Film Fanatics

Science in Movies

2005-11-23T20:47:00.000-08:00

Science in the Movies, shows kids that science is not only relevant, but also it can be very exciting and fun and there are some career opportunities that a science education opens up, It can be a wonderful way of educating and entertaining the kids. And the best part is that the kids don’t even know they are learning!Science in the Movies teaches the essentials of Physics and Chemistry in a way that will hold the student's attention, while stressing safety. Science in the Movies inspires and heightens students' interest in learning and gives them a long-term appreciation of science that makes the teachers' jobs easier. Science in the Movies reduces the impact of TV violence by unmasking special effects and revealing the science behind the illusions. We can buy DVD movies easily from any where which are related to science.

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FILM PRESERVATION

2005-11-13T22:38:00.000-08:00

The film preservation movement is an ongoing project among filmmakers, historians, archivists, museums, and non-profit organizations to rescue aging film stock and preserve recorded images. The cause for film preservation came to the forefront in the 1980s and early 1990s when such famous and influential film directors as Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese contributed to the cause. Spielberg became interested in film preservation when he went to view the original master print of his film Jaws, only to find that it had badly decomposed and deteriorated; a mere fifteen years after it had been filmed. Scorsese drew attention to the film industry's use of color-fading film stock through his use of black and white film stock in his 1980 film Raging Bull. Because of the vulnerability of film stock, proper preservation of film usually involves storing the original prints in climate-controlled storage facilities, preferably ones with decent air circulation and refrigeration. The vast majority of films are not stored in this manner, which has resulted in the widespread decay of film stocks. The problem of film decay is not limited to silent films. Movie industry researchers and specialists have found that color films are also decaying at a rapid pace. A number of well-known films only exist as copies of their original master prints, because the originals have become unusable. The film preservation movement has resulted in a number of classic films being restored to faultless condition. In many cases original copy that had been excised from the original print has been re-inserted into the films. For a few early films stored in the Library of Congress, the only copy of them was rolls of paper which have the photographed images that the lost film stock contained. For these, an optical printer was used to copy these printings on to safety film stock. In the age of digital television, HDTV and DVD, film preservation and restoration has taken on commercial as well as historical importance, since audiences demand the highest possible picture quality from digital formats. A number of movies have become legends in themselves. These movies were either extraordinarily successful or controversial, but all prints of the original films have been lost because they decayed or were destroyed, and thus they were unable to be preserved. Main problems in restoring film are dirt, dust, scratches, tears, color fade and color change.

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THE HOLLYWOOD GENERATION

2005-10-18T23:04:00.000-07:00

American Cinema connects subjects such as history, business, and English with other studies. In addition, it is a perfect vehicle for developing visual and media literacy skills and can be used as a springboard for creative-writing endeavors and media production. The classical Hollywood Style is one of the portrayal in which the filmmakers rely on style — structure, narrative, and visual elements — to effectively tell their story. Martin Scorsese and Sydney Pollack are among the premier directors who discuss how classical Hollywood style, evolving and yet enduring over time, informs their work. Early on, Hollywood saw that recognizable talent could minimize the financial risks of film production. Critics, film scholars, and studio publicists view the stars from many angles as marketing tools, cultural icons, and products of the industry. The western is an American myth that has been translated by other cultures and reinterpreted time and again tracing the aesthetic evolution of the genre as well as its sociological importance. Breezy and silly to witty and intelligent, romantic comedies have been with us since the 1930s. But the surface humor has often just barely masked issues of gender and sexuality. Beginning with World War II combat films produced under directives from the federal government examines the role of the combat film in filling a social and political need. Critics and directors describe the evolution of these films, the rise of the Vietnam film, and the influence of the newsreel documentaries and TV news on the genre. These cynical and pessimistic films from the 1930s and '40s touched a nerve in Americans. Historians link the genre's overriding paranoia to Cold War-related angst over the nuclear threat and the Hollywood blacklist. In addition, a cinematographer demonstrates the creation of noir lighting, which gave films their peculiar look and emphasized the themes of corruption and urban decay. Then the Hollywood generation was there capitalizing on new technology and borrowed from classical Hollywood and French New Wave as they reinvented the American film. The financial and cultural forces that contributed to their success and commercial clout are explored. While many of the old rules are still in force, independent filmmakers today often add their dissenting voices to the forum.
Classical Hollywood Today offers interviews with contemporary directors, European filmmakers, scholars, and critics, as well as studio-era veterans who probe Hollywood's influence on both American and world culture.

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Top Ten Money Making Films

2005-10-17T02:21:00.000-07:00

Believe the Hollywood publicists and "Titanic" is taking more money at the box office in America than any other film in history. It is mostly just hype. When ticket prices are adjusted for inflation, Leonardo DiCaprio's and Kate Winslet's blockbuster, with a projected domestic take of about $600 m[illion], cannot hold a candle to Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in "Gone With the Wind" (pictured here) or, indeed, to Grumpy, Dopey and company in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." On the same basis, "Bambi" beats "Home Alone" (number 35) and "The Sound of Music" beats "Jurassic Park" (number 25).
At the height of Hollywood's Golden Era, in the 1930s, about 90m Americans went to the cinema each week compared with about 25m a week now. But as ticket prices have soared in the intervening years-- from an average of 25 cents a seat in the 1930s to 42 cents immediately after the second world war to $1.10 in the mid-1960s to close to $5 today-- box-office records continue to be broken when measured in current dollars.
Such records are illusory. Variety, a Hollywood trade magazine, has recalculated the receipts on the basis of admissions. It has done this by assuming that yesterday's audiences paid today's prices-- ie, that it cost the same to see "Snow White" in the 1930s or "E.T." in the 1980s as it costs to see a film today

Source: http://www.reelclassics.com/Articles/General/topten-article.htm

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Roman Polanski`s bequest to his kids

2005-10-03T03:46:00.000-07:00

Oscar winning director Roman Polanski says he made his new movie "Oliver Twist" as a gift for his two young children. He said that he choose to adapt the classic novel because he admires 19th century English literature and wanted to make a movie his children would enjoy. Polanski has safeguarded his kids from his more disturbing work and to make up for that he made "Oliver Twist". Before the screening of the movie Polanski said: "Human life is just a given series, an endless series of such moments.” He said that his kids had come on his set of movies, they know what he is doing, they live around all that, but the result of all this work is something so remote from their world they can't identify with it and he wants that they could, so he started looking for subjects that would be suitable. After “The Pianist”, Polanski said he chose Dickens` tough tale of a penniless orphan. Polanski is well known for his occult thriller “Rosemary’s Baby” and the detective story “China Town” and now the quest for “Oliver twist” has begun.

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Ben Affleck on the way to become a Senator

2005-09-30T01:29:00.000-07:00

The "Daredevil" actor Ben Affleck has been set up for a new role as a US senator. According to Internet Movie Database, Virginia Democrats have plans to have Affleck run against Republican Senator George Allen in next year's elections. The actor was showed up on television talk shows during the 2004 national convention to support John Kerry. Affleck and his wife are also said to be looking for a house in Charlottesville, Virginia, but are not ready to move anytime soon. Affleck's name had been mentioned earlier but was not received very warmly. The “Washington Post” reports this week that Democrats in Virginia plan to run Affleck against Republican Senator George Allen in the 2006 elections. The “Good Will Hunting” star has not offered his take on the subject yet, but his admirers hope that the story turns out to be the real deal.

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GREATNESS OF HOLLYWOOD MOVIES

2005-09-27T02:34:00.000-07:00

Hollywood movies are no doubt an excellent combination of fun, thrill, action, art and excitement and have always been industrially triumphant also. Hollywood has produced enormous numbers of significantly successful movies from the early days of Hollywood to the technologically advanced cinema of today. A number of films have left deep-seated mark upon our lives that give us pieces of time we can never forget. Great films can't be measured scientifically because greatness is extremely subjective. The imaginative prominence of films can never be rated or quantified, although critics, reviewers, and fans still make ten best lists, hundred best lists, all-time greatest lists, favorites' lists, awards lists, and generate results of polls. But still this is possible to distinguish the movies on the basis of "must see" or not based upon the long period of time that repeatedly appear on all-time best film lists and are often noted in the collective responses of film viewers. There are reasonable agreements by most film historians, critics and reviewers that certain movies are among cinema's most critically-acclaimed, significant must-see films of predominantly Hollywood-American production. These include English-language, theatrically-distributed, narrative feature films, foreign-language films, documentaries, TV movies and mini-series, and short films etc. Not only these motion pictures entertained their viewers but also provide them with a life long ethical knowledge.

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Films as social and cultural history

2005-09-23T02:24:00.000-07:00

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Acting Types

2005-09-20T03:56:00.000-07:00

The Star
They become an actor for the fame, the money and the attention. They love being famous and the publicity that goes along with it. Demonstrate a desperate need for attention, and to establish who they are in real life. Choose roles on how much they will be paid and how it will effect their public image, or their image of themselves. Terrified of performing on a stage. Need multiple takes when filming. Tremendous egos and confidence, yet insecure at times. Generally make horrible, simplistic films based on the same character archetype over and over again. Prone to sequels, celebrity mates, and substance abuse problems. Usually give awful performances, with occasional flashes of greatness. Often began acting as a last resort, or to escape from something. Usually grew up poor. They do massive box-office all over the world, and often need only one name. When people talk about a “Celebrity Culture” these are the people they are talking about. On any given day there about 75 of these people in the world

The Actor
They become an actor because they love to act. They love every aspect of it. The process of becoming someone else appeals to them. They like escaping from who they are, unlike the Star who promotes who they are. They like to disappear in the role. They love the live theater and performing for an audience. Have wanted to be an actor as long as they can remember. Often come from a showbiz family. Broadway is important to these types. They have a certain snob factor. They feel they are the “Real” actors. Take it all very seriously; use the word “Craft” when talking about acting

The Artist
By far the most talented and interesting of all the acting types. Multitalented with a definite point of view on life. Usually they paint, write or are musically inclined. Almost always they will or want to direct as well as act. Have absolutely no regard for what is commercial. Their art is never influenced by current trends and what would make a lot of money. They are only interested in the visions in their heads. Will not answer to any executive or suit. They only care about what other artists think. Can play many different types of characters. Very rarely in the public eye, and when they are they are uncomfortable with it. Extremely loyal to the people around them who help and share their visions.

