MYST

Movies in Your Spare Time: Batman; The Dark Knight Rises

For my final critique I decided to watch one of my favorite super heroes in action again, Batman. I can fondly remember my first time watching The Dark Night Rises and how I had been wanting to see another movie in particular at Hollywood Boulevard theater. After messing up with the times the only one I could settle for was Batman. With no expectation going into the movie my mind was surely blown under the new deception of Batman that Christopher Nolan had produced. Growing up I had watched the 70s version of Batman and how it was very much appealing to all ages. Once Batman Begins came out in 2005 I was sure that was the beginning of the end for the Batman series. Little did I know Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and Nolan would bring back the public's interest seven years later with in my opinion the best movie of all the Batman series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVcUrrknCYA

While watching the movie some cinematic aspects that Nolan likes to maintain throughout the movie is darkness and having things jump out to keep the audience in tune. During this one scene the lights flicker off and the jokers ends up getting beaten, this is often typical and maintains the idea that he is coming from nowhere to get the villians. Another thing Nolan likes to show off is the quickness and stealth full trait Batman has when talking to Officer Gordon in one frame and then disappearing in another. Here is a parody making fun of Batman's constant disappearance and reappearance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBsdV--kLoQ

Going back to the darkness most of filming is at night hinting that at night all the villians come out to lay havok on Gothem.

Since growing up on Batman I would rate this movie an A+. The movie was unique because often times Superman, Spiderman and Ironman, often times are a little cliche or unrealistic as defeating the antagonist goes and living happily ever after. With Batman being a masked vigilante that constantly looks over his city to rid it of evil, it maintains a truth that there will always be a fight between good and evil.

MYST

Movies In Your Spare Time: The Interview

Since December of 2014 there has been quite some hype revolving around this movie with it's controversy of critisizing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Being a fan of Seth Rogen and James Franco for their roles in Pineapple Express and This is the End, I knew surely no one should take them seriously. After reading Vice News, I had read that North Korea's defectors are sending balloons filled with tapes of the interview to North Korea in a vengeful fashion. One defector claimed that the movie actually could help start a rebellion within the regime due to the fact that many view their leader as a god. If the people of North Korea see the film personifying Kim and insulting his competence ideas could arise to stop anymore loyalty to the regime.

Going into the movie I had been on a trip coming back to Hawaii. The plane was cramped and crowded and I was anxious to get off the plane. Looking for something to kill my boredom, I pulled out my Ipad with a download of The Interview. At the time the movie could not be found in theaters out of fear of an attack and having it on the Ipad made me happy I could pass the time on my flight. Overall it was more raunchy than humorous even for Seth and James which is why I would rate the movie a C+. Seth and James are notoriously funny to the teenage demographic, however, even I felt like there we moments of awkwardness or lack of meaning. I can only imagine how the older demographic must have felt when they saw it for its political controversy. Despite all the crudeness the movie had to offer, I had to hand it to Seth Rogen and James Franco for being modern day Charlie Chaplins. In an odd light, The Interview was no different than the The Great Dictator and the belittlement of imperialistic powers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hmkhiXcWgU

THIS SCENE CONTAINS HARSH LANGUAGE VIEW DISCRESSION IS ADVISED. After digging through alot of scenes the one with the tiger had the most complex cinematography. The first scene with Seth in the tiger patch opens up to a brief silhouette of the tiger to add mystery and tension on what will happen next.  As the CIA tries to keep the mission from being compromised you see them talking to James while the camera rotates around them expressing more tension as well as frustration with the main characters.

Formal Film Studies

Corporate Culture

After reviewing the following movies such as Wall Street: Money Never sleeps, Risky Business and The Wolf of Wall Street I concluded that often times Hollywood depicts young go getters as someone who has to step on others to climb the chain of success. I began to wonder if this was a universal truth or a hollywood concoction to critique the rich and successful. Furthermore, out of all three of the movies viewed it is undoubtable that the newly working youth that seem to be targeted by Hollywood. 

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Oliver Stone

The beginning of the movie plot differentiates from a normal corporate movie with a affluent young investment manager that seems to be doing well for himself yet continuously working to the top. When the market crashes and the firm plummets out of business Jacob (Shia LeBeouf) loses a former Wall Street colleague to suicide. The scene when Jacob contacts his panicked coworker in a park you see a bubble traveling away symboling that their bubble of financial security is leaving them. Trying to recover from the crisis Jacob teams up with antihero Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), a newly reformed insider trader freed from prison, while they try to take hold on the financial market. The movie was fast paced to give the audience an idea of how chaotic Wall Street is and the movie was composed of often times busyness surrounding the character while he stumbles all around New York City.

The Wolf of Wall Street
Martin Scorsese






This movie starts off with a typical Hollywood mix of a hardworking broker Jordan Belfort (Leonardo Dicaprio) trying to make it in the financial world. When the money and drugs get too tempting and he begins to use penny stocks to lure unsuspecting customers into his web of insider trading, boiler room stocks and Ponzi schemes. Historically many Wall Street moguls have been involved in corruption and the movie further suggests that idiots are handling your money do not trust them. When Jordan was getting high instead of tending to his wife on a ship that was sinking the movie further promotes that once you reach the top you lose your family values because the wealth made you care free.






Risky Business
Paul Brickman




This movie starts off in a wealthy north shore area of Chicago where Joel Goodson (Tom Cruise) stars as a wealthy aspiring entrepreneur high schooler that submerges himself to the pressure his parents have of him going to a Princeton. The movie implies that the road to success or pursuit of the materialistic American dream can weight down todays youths. When trying to recover a stolen crystal egg Joel tries to cover his devious behavior when risking his life to get it back. The egg symbolizes materialism and how much tangible items reflect our relationships with others as well as risk for them.