Viewing Blogs #7,8,9

(As previously stated on blog before, I dedicated these past weekends to watching these films!)
       Jurassic Park (1993)
I never saw this film from start to finish, only in bits and pieces, but I finally saw it all from beginning to end and it was quite fascinating! The thing that amazes me would be the close portrayal of dinosaurs phisical wise. I found it quite hysterical though, to see a dinosaur be capable of opening a door without being trained! It begins with a older man with hopes to open a park on an island dedicated to real life dinosaurs. He managed to put together a team and have this team of scientists recreate dinosaurs using dna. While I was wathcing the movie I thought it would be quite cool to recreate a dinosaur (or not.) I theme I continuously saw throughout the movie was people being put into situations where they can only pretect themselves with what is around them. Also team effort of course. For its time, this movie was done well in the sense that they used models of dinosaurs making them look like the real thing and having the actors react more genuinely when coming across a dinosaur which I thought was pretty cool.
       Nightmare before Christmas (1993)
I have always loved this movie and decided to use this movie for my viewing blog. I wasn't completely sure on whether or not this falls under science fictions but it does! This movie was created by using dolls out of clay and having a frame by frame type of filming. I marvel at how people on set where able to be so patient to movie the clay dolls little by little just to get the character wave. People on set had to move one doll 24 times just to create one second of the movie! This movie consists of Jack, the main character who lives in a town dedicated all year round to Halloween. He loves his town, but he begins to wonder if that is all there is for him; Halloween year after year. One can relate to Jack simply because he begins to analyze his life asking himself "is this it? will this be it for the rest of my life?" We can all at one point or another relate to his thinking but in the end he realizes that it is himself that determines what his life will consist of, not life by itself.
       Monsters Inc. (2001)
I again was a little stunned to see this movie that I had seen TOO many times when I was young, to be part of science fiction (fantasy of course.) Monsters Inc. is about a fictional world full of monsters who need the screams of children to be able to power for electricity. Sounds a little creepy actually! The main characters, Mike and Sully are monters who work for a power company. Mike is Sulley's friend who makes sure the door he is about to walk into is in top shape. While Sulley is the one who goes through the door and scares the children for power. The monsters have been taught over many years that if a monster comes into contact with a child, they will die because "a single touch could kill you." Monsters have been lead to believe that children are poisonous but guess who comes on contact with one;Sulley. One night a little girl escapes from her world and goes into the world of monsters. She is holding onto Sulleys back while he walks around the power facility. Once he notices he jumps and is worried he may have been poisened. He puts her in a big duffel bag, not knowing what to do with her so he panics and takes her to his house where Mike also lives. The two debate on how they will put her back into her world without their government seeing them carry a human child around. I think the thing being taught her is that you shouldn't fear everything you are told too. Not everything people tell you is dangerous actually is. Mike and Sulley grew attatched to the little girl but sadly by law, had to put her back into her room in her world.