The Accidental Celebrity
These are “actors” who came to the profession through accidental means. Either they were part of a big news story, use status from another position, orjust kind of appear on the scene. Like any other group some are talented and some are not. This group generally has the most natural “real person” vibe. This group does celebrity endorsements, TV (interviews as themselves, or playing themselves on sitcoms) and cameos’ in films.

Source: http://www.hollywoodactor.com/index.php/acting-types/

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Hollywood Fashion

2005-09-19T05:10:00.000-07:00

Looking like a celebrity is not as hard as it used to be with the help of shopping magazines such as Lucky that literally tell you where you can buy the latest trends and stores such as H&M that have runway knockoffs on their shelves before the blink of an eye. But for those who don’t live in a major city, Hollywood fashion has become easy to track down online. Here are two websites where ordinary people can find the clothes to look like a star:
Reel-Style: For those who’ve ever coveted Adam Brody’s emo-chic wardrobe on The O.C. or Jennifer Garner’s colorful styles in 13 Going on 30, www.reel-style.com is the place to go. The website features a database of current movies, TV shows, and actors, complete with photo galleries where visitors can find on-screen fashions identified by brand.
Intuition: In LA, this store is the one-stop shop for all the latest Hollywood trends. Beaded Minnetonka moccasins? Check. Faithfull bags? Check. Kai beauty products? Check. Their website, www.shopintuition.com, has become the latest place for online shopping fashionistas to keep up with the styles featured in celeb magazines such as US Weekly and People.

Source: http://www.trendcentral.com/trends/trendarticle.asp?tcArticleId=1172&tcCatId=3

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Matt Damon Asks Barroso to Marry Him

2005-09-14T03:20:00.000-07:00

By WENN

Matt Damon is engaged to marry his girlfriend Luciana Barroso, following a 17-month romance.
The Oscar winner proposed to pretty Floridian Barroso "shortly before Labor Day," according to his publicist. No date has been set yet for their wedding.
The actor gave the interior designer a "beautiful big diamond ring" he bought from jeweler Alvin Goldfarb in Seattle, Washington, the representative tells magazine Us Weekly.
Damon, who has dated a series of beauties including Minnie Driver, Winona Ryder and Claire Danes, has not been married before. Barroso has a six-year-old daughter, Alexa, from a previous relationship.

Source

Three Distressing Hollywood Trends

2005-09-13T03:44:00.000-07:00

Adaptations, Remakes and Sequels It seems like most of the movies being made today are based off of something, whether it be a book, a play, a previous installment in the franchise, or even an older version of the movie. No one seems to have the guts to come up with an original plotline. Not that turning a book into a movie can't be wonderful (see High Fidelity, The Princess Bride and, of course, Lord of the Rings), but it can also be absolutely horrendous (I've never seen a good Les Miserable movie, and the Harry Potter movies are an insult to the books). Updating TV shows rarely turns out well, and sequels should only be made if they improve upon the original established universe. Filming Fight Sequences Close In There is a movement in action movies to make the viewer part of the goings on; to put the audience right there in the fight. Consequently, most fight sequences are filmed with a lot of punches and kicks flying very close to the camera followed by a pull back to reveal the outcome. This very uninteresting. Being in a fight is far less interesting than watching one. Jackie Chan style fights where you could see every single kick, block and punch and all were executed with expert precision are still missed. Computer Generated Stunt Doubles This technique is used very well (Lord of the Rings) and used very badly (Star Wars Prequels and the later Matrix movies). Computer animation has not yet progressed to the point where it can accurately simulate human movement. Consequently, when an actor is replaced by pixels it takes completely out of the movie. It seems link watching a video game, only the appeal of video games (that you have control of the outcome) is completely removed. If we want to watch a computer generated fight, we could just go over to a friends' house and watch them mess around on the computer, and don't need to pay eight bucks for it.

Source

Movie watching: Good/Bad ?

2005-09-12T05:48:00.000-07:00

There are many reasons why we enjoy watching movies. The professional movie-watchers like to watch them because it's their intellectual pursuit, they sometimes become movie critics. The regular folk watch movies because it's pleasurable, it helps to escape reality that is often bleak, it inspires, motivates and provokes thinking. Sometimes it's just the experience of going to the movies that counts - the popcorn, a girlfriend or boyfriend wrapped around one's shoulders, a giant cup of delicious coca-cola...

People have all kinds – some good and some bad -- memories associated with the whole movie-going experience. I remember feeling particularly sad one day and going to see The Pianist, I thought the only time I'd be able to watch was if I was in an already sad mood… it was a beautiful and heartbreaking experience to see that movie.

A friend and I went to see another movie once; when we felt we couldn't really function after a night of partying. It was great, the movie was, of course a Hollywood blockbuster, loud and obnoxious with great side effects and a story line that would be understandable even by monkeys. A perfect movie for a hung over type of a day. (The movie was called Troy and it had Brad Pitt in it and everybody else that's cute and plastic in Hollywood)

It is the masterpieces that make movie-watching worthwhile: you will forget kitsch in a minute (unless it's one of those that it's so bad it's good) but you'll always remember a masterpiece.

Source: http://www.ringsurf.com/info/Entertainment/

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Hollywood wonders: Box office slump?

2005-09-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

"Nothing says there has to be [theatrical] movies," says Epstein. "All the theater chains started as vaudeville, and they were all replaced by movie theaters. Opera was replaced by recorded music. ... As home theater [grows], you can lose movie theaters." Indeed, North American theatrical grosses are down 9 percent this year from 2004, and ticket sales are down 11 percent from last year. Articles about the weekly weekend box office figures have focused on how they've paled compared to 2004. However, says Brandon Gray, president and publisher of the box office-tracking Web site boxofficemojo.com, nobody should rush to judgment. What stands out about 2005 is that the product drives the industry and the product has been weak this year. It's been boring. There haven't been any water-cooler sleepers, films like "The Blair Witch Project," "The Sixth Sense" or "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." However, that's cold comfort to exhibitors, who stand to lose the most by declining attendance. Thirteen theater owners filed for bankruptcy between 1999 and 2004, according to an article in Shopping Centers Today. Hollywood executives are thinking along the same lines. "Ten years from now, we'll release a film and you'll be able to consume it however you want," Sony Pictures Digital Vice Chairman Yair Landau told Newsweek. Where that leaves the theatrical film is anyone's guess.

Courtesy

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REEL ONCOLOGY: HOW HOLLYWOOD FILMS PORTRAY CANCER

2005-09-07T04:34:00.000-07:00

Art imitates life, we are often told, but occasionally, we also observe that life imitates art. Hollywood movies may fulfill the definition of art in both of these adages. Movies evoke our fantasies, fears, loves, and hates, and therefore they reflect our lives. However, the necessities of good storytelling — dramatization, plots, character development, romanticism — often dictate that film concepts diverge from reality. Thus, films often are imperfect reflections of our lives. As F. Scott Fitzgerald said, "There are no second acts in American lives."

Movies have been blamed for creating disturbed or profane cultural images that lead to societal ills such as violence, sexual deviancy, and isolation. Whether art imitates life, or vice versa, it may be instructive to study how movies depict medical themes, and especially oncology, in order to understand how cancer and medicine are perceived in popular culture.

Medical themes have always been popular in movies; one author claims that Hollywood studios released more than 100 films with medical or surgical themes in the 1930s and 1940s.1 How films portray medical themes may tell us a great deal about how we perceive our medical care and our mortality. In the end, movies are written, produced, and directed by people who often use their own experiences as creative inspiration. As those experiences change, so do films.

This review is limited to American feature films made for theatrical release. Excluded are documentaries, shorts films, pornographic films, movies made for television, and movies with psychologic or psychiatric themes. Of more than 150 films released between 1930 and 1999 with medical themes, only 20 had topics that related to cancer (Table):

Films With Cancer Themes
Released Between 1939 and 1999

Year, Title, Cancer Theme

1939, Dark Victory, brain tumor

1948, An Act of Murder, brain tumor

1950, Crisis, brain tumor

1958, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, terminal cancer

1970, Love Story, leukemia

1973, Bang the Drum Slowly, lymphoma

1979, Promises in the Dark, osteogenic sarcoma

1983, Terms of Endearment, lymphoma

1983, Silkwood, environmental leukemia

1985, American Flyer, leukemia

1991, The Doctor, laryngeal cancer

1991, Dying Young, leukemia

1992, Medicine Man, cancer research / lymphoma

1993, My Life, renal cancer

1996, Phenomenon, brain tumor

1997, Rainmaker, leukemia

1997, Critical Care, breast cancer

1998, One True Thing, terminal cancer

1998, A Civil Action, environmental leukemia

1999, Stepmom, terminal cancer

The Table shows that the types of cancer portrayed in film do not represent the distribution of cancer types seen in real life. Leukemia and lymphoma were portrayed in 9 of the 20 films, brain tumors in 4, and unspecified terminal cancer in 3. Renal, laryngeal, bone, and breast cancers were each depicted once. Similarly, the age distribution of cancer victims in these films does not reflect reality. Over half of the film cancer patients are under 30 years of age, and 75% are under 40. In order for films to continue to depict "clean" cancers, in young, attractive subjects, leukemia/lymphoma has become the modern movie cancer.

Although movies with medical themes have been common since the 1930s, films with oncology themes were rare until 1970 and have become more prevalent in the 1990s. This trend may be the result of changes in demographics, in the film industry, in movie audiences, and in interest in medical topics.

Source: http://www.moffitt.usf.edu/pubs/ccj/v6n5/dept7.htm

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Contemporary Hollywood Cinema: Review

2005-09-06T04:20:00.000-07:00

In 1985, David Bordwell, Janet Staiger, and Kristin Thompson attempted to survey and define the styles and production methods of Hollywood from the 20s to the early 60s. For the purposes of their discussion, they called the subject of their study "classical Hollywood cinema." Since then, revolution has hit Hollywood. But what does this radical change consist of? New technologies? New forms of narrative? New methods of production? The questions lie thick on the ground.
In Contemporary Hollywood Cinema, Steve Neale and Murray Smith have assembled 19 articles which they hope will provide the reader with some of the answers. The questions are elicited and discussed under four main headings: Hollywood historiography; economics, industry, and institutions; aesthetics and technology; and audience, address, and ideology. It's an interesting if strange mixture, somewhat like being offered Chinese, Italian, and French cuisine all at one sitting.
For money, the best section is that on economics and the industry. Here four excellent articles by Douglas Gomery, Tino Balio, Justin Wyatt, and James Schamus explore the growth of independent and package production, the significance of major independents such as New Line and Miramax, the impact of television, and the globalization of Hollywood markets. What comes out very clearly is that Hollywood cinema no longer exists in isolation. In order to survive, it has become part of a worldwide integrated software business. The only problem in this section, maybe unavoidable in articles written in isolation, is the repetition of the same introductory facts regarding change since 1940. Read together, however, the articles provide a very good introductory overview regarding the framework of the Hollywood industry today.
Edited by Steve Neale and Murray Smith. New York: Routledge, 1998. $80.00 cloth; $26.95 paper.

