“There's kind of a Zen aspect to bowling. The pins are either staying up or down before you even throw your arm back. It's kind of a mind-set. You want to be in this perfect mind-set before you released the ball.” Jeff Bridges describes bowling to be black or white; one pin can not both be up and down. However, the character whom Jeff Bridges portrays in the classic bowling noir film The Big Lebowski, the Dude, is far from black and white. Once he was an ex-social justice warrior protesting the Vietnam war, now he is hanging out with a disgruntled Vietnam vet. With a joint in his mouth and a White Russian in his hand, the Dude goes through life without a care, only waiting for his turn to bowl. Throughout the movie, the Dude is dragged into a series of unfortunate events, none of which are his idea. What originally started off with nothing more than a piss-stained carpet spawned into a faux kidnapping and the death of the Dude’s beloved friend, Donny. The plot, …show more content…
Instead, he goes to the bowling alley to contemplate life. Everything happens at the bowling alley. Whether it is Walter convincing the Dude to take action for his soiled carpet, Walter drawing a gun, or Donny dying, the bowling alley represents as the home base for the gang. In fact, if anything, the alley is a representation of the daily slog of life. “The act of bowling is an adapted symbol which I will take to be representative of the Myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus tragic Greek hero who is damned to endlessly toil by repeatedly pushing a rock up a hill (and when it reaches the top, it rolls back down and he must start all over again)” (Kerr). The other commoners in the fluorescent lit room are stuck there, endlessly rolling the heavy ball with little to no escape. In his dream, he’s flying to Maude, and nothing can seemingly stop him. However, as he gets closer to her the ball drags him down, and he crashes back to
I chose to view and analyze the film The Boondock Saints. There were many different things I focused on while viewing the film. I decided to brake them down into the following categories: narrative, theatrical elements, cinematography, sound, and the overall experience. I will begin with stating my personal interpretations and understandings of the narrative.
..., all-powerful figure who serves as a catalyst. He represents Money. He is also present in Roman Polanski’s Chinatown. He is the man who has contributed to the construction of the city. He symbolizes the old order, and, at the end, he discovers it is all a sham…The Big Lebowski, in his wheelchair, recalls the equally paralyzed General Sternwood,
The film opens with mass in a Boston Catholic church where two Irish American twin brothers Connor and Murphy pray while a sermon is read. As the preacher begins his homily the brothers approach the altar and kiss the feet of a crucifix. As they depart the priest reminds the congregation that they should fear not just evil but all the indifference of good men. Connor and Murphy work at a local meatpacking plant and while celebrating St. Patrick’s day in a neighborhood bar three Russian “soldiers” enter and order everyone to leave as their organization has decided to evict the pub. As a bar brawl ensues and the twin brothers embarrass the Russian soldiers the two brother’s later resolve to rid Boston of evil men with the help of their friend and former mob package boy. The brothers accidentally kill mafia thugs turn themselves in and are released as heroes. Trading in valuables and weapons stolen from the mobsters and with the use Connor’s knowledge of Russian they try to locate a meeting between Russian syndicate bosses at a local hotel. In a city where the mob has completely taken over two fraternal twin brothers try and rid the city of crime and restore its cultural values and norms by stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Culture effects the
The Bad and The Beautiful (1952) and State and Main (2000) are films within films that unmask Hollywood Cinema as a dream factory and expose the grotesque, veneer hidden by the luxury of stars. The Bad and the Beautiful, directed by Vincent Minnelli, is a black and white film narrated in flashback form. The films theatrical nature requires more close-ups than wide-screen shots to capture the character’s psychological turmoil. For example, Fred and Jonathan’s car ride is captured in a close-up to signify their friendship; however their relationship deteriorates after Jonathan’s deceit. While the camera zooms out, Fred stands alone motionless. Here, Fred is captured from a distance at eye-level and he becomes ostracized by the film industry and
Good Will Hunting, by Gus Van Sant, is a well-respected movie meant to inspire others. It reflects how nature and nurture work together in creating a mature human being. In the film we watch a man with a matured brain go through a struggle between his past and his future. He knows that he is highly intelligent but he chooses not to show it often due to his childhood abuse. While watching the movie, the audience doesn’t realize that there is a lot of science being depicted. The movie goes along with the theme of nature versus nurture as well as how the brain generally works. Specifically, the movie seems to focus on the general function of the brain and how different surroundings can make and break the personality of human beings.
