Final paper II

Rob Thurston

Per3

GFS paper 2

One trait I admire most about a person is their ability to be there own person that’s why I chose Billy Elliot for my second Essay

I believe the general theme of Billy Eliot is being true to you’re self. Billy is a young boy whose father was a great boxer and tried to re-live is “glory days” through his sons. However Bill likes Ballet witch is by no means considered a “manly” thing to do especially in a place like 1980’s northern Britain where being “macho” was a huge part of life. Billy was able see that conforming to the social norms would not get him to where he wanted to be. Although its not until the end of the film that we see that Billy’s ability to dance is his gift but its only when his it true to himself and who he is that he becomes successful.

Final paper I

Rob Thurston

Per 3

GFS bridge paper

 The most important bridge we can create is one of love that is open to all cultures

The Character I am planning to “bridge” to is the son in the American film little miss sun shine. His name is Dwayne the main ways I can relate to him are in our physical attributes: we both grew up in middle class whine households. In addition to our up bringing I am partly color blind and therefore unable to enter the air force. I at one point wanted to but when I learned I could not I was not as disappointed as Dwayne.

Similarly to the whole family in Little Miss Sunshine I too have had a vacation from hell; last summer we took a road trip in our mini van to my Grandpa’s dude ranch in Arizona. Aside from three flat tires my sister constant need to be talking loudly on her cell phone and my dog pooping in the back seat every fifteen miles or so it was largely uneventful. To make matters worse my iPod died as we entered into Nebraska (witch has a strangely similar geography to Mongolia aside from the fact that Mongolia’s soil is largely unfertile where as the great planes of mid-west America is ideal for farming),

            In the end it was the family’s love for each other as well as frequent Dairy queen stops that kept us going. I think in the Film Little Miss Sunshine the lager theme is Enduring Love. Although Dwayne’s love for his family wasn’t always apparent it was always there. That’s why I state that the most important bridge we can create is one of love that is open to all cultures.

“All you need is love”

-The Beatles 

Billy Elliot

From this film I learned a new way to pronounce the F word. As well as quite a bit about the attitude in northern england. There is a strong emfasis on being a tought manly man in Bill's naghborhood. The film starts out with Billy going to boxing class and discover he loves the Ballet. His family of mostly men doesn't understand. he starts to take lessons privately and eventually joins the royal ballet school. 

The kings speech

I thought this film was very good in fact its the best film we'v seen in this class. (witch isn't saying much)

It was refreshing to see a film that had a plot and scenes as well unlike several others we have seen. The kings speech was about king George VI and his speech problems. it follows him over a series of years and the ups and downs of his issues surrounding being king. It also covered a lot of the history surrounding the royal family of England.

the bet collector

this movies had no plot i didn't understand it i totally called her getting shot

Otek

THis movie was horrible I would rather baby sit  forty intoxicated eight year old than see this movie. It had the plot complexity of an episode of Arthur but took over three hours to end. It takes place in Cecholaslvica. there is a man and woman who are married but cant conceive a baby so the dad makes on out of wood and it comes alive and starts to eat people.  There is another family in this film but there is a little girl who begins to feed it when it gets locked in the basement by its parents. The only semi-positive things involved with this film was the camera angles witch made it sooooo much creepier and te father of the little girl he was the only person in the whole film who wasn't crazy or extremely dumb. The only part of this film i thought i would enjoy would be the end and never having to see it ever again but when it was finally time for for the ugly monster to be cleaved with a garden hoe and it ended we didn't see any thing. my life was made far worse by seeing this film it ruined eggs for me and if you are ever couris about what a possiblre reaction you would have to this film would be : put you're head on a subway track when the train comes by

Hoop dreams essay

   We just finished a Film called "hoops dreams". It follows two boys as they start high school with hopes of getting in the NBA. This film is three hours long but i enjoyed it a lot. There were several ideas that were provoked by this film . In the beginning we see the situation of the two boys ti isn't very good. they live in an area of Chicago that at the time was known for its crime. Now it doest take a rocket scientist to figure out that this is a bad situation. But these to boys believe that with their hoop dreams they can get out of the hood.

