Heidi Wilhite’s HUM210 uniblog

This website is on Robert Altman, who is a director of Modern American cinema.  it lists films he has directed and a summary of the film.  I find this information to be valuable, since he has directed 33 feature films since his first major Hollywood film in 1967.

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/05/altman.html

The movie I chose to view for this module was Alien vs. Predator. The plot is preposterous.  The editing is a hack job, with so much footage cut out of the action sequences that they become murky and nearly incomprehensible.  The scares are non-existent and attempts are more of the false-jump variety than from a building of tension.  The deaths are plentiful but mostly off-camera.  Alien vs. Predator is about the chase, the horror of the situations and the slimy creep factor of the alien species.  Paul W.S. Anderson shows efficiency in his filmmaking style.  As a genre picture, however, Alien vs. Predator doesn’t make the cut.

Genre aids production efficiency by establishing predictability.  The genre provides the narrative image of the film.  Modern American cinema is characterized by four categories of generica production: serials, series, sequals and remakes.  An example of serials are the Indiana Jones trilogy and the Star Wars saga.  Series are still an occasional feature of contemporary cinema.  An example would be the James Bond films.  Movies in a sequal are Halloween, Friday the 13th, The Nightmare on Elm Street & Wes Cravens New Nightmare.  An example of a remake would be Shaft.  This chapter was very informative on the various genres in film. 

This website allows you to save wallpapers from the movie Alien vs. Predator to your computer screen.  It also lists opinions from viewers who have seen the film.

http://www.dailycollage.com/category/movies/alien-vs-predator/

The two film elements I chose to research were Romantic Comedy & Western.

This particular website lists in alphabetical order 199 romantic comedy films.  I find this to be very beneficial to me because I love watching romantic comedies or “chick flicks.”  This makes it easy to pick a movie to watch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki.Category:Romantic_comedy_films

On this website you can view an article regarding a case study of western films.  It tells of how a western lived in the 1930’s compared to now.  This is interesting, especially if you have had no prior background.

http://www.taylor.edu/community/news/featuredArticles/loy_04-19-05.htm

Annotated Bibliography

April 15, 2006

For my research paper I chose to write on director Steven Spielberg and the following films: Munich, Catch Me If You Can & The Terminal

The following is a New York review of the movie Munich.  It is written by the New York Magazine which is a credible source.  I chose this website because it lists the pros and cons of the movie, which will essentially help in preparing my paper.

http://nymag.com/movies/listings/rv_51375.htm

The author of this article discusses how the movie Munich generated debate in regards to the war on terrorism.  I believe this article to be beneficial in learning how much a box office hit can touch a nerve.  The information has been provided by The Independent a newspaper in the U.K.

Gumbel, Andrew, Israel attacks Spielberg over “Munich,” his movie on 1972 Olympics massacre, 24 December 2005

http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/film/news/article334976.ece

This website lists the synopsis of the movie Munich.  It also lists credits along with nominations and awards in which it has received.  It was posted on the Spielberg Films fansite.  In a nutshell, the data given will help you in your decision making process in whether this is a movie you will choose to view.

http://www.spielbergfilms.com/munichhome.html

Ethan Gilsdorf is a contributor to The Christian Science Monitor.  This particular article speaks about the man whom this movie is based on.  It tells of his hardships and also how now tourists visit and talk with him.  This website lists the background information which leads to the making of the movie The Terminal.

Gilsdorf, Ethan, Behind “The Terminal,” a true story, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 June 2004

This is the official website for the movie Catch Me If You Can.  It lists the cast/crew, synopsis, image gallery along with the production notes.  It has been posted to the Dreamworks website which is a very reliable source.

http://www.dreamworks.com/catchthem/jump.html

This particular website shows pictures of the real man behind the movie Catch Me If You Can.  Questions are answered about the story, whether fact or fiction.  This website gives a lot of insight about the real story in which this movie is founded on.

http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/catchmeifyoucan.php

This website gives information on Steven Spielberg.  It lists his biography, awards he has won, his agent and photos.  It has been provided by Earth’s Biggest Movie Database.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000229/

I learned more about the film industry from this week’s reading.  It was great to read everyone’s blogs and find out what they had to say.  I am looking forward to the next module.  I responded to Sarah P., Nora M. and Kari V.

This website gives pertinant information about the Sundance Institute, a calandar of events, Sundance programs and many others.

http://institute.sundance.org/jsps/site.jsp?resource=pag_ex_programs&sk=41omKrxR6BSZGoht

This is the official website of Malcolm X.  It lists a timeline of events during his life as well as his biography, just to name a few.  I found this website to be very beneficial to me as I had very little background information on Malcolm X prior to viewing this site.

http://www.cmgww.com/historic/malcolm/home.php

This is a website where you can view the script from the movie Sex, Lies and Videotape and also purchase if you would like.  I didn’t even know that was possible. 

http://www.imsdb.com/

This was the first time for me viewing Sex, Lies and Videotape.  Andie MacDowell is married to Peter Gallagher who is having an affair with her sister Laura San Giacomo.  MacDowell is a quiet type and unwilling to let herself go.  When Gallaghers old friend, James Spader shows up all of their lives change.  Graham likes to videotape interviews with women.  The music is appropriately minimal and poignant.  In his self-centered and callow character, Gallagher adeptly shows the trace of vulnerability and the ambivalent desire to do the right thing.  James Spader is superb who uses subtle, volatile facial expressions.  Andie MacDowell and Laura San Giaocmo are equally well.

The next movie I viewed was Malcolm X.  Spike Lee created a perfect biography of the black nationalist leader.  In the lead role Denzel Washington literally becomes the character.  The phone in his hotel appears to be the correct vintage, except for the modular plug connecting the handset to the base.  The movie was much longer than I expected at close to five hours.  Besides that I thought it was a great history lesson.

During the reading I learned a great deal about the Independent American Cinema.  I was amazed to learn that the most significant element in the expansion of the American independent film sector is due to the efforts of Robert Redford.  Also, the various ways to finance an independent production.  Such as grant subsidies, private investments or pre-selling rights to films.  I would prefer to completely knockout queer cinema altogether.  It was interesting to read about race and minority in terms of cinema.  For me though, that doesn’t really play a factor as long as the movie looks like it will keep my attention.  All in all, this was a very informative chapter and look forward to continue on in the next chapter.

The two film elements on sound I chose to research were Diegetic & Voice-over narration.

Sound in films is termed diegetic if it is part of the narrative sphere of the film.  For instance, if a character in the film is playing a piano, or turns on a CD, the resulting sound is “diegetic.”  If on the other hand, music plays in the background but cannot be heard by the film’s characters, it is termed non-diegetic or, more accurately, extra-diegetic.  The score of a film (commonly referred to as the “soundtrack”) is “non-diegetic” sound.

This website explains what diegesis is and how it’s used in literature and film, pertaining to flim sound and music.

http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/gramtv.html

In voice-over narration, the voice can be used to: 1) introduce particular parts of a program; 2) to add extra information not evident from the picture; 3) to interpret the images for the audience from a particular point of view; 4) to link parts of a sequence or program together

This website provides a history of voice-over narration.

http://www.cirterionco.com/asp/in_focus_essay.asp?id=14&eid=354