The Boondock Saints is a great movie for those who like a story line in their action movie. This is not the same fighting enemies action movie you always watch. The Boondock Saints is about two brothers set out to stop crime in the city of Boston. Connor and Murphy MacManus are two Irish fraternal twins. These two men were forced to use self-defense and kill two mobsters from the Russian mafia. This led them to be the city’s vigilantes. They recruit their friend “The Funny Man” who also goes by Rocco. The three start on a crime stopping spree through Boston, Massachusetts. They have tons of action and a little bit of drama to have you always on your seat.
Then people start to appear in his life forcing him to interact with the other story that is happening at the same time. First the thugs soil his rug, then the Big Lebowski asks The Dude to be the courier for the ransom money. The dude botches the ransom delivery and could care less so he goes to the bowling alley with the money in his car. This again shows how the dude truly does not care about what is happening around him. The Dude sits in the bowling alley as if he didn’t just come from a shoot-out filled, and failure of a ransom delivery. A new character, Maude Lebowski, now interjects herself into the story. She explains that she is the one who stole his rug, the second time, due to its sentimental value, and then explains her theory that Bunny Lebowski kidnapped herself. Maude offers The Dude a portion of the ransom money if he can retrieve it and he can then use this money to buy a new rug. This is yet another person who has no relation to the dude except for a rug. Each aspect of the dramatic side of the film somehow ties into this rug and thus rug symbolizes The Dude’s identity. The rug itself Is visually appealing, mirroring The Dude’s interesting appearance and personality, the rug is passive like The Dude they both simply exist in their surroundings. Another common characteristic of both the rug and The
Bowling culture, as observed in your local bowling alley, revolves around objects like shoes, alley markings, and bowling balls. Throughout the following essay, I discuss how these objects have influenced bowling culture and how the culture has influenced them. Bowling has been losing popularity in the United States. To save the sport, we need to study bowling culture and determine what is working and what isn’t. Bowling culture is one that is constantly changing and requires a strategic mindset be successful.
In the movie Silver Linings Playbook there are two main characters, Pat and Tiffany, whom portray a type of mental illness. Below, I will explain each character in regards to their symptoms and portrayal of mental illness and compare the information discussed in the Abnormal Psychology Textbook.
His position in life can be regarded as symbolic of every black male struggling to provide for his family by any means necessary. Although Walter has a job, it seems inadequate for his survival. As a result, he has become frustrated and lacks good judgement. Throughout this play, Walter searches for the key ingredient that will make his life blissful. His frustrations stem from him not being able to act as a man and provide for his family and grasp hold of his ideals to watch them manifest into a positive situation.
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.
Band of Brothers is a ten part, eleven hour mini series directed by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. The series aired on HBO in 2001 and is based on the book by Stephen Ambrose by the same title.
This episode illustrates a major conflict throughout the story. As Walter dreams bigger and bigger he seems to leave the 'smaller' things such as his family behind. This movement away from the family is against the furtherance of the values and morals of the family. While his father would have been happy simply working and caring for his family, Walter is more concerned with becoming a 'mover and shaker' without thinking about the resulting consequences for his family.
1980. Warner Bros. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Music by Wendy Carlos and Rcachel Elkind. Cinematography by John Alcott. Editing by Ray Lovejoy. With Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd.
Love is a word that’s been both miss-used and over-used all at once. Romantic movies change our definition of and have a big impact on this definition greatly. There have been many movies and novels made over love, but never like this. “The Notebook” is a love story about unconditional love that two people have for each other. This emotionally, heart touching story will have your eyes blood-shot and burning from you not wanting to blink your eyes. This tremendously wonderful love story will have you not wanting to even miss a millisecond of this heart throbbing film. With many plot twists and many scenes that will have you falling off of your seat and you not having any nails by the end of the movie, this is the movie for you. This emotionally rich film is full of action, laughter, and romance, which is the perfect trio combination. This movie shows us how love can bind us together forever. This film went above and