DRAMA!

Drama films are films that mostly deal with real life things that happen to people. such themes are problems with drugs and alcohol, family members dieing, rape and murder, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, crime and corruption. these films sometimes are based through the eyes of a family and the struggles they go though. drama films gives us a fly on the wall look into people lives. we see how they act when things go wrong and when things go right. we see them happy, we see them sad, and we see them when they hit rock bottom.we get to relate with these character and see things about our lives that we have never seen before. in fact we even learn and realize things about ourselves that we did not notice before either. film makers can really use the drama film as an outlet to express ideas and feelings they have about society. they can show it in a way where a family is going through something familiar to the audience. there are many sub genres are crime drama, legal drama, historical drama, war drama, docudrama, comedy-drama, melodrama,romance, and tragedy. crime drama is based on themes involving law and crime and how the legal system deals with it all. historical drama usually has to do with war and drama from the past. Docudrama is similar to a mocumentary in the way that it is filmed like a documentary but uses trained actors. Comedy drama is when there is a nearly equal balance of drama and comedy. Melodrama's are types of drama films that use "heightened emotions" in their films. Romance dramas are dramatic films that have a lot of romantic love themes in them. tragedy dramas are dramas in " character's downfall is caused by a flaw in their character or by a major error in judgment."

Action/Adventure films

Action films: these films are primarily about the action scenes such as cars crashing, planes blowing up, and people shooting each other. these type of scenes are more important in these films than plot and dialog. The films are usually based on loose plot lines such as the main hero trying to save a group of people from something bad. there is usually some nice fast cars and a beautiful women. The main character usually has some sort of side kick as well. In the past the main character tended to be a man, however more recently women have been kicking some booty too. there are many sub genres in actions films. such sub genres are action comedy, die hard scenario, girls with guns, and heroic bloodshed. some examples of action comedy are actions films that are funny too like charlie's angels and Beverly hills cop. an example of die hard scenarios are snakes on a plane and air force one, this is when a limited location is under attack and the hero must fight! examples of girls with guns are Nikita and Lara croft tomb raider! these movies are my favorite type of genre to watch duh! these movies are total girl power action movies! examples of heroic bloodshed are films that have dynamic fight scenes and are based of themes of brotherhood and honor.

Adventure: adventures films are similar to action films. they are usually based on the main heroic character is always in some sort of dangerous situation and is trying to get from point a to point b. trying to rescue, stay alive, or complete a mission. there is always a lot of action in these film. some examples of an adventure films are Jurassic Park, Star Wars and the Mummy.

women in cinema

I have noticed a pattern of how women are executed in movies over the course of time. they are the power women, the hero, the prostitute, the housewife, the fighter, the beautiful one, the dumb one, i wonder if these roles that have gone in cycles over time have anything to do with how women have been treated over time in the world?

Network

I feel like this film is very relevant to the current times. The way that every business, whether it is a TV show, boutique, or even an advertising company, are yearning for ratings, customers, and new accounts. People are willing to do anything or fire anyone in order to survive this horrible recession. In this film, one man is told that he will be let go. he has been working at the company for years and years and is getting the boot. he is given a two week notice, and with in this notice he will still be on the air. at his next show he gets really real. he basically says that he will kill himself on air at the next show time, of course he is immediately pulled off the air, but then requests to apologize, his apologize ironically turns into him calling everyone out on their "bullshit" which turns into a show about him getting real with the world. its silly how corporations only use people when they are being benefited by it, as soon as they are not they want out no matter who it effects. Betsey Johnson even has fired so many people who have been with the company for 10 years +, just because they had a few bad months out of the 10 amazing years. they only care when things are good.

