Just this weekend, I decided to watch A Walk to Remember with my friend. Both of us had talked about how much we loved the movie as jr. high and high schoolers, and although somewhat doubtful if we would still enjoy it, we decided to grab some popcorn, blankets, and buckle down for a good cry. Admittedly, we found we still enjoyed it (although we talked through the majority of the film) and still got teary-eyed ...
A critique of the critically acclaimed TV drama and novel-turned-screenplay, focusing on the ways they both easily misrepresent the realities of the histories of domestic service. http://www.alternet.org/story/154201/%27downton_abbey%27_and_%27the_help%27–what_their_nostalgic_portrayals_of_domestic_service_get_wrong
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2011/07/22/beware-romantic-pornography/ This is an article about what chick-flicks and romantic comedies have influenced us to believe. Especially women (who have grown up watching first Disney princess movies and then matured into ‘The Notebook” and anything with Sandra bullock in it) have been influenced by the stories that are told on the silver screen. I have gotten almost all of my ideas about what relationships are from chick-flicks. I grew up never being asked out and therefore ...
I love what the chapter “Art as an Honest Labor” says about story: “Every dramatist must learn to write stories that come from the characters and their situation,rather than starting with a theme or message and imposing it on those stories. ‘The problem with Christians,” says screenwriting teacher Bart Gavigan, ‘is that they love theme more than story.’” This I believe is the reason why so many Christian movies and plays are cheesy. We try to come ...
Working through my perspectives on media and how different mediums should be used I’ve realized that a lot of my views come out of how I view the media being consumed by the audience. Recently I have been wrestling specifically with the differences between theatre audiences and film audiences. My own personal experience comes from being both a consumer and a producer of theatre, however in the area of film I’m pretty strictly a consumer. I ...
Recently a link to this review was posted on this site and we were asked to share our thoughts. Below are not only my thoughts on that particular review, but also my own review of the movie Courageous as a whole. I just recently saw this movie in theaters. To be very honest I had low expectations and I went in with a critical spirit ready to point out anything I saw that seemed cheesy. As ...
My wife and I just recently watched the first two episodes of the new TV show “Once Upon a Time.” While I’m still not entirely hooked on the show, I did notice something interesting while watching it. It is a perfect example of media conglomeration and marketing. For example: the show is aired on ABC; the network that is, in turn, owned by the Walt Disney Company. Thus, one might find it very fitting that ...
Neil Postman was born March 8, 1931 in New York; he died October 5, 2003. After graduating from the State University of New York, he went on to obtain a masters degree and doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia. In addition to authoring over 200 articles and books, he founded a media ecology program at Steinhardt School of Education in 1971 (Saxon 1). Postman continually lectured and wrote on the effect of media upon culture, and ...
The other day I was evaluating the difference between my self-esteem as a freshman in college before I began watching tv shows and my self-esteem now as a Senior watching tv shows. It can pretty much be summed up in two words: drastic change. Growing up I saw tv shows as a sinful waste of good time. I wasn’t much affected by peer pressure, I knew what I believed and nobody was going to mess with ...
I love when a great story first comes out, and people appreciate it. But I know when all is said and done that this original piece of art will be stuck on repeat. Before long someone will take that idea and make 3 more of a similar story, squeezing out every ounce of original thought. But can anything be truly original? Since God is the ultimate Creator, when we create aren’t we just remixing the ...
The Kendrick brothers, known for their movies Facing the Giants and Fireproof, have just released another film entitled Courageous. I haven’t made the effort to go see it yet. However, having seen the last two movies they’ve made I could guess that I have a pretty good idea as to how it plays out. The Christian film “industry,” if it can be so named, has been in hard times for a very long time. Christian films ...
What Marshall McLuhan has to do with Jesus Christ II Corinthians 4:7-10 “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our ...
Taking advice from a class mate, I decided to do some research on specific actors. I was a big fan of the film “Extreme Days” and mentioned it prior on this site, but I wanted to see what my class mate was talking about when she had mentioned the bad movies that some of the actors went to do after the making of this film. What I discovered was totally different from the film I had ...
I sat down yesterday and watched this incredible film which documented several artists as they created installment pieces in Sao Paulo Brazil. It was fascinating to see there creativity flow trough each others work. The film confirmed something that I’ve thought for a while now and that is the idea of convergence. With technology and style changing so rapidly and this continual push toward an all digital world, you see artists blending all forms of art into one. The ...