Race is a prevailing theme that is present through out this whole film the boys both black get recruited to go to a school St. Johns to play basket ball but as far as I saw the only other black kids that were present in the school were on the basketball team. One of the boys: Arthur's family cant make enough money to keep him at St. Johns so he must go to the local area high school called  Marshal. I think i counted a total of three white people all teachers at this school. These are two very big extremes that I'm glad I don't have to live with but were a great way of putting things into context in the film.

Another was economic division: THe other issue brought up by the division of the schools was class division: Arthur was at Marshal high school but William was still attending St.Johns. It took the boys a hour and a half that is a long time every day to get to school. Also the neighborhoods were SUPER different. you could see it in the boy's eyes when the were on the boy leaving their home because it a lot greener and there were more plants and the area where St. John's is has a lot more money than the ghetto of Chicago.

Tis films shines a bright light on inner city life. the theme of poverty is very prevalent. At one point Arthur's dad Bo leaves the family and gets addicted to drugs for a few years he makes it out ok and re-joins the family. William's father also left the family but when William was at a much younger age. there was a reunion at one point but you could tell that William was still a little bitter about his father leaving the family. In the end Im happy that I'v grown up with all I have but it is impressive to me that despite the odds both boys went to collage and played in the NCAA

But despite all the hardships the boys make it out and are making a good life for themselves. William is the head of a church and Arthur is launching a hoop dreams clothing brand. Arthur is now a father of five kids by five different women. The two had a happy reunion in 2008. Although all is not happy. Arthur's dad got shot as does William's older brother Curtis.
    

re-view of persofilis

The Film Persopholis was pretty good but kinda trippy. It was based off of a graphic novel. THE little girl in it goes through several transformations an a relatively short time just like her home country Iran. This serves as a good back ground for the antagonist in this film.

Persepolis preview

This film takes place in Iran, during the revolution. There is a little girl who is rebellious. At one point she goes to France to attend a boarding school. She moves from house to house and lover to lover eventually she goes back home and get married.

Run Lola Run review

We just finished the film run lola run it is from Germany. It is a rather different film that has three different endings. The main character's boy friend Manny in involved with the mob and louses the money from a deal. He then calls Lola to help him out. She runs to her dad who is a rich banker to try and get the money.

In the first time around she doesn't get the money but manny holds up a store but she gets shot by the cops. THe second time Lola learns that her dad has gotten another girl pregnant and robs his bank this ends up in Manny getting run over by a ambulance. The third and final has manny finding the 10,000 marks but at the same time Lola win the lottery and gets a ride in the ambulance that her dad was in because of a car crash and ends up saving her dad. In the end Manny and Lola have the extra 10,00 marks and are happy together.

review of Chak De'

the latest film we watched was was called Chak De'. Its about the female Indian field hockey team. This film reminded me a lot of Miracle on Ice that is about he american ice hockey team. The story follows a former player Kabir Kahn who was the captain of the males field hockey team who let his whole country down when he missed the penalty shot in  the championships to Pakistan. Seven years later he comes back to coach the females field hockey team. Almost the whole team faces discriminations being females in Indian. They entered the championships as the underdog and WIN!!!!!

re-view of the Host

The host is a movie that I enjoyed immensely but I was described as a horror film but it cheesy and came off as more of a comedy. One thing i noticed was that every thing is smaller in Korea, witch is where the film takes place. The shack the caricatures is  small and the bowls the use are small. on the other hand the monster they fight is huge.  The film revolves around a family who's daughter who is taken by the monster and brought back to his cave in the sewer. The father is taken in to the hospital and has several tests done on him the family gets split up but in the end they all come back together to fight the monster.

re-view of please vote for me

This film was a lot funnier than I thought it would be. The three over spoiled kids who are all competing for class monitor try several things to try and sway the voting members of their class. And almost all ways their parents were behind the scenes micro-manging. One boy had his friends start booing the girl before her speech even before she started her speech. The other boy who's dad was head of the police was able to bring his whole class on a mono rail ride. The debates were particularly interesting because the kids were too young to understand political views they went after each others person habits like eating to fast or being too bossy. In the end I think the best person won but it was sure interesting to see an idea we Americans take for granted daily put to use in a new setting.

