HW#3

What’s the meaning of a controversial film? A controversial film is film that is explicit. The content of these kinds of films are meant to shock the audiences. These sought of movies tend to be about sex politics, war and unbelievable violence. The filmmakers are very free with what they have to say as well as show it with no care. An example of a controversial film would be “Kids” directed by Larry Clark in the 1995. I choose this movie because it was a movie that was about teenagers in New York City and talks about HIV/AIDS. This stood out to me for two reasons; 1) I live in NYC and 2) I have a degree in Community Health with a concentration in Health Services Administration and plan on pursuing a higher degree in Public Health. I plan on focusing on the education on the teenagers to young adults. This movie did indeed shock me, the first few minutes on the screen were two teenagers making out and that lend to sex. I can honestly say watching this movie for the few minutes made me uncomfortable. There was no waring of what to expect. The language was “too much” for the first few minutes. I would have to say I can understand why people would feel uncomfortable to watch controversial films due to the fact that one will not know what to expect and there is no warning of what to expect from the beginning. This movie consists of sex, bad language, alcohol and drugs. This movie opened up my eyes a lot, I was able to learn a few things from this movie and it was a breath of fresh air other than reading from textbooks.

HW #3 Cannibal Holocaust Controversy

Cannibal Holocaust is a found footage horror film released in 1980. The film is directed by Ruggero Deodato and tells a story of a documentary film crew who traverse the Amazons to film the lives of cannibal tribes. After contact with the crew is lost a rescue crew is sent, what they recover is the documentary team’s film.

The film is interesting because it is one of the earliest films to use the found footage technique, way before the Blair Witch Project popularized it. But of course this movie is not without its controversies.

The film gained notoriety from its portrayal of graphic violence, sexual assaults and animal cruelty. The film made its premier in Italy where it was immediately seized and banned. The director Ruggero was then arrested on obscenity charges. To make matters worse rumors began to spread that the film was actually a “snuff film” due to the fact that killings look real and the actors were actually dead. When the actors was confirmed to be alive Ruggero was released with no charges. The film was banned in multiple European countries due to its graphic violence. The film did kill real animals in the film; a total of 7 animals were killed in production. The animals include a pig, monkey, snake and a turtle.

It took 20 years for the movie to be released for home viewing but even then it was heavily censored. We can see that back then that the masses were not comfortable with graphic violence. Unlike today where we glorify movies like Saw and any other killer movie. Because the movie scene was still young at the time, showing anything excessive which purpose is to make the audience feel uncomfortable and showing things they never seen before, movies like this often tend to be quite controversial. This film is still considered the top 20 controversial films of all time

 

 

 

Homework #3

The controversial film I chose was the 1994 film, Natural Born Killers. This movie sparked controversy because the film depicted the media’s over glamorization of crime and violence. The film’s stars Woody Harrison and Juliette Lewis, play Mickey and Mallory Knox, a modern day Bonnie and Clyde. The movie follows the couple as they commit mass murders, starting with the murder of Mallory’s parents. The movie follows the cross country murder spree of the young lovers and the media’s overexposure of it all. The media turned them into superstars. Even in prison they were “celebrities”, able to escape, with the help of the media. This movie exposed a broken system and numerous charges came that film had inspired real crimes based on the onscreen exploits of the Knox’s.

Homework #3: Birth of a Nation and Controversial Films

Poster for first showing of Birth of a Nation in Seattle, c. 1915
Poster for first showing of Birth of a Nation in Seattle, c. 1915

At home and in class, we screen excerpts of D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation in class, a movie that was first screened 100 years ago. The racist content of the film invoked protest across the nation, led primarily by the newly formed National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The combination of Griffith’s remarkable artistry, distorted historical accounts, and overt racism produced sickening propaganda for the Ku Klux Klan. Listen to a short NPR report on the legacy of the Birth of a Nation. For an example of the impact of Griffith’s film on a recent movie, see Henry Louis Gates’ interview of Quentin Tarantino on Django Unchained (2012)

NPR report on Birth of  a Nation

Gates’ interview with Quentin Tarantino

Share with your classmates other examples of controversial films that have evoked protests in the past. Do you know of movies that have caused similar demonstrations or complaints about content?

To complete this homework assignment, note whether you Post or Comment. For Homework #3, Clubs and Hearts will submit a Post and Diamonds and Spades will Comment (choose any of your classmates’ posts to comment on).

Homework #3 is DUE by Thursday September 24th.‹ Clubs and Hearts Post, Diamonds and Spades Comment, note your blog group! Email me if you forget.

 

The opening scene for “The dark knight”

Opening scene I picked was from the “The Dark Knight”. It is the bank robbery and everybody is gossiping about who might have hired them and they end up killing each other without knowing that the master mind was among them. I am big fan of every movie based on comics because the background stories. The joker is a very interesting character and this was his introduction in the movie.

