Independant Film vs. Mainstream Film

The mainstream movie that I am comparing is Shawshank Redemption. I enjoyed this movie and I liked the story line. I noticed that most of the mainstream films that I have watched have a good, hero guy and a bad, villian guy. They are very distinct and can easily be noticed. I understood the story line of all this movie and it was easy for me to watch. There were some inspirational and memorable quotes in this movie.




The independant film that we wached was Donnie Darko. I really didn't like this movie. The only parts I enjoyed was the music, Jake Gyllenhaal and there were a couple funny parts. This movie was very hard to follow along and I felt that the movie really had no point. Unlike the mainstream movie, I couldn't find a real good hero in the independant film. The villians in Donnie Darko were easy to tell, but the hero weren't the textbook hero that I was looking for. I also couldn't remember any quotes that really stuck out to me in the independant film.

1.Wall-E
2.The Great Debaters
3.Simpson's Movie
4.The Graduate
5.Shawshank Redemption
6.Psycho
7.V for Vendetta
8.Citizen Kane
9.Gone With the Wind
10.Donnie Darko

Wall-E Movie Review

"Wall-E" and "Eve" are basically the only words that are said in the movie Wall-E. The movie is shown mostly threw body language and the voices are mainly robotic and there are only a few human voices. I was glued to the movie and I was fasinated by the way the writer could show emotions in a cartoon without using words. I rated this movie 4.8 out of 5 stars. I think this movie satisfies any age group, from young children to moms and dads. At times this movie was very sad, like when Eve leaves Wall-E. And there were times that were very funny, like when Wall-E found a spork and didn't know whether to put it with the forks or spoons.

I think it was really clever how the writer of Wall-E kind of poked fun at our weight problem and garbage use. In the future it showed that instead of sky scrapers, there are huge piles of garbage and that the earth is too poluted to maintain human life. I also found it funny how all the humans that were living in space didn't know how to walk because machines carried them around and did everything for them. I also found Wall-E to be very cute and I loved his outlook on life, even though he was a robot. He found the simplest things fascinating and he risked his life for Eve, the robot that he loved.

The Great Debate Podcast

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V for Vendetta Movie Review

"Symbols are given power by people." V said. "A symbol, in and of itself is powerless, but with enough people behind it, blowing up a building can change the world." This quote by V was very important to the whole movie, because he was trying to give symbols power throughout the whole movie but never had enough people to make them powerful until the end. I rated this movie 2.5 out of 5 stars. I didn't particularly like this movie because I was completely lost the whole time and I couldn't seem to get involved in the movie. Another reason I didn't like it is because the genre was action/adventure and there are very few films of the genre that I enjoy watching. I thought the production and the acting were very well done though. I think that Natalie Portman did a fantastic job playing Evy. Not every women can pull off the bald look and Portman really embrassed the character.

Even though I didn't enjoy watching this film, i would recommend it to anyone. The story line is very creative and the director is very intelligent for tying in the roman numeral V to most everything in the movie. I felt it was unrealistic, though, that V could just walk around and the government being so uptight never had records of his existance. It was also frustrating to me to find out at the end that top government officials had secret deals with V all along. I guess even the people running the country were fed up with the way the government ran, just like the residents.

The Simpsons Movie Review

"Maggie! What a great little accident you turned out to be." Homer said when his baby daughter saved his life. This is just one of the many times that The Simpsons' movie made fun of family. I rated this movie 4.5 out of 5 stars. This movie was really funny because it made fun of movies and current social issues that are relatable to everyone. The writer made it funny, but never crossed the line to where it became offensive to me and the rest of the class. The reason I think the movie never offended our class was because there was such a variety of things being poked fun at and not just one consistant group or person.


I thought the movie was really neat because the author actually had a point that he wanted to get across about global warming, our government and other issues. But at the same time there was many random jokes throughout the movie about different movies, religion and famous people. My favorite part of the movie was when Homer brought home a pig and and walked it on the ceiling while singing "Spider-pig, Spider-pig, does whatever a Spider-pig does." Though the Simpson's is a cartoon, I believe that it is made for people between the ages of 16 and older because of some of the references to movies and people that younger people wouldn't get. I also don't think that kids under 13 should watch this movie because I don't think they are mature for a couple of the jokes displayed. I enjoyed watching The Simpsons because it was a very relaxing movie to watch and the humor really brightened my day.

The Graduate Movie Review

"This whole idea seems half-baked." Is how Ben's dad reacts to one of Ben's ideas. I find this quote funny because I feel like all of Ben's actions are "half baked" and come back to haunt him. I rated this movie 3.5 stars out of 5. I enjoyed this movie because of the steamy affair and it becomes a great love story at the end. I also thought Dustin Hoffman did a great job playing Ben, it would be very hard to act so awkward and Hoffman did it very well. The director used water for many symbols. Like an ecscape for Ben from the world, or when it rained, something bad would happen.

The Graduate started out with Ben, a track star that had just finished college, being questioned by all these adults what he was going to do with his life. It was obvious that Ben had no idea what he was going to do and I could feel his stress and annoyance. Ben was also the most awkward person I've ever seen. It made me feel uncomfortable and I really didn't feel like watching his awkwardness any more. This is the only part I really didn't like about the movie.

