For most of this semester, I have spent a lot of time talking about that God-like figure, Mark Wahlberg. Or, as he was known in his rapper days, Marky Mark. This man is a complete God in my eyes. I mean, LOOK at those abs up there! They are wonderful, they are alluring, beautiful, classy, delicious, enchanting, flawless, glorious, heavenly, invincable, juicy, known, lavish, macho, nice, overwhelming, perfect, quaint, romantic, spectacular, tasteful, uncovered (most of the time), vivacious, x-rated, yummy, and, finally, zealous. I could go on and on about this amazing man's abs, but I'll stop there, because it's probably getting a bit awkward...sorry.
There is more to Marky Mark than his abs though. He is a wonderful example of someone in Hollywood who successfully moved from one genre of show business to the next. Since this is the basis of my ISU, I'll just sum it up here by saying that the fact that he was a successful rapper, then switched to movies and is now an Oscar-nominated actor. I applaud you, Mark Wahlberg, but to me...you will always be Marky Mark, even if you don't like it when people call you that.
Rebecca Black is a true artist. Honestly, her song Friday is just full of such powerful lyrics, and thanks to her, I now know what order half of the week goes! Unfortunately I'm still confused with the first half the week, but I'm working on it. But, Rebecca Black is a genius. She is flawless. She has more talent in her pinky finger than I have in my whole body. I hope one day I can be just as amazing as her, and sing just as well.
she finally decided which seat to take!
Just kidding...Friday was absolutely ridiculous. I understand that Rebecca Black is just a teenage girl with a lot of money who wanted to make a music video, but Friday was more of a hilarious joke than a legitmate work of art. Rebecca Black is lucky though, becoming an internet sensation in a short amount of time, and even recently appeared in Katy Perry's music video for the song Last Friday Night. Although she was a complete laughing stock on the Internet, she has made a name for herself, which is quite impressive for being only thirteen years old. Props, Rebecca!
Truth be told, when the class decided they wanted to watch Back to the Future, I wasn't too thrilled. I remember seeing probably about ten minutes of one of the three movies in the trilogy, and it didn't really impress me. I figured watching the whole movie would be tortue. Thankfully, I was wrong. Surprisingly enough, I absolutely loved this movie- even the incredibly cheesy 80s special effects. Back to the Future tells the story of Doc Brown who invented a time machine using a Delorean, because in his words "The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?" Wise words, Doc, wise words.
This movie had me laughing at many parts (except at the little incestuous sub-plot...that was about as disturbing as Pee-wee's Big Adventure). The plot was very creative and although I'm not typically a sci-fi fan, I really loved this movie.
"Wait a minute, Doc. Ah... Are you telling me that you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean?"
Oh, Eternal Sunshine. The first movie we watched in this class and probably my favourite of the ones we have watched. This movie tells the story of Joel and Clementine, two former lovers who are having their memories erased of the other. This movie has a very creative plot and at the beginning I'm sure everyone wishes they could contact Lacuna to have their memory erased, but as the movie goes on you realize this procedure is more of a curse than a blessing, especially to Joel. As a girl, I can be a bit partial to romantic movies, and although this was a bit of a different kind of romantic movie, there was still that romantic aspect in there that I enjoyed. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is very different from any other of Jim Carrey's typical comedic movies, and although some actors don't do very well switching from one movie genre to the next, Jim Carrey definitely did a very good job in acting in a much more dramatic movie.
Oh...where to begin with this movie. After everything I've said about this movie in class, you probably know that I hated it. First of all, it was dumb. Very, very dumb. If I were Tim Burton, I'd feel a bit embarrassed to have directed this movie. Not only him, but Paul Reubens who played the ever creepy man child, Pee-wee himself. I certainly hope that he isn't like that whenever he isn't acting, but that would just be sad. Pee-wee's Big Adventure was ultimately just a waste of a movie. Pee-wee wasn't a likeable character at all, and throughout the movie I was creeped out by him basically all the time. The plot was completely stupid and for being a comedy movie, it wasn't funny. At all. I basically wanted to cry with happiness when the movie was finally over. You wasted an hour and a half of my life that I'll never get back, Mr. Edwards...I am not impressed.
People have been going crazy over horror movies since the first one was released in the late 1890s. Since that time, horror movies have significantly evolved, branching out into many different sub-genres, such as thrillers, suspense, psychological thrillers, slashers, and much more. Classic slasher films are especially popular with teenagers and young adults who crave the rush that a scary movie can give them. Some popular horror movies would be the Saw series, the Scream trilogy, Halloween, Psycho, and classics such as Frankenstein and Dracula.
As you can see, the clip from Frankenstein greatly differs from the other movie clips. People today would probably not find the clip from Frankenstein very frightening, it would have been when it was first released, and it still shares the same stylistic elements that many horror movies have, such as the dark atmosphere, and frightening sounds. Hollywood has come a long say since the original Frankenstein to make movies generally scarier.
