Unit 8 Discussion Assignment 1. Though the initial reviews were mixed, time has proven the firm’s popular appeal. More than twenty years after its release. Scarface continues to be a rental favorite, a standard campus feature, and a late-night TV standard. How can the notion of the general welfare be used to justify giving big bucks to the stars making the film: actor Al Pacino, director Brian De Palma, and writer Oliver Stone? While the involved in Scarface, such as Al Pacino and Oliver Stone have certainly benefited considerably from the film it is marginally possible to apply the General Welfare rule. To apply the principle we could make some general assumptions. One such assumption is that many people are freelancers in the film industry. So, if we assume that the director Oliver Stone produced Scarface and didn’t secure any further directing work we could then use the general welfare Possibly the movie’s most repeated line is Al Pacino as Tony Montana explaining that to be successful in America, “First you get the money, then you get the power, then you get the women.” Does the story the movie tells about Montana’s life—coming to America with nothing as an immigrant and getting ahead by killing and drug dealing—make you more or less envious of his success (at least the money and power parts), or does it not make any difference? The concept itself of an immigrant coming to America and becoming a wealthy entrepreneurial successful individual is appealing success story in itself. Although his acquisition of wealth could certainly be viewed as envious, perhaps the manner in which acquired that wealth could change this somewhat. For me, it appears to be less envious due to the illegal activities that he was involved in rather than creating a corporation for example, as a legitimate business. If we compare the success of an ethical businessman such as Richard Branson, which could certainly be considered the most envious venture in this
However, after the dust settled, it was widely accepted that the blacklist was unjust, which enabled many film workers to pursue the movie studios in civil courts through the 1950’s for unpaid contracts and wages (Lewis, 2008). While the studios were initially impacted by the Paramount decision, the breadth of competition and independent successes of smaller studios gave rise to the advancement of innovative filmmaking that may not have been possible if it were not for the Paramount decision. Filmmaking is one of the riskiest and most profitable ventures in modern day society, and without these events, the studios and the film workers may not share the successes that they do
“The American dream of rags to riches is a dream for a reason - it is hard to achieve; were everyone to do it, it wouldn't be a dream but would rather be reality” Robert Fulton said once. Robert Fulton is an American inventor who is famous for making the steam boat. All throughout history people have always told stories of going from rags to riches. It is the great “American dream.” The ability to decide your own destiny, it is a major part of why flocks of immigrants come to the U.S. every year. Through popular music, art, film, and literature, we can discern that American identity is defined as being based on having the American attitude – hard work, dedication, and a little luck.
To conclude, the movie Casino was a master piece of Martin Scorsese. He presents to his viewer the truth about how the mob took control of the casinos in Las Vegas and how did the skimming operation failed. The movie was based on Frank Rosenthal's successful career in Las Vegas and most importantly the way that a making business at its higher pick came to the bottom of the line. After viewing this movie, it made me reflect how money and greed can have a huge impact on people's life.
In the framework of film and media aesthetics, a montage is the thematic placement and arrangement of event images that once arranged, create a greater event or portrays a deeper meaning. A montage is a technique that allows producers to swiftly reveal certain event details in a quicker, more condensed manner. Montages can sometimes build a narrative by use of images, scenes or sequences. An analytical montage is one that analyzes and event for its thematic and structural elements, selects the vital elements, and then synthesizes them into an intensified screen event. Sequential analytical montages are when the event is shown as the original cause/effect relationship within the same continuous time it would normally happen. Sectional analytical montages illustrate showing the depth of the event from several viewpoints rather than from a time aspect.
"Money and Success: The Myth of Individual Opportunity." Rereading America. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle, Boston: Bedford / St. Martins, 2001.295-297.
Connelly, Marie. "The films of Martin Scorsese: A critical study." Diss. Case Western Reserve University, 1991. Web. 07 Apr 2014.