All About Eve

This movie was soo good. I think everyone should see this movie. There is an Eve Harrington in every group of friends. I know so many Eve Harringtons, they are they most dangerous type of person. they can get people so twisted and blackmailed, its hard not to trust an Eve Harrington, they seem so nice and trustful.. and then they have everything they need to destroy you haha. Bette Davis' character is so sad. there are so many actresses these days that fall into the category of "old". its one of the saddest thing i think.. Someone working their whole life for success, and then one day they wake up and the public has decided that they are just too old. there are only a few actresses that has surpassed this. They have developed the characters that they play, and have matured with the public. i think it is the ones that still want to play the single 30 year old that fall out of place. Meryl Streep however plays older roles that are still really good. the way that this movie was done was well paced. The movie was funny too! all the characters were very well developed

La Femme Nikita

I loved this movie! While watching this film, i thought of so many movies that have gotten inspiration from this. There were a lot of themes in this film. One of the were GIRL POWER. Nikita was so hard core in this film, she seriously fought like a man. if the beginning of the film she fought like a savage, no rules, she would even bite. but by the end of the film she is trained, clean, and fights like a skilled killer. i think that another theme that was in this film was the theme of focus and discipline. Almost like karate kid, Nikita had to train, behave herself, and strive to grow up with some class. In order to survive she had to drop her dirty disobedient act. The scene with the bricked over window was so intense! She moved so quickly and was so smart at it. when she jumps down the trash shoot i didn't think she was going to make it. i got scared that they were going to kill her afterward or send her back to training. I don't understand the end though, why did she leave? what happened that made her feel unsafe?

Aguirre, the Wrath of God

This is a great story about when power gets put in the hands of a person who is not in touch with reality. this story is about how one person can gather such a following that the entire group can fall off course. even in the end when everyone is dead but him, he looks out into the vast emptiness and asks "who is with me!" Aguirre leads with such terror, he scares people into following him under his reign. there is one scene where a few people disagree with his choices and they are immediately shot by Aguirre's faithful followers. at once point during the mission one of his faithful followers begin to secretly question Aguirre, and is beheaded. There are many leaders in history who get fixated on an unrealistic reality and somehow enroll many others into believing that it is right and achievable. Hitler decided that there should be a world of just a "clean race" and some how got a great amount of people to believe in him. this is a very scary thing when people are naive and ignorant. we must think for ourselves and stand up for what we believe in.

Freaks!

This movie was very fun! however it was very hard for me to watch! i have a horrible fear of amputation.. like i literally could not even watch that horrible Lindsay Lohan movie ( not because it was so badly written, acted and directed) but because she is missing limbs in the film. it is really horrible actually, just when ever i see peoples nubs i picture them all dirty and sour and sandy in my mouth and i begin to gag.. the worst are the ones in the bags.. all sweaty ! ahh! anyway it is very childish and ignorant of me but its just what happens. so this movie was hard for me to get through! but i really could not stand how Cleopatra only went after poor Hans for his money. it is really satisfying at the end when she gets what was coming to her and becomes a huge freak herself! it is horrible when people are just friends and associate themselves with others for ulterior motives, its the true friends who will love you for the real freak inside and not the money you have. i think everyone wishes they could turn their "frienaimes" into human chickens sometimes!

Eraser Head

This movie is unlike any other film i have seen. I'm still not quite sure what it is that i saw, i think i need to watch this movie a few times to really understand the significance of if. there are so many things in this film that i feel are metaphors for something. i feel that in this movie there is some type of theme or message, however i could not grasp what it was. i liked the director used music to describe the feelings of the room. when there would be something stressful that Henry was feeling, the music would get very stressful, almost freaky, like the water would begin to boil and make a loud whistling sound. in the scenes where Henry is feeling something ,the viewer cannot help but feel the same way. David Lynch uses music, back ground noises, and everyday sounds instead of dialog. what did the eraser head mean? what did it mean that his head made erasers? and why does his girl friends mother hit on him. the scene at Mary X's house is the most awkward scene in the entire film to me, it is every one's worst nightmare of what going to meet the parents is like!

question of the week

when does a cult film officially become a cult film, and at what point does it leave the cult film genre and enter a new mainstream genre? or is it that once it is a cult film it is a cult film forever no matter how mainstream it gets?

