MY PLE!

I've learned so much from so many informational websites about film and television.

Although all were helpful in my quest for knowledge pertaining to the accuracy of my film blogs,

essays, and other evaluations referencing films, the most helpful sites out of all of these

happened to be: http://www.imdb.com/ , and http://www.rottentomatoes.com/#. I would also

be remiss if I did not thank Wikipedia for all of its amazing, exhaustive information on directors

and actors of the films we as a class concentrated on this semester.

Also, I would like to add Youtube.com to my list of useful sources. Some of these film reviewers

were, honestly, some of my biggest inspirations during this class. Thank you Youtube!






Short History of Film was an amazing, amazing class to be a part of.
Thank you!
-Lizzy Place

"New Hollywood"

What defines “New Hollywood”? Is it the ground-breaking films that succeeded in making it to the big screen, or the underground “Indy” films that influenced the more well-renowned yet society-changing, stirring films that we are all so familiar with to this day? It is indeed more common to refer to the more famous, and more prominent films in relation to “New Hollywood”. Although films such as The Graduate and My Fair Lady influenced many filmmakers after their introduction to the big screen, these films were not the first of their kind; they were derived and inspired by books, and less recognized films, even the stage! "New Hollywood" is what Hollywood became in the early 1960s,which gradually became more prevalent in film and television after the first, for lack of a better word, "scandalous" big screen hits came out.

"New Hollywood" is easily defined as the most influential and what are the most notable films in history; films that changed forever the way Hollywood was viewed forever. The graduate is a fantastic example of this particular occurrence; Benjamin Braddock (played by the much respected and immensely talented actor, Dustin Hoffman)
portrays a young man who has just graduated from college. He is confronted with feelings of... well, frankly, numbness and huge disappointment. In an effort to possibly conquer the debilitating sense of emptiness, loneliness, and just pure boredom, Benjamin Braddock has a shocking affair with a married woman named Mrs. Robinson. The entirety of the film, "The Graduate", is dedicated to documenting the emptiness and hollowness young newly graduated college students commonly experience. Although it is very particular of the time in which it was based, the film was a mildly unheard of, honest representation of life. Quite a gigantic step out of the closet for Hollywood (or shall I say, "New Hollywood")

Hollywood started as a prudish, conservative setting and transformed into what we all recognize as the daring and controversial scene of the "new age" of film. As we as a society have grown, the big screen has reflected that growth. As we have become more accepting, more adventurous, and possibly more imaginative, so have movies. Specifically, "New Hollywood" came into existence just as directors, writers, and actors decided that they wanted film to reflect the society they lived in. Previous to "New Hollywood", films were a sort of fiction... going to the Theater was similar to looking through a window into a different, more perfect world, whereas Post-"New Hollywood" going to the movies can be, at times, just as familiar as looking into a mirror.

-Bonnie and Clyde (another great representation of a film that transformed "old Hollywood" to the "New")

Bonnie and Clyde, with its unique camera angling styles and trans formative plot lines and script technique, changed a generation of filmmaker's methods and standards for good filmmaking forever. There can be no denying the impact that Bonnie and Clyde had on "New Hollywood". Credit must be given to these, and many other films such as: Heaven's Gate, One from the Heart, Psycho, Look who's Coming to Dinner, and uncountable others to the existence of what we now call Hollywood.

-CriticNeutral

(a.k.a. Elizabeth Place)

The Prescott Film Festival

Upon stepping over the threshold and passing through the old, wooden church doors I glanced around the room, rather timidly. The mere presence of the old establishment was quite intimidating. The building’s old-fashioned, pale yellow, brown, and red ceilings and floors were a strange sight to behold, having become used to the hospital-like bleached white walls of the college and of my own home. It was eerily and all at the same time beautifully lit; there was something charming about the way the aged, golden yellow lanterns on the wall touched the walls of the lobby. I was a little nervous about volunteering for the Prescott Film Festival, but the old churches’ appeal somehow illuminated how little there was to fear about the small but perfect revenue.

It was at the ticket-desk that I found the director of the film festival. He was a stern-looking older man with apparent enthusiasm for his work. He told me and another volunteer to begin scrawling out the names of the short and feature-length films that we would be showing that day. Soon what started out as slow-paced work to keep the surplus of volunteers busy became the frantic writing of movie titles to the point where our hands began to cramp as the crowds came flooding in, unexpectedly. Several of the volunteers took tickets and directed the audience to their seats as I handed out ballets so that they could vote for their favorite feature film or short. I believe that we, as volunteers, are crucial ingredients to the film festival. It is important to present an air of professionalism and courteousness when showing a film or films in special avenues or during events such as the Prescott Film Festival. Ticket-taking and handing out ballots may not seem the most vital of jobs during a film festival, but the festival could hardly have been done without such services.