Viewing Blogs #4,5,6

(As stated on previous blog, I spent the past weekend watching these films!)
       Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
I don't know if you are aware but I am a huge Harry Potter fan! So you can already imagine how my house is like when the marathons of almost all the Harry Potter movies come on ABC Family; no one touches the remote! This is my favorite Harry Potter film out of all of them and I really don't know why. I might have a bit of reasoning as to why but it isn't quite clear to me yet haha. In this film we have different schools join Hogwarts in the wizarding world competing for the Goblet. The rules for competing state that you must be 17 years or older to compete but guess who is underaged and called to compete?! That's right, Harry Potter. Many people think this is an outrage but once chosen you must compete and so he did but paid a terrible price (go watch it!). I think the reason why I like this movie so much is because in this film, the students at Hogwarts have to participate in a dance. Those awkward school dances I used to dread because what's the point? Sure some poeple liked it but I really did not. In the scenes of the dance or Yule Ball, we see kids going through the awkward stage of asking someone out to the ball and dressing up for the ball. All these things make me feel a little nostalgic in a funny way. We see Harry being put in uncomfortable situations which I think is corny/funny.
       Gravity (2013)
Now, I usually don't go for watching a movie that takes place or that is about space (sorry) but I sat down and saw the Oscar winning (for best director) movie Gravity. I gave it a shot to change up from what I had been watching lately hoping that I would like it but I was wrong. It was a bit too slow for me. Although it did have some parts of emotions and anxiety it wasn't a lot there. We have astronauts that are up in space fixing what I think is a satelliete or part of a station. Debris from space come hurdling towards the astronauts and a part of the debris makes the main character float away from the staion while other debris killed others. She goes looking for another station before she runs out of oxygen and dies. Maybe I'm not seeing the whole point of it all clearly; after all it did pull in 7 Oscars last year! So maybe I'll give it another shot.
       The Wizard of Oz (1939)
I was curious if this movie fell under the umbrella of science fictions, so I looked it up and it does! under the fantasy umbrella of course. I have seen this movie plenty of times before when I was little mainly becuase my little sister was obsessed with it and over time I grew to love it! It falls under fantasy because of the witches and fairies and the munchkins invovled. Dorothy falls under a deep sleep and awakens in a strange place full of fairytale like beings. A witch tries to hunt her down for her ruby slippers but the good fairy (or good witch) protects her but not for all the movie. Dorothy travels on the yellow brick road to Emerald City where she finds and makes new friends. This movie will always be considered a classic to me (and others) because of the loyalty being shown and the never ending hope she has to return home.

Viewing Blog #2 & 3

(I spent the entire past weekend watching these films!)
Fifth Element
       I've seen this movie before but never fully from beginning to the end, but this weekend I sat down and actually saw it as a whole. It was a bit slow from the start but it quickly started to throw in characters that may not seem like a big deal but contribute a lot in the end.There is the Priests, Zorg, Korben, Leeloo and of course Diva Plavalaguna. The Priests have been protecting 9 in a way) Earth by being some sort of conduit from Earth to the protectors of the stone.  This movie reflects onto humanity because of the power of love. The reason why I say that is because in the movie the universe is in danger all because evil has come to destroy it. There are four stones in need to save the world and a fifth element (hence the title) but the fifth element isn't what you expected; you would think that it is Leeloo, the perfect being and fifth element, but she alone cannot save the world. Korben from the beginning falls for Leeloo but has been taken aback by romance from his previous wife who left him for someone else. The universe has seconds until it is saved and it is up to Leeloo to protect but she is weak and possibly dying from battling Zorg until Korben kisses her and she then realizes that love is worth saving. She was doubting saving the world because she claimed that ' all we do is destroy" and "what is there to save" but all that went away when Korben proved her wrong. The end of the movie is signaling to me that with love, you can accomplish anything. I highly recommend watching it if you haven't. I like watching movies that are filmed in the 80's and 90's that take place in the future because of their interpretations on how the future would look like especially clothes wise. The wardrobe for these movies are interesting to look at, and the setting as well.

Marvel's The Avengers
       I am a big Marvel Fan . The Avengers (2012) Starts off with Loki (antagonist) coming to Earth and wanting to take it over. Like any villain he has an army,  the Chitauri, but lucky for the Avengers, they have a Hulk. The Avenger Initiative originally a secret project created by S.H.E.I.L.D, was to assemble a team of remarkable heroes  that would be able to destroy any global threat that was to come. This reflects onto us because this is a classic example of team work. Taking six (it's officially four members but I think Hawkeye and Black Widow play a huge role) people with different perspectives on situations and giving them a task which in this case would be saving Earth. In the beginning the Avengers butt heads and bicker on how the situation should be handled but in the end, they all come together putting their weaknesses aside and putting their strong suits together. I really recommend to anyone to watch this movie. The witty banter being thrown back and forth from the cast is worthy of watching, not the only thing you should be watching it for necessarily, but one of them.

