Synopsis: Based on a true story, the film follows Steve Lopez, a reporter for LA Times, and his journey to capture the story of Nathaniel Ayers, homeless Julliard drop-out and schizophrenic. When Ayers seems to become more attached and Lopez can see how music helps him to flourish, Lopez must decide if he is willing to be a true friend or if he is only seeking a story.
Joe Wright will truly make you think with his screen adaptation of “The Soloist,” a series of newspaper articles centered around a man whose mental illness caused him to shy away from his dream of playing in a symphony. The movie centers around two characters: Nathaniel Ayers, an extremely talented schizophrenic musician living on the streets of modern day Los Angeles and Steve Lopez, the head reporter for the LA Times. Jamie Foxx gives an incredible performance as Nathaniel Ayers and Robert Downey Jr. is wonderful as usual lending his dry humor to making Lopez believable. These two actors come together to skillfully paint a beautiful story and bring awareness to the homeless and mentally ill population. The Soloist stands as a moving reminder of the value of
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Music is the one thing that quiets Ayers’ chaotic schizophrenic tendencies. The director shows this by a few scenes where Ayers is talking excessively, and once Lopez begins trying to talk about music or Julliard, Ayers is instantly interested in the conversation and begins to respond. The movie is a moving reminder of why it is important not to exclude or alienate those with mental illness. Ayers’ friendship with Lopez gives him some consistency and support. Their friendship taught Lopez about “the dignity of being loyal to something you believe in, of holding onto it,” as he says near the end of the movie. The movie ended at just under two hours but at no point in time was it not entertaining, and the actors and dialogue kept the film interesting the entire
Both the book and film are set in Los Angeles and tell a story of a homeless paranoid schizophrenic named Nathaniel Ayers. Throughout the film The Soloist directed by Joe Wright, it explains what happened to Nathaniel and his love for music; some of those events happen in the book; The Soloist by Steve Lopez. Nathaniel loves music but has a mental illness, while Mr. Lopez is a columnist for LA Times. While both the book and the film tell the same story, it is the book that is far more effective because it gave more characterization and detailed plot.
In the following novel, “The Soloist” by Steve Lopez. The author captures the reader’s interest quickly by the first paragraph. Lopez talks about this mysterious man he encounters on the street, but ends up losing him the minute he looks away. Lopez also teaches his readers that to not judge a book by its cover, because it may surprise the reader of the story it has within.
Jazz is a music genre that is very rich in culture which is why I decided to attend a Jazz concert. This was my first Jazz event I had ever been to. I went to see the band The Chairman and the Board. This was a blues swing band. Having been to other concerts, I was expecting something similar as far as atmosphere and crowd. I was proved very wrong as this concert defied all my expectations and was in a whole different field as far as life entertainment goes. The first thing I noticed right off the bat was the audience. The age range of this audience was mainly 40-70. I definitely felt like the odd man out when I was there. It did get me thinking though, why was this audience so much older? I looked into the era of when most of those people
The Western concert flute was developed over the centuries from a simple end-blown flute to the current transverse flute. Transverse flutes are flutes that are held parallel to the floor. To play a transverse, the flutist directs the airstream across the mouth or blow hole and not directly into the instrument. The flute constitutes one of the most important instruments of the orchestra because of its high range, ability to blend in with other instruments and play the melody.
...ley’s admiration towards ‘Drover’ with their desirable love developing over time. Luhrmann contrasts the audience with the emotional expressions and differing body language, which is significantly visually depicted The non-diegetic music tempo speeds up, creating a dramatic tension and signifying the importance of the couple’s connection and emphasises on their emotional intensity.
The phenomenon of the American Dream has been engraved into the American culture since perhaps the beginning of post-revolutionary America itself. The classic belief that if you work hard, you would be able to reap the material benefits of what you sowed, at least enough to live comfortably is a myth that has been propagated in many literary works, deconstructed in many American literary works as a mere myth. And in Arthur Miller’s The Death of a Salesman and August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, we see such deconstruction of the American Dream take place through both plays’ showcasing of the many complexities of the American life, complexities that are not taken into consideration with the black-and-white narrowing of the American Dream. While hard work does make up a part of the equation, it does not make up the entire equation of a comfortable lifestyle. That manifestation of the many facets of the American Dream is shown in both Miller’s The Death of a Salesman and Wilson’s The Piano Lesson.