Cult/explotation

The cult film: I feel that there is no real specific definition for a cult film, i think that someone cannot intend on making a cult film either. from what i have learned it is the audience that makes a cult film and cult film. sometimes as soon as the film is released it is taken in by a cult and made what it is, and sometimes it is years later, when that film is being showed at a midnight movie it is remembered and loved. sometimes cult movies are what they are because they are just that good, and sometimes they are just "so bad that it is good". rarely cult films are loved by the masses, and most of the time, cult films are taken in a loved by a smaller very specific audience. cult films are known to be inordinate, very eccentric and usually step out of the box of traditional standards of mainstream cinema. they are considered controversial and taboo. they bring up issues and images that other movies are too scared to. these movies take a risk, and they are either loved or not. cult films are films that have not achieved main stream success but however have gathered a group of almost obsessed fans that love the movie to death. i feel like when a product, movie, clothing item, video game, really takes a risk and makes something different they wont achieve mainstream success right away, but the fact that it is so different, edgy, and daring, it captures the hearts of some people. then little by little it gets more and more popular and eventually hits the mainstream radar. this is what happened with El Toro. it got so popular in the underground scene that John Lennon bought it and put it in a wide release all around new york and big theaters, and it eventually lost all its appeal.

question of the week

midnight movies:

What happened to the midnight movie? it seemed like such a great outlet to show underground films! it seemed like such a great place and thing to do on saturday nights, i know that some theaters still do it with a hand full of movies. did it just get too over exposed and not cool anymore? when do you think they will bring it back? or will they?

Pink Flamingos!

Oh my gosh, i truly had no idea what i was getting myself into! i cannot believe how old that movie is and it is still so shocking, its funny how the midnight movie humor was so risk-ay at that time, and now is pretty much basic everyday "south park humor". i think that they should re release this film! so many of my friends have never seen this movie. i loved the egg lady! granted i cannot have hard boiled egg for some time, she made me laugh so hard. i loved divine! i wish they could make a sequel and show them with their new identities, it might ruin it though :( its hard to make a good sequel pretty much star wars and toy story only haha.

the plot of this movie was so simply, but all the characters were so well developed that they took over the movie. the plot was that divine got crowned the filthiest person alive, but there were two people that thought they were filthier so they want to sabotage divine, however they just end up getting them selves tarred and feathered and shot. the only scene that really got to me was the chicken threesome where the chicken dies after being shoved up that women.

Question of the week

The western taboo!

There are a lot of movies that talk about subject matter that is quite relevant and touchy. however i feel now a days there is a lot of censorship. there is no way a movie could come out talking about the truth about bush and how corrupt the war is right now, i just dont see that getting made, but how did the westerns get away with talking about such relevantly taboo topics in their films regarding the brutal America?

THE WESTERN!

Like i have made very clear in my previous western themed postings, western is not my genre. however they are very interesting to learn about, while researching for this class i came across many interesting facts and themes that go into the making of a western that i was previously unaware of. Westerns usually are about how the simple way of living is confronted by modern changes, whether its social or technological. this is done in many ways big or small, it can be between farmers, being threatened by the no need for them anymore, or even between natives and U.S. settlers. i found out that American Westerns between the years of 1940 and 1950 usually emphasize honor and sacrifice, however the westerns between the years of 1960s and the 1970s were more pessimistic, and how glorifying the antihero and talking about the inequality and violence of the Western America. it is interesting that these films were still allowed to be made even though they spoke about such touchy relevant subjects. The themes in westerns usually surround around honor and codes of civilization. there is always a distinct law, that either people go against or are for. westerns are usually set in obsolete areas like empty ranches, wide open desserts, on a field. however there is always a sort of town as well. the town has a church, school, saloon, sheriff, and a bank. these places are run very tight and there is a heavy code of honor. the bars and saloons seem to be free range, filled with alcohol, ladies, cards, and guns. at the end of most westerns i feel that there is always some sort of moral statement made, that wraps up the whole tale. westerns are usually based in California, Mexico, some places on the west coast that are hot and dry. however there are also westerns that are based in Australia as well.

