Heidi Wilhite’s HUM210 uniblog

Of the contemporary directors listed in the textbook I chose Nancy Meyers and Steven Speilberg.

The films I chose to watch of Nancy Meyers were Father of the Bride (1991) and Father of the Bride 2 (1995).

 I saw this movie a long time ago and enjoyed watching it again.  This is one of Steve Martin’s best films.  It’s funny, very warm hearted and definitely worth watching.  Father of the Bride is a movie that people can really relate to. George Banks (Steve Martin) lives in a mini-mansion, runs his own company, drives an antique sports car, has a wife that’s employed and two wonderful children.  When his daughter decides to get married, he complains about the costs of the wedding.  He doesn’t like his daughter’s fiance but realizes just how much he loves her.  The characters are endearing, the wit is classic and the humor is perfectly executed.  Steve Martin is brilliant.  This movie portrays what the typical father feels like when his little girl grows up and gets married. 

Father of the Bride 2 recaptures the magic of the first movie.  It has a good plot.  If you just want to relax and watch two great movies, then get this one and the first.  This is a wonderful sequel to the first one.  It really makes you think about what is important in life.  Just as funny as the first one.  George Banks (Steve Martin) must accept the reality that his daughter is now going to be a mother.  He realizes that a mid-life crisis is just around  the corner.

 The Steven Spielberg films I chose to view were The Terminal (2004) and War of the Worlds

The Terminal has an excellent cast and crew along with a great director and actor (Tom Hanks).  This film was inspired by the real-life story of a man stuck for years at Paris’ De Gaulle airport.  All of the characters have unique traits and the movie has a fantastic story line.  It’s amazing that they were able to make a full length movie that takes place on virtually one set, the JFK airport.  This is a very simple movie about a man stranded at the JFK airport.  This movie is really good.  Its about life, people and values.  If your looking for a movie with an intriguing story line and great acting this is the movie for you.

War of the Worlds is about the world being invaded by aliens.  Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a working class dead beat dad living in New Jersey.  He ends up traveling all over with his two children trying to get away from the aliens.  Steven Spielberg did an excellent job at creating some mind blowing scenes of massive destruction.  The action scenes are quite inventive.  The movie ended abruptly with unanswered questions.

I am certainly learning a great deal about the film industry from the readings.  For one, George Lucas has come a long way in directing films.  I never before would have thought that television would pose a threat to cinema.  I would’ve thought that films would have benefited from all of the advertising.  I learned that if you were in the field of advertising you had a better chance at becoming a film director.  It was nice to know that even though the majority of directors are male, there are still female directors out there that are capable of directing a great movie too.