Source:

Audience trends in UK

2005-09-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

Who is filling up all the seats in UK multiplexes? And what kinds of films are they watching?The most regular cinema goer is, not surprisingly, young. The cinema audience for the top 20 films in 2003, for example, was predominantly young, with 69% in the 7-34 age group. Yet a surprisingly diverse number of people visit the cinema. 71% of the population say they go to the cinema at least once a year.

The overall cinema audience also has a roughly equal gender split, with men and women attending with similar frequency. Men prefer action such as Terminator 3, science fiction like the Matrix films and crime dramas such as Gangs Of New York. Women prefer female centred dramas like The Hours, romantic comedies such as Love Actually and comedies like Calendar Girls.Interestingly, the 2003 audience for the top UK films had a distinct female bias, driven by the large female audiences for films like Love Actually and Calendar Girls. It's likely to be a phenomenon repeated in 2004's figures, thanks to the UK produced hit Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason. UK produced films also have a tendency to appeal to slightly older audiences. In 2003, films such as Calendar Girls, Touching The Void, Veronica Guerin, Nicholas Nickleby and Cold Mountain found more than 48% of their audiences from the 35 plus age group.In all, UK films took almost 15% of the total UK box office in 2003 - led by Love Actually which was the third biggest film of the year, behind The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King and Finding Nemo.Performances like this show that UK films are clearly making an impact with audiences and that - year in, year out - the best of British can compete with the best of Hollywood. The challenge now is to ensure that even more UK films regularly vie for box office gold and audience acclaim - both here and abroad.

Source: http://www.skillset.org/film/overview/article_3447_1.asp

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Action Movies

2005-08-22T04:44:00.000-07:00

Action movies, or sometimes known as actioners, usually involve a fairly straightforward story of good guys versus bad guys, where most disputes are resolved by using physical force. Action films are largely derived from crime films and thrillers, by way of westerns and to some extent war films. Modern Hollywood examples of the genre are usually "high concept" films where the whole movie can be easily summarized in a simple sentence (eg. "a scientist brings dinosaurs back to life only to find them trying to dominate earth, again" for Jurassic Park). Who exactly the good guys are differs from film to film, but in Hollywood films they usually are patriotic and rather conservative (though not die-hard) Americans, whereas the bad guys are usually either criminals or agents of foreign powers. In the 1950's and '60s, they were very often Communists, which brings some action films fairly close to propaganda films. Starting in the 1970s, Communists were seen less as the predominant villains (although they were still widely present until the late '80s), and the focus turned instead to drug lords, terrorists, or some other criminal element. Action movies also tend to have a single heroic protagonist and often portray institutions such as the military or police as incompetent and limited by rules and regulations which the protagonist has no regard for. This creates the stereotypical conflict between an action hero and the establishment.
The genre, although popular since the '50s, did not become one of the most dominant forms in Hollywood until the 1980s and 1990s, awhen it was popularised by actors such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone. The 1988 film Die Hard was particularly influential on the development of the genre in the following decade. In the movie Bruce Willis plays a New York police detective who inadvertently becomes imbroiled in a terrorist take-over of a Los Angeles office block. The film set a pattern for a host of imitators which often just used the same formula in a different setting. Examples included Under Siege, Passenger 57, Executive Decision, Con Air and Air Force One.
Action films tend to be expensive requiring big budget special effects and stunt work. Action films have mainly become a mostly-American genre, although there have been a significant number of action films from Hong Kong which are primarily modern variations of the martial arts film. Because of these roots, Hong Kong action films typically center on acrobatics by the protagonist while American action films typically feature big explosions and cool gadgets.
Current trends in action film include a development toward more elaborate fight scenes, perhaps because of the success of Asian martial arts elements, such as kung fu and karate, in Western film. Actors in action movies are now much more skilled in the art and aesthetic of fighting than they have been in the past, apart from a few acknowledged fighters like Steven Seagal. Now, a distinction can be made between films that lean toward physical agile fighting, such as The Transporter, and those that lean toward other common action film conventions, like explosions and plenty of gunfire, such as Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever or Lethal Weapon, although most action movies employ elements of both.
Several of the common action film conventions saw their birth in the release of James Bond series (containing many of the original elements of spy movies still seen today) and Bullitt, which contains one of the earliest car chases, a feature that is almost standard in action films. At present, many action films culminate in a suspenseful climax centered around a Mexican standoff between two leading characters.
Action films also constitute very good examples for feminist film theory, because in them, the separation between the physical male who controls the scene and the look and the female, who is almost always the object of the look is very clear. Although female characters in most action films are nothing more than objects, a prize for the winner, hostages, loving wives and the like, there has been a move towards stronger female characters. These are maybe best exemplified in works by James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_film

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The wonder of Hollywood

2005-08-18T03:24:00.000-07:00

North American theatrical grosses are down 9 percent this year from 2004, and ticket sales are down 11 percent from last year. Articles about the weekly weekend box office figures have focused on how they've paled compared to 2004.
However, says Brandon Gray, president and publisher of the box office-tracking Web site boxofficemojo.com, nobody should rush to judgment.
The product drives the industry and the product has been weak this year. It's been boring.
-- Brandon Gray
"Tales of a slump are premature," he says. "It's a down year, but Hollywood is coming off three boom years. 2002 was the most-attended year in nearly 40 years, and that's in the era of DVD and home video." 2002 attendance also spiked in the wake of the September 11 attacks, he adds, "so in many ways [that year] was unique."
Moreover, Gray says, last year featured "The Passion of the Christ" -- "a once-in-a-lifetime touchstone," he says -- that attracted people who seldom attend movies. And even with its down indicators, 2005 is still ahead of 2001's pace in ticket sales and "will be on a par with the late '90s."
What stands out about 2005, he says, is that "the product drives the industry and the product has been weak this year. It's been boring." There haven't been any water-cooler sleepers, films like "The Blair Witch Project," "The Sixth Sense" or "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."
However, that's cold comfort to exhibitors, who stand to lose the most by declining attendance. Thirteen theater owners filed for bankruptcy between 1999 and 2004, according to an article in Shopping Centers Today.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies

Hollywood Since 1975: Some Fast Cuts

2005-08-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

The decade between 1975 and 1985 was a very important one in American film history. It was a decade of blockbuster hits and major publicity campaigns, of new technologies and special effects – all of which attracted huge audiences. In the mid-‘70s, previous trends such as “the buddy film,” “the vigilante film,” and “the disaster film,” began to disappear. In their place came slapstick comedies, space operas, slasher films, remakes, and youth films.
What has remained constant in many American films since the mid-‘70s is their self-reflexiveness, or the self-conscious tendency to refer to other films – their styles, dialogue, settings, and twists in plot. For a generation of filmmakers raised on television, also a self-reflexive medium, this trend was probably inevitable. Equally predictable is the recycling or exploitation of popular culture trends. For example, the police shows that were shelved in the mid-‘70s reappeared in new forms in the mid-‘80s, e.g., Hill Street Blues and Miami Vice.
The film industry is currently experiencing major challenges from several sources:
Shifting demographics in audience groups. (For example, the youth audience declined during the early 90’s, forcing filmmakers to look for material to satisfy the need of more mature audiences. Now the youth audience is rising once again, shifting the filmmakers’ focus once again on new materials.)
There have been huge business mergers among the big studios, often affecting the creative and economic climate necessary for good films.
With the rise of the VCR and now, DVD’s, people are buying or renting movies, and even recording films from network television or from pay television.
Pay television is now producing its own films and competing with films shown in theatres or rented in video stores. All of these factors have led to more fragmented audiences and to a decentralized movie industry. How well the movie industry copes will define the role of movies in the popular culture of the 1990’s.

Source

Hollywood cares for elderly at own home

2005-08-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

Tucked away on a lush 50-acre spread in a far corner of the suburbs, Hollywood cares for its own. For over six decades, Mack Sennett, Norma Shearer, Mary Astor, Johnny Weissmuller and scores of other film-world notables have spent their late years here. So have far less famous folks from behind the scenes at Hollywood's dream factories. Some saved their money and paid their way. Others were broke, so they paid nothing. The official name is the Motion Picture and Television Fund's Woodland Hills campus a state-of-the-art, full-service retirement facility with a $100 million annual budget. Yet for many, it will always be "The Old Actors Home." Some of the home's famous occupants have left behind undying legends. Longtime residents remember Astor, the femme fatale of "The Maltese Falcon," wheeling around the campus on her bicycle, nodding graciously to those she passed. Tarzan star Weissmuller became a problem, roaming the halls late at night bellowing his famous jungle yell. He wouldn't stop, so the Fund rented him a house in Mexico and hired an attendant and doctor. Weissmuller and his wife remained there, free of charge, until his death in 1984. The Fund had its beginnings in 1921 when the film industry's big guns, notably Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin, formed a charitable organization to help co-workers caught in the ups and downs of a fickle business.

