After Desert Storm

This article by Daniel Pipes was found on danielpipes.org. Daniel Pipes is the director in charge of the Middle East Forum. He also is a visiting professor at Pepperdine University, and has worked as a columnist in many well known newspapers such as the New York Sun, Jerusalem Post, L'Opinione, La Razón, Australian, and Globe and Mail. According to the Wall Street Journal,

"...[Mr. Pipes] is an authoritative commentator on the Middle East."

The article written by Daniel Pipes, "After Desert Storm, No Real Changes," offers an interesting view of what is really happening in the Middle East, as oppose to all the filtered media we receive from the media in the United States.
Daniel Pipes comments that this war has been the biggest war since World War II, except this war is affecting our control over our oil supply. However, the United States has made some successful efforts to better this corrupt political system. Despite all these efforts, the fighting in the Middle East has not changed after Desert Storm. Pipes explains that the people in the Middle East have never been at peace due to religious conflicts and corrupt politics that care more about "political passions" as oppose to what is better for their economy.
Mr Pipes is warning American to be careful on how one approaches the corruption in Iraq by knowing our boundaries and limits, and specifically addressing problems within the state.

Russell Has 'Anchored' His Career In the Film Industry

Audiences were jumping for joy after seeing the hysterical film, Anchorman. The director of Three Kings, David O. Russell, was the executive producer of this famous and well-acclaimed movie.
This trailer from YouTube gives an overview of the film.






The site IMDb, Earth's Biggest Movie Database, contained some good information on Anchorman. The site has the plot overview, the cast and directing/producing crew, awards and nominations, photos, the film's genre, the specific locations where the scenes were shot, and its soundtrack. The site also has message boards, user comments from viewers whom have seen the movie and feel the need to express their opinions, and an area that recommends similar movies if you enjoyed Anchorman.

The Work of David O. Russell

The Director of Three Kings, David O. Russell, is well known throughout Hollywood. His works have been accepted and applauded by many movie viewers.
One site, IMDb (Earth's Biggest Movie Database), gives some brief background information on David O. Russell and an overview of the films that he has worked with during his career.
Another site that I found to be informative on Russell was under Yahoo! Movies. This site gave an informative read of the biography of David O. Russell, his credentials in the film industry, photos, and his nominations and awards.
In the biography, there is a mention of an interesting fact on Russell's background that is unique to his past. According to Yahoo! Movies,

"Russell did not attend film school, nor did he set out to become a filmmaker; rather he was a political organizer and literacy teacher. But an urge to tell stories led him to make three short films..."

I think you will find David O. Russell's past and his work in film quite interesting.

Gulf War

In the movie, Three Kings, the Gulf War is showing with an American viewpoint. This war which was between Irag and a group of other countries including the United States was fought in order to liberate the country of Kuwait. The reason people wanted to see the film Three Kings when it came out was simple. It had been quite a while since the war had been other when the film came out. People are usually interested in films such as these. They want to relive some moments to a certain degree and see how it was back then. Things change other time and so do political views. One may wonder the true motives behind the whole war after watching such a film.

Three Kings, success that was not recognized

The link provided gives the reader a critical insight into the film Three Kings as well as information about the success of the film and the director David O Russell. A notable point of this link is that the writer claims the film as being one of the best in the year it was released, yet the academy awards failed to recognize it. The writer argues that the director David O Russell took a different approach from his usual comedy films and his end result was a film with a brain and a heart behind it. He further argues that while Three Kings is serious anti war film that makes you think, the director successfully manages to intertwine aspects of comedy to it. The writer ends the article with a small DVD review and a TV Guide review.
Here are some quotes

Russell never shies away from making us confront such ugly aspects of war, even going so far as taking the camera into the human body to show what happens
when someone is shot.

But as entertaining as the witty dialogue and edge-of-your-seat action sequences are, Three Kings expects you do something you may not be accustomed to doing while watching your average Hollywood film. It expects you to think.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

This is one of David O. Russell's films. The movie "Three Kings" shows us a serious side to Russell, while "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" lets us see his humorous side. The movie is about Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), who is a top news anchorman who lives a good life until Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) steps in. Corningstone isn't a typical woman of the 1970's, oh no, she wants to be his equal! The whole movie basically revolves around these two central characters as they fight and bicker their way into a loving, or somewhat of a loving relationship.

First Persian Gulf War in Three Kings

This is an excellent article written by Julie Lorenzen. She talks about how the Persian Gulf War was used as the bigger story in the movie, The Three Kings. She goes on to explain about the events that were happening in America at the time that the movie was released (1999).

Hussein was still in charge of Iraq. There were complaints from American soldiers in the Gulf War were suffering from the side effects of the gases supposedly used by the Iraq army. The filmmakers might have feared that if George W. Bush won the election, he’d try to finish his father’s business in Iraq. The film seemed to be a statement of why we shouldn't’t go back because it chronicled the suffering of the Iraqi people.

Lorenzen goes on to explain the plot of the story, the emotional impact of the story, and the overall role that the American soldiers played in the movie and how the war effected them.

The filmmakers were sympathetic to the Iraqi people and critical of the Bush administration...In conclusion, The Three Kings stood out from the other films because it focused on U.S policy and military rather than on politicians and their staff.

This is an excellent article to read in order to get an idea of what our major project should be like, so I suggest that everyone check this one out.

A Selection of Exclusive Outtakes from an Interview with David Russell

The link above provides readers with an inside look into Russell's mind as a director. Gavin Smith, who is the editor of Film Comment, gives an in-depth interview with the director about two of his movies: Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees. In the interview, Russell goes on to explain the concept behind these two different movies, the meaning of each, how his personal life effected the making of them, and the marketing behind the movies. This was a really interesting article to read because you could really see where Russell got all his ideas and what kind of thinking process he must go through for each and every film he directs. Below are some interesting quotes from the article:

The most boring part of Three Kings to me is the heist and the
gold....I like to let the camera roll and not stop, and talk through lots of different takes. So the actors would forget I'm there....There was really no title I was happy with [talking about I Heart Huckabees]. I stuck with it because I like that it has a Heart in it.

I found this article very interesting so I think everyone should check it out!

Effects of the Gulf War

In this article, General Charles Horner explains what we have learned from the Gulf War. He claims that the Gulf War showed the U.S. that they had to improve their bombing force to be able to be a force in the 21st century. The Gulf War showed how important the capability of long ranged attacks is crucial. Horner also goes on to explain other important issues that the U.S. has learned from the war including using stealth, being aware of a surprise attack, etc. The Gulf War proved to be an influential time during American History, which came immediately after the end of the Cold War.

Post Desert Storm 1991

"Of course, President Bush the elder and other U.S. officials encouraged the uprising, and during the first week of March, rebellions spontaneously broke out in several major cities in southern Iraq, including Basra, Nasiriyah, Najaf, and Karbala. " It seems like Bush created more conflict toward these countries by interfering with their problems. With good intentions, his hope to liberate Iraq led to confusion amongst the public, and more punishments given to the people that Hussein ruled. The article was written by William M. Arkin as either a response to a Washington Post article, or the actual article itself. It looked like a blog setup, but I wasn't able to tell which organization he was affiliated with. Read on yo!!!

