MY FAVORITE MOVIE THIS YEAR WAS...

So which one of the 25 movies we watched this year was the one you will remember? Which one amazed you...or Mrs. Healey? Who would have guessed a teacher would sit still for Cowboy Bebop? (I really did like it). Add your vote for best movie of the year in the comment section below. Sign it with your initials only (fill in the line "name" on the comment form). One more movie to go, and then the long, hot summer(another great movie, original version).

Brett's review of 2001 A Space Odyssey

2001 A Space Odyssey is a movie directed by one of the most talented directors of a time Stanley Kubrick. The movie was also written by one of the most famous sci fi writers of time Arthur C. Clark with his co-writer Stanley Kubrick. The movie was released in 1968 and was consider to be so visionary at that time for the special effects. The movie is mostly silent with limited talking and that’s what makes this movie so great with scene of before man with the monkeys. Also in space with the only sound you hear is breathing. But that’s just the half of it, there are so many great things Kubrick did to this movie.

Chapters of the movie
(Contains spoilers)

Chapter 1: The Dawn of Man
This part of the film has no dialogue, all the characters are prime apes. The movie starts out with scenes of the desert and show apes in colonies trying to live. A group of apes having a hard time and trying to protect themselves from predators such as a leopard who attacks a Ape as the others try to escape of the terror in hopes not to get attacked. The leopard only gets one and kills it, all the others run as they witness their friend dying.
Next they group of apes come across a water hole where there are other apes drinking from it. as they try to get water the other group of apes don’t allow it. So the apes go away in thirst. Later the apes go to bed and when they wake up they they find something strange so they go check it out. As the apes check it out and start touching it, as if they are little children who don’t understand, the black block does something to them. One ape that touched it found bones and picked one up and started hitting the bones as if it now knows how to kill with a weapon. The apes go to the water hole to get their revenge and kill the apes that drove them out. At the end the leader ape throws the bone up in the air and the scene transfers to space.
The meaning of the chapter was that Stanley Kubrick made it as if the apes at first didn't know how to kill with weapons and didn't know what to do when they got attack by predators. So Kubrick made it as aliens came down and put a black block A.K.A Monolith and as the apes touched it they learned how to kill.
Chapter 2:
(Contain spoilers)
Let me keep this brief, this chapter starts as the ape throws the bone up in the air and it transfers to Space. This Chapter follows the creator of the Discovery 1, Dr. Heywood R. Floyd played by William Sylvester and his travel to the moon for a discovery of the first alien finding on a planet the monolith. As he makes his way to the moon this is were Kubrick did some cool stuff like the flight attendant walking in a circle that spins all the way around and with no gravity she goes upside down as she walks to the upstairs. Dr. Floyd then goes to a conference and later heads to the monolith. As the group heads down to the monolith and start examining it, there's a loud noise and then the movie blanks out.
Chapter 3: Jupiter mission
Final chapter: Jupiter and beyond the infinite
Dave: Open the pod bay doors Hal.
Hal: I’m sorry Dave but I’m afraid I cant do that
And i'm sorry but the next to chapters are classified information!!!!
Just watch to find out.
This movie is a 10/10 for me.
Watch this film!!!

I AM SPARTACUS! Review by Carol Nicastro

What is it about this melodramatic story that is so irresistible???? We all loved it, but why? Carol will enlighten you:

This past Thursday, we watched Spartacus, the exciting movie based on the true story of escaped slaves trained as gladiators led by the mighty Spartacus. In the movie, Spartacus is bought as a slave by a wealthy Roman politician and trained to fight as a gladiator along with many others. When the servant girl he falls in love with is sold, he makes an escape and is followed by the others. As they journey to Rome to fight the Roman army, they are joined by other slaves of all different sorts who wish to fight with them. Even the servant girl, who escaped from the carriage taking her to her new home. This movie is filled with the perfect blend of action, romance, and drama. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone with a sense of adventure who likes to see a good battle!

ARE YOU STILL PARANOID IF SOMEONE REALLY IS WATCHING YOU??

TOP TEN PARANOID FILMS ARE LISTED BELOW:

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/multimedia/2009/03/gallery_paranoidfilms

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/multimedia/2009/03/gallery_paranoidfilms?slide=2&slideView=2

SO DO YOU AGREE??? POST YOUR LIST AS A COMMENT. I AM NOT CHECKING UP ON YOU....AND IF YOU BELIEVE THAT, I'LL GIVE YOU AN "A" JUST FOR READING THIS BLOG.

BIG FISH 22 January 2009

Every time I see this movie, I am amazed by its artistry. The slow build to the intense emotion between father and son is masterful. Billy Crudup's tension is a beautiful foil to Arthur Finney's wide-eyed calm. And the idea that a traveling salesman's life is not only full of wonder, but magic and unexpected love, is comforting to someone who may be living what looks like a "typical" life, at least on the outside. There is priceless value in the life of a man with an open mind and an heart of infinite size. And let's not forget the fun of stunning conjoined twins who are friends with a peaceful giant who worked for a circus full of floating popcorn run by Danny DeVito whose right hand man is best known in America as Willy Wonka's OompaLoompa (much less be one the most beloved movie actors of all time in India). And a sweet love story played out in the bathtub between Finney and Jessica Lange! Thank you Film Club for BIG FISH.

UNBREAKABLE February 19, 2009

Thanks, Carol, for suggesting Unbreakable. Bruce Willis just sneaks up on you--he is so regular, flawed, just like every other boy from Jersey. And then you find yourself rooting for him-to get the girl, to catch the villain, to really BE unbreakable. Genius casting by M Night Shyamalan. And Samuel L. Jackson played it straight evil all the way through--but evil like it really is. He doesn't sound immoral, or crazy, or or even devious. He sounds lonely, desperate, aching for a connection. And..isn't that how evil starts--someone alone, yearning for something they are missing?
I loved the symbolic colors of green and purple, the allusions to the comic book heroes and villains, the intertwining, the SYMBIOSIS of dark and light, soft and hard, weak and strong. We all live so close to that which could destroy us...

IMITATION OF LIFE January 2009

Imitation of Life, the Blog, not the movie!!

I wonder if Will Shakespeare would have thought that Survivor was,in fact, reality? It is unscripted to a degree, but reality, no way. I am not sure he would appreciate the random plot development. I mean, someone like Shakespeare would have had to relinquish total control over every event and character. I don't think he could do that. His art was meant to imitate life, not BE life. Is Survivor imitating life or is it real life?? Help!
P.S. Attached photos: "Imitation of Life" is the cheesiest romantic drama ever made. But it was also groundbreaking in its direct treatment of the racial bigotry implicit in the era, and the tortured choices the characters made to escape it.