Thursday, June 28, 2018

Chicago, an inescapable love of murder and celebrities.



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Chicago (2002) is a musical comedy and crime drama, based on Maurine Dallas Watkins’ 1926 play of the same name.


The setting is in post war Chicago, 1920’s, where jazz clubs were prominent and their burlesque dancers
were famous. It is remembered as a glamorous time, in a nation that was optimistic, high off the
excitement from the Great War’s end.  The returning troops and rising economy made for patriotic
citizens. Hollywood began to dominate the production of global media, ever conscious of their image.
This is subtly reflected in the background of Chicago.



In this, we see the dominance remain consistently above, but with the range between the
highest and second highest shrinking over time.  


As the economy fell, the glamorization of  the decade before became even stronger, as
“the depression was raging on and Americans desperately needed an escape,”
Nancy West of UMissouri said. “Musicals presented an ideal genre for the escape because it
made people leave the gloom and doom of poverty behind and see films that depicted people
in joyous movement but had very lavish surroundings.” Examples of these lavish 1940s
musical escapes include the quintessential “42nd Street, [a story of] a working class woman
toiling to break into showbiz. It starred Ruby Keeler, Hollywood’s top tap-dancer of the time.
“She’s struggling—there’s one scene where she faints from hunger—so there is a gesturing
out to the Depression: ‘We recognize what kind of world you’re living in,'” West said.
“And then she makes it.”

Image result for faint 42nd street

As the 30s became the 40s, interest in musical theater declined, because the main threat to
the US was not a poor economy, but mass death of young men and women in WW2.
These new musicals were marked by their somber tones, serious subject matters,
and nods to the political atmosphere. As Technicolor and Talkie technology became
widespread, artists wanted to explore the extents of the medium, which also contributed
to a decline in theater ticket sales.

Image result for singing in the rain musical play release date

Chicago captures a tidbit of the more toxic side of American culture and the American Dream, not in booze, jazz, or infidelity, but in the act of of celebritizing and our macabre obsession with murder.
Celebrity is all our main character, Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger), cares about. She looks up
to an already famous dancer Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) in the same position as her,
on trial for murder. This movie highlights the fixation Americans have with the allure
of high glamour, bloodshed, passion, and pitting influential women against each other.
Velma has been famous for awhile, while Roxie is considered fresh meat, a fresh headline,
a fresh face. The scramble to be the Top Dog, (or Top Bitch,) in the public’s eye is almost
completely because of the shift of journalist attention from Velma’s double murder, to
Roxie’s manslaughter in “defending herself”.
Not only does it mock the act of celebrity murderers, but it also places a spotlight
on the phenomena of public opinion swaying the legal justice system.
This movies comes after OJ’s trial, and the director takes full advantage of visual shorthand
in the courtroom scenes.
The musical aspect is justified as non-diegetic by being completely centered around
Roxie’s fantasies. Roxie herself is neutral  on the interesting scale, I argue that Amos
or Velma are the most interesting character. I do, however, like her character arc.
She changes from all the attention given to her, from a naive dreamer to a shysty dreamer. Its a
very fitting conclusion to such hilarious and bleak movie. No one is brought to justice, no one
learns anything and the cycle of young women wanting to be famous continues.

Image result for chicago movie


-Amber "Bad-at-Conclusions" Ventura

Friday, June 15, 2018

Godfather by Michael Avila

Godfather
Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.
“The Godfather” is about an organized family of crime in upstate New York, called the Corleones.   Marlon Brando performs as Don ( boss) Vito Corleone, who is the head of the business and family.  He is all about respect, family, and loyalty.  That is how he runs his business, and that is why he is the godfather.  The movie opens on the day of Don Corleone’s daughter’s wedding, this brings the family together, including the younger brother Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), who is not interested in working in his father’s business.  The movie follows the progression of the life of Michael Corleone and his eventual rise to Don Corleone.  The film does two things perfectly right.Since its release in theaters in 1972, it has garnered a cult following among fans which led to ‘The Godfather’ becoming a trilogy with Parts Two and Three both released in following years. Because of its significance culturally and historically, the Library of Congress preserved it in the United States National Film Registry in 1990. Because of its success at the box office and with film critics alike, ‘The Godfather’ garnered many Academy Award nominations and won four Academy Awards including ‘Best Actor’ for Marlon Brando and ‘Best Picture’.

Bonnie and Clyde by Michael Avila

Bonnie and Clyde
This movie Bonnie and Clyde takes place in the 60’s was made in 1967 but portrays real-life events from the 1930s where we see the most infamous duo of all. In the beginning of this movie Bonnie who a waitress at the time hates her job when Clyde randomly comes he attempts to steal her mother's car. But he sees how boring Bonnie life is and invites her to a life of crime. They soon become the most dangerous bank robbers of the 60’s. Bonnie was very impressed with his criminal history, while Clyde saw something in Bonnie that was simpatico to his goals in life. They joined forces to embark on a life of crimes, holding up banks, and money establishments, to make money and have a ton. C.W. was the mechanic who fixed any car that Bonnie and Clyde needed in order to get away.