Superman (1978)

This review is super biased. Because I’ve been a Superman fan from way back in the day. i’m talking “in the womb”

The opening used  in Richard Donner’s Superman is fantastic nearly 40 years later.  It starts out with a child narrating the circumstances of Superman’s stomping ground of Metropolis before he showed up. It really serves as a metaphor for our world before Superman leaped into through the pages of Action Comics #1 in April of 1938. According to the kid Metropolis was ravaged by the “Worldwide Depression” much like our world at the time.  And that the Daily Planet, place of employment for mild mannered  news reporter Clark Kent, served as a beacon of hope for the failed city.  And then we leap into the iconic John Williams score. Everyone knows it. It’s the Opening Song.  The only opening scores that can touch it in terms of recognizability  might be Star Wars, The James Bond Theme from Dr. No, or maybe Danny Elfman’s Batman.  It’s just really, really great.

Then we pan over the landscape of the icy, barren land that is  Kal-El’s homeworld of Krypton. And we enter the Kryptonian council in the middle of the trial of General Zod, his man-hating accomplice, Ursula and their mindless mound of muscle, Non.  The council is nearly unanimous in their decision to banish the nefarious trio to the Phantom Zone, Krypton’s prison dimension, but the deciding vote belongs to Jor-El, Superman’s pops. Played here by Marlon Brando, acting icon extrodinaire and a notriously difficult to work with kind of guy. Word has it he didn’t even the script throughout filming he had his own card guy. Jor-El decides to send them to the Phantom Zone causing General Zod to shout the iconic “YOU WILL KNEEL BEFORE ME!” Line. In reality this isn’t touched upon as the Kryptonian criminals are conspicuously absent throughout  the remainder of this film. After this Krypton starts self-destructing as usual and Kal-El is sent to Earth. And thus concludes the nearly 20 minutes opening sequence. And what an opening sequence it was.

The opening scene for “Iron Man”

The “Iron man”, film has one of the best opening scenes. The scene puts into pieces the entire Marvel Studios film franchise success because it was that good. I was never a fan of superhero films because those types of films were always the same, the build up, the obstacle and the action. I remember telling my friends that if Iron Man didn’t intrigue me in the first five minutes, I would walk out, which I never did. In the first five minutes we are introduced to the main character Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.) as a drinker, a very elegant man who wears a suit in the desert and his dialogue are set in motion. The ACDC in the background is perfection; it really lets the audience know that they are witnessing a likeable and epic character. I also like the timing of the explosions and ambush; that really sets off in the most ambiguous moment. The opening scene is movie directing at it’s finest putting the audience in a situation we’re you don’t know anything, a fast build up with the perfect timing. Trailers are supposed to get you to see movies and the opening scene is what should make you stick around for the film.

《Toy Story 3》Opening Scene

Toy Story 3 is the third series of the Toy Story family. The opening scene brings a familiar impression with Woody fighting the bad guys on a moving train. It brought back the memories of the older series fans and audience. The movie plot began with an exciting hype and having the audience prepared for a new adventure chapter.

Currently $2.99 for sale from Google YouTube.

 

Rush Hour 3 Opening Scene

My favorite opening scene of all time, without a doubt, would definitely  have to be the opening scene to the movie “Rush Hour 3.” Whenever I watch movies, I feel as though the opening scenes usually aren’t the most entertaining of scenes,( considering the fact that they are just typically a five to ten minute scene that serves to give background information about the movie.) This opening scene however was an exception, for the reason being that I wasn’t expecting anything interesting to happen within the first five minutes. In this scene “Carter” is dancing and singing while directing traffic, which is something typical of his character, however, I didn’t expect a scene like that to happen so soon. It basically caught me off guard, and made a good impression on me, making me want to continue to watch the rest of the movie. My favorite movie genre is comedy, and while “Rush Hour 3”  isn’t just a comedy, it introduces that aspect of the movie before any other one, really drawing in the audience that prefers the comedy aspect of the movie, including myself. Since there are two movies that come before this one, (Rush Hour 1&2) it is typically expected that they wont be able to amount to the original, but this scene in a way makes you put away your expectations for the rest of the movie allowing you to start liking it from the jump.

Rush Hour

tumblr_m2ked2LVfP1qdm3xfo2_250 Rush Hour Starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan Happens to my favorite movie of all times. This flim is based on characters created by Ross LaManna and was released in 1998. The Opening scene to this movie in my opinion is the best opening scene I have ever seen for a action/comedy movie. This opening scene captures the viewers and give them an everlasting taste of what is to come in the rest of the flim. Carter (Chris Tucker) who in this scene, is trying to bust a guy for selling explosives (C4) is interrupted by two other officers in uniform. C4 is some of the most deadly explosives there is and should be taken very seriously but in this scene Carter is pretty jokey and lighten the mood of the movie. Even while engaging in a gun battle in the traffic heavy streets of LA , Carter finds a way to bring comic relief to the tense situation. When he does apprehend the  guy in which he was trying to bust he began to dance like his good friend Michael Jackson in the street after the car explodes because of the c4.  This to me engagages the viewers and make them yearn for whats next to come.