Journal 6: Here Comes "Hitchcock"

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/165556-hitchcock-needs-more-psycho-less-sideshow/

In the article, "'Hitchcock' Needs More 'Psycho,' Less Slideshow," author, Bill Gibron discusses the upcoming film, Hitchcock. This movie is about the life of Alfred Hitchcock, a movie making legend. Basically everyone of his movies has suspense around a theme of death. One of his first films, North by Northwest, and one of his most famous horror films, Psycho are referenced in Hitchcock. In this movie, Hitchcock, played by Anthony Hopkins, has already made North by Northwest and wants to make another film that he will finance himself. He goes on to start the production of Psycho and hires the cast members for the film that he himself wrote. Hitchcock is about the making of the movie Psycho, but Gibron argues that the film should have more of what happens in Psycho instead of just the making of it.

This movie isn't Psycho and if Gibron wanted to see Psycho, he should have watched the 1960's film instead. Hitchcock isn't just about the making of the movie, it's about what happens behind the production of the movie. It's about his personal life and how the making of his movie effects Hitchcock and his wife, played by Helen Mirren. I think this would be a good movie to see. I have seen many of his films and would like to know the story of the man himself. He was a movie legend and his films are still being watched today. This movie would has lots of insight about Hitch's life as Psycho is unfolded.

Journal 5: Brief Screeing Report on "The Social Network"

http://www.google.com/imgres?num=10&hl=en&newwindow=1&tbo=d&tbm=isch&tbnid=yh_aN_1wxDsoYM:&imgrefurl=http://www.geekpeeks.com/2010/10/18/the-social-network-review/&docid=3D25T4POwf0mQM&imgurl=http://www.geekpeeks.com/wp-content/gallery/the-social-network/the-social-network.jpg&w=596&h=489&ei=3mGcUMTcOOfS2AXBqYCgCg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=18&sig=111518609891335608379&page=1&tbnh=147&tbnw=180&start=0&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:127&tx=106&ty=-31&biw=1600&bih=705

The scene in The Social Network that I found to be important is the scene in which Eduardo Saverin freezes the bank account for Facebook. The events leading up to this event help to better understand this scene. Mark Zuckerberg wants his best friend and CFO of Facebook to come to California with him so he doesn’t get left behind with Facebook’s constant growth. Mark’s other friend, Sean Parker, keeps making business meetings even though Eduardo is the business end of the company. To get Mark’s attention, Eduardo freezes their only bank account. When Mark finds out, he gets very panicky because without money, the site can’t function. He explains that the servers will be down, the system will crash, and there will be a domino effect as Facebook users log off on one by one.

The scene in which Eduardo freezes the bank account is in chapter 14 of the movie, but the events leading up to it are in chapter 13. I think this scene is important because the events in this scene drive Eduardo to take legal action against Mark for not making him a part of Facebook even though he’s the company’s CFO. Mark diluted Eduardo’s shared down from an original thirty percent to less than one percent. Eduardo then went on to sue Mark for everything because he had a big part in the creation of Facebook. He funded everything needed to get the site up and running and was the one who set up the bank account in the first place. This whole movie is set around the law suits that Mark is in, one of which being with Eduardo.

Homework Blog 11/8

The article, "Realism and Anti-realism," discusses the terms, realism, anti-realism, and verisimilitude. Realism is an interest in or concern for the actual or real, a tendency to view or represent things as they really are. An example of realism is the movie, Marley and Me. Typically; puppies are very mischievous as depicted in the film.  Anti-realism is an interest in or concern for the abstract, speculative, or fantastic. An example of anti-realism is the move, The Princess and the Frog. Frogs don't talk, sing, dance, or turn into a human being. This movie has the element of fantasy. Verisimilitude is convincing the appearance of truth. An example of verisimilitude is the Harry Potter movie series. All the movies are full of magic and spells, and the setting of Hogwarts makes the movies appear to be real.

The video, "Looking at Movies-- Genre: The Western," discusses the main characteristics of genre. One important characteristic of a genre is the setting. For horror movies, the setting is a very important aspect. In horror films, the events typically take place in a haunted house or mansion in a deserted town or in the middle of nowhere. The killer or demon is usually in the house or around the perimeter of the house. Main characters in these films almost always are left in darkness or power outages for a good portion of movie as well.

Journal 4: The Red-Head is Back!

                  http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/165047-malibu-country-reba-returns/

In the article, "'Malibu Country': Reba McEntire Returns," the author, Leigh H. Edwards, describes Reba's new sitcom, "Malibu Country." This new show does parallel Reba's previous sitcom, "Reba," in some ways. They are both about a main character named Reba who is a mom with a sassy attitude and quick with a comeback, and has a quirky next-door neighbor and a constant nuisance to Reba. Some differences between this new show and her old one are in "Malibu Country," Reba is a country singer who hasn't had a record in twelve years and wants to get back in the business while her husband, Bobby, is a country super-star with a record deal. In "Reba," Reba is a single mom with three kids and a cheating husband who gets his mistress pregnant. She is constantly in the middle of both her family and her ex-husband's family. 

Ever since my grandma introduced it to me, "Reba" has been one of my all-time favorite comedy shows. It is a complete laugh-out-loud series that I can never get enough of. One of my favorite characters on "Reba" is Reba's ex-husband's pregnant mistress and next door neighbor, Barbara Jean. She is a quirky and goofy woman who calls Reba her best friend. She is one of the funniest characters on the show and a reason why I still watch the re-runs. I am pleased to hear that in Malibu Country, there is a character similar to Barbara Jean's. In the new series, the neighbor's name is Kim. There's no doubt that I would enjoy this new show. Even though the two shows are kind of similar, this new one offers some fresh new ideas, some of which from Reba McEntire's own life.