Breakfast Club - Michael Avila

The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club, directed produced and written by John Hughes released in 1985, is about these five teenagers that were in Saturday detention. In the beginning of the film all the students were feeling out of place around each other being all from different cliques. But by the end of the film they come find that each of them were different in their own right. “A basket case, a brain, an athlete a princess and a criminal.” In the process of getting to know each other they realized they was more than just their "title". Everyone assumed that John was a criminal just because he wanted to be but didn't realize he came from an abusive household. They all assumed that Claire wasn't a virgin and that Brian actually enjoyed being studious. They all believed that Allison was genuinely crazy and were surprised to find out that she just needed friends. This movie helped to shine light on high school cliques and the difficulties that come with being in one. Even if you're an accepting and genuine person, making friends with people outside of your clique can be troublesome. Despite the day of bonding, Claire, John, and Andrew all agreed that they're never going to talk to each other again

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Ghost Dog by Latrese


 The mystery hero of "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.'' He lives in a shack on a rooftop with his pigeons. He dresses like a homeless man. "He has no friends and never talks to anybody," according to the mother of the little girl in the movie. Actually, he does talk: to the little girl and to a Haitian ice cream man. The Haitian speaks no English and Ghost Dog speaks no French, so they simply speak in their own languages and are satisfied with that. 
It's weird that a black man would devote his life to doing hired killing for a group of Italian-American gangsters after having met only one of them. The whole story is so strange and especially because he lives like a samurai. Then on top of that he sends and receives  instructions by pigeon. Ghost dog is kind of crazy but in a nice, sweet way. He excludes himself from society by being lonely. 

He stayed loyal to Louie and did everything he asked. When Louie helped me as a kid, Ghost Dog's mind changed completely. He helped Louie in every way he can but he stayed behind the scene. Ghost Dog was also a reader, he read different books that kept him quiet. Being so hidden with himself made him go crazy and he started killing more and more. Louie decided that he needed to stay true to his gang so he had to get rid of Ghost Dog. It was a hard and long decision but Louie had to do it. Ghost Dog died willingly, he knew that it was his time. It was nothing he could do because at one point Louie helped him. 

This movie didn't really grab my attention and it wasn't one of the best ones we watched. Also I wasn't there for the beginning of the movie so I didn't get a chance to fully understand it. I'm not really into the Samurai or Italian Gangsters, sometimes I don't get what they do. But I would recommend this movie to people who are into those type of things. But what I did enjoy from that movie was how the pigeon delivered messages and it surprised everyone. That was cool for me, but overall I didn't enjoy the movie that much.

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Bonnie and Clyde by Latrese

Dir. Arthur Penn
Feat. Warren Beatty (Clyde Barrow), Faye Dunaway (Bonnie Parker), Gene Hackman (Buck Barrow), Estelle Parsons (Blanche Barrow), Michael Pollard (CW Moss)
Warner Bros, 1967.

Ride or Die! Partner in crime! Forever and always! That's Bonnie and Clyde - the famous criminals that were always on the run. It never stopped with these two, their love for each other was expressed through crime. They met while Clyde was trying to steal Bonnie's mother car. Bonnie really doesn't like what is going on in her life - working as a waitress at a truckstop diner - so she teams up with Clyde. Clyde has always been a crook. They started small and was robbing little stores and that quickly went to robbing banks. After Bonnie's first robbery, she felt alive. She felt like she could do anything. Being a waitress in a small town wasn't good enough for her.


Clyde also steals cars, and it wasn't like the law didn't know him but when he shot someone it was clear his name was out there even more. He offers Bonnie a way out so she doesn't go down with him, but she refuses. Bonnie and Clyde choose to make this little adventure a group one. They added a mechanic to the group who would help them when they needed to fix cars they stole. Later on, Clyde's brother Buck and his wife join to criminal life. Well, Buck's wife was kind of forced, she would be the reason why they got caught. She was a woman with a squeaky voice and a scary mind. Now the gang is together and they will be on the move. With the law following them, it never stopped them.



Bonnie and Clyde's love for each other showed a lot through out the movie. They always were there for each other. Many people today use them as a reference about the love - not the criminality. Yes, it shows that they were clearly criminals but you have to see how they were down to ride for one another. When you hear ''Bonnie and Clyde'' you think about how tight their relationship was. Watching this movie you would think the money brought them together but I truly don't think so. They lived together and died together.