T

High Noon

I really liked this movie! The ending is soooo good. Will Kane must confront a gang of criminals, Kane put their leader away for murder years before, and now he is out and looking to kill him. He goes around the town to gather people for help, he has done so much for this town and assumes it wont be hard, everyone turns him away! Even the judge and his own deputy. Instead of running away he stays put and defeats them all! When everyone comes to congratulate him, he just takes his star off and kicks it to the floor and drives off in his carriage!   "Carl Foreman stated the film was intended as an allegory of the contemporary failure of intellectuals to combat the rise of McCarthyism , as well as how people in Hollywood had remained silent while their peers were blacklisted." this is a common theme in the world. when something happens to someone and they reach out for help but no one wants to get their hands dirty, most people will run away to save themselves, but a few people in this world will stay in out and prove themselves just so that they can regain their pride and walk away from the poeple that walked away from them!

The Wild Bunch

For someone who doesn't like westerns I did enjoy watching this movie. To tell you the truth, I did not know much about westerns, and had not seen many at all, maybe 1 or 2. They just seemed "boring" to me. Maybe it was the way they looked or how long they typically are, I just avoided them at all costs. The Wild Bunch is a fun, loud, theme filled rambunctious movie about a gang out old outlaws getting ready to retire for good. They just want their one last ride, their one last deal, that will set them straight financially for a long while. Another theme similar to public enemy "once last punch". This theme always makes me so nervous! It foreshadows that this will be their last and final fight. Not because they will stop after this one, but because they will die. Another theme in this film is betrayal. In this film the men live by a code of honor. At the end they leave their friend to basically die with the mexicans, they while they are trying to relax and drink they all realize "when you side with a man, you stay with him. Otherwise you are just some animal." They all get up and this is what initially lead to the conclusion of their journey. 

Question of the day

When did movie credits start showing at the end of movies? i feel like most movies before the 1980s all showed at the beginning of movies, now its just the "main names" like stars, producers, director, production company and writer. Is it the choice of the creator of the movie or the director? who has made this grand decision?

Crime and Gangster

Crime and gangster films are always fun to watch, they are usually based on crime, drugs, money ,bank-robbers, murders, women, and cars. What I have found quite common in most of these films is that the audience usually

develops a type of sympathy for the main criminal. And at some point in the movie you are not sure if you are on the "good guy's" side or the "bad guy's" side. But the "good guy" always wins. These movies are usually based in large crowded cities, so that one can see the small shadowy crevices that these criminals hide out in. Gangster films are usually a story about morals, the criminal is usually someone who is striving to make money, make a name for himself. The criminal is usually coming from a small poor family and sees an opportunity to make it big. There is usually some sort of catch. An example of this would be : "the only problem is it means doing something illegal to get the money like robbing a bank". The criminal thinks that he can do it just this once and then be done with it. And then they get addicted to the money, the thrill, the rush, and they keep doing it till they die doing it. Gangster and crime movies dates back to the early 1900s, but it was not until the 1930's when sound was invented that these films really became a thrilling entertainment. The sound of the machine guns going off, the car driving away and the women screaming really added to the plot lines. The themes in the 1930s really went well with the genre as well. The prohibition era led way for fantastic movies about bootlegging alcohol and the ups and downs of that business like in the public enemy.

The Public Enemy

This movie was hard to watch. I just new they were going to die and kept waiting for it to happen, similar to Bonnie and Clyde, they should have stopped while they were ahead. the end credits message was confusing to me, was this movie put out as more of a warning? It was interesting to see the development of the two boys. How they went from troubled little boys stealing watches and selling them to the black market to bootlegging alcohol, ripping money, slapping women, and killing people like its like putting out a cigarette. it was confusing when Matt got shot, and Tom was hiding behind a building, he was almost smiling, it was creepy with his thin eyebrows, was he smiling that he did not get shot, or that he had something to do with Matt getting shot. and at the end when Tom storms into the building that all those men were walking into, we hear a lot of shots and then he comes out hurt. what was this little meeting? was it the mob meeting? why did he go in and shoot them?was he shooting for Matt? or did he feel set up having his gun and money taken away?