Russell Interview

David O Russell has an interesting view on life. He speaks and illustrates themes relating to everyday society and politics. He touches on important subjects in a way that the audience can relate to a character. After connecting with one of his films, it is obvious that he is trying to reach an audience of people that are all in the same boat. His honest directing allows us to see the truth of some issues, as well as address a point intelligently with evidence for each side to debate. From this quick interview he seems like a humble, average citizen trying to make a point. His auora comes off very comfortable and relaxed. "This interview took place in Russell’s home in Los Angeles. Specifically, it took place on a pair of beanbag chairs, as his dog, Fred, repeatedly licked our faces and farted during key moments in our discussion. Russell suspects this was entirely intentional." The person interviewing Russell is Eric Spitznagel who wrote this article for The Beleiver. Spitznagel also contributes to writing for other popular magazines such as Playboy and Esquire. The interview is short so check it out!!

David O. Russell

In this article, Loren Radis reviews the film I Heart Huckabees directed by David Russell. In her review, Radis describes how she loves this film because it is different from all other movies. The movie appeals to her because the special effects and visuals are creative and makes the movie interesting to watch. She then, goes on to describe the complicating summary of the plot. To her, all members of the cast did a great job with their acting. Radis describes the special scenes that she personally enjoyed. The one element of the movie that is strong is religion, this is why most people do not like this movie.

Iraq and Desert Storm aftermath

The documentaries / interviews etc come from sources like the BBC and are pooled into the PBS website under the section of Fronline. The section I chose "voices in the storm" is especially interesting as it recounts eye witnesses accounts of the failed kurd uprising and the road to basra (became the "highway of death" for the iraqi soldiers). The information provided on this website is very diverse but I chose this section as it illustrates some real life events in Desert Storm like the failed uprising though the uprisings we see in the film are in southern shiite iraq. We also saw dead corpses of iraqi troops in the desert which showed the intensity and devastation of the US's aerial bombing leading up to the Ground War.

The Legend of Ron Burgundy

In the movie Anchorman, David Russell is the producer unlike in Three Kings where he directed the whole movie. The two movies are complete opposites since one is a comedy-filled 70s spoof of news teams and the other deals with the Gulf War. In Anchorman, the issue at hand is the new anchor who is trying to take over is a women. That is a first, at least back then. At the same time, we see anchor teams battling it out for supremecy. This film will have you laughing non-stop. Russell is also currently working on a film called The H-Man Cometh due to release in 2008 in which he is producing and directing.

Aftermath of Operation Desert Storm

Author Daniel Pipes wrote this article for the Jewish Exponent soon after the end of Operation Desert Storm in 1992. So what changed after four months of war in the Middle East? Not much according to Pipes: "much remains surprisingly as it was." His article explains that even though the war produced never before seen events such as the U.S. and Russia being on the same side for the first time in nearly fifty years, there were almost no political and economical developments in the middle east. It mentions that "Saddam Husayn [remained] in power, barbaric, truculent, and deceitful as ever" and the Syrian Government continued to rule Lebanon, dominate Palestine, and traffic drugs. So why did almost nothing change? Pipes goes on to explain how the fall of the soviet Union is partially responsible.

I Heart Huckabees

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Heart_Huckabees

Along with this comedic trailer is a link that displays information about the film "I Heart Huckabees." This trailer is accessible at youtube.com and the information at wikipeda.org. David O. Russell is not only the director of this 2004 film, but he is also the producer.

" Albert Markovski (Schwartzman) is a young man who heads the local chapter of an environmental group, the "Open Spaces Coalition". Hoping to find the answer to what would seem to be an absurd coincidence in his life, he contacts two existential detectives, Bernard and Vivian Jaffe (Hoffman and Tomlin)."

For more information about this film, just click on the link provided. Do not forget to check out the trailer...it is pretty interesting!

Historical View on "THREE KINGS"

This is an article talking about the Historical parts of the Movie. It talks about how the reward of gold influenced some of the men, and what should have happened. This is actually a pretty intersting article, and is VERY Recent!

David O. Russel

This is a website of David O. Russel's Timeline with the Movies he has worked on. It Shows the Titles of the film's and where some of the controversy behind them. Acoording to the article he Directied 8 Films, and Wrote 6 Films.

Three kings and David O. Russell

David O Russel is an actor, also a director. His films genre are mostly comedy, Three Kings is no different. Russell films tend to have a serious topic, but most of the time it is overwhelm by the humor in the film. Even in the face of war, Russell can still make a fun of begin held captive in a war invaded, third world country. Russell is confusing, because his films make the audience uncomfortable and unable to express the humor in the film or the sadness that is comprised in the background.

David O. Russell's I Heart Huckabees

The clip I am linking to is the trailer to David O. Russell's I Heart Huckabees. I provided this video to demonstrate how their is a comedic approach to Russell's movie even when they are serious, as evident through Three Kings. The style of acting makes the movie the type to laugh at while there is still a good story behind it. The movie also has Mark Wahlberg starring in it. Clicking on the link above should take you to it.

IMDB: David O. Russel

I have linked to a page from "Earth's Largest Movie Database", The Internet Movie Database (IMDB). This site contains an eceptionally huge amount of information on actors, directors, and anything else that has to do with movies. The page that is linked is all about Three Kings director, David O. Russel. There are pictures of him, interesting facts, a list of his works, and more information about him.

The Importance of Self and I ♥ Huckabees

David O. Russell, director of the Three Kings, has also written and directed the film, I Heart Huckabees. The article I linked to, “Believe the Hype? I Heart Huckabees.” by Tim Grierson, briefly describes Russell’s interest in directing films with themes about how individuals are isolated from society and are responsible for their own actions. Grierson explains, “David O. Russell understands lost souls…” and continues that, “Russell bases his stories around frustrated men, burdened by ennui, and then thrusts them into a slightly bizarre plot in which the characters eventually work through their angst.” According to Grierson, another stylistic method Russell uses is how he “has always held his protagonist’s arm at length…” to intentionally distance the characters in order to evoke curiosity in the audience. Besides the common themes appearing in Russell’s films, Grierson also mentions that Russell included a well-known cast in I Heart Huckabees and an “off-kilter Jon Brion score to create a highly stylized version of our world.” The author compares the distinct style of combining a familiar cast, abnormal musical score, and themes about the self in I Heart Huckabees to the atmosphere and tone of Punch-Drunk Love. Grierson discusses that I Heart Huckabees is an existentialist film where investigators team up with the main character, Albert, to search for what makes one’s life unhappy, and along the way, encounter some unusual characters. In Grierson’s own viewing of the film, he admits that at some points in the movie, he was taken aback and did not know whether or not to “laugh or cry.” Therefore, Grierson believes that Russell’s emphasis on the theme of existentialism allows audiences to watch I Heart Huckabees in a comedic manner which digs into the underlying meaning behind how people behave and respond to the world around them.

Director David O. Russell

The site answers.com provides excellent bibliographical and filmographical information about Director David O. Russell. If we looked in depth at this director, we find out that he mainly makes thoughtful comedy films like Flirting With Disaster and I ♥ Huckabees. He also was part of the team that brought the satirical movie called Anchorman: The Legend of Burgundy.

The only war movies that he has done are the Three Kings (1999) and the recent Soldiers Pay (2004). Ironically, both movies are about the Iraq War which are different from other movies in the war genre. I think David Russell is trying to make a statement as he shows the human side of the war unlike many movies in the war genre which are about explosion filled scenes and letting the good guys (the US military) winning against the bad guys. I believe that he is trying to tell us that wars are not a game, but a real life event that personally affect the lives of everyone who is involved - be it the victim or the soldier armed with that M16.

