The audience is left teetering between confusion and immersion. This is definitely not the worst movie put out by Mr. Smith and Mr. Ayer, but it is certainly not the best. Bright has it strong points through out the movie and it also has its weak parts throughout the movie, but when it comes to the end, we are still left scratching our heads. 

Shamelessly Thankful

Shameless is a television series created by Paul Abbott is an amazing show that can be hilarious at some times and at others very dark and depressing. The show is about a poor family of six children and their father Frank Gallagher (William H. Macy) trying to get through life day by day while getting themselves into crazy yet unmistakably serious situations. One episode in this series I want to talk about specifically is the episode Just Like the Pilgrims Intended, directed by Mark Mylod. Fiona Gallagher (Emmy Rossum) tries to have a nice Thanksgiving with her family, including her mother Monica (Chloe Webb), and some of her friends, but as things always seem to happen in this show it doesn't turn out to be a nice Thanksgiving at all.

The setting really displays what kind of money the Gallagher family has. The house is in a poor neighborhood in Chicago and is small, crowded, and kind of beaten up, showing they don't have alot of money because they wouldn't be living in that house otherwise. The acting of each character not only shows their financial situation once again but also displays their character's personality. For example, Frank is shown drinking, taking pills, trying to beg for money from his brother, and not helping his family at a time where all hands needed to be on deck. This clearly shows that he's a junkie that just wants money to get drunk or high and wants nothing to do with anybody unless he's getting payed. Monica, after her high-energy spending spree from last episode, has fallen into a deep, deep depression and is feeling down for most of this episode except for the few minutes that was shown where she was on cocaine. These actions display that she has bipolar disorder and that she's just as much as a junkie as Frank is.

I think the meaning of this episode is to show how bad bipolar disorder can get if it's not addressed or managed properly. Monica goes between really high highs and really low lows fairly quickly, and this episode showed how low the lows can get. She's refuses to get out of bed in the beginning and once Frank yanks her out of bed she keeps falling to the floor because she doesn't want to stand up. Frank has to do everything for her like give her a shower and change her clothes. Although Monica's bipolar disorder is very severe, it's still possible for somebody who is bipolar to be like that. Without spoiling the episode, what happened to Monica at the end of the episode is a very real situation that can very well happen to bipolar people.

Superbad? No, SuperGOOD! - Sean Patrick Scully

          For about the 5th or 6th time in my life (you'll understand soon why), I watched the movie rated "Biggest Surprise of the Year" Superbad directed by the wholly comedic Seth Rogen alongside Greg Mottola. It features an array of recognizable, award-winning comedic actors such as Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Bill Hader, and Michael Cera. The film features a modern, relatable setting where two co-dependent High School students (Jonah Hill and Michael Cera) are soon heading off to college and onto different paths, but they lack one crucial element all incoming freshman need: experience with girls. As a plot of one big last hoorah, they are invited to one of their first high school parties, and with specific girls in mind, they set out for the big night. Only one small thing they need to do: get alcohol for the party. While it may seem like a semi-simple task, it turns into an epic night that keeps you interested over what will happen to them, and will they ever get with the girl they both have in mind. The film is packed with so many enjoyable actors, it's impossible to not be interested in every scene (if you are a fan of comedy).

        From a subjective point of view, if you are a fan of a typical "Will Ferrell" or "Seth Rogen" type comedy, this film will have you off your chair, which for me is exactly the type of comedy I enjoy. From an objective point of view, it lacks to be any different. The main plot, alongside the intricate and interesting subplots that take place during the course of the film are so seamlessly integrated and nonchalant you won't even think twice about it. The only way I can see someone sitting down, grabbing snacks, and not enjoying this movie is if you completely do not enjoy this type of comedy, but for the majority of people this is a MUST watch.

- Sean Patrick Scully III

Donnie Darko Wasn't That Crazy

        Donnie Darko, directed by Richard Kelly is a science fiction movie about a schizophrenic teenager named Donnie, (Jake Gyllenhaal) who often has issues with what is real and what isn't. I've watched the movie on Netflix at least five times and it's one of my all time favorites.
 
       The movie begins with Donnie waking up having sleep walked out of his house and on to a golf course sleep, while a jet engine simultaneously falls into his room in the middle of the night. Through out the film Donnie gets visions of a man in a bunny costume named Frank, who claims to be from the future. Frank gives Donnie instructions to follow and convinces him it's all part of a deeper plan. Donnie carries out the instructions some of which include vandalism, and arson. Donnie obsesses over the idea of time travel and by the end of the movie, he may not be as crazy as everybody thinks.

      The general plot and multiple sub plots of the film are so intricate and actually kind of mind blowing. The movie seems to be divided into 3 different plots. The main plot which is Donnie's illness and him carrying out Frank's instructions. Another, which is what is happening on the outside with the people around him, this includes the lives of Donnie's family, school, friends, and girlfriend.  The third plot is the idea of time travel coming into play with all of the instructions Frank has given Donnie.

      In my personal opinion, I think the movie displayed the idea of Donnie's said schizophrenia as an almost super power. That in reality Donnie wasn't crazy, that he tapped into something brilliant and could see things no one else could.

       All things considered, it's definitely one of those movies that will leave you thinking, filled with questions and theories hours after watching it.