Please Vote for me preview

The next film we're seeing is called please vote for me. Its from China. The basic plot for this film is a teacher trying to introduce democracy into the classroom. The funny part is it takes place in china and no body knows what democracy is. The kids first have to give a speech then debate then the students vote for their class monitor. There are two boys and one girl trying to get the ticket. This documentary reflects the effects of the "one child policy" that china has put in place. creates several harsh penalties for parents who have more than one child. How ever, it is custom in China to spoil children but if there is only one kid the spoiling gets a little excessive. All this comes out as the story unfolds all winding up to election day.

Preview of Maria full of grace

Maria full of grace I a film about a 17 year old girl who becomes a "mule". a mule is a person who smuggles in from Colombia. By swallowing pellets of cocaine. Maria is the main character her best friend Blanca is her best friend who always seems to do what Maria wants to do. Maria gets pregnant by her boy friend Juan. They have trouble deciding what to with the baby. Things get ever worse when Maria quits her job because of her employer. Thats when she decides to become a Mule.

Reaction to Afghan star

The film was a little different from what I expected it focused a lot more on the culture then the American Idol spin off. It started out discussing the general culture of the area and how there are several different tribes in each area that are at war with each other. One of the neat things that is film did was it showed a transition of people voting across the boarders of their tribe. The other cultural key was the Taliban. Who for a wile was in control of the country. Another ethnic group that they are similar to are the Amish where they don't believe in TVs or Radios or any technology but unlike the Taliban the Amish don't kill you for expressing your self. It's a big deal in Afghanistan that you can sing or listen to any music in fact so the idea of a TV show where the main focus is singing is a big deal. A large up roar is caused when the last female contestant is voted off and in her final good bye song she dances. Afghanistan has come along way but it is still not allowed for people to dance and to pour salt on the wound she lets her head wrap fall off all on the nations largest live TV program. She receives several death threat but makes it home OK. Over all i enjoyed the film but in some parts it was a little dry

Afghan star

contestant on Afghan Star

map of Afghanistan

Out newest film is called Afghan star. From reading the back of the Netflix case i found out that its about several people from Afghanistan who risk their lives to be in a show similar to American idol. I look forward to this film because I think the political situation is almost a reality show of its own and to throw a real reality show would make it very interesting. I'm also exited to learn a little more about the people in Afghanistan from some where els other than the American media.

pre view of mongolian ping pong

Our next film is called Mongolian Ping Pong. Like the title suggests it takes place in Mongolia. It is about three boys who like in the weeping camel are nomadic headers but unlike the other Mongolian film this wasn't a Documentary it instead is a full length film about a boy who finds a ping pong ball in the river wile fetching his father his beer.

Review of The Weeping Camel

After watching the film i thought is wasn't all that good it was some where between a documentary and an indie film (although it describes its self as a documentary). In the beginning it starts out by showing the life styles of the nomadic herders who live in the Gobi desert. one of the funnier things was when the grand mother tied the little girl to the main pole of the yurt to keep her away from the hot fire stove. This reminded me of a time when we were at Disney world and a couple had their kid on a leash to keep him from running off. he was a bit older than this child was but a yurt isn't the same size as Disney world. The plot starts to move when the first colt of the season is born. Then another camel gives birth to a rare white camel. The mother how ever wont let its baby nurse. The family trys every thing from tieing the camel's legs together to having the baby sneak up on it's mother. I t was around this point of the movie where i began to think that is a re-telling of the "ugly duckling story" but instead with camels. The two sons venture into town on camels to try to get a music teacher. Its a long journey into town on the way they encounter a sand storm and had to stop at another person's tent. I wasn't sure if they were relatives of the boys or if Mongolian culture is such that in the event of a sand storm you can be allowed in-side any body's home. These people have a TV and the younger boy is mesmerised by it. Eventually the boys make it into town and go to the market there they get six batteries for their grand father. This reminds me of my own grandfather who had a box of batteries all ways lying around. With the help of an older woman who I expect to also be related to them they find the music teacher. Its not until later that we know what the music teacher is for. When they get home they inform their parents that the music teacher will come. The next scene is done very well we see a motor cycle come over the horizon. The music teacher plays a banjo/violin and the mother of the boys sings and to the mother camel who first begins to cry and eventually lets the baby nurse.

The Weeping Camel

The first film we will study is The Weeping  Camel. It takes place in Mongolia. I is about a Family of nomadic camel herders.  They live in large tents called yurts. These are usually heated by wood fire stoves.

A map of Mongolia