Source: http://www.reelclassics.com/Articles/General/mptf-article.htm

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Silent film

2005-08-03T06:30:00.000-07:00

A silent film is a movie which has no accompanying soundtrack. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as the motion picture itself, but before the late 1920s, most films were silent.
The years before sound came to the movies are known as the "silent era" among film scholars and historians. The art of motion pictures grew into full maturity before silent films were replaced by "talking pictures" or "talkies", and a number of film buffs believe the quality of the cinema actually decreased for a few years, before the new medium of sound was adapted to the movies.
Since silent films could not take advantage of synchronized sound for dialogue, titles were edited in to clarify the on-screen situation to the cinema audience or to add critical dialog.
Showings of silent films usually were not actually silent: they were commonly accompanied by live music, frequently improvised by a piano or organ player. Early in the development of the motion picture industry, music was recognized as an essential part of any movie, as it gave the audience emotional cues for the action taking place on the screen. Small town and neighborhood movie theaters usually had a pianist accompany the film; large city theaters would have organists or entire orchestras, who were able to provide some sound effects.
The medium of silent film required a greater emphasis on body language and facial expression, so that the audience could better understand what an actor was feeling and portraying on screen. Modern-day audiences who are not used to this form of acting may be uncomfortable watching some films from the silent era, because the actors in these films may seem to be overacting to an outrageous degree. Partly because of this, silent comedies tend to be more popular in the modern era than drama, because overacting is more natural in comedy. However, some silent films are quite subtly acted, depending on the director and the skill of the actors. Overacting in silent films was often a habit that actors transferred from the stage, and directors who understood the intimacy of the new medium discouraged it.
Most silent films were also shot at slower speeds than sound films (typically 16 to 20 frames per second as opposed to 24), so that unless special techniques are used to show them at their original speeds they can appear unnaturally fast and jerky, which reinforces their unnatural appearance. However, some silent films were intentionally undercranked in order to accelerate the action; this form of stylization was done with comedies far more often than with dramas.
Literally thousands of silent films were made in the years leading through the introduction of sound, but a considerable number of those films (some historians estimate between 80 and 90 percent) have been lost forever. Movies of the first half of the 20th century were filmed on an unstable, highly flammable nitrate film stock, which required careful preservation to keep it from decomposing over time. Most of these films were not preserved; over the years, their prints simply crumbled into dust. Many of them were recycled, and a sizable number were destroyed in studio fires. As a result, silent film preservation has been a high priority among movie historians.

Source: http://www.what-means.com/encyclopedia/Silent_film

Films that fascinate you

2005-07-27T06:20:00.000-07:00

Fantasy Films, unlike science fiction films that base their content upon some degree of scientific truth, take the audience to netherworld, fairty-tale places where events are unlikely to occur in real life. In mythological or legendary times, they transcend the bounds of human possibility and physical laws. Fantasy films are often in the context of the imagination, dreams, or hallucinations of a character or within the projected vision of the storyteller. Fantasy films often have an element of magic, myth, wonder, escapism, and the extraordinary. They may appeal to both children and adults, depending upon the particular film.
In fantasy films, the hero often undergoes some kind of mystical experience, and must ask for aid from powerful, superhuman forces on the outside.Flying carpets, magic swords and spells, dragons, and ancient religious relics or objects are common elements. Bizarre and imaginary, invented lands include sci-fi worlds, unreal worlds, fairy tale settings, or other whimsical locales (e.g., Shangri-La or Brigadoon). The earliest sci-fi writers (H. G. Wells and Jules Verne) created fantastic worlds and/or journeys - the subject matter of many fantasy films.
Typically, the predominant characters in fantasies are princes or princesses. Some fantasy-type films might also include quasi-religious or supernatural characters such as angels, lesser gods, or fairies. Or they include the gnomes, dwarves and elves of legend.

Source: http://www.filmsite.org/fantasyfilms.html

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Top Ten Money Making Films

2005-07-25T05:54:00.000-07:00

Why Isn’t DVD-By-Mail DOA?

2005-07-21T04:31:00.000-07:00

The New York Times’ usually entertaining David Pogue has a rather bland take on the three US DVD by mail services. Ultimately it ranks Netflix “the service king,” with it’s “highly evolved features.” Blockbuster is deemed “the value king,” with its $3/mo. cheaper price and free in-store rentals. Wal-Mart, the laggard, is not “a winner.” An interesting factoid is that Blockbuster plans to decrease its shipping times and increase its number of shipping points by an astounding “15,000 percent” by mailing out of all of its 4,500 stores. It all does raise the larger question of why in fact, Blockbuster and Wal-Mart are getting into the game instead of torpedoing the whole idea with existing on-demand technologies? Surely deckchairs and Titanic come to mind. In San Francisco, Comcast offers a fairly impressive array of movies on demand, both free and for-fee. Netflix has announced a deal with TiVo to offer a similar service via their set top boxes, but Blockbuster’s widely familiar brand should allow them to weasel into this space somehow. “Comcast On-Demand powered by Blockbuster” could turn some heads.

Source: http://www.psfk.com/film/index.html

Buddy - MORTEN TYLDUM

2005-07-18T06:18:00.000-07:00

Director : MORTEN TYLDUM
Running Time : Approx. 100 min
Release Date : 9/1/2004
Starring : Nicolai Cleve Broch, Pia Tjelta, Aksel Hennie, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Janne Formoe
Studio : Film Movement

Kristoffer’s love life is on the rocks. But what can you expect from a guy who likes to videotape himself and his friends pulling outrageous stunts? When Kristoffer’s video diary winds up at a popular TV show, it’s not just his love life that turns upside down. A vibrant young cast explores the true meaning of friendship and love in a heart-warming story about high jinks, crazy roommates and reality television.

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Da Vinci Code, Not Due Out Until May, 2006, Is Already Promoted in Theaters

2005-07-08T11:50:00.000-07:00

Filming on The Da Vinci Code hasn't even started yet. It isn't scheduled for release until next

May. But a preview for it is already running in theaters and on the Internet. Eager to capitalize on the buzz surrounding Dan Brown’s runaway bestseller, Hollywood ha produced a preview before any particular news has been released about the movie version

The movie's marketers are banking on continued controversy about the book. The Vatican condemned the plot, which claims that the early church suppressed historical information about Jesus. Westminster Abbey in London has declined requests for parts of the film to be shot there.
Source

Do Hollywood movies reflect liberal slant

2005-07-06T05:50:00.001-07:00

Convinced that Hollywood producers are politically biased in the kinds of movies they are willing to produce, a group of conservative producers are banding together to make and distribute movies that reflect "traditional values" and are far friendlier to Republican ideas than they believe Hollywood has been. They give their companies names such a American Pride films Group (APFG) and RightSid Video. The Hollywood Congress of Republicans holds luncheons, with celebrities like Ben Stein and Morgan Brittany offering moral support, according to the Hollywood Reporter
To make the case that Hollywood produces mostly movies with liberal values, designed to erode confidence in Western Civilization and American patriotism, producer Steve Finefrock has a long list of movies that he claims glorify or make heroes of liberal activists and demonize or makes fun of conservatives. Finefrock who produced films for the Department of Homeland Security before moving to Hollywood, told the Hollywood Reporter these movies reflect Hollywood’ liberal bias:

“Wall Street" (1987) makes the capitalist system look evil
“Norma Rae" (1979) makes union-active employees the heroes
“Reds” (1981) and "The Motorcycle Diaries" (2004) glorify communism

But a number of Hollywood producers assert that the conservative producers' claims are absurd. Larry Gelbart, a prolific writer-producer in Hollywood, whose credits include the TV sitcom "M*A*S*H, the 1977 feature "Oh God!" and the 1982 feature "Tootsie," says the only ideology that governs Hollywood is money-making

Source

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Social Scientists: Predicting box office results

2005-07-05T05:36:00.000-07:00

Social scientist are attempting to predict what makes movies successful and what does not.The holy grail of movie science is an algorithm that would predict within a reasonable margin of error the box office of a movie before it opens:Tom Cruise +Katie Holmes +romantic comedy =$340 million.Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool and audience reviews of movies posted on web sites shortly after a movie is released-as an extension of word of mouth are likely to play significant roles in shaping public opinion and in shaping movie marketing strategies.

Movie marketers are looking to social scientists for help because Americans appear to be changinf their movie going habits often preferring to watch at home than go out to the theatre, according to a poll.

Source

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Hollywood & Digital Media

2005-07-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

Red Herring Report: Red Herring recently came out with a special issue on the digital future of Hollywood, and below are the four stories in that series:
-- Quest for the Digital Future: Using Nascar as an example of how the leagues and other entertainment companies are moving into the multichannel delivery world...But in Hollywood, digital rights issues and a lack of standards still stand in the way.
-- Format Wars-or Not: As Blu-ray and HD DVD battle for the next generation of optical formats, consumers have only one thing to say--a single format wins. If a middle ground is not reached, the HD DVD camp is planning to launch the technology by the fourth quarter of 2005. Blu-ray has stated that it will be ready to launch by early 2006.
-- Who Needs Hollywood? It's even easier for the little guys, without the trappings of a distribution deal, to release films online. A growing group of sites, including eBaum's World, Heavy.com, and IFILM.com, make their money by posting user-generated content, attracting traffic (especially from the sought-after 18- to-34-year-old male demographic), and selling ads.
-- The Chip Star Wars: Chip companies are promoting themselves by establishing ties with Hollywood--a sure way to coat their pieces of silicon with glamour and get a leg up on competitors.

Source: http://www.paidcontent.org/pc/arch/2005_06_08.shtml#014178

Trends In films

2005-07-01T05:33:00.000-07:00

According to Variety magazine, American comedy films - counter-intuitive to the industry's long-held wisdom that foreign audiences only want action and epics with stars - are becoming far more popular across the rest of the world.
Several trends that are worth noting in film:
- Variety sells. Audiences want a broad range of movies, not just Hollywood comic book blockbusters or star-driven comedies.
- Freshness sells. Audiences quickly tire of the same-old, derivative Hollywood formulas.
- Wit sells. Too many Hollywood comedies are heavy-handed.
Filmmaking has always been like driving on a curvy, twisty road -- or as Hollywood likes to say: "Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what to expect." If their conservative accountants and lawyers stopped looking in the rearview mirror at last month's box offices and took on fresh, new projects (e.g. The Passion of Christ, Fahrenheit 9/11 etc.), they might do better not only overseas, but in the U.S. too!

Source: http://www.psfk.com/2004/08/trends_in_film_.html

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Carol’s Journey - Imanol Uribe

2005-06-30T06:12:00.000-07:00

Director: Imanol Uribe
Release Date: 2/1/2004
Running Time: Approx. 100 min.
Starcast: Carol - Clara Lago Tomiche - Juan Jose Ballesta Amalio - Alvaro de Luna Aurora - Maria Barranco Maruja - Rosa Sarda Adrian - Carmelo Gomez Dolores - Lucina Gil Culovaso - Daniel Retuerto Cagurrio - Andres de la Cruz
Studio: Filmmovement

Carol, a twelve-year-old Spanish-American girl from New York, travels with her mother to Spain in the spring of 1938, at the height of the Civil War. Separated from her beloved father, Carol arrives in her mother`s home village and transforms the secretive family environment. Her innocence and rebellious nature drive her at first to reject a world that is at once new and foreign. But she soon journeys into adulthood through a friendship with Maruja, the village teacher, and a young local boy, Tomiche.