History of Desert Storm- 10 years later

This is a short article on what was left in Iraq after Operation desert storm. After the United States convinced the people to rebel against Saddam, the American troops pulled out leaving the people to survive on their own. It sounds like it was a very unfair thing that the U.S. government did to these people. Three Kings, directed by David O. Russell, creates a story about three soldiers before they get sent home. This left the real people of Iraq alone and vulnerable. Now with a new war, who knows what will happen to these poor people.

David O. Russell

In the website above, information is given about David O. Russell and about four of his films that he directed. Each film has a short overview of the film's plot and information of the way Russell directed it. Russell's film, Three Kings, is discussed in the article. The article stated that the director used "different film types and developing techniques to project a scale of emotions." The article also mentions Russell gives the film authenticity to the story by using people who experienced the war first hand on both sides.

He has a way of portraying relationships that no one else can seem to master, giving his characters a really thick depth.

Flirting With Disaster

Found through the site RottenTomatoes.com, the article that I chose was of the film Flirting with Disaster, a film directed by David O. Russell. While he is most likely better known for films such as I Heart Huckabees and Three Kings, this film had earned a grade of B+ from the well known movie critic Emanuel Levy, who has written film reviews for such magazines as Variety and Screen International.
Many of the films that David O. Russell has directed have had complex plot lines, and Flirting With Disaster is no different than the others.

Historical Approach on Three Kings

The movie, Three Kings takes place at the end of the Gulf War, which was also known as Operation Desert Storm. We find this out at the beginning of the movie when three soldier find and iraqi with a note in the crack of his butt (or where the sun don't shine). Doing my research found out that the note is really a map. The map shows the location of gold bullion looted from Kuwait by Saddam Hussein's troops and buried in secret bunkers. "The Gulf War or the Persian Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of approximately 30 nations led by the United States and mandated by the United Nations in order to liberate Kuwait.

More about Russell

In this link you will find info on the many works of the director of Three Kings, David O. Russell. To find out more about any one film, simply click on that film to learn more. Russell has directed, produced, executive produced, and done other things relating to film. As you can see this man is very experienced. Check it out why don't you.

Gulf War Effect

The article by Melissa Krupa speaks about the immediate effects of the First Persian Gulf War on various Middle Eastern Countries, especially Kuwait and Iraq. The effects Krupa speaks of are in regard to the economic shifts and environmental destruction.

Like the hundreds of thousands humans killed or wounded during the Gulf War, the environment was hugely effected. Solid waste pollution, and air pollution contaminated the soil and polluted the waters. Oil related issues damaged the environment the most.

As promised, upon evacuation, Iraqi troops set fire to over six-hundred oil wells in several Kuwait oil fields. The effect that the oil fires had on the Gulf environment were enormous.

Krupa also estimates that 11 million barrels of oil were dumped into the Arabian Gulf, twenty times more than the famous Exxon Valdez Spill. The price to clean up the oil spills is estimated at $700 million.

Oil was also the driving force for economic issues. Krupa states that the Gulf War started due Kuwait overproducing oil, driving the prices down. At the moment, Iraq was still repaying debt, and were greatly effected by the decrease in oil prices. Saddam's frustration and start of the Gulf War led to a bigger debt for Iraq, an estimated $50 billion in military equipment alone.

Frank Darabont

This article by D.K. Holt has a list of director/writer Frank Darabont's movies he directed/wrote. The two most well-known movies are "Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile".

Holt compares and contrast's Darabont's directing for "Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile". He points out that Darabont likes to cast tall people, such as Tim Robbins and Michael Duncan, for his starring roles. Holt also states that Darabont is not a great director/writer, but he
"knows his limitations and mines cunningly his thin if abudent vein of his talent".

Later in the article, Holt writes about Darabont's connection with Stephen King, who's books were the basis of Darabont's blockbuster movies.

(Stephen) King's world is that of the '50s, and Darabont embraces it ultimately to his detriment. King is an American child of the Eisenhower era obsessed with bullies, with social approval, with high school hierarcies, with the pop culture that kids from the '50s experienced. As the victim of bullies, he also drifted toward respite in an easy liberalism that is manifested in The Green Mile as a portrayal of a black man as a simple soul with a noble spirit that shows dignity under oppression, a creature singled out by God for a special gift.

JON BRION: 'I &heart; Huckabee's'

This article written by Jon Brion discusses the music used for the soundtrack of I Love Huckabees, directed by David Russell. In this article Brion talks about how much of an important role music plays in a film. Brion stated,

David and I had a conversation about how disgustingly gratuitous song placement in the movies has become, and how most soundtrack music doesn't have a sense of song to it.

Dustin Hoffman plays an "existential detective" who probes coincidences in his clients' lives and raves like an aging acidhead about how everything is connected to everything else.

Because, the movie had many tension points, Brion agreed with Russell on how he focused his music on the most emotional tension points.

"I love HUckAbeeesss"

In this link we learn new material produced by David Russell who works as a Director and co-writer with Jeff Baena.
I dont want to spoil what the movie, so I advise reading the summary. This way it will benefit to see the similar auteur characteristics between "Three kings" and "I Love Huckabees."

The Deaths of Children

For most parents, the loss of a child would be their greatest tragedy. In Iraq, tragedies such as these increased immediately after the Gulf War according to a 1992 New England Journal of Medicine article titled Effect of the Gulf War on infant and child mortality in Iraq. According to the article, the increase of economic embargo's lead to the "malnutrition and morbidity among Iraqi children after the onset of the Persian Gulf war." Statistics outlined by "survey['s]of 271 clusters of 25 to 30 households" report "The age-adjusted relative mortality for the period after the war began, as compared with the period before the war, was 3.2 (95 percent confidence interval, 2.8 to 3.7)." These startling figures could provide additional causes to the increased turmoil in the region, as well as U.S.-Iraqi tensions. In conclusion the New England Journal of Medicine states "These results provide strong evidence that the Gulf war and trade sanctions caused a threefold increase in mortality among Iraqi children under five years of age. We estimate that more than 46,900 children died between January and August 1991."

Spanking the Monkey directed by David O. Russell

The link above directs to a review by Emanuel Levy. Levy gives his personal review of the movie "Spanking the Monkey". "His feature debut, Spanking the Monkey, is a gleefully subversive, bleakly comic family saga seething with misanthropy," Levy states as begins his review. Levy even has an "About Me" section on this website http://emanuellevy.com/aboutme.php?articleID=33 which states, "I studied sociology of culture at Columbia, where I received a Ph.D., at a time when there was M.A. but no doctorate in film studies. I belong to a small group of film scholars who have juggled two careers: teaching and criticism. Over the years, I have taught film at Columbia University, the New School of Social Research, Wellesley College, Arizona State University, and UCLA Film School (since 2003)." Russell produced this film in 1994, five years prior to "Three Kings". Russell has also acted, edited and even produced films. The full film filmography of David O. Russell is located at http://imdb.com/name/nm0751102/

Filmography of James Cameron

James Cameron produced the film Terminator 2, which is the director that I will be working with this semester. He has done many movies such as Titanic, Ghosts of the Abyss, Alien, and more. In this link you shall find more of his works.