Cohen’s goal is to introduce music in to their lives in hopes of regaining their lost personality and self-identity. With the use of iPods and a playlist of the participant’s favorite music. The film introduces varies professionals such as Dr. Oliver
The movie kept you at the edge of your seat from the ‘ghost scene’ on. Although it was four hours, it seemed to go by much faster. It is always interesting to see a director’s interpretation or portrayal of the play. Kenneth Branagh did an excellent job. “2 thumbs up!';
The history of Jazz music is one that is tied to enslavement, and prejudices. It Is impossible to separate the development of Jazz music from the racial oppression that occurred in the United States as they are inextricably connected. Slavery was a part of our country’s development that is shameful and yet, lead to some of the greatest musical advances of the twentieth century.
The Soloist (Foster, Krasnoff & Wright, 2008), is based on a true story of Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Jr. who develops psychosis and becomes homeless. In the film, Nathaniel is considered a cello genius who is discovered on the streets by Steve Lopez, a journalist from the Los Angeles Times. Steve was searching for a city story and he decided to write a newspaper article about Nathaniel. Nathaniel always had a passion for music. He was a child prodigy and attended Juilliard School of Music. However, he faced many complications at Juilliard, particularly hearing voices speaking to him. Unable to handle the voices, Nathaniel dropped out and ended up living on the streets of Los Angeles. Steve and Nathaniel develops an unexpected friendship, in which Steve tries to help Nathaniel to live a normal life; having a home, treat his mental disorder, and to fulfil his dream of being a cellist again.
Specific performance generally is an equitable remedy granted by the court imposing an obligation on the party who is intended or have committed a breach of contract to perform his duty. It is a proper method of compelling the defendant to perform a positive obligation of his own under the contract entered into between him and the plaintiff.[ Halsbury Law of Schools] With the order for specific performance, the party in breach must perform his obligation.
The two concerts that I chose to go see were Stanislaus State Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensembles & Combos Concert. These two concerts are both very similar yet different in their own ways. Each piece also has many attributes to contribute and it was fun being able to watch two very different genres.
Theatre has heavily evolved over the past 100 years, particularly Musical Theatre- a subgenre of theatre in which the storyline is conveyed relying on songs and lyrics rather than dialogue. From its origination in Athens, musical theatre has spread across the world and is a popular form of entertainment today. This essay will discuss the evolution and change of musical theatre from 1980-2016, primarily focusing on Broadway (New York) and the West End (London). It will consider in depth, the time periods of: The 1980s: “Brit Hits”- the influence of European mega musicals, the 1990s: “The downfall of musicals”- what failed and what redeemed, and the 2000s/2010s: “The Resurgence of musicals”- including the rise of pop and movie musicals. Concluding
The pianist is a film made in 2002, directed by Roman Polanski and it circles around the life of Waldyslaw Szpilman which was played by Adrien Brody. This movie is a true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman who, during the 1930’s, was known as the most talented piano player in all of Poland. As the Second World War begins, Szpilman becomes subject imposed to the anti-Jewish laws by the Germans who want to take over Poland. By the beginning of 1940’s Szpilman has witnessed his world/the community go from piano performance halls to the Jewish Ghetto of Warsaw. In addition, Szpilman was obliged to suffer the calamity of his families’ exile to German concentration camps, at the same time he is recruited into a forced German Labor Compound by a police guard named Itzak Heller, who had earlier captured his brother in jail. Then he goes hiding in buildings/apartments, but sooner or later ends-up looking through blown-up/burnt buildings at night for food and hiding throughout the daytime. Then one day, a Nazi Officer by the name of Captain Wilm Hosenfeld, discovers him in a building looking for food. Szpilman tells the captain that he is pianist but Hosenfeld doesn’t believe it. So Szpilman proves to Hosenfeld that he is a pianist by playing it on the piano. Szpilman starts out by playing a solemn and concise version of Chopin’s “Ballad in G Minor”. Hosenfeld impressed by Szpilman’s playing of piano, helps him stay alive, but later runs away from the building he is in when Russian army advances. Later it is shown that Hosenfeld is captured by the army and put in concentration camp where he hears the name of Szpilman and tells an officer that he knows Szpilman, after that we are given the assumption that Hosenfeld died in the camp. On the other h...
Playing musical Instrument as a hobby can be fun. It has a lot of benefits, including memory improvement and stress reducer. Music is an art which should be approached with intensity and great affection .Playing music as a hobby adds fun in life, peace, and fulfillment that lifts the spirit and make everyone involved enjoy. What then can be the benefit of playing a musical instrument as a hobby?