A Rock and Roll Parody: The Magnificence and Selfishness of Heavy Metal This Is Spinal Tap (1984) is a movie that mocks the idea of the sexualized, masculine, heavy metal rock gods. The premise of the movie is a mockumentary about the fictional British rock band, Spinal Tap, with main members David St. Hubbins, Derek Smalls, and Nigel Tufnel. Throughout the film, the band experiences successive failures and embarrassments as their arrogance and ignorance far outweigh their musical talent. The film takes place during the band’s 1982 tour of the United States during which they promote their first album in many years with a sexually provocative title, Smell the Glove, and an equally provocative album cover. Despite the band’s excitement about their tour, the American public seems to care very little about them. In the 1980’s, heavy metal rock had all ready lost its spotlight as MTV first aired in 1981 (Szatmary 279), rock began to turn back towards a political message (Szatmary 304), and house and techno music was just beginning …show more content…
Unlike guitarists like B.B. King who only used one guitar, the lead guitarist has a grand collection of many different types of guitars, one of which he does not even touch let alone play. When confronted with catering before a show featuring tiny pieces of bread and slices of bread that are bigger than the bread slices, the guitarist complains to his manager instead of making due with what he was given. These two examples show how rock gods can be egotistical and have illusions of their own grandeur up to an unrealistic point. The lead guitarist is also portrayed as a satire of the rock god, Jimmy Page who would use a bow on his guitar. Instead of using a bow however, Spinal Tap’s guitarist uses a violin and then tunes it when he thinks it sounds
Anyone can teach others from leading by example. Showing others what you can accomplish establishes confidence in others to try out their own dreams, wishes, and goals. A great example of leading by example is Gus, Clark, and Richie in the movie The Benchwarmers. These men meet Nelson, a stereotypical nerd that is bullied by baseball jocks every day just because he wants to play with them. This little boy inspires the men to show others that everyone should have the same opportunity to play baseball, no matter the skill level.
Dazed and Confused is a film that follows a plethora of characters on the last day of school before summer vacation. Although lacking in tangible plot, it makes a bold attempt to encompass and present the zeitgeist of the 1970s. In my opinion it is as if Dazed and Confused was produced in hopes of making those viewers who lived through the 1970s feel a sense of nostalgia. The film’s trajectory, harnessing of zeitgeist, and soundtrack are all very similar to George Lucas’s American Graffiti—a film that also successfully rooted in nostalgia. Dazed and Confused was released in 1993 and, like American Graffiti, was able to look over its shoulder to determine what music stood the test of time. The film attempts to epitomize what it meant for someone to grow up in the 1970s. Its success depends on its ability to recreate the spirit present in that era. In this paper I will talk about how the use of the popular soundtrack functions with the overall narrative, show ways in which characters actually interact with the music, how the soundtrack functions in a specific scene, explain my personal relationship to the soundtrack, and touch briefly on how the meaning of the film has changed over the course of time.
Aside from its acting, the other major influence which Mean Streets had upon American film-makers was through it's use of a rock n' roll soundtrack (almost perfectly integrated with the images), and in its depiction of a new kind of screen violence. Unexpected, volatile, explosive and wholly senseless, yet, for all that, undeniably cinematic violence. The way in which Scorsese blends these two - the rock and roll and the violence - shows that he understood instinctively, better than anyone else until then, that cinema (or at least this kind of cinema, the kinetic, visceral kind) and rock n' roll are both expressions of revolutionary instincts, and that they are as inherently destructive as they are creative. This simple device - brutal outbreaks of violence combined with an upbeat soundtrack - has been taken up by both the mainstream cinema at large and by many individual `auteurs', all of whom are in Scorsese's debt - Stone and Tarantino coming at once to mind.
Released September 29, 1950, Sunset Boulevard is a film noir of a forgotten silent film star, Norma Desmond, that dreams of a comeback and an unsuccessful screenwriter, Joe Gillis, working together. Ultimately an uncomfortable relationship evolves between Norma and Joe that Joe does not want a part of. Sunset Boulevard starts off with an establishing shot from a high angle shot with a narrative leading to a crime scene from a long shot (a dead body is found floating in a pool), this narrative throughout the film establishes a formalist film.
Both “The Wrecking Crew” and McGowan’s interview on Red Ice touched on a controversial topic of the music industry. McGowans interview spoke of the Laurel Canyon music scene and “The Wrecking Crew” discussed how the bands in the 60’s and 70’s didn’t play their own music. These band that are mentioned in both films include; The Doors, The Monkees, The Mamas and the Papas, the Beach Boys, and many more. McGowan’s interview however, covers an alternate side to the story.