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Summer films fading fast

2005-06-29T09:42:00.000-07:00

Funny to think the best film of the summer would be a drama and not some mindless action flick, designed to put butts in the seats and take our troubles away for 90 minutes.
Though the summer's list of films looked pretty promising last spring, Godzilla got off to a nice start, but word of mouth killed it quicker than a 20-megaton warhead.
Deep Impact had its day in the sun, but it burned out pretty quickly as well.
Armageddon would have a little more staying power, but it's been limping along for weeks and seems to have set a course for the $1 theaters.
The Mask of Zorro was kind of tepid, but probably not too demanding for the kiddies.
And The Avengers was a major disappointment, though it wasn't too tough watching Uma in that black leather outfit. Here's one more television concept that should have stayed on the small screen.
But, fear not. If you've been watching the trailers all summer, there appear to be some pretty good films on the way. The would-be Oscar contenders are typically saved for the fall and holiday season. So we've got that going for us.

Source: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/movies/9997

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Action movies

2005-06-28T04:38:00.000-07:00

Action movies usually involve a fairly straightforward story of good guys versus bad guys, where most disputes are resolved by using physical force. Action movies are usually "high concept" films where the whole movie can be easily summarized in a simple sentence (eg. "a scientist brings dinosaurs back to life only to find them trying to dominate earth, again" for Jurassic Park). Who exactly the good guys are differs from film to film, but in Hollywood films they usually are patriotic and rather conservative Americans, whereas the bad guys are usually either criminals or agents of foreign powers. In the 1980s and before, they were very often Communists, which brings some action films fairly close to propaganda films. With the fall of Communism in the early 1990's, Communists were no longer seen as the villains, and the focus turned instead to drug lords, terrorists, or some other criminal element. Action movies also tend to have a single heroic protagonist and often portray institutions such as the military or police as incompetent and limited by rules and regulations which the protagonist has no regard for. This creates the stereotypical conflict between an action hero and the establishment.

Action films tend to be expensive requiring big budget special effects and stunt work. Action films are mainly an American genre, although there have been a significant number of action films from Hong Kong which are primarily modern variations of the martial arts film. Because of these roots, Hong Kong action films typically center on acrobatics by the protagonist while American action films typically feature big explosions and cool gadgets.
Current trends in action film include a development toward more elaborate fight scenes, perhaps because of the success of Asian martial arts elements in Western film. Actors in action movies are now much more skilled in the art and aesthetic of fighting than they have been in the past, apart from a few acknowledged fighters like Steven Seagal. Now, a distinction can be made between films that lean toward physical agile fighting, such as The Transporter, and those that lean toward other common action film conventions, like explosions and plenty of gunfire, such as Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever or Lethal Weapon, although most action movies employ elements of both.
The first modern action film was The Seven Samurai of Akira Kurosawa. Although the plot is more complex than many action movies today, the premise was very simple: set in Feudal Japan, the basically good, weak villagers are about to be attacked by a large horde of bandits. So, the villagers hire seven samurai to protect their village and train their people for the upcoming onslaught. This movie introduced basic, recurrent action film themes such as good vs. evil, sacrifice, the vigilante spirit of the protagonists, and the use of an action climax (which until then had been restricted to westerns).
Other common action film conventions saw their birth in the release of James Bond series (containing many of the original elements of spy movies still seen today) and Bullitt, which contains one of the earliest car chases, a feature that is almost standard in action films. At present, many action films culminate in a suspenseful climax centered around a Mexican standoff between two leading characters.

Source: http://www.answers.com/topic/action-movie

DVD: Spaceballs: The Collector's Edition—MGM/UA

2005-06-23T07:28:00.000-07:00

This is one funny movie. It's the kind of film that you can pick up years later and appreciate all over again. Bill Pullman and John Candy star as two space cadets, literally and figuratively, who rescue a kidnapped princess. Together, this motley crew attempts to save the planet Druidia from the evil Dark Helmet, who plans to steal the planet's fresh air. The original DVD edition, released in 2000, has scarce extras. The original's commentary with Brooks is included here, but MGM/UA has added a second disc of nothing but bonus features. Included are a costume and art gallery, two theatrical trailers, a Spaceballs documentary, a tricky trivia game, and film flubs. This DVD is a must-own for any serious fan of comedy

Source: http://www.hometheatermag.com/news/062005software/

Recent trends in motion pictures

2005-06-22T04:06:00.000-07:00

While the blockbuster dominated the economics of motion pictures screened in theaters in the years after 1975, the advent of home entertainment delivery systems had an equally profound effect on movie culture—perhaps the most striking impact of any technological change in the medium’s history. The first new system was the videocassette recorder (VCR), which could play prerecorded videotapes or record programs shown on television for later playback. At the same time, cable television systems vastly expanded the number of channels available to the home viewer along with access to recent movies.
Current Trends:
Television: As these new technologies came into widespread use, on the horizon loomed the computer, offering possibilities for home viewing and as a tool in media production.
The digital video disc, or DVD, became one of the major techniques for viewing movies on computers and also began replacing videocassettes as the major format for home viewing.
The VCR and DVD technology spawned an entirely new way of viewing movies on prerecorded cassettes or discs that could be rented or purchased at video shops. Despite the fears of the motion-picture industry, the new technology did not contribute to a decline in movie theater attendance. Instead, it fostered a much wider experience of movies for viewers who sought entertainment more frequently at home than in public settings. The consequences were numerous: The history of motion pictures, in addition to recent films, became available to the home viewer; cassette and disc rental and sales earned new revenue for motion-picture companies—in some cases, more than the theatrical release; and advance sales of video rights enabled small production companies to finance the creation of low-budget films.

Source

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History of motion pictures

2005-06-21T02:38:00.000-07:00

The American film industry entered one of its most troubled eras at the beginning of the 1960s. At the time its decline as a medium for mass entertainment appeared unremitting, given the increasing dominance of television. Only in retrospect can those difficult years be seen as a time of transition for the industry, a search for effective new marketing techniques that would come to fruition in the mid-1970s.
The factors causing a crisis in American cinema were many. Besides a continuing drop in motion-picture attendance, a generation of producers and filmmakers who had worked in movies since the days of silent film was reaching the age of retirement. Executives who had decades of show business experience were being replaced by relative novices. A rapid transformation of American cultural values in the era of rock-and-roll music, civil rights struggles, and conflict over the Vietnam War (1959-1975) left many film companies unsure of how to appeal to a young generation that made up the majority of moviegoers.
Weakened by financial setbacks, the film companies were ripe for takeover by large corporations. Whereas in earlier decades—and again in the 1990s—movie companies united with related entertainment businesses, during the 1960s unrelated enterprises, including a parking lot company and an insurance company, acquired motion-picture studios. In some cases these firms decided that the real estate owned by a studio was more valuable than the movies it produced.
Source

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The top three comic book adapted super hero films

2005-06-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

The greatest American superhero comic book adapted films(according to a poll) are as follows:

Spiderman 2 - 40% of the vote

The Crow - 23% of the vote

Batman (1989) - 21% of the vote

All others combine for the remaining 16% of the vote. Honorable mentions go to Spiderman, X-Men 2, and Superman, which took up most of the "others" vote.

A recent trend in the film industry is the popularity of adaptations of comic books. Much of this popularity is down to their established loyal legion of fans - an inbuilt audience. There are said to be more than 70 comic book related projects in production or in development. Among these is respected British writer Alan Moore’s Watchmen, which is directed by Darren Aronofosky.

It is very exciting but apprehensive that this book has appeared on the big screen. Comics cater for the film industry's key target - the 16-35 year olds. The comic book is probably the closest parallel to movies that there is in literature – it’s highly visual, has strongly drawn characters and a very linear, readable storyline. Alan Moore has written two other books which have been made into films, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and From Hell.

Source

The Hollywood stars of early 30’s

2005-06-18T02:06:00.000-07:00

The early '30s is unparalleled in the history of cinema for the sheer number of important stars that emerged and for the longevity of their careers. A quick stroll through the era gives us Bette Davis, James Cagney, Joan Crawford, Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Clark Gable, Marlene Dietrich, W.C. Fields, the Marx Brothers, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Carole Lombard, Jean Arthur, Claudette Colbert, Edward G. Robinson, Jean Harlow, William Powell, Boris Karloff, Cary Grant, Paul Muni, and many others.
These actors represent the greatest bumper crop of stars in Hollywood's history. Some had appeared in silent movies but few really received the push for stardom, with strong studio backing, until the sound era. And for each, the movies at the beginning of the sound era played a crucial role in developing their personas.
Here are three actors whose early '30s movies deserve a little more recognition: James Cagney from Warner Brothers, Joan Crawford from MGM, and Barbara Stanwyck from Columbia (and Warner Brothers). For this group of actors, their early films have not attracted the same amount of attention as the roles from later in their careers, once their personas were already well developed. With only a few exceptions—Cagney in Public Enemy and Crawford in Grand Hotel, for example—the movies from the early thirties for these stars have not been widely recognized for the important roles they played in their careers

Barbara Stanwyck , Joan Crawford , James Cagney

But this period has proven to be astonishingly fertile, for many of the star vehicle movies are terrifically entertaining. This is the period, for example, where James Cagney really honed his persona as the tough city mug who used his brains—and fists—to get ahead. And this is the time when Joan Crawford really developed her persona as the woman willing to sacrifice everything—including her happiness—for success.

Source: http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue01/infocus.htm

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'Smith' a killer at overseas boxoffice

2005-06-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are the hottest couple on the planet. "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" blew away competitors in its opening weekend at the international boxoffice, debuting No. 1 in all key territories in which distributors Fox premiered the film day-and-date with North America. The action-thriller-comedy was the weekend's top film, with an estimated $31.2 million from 3,635 screens in 31 territories. In the U.K., "Smith" posted a phenomenal $7.1 million on 446 screens, placing it ahead of "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith." In Australia, Doug Liman's first film since "The Bourne Identity" made $4.7 million on 356 screens, beating all comparative titles. A massive opening on 824 screens made "Smith" $3.8 million in Mexico. The sickly Taiwanese market showed renewed vigor, handing the Smiths $3.6 million from just 171 screens -- Fox's second-biggest opening day ever and the industry's 10th-best posting in the territory to date. In Brazil, "Smith" made $1.6 million from 401 screens, beating all comparable titles, while in Sweden the it earned $850,000 on 82 screens. Earnings of $1.2 million from 68 screens made "Smith" Fox's third-biggest film ever in Hong Kong.

