family movies

 

The movies It’s a Wonderful Life and Family Man have similar themes. They share the message that its belonging to a family and the love that you share that makes you happy and not stuff. In both movies the main character starts off successful and they both didn’t know the true meaning of Christmas. George Bailey was a respected business man and Jack Campbell was the president of a company. In both movies there is super natural intervention. Both George Bailey and Jack Campbell were shown a different life by an angel. George Bailey got visited because he tried killing himself thinking life would be better if he was gone. Jack Campbell got his visit by the angle because he thought he already had everything he needed in life. Both men were happiest with their families.

Even though these movies have similar themes they are presented in opposite ways. George Bailey’s lesson was learned by showing him what would happen if he never existed and Jack Campbell’s angel showed him a life he could have had if he had gotten married. In the life Jack could have had he had a family, friends, and a life but he was poor. In the end of It’s a Wonderful Life George Bailey ends up happy and thankful for his family. Jack Campbell is kind of sad about everything he saw that he missed out on.

Both of these movies are similar to Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol Both movies have a heavenly being that showed a future of what could have been just like the ghost of Christmas future in Charles Dickens play. Also the importance of family is stressed! Scrooge is happy when he is able to celebrate Christmas with his family and help the Crachets. There also similar because they all took places on Christmas time and deal with family.

9/11

If the lost generation were those individuals trying to make sense of WW I then we could term the generation trying to make sense of 9/11 as the generation of discovery. Even though both films are about how people cope with the tragedy of losing someone they love it’s also about finding out who they are. In both films personal discoveries led to acceptance. In both cases acceptance of what happened and that they had to move on.

 

Out of both films the one that resonates more strongly to me was Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close because it was really heartwarming by showing how much the kid was hurt and how it really effected him. When Oskar played the messages form his dad to his grandpa you could really feel the emotion and hurt he was feeling. He found a key and went on a quest to find out why his dad had the key and what it unlocked. Oskar went and searched the whole city for clues to what it could lead to. During the quest Oskar opened up little by little to some people and even to his grandpa. This helped him discover who he was and learn to accept what happened. In keeping with the theme of discovery he finds out the key wasn’t meant for him and that his dad wasn’t the only one that could think like him.

In the movie Reign Over Me Charlie has really bad PTST because of the loss of three daughters and his wife. His friend Allen tries to be there for him and get him to cope with talking about it. Charlie’s friend Allen tries to help him cope with everything by getting him to talk to a therapist. When Charlie goes to the therapist he gets some words out but never really talked to much. Except of the last time Charlie goes she tells him that he needs to tell someone what happened and it doesn’t have to be her. Charlie finely opened up to Allen and told him everything that happened. At the end of the movie Charlie gets his own place and Allen and his wife’s relationship gets better.     

world war ll

In the last set of movies we watched, we were learning how film could treat the same events in different ways. We watched two Steven Spielberg films. One was a drama and the other one was a comedy. Even though World War ll was the back drop for both movies, Spielberg conveyed very different points in each one.

I believe the point in Saving Private Ryan can be stated in two words, loyalty and sacrifice. Throughout the movie all of the characters displayed both of the traits listed above. Private Ryan’s mother sacrificed losing two sons. Obviously, the Ryan family was loyal to the country because they raised sons who strongly believed in military duty. The two brothers that died in battle sacrificed there life for their country. They were loyal patriots. The eight men that were sent to bring Private Ryan back sacrificed their lives to save Private Ryan. They were loyal soldiers that followed commands. Upon reaching Private Ryan to bring him home, they discover he wants to remain with his platoon. He also is loyal to his fellow soldiers and is willing to sacrifice what his mother wants. Out of the two films I believe that saving Private Ryan has the more poignant message because it is found in almost every major character.

 

The message in the movie 1941 was to show the range of feelings faced by the people in California following the Pearl Harbor bombing. Spielberg showed the emotions of fear, loyalty, and hysteria. Because Spielberg chooses to illustrate this through comedy, his message was less poignant. For example loyalty was shown by Mr. Ward because he lets the military put a rocket launcher in his front yard.  Jon Belushi’s character, “wild Bill”, spent the movie hysterically chasing down a plan he thought was Japanese. He did a lot of damage and as it turns out the plane he was chasing was American. An example of fear in the movie would be Zoot Suit Riots.

  

if the director was of a different race

I believe the films would be different if the director was of a different race, ethnicity, or religious belief for many reasons, first the stories would be told a lot different and they would be less powerful. Like the movie Do the Right Thing wouldn’t have been so powerful if it was by a white director. The whole moral of the story would have changed and the story would have been switched around instead of explaining the black’s side of the story as thoroughly. In my opinion I feel like they would try to show the blacks being very rude and getting in trouble a lot. I also feel like they would try to make the whites look more innocent and never wrong.

