As most of you know by now the movie The Hurt Locker won the Oscar for movie of the year, and this makes me very angry. My civilian friends keep asking me why I'm so mad, because most of them enjoyed watching it. Simply put it's because the movie is full of lies, exaggerations, and ugly people. 'But it's a movie' they say, 'of course it's not realistic'. That's strange.. because the back of The Hurt Locker box says 'Powerfully Realistic'. Yet this movie is about as far from realism that a movie can be (this claim includes all movies about time travel, and vampires, but excludes any movies starring the Wayans brothers).
Don't get me wrong here- I'm not a stickler for all military realism. The military uniforms in the Transformers are a ridiculous hodgepodge of different branches, but no one cares because America is fighting off evil giant alien robots, and nerds like Shia Labeouf are getting with impossibly hot women like Megan Fox (still not convinced that she's not an evil alien robot here to destroy monogamous relationships). The point being that it's not the realism, it's the claiming to be real that disturbs me. Although I will say that there is the occasional fantasy movie that breaks rules of realism as well. X-Men 3 is a prime example of what I like to call fantasmical stupidity.
In the climactic scene of the movie Magneto rips up the entire Golden Gate Bridge and relocates it so that his minions can cross the bay to Alcatraz and capture the mutant boy wearing a livestrong bracelet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKc4BWvWtuM. Let's assume for a moment that Magneto has developed his power over the metallic elements enough to move a 4200 feet long and 746 feet tall steel bridge a couple miles. Plus the bridge was f...
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...arine's brain isn't functioning properly and should not be limited to just TBI. For example- drugs, abused as a child, hit by a train, licked too many envelopes, crack baby, gasoline fight, former or current resident of Texas, Nickleback, Aids, watched JEM and the holograms as a kid, shot in the face, molested by a priest, American Idol finalist, horrific sunburn, allergic to peanuts, testicular cancer, Yankees fan, or just plain dumb.)
I guess what's the most troubling about The Hurt Locker is just how little the general public knows about the war and deployments. This begs the question: if that movie can dupe millions of Americans while we are currently engaged in two conflicts what else can Hollywood do? Next thing you know someone will claim that not all vampires are beautiful high schoolers whose skin shines in the sunlight (I'm on to you Libby Presnell).
In today's day and age, it's rare to see famous historical events and societal disasters not be picked apart by film directors and then transformed into a box office hit. What these films do is put a visual perspective on these events, sometimes leaving viewers speculating if whatever was depicted is in fact entirely true. I have never felt that feeling more than after I finished watching Oliver Stone’s JFK.
Movies based on books are not always accurate relative to the plot of the book. In Fahrenheit 451 it can be said, there are some particular contrasts between the book and the movie. Despite the fact that the film emphasizes the subjects and premise of the book, there are numerous distinctions to differentiate. The motion picture Fahrenheit 451 is not accurate, taking into account the book's plot.
Ryzik, Melena. “A Lawsuit for ‘Hurt Locker,’ in Time for Oscars.” The New York Times. 04 Mar. 2010. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.
"Realism in, art and literature, [is] an attempt to describe human behavior and surroundings or to represent figures and objects exactly as they act or appear in life" (Realism 1). During the 1840's through the 1890's realism was present in much of the literature from the United Sates and Europe. It has been said that realism is easily visible in many pieces of modern literature and even in present day films. In 2001, the movie Training Day was released into theaters. Many critics agreed that the movie was very realistic. In fact, the main actor Denzel Washington was presented with an academy award for his performance in Training Day. Training Day can be considered realistic, but many aspects of the film show little realism.
A hero can be defined as the main character in a story, and as the following film elements discussed induce one to think – not to mention the movie’s title- , that Thelma and Louise are the two main characters of this story. Courage and noble acts are other characteristics that will also be taken in account in order to better support the argument that these two women are indeed the heroes of this story.