(Independent filmmaker, director, and writer, Jamie Babbit. A personal idol)

At one point during the screenings, several volunteers were allowed to be seated and view a feature-length film called, The Selling. Directed and produced by Emily Lou, the selling is a film about an unsellable, haunted residence where a murderer had once lived (and died) and killed a gross amount of people (a dozen or so). A kind, timid, and unfortunately for him, honest real-estate seller (played by Gabriel Diani, also a producer and the sole writer of the project) took on the property in attempts to sell it in order to pay for his mother’s cancer treatments. The film was hilarious and I was fortunate enough to only be sat a few seats away from the writer, producers, director, and actors of the film. It was an incredible way to experience watching the film, having been sat so close to the cast and members of the film team; to hear their reactions, laughter, muttering, and inside jokes. I was in rapture of the entire experience, and although it was only a small-niche film I feel very blessed to have experienced the film the way I did.

I learned so much about what creating films and what slaving over one’s work can yield: amazing memories, new unforgettable relationships with co-workers, and a memorable work of art for (hopefully) all to see and appreciate. I would love to learn more about creating short and feature length films! From the cast of The Selling’s commentary after the film, each member of the team recounted their experience during the project and I felt such pride and accomplishment radiating from each different speaker. I think that working on set of a small or a large film such as The Selling would help me learn so much more about independent filmmaking, and I would definitely be grateful for an experience like that.

One thing that really hit home with me about making independent films from the Prescott Film Festival was one simple and underlying fact: it takes money to make a film. Yes, even when doing small, niche films like The Selling, films cost a lot of money to finance. This fact makes independent film a hard piece of art to put forth into the world (which worries me, as a young film major).

Film festivals are so incredibly important to communities, especially small communities including Prescott. I believe that without art, life is not worth living. Audiences, Adults and children alike, feel inclined to let their imaginations run wild; to dream. Without art, aspiring filmmakers would be lost. Sometimes when one knows what one loves to do, such as creating hilarious, inspirational, dreamlike films, one must do just that. It is not a matter of choice. No matter how much the job pays materially, working in film amongst amazing artists, writers, and actors is worth it.

I will most definitely be going to see more independent films in the future, specifically in film festivals. I’ve always been a dedicated independent film fan and follower, but because I have been fortunate enough to be involved in the Prescott Film Festival, I will now undoubtedly be an avid film festival go-er. I’m aware of Flagstaff’s regular film festivals and I will be attending their festivals as often as I can. I look very forward to becoming further immersed in the independent film community.

Blog Post #2

Godzilla: Cultural Interpretation, Contrast, and Influence

by Critic Neural (a.k.a. Liz Place)

In the 1950’s (1954 to be exact), a very monumental film was created. To this day, it is quite hard to find someone in Japan, or even America who has not heard the legendary title, Godzilla (or Gojira). “Gojira” (or more commonly known by American Viewers as “Godzilla”), the legendary sea monster, is sent quite literally by storm onto the shores of Odo Island one night after a tremendous hurricane. The monster, “Gojira”, is essentially a mindless, gigantic, and furious creature. Dr. Yamane, a man investigating the instances of terror surrounding Gojira and the people of the island, comes to the conclusion based on his studies that Gojira came into being as a product of a nuclear explosion. Because of this fact, Gojira’s creation is rather controversial to the researchers and town’s people. Many of Tokyo’s people are enraged that a nuclear explosion is the cause of the existence of Gojira, and others believe it best that this fact be kept secret for fear of more war or further destruction. Eventually, Dr. Yamane forfeits his life so that the secrets of the existence of Gojira with be safe and will be forever out of dangerous hands. The monster is vanquished and Tokyo is safe.

Directed by Ishiro Honda and written by Ishiro Honda and Takeo Murata, Gojira was and remains to this day as the sole, infamous monster movie/science fiction thriller of all time; regardless of how technology has advanced and, in turn, the quality of horror, thriller, and action films have improved, "Gojira" will always be a beloved and respected film that surpasses most others belonging to its genre.