An interview with Mel Gibson

In the article that I found, the author, Matt Zoller Seitz, a well known movie critic from the Dallas Observer and many other well known publications, conducts an interview with the star of the film Braveheart, Mel Gibson. As he is known as a practical joker on set, when asked the question of "What are you concerned over?", he replies with a straight face, "the paycheck". After laughing to show that he is joking, Mel goes into detail about what he is obsessing over in the film, as he not only starred in it, but also directed the film, and is even listed as a producer. Seitz then goes into a quick overview of the film. He also states, in his own opinion that many of the battle sequences filmed both before and after Braveheart, for other films, are "lucky to touch the hem of Braveheart's kilt." Seitz thinks that the success of the battle sequences is due to Gibson's attention to detail, that any other director would have been to lazy to follow through with what Mel had.
There is also a serious tone in the article that deals with Mel's personal demons, and how they have affected the tones of the films that he directs, such as Braveheart. Mel was quoted in the article for saying some very inflammatory remarks concerning homosexuals. Nevertheless, in Braveheart, Longshanks son, Edward, possessed a few flamboyantly gay tendencies.
The article contains several sides of Mel Gibson's personality, and the way it ha affected his methods of acting and directing films.

Quentin Tarantino Talks with Charlie Rose

This is an actual interview of Quentin Tarantino interviewed by Charlie Rose on his show. The Charlie Rose show broadcasts on WYCC (channel 20) on public access television. In this interview, the director talks about himself and what makes a "tarantino script".

The Tarantino Style

This is a clip from youtube but it is an excellent film as it depicts the style of tarantino using his film like:

"Reservoir Dogs" (1992),
"Pulp Fiction" (1994),
"Jackie Brown" (1997),
"Kill Bill volume 1" (2003) and
"Kill Bill vol. 2" (2004).

The good thing about this film clip is that you can see some parallels about the themes in tarantino's work. For example, in one scene from "Pulp Fiction", we have samuel jackson and travolta looking at the money in the trunk while it compares that to another scene in another tarantino film. The theme might be that there is greed associated with crime which has its implications in tarantino's films. The common themes help us perform an auteur analysis of tarantino's work.

Spielberg the geat

I found this movie review on cantactmusic.com and it was written by Christopher Null. He says a lot of good things about Saving Private Ryan, but he also compares it to Steven Spielberg's other work. He says that it is "An excellent companion piece to Schindler's List, Spielberg has obviously poured his heart into this movie. " I think we can all agree that Spielberg is a director that has done many great works and is one of the most recognized directors in the film industry.
http://my.brandeis.edu/news/images/spielweb.jpg

Seven Samurai's Film Review

Today I'm Linking to a film review of Akira Kurosawa's 10th film Seven Samurai, the review take the natioanlist, genre, and auteur approach to the 1945 film

Francis Ford Coppola

This link on Wikipedia provides a filmography of Francis Ford Coppola, who is a five-time Academy Award winning director, producer, and screenwriter, and also a vintner, magazine publisher, and a hotelier. His most famous films that he is known for is his Godfather trilogy, The Conversation, and Apocalypse Now. This site explains his life and film career from 1960 to the present. He had received his MFA in film directing from the UCLA Film School and started making movies such as Dementia 13, and later became a renowned director by his movies Patton and The Godfather. He directed and produced many movies. His most recent movie that he directed was The Rainmaker in 1997. Coppola was in the process of creating a script for the fourth Godfather with Mario Puzo, but then abandoned the project due to the death of Puzo in July 1999, stating that "he couldn't do it without his friend."

"The Godfather was a very under-appreciated movie when we were making it. I almost got fired." - Coppola

The Green Mile Special Edition: Invisible Effects

This is just a video clip that shows how the film The Green Mile, by Frank Darabont was directed. Darabont himself as well as other producers talk about the process of filming the movie using special effects such as creating a larger image of certain characters.

Steven Spielberg: One of the All-Time Greats

Steven Spielberg is without a doubt one of the most critically acclaimed director's of the past few decades. Most of us could probably list a handful of movies of his without hesitation. One of the main reasons why we are able to do this is because of his style of film-making and the way he is able to leave an impression on an audience. People may question where he draws his inspirations from. What was he like when he was a child? What was his first encounter in the film industry like? How has his style evolved over the years? Steven Spielberg may seem extremely mysterious to the general public, but the link that I have provided will give everyone a very detailed biography on the directing guru. I am also providing a video documentary of Steven Spielberg below.

Mel Gibson (Steve Bochra)

In the following site, there is interview with the director Mel Gibson. Mel Gibson discussed several issues concern his film Apocalypto. He discusses how he challenged himself of choosing new actors to act in this film. He mentioned “None of these people had acted much before, ever. So it was, that was challenge, for them and for me and it was kind of like, since it's going to be out there, it's kind of like having the Super Bowl and picking a guy who looks kind of able from the crowd and saying, you be the quarterback”. In addition in this site, Gibson talks about his direct style such as camera angles, location, costumes and much more.

Zemeckis's successful approach with animation

This is a link to a film directed by Robert Zemeckis called Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I decided to provide this link because it gave me an insight into another extraordinary film directed by Zemeckis. However, with this film, according to the review, the director took a comedy/thriller approach. I found this to be a very interesting combination of genres. In addition, it made me realize that Zemeckis does not necessarily depict only one type of genre in his films, instead it is common for him to take a more combined approach. Nonetheless, he took a combined approach in Forrest Gump.
While the author gives us a review and summarizes the plot of the film, he also suggests that Zemeckis is a very successful director with a creative mind. Throughout the review, he continuously praises the film and director, and refers to it as a "milestone in animation history."

Here are a few quotes

The film was a milestone in animation history... received four AcademyAwards, one of which was a Special Achievement Award for Animation Direction (Richard Williams). Director Robert Zemeckis must be credited for piecing together the production that involved hundreds of animators, and the special visual effects of George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic...

Earlier efforts to combine humans and ink-and-paint cartoon characters side-by side in a film [Disney's Song of the South and Mary Poppins, for example] are considered primitive next to this film.

Films by Robert Zemeckis

I am providing a link for information on the director of my chosen film, Robert Zemeckis. Although, this is a short article, it gives the audience some basic facts him. These include personal facts and comments on other films that he has produced. When commenting on Forrest Gump, the author points out that he took an unusual approach with it. This is because, aside from the audience expecting special effects, he managed to pull of a drama, interwined with romance and other genres.

Frank Darabont

This site consists of the movies that Frank Darabont, director of The Shawshank Redemption, has directed. It compares and contrasts a couple of the films that he has directed as well as the different techniques he uses while directing films. It also discusses Darabont's inspiration and the main theme of prisons that he chooses in his films.Publish

The Official Stanley Kubrick Site

This is Stanley Kubrick's Official site off of Warner Bros. The Site has a list of Kubrick's films and a set of FAQ for each of the films. There is a short biography on Kubrick's life but a majority of it is of his film career. The list of Kubrick's films aren't just those that he has directed but any film that he has taken part in.

Can Frank Darabont direct anything else?