Bonnie and Clyde Benjamin Rutherford


Directed by Arthur Penn

0.Produced by Warren Beatty

Written by David Newman
Robert Benton

Starring:
Warren Beatty
Faye Dunaway
Michael J. Pollard
Gene Hackman
Estelle Parsons


This movie Bonnie and Clyde takes place in the 60’s was made in 1967 but portrays real-life events from the 1930s where we see the most infamous duo of all. In the beginning of this movie Bonnie who a waitress at the time hates her job when Clyde randomly comes he attempts to steal her mother's car. But he sees how boring Bonnie life is and invites her to a life of crime. They soon become the most dangerous bank robbers of the 60’s. Bonnie was very impressed with his criminal history, while Clyde saw something in Bonnie that was simpatico to his goals in life. They joined forces to embark on a life of crimes, holding up banks, and money establishments, to make money and have a ton. C.W. was the mechanic who fixed any car that Bonnie and Clyde needed in order to get away.
In the movie, Bonnie and Clyde held a sort of a “Robin Hood-esque” social stance. They were celebrities. Their reign of criminal acts had begun when they had encountered a family and their farm hand who had been kicked from there property by the bank. They robbed that very bank to get the money for the man. They were vigilantes in a way.
I enjoyed this film because it always held that sense of “what’s going to happen next?” Throughout the entire film I was locked. I found it to be very intriguing.

Breakfast Club Benjamin Rutherford




The Breakfast Club, directed produced and written by John Hughes released in 1985, is about these five teenagers that were in Saturday detention. In the beginning of the film all the students were feeling out of place around each other being all from different cliques. But by the end of the film they come find that each of them were different in their own right. “A basket case, a brain, an athlete a princess and a criminal.” In the process of getting to know each other they realized they was more than just their "title". Everyone assumed that John was a criminal just because he wanted to be but didn't realize he came from an abusive household. They all assumed that Claire wasn't a virgin and that Brian actually enjoyed being studious. They all believed that Allison was genuinely crazy and were surprised to find out that she just needed friends. This movie helped to shine light on high school cliques and the difficulties that come with being in one. Even if you're an accepting and genuine person, making friends with people outside of your clique can be troublesome. Despite the day of bonding, Claire, John, and Andrew all agreed that they're never going to talk to each other again.

Friday, June 8, 2018

"Jaws" by: Anthony Ruggiero

Image result for jaws

Jaws is a 1975 drama/mystery film directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie stars Roy Schneider (Martin Brody), Richard Dreyfuss (Matt Hooper), Robert Shaw (Quint), Lorraine Grey (Ellen Brody), Peter Benchley (Interviewer), Murray Hamilton (Mayor Larry), and Jay Mello (Sean Brody). 

Jaws starts out with a group of people having a party on a beach. A couple decides that they want to go skinny dipping so they end up swimming out to a buoy. The male swims back to shore and realizes he doesn't know where his girlfriend is. It is shown that she got eaten by JAWS earlier. The next day her body is found on the beach and sheriff Brody is called into investigate. Brody realizes that they are dealing with an animal but he doesn't know what so he asks for help from Matt Hooper, a man who studies sea creatures. It is revealed that the sea creature they are looking for is a Great White shark. Mayor Vaughn encourages Brody to keep the beaches open so they stay open. The continue to stay open after a shark is caught that everyone believes is the Feared Jaws. Brody soon learns that jaws still lurks in the depths of the ocean. Brody, Hooper and Quint go hunting for the shark on a boat. They soon catch up with the shark and stick barrels to him to keep track of him. The shark breaks free from the barrels and attacks the boat. The boat starts to sink while Hooper is in a cage under the water. Quint ends up being eaten by the shark and Brody is left to fight for himself. Brody takes a tank of some sorts that can explode when shot and throws it into jaws mouth. He climbs as high as he can on a pole from the boat and shoots the tank in Jaws mouth causing Jaws to explode. Brody finds Hooper and together they head back to the town.

Jaws is a really good movie with nothing really wrong with it. It is my all-time favorite film and I will love it forever. 


Thursday, June 7, 2018

The Breakfast Club by Latrese


Breakfast Club. Dir. John Hughes

Feat. Judd Nelson (John Bender), Molly Ringwald (Claire Standish), Emilio Estevez (Andrew Clark), Anthony Hall (Brian Johnson), and Ally Sheedy (Allison Reynolds)
Universal Pictures, 1985.

It's Saturday, early morning and no one knows how their day will go. Five different personalities all in one room for detention. Each one with a different story to tell. The morning starts off with the principal yelling at these kids explaining how they will spend the day. His strict attitude doesn't sit well with these students They still do what they want. Their stories are all different to why they even got into detention. As they were starting to get to know one another, they realized how into themselves they were. They didn't know one another, but as the day continued they opened their eyes to see what other people are alike. 