Blog Set #13

For the readers choice, I chose to explore fantasy a bit more. I feel like we stayed on that topic a short amount of time. I am a huge Harry Potter fan and I think those series of books really impacted society in a good way.  The Harry Potter has many aspects of fantasy because of their wizards and witches and spells. I think it fascinating to think up of a world full of amazing creatures that don't exist. Granted JK Rowling didn't come up with unicorns or dragons up by herself, but when you add those elements into a story like the Harry Potter series, it makes it a magical experience. I'm going to also talk a little bit about wizardry and witchcraft because this series is full of them. When we were talking about witches last class I was surprised when I didn't see any witches from the series. All the female characters in this series were witches and all the male characters were wizards. I also think it's interesting because last class we talked about how a typical witch looked like; green skin, wart or mole and long pointy nails. In the Harry Potter series the witches look just like you and I; no green skin or warts on nose, which was cool because they blend in with the humans really well. I will also be addressing the main message about the series which is to stand up for those you love. The series addresses loyalty, friendship, betrayal, and the constant good vs. evil (Harry vs. Voldermort of course.) This series shaped my childhood. It is a story that will remain with me and many Potterheads for many years to come.

Blog Set #12

The Premature Burial
       I think what Edgar Allan Poe is describing is very legitimate. For one thing I sort of cheated and looked up "catalepsy" on Google and there is such thing. Second, I do believe people would think that people with catalepsy would be considered "dead" because there was very little medical advancement at that time; in fact I would say little to none. What I thought was interesting about this story written by Poe, is the narrative. Usually we get the narrator doing, being or seeing something scary but in this one Poe takes a psychological twist and adds experiences of other characters to the story. What Poe does is actually super clever; he leads you to believe that he was buried alive when he wasn't. PLOT TWIST! He was just chilling on a boat, no big deal. This shock of being shaken up by a friend makes him realize that his fear of death and being buried alive is silly. Actually a sort of nice ending.
The Monkeys Paw
       Be careful what you wish for (literally). This is the story of a nice small family that wish for more than what they need. In actuality, this family looks like they have it all; a nice house and nice family members. The monkey paw is stolen from a family friend who got is by being in exotic countries. The Sergeant-Major tells them the monkey paw grants wishes but at a terrible price. The White family doesn't heed his warning! It's like people back in the day couldn't care less! If someone told me that monkey paw granted wishes BUT at a terrible price I would burn that monkey paw myself and dump the ashes in a river. Seriously, the White family was just careless. Then they wish for 200 pounds. Really? I would never wish anything on the monkey paw but if I were to, I would have gone higher that just 200 pounds! But anyway their wish comes true all right; but not like they expected at all. The Whites son dies in a freak accident and what does the company the son worked for pay the parents? 200 pounds, just like they wished for huh? This story is SUPER super natural because we have clear evidence of the son coming back from the dead like the parents wished for and no it wasn't a cataleptic attack haha! The sons body was horribly mangled. Moral of the story (for me anyways) was to be grateful for what you have and live life a day at a time.