-Godzilla, 1998 (American film)

The 1998 American adaptation of Gojira (Godzilla) stays relatively loyal to the open-ended plot of the original. Once again, nuclear testing is a main theme in the 1998 adaptation. And as though by fate, the radiation from the nuclear testing site in French Polynesia has tainted a lizard's nest, and Godzilla is, in a manner of speaking, reincarnated. The film even gives a nod (or a few) to "Gojira" by showing a Japanese Fishing boat being attacked by the monster. The only living survivor of the fleet is a man trying to verbalize what it is he thought he saw; "Gorjira" was all that he could manage to utter. One might possibly wonder where the new pronunciation for Gorjira originated from; reporters of the time mispronounced the correct title, "Gorjira", because (of course) they are ignorant Americans! There really aren't any truly distinctive differences between the two films other than, well, culture. Japan is very theatrical and America is, admittedly, overly dramatic and at times obnoxious in it's attempts to make a perfectly good film "bigger", "better", and "flashier" (as is typical of America; although it is endearing in a lot of ways and in a lot of films).

"Gorjira" of 1954 was dramatically different from "Godzilla" of 1998. For one thing, the American film was in color! Technology had advanced... it had been 44 years for pete sake! Well, lets admit it... apart from the similar if not exactly the same plots and endings of the films, there are nothing but differences. For me personally, the reviews are definitely what set these two films apart from each other. Audiences actually received Gorjira (in fact, they ate it up... and us film geeks continue to) but when it comes to `Godzilla, audiences weren't all that receptive; Audiences were duped into watching the poorly written, poorly constructed sequel-rip-off by showing just enough to get the viewers excited about the possibility of a promising film. As for the plot and character changes that were truly "necessary" for the transfer from the original Japanese version of the film to the newer American version of the film, they are as such: First of all, the creatures (the "Godzillas") of both films were altogether different. One was simply a ravenous mutated horrific monster (in the 1954 version), and in the American version the so called "monster" had a heart; Godzilla was simply a misunderstood, confused, and terrified animal doing its best to survive. The mutated lizards differed in this way, and also in that the original lizard spouted fire, whereas the preceding lizard did not. I believe that Godzilla made in 1998 was romanticized quite a lot more, and cared about the actual plot a whole lot less than that of its original, Gorjira. Gorjira is quite different when it comes to audience it is aiming to receive; it's more aimed toward the more serious fans of science fiction action movies. In conclusion, these films are aimed toward two very different audiences; Japanese humor, drama, and science fiction themes are far different from American standards of humor, drama, and film quality.

For your viewing pleasure, I happened upon a rather funny (and-caution-slightly irritating) evaluation of Godzilla (1998).

Enjoy!

-Critic Neutral

(Sources)

La Belle et la Bete

The General

Citizen Kane

It Happened One Night

Metropolis

"La Belle et la Bete"

Belle (Josette Day)




I think I can safely assume that we have all seen Disney's "Beauty and the Beast". Well, La Belle et la Bete is, more or less, the same film... Well, okay, maybe that's an overstatement. La Belle et la Bete happens to be warped, and Grim's-fairie-tale-like. The French film happens to be closer to the original tale than Disney's interpretation is (of course). Directed by Jean Cocteau and Rene Clement, and written by Jean Cocteau and Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, Le Belle et la Bete is a film depicting the classic love story of a man and a woman; an unlikely match, a Romeo and Juliet-esque tale about forbidden love. Josette Day plays Belle, the woman who offers up her own life for that of her father's by delivering herself to the Beast (la Bete). Belle is in complete control of her own destiny in this film; she may choose to leave the Beast and go home to her family, or she may stay with him in his castle. If this film were silent, Belle may have been interpreted as a damsel in distress but, instead, Belle was given the opportunity to truly express her emotions in a more natural and first-hand way. I believe that Belle is a feminist-icon. Belle ultimately shapes the outcome of her own life (although this fact is down-played a bit by her having gained a "handsome prince" in the process).




-CriticNeutral

"Citizen Kane"

Emily Monroe Norton Kane



Emily Monroe Norton Kane was Charles Foster Kane's first wife, whom he later is divorced to, having cheated on her with his future second wife. Emily is a dignified and sophisticated woman, who happens to be the niece of the President. Several years after having discovered that Kane was was having an affair with the "singer", Susan Alexander, Emily and her son (Kane's son) pass away in a tragic car accident. Previous to her death, Emily seemed powerless in her marriage. Kane was clearly consumed with his own obsessions of making himself more and more powerful, and Emily was forced to keep to herself. I believe that Emily eventually fell out of love with Kane. It seems to me that, during the scene in the film where Kane is found out (his affair), Emily is emotionally detached from Kane. Emily has already been emotionally betrayed by Kane; simply by ignoring her and being completely preoccupied with his own reputation and social status, Kane impaired his and Emily's marriage more than he could possibly have known or, rather, cared. Emily, although not the most verbal female character in this particular "talkie", Emily is closer still to a "real" woman than our own--near and dear--Annabelle Lee in The General.