Source: http://www.showest.com/filmgroup/thr_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000955319

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Comic book adaptations for films

2005-06-09T07:55:00.000-07:00

A recent trend in the film industry is the popularity of adaptations of comic books. Much of this popularity is down to their established loyal legion of fans - an inbuilt audience. There are said to be more than 70 comic book related projects in production or in development. Among these is respected British writer Alan Moore’s Watchmen, which is directed by Darren Aronofosky.
It is very exciting but apprehensive that this book has appeared on the big screen. Comics cater for the film industry's key target - the 16-35 year olds. The comic book is probably the closest parallel to movies that there is in literature – it’s highly visual, has strongly drawn characters and a very linear, readable storyline. Alan Moore has written two other books which have been made into films, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and From Hell.

Source: http://www.britishcouncil.org/japan-trenduk-october04-lifestyle-reviews.htm

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Spiritual Overtones on Film

2005-06-07T05:45:00.000-07:00

According to a survey, four out of ten adults (41%) said that within the past two years they had seen a movie that had caused them to think more seriously about their religious faith. Not surprisingly, it was the people who were already most inclined to think about faith matters who said this, such as evangelicals (68%) and people with an active personal faith (65% of those who pray, read the Bible and attend a church service in a typical week).
When asked to identify the movies that had led them to ponder their faith, The Passion was the only movie to be listed by more than 5% of this segment. Overall, six out of ten adults who had reflected on their faith in response to a movie (59%) identified The Passion as one of the movies that caused such reconsideration.
When asked to indicate if they had seen any movie that had led them to change something they believed about the Christian faith, only 6% of the movie-viewing populace admitted to such influence. Once again, The Passion was the leader, listed by half (53%) of those who said they had undergone a movie-driven change in their beliefs. Other movies attributed with such influence included Left Behind (7%), A Walk to Remember (3%) and Joshua (3%).

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Science fiction films

2005-06-06T05:24:00.000-07:00

Science Fiction Films are a version of fantasy films. They are usually scientific, visionary, comic-strip-like, and imaginative - complete with heroes, distant planets, impossible quests, improbable settings, fantastic places, great dark and shadowy villains, futuristic technology, unknown and inexplicable forces, the dangerous nature of knowledge, and extraordinary monsters either created by misguided mad scientists or by nuclear havoc. Sci-fi tales have a prophetic nature (they often attempt to figure out or depict the future) and are often set in a future time. They are usually visualized through fanciful, imaginative settings, film production design, advanced technology gadgets (i.e., robots and spaceships), scientific developments, or by fantastic special effects.

Commonly, sci-fi films express society's anxiety about technology and how to forecast and control the impact of technological and environmental change on contemporary society. Science fiction often expresses the potential of technology to destroy humankind through Armaggedon-like events, or through the loss of personal individuality. There are often encounters with other aliens, creatures, or beings (sometimes from our deep subconscious, sometimes in space or in other dimensions) that are unearthed to fight an eternal struggle or battle (good vs. evil), played out by recognizable archetypes. Many other SF films featured fantastic journeys, set either on Earth, into outer space, or (most often) into the future.

The genre easily can overlap with horror films, particularly when technology or alien life forms become malevolent (Alien (1979)). Further, there are many examples of blurred or hybrid science fiction films that share characteristics with lots of other genres, including fantasy films (Star Wars (1977)), westerns (Outland (1980)), romances (Somewhere in Time (1980)), adventure films (The Thing From Another World (1951)), action films (Terminator 2 - Judgment Day (1991)), comedies (Sleeper (1973)), and even cop-buddy films (Alien Nation (1988)).

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Technology goes to films

2005-06-06T05:19:00.000-07:00

The cost of making films has risen significantly over the years, with the average Hollywood film now costing US$60 million, double the average in 1996. One main reason for this increase is the rise of special effects, which has ballooned from a small specialty industry into a vital cog in the production process. Costs within the special-effects industry are skyrocketing as well, however, threatening these firms' profitability -- especially among small and midsize visual-effects houses.For example, all three Lord of the Rings films, as well as Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, used Discreet's Flame and Inferno products.
Hollywood producers are constantly seeking better visual effects and more realism in computer-generated imaging.

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Films for different ages

2005-06-02T04:31:00.000-07:00

Films are a great source of entertainment nowadays.Films is one of the medium which are liked by people of almost all ages. Films can play a major role in influencing the moods of people. Films help people to be transported to a fantasy land where hopefully, one's blues would be chased away. They could make you forget your troubles for a few hours. The joy of a good movie could even make you forget you were hungry, at least for a while. For example, a film with a high-energy comedy may have some characters that are caricatures, and yet they are endearing because we can identify with them. The various characters portrayed in some movies are in more than one way optimistic, cheerful, devoted and always supportive which inspire to enjoy life to the fullest. So what could be a better gift to your loved ones to make them feel that you care for them. So Gift DVD moviesto your friends, relatives and dear ones to make them happy. Films are one source which exhibit every phase of life of a human being-the bad one as well as good ones. So its important that we identify the films as per the age group we tend to present a gift to. Films can be categorized for different groups like for young and for the old and others. Hence should be chosen accordingly.

The films given as a gift to your father should be one which reflects his life, personality and suits his liking. Same way, the films for your mother should be one which suits her interests so that she could enjoy each and every moment of it. The films for young boys and girls should be the one which is informative, inspirational as well as funky. Their are movies which suits every age and could be watched by every age group

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Films and emotions

2005-06-02T04:29:00.000-07:00

The vast majority of contemporary narrative film accurately mirrors our western culture, in that, in its mechanisms and themes, it reflects an imbalance tilted strongly towards the masculine, the individual, the self-assertive, the materialistic and the conscious - at the expense of a healthy balance with the feminine, the community, the participatory in us, the spiritual and the subconscious. ion. And different persons have different sense of emotion like many of them like the feelings in movies that will comet from looking at paintings. Emotions effects each person differently like some person feel sad by seeing the horrible moment…and like the moment that touches the catchy moment of their life. In the history film, characters are compressed, people become symbols of movements and ideas, events are edited and manipulated to suit the needs of the drama, and actors replace the people who were actually involved. And another emotion is of anger. Anger is a powerful emotion. If it isn't handled appropriately, it may have destructive results for both you and your loved ones. Uncontrolled anger can lead to arguments, physical fights, physical abuse, assault and self-harm. On the other hand, well managed anger can be a useful emotion that motivates you to make positive changes. So with the mixture of emotions film is the enormous source of sense, better way in that we can express it properly

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Lighting up in the movies changes with time

2005-05-30T04:04:00.000-07:00

If we look back to earlier times in movie-making history, smokers were everywhere on screen. Think back for a second and picture an old-time movie star in your head - say, Humphrey Bogart or James Dean - and invariably, you'll see him puffing away. And in some of those movies, smoking was a central part of the personality of the character. Bogart's Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon was a chain-smoker, using the cigarette almost as a prop.Things began to change, though, once word began to spread about the lethal nature of cigarettes. The moniker "cancer stick" became synonymous with smoking, and the appeal of lighting up began to fade. What was once cool has become an activity that can lead to social ostracism. The 1999 movie The Insider took on the tobacco industry and told the truth about the health hazards created by smoking.. Pierce Brosnan, who posed for a British cigarette ad several years ago, has since spoken out against smoking and has vowed that James Bond will no longer smoke as long as he is playing the character. Although lighting up on screen may not be what it used to be, after a dip in on-screen smoking, cigarettes are once again making a few too many appearances..

Source: http://www.tribute.ca/Tribute/0301/movie_trends.htm

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Why DVD ?

2005-05-27T04:21:00.000-07:00

Even though DVDs and CDs share basic technology, DVDs can store much more information than CDs. That extra information is what gives DVD its biggest advantage over CD: the capacity to store a movie (and more) on a single disc.

A DVD stores up to seven times as much information as a CD. Why? Because their methods of storing information differ. The track pitch on a DVD is 2.16 times smaller than on a CD -- meaning that the spiral-information is packed much more closely together on a DVD -- and the minimum length of a pit on a DVD is 2.08 times smaller. Also, CDs store lots of error-correcting information (repeated information on the disc that helps the CD player reduce the possibility of reading errors), whereas DVDs are designed to have less of this sort of repetitive info, increasing the space available on the disc.

One of the biggest data-capacity advantages a DVD has over a CD is in its layers. DVDs are like information sandwiches, with layers of digital information pressed between thin slices of plastic and even thinner sheets of aluminum and/or semi-reflective gold. The laser on a DVD player will read from the center of the disc to its edge and then switch its focus to a second layer of information stored beneath the first, which spirals inward from the outside edge of the disc back to the inside.

Even with all of that storage space available, movies and the extras included on DVDs devour it quickly, which is why the format also employs a compression technology known as MPEG-2 (MPEG stands for Moving Picture Experts Group). CDs employ MPEG-1 compression technology and MP3s use, naturally enough, MPEG-3. Basically, each level of this compression involves more pinching of info than its predecessor. The digital information compressed via MPEG-2 on a DVD is squeezed 1.6 times as much as the info stored on your CDs, for instance, and an MP3 file of a song is crushed to one-tenth the size of the identical tune on a CD.

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What is film downloading?

2005-05-26T04:01:00.000-07:00

More or less every film produced is available to copy from the internet but the process of downloading films on to a computer is certainly not for the novice as software programs have to be downloaded before getting started.
Even with a broadband connection one film can take between eight and 12 hours to download on to a hard drive, compared with a music track which can take as little as 30 seconds. If someone then wanted to copy the film on to a DVD this would take another large chunk of time, meaning one film could take up to 24 hours to download and copy.
There is also often no way of knowing what the quality of the recording will be. It could be DVD quality or filmed on a shaky camera in a cinema.
Most users would then have to watch the film on a PC monitor, although there are gadgets which allow it be screened on a TV.

How popular is film downloading?
The film industry has been fighting film piracy since video recorders became common in most households, with pirate videos and then DVDs a worldwide and continuing problem. Then came the advancement of the internet which offered a new outlet for films to be illegally copied.
Although the problem of piracy on the internet was fuelled by music downloading, the MPAA is concerned at the rise in films being downloaded. It has suggested that one in four internet users download films.
Although movie downloading is still in its infancy, the MPAA fears the film industry will be hit as hard as the recording industry once internet speeds quicken.