Blog Set #11

 Berenice
       I honestly feel that Edgar Allan Poe was one of, if not the first, to write short horror stories like this one. In many of his stories I see a pattern of disease. Such as this one, where Berenice is slowly rotting away from a disease and all that remains are her teeth. Creepy. Also, mental diseases come into play, like the narrator Egaeus suffering from monomania; which is when you obsess over one thing at a time. Berenice and Egaeus were set to be married even though she had a degenerative disease. The monomania comes into play when he sees her smile and sees her teeth for the very first time. He doesn't become obsessed with her beautiful smile, but her teeth. The teeth you go to the dentist for. One thing sets another thing off and Egaeus finds out Berenice has to be buried in which she does. Then one day Egaeus' maid wake him up and tell him that Berenice's burial spot has been disturbed. Someone dug up Berenice, but who? Yup, you guessed it; Egaeus violated her resting place. The only weird thing is, was that he didn't realize he did it until he saw a shovel in his room and mud and blood on his clothes. Then he peers into a box that is in his room and sees "thirty two small, white and ivory looking substances" (Berenice's teeth.) He was so obsessed over them that he went and removed them from her corpse in the graveyard. If that isn't obsessive I don't know what is. I would probably ask Egaeus how he blanked out through the entire teeth removing process. And he would probably say "My monomania does that to me; I blank out when I'm doing the deed."
 The Furnished Room
       I feel like I was sort of, in a way, reading Romeo and Juliet. A young man commits suicide when he finds out the young woman he was searching for tirelessly, kills herself. But I would say it was a darker version of Romeo and Juliet. The room in which this all takes place, I feel, has a lot of history. It is a dark, musty room with stories in every wall about other people who have been there. I feel like their lives or the lives of the others in the room where rather bleak. Before the young man commits suicide, he goes into the room and looks for a belonging of his love interest but all he finds is something intangible; a sweet smell. Maybe the sweet smell was her, maybe is wasn't I'm still a bit fuzzy but he commits suicide after he smells the smell. Only later do we find out that smell was just gas. I feel like it was her from beyond tricking him into committing suicide so they both can be together but who really knows. This story reflects a city because a city has drama on every other corner. A city has stories to tell and I think that applies in this situation.
 The Boarded Window
       This story was a little crazy but in a good way. Here we have a young narrator talking about a story his grandfather told him. It was about an old man who once was, full of life. But in the story he was described as stoic. The story has the usual "love of his life having a disease" and one day she was presumed dead; only by him of course. He binds her hands with a ribbon and is preparing her for burial as he lies her down onto a table. He falls asleep next to his "dead" wife. In the middle of the night he hears a series of noises but he is so scared that all he does is look up. He quickly grabs his rifle and fires aimlessly and the flash of the rifle is the only way he is able to see bits of what is going on. He lived in the west frontier but he was able to see (with the flashes of his rifle) a panther attacking his "dead" wife. The panther scampers off because the rifle scared him, but then he looks closely at his wife and her hands aren't bound with the ribbon anymore. Her hands were clenched almost as is she was fighting the panther back. He then looks at his wife's face and sees that the panthers ear was in her mouth. Leading the reader (or me anyways) to believe that she was alive and well but the maul of the panther actually killed her and not her disease. He was planning her burial a little too soon. I think it did involve supernatural powers because he saw that his wife was dead right? And it was toward the end where he woke back up and fought off the panther so I do think the supernatural was involved to some extent.

Viewing Blog #1

[last lines]

Marty McFly: Hey, Doc, we better back up. We don't have enough road to get up to 88.

Dr. Emmett Brown: Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads.

This movie, I think, would be classified as a classic. It's a science fiction movie but with a twist; it's a comedy. Funny science fiction movies back then were just coming out and in their prime. I think that people really enjoyed this movie because it had the "science fiction" element to it without feeling like it totally was "science fiction." People watch this movie and don't realize they are watching a sci-fi film! Back To The Future was a success because, besides the great ensemble of a cast, it was full of adventure. People go on a legit adventure with Doc and Marty McFly, and what's an adventure without a couple mishaps along the way; Marty McFlys mom falling for her son, encounters with Biff Tannen (your usual bully) and a scientist with a wild imagination. The movie starts out with Doc showing Marty Mcfly his "time travel machine" which is pretty much a decked out DeLoreon. All they wanted to do was test out time travel, but it wasn't that easy. Of course, something happens to ruin the unveiling of the time machine; Libyan terrorists gun down Doc but Marty escapes in the DeLoreon but one thing leads to another and Marty is sent back to the year 1955 by mistake. All this leads to Marty McFly changing his future for the better. In the beginning Marty's father was still bullied by Biff, his mother was and alcoholic and was stuck in the past but after Marty went through what he did in 1955, once he returned to the present his father was a successful author and no longer bullied by Biff, and his mother wasn't an alcoholic and was living in the now. I recommend people to what this movie because it's just an all around feel good movie!