One could easily dismiss movies as superficial, unnecessarily violent spectacles, although such a viewpoint is distressingly pessimistic and myopic. In a given year, several films are released which have long-lasting effects on large numbers of individuals. These pictures speak
In 2006, a film directed by Clint Eastwood was released in theatres around the world titled Letters from Iwo Jima. Unlike most war movies that are produced for the American public, this film entirely captures the World War II battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of the enemy. For a rare change, Letters from Iwo Jima shows the cultural aspect and daily life the Japanese soldiers experienced during the war. Although the film was given many positive reviews and was noted as one of the best films of 2006, it still received mixed emotions from both the Japanese and American public. One of the main ideas of the film focuses on the idea that good and evil exist on both sides, and that although we share different ideas, thoughts, traditions, and customs, we are all human and share more in common than we think.
The title of the film reflects not only the history of violence of the protagonist, but the history of violence in America. This simple movie gracefully indicates how movie violence prevails as a reflection of American culture. “The History of Violence” is not just another gut-spilling movie about a man running from his past. Instead, it serves as a window into understanding the desire for movie violence in America. While critics argue that the movie is over-contextualized, the average American may argue that the movie is not precise enough. However, the beauty of the movie resides in its complex ambiguity.
Antirealism in film transcends and brainstorms the fantasies that never become reality. Even though antirealism is apprehensive with a smaller amount then actual stuff, our observation for an...
I spent a lot of time considering what movie I would watch to write this essay. I listed off the movies that I would like to watch again, and then I decided on The Notebook. I didn’t really think I could write about adolescence or children, so I thought that, maybe, I could write about the elderly. The love story that The Notebook tells is truly amazing. I love watching this movie, although I cry every time I watch it. The Notebook is about an elderly man that tells the story of his life with the one he loves the most, his wife. He is telling the story to his wife, who has Alzheimer’s Disease, which is a degenerative disease that affects a person’s memory. She has no recollection of him or their life together, or even her own children. She wrote the story of their love herself, so that when he read the story to her, she would come back to him. There are three things that I would like to discuss about this movie. First, I would like to discuss their stage of life and the theory that I believe describes their stage of life the best. Second, I would like to discuss Alzheimer’s DIsease and its affect on the main character who has it and her family. Third, I would like to discuss how at the end of the movie, they died together. I know it is a movie, but I do know that it is known that elderly people who have been together for a long time, usually die not to far apart from one another.
An individual is shaped and molded by how they are treated by those that surround them. Most people value the opinions of those they care about and want to act in accord. Consequently, the choices people make are greatly influenced by the people in their lives. Sometimes, someone will become close with people who are different from each other. Such is the case in Good Will Hunting. Will Hunting (Matt Damon) struggles between the people that created him and the people that discovered him.
There is an intellectual discussion over the accuracy of war films and whether or not these should focus more on telling the truth or decorating it a little. Indeed, the narrative of war films has change throughout the years because the purpose of such films has evolved, especially those representing the World War II years and the aftermath. At the time of war, films were employed with diverse objectives for example to urge the public to support the war, to narrate the latest events, or to rebuild the image of the heroes. Most of the times the perspectives of films could vary depending on the country the film was produced in or which side of the story was being narrated. The plot of most war films might not be real, but they were necessary
Margin Call depicts a realistic take on what happens inside a Wall Street firm. It is about a company that is downsizing their workers because of a firm’s crisis. One of the victims, Eric Dale, was working on a major analysis when he was laid off. He hands his coworker Peter Sullivan his USB, which contains the major analysis. Peter stays late and cracks the issues and calls his coworkers and bosses in about the financial disaster he had discovered. He had discovered that the company is about the crash. He tries to get ahold of Eric, no luck. He then calls his coworkers Seth Bregman and Will Emerson, who are at a bar and tells them that they need to come back to the office for an emergency situation. After showing the situation to Will, John Tuld, the Chief Executive Officer, quickly hears about it. They all have a conference meeting and decide that the company will sell all of the mortgages, which have little to no value. Once the sale is completed, the company tries to save their reputation by saying that this issue was nonpreventable.
However, not all depictions of violence against women are as easily defined by a just or deplorable representation. In Full Metal Jacket, Stanley Kubrick creates a climax in a moment that rev...