Frank Darabont's films The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile are both adaptations from previous Steven King novels. These films are also both prison films. Cynthia Fuchs, the reviewer, tries to compare The Green Mile with The Shawshank Redemption where she says, "The Green Mile lays its lesson out for you and....its not as complex as Shawshank." As one looks at Frank Darabont's filmography, it's not one that will take you breath away. Although he has directed two Academy Award winning films, he has not really directed anything else. Darabont is due to come out with a new film this year called The Mist.

Stanley Kubrick

This video is a documentary about how Kubrick got his start and also about the movies that he's done. The people interviewed for this includes past producers, film historians, and some actors. Its very intresting to see how inovative kubrick is. The first major film that the documentary talks about is Sparticus. Sparticus seemed to have just fall on Kubrick's lap.

Stanley Kubrick

This is the IMDB page for director Stanley Kubrick. This site includes a minibiography about Kubrick that even lists his ex-wives. The list of Kubrick's past movies is very impressive and you can take a whole hour just exploring the different links on this page. The pictures on the page are from a variety of his works. There are pictures of him as well as stills from his movies. His list of movies include 2001: A Space Odyssey, Full Metal Jacket, and Eyes Wide Shut.

Francis Ford Coppola

According to the author of this article, Brian Dauth, Francis Ford Coppola was the most talented filmmaker in the 1970's. Coppola is very interested and fascinated by families. Dauth states that Coppola wanted to observe family members, the structure, and the rules and rituals of each family. With the desire to study family life, he created the films The Godfather, The Outsiders, as well as Apocalypse Now. The most famous Coppola Family is the Corleones. Coppola created The Godfather to emulate the story of American expansion and capitalism in the 20th century. Dauth states that The Corleone's saga is a tale of both a family and a nation.

"What actually happened was that Francis Ford Coppola did what any great and original artist does: he went in directions unanticipated by his critics."
- Brian Dauth

James Cameron

This is an imdb link and it's about James Cameron's filmagraphy. Cameron's debut movie is Piranha Part Two: The Spawning, 1981. The site lists all movies that he made and lists more of his famous ones like Terminator and Titanic(1997). He has three new movies in the making called The Dive, Battle Angel and Avatar.

Richard Kelly: Does He Even Have Another Film?

This is just the basic overview from the Internet Movie Data Base. It contains links to information about Richard Kelly's two shorts The Goodbye Place, and Visceral Matter. It also gives an idea of some of Kelly's achievements and other (more known) films: Donnie Darko, the upcoming release Southland Tales, and the film (currently in pre-production) The Box.


Southland Tales received almost no acclaim at Cannes when it was introduced and viewers commented on IMDB.com that it was "the greatest movie never seen." According to this one viewer, and other reviews I have read, the film tanked it and was a huge failure; trying to copy Donnie Darko but missing every beat of Donnie completely. The other clips I've included are some from Donnie Darko and from Southland Tales.

Sir Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott has a huge list of production under his belt as can be seen from the link. He has produced and directed many big budget films including, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, Black Hawk Down, Hannibal, etc. His newest movie that is coming out this year is American Gangster, which is about a drug lord that smuggles heroin into Harlem during the 70's hiding the stashes inside the coffins of American soldiers' coffins, returning from Vietnam.

James Cameron

This is a link that displays all of the films that James Cameron produced, wrote, and directed. A helpful feature on this page is that if you have never heard of a particular film, all you have to do is click the title of the film and it takes you to a brief summary of the film. Also there is a link on the left side of the page called biography in which it displays trademarks that are in his films. This information is very useful when dealing with an auteur or formalist approach.

Francis Ford Coppola

The following link is a complete filmography of Francis Ford Coppola. It provides all of the movies that he has directed, produced, and written, and it also provides links to each movie that describes each movie in detail. He has directed 36 movies, including those that he is still working on, and he has worked on over 130 films in various positions ranging from the writer, actor, and producer. It's obvious from just the number of films that he has worked with that he is esteemed director in the movie industry, but until you look at the movies that he has been a part of then it becomes clear about how talented this man is. His work includes such movies as Jack (1996), The Godfather Trilogy (1972-90), Apocalypse Now (1979), and Dracula (1992) - just to name a few, but he has worked with other films like Marie Antoinette (2006), Jeepers Creepers (2001), The Virgin Suicides (1999), and American Graffiti (1973). The list keeps on growing, which displays how much of an impact this man has made on the film industry.

INTERVIEW!!-Richard Kelly-Donnie Darko

This interview is pretty cool. It made me think that he made two possibilities of the film. There was a part about the director's cut that he mentioned would explain the themes in more detail. His intentions behind the film are discovered after analyzing the film, which makes it necessary to watch it more than once. Kelly quotes, "There are always questions (laughing). I think the film is designed that way to provoke an audience to think." He wants the viewers to interpret the movie themselves with slight themes that are open to interpretation.

INTERVIEW!!-Richard Kelly-Donnie Darko

This interview is pretty cool. It made me think that he made two possibilities of the film. There was a part about the director's cut that he mentioned would explain the themes in more detail. His intentions behind the film are discovered after analyzing the film, which makes it necessary to watch it more than once. Kelly quotes, "There are always questions (laughing). I think the film is designed that way to provoke an audience to think." He wants the viewers to interpret the movie themselves with slight themes that are open to interpretation.

Richard Kelly-Donnie Darko-Brief Bio

"Received only $9,000 to write and direct Donnie Darko (2001)." This is a short biography on the director of the movie Donnie Darko, Richard Kelly. His childhood seems to have a science fiction based theme. His father worked for NASA which may have been an inspiration for his idea. Unfortunatly, the underpaid set and sponsor of the film made the possibilities for more intense effects questionable. With the low pay, it is easy to give props to Richard Kelly for making the movie such an interesting point of view. The special effects and trippy scenes were still well displayed without intense visual effects. The bio also included direct quotes from the director which definatly described his personality and interests. There was a cool part about the old show Mystey Science Theatre 3000, which is such a classic show. He was influenced by the old school sci-fi stuff that the characters mocked during that tv program. His influences explain the simplicity of the directing, as well as the deep thought and artistic point of view brought to the film. This site was found on a movie database. Check it out yo!!

Roberto Benigni

This biography of Roberto Benigni was found under the movies category of newyorktimes.com. Unlike many biographies, this biography does not dwell on Roberto Benigni's life before his career. Rather, it delves into information on his films. Roberto Benigni did not start out as a director, he began his succesful career as a comedic actor. Roberto Benigni is well known for his acting and directing of the famous film Life is Beautiful. "The movie -- which had the potentially ungainly premise of a comedy set in a Nazi concentration camp -- proved to be a huge international success, both critically and commercially. " For more information on this wacky director, click on the link.

Tony Kaye's Lake of Fire Movie Review

Tony Kaye was the director of American History X (1998). Kaye's previously documented work was a television series, Tony Kaye's Documentary (1995). American History X was the first film production by Kaye. As an amateur filmmaker he made many problems which resulted in later difficulties in film making. The link above provide a review of the film Lake of Fire (2006) directed by Tony Kaye. The review was conducted by Kenneth R. Morefield. Morefield is an Assistant Professor of English at Campbell University.

Robert Zemeckis

The link that is posted gives a quick biography of Robert Zemeckis and this link gives the filmography of all his works as a director, producer, screenwriter, and executive producer. http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=117906&mod=films He has been involved in such movies as, House of Wax, Castaway, Monster House, The Polar Express, and Forrest Gump. Robert has also won many awards and this link lists some of them. http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=117906&mod=awards

This is what the author of the article said about the movie I Wanna Hold Your Hand, which Robert directed, "despite the film's low budget, it demonstrated Zemeckis' ability to combine credible live-action sequences with elaborate special effects devices." This shows his talent as a true director.