Mrs. Robinson first seems interested in Ben when she asks him to bring her home from Ben's parents' party. When Ben drops her off, she asks him to stay and have a drink with her inside. Mrs. Robinson starts making suddle moves on Ben and when he finally picks up on it he gets freaked out and leaves. A few days later, Ben changes his mind about Mrs. Robinson and they start the affair. While this is going on Ben is distancing from his family and becoming less awkward and more of a man. When the affair started becoming a daily thing Mrs. Robinson's daughter comes to town and Ben's parents make them go on a date. Mrs. Robinson is not pleased, and she ends the affair. Ben finds himself falling in love with Mrs. Robinson's daughter, Elaine. But just when things are going great for Ben, the Robinson's send Elaine away without telling Ben. Will Ben chase after Elaine or let her go and find another woman? Why did Ben change his mind and have an affair with Mrs. Robinson? Will Mr. Robinson find out?

My Top 10

1. GI Joe
2. Twilight
3.Talladega Nights: Ballad of Ricky Bobby
4.Hannah Montana: The Movie
5.Coyote Ugly
6.Baby Mama
7.I am Legend
8.Marlee and Me
9.Pet Sematary
10.Miracle

Ben Hur Podcast

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Psycho Movie Review

The original film version of Psycho, filmed in 1960, is filled with many surprises and a twisted ending you will never guess. I gave the movie Psycho 3.5 out of 5 stars. I really liked this movie because it wasn't as predictable as scary movies nowadays and it really had a good plot that made me think. What also made it scarier was that it was based on a true story. Anthony Perkins did an amazing acting job in this movie playing the role of Norman Bates. I also found it very interesting how all the horror films now have scenes based off of this movie.

The beginning of the film started off pretty steamy and contraversial for the time period. This is a very important part of the movie because it shows why Marion made some choices she made. After Marion stole the $40,000, the police following her really put suspense in the film. When she arrived at the Bates Motel I really felt like Norman was a good guy and I started to like him. The shower scene, I think, was very basic but set the standards for other horror films. When Norman's mom killed Marion and the investigator, I started to feel bad for Norman cause i felt like he had to clean up after his mother's killing sprees quiet a bit. What really shocked me was the ending. I would never have guessed it in a million years and I loved it.

Alfred Hitchcock really started the trend for scary movies. I also believe that without the making of Pyscho, scary movies today would be alot different. In the beginning of the movie Norman says to Marion, "A boys best friend is his mother." I believe that this is very ironic to the end of the movie and shows a little bit of foreshadowing perhaps.

Citizen Kane Movie Review

"Rosebud", was the last word out of Kane's (Orson Welles) mouth, before he past away. What did Kane mean by "Rosebud"? Was it a wife or maybe a childhood pet? During the movie that's what they were trying to figure out. I rated this movie 4 out of 5 stars. The camera angles in Citizen Kane are very random and I found them quite interesting. I felt that there was a lot of symbolism in a lot of the props, especially at the end of the movie. The sounds and music were really intense and really captured the mood of each scene. This movie made me go into to deep thought about why Kane was acting certain ways he did.

Citizen Kane starts out in flashback, with a man in a bed who whispers "Rosebud" right before he dies and drops a snow globe. It then goes to present day where Kane's closest friends and colleagues are questioned about what "Rosebud" really means.

The movie then goes to Kane's childhood at a not very nice house in the middle of winter. There is a little boy sledding, Charles Kane, and his mother is signing papers to sell Charles to some rich man. Kane grows up with the rich man being pampered with money and a very good education, while Kane's original parents receive money every year. When Kane grows up he runs a newspaper company that is not very successful, but Kane lives off his fake dads money. He then decides to make his newspaper successful and hires a new staff. Kane's wife Emily divorces him because she knows that he had an affair. His former wife and kid then die in a crash. Kane then married the woman he had the affair with, a former singer, named Susan Alexander(Dorothy Comingore) . Kane builds an Opera house for Susan and becomes very controlling and makes her sing. Susan then leaves him.

He becomes very aggressive and in one scene he tears apart a room and stops when he discovers a snow globe. It was the same one that dropped from his hand when he died. During his life he built this huge house that was bigger than anything ever imagined. He had a very large amount of statues and art. When people were cleaning out the house to sell the the items of worth, they came across something that would have explained what they were looking for, but never realized it and it ended up in a fire.

I think the reason Kane was so messed up was because of his mother and father selling him to that rich man. All his life he was given money and never really had a normal childhood. He thought that love was money and that's why none of his marriages lasted. I also think he was looking for his childhood the whole time and could never find it. I think he knew it to that's why he said, "If I wouldn't have been so rich, I might have been a very good man."

Gone with the Wind Movie Review

"Do u ever think of marrying just for fun?" This quote said by Rhett Butler to Scarlett. It's pretty ironic that Rhett said this because it seems that that's all that Scarlett does. I rated this movie 3 stars out of 5. It was pretty entertaining and kept me on the edge of my seat. What I didn't like was how the movie didn't really have a point and the ending was really disapointing. This movie could fall in the genres of romance and drama. Throughout the movie there were many unsuspecting deaths, civil war drama and a very complicated love triangle.

During the civil war in the movie one soldier only died that was of any importance to the movie. When the war ended, important characters started dying left and right. They were dropping like trees at a lumber jack convention. The love triangle of Ashley, Scarlett and Rhett was very exciting. I think that Clark Gable (Rhett Butler in the movie) did a great acting job, because he was very convincing and really captivated the audience with the bad boy style of Mr. Butler. The Civil War aspect of the movie really showed how the south really hated the yankees and how all the rich people became poor really fast. The war shaped many of the characters personality. Scarlett had to learn how to work in the fields and how to do things for herself.

During Gone with the Wind there many shocking deaths, a love triangle that was never fixed and a very traumatic war. I believe that th movie title means that when the war swept through, the southerner's lifestyles were Gone with the Wind. In the beginning Scarlett's father says this about his land, "It will come to you, this love of the land. There's no gettin' away from it if you're Irish." At the end of the movie when things are as bad as can be, Scarlett returns to her home and the land.