Silence - Ben Schultz - Be Reel Blog

Martin Scorsese's newest film, about two Jesuit priests traveling across early 1600s Japan to find their old teacher, is just as worthwhile and beautiful as it is contemplative and depressing. The film takes place mostly in the early 17th century, as two Christian missionaries, Rodrigues and Garupe, played by Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man) and Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) respectively, search for their teacher in Japan where Christianity has been outlawed. The two Padres, as they are called by the remaining Japanese Christians, are shocked to see the torture and anguish that the faithful Japanese must live through. The brutality of the early Japanese shogunate is on full display here, and it is heartbreaking to see the priests' reactions to such needless violence. The movie isn't called Silence for nothing; this film is brutally quiet, with Scorsese often opting to show these people's pain through the performances of the actors and the cinematography, rather than blaring somber music over the scenes. The acting is also one of the defining features in this film. None of the performances seem underwhelming or disappointing. While the sound design and acting are incredible, no review of this movie would be complete without a mention of the cinematography. Silence is absolutely gorgeous, and I find it difficult to think of a film in recent memory that has deserved its Oscar nomination for cinematography more.
While all of these aspects serve to make the movie a great one, one of the best aspects is the subject material. Silence, while being fictional, is about a true part of history, and one that is rarely spoken of. I had never heard of the persecution of Christians in Japan before watching this movie. After researching the event more, I found that hundreds of Christians had been executed during this time period, which made it even more surprising that I had never heard of it. Silence is such an important film to watch, not only because it is a great film, but also because the subject matter is something you might not have known about otherwise.
While I have been heaping praise on this movie for the past month, one must admit that it is not without its flaws. The biggest one of these is its reluctance to show any kind of happiness. While it is impossible to talk about a subject like this without straying into dark territory, and it is important to not try and water down the source material, Silence often seems devoid of positivity. It does have its moments of comedic relief, but these moments are extremely few, and very far between, and it can sometimes be hard to watch. Despite this downside, the film is still excellent, sobering, and carries an important message that everyone should hear.

Inside Planet Earth 2

I have been watching Planet Earth 2 with my parents mostly every night, and I really enjoy it. Every episode is something new of the different species that dwell on our land and or at sea. From deserts to mountains and jungles to our cities every land has it is own unique animal. With David Attenborough providing us with background dialogue creates a calm and interesting bunch of episodes. For mostly each episode is shows animals living in the specific region and then its prey or if prey the predator. Each episode shows a heart racing effert of the prey escaping the jaws or claws from the predator of vise versa. From high quality shots of the rarest animals (ex: snow leopard) it gives us as a viewer an educational perspective. Giving us detailed information on the animals lifestyle and how it is able to live in the different regions is very influential. For some objective qualities of this TV series Rotten Tomatoes gives it a whopping 100%. Far better than any other TV series and or movies out. As for IMDb is gives it a 9.6/10 another remarkable rate. These two ratings are from the top two review critics and scoring this high for an educational TV series is impressive. For some subjective qualities the resolution on each captured video is impeccable. The 1080p really shows the great detail of the land and also the wildlife. Also the narrator's voice really suits in my opinion the background dialogue. In my opinion I would really recommend this show to watch with your family. A lot can be learned from this series and discussed amongst each other. Overall I would rate this TV series a good-good. One for the education aspect and two for the video quality and dialogue.

Be Reel Blog Ryan Ryersen

Jumanji: Surpasses Expectations

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle by Jake Kasdan was a funny adventure movie that was pretty good and exceeded my expectations. This is a sequal to the 1995 film of Jumaji, which featured a similar story using a board game. In the new millenium Kasdan rehashes the same ideas but in a videogame. The movie features four high schoolers whom ordinarily wouldn’t cross paths however through various events all end in detention together. These characters stick very closely to their stereotypes. There is the video-gamer and nerd character(Spencer), the football jock(Fridge), the spoiled popular girl(Bethany), and the anti-social girl(Martha). These personas are then transported into characters in the videogame. So, the nerd becomes a muscular and powerful character played by Dwayne Johnson, the jock is shrunk down to become a sidekick played by Kevin Hart, the popular girl becomes a fat middle-aged man played by Jack Black, and the anti-social girl becomes a strong martial artist woman played by Karen Gillian.
       Perhaps the best part of this film is the acting that takes place. In this movie we witness these actors play against their typical personas. For example, Dwayne Johnson, who is a large and muscular man, must play an insecure and awkward teenagers. Typically he plays the role of the confident protagonist however in this movie you see him whispering to himself “Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Everything’s going to be okay.” Alongside Johnson is Jack Black, best known for School of Rock, where Jack Black plays a crazy Rock-and-Roll loving teacher. Jack Black must take a complete 180° turn to play a popular teenage girl and he nails it. Jack Black surprisingly nails it as he is so funny and my personal favorite part of the movie. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fYyOfsoukM )
      Throughout the film there were two overarching themes, the first of which is that self-confidence is achievable for all people and is vital for success. This is seen when Spencer is is first timid but then learns how to use his strengths and becomes confident in himself. This then carries over into real life when they exit the game because his confidence helps him succeed. This theme is somewhat cheesy but ultimately portrays a good message.
Another overarching theme in this film is about making the most of your life. In the beginning of the        film the principal gives all the students in detention a speech about life being whatever you make of it and that you should choose to make the most of it. Once they are in the game they are given three lives. At the climax of the film Spencer is down to his last life and he gets nervous. Fridge is confused because he witnessed him do incredible feats of strength and pull off amazing stunts. Spencer says that it easy to be confident when you have multiple lives. Fridge response that in real life you only have one life and that in real life you choose to be the hero or not. At some points this becomes a little bit repetitive but it is introduced in a unique way which makes it interesting. Ultimately, this movie receives a good, good.