Steven Spielberg: Director of Many...

The link provided is to Wikipedia, where it gives an in depth biography of famous director Steven Spielberg. The article goes on to explain,

Spielberg is the most financially successful motion picture director of all time. He has directed and/or produced a number of major box office hits.

It goes on to talk about his life, all the films he has created, and the numerous awards that he has received. Spielberg is best known for films that instills some sort of fear in his audience, where it be aliens, the Holocaust, or man-eating dinosaurs. This type of genre is what Spielberg is into and good at. Because of this, he has received many awards for best director (Schindler's List, 1994), best picture (Schindler's List, 1994) and Best Foreign Language Film (Letters from Iwo Jima) to name a few. Check out this article, it has many interesting bits of information. :)

Zemeckis

Academy Award-winning American movie director, writer, and producer, Robert Zemeckis, is known for his special effects reflected through his films. In the Wikipidia Encyclopedia Website, an overview of his life, schooling, career, and his interest in effects and digital film-making is discussed. Special effects include live action with animation in his film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Another example is in his film, Forrest Gump, where he places the main character in scenes with well-known historical figures such as John F. Kennedy. Forrest Gump is the film that won him an Academy Award for Best Director.

No other contemporary director has used special effects to more dramatic and narrative purpose...As writer and director, he has rarely allowed the show to lose sight of...human realities.
- Film Critic David Thomson

Post-Occupation Japan

Ran, directed by Akira Kurosawa, was filmed in 1985. This period in Japanese History is known as Post-Occupation since the American occupation had recently ended in 1952. The article from Wikipedia explains that by the 1980's, the Japanese economy became incredibly strong again, and was a main contender with the USA, causing a strained relationship. Japan had also become a major supplier of arms to the United Nations during the Korean War and despite its agreement never to have an army again since WWII, Japan had built a Self-Defense Force. This was with strong encouragement from the United States due to the growing tensions of the Cold War with The Soviet Union. The period, though prosperous for Japan, is marked with increasing tensions between many different nations.

Tony Kaye and Controversial Issues in Film

Director Tony Kaye is typically associated with his production of American History X. Kaye believes that his “vision” for the film was not fully expressed; therefore he prefers to not be directly credited for his work on American History X. Browsing through a few reviews of Kaye’s earlier films, he becomes associated with directing highly controversial films. Kaye’s interest in controversial issues is also witnessed in his documentary, Lake of Fire. The article I linked to by Frederick Clarkson is a summary of Lake of Fire which discusses how Kaye’s documentary presents the political issues surrounding abortion in the U.S. As typically seen in Kaye’s work, this documentary not only pertains to controversial topics; but also includes the debates over abortion in support of the antiabortion stance. Clarkson’s article also includes excerpts from the “Hollywood Reporter.” Passages from the “Hollywood Reporter” indicate that not only does Kaye present the religious, anti-abortion perspective, but Lake of Fire also describes how domestic terrorism plays a role in this societal issue. Clarkson cites from the “Hollywood Reporter” that Lake of Fire contains graphic images and scenes such as, “photos of abortion practitioners who have been killed by vigilante extremists…” The article emphasizes how Kaye was bold in the fact that he chose to shed light on the issue of abortion from a different perspective and this in turn allows audiences to understand how Kaye's films may at times lead to uproar in society.

Tony Kaye's "Lake of Fire"

In this article written by Richard Porton, he discusses movies including Tony Kaye's "Lake if Fire" movie. In this article he discusses some of the apparent styles of directing that Kaye seems to use throughout his movie productions. He states how this production by Kaye was considered to be a challenge to him because it was difficult to classify into a specific genre.

Although nothing approaching the stature of Thom Andersen's Los Angeles Plays Itself emerged this year, one nonfiction film, Tony Kaye's Lake of Fire, could only be labeled an unclassifiable conundrum since Unraveling its frequently opaque argument posed a real challenge.

Historical analysis of Schindler's List

Yosefa Loshitzky writes about Spielberg's movie "Schindler's List." He challenges if the movie really is historically correct and if the Hollywood version of the Holocaust is correct. He discusses the books historians have written about the genocide, and if the history of the event matches up with the dramatized version of the horrible event in Spielberg's film.

Robert Zemeckis

This site gives background information about the director of the 1994 film, Forrest Gump. Originally from Chicago,Robert Zemeckis is a top director in the film industry; he has made dozens of movies, many of which have been box sellers. These best sellers include Back to the Future 1, 2 and 3, Cast Away, I wanna Hold Your Hand, Who framed Roger Rabbit, What lies Beneath and many more. However, Forrest Gump was one of his biggest box office smashes.
It took Zemecki a couple of movies to finally make a great film. He even worked with the great American film maker, Steven Spielberg on numerous occasions. In his Films, he always uses a pop culture theme focusing on American life. He not only directs films, but he also produces them. His films touch the hearts of millions and there will be many more to come.

"Characters Who are Wandering"

In this insight review by Kim D. Hester-Williams on the famous film THE GREEN MILE by director Frank Darabont. Kim's review says that concepts or ideas are "Wandering in the Dark". Coincidently, THE GREEN MILE is also depicted from a Stephen King novela with the same title. This review touches on issues such as genre. Some of the suggested genres that Hester-Williams speaks off are refering to the film as a Horror or a Sci/Fi. Why? Well, she says that it is due to some suspense scenes with scientific explications(read review for more information). Other issues addressed were such like the relationship between the inmates and the guards. The movie is trying to explain the similar parallels between these two characters during this era of the Great Depression.

One comment by Kim says, "Both King and the filmmaker, Frank Darabont; consistently romanticize Coffey's suffering by offering up a story where readers and viewers are directed to concentrate on the mysteriousness..... and not the racial oppression that he suffers."

I highly recommend this review that is similar to our movie patterns in The Shawshank Redemption.

Tony Kaye

This article is about the "director" of American History X, Tony Kaye, and was found on Wikipedia. The funny thing about Tony Kaye is that he doesn't want to be known as the director of American History X, and didn't even want the movie released. However, after all the fighting with The Directors Guild, and other organizations, the movie came out with his name down as director. Kaye doesn't have much directing experience, but has a couple of movies that will be coming out soon. Wikipedia touches on the the ontroversy behind him, among other things.

Interview of Robert Benigni

The article I am linking to is an interview of Roberto Benigni by Adrian Wootton. Like any interview, Wootton asks Benigni a few questions about his childhood, first performance, other influences in life and so on. The reason I chose this article is because the story of Life is Beautiful parallels Roberto Benigni's life. Benigni "grew up in Tuscany in a very poor family... but [his] childhood was very good... because it was full of gladness and good humanity." The characters in Life is Beautiful are relatively lower class but that does not stop them from enjoying life and being happy for what they have. This interview makes the viewer understand why Benigni makes the types of films that deal with real life issues but with a twist of comedy. Clicking on the link above should take you to the reading.