The male American dream is most often interpreted as moving your family up in society by increasing your wealth. With this comes the need to purchase items that are on par with one’s income level and therefore showing off wealth and status. This need for items is not particularly because of usefulness or practicality but to distinguish oneself in society as a part of a particular class level, coming from the pressure to keep up with one’s peers. This film shows that society has taken over the definition of our needs and men no longer think for themselves but rather turn to see what others have and from that interpret what society sees as acceptable and standard. The male American dream can be interpreted as a never-ending cycle to prove oneself to others and appear to the standards that others define. According to Tyler Durden, “Advertising has us chasi...
Immigrants thought that the streets of America were paved in gold and anyone could go from rags to riches, but this was not true at all. Loewen states how, “textbooks do present immigrant history” even though this include the emphasis on rare success cases such as Andrew Carnegie and Joseph Pulitzer (213). In middle school, my eighth grade history class focused on Ellis Island, a place where many immigrants traveled to begin a “rags to riches life”, but my teacher never mentioned that many of these immigrants never actually become rich. Often times, if you are born poor, your family tends to stay poor for generations and
America has, for many decades, branded itself a nation of opportunity. As an economy built from the industry of first generation immigrants, America’s diversity stands testament to the fact that it is a nation of opportunity. An example of a person who characterizes the ideal that this nation is built on is my very own father. My father, although not completely American, displays the intrinsic qualities of an American hero: belief in oneself, adaptability, and humility.
The lives of Jacob Moore and Gordon Gekko soon intertwine in ways one wouldn’t expect. True colours of both men are shown in the battle for power and revenge and both Gekko and Moore realise that time is precious commodity. Will greed and ambition rule the decisions these men take? Will Jacob Moore continue living the American dream?
By providing the quote that Matthew Slaughter has given about the immigrants behind the wealth of America, the authors use this in aid of giving additional evidence behind their reasoning that immigrants have supplied their skills to America’s economy and how it has become an beneficial installment to the nation. The authors even went further to add within their article what Bill Gates had estimated about immigration.
When we think of successful people, many names come to mind: President Obama, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, etc. They're all very well established and have achieved what many call the American Dream. Another name among those that many may think of is Bill Gates, the multi-billionaire and founder of Microsoft. Who hasn't heard of his story? A college dropout reaches great fame and wealth as he pursues his lifelong dream of computer programming. How amazing! If Gates can become so rich and famous despite dropping out of college, anyone can, right? Everywhere around the world people work hard day and night. They work in hopes of achieving something grand. Almost everyone believes that the harder you work, the more you will earn, and therefore the
One can learn from Tony’s mistakes. One can learn that family comes first. Society can also learn that taking shortcuts in life sometimes lead to a dead ends with no u-turns. This film showcases the time line of how a drug lord could rise to power from nothing. This film also shows how that same power one gets from becoming a drug lord could be taken at any time. Studying how to analyze a movie has definitely changed my perspective on how I view movies. I actually look at all the detailing in movies. I look at the camera angles and how they affect the scene. I even start to question why the director did not use a different angle for certain shots. By using film theories and criticism one can generate enough ideas in order to understand the movie better. When a film is being captured the director focuses on certain angles and lights to get the meaning of the scene to the audience. Just like everything in life has a meaning, everything in film also has a comparison meaning. This course has widen my intellect on how movies affect our societies. Movies can play a major role in how we act or how laws are even created. Movies has the same power as music. I say movies has the same power because one can look at a movie and want to become whatever he or she saw in the movie. One major skills that I developed in this course is being able to focus. Before this course, I could not focus on anything at all. I was the type to focus on three or
Moviemaking is a risky business, for it is not always profitable. Only one in ten films ever recovers its initial investment from theatrical exhibition. In fact, four out of ten movies never recoup the original investment. In 2000, the average studio film cost had a total cost of over $80 million per film. No other industry in the world risks that much capital to make, finance, produce ...
The American Dream is the belief that anyone can rise from rags to riches. The movie, Gran Torino, does an excellent job demonstrating the achievement of the American Dream. The movie demonstrates these ideas through Thao Vang Lor, and Walt’s Gran Torino. Thao fulfills the American Dream in the movie and the car serves as a symbol of the dream for both Thao and Walt. Thao is a classic example of a boy being able to rise from unfavorable circumstances to a future with many opportunities.