Why is the movie industry worried?
Hollywood is big business and studios say piracy is costing those billions.
It wants to dispel the conception that film piracy is a victimless crime by accusing downloader’s of stealing films, which in turn risks the livelihoods of thousands of employees in the film business.
Despite concerns over piracy and an expected flurry of lawsuits Hollywood studios enjoyed record takings of $10.85bn (£5.89bn) last year.

Who risks being sued and what punishment can they expect?
The MPAA is going after those who illegally copy films by downloading them on to their hard drives, as well as the pirates who put the films on the web in the first place.
The organization says the crackdown could see hundreds of lawsuits generated in one month alone. The law states $30,000 (£16,300) damages can be sought per film, while it can go up to $150,000 (£81,432) for willful infringement.

How can the MPAA trace those people it wants to sue?
It wants to get across the misconception that internet users are anonymous and that they "will be held responsible for their actions".
The alleged offenders will first be traced by their internet service provider (ISP) address. Subpoenas will then be filed against the service providers, forcing them to hand over names and addresses.

Is the MPAA doing anything to further the cause of legal downloading from the internet?
There is a number of legal film downloading sites but these are available only in the US and still require considerable hours to use.
The MPAA says it is investing millions of dollars in research and development of other viable legal downloading systems such as protected websites.
But it has been slow to emerge as a viable market because of the length of time it takes to download one film.
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New technology converts films to 3-D

2005-05-25T22:36:00.000-07:00

After a brief incarnation in the early 1950s and a short-lived revival in the 1980s, 3-D movies are now getting serious consideration among filmmakers who want to send images leaping off the movie screen and into the audience.
"Star Wars" creator George Lucas and "Titanic" director James Cameron were among those promoting a new digital alteration that converts two-dimensional movies into 3-D. Lucas said he hopes eventually to release all six of his "Star Wars" movies in 3-D format that can be shown in regular movie houses, not specialty theaters such as IMAX. Developed by In-Three Inc. of Agoura Hills, Calif., the new technology involves converting a movie into two slightly offset images, one for each eye. The special glasses trick the brain into perceiving the picture as a single image. Unlike some 3-D systems that require two side-by-side film projectors, In-Three's system operates with a single digital projector, the filmmakers said. A snippet of "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" converted to 3-D was screened, and the images showed remarkable depth in a scene where Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi pursue an assassin in a flying vehicle. While the filmmakers all have an interest in releasing old movies in 3-D and shooting new ones in the format, they also tried to sell theater owners on digital systems to replace film-reel projectors that have been the standard for a century.

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Spiritual Overtones on Film

2005-05-24T22:34:00.000-07:00

Making Sense of Films

2005-05-23T22:33:00.000-07:00

Early films often served, according to film historian Charles Musser, as "living newspapers." Filmmakers, film exhibitors, and early film audiences highly prized filmed records of celebrities or current events. Film companies sent cameramen around the world, providing a priceless record of the people and events that shaped the first two decades of film. However, at this same time standards of visual authenticity were still being formed.
Newspapers at the turn of the century were only beginning to be able to print photographs, and the practice of illustrating events through drawings and sketches was still current. Likewise, early film companies frequently produced films of current events using actors and re-staging.

Most likely their judgment depended on how the films were exhibited. Many re-enactments were announced to their audiences as such, but some exhibitors undoubtedly claimed that films showed "the real thing." Researchers can determine which films are inauthentic by using documents that surround the films. In addition, close examination of films themselves often reveals the theatrical nature of sets (painted backdrops and flats), the compression of events, and clear overall lighting that indicates a film studio rather than an actual location. Other elements, such as behavior and are "staginess," are more subjective judgments but also can alert a viewer that a purportedly documentary scene was arranged for the camera.

Source - http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/film/question1.html

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Evaluating the impact of films

2005-05-20T22:31:00.000-07:00

Hollywood has made several attempts to scare people into its way of thinking. How about Jane Fonda in the 1979 anti-nuclear-power flick, The China Syndrome? Twelve days after its release, the accident at Three Mile Island occurred. Despite the fact that it released only tiny amounts of radiation, the politics of that hysteria effectively killed any new nuclear plant. Or how about the 1983 movie The Day After, whose purpose was to strengthen the nuclear-freeze movement. It failed. And what about The Day After Tomorrow which is only one more day than The Day After, and it deserves the same fate. Lies cloaked as science should never determine how we live our lives.
Understanding and assessing the movie's influence on audiences is a complex task. One possible impact of the film is that it might serve as a vehicle for informal learning, and in this case there are several different dimensions of knowledge that might be transmitted to audiences. Most discussion has centered on whether or not audiences learn any science from the film, or as others fear, whether audiences might acquire scientifically misleading knowledge.
Learning "facts" about science is not the only type of informal learning that could potentially occur. Audiences also might learn about the role science and scientists serve in the political world. If citizens are going to participate and be engaged with policy matters related to science, they likely need to know who regulates and funds science, and how science is used by policymakers. In various films (specifically, Day After Tomorrow), audiences learn that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration conducts climate-related research. Also true to real life, they learn that scientists warn elected officials about the risks of climate change, but that officials sometimes don't listen, or they discount the risks in light of economic considerations and industry influence.
The film therefore might shape audience attitudes indirectly through its link to forms of knowledge, but it might also shape public opinion directly via powerful images, symbols, depictions, stereotypes, and moral lessons.

Source: http://www.csicop.org
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Fantasy Films

2005-05-19T23:12:00.000-07:00

Fantasy Films, unlike science fiction films that base their content upon some degree of scientific truth,take the audience to netherworld, fairty-tale places where events are unlikely to occur in real life. In mythological or legendary times, they transcend the bounds of human possibility and physical laws. Fantasy films are often in the context of the imagination, dreams, or hallucinations of a character or within the projected vision of the storyteller. Fantasy films often have an element of magic, myth, wonder, escapism, and the extraordinary. They may appeal to both children and adults, depending upon the particular film.
In fantasy films, the hero often undergoes some kind of mystical experience, and must ask for aid from powerful, superhuman forces on the outside.Flying carpets, magic swords and spells, dragons, and ancient religious relics or objects are common elements. Bizarre and imaginary, invented lands include sci-fi worlds, unreal worlds, fairy tale settings, or other whimsical locales (e.g., Shangri-La or Brigadoon). The earliest sci-fi writers (H. G. Wells and Jules Verne) created fantastic worlds and/or journeys - the subject matter of many fantasy films.
Typically, the predominant characters in fantasies are princes or princesses. Some fantasy-type films might also include quasi-religious or supernatural characters such as angels, lesser gods, or fairies. Or they include the gnomes, dwarves and elves of legend.
Odd phenomena, physical aberrations, and incredible characters are incorporated into fantasy films, and often overlap with supernatural films. They are often inspired or taken, however remotely, from myth or legend. They fill us with a marvelous sense of awe and touch off deep primal emotions.
Fantasy films are most likely to overlap with the film genres of science fiction and horror. When the narrative of a fantasy film tends to emphasize advanced technology in a fantastic world, it may be considered predominantly a science fiction film. Or when the supernatural, fantasy forces are specifically intended to frighten the audience, a fantasy film falls more within the horror genre
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Influence of Films

2005-05-18T23:05:00.000-07:00

Films are a powerful medium. It goes into your eye. It goes into your brain. It stimulates. And it’s a dangerous thing too. It can be a very subversive thing. Movie characters ideals become our ideals. Their thoughts become standards of our thinking and language. Their style of dress and movement are seen on the streets of our nation. And their moments of triumph and defeat become our successes and our failures. Everything we’re exposed to influences us. These films influence us. The weaker your family is, the more they influence you.. For example, a cigarette in the hands of a Hollywood star onscreen is a gun aimed at a 12- or 14-year-old.… The gun will go off when the kid is an adult. We in Hollywood know the gun will go off, yet we hide behind a smoke screen of phrases like ‘creative freedom’ and ‘artistic expression.

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Dreaming of movies: what it means

2005-05-16T04:17:00.000-07:00

Ever dreamt of starring in or attending a movie? Find out what it means with our dream analysis

Attending
What kind of movie do you go to see and with whom? If this is among the most memorable dream images, you may be trying to initiate or resolve a relationship issue by watching others portray it. The movie plot will often provide guidance on how to do this. Even if the movie is a film with nonsensical or overwhelmingly destructive events, your subconscious chose it for some desire that lurks below the surface.
You may be searching for a vicarious substitution for a life you consider mundane. Ask yourself what particularly (un)satisfactory events are portrayed in the film by whom and how do those events parallel your own life?
Starring in
One of the strangest feelings to have is the dream that includes watching yourself in a movie. For starters, you are in two places at once - watching yourself and being in the movie. While sometimes your dream logic says, 'Oh yeah, this is a film I am in,' other times it fails you. These turn into dream events that contain an out-of-body experience.
In either case, there is often a sense that your surroundings are not real. There can be several reasons for this. One is to lower the psychological pain of a dream. Since you are watching yourself in the dream, you can reinforce your defence mechanism even in the subconscious state by saying, 'It's only a dream.' Another is to allow you to evaluate the events more objectively. Insight requires self-awareness. Self-awareness requires being able to discern your power and action in the world. The movie makes power and action more observable.
The other version of the movie dream is simple wish-fulfilment. 'Hey, you ought to be in pictures.' So you are.
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Who Made the Film and Why?

2005-05-10T05:43:00.000-07:00

Although films seem to capture real life effortlessly, they are in fact industrial products: the result of complex technological processes and carefully discussed purposes. These factors vary greatly between a multimillion dollar feature and a casually shot home movie. But in the era of early cinema, when amateur filmmaking was rare, films were usually the product of institutions and corporations. To consider a film as historical evidence, it is therefore very important to always ask who made the film and for what purpose.
The "who" responsible for production certainly involved individuals such as the director and camera operator, but, possibly more important, it also might have included large entities such as film companies, government agencies, religious or political organizations, labor unions, and scientific organizations. Some industries sponsored publicity films; for example, the Santa Fe railway sponsored train films, made by both Edison and the Biograph company, to encourage tourism. Companies such as Westinghouse and National Cash Register sponsored "industrials," films showing how companies produced their products.