-ComicNeutral

"Citizen Kane"

Susan Alexander Kane



Susan Alexander Kane is the "singer", and the mistress of Charles Kane. Susan falls deeply in love with Kane, and they marry soon after Charles' first divorce (the second, being his and Susan's eventual separation). Kane and Susan are completely ignorant as to who each other's partner truly is; Susan thinks of Kane as a handsome, kind, and wealthy man. Kane thinks of Susan as an aspiring musician; an opera star of sorts. Kane believes that Susan wishes to become a better singer, but all she really wants is one thing: out. Susan even goes so far as to attempt suicide when she is forced to sing in her own opera house (that Kane built, of course) night after night in front of an audience that "doesn't want her". Susan is absolutely the most complex female character in Citizen Kane. Even though Susan isn't the brightest of characters, she is the most human and possibly the most relatable of characters in the film. Susan also fell victim to the loneliness that Kane's previous wife Emily had experienced in their marriage. Much like the female characters in the silent films of the age, Susan Alexander Kane was but a piece of furniture in her husbands life; a prize, a novelty. But even so, Susan Alexander Kane was a character with a personality, a history, and the capacity to express true emotion. In the silent film era, women were (ironically) verbally and emotionally silent, compared to the slightly more progressive "talkie" era.



-CriticNeutral

"Citizen Kane"

Analysis of background of Citizen Kane, and Mary Kane



Citizen Kane is a "talkie" written by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles, and directed by Orson Welles. Charles Foster Kane was given to Mammon by his mother so that he would have a more promising life; a life that would provide him with more opportunities to make something of himself. When Charles has grown into a man he decides to join a newspaper, simply because he thinks it "would be fun". A wealthy and eccentric young man, he is always looking for more and more opportunities to prove himself. After his death, a newspaper reporter looks deep into Kane's past in an attempt to uncover the true meaning of Kane's last word: "Rosebud". The origin of Kane's infamous last word is in Kane's childhood. The separation he experienced with his mother manifested itself in the metaphorical embodiment of Kane's boyhood Sleigh, having also been taken away from him at the same moment his mother was taken from him.
Mary Kane was Charlie Kane's mother. Mary wanted the best for her son; the best being that he was far, far away from his abusive father. Mary Kane was magnificently played by Agnes Moorehead. Mary Kane is a real-to-life female role. So many women have had to go through life, abused at the hands of domineering husbands. Although she is only in the film for all but a few minutes in the beginning of the film, Mary Kane makes her mark as a strong, sacrificing woman. In earlier "talkies", this kind of role was inconceivable. Silent films before and around The General, could not have portrayed women with any sort of truth or realness. Mary Kane is deeply impactful to the plot of Citizen Kane even though she is only present for the first few scenes. Just to think--we've gone from Annabelle Lee in The General to Mary Kane, a woman of depth and the capacity to steer the destiny of the leading male lead in the film Citizen Kane.




-Agnes Moorehead in Citizen Kane

"It Happened One Night"

It Happened One Night (Ellie Andrews)



It Happened One Night is definitely one of my favorite romantic comedies. Directed by Frank Capra and written by Robert Riskin and Samuel Hopkins, It Happened One Night was ahead of its time. Claudette Colbert portrayed Ellie, a rich woman newly married to King Westley. She is taken from her husband by her father because he disagrees with the marriage. While on her father's yaht, Ellie expresses that she should be allowed to do what she wishes and jumps overboard in an attempt to find her way back to her her husband, her love. Through having to face the hard realities of traveling with no food, clothing, or means, she reluctantly allows Peter Warne (a hard-hitting reporter) to help her find her way back to her husband. Peter Warne has alternative motives, of course. He plans to follow Ellie in the hopes of turning her life into a juicy story.
Ellie Andrews is portrayed as a head-strong woman who is determined to get on as easily as an man (especially Peter Warne) of the age does. Although she has been raised in a well-to-do environment, she ultimately makes her mark as a woman that can survive when having to make do with very little. She is a strong, innovative, and determined woman. There is quite a difference in the way that women are portrayed since the silent film The General to the more modern "talkie", It Happened One Night. The leading female role in It Happened One Night was, literally and metaphorically, given a voice. The leading female role, when comparing the two films (The General and It Happened One Night), seems to have evolved since the former (The General, that is). The General portrayed women as if they hadn't developed common sense; that they were idiotic and all together "ridiculous". It Happened One Night changed all of that. Women weren't mute in any way, they could speak and they had a say in what they wanted out of their lives. Women now did what they had to do to make it in the world.