Question of the week

Film Noir:
SO now that I am more familiar with Film Noir, I understand how the films we have watched are categorized under this genre, however i am not sure how to go about categorizing movies I haven't seen in class and Noir or not. if it was made with in the 40s & 50s and has crime and femme fatal and has great lighting then is it Noir?

Bonnie and Clyde

I really loved this movie. I think that many movies have taken inspiration from this film. the film has so many great aspects to it. Crime, love, teamwork, deceit, dreams, and defeat are some that come to mind. I found it interesting when researching the real Bonnie and Clyde that the pictures at the car with the gun that were taken in the film were actually taken in real life too. Another aspect that the film had that is true are the poems that Bonnie Parker wrote about their legacy. I read that she was an honor roll student in high school and won an award for the poems she wrote. The love story of the two of them is so heart breaking.They should have stopped when they had the chance. This happens in many films and in many lives. When people try something illegal for the first time and get away with it, then they think, well hey lets try this one more time, and they are successful again. Instead of stopping they keep at it and it gets sloppier and sloppier and then they get caught and killed, its unfortunate that this is a reoccurring theme. Its so sad, the two of them were so young.

Film Noir

Film Noir

Before taking this class I was not really sure exactly what Film Noir was. I knew that they were all black and white films, but I was not sure what distinguished Film Noir from other black and white films. Film Noir means black film in french. Film Noir's were mostly made in American between the years of the 1940s-1950s. Specifically 1941-1958. It is hard to define this genre. I read that the french were the first to recognize a movement in American film at this time before and after WWII. What I have noticed is that the films usually have something to do with crime, corruption, a femme fatal, some type of love triangle confusion, and death. the main female character always seems to be scheming and have a few tricks up her sleeve, unlike women in movies after this period that just sat their and looked pretty.In the strange love of MarthaIvers , Martha is the ultimate femme fatal, she manipulates the people around her and intimidates her husband into doing what she wants, and she lives in fear that everyone will find out that she killed her aunt. Or in Sunset BLVD Norma Desmond is in such an illusion that she is still a big star that she ends up killing poorGillis . I have really enjoyed watching these films, this is my favorite genre so far. I really liked the Maltese Falcon, I think that this movie had every part of thequintisential aspects of film noir all wrapped up in one movie. Sam spade was the hero cop that solves the crime, Mr. Gutman was the criminal that was chasing the falcon that Sam Spade was trying to capture and Mrs. Brigid O'Shaughnessy was the femme fatal who was in trouble with Gutman and wanted the falcon, but most of all almost took Sam Spade down.

sunset Boulevard

This movie was really fun to watch. I grew up in this area of Los Angeles so it was nostalgic to watch the characters driving through the streets of Hollywood and Bel Air. A lot of the faces that Norma Desmond makes remind me of my Dad and Grandma. They can both be very significant diva sometimes. It can be entertaining, now that I know who they are "channeling". The way the movie was set up made it fun to try and figure out. Some classmates and I were trying to predict the ending, we were pretty close. It makes me sad how hollywood can shut these stars out. It is so sad how someone can be so famous and have so much attention and then be completely forgotten about. It is interesting how this movie and Some Like it Hot have the same director. Billy Wilder has a neat way of concealing a taboo topic under a loud plot. In Some like It Hot, He conceals the topic of cross dressing behind the comedic dance of two men escaping the law. In this movie he talks about the topic of hollywood deserting the stars of yesterday. he conceals this touchy subject by introducing this awkward love story

The Maltese Falcon

I loved this movie!

Humphrey Bogart, or shall I say Sam Spade is so fantastic. The ending really did it for me. I was even on Brigid's side! I really thought he would have just blamed the murder on Wilmer and gone off with her. I think if the Falcon had even been worth anything he would have done the same. He was such a good cop, I love the scene where he tells her about what you are supposed to do when your partner dies. That was a great speech. I know that this is a cheesy comparison but I think that the Brady Bunch Movie took some plot line inspiration from this film. "Trying to get someone to fall in love with you so they help you find something and don't throw you in jail". Too bad that back fired in both movies. I loved the character of the Kasper Gutman and his whole obsession with the Maltese Falcon. he gets so excited when talking about it. Another character I really enjoyed was Cairo! Oh what a character, he was so interesting and always looked like he was on his way back from the opera. all in all I think that this was a great movie and defiantly inspired many movies after it.