Postwar Samurai Films of Japan

Allen White, screenwriter and film journalist for GreenCine, writes in this article about the Samurai film immediately post World War II, when the genre most prominently developed. The article is a mix of consideration of Japan in that period and how it dealt with film making, as well as an exploration into this somewhat obscure genre. The article focuses on the particular era between the beginning of MacArthur's occupation of Japan through 1970 and hence includes mention of Rashomon and Seven Samurai, but it can also be used to understand post 1970 Japanese films as just an analysis and context on the genre itself.

The Depression South and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

Charles Taylor, film essayist and current film critic for salon.com, writes about the depiction of the Depression South of the 1930's in the Coen brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou?. He admits having mixed feeling for the performance of the actors, as well as the film itself, but overall tries to understand the film as a depiction of the 1930's, and the characters you might find then in the south. As Taylor writes about th movie,

The Coens don't want just to call up the Depression South, they want to bask in it a little.

Perhaps he was right, Taylor makes sure in his essay to mention the influence of the abundant amounts of American art which seem to come from the same era, and this certainly reflect the kind of art he was writing about.

The Mafia Genre

The Mafia genre can be seen in many movies today, but one of the greatest movies in this genre is The Godfather. In this article written by Murray N. Rothbard, he discusses this genre and the difference between The Godfather and Goodfellas. The success of the Mafia genre can be seen by the "realization and dramatic portrayal of the fact that the Mafia, although leading a life outside the law, is, at its best, simply entrepreneurs and businessmen supplying the consumers with goods and services." Rothbard states that the violence depicted in The Godfather should not be taken the wrong way because it is "productive and non-aggressive," while unorganized crime is "punkish and viciously aggressive against the innocent." He also talks about the difference between The Godfather and Goodfellas. Rothbard mentions that The Godfather stays true to its genre because Goodfellas has many contrasting aspects, such as the punkish crime and random violence, which is not true to the ideals of a Mafia. The Godfather depicts its genre of family and Mafia excellently, but still many people fail to realize the true meaning and portrayal of the film.

The Shawshank Redemption

In this link, the author discusses a general overview of The Shawshank Redemption, and mentions the different themes discussed in the film.

The author states that the film deals with perseverance and sacrifice, but also about joy and hope.

The author also discusses how the director, Frank Darabont, keeps his work simple by using "by-the-book structure" and techniques for this film.

The author ends by stating, "It’s all about how Earthly friendship and human connection are crucial for the heart, but faith – in whatever form – is good for the soul. That’s why Shawshank has found such a universal audience connection: because it expertly uses a straightforward moral-bound story to carry such weighty baggage."

The Best and Worst of Science Fiction

This IMDB page rates Science Fiction films and displays the best and worst in the genre. the voters have Star War: Empire Strikes back at the top spot. our film, 2001: a space odyssey, ranked at 7. The films at the bottom of the scale I've nee heard of, which is probably why its at the bottom. i don't agree with some of the rankings on the list but that's just my opinion

2001's effect on the sci fi genre

The second section of this page talks about how kubrick's film, 2001: a space odyssey, changed the standard for sci fi. The author says that the film engages the viewer in different ways. It emphises the setting and allows the viewer to absorb the scene.

Science Fiction

In J.P. Telotte's book called Science Fiction Film, it discusses the basic foundation of the science fiction genre. It makes a sort of connection to the science fiction genre and real life science. Telotte quotes legendary pulp editor John W. Campbell Jr. by saying " science fiction should be the effort to predict the future on the basis of known facts." Telotte also adds "science fiction often seems to appeal precisely because it lends itself to the greatest imaginative capacities of the film medium: special effects." This is a useful peice of writing that can help clarify one's understanding of the science fiction genre.

The History Behind Braveheart

The movie, Braveheart, is based off of the legends about the life of William Wallace-a Scottish national hero. The link I provided is found on the MyGenealogy website, which provides a lot of historic information on past wars around the world. The article regarding the history of Braveheart is titled, The History Behind Braveheart. During the early 1300's the Scottish struggled to fight for their independence from the English. The film surrounds the story of William Wallace, a Scottish hero who decided to fight for the freedom of his country against the English. He slowly gathered a large group of followers to defeat the English rule. As illustrated in the movie, Wallace and his followers defeated the English army at Stirling on September 11, 1297. Unfortunately, on July 22, 1298, King Edward II led a large English army against Wallace at the battle of Falkirk. Wallace was captured and taken to London where he was executed on August 23, 1305. Although Wallace was not able to free his country from English rule, he inspired others to carry on the struggle for freedom. Following the death of Wallace, Robert Bruce, a Scottish fugitive, was inspired to fight for the freedom of his country, and was crowned king of Scotland. On June 24, 1314, Bruce led and army of 40,000 troops to fight against the English army of 60,000 troops led by King Edward II at the Battle of Bannockburn. As the English launched a mass attack against the Scottish, Bruce had prepared camouflaged pits in the ground that allowed his troops to slain the English as they fought to attack. The English were defeated and lost about 10,000 men. This battle marked the Scottish independence from the English.

Death Penalty in The Green Mile

The film The Green Mile (1999) takes up the controversial issue of the death penalty. During the mid and late 90's, the number of executions taken out by the United States had dramatically increased reaching a high of 98 executions in 1999. this was carried out by a nation which, by the mid 1970's declared an abolition of the capital punishment. This article is featured in the Prison Film Project website where it discusses the reaction of the increased death penalty rates through different hollywood films.

"Death penalty films of the 1990s tended to reproduce rather than challenge the notions of criminality that underpin a belief in the death penalty in contemporary America."
-Austin Sarat

Saving Private Ryan: The History Behind Omaha Beach

Saving Private Ryan is filled with many memorable scenes and they will be mentioned in film classes for years to come. Yet, the most fascinating scene, and possibly the greatest scene in the "war" genre, is the arrival of the American troops on Omaha Beach. With the amazing Steven Spielberg at the helm, the scene really captures the essence of D-Day and is portrayed in a way that no other film has been able to. The fact is that as amazing as the scene appears, younger generations may not understand the purpose of the invasion of Omaha Beach in World War II. If the audience does understand the significance of the invasion, they may not understand why American troops were so easily disposed of on that day. I, sadly, was one of these people that did not comprehend the whole concept of the Omaha Beach invasion in an historical context. As a result, I did some searching and found an interesting website that speaks about the historic event that happened on that beach and logistics of the terrain that the troops were on. The entire page was written by World War II historian Brian Williams and was featured exclusively on the Military History Online website.

History Behind Schindler's List

The link provided gives an in-depth summary of the Holocaust, which is the event that the movie Schindler's List focuses on.

During World War II, Nazi Germany and its collaborators murdered approximately six million Jews. The Holocaust is the name used to refer to this systematic, bureaucratic, and state-sponsored campaign of persecution and murder. Beginning with racially discriminatory laws in Germany, the Nazi campaign expanded to the mass murder of all European Jews.

Schindler's List helps the audience grasp what was going on and tells its story through the perspective of Oscar Schindler and some of the Jews that were captured. For the film Schindler's List, experts on the Holocaust were brought in to make sure the film stayed true to historical facts. The nice aspect about the link I provided is that it lets you click on keys words surrounding the Holocaust and goes into further detail on each of those words. For example, you can click on "concentration camps," and the site will take you to another page that deals only with different concentration camps and how they were used in Schindler's List.

Science Fiction Genre

This site explains what the genre science fiction is. This site says that science fiction are

complete with heroes, distant planets, impossible quests, improbable settings, fantastic places, great dark and shadowy villains, futuristic technology and gizmos, and unknown and inexplicable forces.