-Critic Neutral

"Metropolis"

Metropilis



Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang and written by Thea von Harbou, was and is a widely known silent film. Metropolis is a city in which the rich and powerful thrive and the poor live in an underground city, working the "machines". Unseen and unheard from the wealthy, the poor who work the machines live day to day breaking their backs hoping for their sorrow to end. The poor workers look to a woman, Maria (played by Brigitte Helm) to bring together the "hands" (the workers) and the "head" (the rich and those who have power) by means of the "heart" (or the "mediator"). The "heart" is Joh Fredersen's (a man of wealth and control in the city, above ground) son, Freder (played by Gustav Frohlich). Freder Frohlich first meets Maria when she is with a crowd of children (who live in the underground city). Freder Frohlich eventually goes to the underground city out of curiosity and finds a most somber scene.
Freder wishes to find peace between the rich and the poor. Unfortunately Rotwang (an evil inventor) has plans to invent a robot to impersonate Maria and thwart the people of the underground city into creating complete anarchy and destroy the machines. In the end, Maria succeeds in convincing Freder to bring his father and the working class together, with the simple shaking of hands between a worker and Joh Frederson.
Maria, before Freder's interference, seems to me to be convincing the workers (or hands) that there could indeed be an end to their suffering, very effectively on her own. It seems to me that Metropolis played into the theme and stereotype of "Every woman needs a man". I believe that Maria, with her tremendous following of workers, could have achieved her goal of uniting the rich and the poor without the help of Freder, the male "mediator". Although I must say that Maria, having been a female main character with a brain, was a tremendous feat for women in film. It's a shame that Maria is ultimately remembered as Freder's love interest, instead of the leader of a movement of change.



-Critic Neutral

"The General"

The General, Annabelle Lee



First off, I will begin with speaking about one of the most legendary and notable of silent films, The General (directed and written by Buster Keaton, along side of Clyde Bruckman). The General is a silent film made in 1929, about a man (Johnny Gray, played by Buster Keaton himself) and his love for his train. Oh--and he also loves a girl named Annabelle Lee. I phrase his love for Annabelle Lee in this manner because his love for her comes second to the train he so loves. You see, as a train engineer, Johnny Gray was rejected from the service because he was worth more to the war as he was; a simple engineer. The film hits its highest point of conflict when Annabelle Lee is captured, along with The General (Gray's Train) , by Union spies.

The General is definitely a good example of how women were viewed in and around the 1920's. Annabelle Lee is depicted as superficial, dimwitted, and ridiculously hallow. Put rather plainly and with all humor aside, she is the symbol of what misogynistic males of the time thought of women. Watching the scenes in which Annabelle was a focus, for myself, was quite painful to sit through. In the clip that follows my commentary, Annabelle is shown throwing a large piece of wood that would have done quite a good job to make the train move faster out the side of the train because there was a "hole" in it, as it appears "unusable" to her. Furthermore, she begins to actually sweep the cabin of the train. Johnny Gray then grabs Annabelle by the neck and appears to choke her (a reflection upon male stereotypes perhaps, or just Keaton's own underlying sexist opinions). What a stereotypical portrayal of women!



-Critic Neutral

Women in Film

Today's modern age of film has indeed changed the way we, as a society, view women. We are the bosses, the intelligent, the secret agents, the fighters; we are the ones in charge. Although, I won't deny that women are still often misrepresented and are, more often times than not, portrayed as sex objects, there can be no denying that we have made undeniable strides; Women have succeeded in claiming the "lead" role in films. We are, more or less, no longer "background" characters.
I, Critic Neutral (a.k.a, Lizzy Anne Place), will be evaluating the portrayal of women and how said portrayal has changed between the Silent film era and the Talkies. I look very forward to evaluating the silent and "talkie" films that we in HUM 243 have devoted so much of our time watching, as well evaluating several other notable films that have played important roles in shaping society's perception of women over those times throughout the duration of my blog.
I believe that the way women are represented in film has changed overtime, for the better. As we as a society have become more accepting of minorities, namely women, more and more opportunities will continue to emerge in film (for said minorities). I will be comparing and contrasting the silent film, The General (directed and written by Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton), as a general representation of how women in the silent film era were generally portrayed (not to suggest that all silent films of the era were as generically sexist as The General), to the newly emerging "talkies".



-Critic Neutral