The Hitch-Hiker

The beginning of this movie was great. it really reminded me of the beginning of Strangers on a Train directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The way that the camera followed the feet of the people in the movie for the first 15 or so minutes was great. I loved the scene of the hitchhiker killer killing the couple in the beginning of the movie. You hear a scream, and you see the purse fall then the wallet being picked up. When the police come you can tell the women is dead just by how her hand and foot are lying there. However i felt the rest of the movie carried on a little too long. I think that there were some scenes that could have been cut. I think that they could have camped out just once and not twice. I thought it was smart how the police decided to not put valid news of their investigation on the radio in fear that the killer would hear this and kill again. I love his reaction when he gets the gun pulled on him, especially because earlier in the film he says that that will never happen to him. he is almost in shot and you can really see how much of a sociopath he is.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

LOved this Movie!It begins with a adventurous, scabbed knees, dirty finger nailed, little girl hiding in the rain with her cat. she is hiding from the life her Aunt wants her to have, from the life she is destined to have. She is trying to run away with her best friend, Sam Masterson. They are running away from her aunt that is as cruel as a witch, and has no intention of Martha having a playful childhood. Since her Aunt owns the town, , it is not long before they come busting in on the two of them. In this scene you see the two, and later on you see them again but very different. Sam doesn't change too much i feel, he still seem like a rebel, maybe a rebel who has seen a little more of the world, a little sadder. But Martha however changes so much. it is almost sad. She comes into the scene draped in jewels and fur. everything from the way she talks to the way she walks looks like her aunt, the one this that she has tried to avoid becoming. the movie turns into Martha turning against Sam, her one true friend, she accuses him of bribery and her husband, who was the one who told her aunt where they were hiding, ends up trying to kill him. it is a strange thing, jealousy and paranoia. how success and money can truly change people.

question of the week

The Maltese Falcon!

Soo good! i loved how this movie was filmed and directed. But i still dont get why Bridged shoots Sam's partner. and why does she ask for Sam's help to begin with? you would think that since she is dealing with an illegal situation that she would be trying to avoid the police.

question of the week

The Hitch-hiker

Why is this movie soooo long? i love the beginning, but this movie could have been a short, why do the threesome make so many stops. There was a scene in the film where the two men are going to mexico and Gilbert pretends to be asleep and looks at collins with the corner of his eye, it makes him almost seem suspicious. did that mean anything or am i just reading into things?

Question of the week

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

This was the movie of the week this week. I really liked the movie, i found it interesting how people can become so paranoid and greedy when they think they are being threatened. I wonder what type of underlying plots or messages are in this movie, or if there are none at all. This may be a silly question but is this what that horrible movie teaching Mrs. tingle is loosely based on? I found Walter's character so infuriating!!

Mystery and Suspense

These films are usually filled with plot lines of someone trying to uncover something else. in the process of this is being hunted, in trouble, or in danger. These types of films are usually fiction, however sometimes they are not. There is usually some type of plot twist as well. there are many types of myster suspense films, such types are Cozy myster, police procedural, and hardboiled. an example of hardboild would be Sam, Spade in The Maltese Falcon. The feeling of suspense is having the feeling of uncertanity, not knowing what will happen next, feel scared for each moment to come. This feeling is the type of feeling that gets me the most scared when watching a movie, i get so scared that somethhing is going to pop out of nowhere! The not knowing what will happen next mixed with the trying to solve some type of myster is what makes these types of films so hard to watch. In diabolique, both of these types of genres were relevant. There was a myster of them trying to figure out where her husband went, and also the suspense of knowing he could pop out at any moment. this stress is was ultimatley let to her demise.

QUESTION OF THE DAY! STRANGERS ON A TRAIN

This is probably a question no one can answer but i have been thinking about it since i watch the movie. In strangers on a train, when Bruno strangles that women at the party, why isn't he arrested? why are they no charges pressed! why is he sent up stairs to rest and then set free to wander? Is Guy worried that he will squeal to the police? but even if he did he would just look like some crazy person that strangled a lady. I wish his dad would just kill him or send him away.