 The movie  Schindler's List wouldn’t be as successful in its depiction of the Nazi's oppression and elimination of the Jews if Spielberg was a German Catholic because the story wouldn’t have the meaning it is supposed to. I feel the movie wouldn’t have hit that emotional spot as much as it did. This movie would come from a total different point of view if the director was a different race or had a different religious belief. For example they would try to show more horrific things they did to the Jews and try showing how not one person felt bad or tried to stop it. They would have tried to make everyone think and look at Schindler as a horrible person for trying to betray them and going behind their back.  

sports

            The role sports play in racism is that every sport has many races that come together and work as a team. Teammates have to understand each other in this understanding leads to acceptances. In the movie “42” Jackie Robinsons teammates did not want him on the team. By the end of the movie they were defending him because they has respect for the man and looked past the color of his skin. In my opinion I think they do help eliminate racism because if someone is raciest it wouldn’t stop them from cheering for there favorite team or sport. When the movie Remember the Titans switched to having blacks on their team some off the white fans stayed and still cheered them on. Another example is when Julian went to Pelatier’s house and a police officer stopped him, Julian though he was going to be harassed but instead the officer told him good game. They both had a change of heart. Sports coaches have a moral obligation to not single anyone out because of their race. As a little kid you don’t see others different from you because of their color, you learn how to think and look at that other person from your parents or family.  

Here Comes the Boom

The movie Here Comes the Boom fits the hero archetype because Scott Voss is doing something dangerous to raise money for the music program at the high school he works at. Scott Voss wants to become a successful mixed martial arts fighter to get the money.  Scott is just a biology teacher that has no experience in fighting other then back in high school. But Scott doesn’t care because even if he loses he still gets $10,000. The UFC wanted Scott to come to Grand Las Vegas and fight for $50,000. When he got there he found out all the schools money and the money that he already won from previous fights was stolen. At that point Scott would have to win the UFC fight in order to save the music program or everything he has done would be worthless. He was fighting Ken Dietrich that said he was fighting someone that doesn’t deserve to be in a UFC fight. As Scott walks out in front of everyone on the day of the fight he sees that the kids in his music program were playing his song and showed up to support him. Scott Voss ends up winning the fight somehow and getting $50,000 for the school. I think he is a hero for putting his life at risk just to help the kids at his school.       

In the movie Daddy Day Care Charlie the dad gets fired from his job and is stuck at home with his son Ben all day. Charlie gets his two friends to quit their job to open up a day care with him. When Charlie has about twenty kids at his house he sees his son having fun and playing with friends. Charlie gets a new job so he stops the Daddy Day Care and works all the time.  He learned at the end of the movie that his son wasn’t really happy with him stopping the Daddy Day Care and Charlie learned that he needs to play with his kid more and pay more attention. So he decides to rent out a place, quit his job, take Daddy Day Care to the next level and pay more attention to his son and wife.

The other movie that had the same theme was Click because he was a workaholic and didn’t really pay attention to his kids. By fast forwarding through his life and missing his kids grow up.  Then he realized how much he missed out on, how much he wanted a second chance, and how much he missed the little things. When he woke up and found out it was all a dream he was more thankful and loving to his family.

Mr.deeds

Recently I have just watched Mr. Deeds goes to town and Mr. Deeds (Adam Sandler version). The differences between the two are quite interesting. In the first film Mr. Deeds goes to town, starts out with his uncle that had crashed down a cliff and passes away. Mr. Deeds then inherits 20 million dollars and has to go to New York City. The first difference in these two films is that in Adam Sandler’s version his uncle Blake dies while climbing Mount Everest. Then Mr. Deeds inherits his company and $40 billion. Another difference between the two movies is the difference on how the stories are told. In Mr. Deeds goes to town it is not told in a comical way, it’s told in a rather serious but boring way. In Adam Sandler’s version it is told in a more joking matter at first but then it gets serious in the end. The last difference that id like to talk about is about what both Deeds do with their money. In Mr. Deeds goes to town, he does not keep all that money. He gives it to the people that need it most to feed there family’s. In Adam Sandler’s version he basically gives his money away to a rich and stupid man. After he does that the money is almost taken away by other rich people, but then the news reporter that sabotaged him came with evidence that the servant is the owner of that money. Mr. Deeds then was given 1 million dollars, but he doesn’t keep it instead he buys everyone in mandrake falls a sports car. Some similarities are that both Mr. Deeds get sabotaged by a news reporter. Both of there uncles passed away leaving them a fortune. One last similarity is that both of the Deeds are caring people who like to help out others and there not ones that are greedy and selfish.

Back to the Future

    

        For my first blog, I am comparing how things were in the beginning of "Back to the Future" and how they were at the end of the movie and the events that changed history.  My first observation was in the beginning of the movie Marty's mom was fat and a drunk. When Marty went back in time he stopped his mother from drinking. In her new future she was very happy and skinny. Likewise, Marty’s father's future was changed greatly. In the beginning of the movie he was a big push over. Dering the course of the movie Marty helped him stand up for himself. In fact George ended up punching Biff. In George's new future Biff worked for George who worked in the office. Another shift was the outcome of  Doc Brown. The first time through the movie Doc gets shot and dies. However, Marty warns him of what is going to happen by writing him a letter so he knows to wear a bullet proof vest when he the terrorist shoot at him.

     Every member of Marty’s family was affected when he went back to the future.  In the beginning of the movie Marty’s brother David worked at a fast food place and his sister was quite the nerd.  When Marty got back from the future his brother worked at a bank and his sister was much more popular at her high school then she used to be.  Finely Marty himself was changed for the better.  He got the truck he really wanted and didn’t have at the beginning because his parents didn’t have the money for it.