The site is pretty good with explaining the genre since it goes on to explain it through examples of movies, and it lists a tons of movies. Each time a movie is listed, an explanation is followed where it explains what made the movie science fiction.

Kingdom of Heaven (Historical Article) By Steve Bochra

In this website you will find a critical article performing genre analysis. Thomas F Madden criticize Kingdom of Heaven movie. Thomas F Madden is fascinated of the movie and he mentioned that the film is filled with medieval battle. He said “The film can best be described as a series of bloody medieval battle scenes stitched loosely together with a thin, yet preachy, modern morality play”. Madden mention that Kingdom of Heaven shows some reality of the middle ages aspects. Madden stated “They haven’t. In fact, there is very little that is medieval about The Kingdom of Heaven. It is instead a mixture of 19th-century Romanticism and modern Hollywood wishful-thinking”. Madden affirmed that the film touched a historical fact which shows the Crusades of Muslim invasion of Christian land.

Official! "What Mad World?"

Jason Cowley wrote Official! It really is a mad, mad, mad world. For the "Newstatesman" which was published January 5, 2004. The majority of the article summarizes the writing of Roland Orzbal's memorable song "Mad World". But an excerpt from the article talks about how the song was re-recorded for Richard Kelly's 2001 release Donnie Darko. Cowley dicusses how "Mad World" adds to the 1980's feel of the film and how the rest of the soundtrack further pushes this ambience along.

"[Mad World's] success, though perplexing, is partly the result of the startling effect of the film Donnie Darko. Though greeted with indifference on its release in America in 2001, Donnie Darko has since acquired cult status... everythird person you meet rcommends [the film]."

The 1980's theme of the film is again seen with the opening discussion of Bush vs. Dukakis. Cowley also incquires into how the overall effect of the film is represented by the music chosen for the soundtrack.

Historical Events that Relate to American History X

This article discusses the life of Neo-Nazi's including symbols, beliefs, and organizations. This article also includes background information and a brief history of the Neo-Nazi movement.This article relates to American History X, because the main focus of the movie deals with and ex Neo-Nazi and how he tries to reconnect with his family after serving time in prison. Also he tries to save his brother who is beginning to follow in his past footsteps.

Events around Pulp Fiction

The movie "Pulp Fiction" was release in 1994. This is the same time that the infamous OJ Simpson trial was taking place in California. The extent to which people were interested in this criminal investigation and trial can be judged from the following quote,

"Although the 1995 criminal trial of O. J. Simpson for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman has been called "a great trash novel come to life," no one can deny the pull it had on the American public. If the early reports of the murder of the wife of the ex-football-star-turned-sports-announcer hadn't caught people's full attention, Simpson's surreal Bronco ride on the day of his arrest certainly did--ninety-five million television viewers witnessed the slow police chase live. The 133 days of televised courtroom testimony turned countless viewers into Simpson trial junkies. Even foreign leaders such as Margaret Thatcher and Boris Yeltsin eagerly gossiped about the trial. When Yeltsin stepped off his plane to meet President Clinton, the first question he asked was, "Do you think O. J. did it?" When, at 10 a.m. PST on October 3, Judge Ito's clerk read the jury's verdict of "Not Guilty," 91% of all persons viewing television were glued to the unfolding scene in the Los Angeles courtroom."

The movie pulp fiction also deals with crime like the Boss who supposedly killed a guy who massage his wife (Uma Thurman's) feet. But I think the other debate that raged because of the OJ Simpson trial was about race. There are claims that the trial had been tainted by race. If we look closely in the case of Pulp Fiction, we see there are racial overtones that Tarantino has carefully built into the movie. One scene in particular happened when the boss and the boxer (bruce willis) end up in a store in a sequence. The door has the confederate flag on it. But the thing to note in there is the store owner (and his police buddy) sexually assault the boss (a black) but leave alone the character of Bruce Willis. I think what Tarantino might be trying to accomplish by this is to show us that there still are racial barriers that exist between different groups even after all these years.

The author of the website is Douglas O. Linder from the Univ of Missouri - Kansas School of Law.

Whaddya Look at? Re-reading the gangster genre

This movie is talking about the "Godfather" but I think it is relevent since my movie Pulp Fiction is also a gangster crime drama. The article goes character by character of the Sopranos and sees how it all fits in the crime gangster genre that, in this case, Godfather belongs in. The article is written by Martha Nochimson who studies the gangster genre in Hollywood. The article is linked from the JSTOR database available through the UIC library.

The following quote from the beginning of the article very nicely tries to sum up the gangster genre:
"Perceived as hypermasculine fare, the gangster picture is generally understood to be popular because of its explosive virility and its close connection to reality. Yet despite these entrenched truisms, hindsight and the progeny that have been spawned by the early masterpieces of the genre suggest that the situation is more complex."

Historical Events which influenced American History X

http://www.fatherryan.org/holocaust/neo-nazi/backgrnd.htm

The second link I have presented provides insight to the background and brief history of the neo-Nazi Movement. American History X (1998) was a racially charged movie which had two main characters which followed the beliefs of the neo-Nazi Movement. The neo-Nazi Movement on the other hand was a result of the Holocaust. The first link gives a Holocaust Timeline of the events which occurred beginning in 1933 leading up until 1961.

A Case Study of Donnie Darko,Analysing Interpretations and its Cult Status

Matthew Kenneth Bishop takes his time analysis the very complex and twisted movie Donnie Darko. He makes many claims as to a certian and peticular genre that he would classify and eventually the film, Donnie Darko. Bishop aslo takes time to refrence a historical and poliical aspect of the film; the 1988 United States Presidential Election. somehow he convincely categorizes the mere refrence in the film as hopeful act to add depth to the chracters of the story. The following qoutes, I feel, play a significant role in both this writng and as well as in my final paper and most defintely plays a key role in the understanding of the six methods of analysis. A Case Study of Donnie Darko,Analysing Interpretations and its Cult Status is a bold dissertation on the logic of Donnie Darko.


"This time setting also lends itself well to the narrative, as Kelly uses a number of popular cultural references that add a further level of depth to the characters. The political debate within the Darko household separates Elizabeth from her father.
This paints her in a rebellious, yet not extreme, light with her support for
Dukukis lacking solid political argument, seeming to exist just to bait her father
who is supporting Bush."

"It is interesting to note also the genre that Donnie Darko would fit into. This is a difficult film to categorise by genre as it contains elements of so many, all of which help contribute to its complex meanings and difficulty interpreting it. It can be seen as a teen rite of passage film, with Donnie trying to understand his life, embarking on what is essentially a journey of discovery, not dissimilar from the journey of Brad and Jane in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The romantic element between Donnie and Gretchen, and the science fiction elements are prominent. There is also an addition of horror genre, not least, as it is set around Halloween, which allows Frank’s image to fit in well with the season. The twisted rabbit mask could be
something straight out of a horror set piece. Coupled with the deranged look of Jake Gyllenhaal after speaking to Frank, it is harrowing after seeing some comedy scenes, such as the discussion about the sexual appetites of the Smurfs(another 80s popular cultural reference). This variety of different genres becomes a key factor in the analysis of Donnie Darko as a cult film, as the multi-faceted genres can be seen as a key attribute of cult status."