SCIENCE FICTION!

Science fiction is "realistic speculation about possible future events based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present, and on a thorough understanding of the nature and significance of the scientific method"( Robert A. Heinlein). This is the first definition I have heard of science fiction that I feel really captures the true meaning of genre.

The creepy thing about science fiction films is that the themes are usually presented in a way that the viewer actually believes that I could happen.

Like in the Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the film is set up in a way that makes it seem like seedpods could actually take over any town, even your town, and after you are done watching this film it probably will. The fact that science fiction films usually involve some sort of element that has either happened in history or is a current event usually give the film a relatable

Not all science fiction films are based in relatable settings, in fact a lot of them are based in the future, the past or even in space. Films usually involve a theme of the discovery of some new thing that contradicts the known way of reality. Like in Terminator II, they send a human like robot alien back in time. That is defying three major thinks that we have come to know as reality. the fact that there are aliens, time travel, and human like robots that can kill!

Science fiction has many sub genres, some of which are hard science fiction, time travel, super human, space opera, apocalyptic, cyber punk, soft and social science fiction, and military science fiction.
credibility and makes you think that it could happen. Like how in Invasion of the Body Snatchers is based in such a normal town, where everyone works jobs just like you and the underlying theme is communism, it just makes the film seem that much more real.

HORROR

Horror films have evolved so much throughout the years. Now when going to see a horror film I expect to basically see the movie SAW, Which I could never sit through. I think of gruesome killers, hot girls, fast cars, and the thought of human taxidermy. I think of movie makers trying to compile the most disgusting and bone chilling terrible things into an hour and a half. that does not sound pleasant to watch at all. I feel like horror films used to be about something. there would be an underlying message. there would be something to figure out, something to understand. not this over staurated Las Vegas billboard of disgusting crap. In the Night of the Living Dead there was suspense, human interaction, death and gore, but it was fun to watch. Especially in Susperia, there was actually things to think about, "what happened?", "Did she just die!?", "was that all just a dream??". I feel like film makers have less faith in their audiences now or maybe it is easier to make more money when your film just requires people to sit there and zone out.

Horror films are films that try to make people scared. There are usually deaths, screaming, suspense, supernatural characters, and there is always some sort of central villain. The villain does not always have to be one person, but a group of things as well. Like in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the villains are the seedpods,( communism).

Directors that made a huge impact on the genre of Horror would be Alfred Hitchhock, Roman Polaski, Stanley Kubrick, William Friedkin, and Frances Ford Coppola,. Movies such as Psycho, Rear Window, Vertigo, Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby, Dracula, and the Exorcist have made horror films what they are today. Overall this genre study has really opened my eyes to horror films. I you would have asked me if I enjoyed watching horror films, my answer would have been NO. But now my answer has changed, and I genuinely enjoy watching older horror films.

DIABOLIQUE

I loved this film! I loved the was it was filmed, I loved the set design, I loved the setting, I loved the costumes, I loved the styling, I loved the plot, and most of all I loved the twist! This film is about a bitter wife and a scheming jealous mistress that ban together to kill their man. Throughout the film one is not perfectly sure of anything. You do not know who is on who's team, who is alive or dead, or who is telling the truth or lying. I loved the character of Nicole. She really stole the show for me. Her character was so tough and manipulative. I love movies that really trick the audience. Only a really great movie can fool an entire audience. Nicole's character played so many sides, vulnerable, murderous, angry, happy, concerned, and scared. I really believed she was scared when she left at the end. Poor Christina Delasalle! She gets taken for such a ride. Nicole even hints to her scheming in the scene when they are in the car, "Michel said that it shouldn't be hard with her heart condition." Implying that Michel and her had already plotted to kill Christina at one point, and planned to make it look like her heart gave out for pre-diagnosed reasons. During the movie I kept wanting the inspector to go away! I though he was trying to put Christina and Nicole in jail. When in the end he was just looking out for Christina!.