When horror movies first started becoming popular, most of the movies were based off of novels that were written in the 1800s, mainly Frankenstein, Dracula and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. All of these are still popular today, though The Hunchback of Notre Dame has definitely been tamed down, considering it’s been made into a popular Disney movie.
As horror movies have progressed the things that horror movies seem to be based off of is situations that could easily happen in real life. This allows the viewer to be even more creeped out when they can imagine the movie happening to them. Some movies with this type of plot are The Blair Witch Project, The Strangers, and even some of the classics such as Halloween or A Nightmare on Elm Street. All of these movies are meant to get to the viewer and scare them more during the movie, and the film will stick with the viewer as they become scared that this could actually happen to them.
Although horror movies have always been popular, a big time for them was in the late 1970s and the 1980s. This was the time when such popular movies like Halloween, Friday the 13th, and The Shining came out. Many of the movies that came out during this time are still widely watched and remakes are even made of some of these movies. Many of these movies also use the typical serial killer plot, which isn't completely realistic, but manages to greatly scare audiences when they watch the movies. The movies of this time also have iconic icons, such as Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and Leatherface.
Today, horror movies couldn't be what they are without the artists that have really brought them to life. When horror movies first came out, the authors that wrote the many books were the ones that helped the development of the genre. As time has gone on though, original directors who write their own movies have risen above and contributed a lot to this popular genre. Wes Craven, for example, has been making horror movies since the 80s when he directed the original Nightmare on Elm Street and recently directed the remake. Another director who has really made this genre grow is James Wan, the person who created the popular Saw series.
Like every movie genre, horror movies all typically have something in common. Mainly the stylistic things that make the movie seem so darn creepy. Horror movies are usually in a very dark setting, and a lot of the plots take place at night. If the scenes in the movie don't take place in a nighttime setting, the colours are still often muted so they don't appear bright. Horror movies also need gore. Without the gore, the movie probably falls under a sub-category of horror movies, like possibly a psychological thriller. One can also never forget the creepy music that plagues horror movies. Many of the movies have theme songs to them, and a very well known one is the theme song for Halloween.
Listen to this and try not to continually look around in fright...
Many serial killers in horror movies also seem to wear masks. The fact that viewers can't see the face of the person who is doing the killing helps to scare them even more, since our imagination is left to wonder what might be behind the masks, and it could be anything. And usually, this scary guy in a mask will be chasing a 'vulnerable' young woman. Directors in Hollywood just seem to think that the woman needs to be all dainty and scream a lot. Now, throughout horror movies there are also many close ups. Of the guy in the mask, the vulnerable young woman, and usually the weapon the killer is using.
Unpredictably, horror movies don't send out the best codes or conventions. The stupid teenagers who drink, do drugs, or have sex in the movie are not going to live- the virgin always stays alive. One of the best examples of this would be Scream, where they thoroughly explain this theory. Friday the 13th is also an example of when this happens. Another theme in most scary movies is that if you go in the basement, something bad is bound to be there. A classic example is Psycho.
Horror movies have been entertaining audiences for years and will continue to do so. They have come a long way since the late 1890s and continue to test extremes to scare their viewers. I can only imagine what the movies will be like within the next ten years.
RiP: A Remix Manifesto was made because the filmmaker wanted to get the word out that the record labels are incredibly greedy and unfair. The intention was to get the word out to everyone who watches the film about the real life of the record label owners, and whoever has rights to all the songs we love to listen to and download. I definitely agreed with the filmmakers point of view since I believe songs are overpriced, and the way some people were treated for illegally downloading some songs was very unfair, such as Jammie Thomas who was sued $222, 220 for downloading only 24 songs. At most, she should have been charged however much it costs per song, instead of almost $10, 000 per song.
Although there was a bias in this documentary, I think it would be extremely difficult to not have one when filming something such as this. Brett Gaylor did go a little far when portraying the people at the record labels as completely evil, considering they are just doing their job. If the documentary could have shown that the people at record labels are not completely terrible and they are just trying to make sure the artists profit as well.
After seeing this film, I'm on the fence about copyright. What Girl Talk is doing is pretty amazing, and you need some serious skill to be able to blend all those songs together to make one new, amazing song. He is not claiming them as his own, and thanks all the artists on his album, all he is doing is making something new for people to listen to. If someone was taking my work and making it into something else as cool as what Girl Talk is making, I think I would be okay with it as long as I got recognition for being apart of what he's doing.
As for my overall thoughts on the film itself, I loved it. As a teenager, that kind of stuff really captures my attention and I was very interested in everything the film was saying. It's always fascinating to see a new aspect of the media, even if it was more behind-the-scenes in this film. Brett Gaylor's arguement was constructed quite well, despite the bias of the filmmaker, but that can be overlooked.