Claire was the princess; she was prissy and really only cared about herself. She skipped school for shopping. Brian was the brain; he had to live up to his father's standards and because he was failing wood shop he wanted to kill himself. He decided to put a flare gun in his locker. Andrew was the jock; he did what everyone told him to do, especially his father. He wants to look cool so he got into detention by doing a prank. Allison was the basket case; she stayed to herself and did weird things that turned people off. She didn't care what people thought, and her goth looked scared people away. She had nothing better to do so she decided to be in detention. Finally, John Bender the baddest of them all. He was a mouthy boy who did his own thing without judgement. He was in there because he pulled the fire alarm.

With all these different people in one room, it could get crazy. What each person didn't expect was to actually enjoy their time in detention. They argued, laughed, shared hidden talents, and this particular day was able to give each person a chance to explain why they act the way they do. For example, John acted out because he never got attention at home. He would argue or physically fight with his dad. Also Andrew was able to realize that in all actuality he was being a follower. Being a jock you have to be ''cool'', but he never wanted to do that prank. He explained that he felt the pain of the boy he gave the prank to. Despite their differences they came together and made that Saturday good. Even getting high was fun for them.

This movie was actually really good and funny. John Bender was the main one creating the arguments and trouble, but he was also the reason for getting everyone to open up. He did it very harshly, but it worked. I enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to people who need a laugh. I've always heard about this movie, but I sometimes think older movies are boring. What caught my eye was the name of the movie. I thought that it had nothing to do with how the plot was, but it makes you think. They didn't eat breakfast, and it the beginning they weren't a club. So I do wonder about the title. In the end relationships started and that was the main thing. Five people walking into a situation not knowing where they would end up. 

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

The Breakfast Club - #VictoriaRomprey





The Breakfast Club is personally one of my all-time favorite movies. I have seen the movie on many occasions, the first time being probably while I was just a few years old. It has always been my mom's favorite movie, so I often come home to the sound of "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds playing from the TV, and it is quite an enjoyable sound. 

I never truly understood the storyline of the movie until probably high school when the "cliques" became a lot more prominent in school. There are a few student stereotypes that are heavily played throughout the movie, including: the princess, the jock, the criminal, the brain, and the basket case. You often see these stereotypes in everyday life, but what I find most interesting is the way they've changed since this movie came out in the nineties [eighties]. 

The change is visible even at Metropolitan Business Academy, our stereotypes have combined into new categories, where jocks are nerds; nerds are criminals, and criminals are princesses. As times progress, movies do the same. Modern movies are now introducing characters that are smart sports players, that are middle class with parents of the same gender. I doubt John Hughes in the mid 1980s could have predicted where the world of film was heading, but The Breakfast Club was a perfectly aimed shot in the dark at a classic high school drama movie that people of all ages can enjoy in modern times.

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Overall, The Breakfast Club may be the film that forever changed the industry; it is always interesting to look back in time to see the lifestyle of students in a different time. Social norms have changed and so has the film industry.

Breakfast Club. Dir. John Hughes
Feat. Judd Nelson (John Bender), Molly Ringwald (Claire Standish), Emilio Estevez (Andrew Clark), Anthony Hall (Brian Johnson), and Ally Sheedy (Allison Reynolds)
Universal Pictures, 1985.

Murder in Burlesque #VictoriaRomprey



Image result for chicago musical cell block tangoImage result for chicago musical cell block tango


Image result for chicago musical cell block tangoImage result for chicago musical cell block tangoImage result for chicago musical cell block tango

      Those who have seen the movie Chicago, are well aware of the fact that this is no regular musical. This is no fake love story where people rejoice in song and laughter in the streets of Italy. The ending isn't necessarily a happy one like the rom-coms you'll see in the theater today, and you definitely will not catch Roxie Hart flying back into the arms of her beloved, neither Amos Hart nor Fred Casely.

      Chicago is not a movie where the women learns to be successful and independent on her own merit, nor does she learn right from wrong. In Chicago, the lesson is more then meets the eye and is not generally one you expect to hear on the big screen. Chicago proves the fact that ultimately, the "easy" way out may just be something a bit more.

      This crime-fiction-comedy-musical is a cult classic that not a single person can deny the humor behind. The ironic story of a women searching for fame, and killing the man that teases her of the glory is an undeniably humorous storyline. In life, there seems to be both challenging and clean paths. The clean cut path always seems so enticing, maybe there is only one or two steps down the path before you reach your destination, although the catch is that the steps are dangerously steep, and narrow. The challenging path may consist of a windier, and downhill journey-which may seem quite daunting at first look-but might just be intimidating rather than actually challenging. People often choose the shorter and clean cut path, which end them up in a scary situation. In Chicago, the belief that the "Clean cut" path will end you up in a bad situation is tested by two girls getting exactly what they were looking for in murder.


Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Renee Zellweger (Roxie Hart), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Velma Kelly), Queen Latifah (Matron Mama Morton) , and Richard Gere (Billy Flynn)
Producer Circle co., 2002