QUESTION OF THE DAY- SCIENCE FICTION?

I really like Rod Serling's definition of Science fiction. Science fiction is"fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible." I think i have a pretty strong grasp of what science fiction is and what horror is. but i feel like there is a very fine line between the two, are they even separate at all? there is so much cross over, how do you define something from horror or science fiction?

QUESTION OF THE DAY- HORROR FILMS?

I know that Horror films elicit the emotions of dear, horror and terror. Plots usually include themes of death, supernatural or mental illness. Most horror films usually include a central villain as well. But i am not sure exactly what science fiction is and its relation to horror films?

QUESTION OF THE DAY- Romatic comedy?

I have noticed that romantic comedy is n aspect in almost every type of genre film. Even screwball comedy parodies the tradition love story. Would romantic comedy actually be more of a sub genre rather that its own? or are all genres overlapping?

TERMINATOR II JUDGEMENT DAY!

Its interesting how in both this film and in Invasion of the Body Snatchers aliens take the form on human bodies and human faces. I find films that do this to be more successful. I find that it is really difficult to create an alien form that doesn't look cliche or silly. I think that district 9 is one of the only films that successfully captures this. This film is about the future when Los Angeles is a war ridden city and there are very few human life forms left. The company Skynet is determined to destroy the human resistance. They send a terminator back in time to kill the resistance leader when he was a kid. While the resistance sends a terminator back in time to protect the leader. Unlike Invasion of the Body Snatchers, this film was not low budget. In that movie it was all about the great plot and message. However in Terminator II, it is really all about the special effects and not so much about the story. I don't really even think that there is an underlying message, other than not to let technology take over the world. There is a lot of character development in Arnold Schwarzenegger's terminator. He becomes a softy and he connects with young Conner, other than that bit of humanism there is not much going on other than things blowing up and people and robots getting killed.

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS!

This movie was a horror/science fiction film. There was anticipation, anxiety, screaming, suspense, and supernatural alien like forms. This movie definitely embodied the definition of a horror/science fiction film. This movie was pretty low budget, yet still successfully depicted a very strong message. It is said that this movie is an analogy for the socially communism and McCarthy era. It is reminiscent of the blacklisting Hollywood era. " The spread an unknown malignancy or virulent germ( fear of annihilation by "nuclear war") or the numbing of our individuality and emotional psyches through conformity and group think"( filmsite.org). I thought it was clever how the sead pods represented communism. How they took over people who were full of life, in love, involved in their communities, and replaced them with emotionless bodies. I read that the character Miles represented McCarthy and how he tried to save people during this time. I liked how Miles almost narrated the whole film by talking to us about how he felt when this was all happening. How we as an audience see all the pieces slowly come together. The scene where he gets called into town early because everyone is freaking out and all of a sudden everyone is fine, was very interesting. At this point we begin to wonder if something bad is actually happening or if this town is full of hypochondriacs. When Miles says things like " at that point I should have known something was not right" leads the viewer to assume something bad is going to be revealed. i really enjoyed watching this film.

SUSPIRIA

This movie is beautiful. I love the set design. The music went so perfectly with the setting. It took me a while to figure out exactly what was going on though. I found myself having to rewind scenes and re watch them. I don't exactly understand why she didn't leave the school!  At the beginning of the story, Every time something scary was about to happen, you would hear this scary music box song and heavy breathing.  With all the flashbacks to that girl screaming about the blue orchid, I was expecting something scarier. I was expected a scarier twist. I thought the main character was very interesting. She arrives at this studio that turns her away, and sees a girl screaming and crying in the rain, then comes back the next day. She seems naive at first, and then slowly puts all the clues together. After throwing out her food, which had been poisoned by the witches, she musters up the courage to investigate what all the other girls disappeared while doing She hardly even finds anything that the audience doesn't already know. There was so much build up, but it was almost to nothing. I think it’s a pretty decent climax when she finally kills the witch. That was pretty exciting. Was that witch the one who was breathing heavy? Was she the thing that possessed everyone? I feel like there was something creepier going on, something else that was not addressed.