Within the German Democratic Republic, there was a secret police force known as the Stasi, which was responsible for state surveillance, attempting to permeate every facet of life. Agents within and informants tied to the Stasi were both feared and hated, as there was no true semblance of privacy for most citizens. Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the movie The Lives of Others follows one particular Stasi agent as he carries out his mission to spy on a well-known writer and his lover. As the film progresses, the audience is able to see the moral transformation of Stasi Captain Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler primarily through the director 's use of the script, colors and lighting, and music.
In the documentary “Fed Up,” sugar is responsible for Americas rising obesity rate, which is happening even with the great stress that is set on exercise and portion control for those who are overweight. Fed Up is a film directed by Stephanie Soechtig, with Executive Producers Katie Couric and Laurie David. The filmmaker’s intent is mainly to inform people of the dangers of too much sugar, but it also talks about the fat’s in our diets and the food corporation shadiness. The filmmaker wants to educate the country on the effects of a poor diet and to open eyes to the obesity catastrophe in the United States. The main debate used is that sugar is the direct matter of obesity. Overall, I don’t believe the filmmaker’s debate was successful.
The entire movie is littered with anxiety. The movie makes you anxious as to what may happen next. This primary example is the scene where Skeeter ask Aibileen to tell her personal stories for the book Skeeter is writing. This rose a very serious anxiety in both women. Skeeter also found other maids to also share their personal stories. This scenario caused extreme anxiety because in that day and time if you were to publish or talk about what the maids have to endure, you could be prosecuted or maybe even killed.
The film Sunset Boulevard, presented in 1950 is a black and white film. The film is about Norma Desmond an old actress, who has issues accepting that she is becoming old. The main actor in the film is Gloria Swanson, who plays Norma Desmond, an older woman who believes she is still young. Desmond is not content with the fact that Hollywood has replaced her with younger actresses. The next actor Nancy Olson, plays Betty Schaffer who falls in love with Gillis despite being engaged to his friend. The third actor is William Holden who plays as Joe Gillis, who has financial problems and decides to turn himself into a gigolo to earn money. The dilemma with Joe is he does not want Betty to know about his job because he knows he might lose Betty as
“There once was a time in this business when I had the eyes of the whole world! But that wasn't good enough for them, oh no! They had to have the ears of the whole world too. So they opened their big mouths and out came talk. Talk! TALK!” (Sunset Boulevard). The film Sunset Boulevard directed by Billy Wilder focuses on a struggling screen writer who is hired to rewrite a silent film star’s script leading to a dysfunctional and fatal relationship. Sunset Boulevard is heavily influenced by the history of cinema starting from the 1930s to 1950 when the film was released.
The movie I decided to analyze for this course was American History X (1998), which stars Edward Norton. Though this movie isn’t widely known, it is one of the more interesting movies I have seen. It’s probably one of the best films that depict the Neo Nazi plague on American culture. The film takes place from the mid to late 1990’s during the Internet boom, and touches on subjects from affirmative action to Rodney King. One of the highlights of this movie that really relates to one of the key aspects of this course is the deterrence of capital punishment. Edward Norton’s portrayal as the grief stricken older brother who turns to racist ideologies and violence to cope with his fathers death, completely disregards the consequences of his actions as he brutally murders someone in front of his family for trying to steal his car. The unstable mentality that he developed after his father’s death really goes hand-to-hand specifically with Isaac Ehrlich’s study of capital punishment and deterrence. Although this movie is entirely fictional, a lot of the central themes (racism, crime punishment, gang pervasiveness, and one’s own vulnerability) are accurate representations of the very problems that essentially afflict us as a society.
In the movie And the Band Played On, stakeholders’ interests stymied public health efforts to research and implement health policy to control the rapidly emerging disease, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The stakeholders within the movie, those whose interest would be impacted by policy change, included the affected populations, scientists, state and federal public health officials, and organizations including blood banks. Early in the epidemic, the Center for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were tentative in disclosing vital information – many homosexual men were becoming infected in the bathhouses (Pillsbury, Sanford, & Spottiswoode, 1993). Despite having the supporting evidence of patient zero and a sexual cluster
Sex, love, depression, guilt, trust, all are topics presented in this remarkably well written and performed drama. The Flick, a 2014 Pulitzer Prize winning drama by Annie Baker, serves to provide a social commentary which will leave the audience deep in thought well after the curtain closes. Emporia State Universities Production of this masterpiece was a masterpiece in itself, from the stunningly genuine portrayal of the characters of Avery and Rose, to the realism found within the set, every aspect of the production was superb.
The Associate is an entertaining movie that brings forth gender disparities in the workplace. Whoopi Goldberg, Laurel Ayers, portrays a financial analyst who has been stuck in a position that does not give her true credit for all of her hard work and talents. The Associate exemplifies the sexism that is occurring in the workplace through satiric wit and a strong story line.
In this paper I am going to write about the movie “Grease.” Specifically, on the two main characters Sandy and Danny. I will be describing and analyzing their interpersonal communication, but mainly on the conflict of their communication.