Evidence about who made a film may be readily available in the film itself. Early film production companies frequently included trademarks in their films, sometimes even fixed on an object in the shot or emblazoned on the intertitles. Opening credits also generally announced the production companies. Although the films themselves may not indicate sponsorship by industries, early film catalogues often do.
Determining the purpose or purposes behind a film can be trickier, but it is equally vital in interpreting the film's historical role. The primary purpose behind most commercial films, of course, was to make a profit, and any film that wanted to attract and keep an audience had to be appealing and entertaining. Therefore, when the Peek Freen company hired filmmaker Charles Urban to make a film about how the company made biscuits, Urban had to fulfill the company's goals while also making an entertaining film. Certain propaganda films announced their messages very clearly. During World War I., various governments made the first films with overt national propaganda messages. Government and health agencies, however, had already realized that film offered powerful forms of persuasion and education, and sponsored or subsidized such films as Edison's The Fly Pest (1909) warning about diseases carried by houseflies. Similarly the Red Cross sponsored a large number of films (including fictional films) about the dangers of tuberculosis and ways to prevent its spread.
But it may be that films convey and instruct best when they least seem to be doing so. Many attitudes conveyed by films, or any cultural product, about gender, race, class, sexuality, or religious and moral values are conceived less as conscious messages than conveyed as common assumptions. While a number of early films make overt statements on such issues as women's right to vote, race relations, pacifism, or birth control, and these statements were undoubtedly part of the purpose in making these films, many other films express attitudes toward woman's proper role, racial equality, or the nature of war or the family without proclaiming a position. Reflecting these attitudes was not the central goal of films, but the attitudes themselves may have had a great effect in shaping a realm of common assumption.

source:http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/film/question3.html

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Adventure Films

2005-05-06T23:16:00.000-07:00

Adventure Films are exciting stories, with new experiences or exotic locales. Adventure films are very similar to the action film genre, in that they are designed to provide an action-filled, energetic experience for the film viewer. Rather than the predominant emphasis on violence and fighting that is found in action films, however, the viewer of adventure films can live vicariously through the travels, conquests, explorations, creation of empires, struggles and situations that confront the main characters, actual historical figures or protagonists.
Adventure films were intended to appeal mainly to men, creating major male heroic stars through the years. These courageous, patriotic, or altruistic heroes often fought for their beliefs, struggled for freedom, or overcame injustice. Modern adventure films, some of which have been successful blockbusters, have crossed over and added resourceful action heroes (and oftentimes heroines).

Under the category of adventure films, we can include traditional swashbucklers, serialized films, and historical spectacles (similar to the epics film genre), searches or expeditions for lost continents, "jungle" and "desert" epics, treasure hunts and quests, disaster films, and heroic journeys or searches for the unknown. Adventure films are often set in an historical period, and may include adapted stories of historical or literary adventure heroes (Robin Hood, Tarzan, and Zorro for example), kings, battles, rebellion, or piracy.

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Films influencing fitness trends

2005-05-05T04:14:00.000-07:00

Fitness instructors looking to tap the latest trends would be wise to visit the cinema or a local video store. Big-budget, blockbuster movies, such as Charlie's Angels, Tomb Raider and Kill Bill, featuring tough, high-kicking, sword-wielding heroines, are inspiring women across the country to get in shape--by imitating the on-screen action. The glamorized and stylized violence in recent films has given the public a thirst for more exciting, challenging and aggressive routines.No longer satisfied by variations on the aerobics format, people are keen to learn intricate martial arts moves and even wield a weapon. Forza is a prime example. Using custom-weighted fitness swords, followers sculpt their arms, hips and thighs with this cardiovascular workout that blends elements of Kendo and Aikijujitsu--two Japanese sword-fighting techniques.In Forza, exercisers are taught to slowly map out a choreographed "fight," featuring up to 20 moves. Forza is based on samurai practices and the aim is to achieve speed and precision, The class acts out the one-minute fight sequence, after an hour of rehearsing with the weighted swords, while shaping the upper body and providing a cardiovascular workout.

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Roles of film in Mordern Life

2005-05-04T04:51:00.000-07:00

Increasingly historians have moved away from a history that chronicles battles, treaties, and presidential elections to one that tries to provide an image of the way daily life unfolded for the mass of people: how they worked, what they did for fun, how families were formed or fell apart, or how the fabric of daily life was formed or transformed. Film has an important role to play in these histories. While traditional historical documents tend to privilege great events and political leaders, historians now use other records to discern the lives of "ordinary" people: census records, accounts of harvests and markets, diaries and memoirs, and local newspapers. Film is perhaps more like these records of daily life than it is like the documents that record great events.
All of these subjects could be staged and distorted, of course, and film can be transformed in many ways. But as a record of time and motion, films preserve gestures, gaits, rhythms, attitudes, and human interactions in a variety of situations. In almost any film archive, and in numerous places on the Internet, one can glimpse images of simple actions, While film shares much of this information with other forms of documentation, especially still photography, motion pictures allow viewers to see and compare the everyday physical actions of people across the globe and throughout the twentieth century.
This is not to deny that film provides indelible images of some of the twentieth century's great events. Fictional films serve as historical evidence in the same way that other representational art forms do -- by making events vivid, portraying social attitudes, and even revealing the unconscious assumptions of past societies. Attitudes about gender, class, and ethnicity, as well as heroism, work, play, and "the good life" are all portrayed in fictional films as they are in an era's novels, plays, and paintings. But as a form of mass visual entertainment, films reflect social attitudes in a specific and vivid manner.
Since films were released nationally and globally to make a profit, producers tried not to offend groups they recognized as influential and usually avoided political controversies or minority opinions. Interpreting Hollywood movies as a reflection of prevailing social attitudes or generalizing from specific films requires great caution. Fictional films are complex industrial and social products and how they are made, distributed, exhibited, and received by audiences and critics must be investigated to fully evaluate their roles as historical evidence.

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Changing trends in movie viewing

2005-05-03T04:36:00.000-07:00

You must have found a few signs that the world of entertainment is any different than before September 11th.A poll of 2,500 Americans completed in 2002 by Harris Interactive for American Demographics magazines suggests what Americans want from entertainment has subtly shifted. The poll found that these days, after the terrorists attacks, Americans are more attracted to TV shows and movies with spiritual themes and plot lines that address family values. More viewers tune in more often to the nightly news and to newsmagazines. And many still feel uneasy whenever they encounter images that too closely resemble the tragic events of 2001.
Even with the events that have taken place Americans are not shying away from television or films. However, all respondents are not necessarily seeking the same type of entertainment as they did before 9/11; instead many are searching for movies which are more engaging. There are differences by demographic however. Men are more likely to continue to demand movies that are wartime epics, while women feel they see enough war on the news and are often disinterested in entertainment reminding them of an unpleasant reality they are already confronted with.

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Technology goes to films

2005-04-29T02:38:00.000-07:00

Lighting up in the movies changes with time

2005-04-26T03:33:00.000-07:00

If we look back to earlier times in movie-making history, smokers were everywhere on screen. Think back for a second and picture an old-time movie star in your head - say, Humphrey Bogart or James Dean - and invariably, you'll see him puffing away. And in some of those movies, smoking was a central part of the personality of the character. Bogart's Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon was a chain-smoker, using the cigarette almost as a prop.Things began to change, though, once word began to spread about the lethal nature of cigarettes. The moniker "cancer stick" became synonymous with smoking, and the appeal of lighting up began to fade. What was once cool has become an activity that can lead to social ostracism. The 1999 movie The Insider took on the tobacco industry and told the truth about the health hazards created by smoking.. Pierce Brosnan, who posed for a British cigarette ad several years ago, has since spoken out against smoking and has vowed that James Bond will no longer smoke as long as he is playing the character. Although lighting up on screen may not be what it used to be, after a dip in on-screen smoking, cigarettes are once again making a few too many appearances..

Source:

http://www.tribute.ca/Tribute/0301/movie_trends.htm

Science in Movies

2005-04-22T02:32:00.000-07:00

Films and emotions

2005-04-20T03:04:00.000-07:00

Films for different ages

2005-04-15T03:25:00.000-07:00

Films are a great source of entertainment nowadays.Films is one of the medium which are liked by people of almost all ages. Films can play a major role in influencing the moods of people. Films help people to be transported to a fantasy land where hopefully, one's blues would be chased away. They could make you forget your troubles for a few hours. The joy of a good movie could even make you forget you were hungry, at least for a while. For example, a film with a high-energy comedy may have some characters that are caricatures, and yet they are endearing because we can identify with them. The various characters portrayed in some movies are in more than one way optimistic, cheerful, devoted and always supportive which inspire to enjoy life to the fullest. So what could be a better gift to your loved ones to make them feel that you care for them. So Gift DVD movies to your friends, relatives and dear ones to make them happy. Films are one source which exhibit every phase of life of a human being-the bad one as well as good ones. So its important that we identify the films as per the age group we tend to present a gift to. Films can be categorized for different groups like for young and for the old and others. Hence should be chosen accordingly.
The films given as a gift to your father should be one which reflects his life, personality and suits his liking. Same way, the films for your mother should be one which suits her interests so that she could enjoy each and every moment of it. The films for young boys and girls should be the one which is informative, inspirational as well as funky. Their are movies which suits every age and could be watched by every age group.

Films Reflect

2005-04-12T02:13:00.000-07:00

Films are a popular form of entertainment, but they also influence and educate audiences for better or worse. As dreams reflect personal fantasies, desires, and subconscious feelings and thoughts, in many ways films reveal collective fantasies, dreams, desires, nightmares, and subconscious experiences of society. Not only do films tell us much about our culture, they also can influence cultural values and personal behavior. Just as we can learn about ourselves by studying the symbols in our dreams, we can gain greater understanding of social values and customs by learning from the conscious and subconscious messages conveyed in the films we watch. Just as repression may cause unacceptable tendencies to be expressed unconsciously in dream symbols, so too social censorship may alter the form of films while the conflicts still appear metaphorically.
Watching and understanding films can be an important part of one's emotional education in developing what Daniel Goleman has called "emotional intelligence" in developing spiritual maturity. They often play an important role in modern socialization. Romantic stories and themes are common, because attending films is often a courtship ritual in our society. Thus theater films have been increasingly geared to young audiences. We also learn about various aspects of life by vicarious observation of adventures too risky to experience in person. By observing how people act and respond to the actions, communication, and feelings of others, we are able to witness objectively (while not being personally involved in a live inter-action) the affects and consequences these have on other people.

FILMS AND FILMS Music SOCIETY

2005-04-11T03:11:00.000-07:00

Film act as a glue between two parties. Besides its drawback a little bit, but their benefits removes all its drawback. It is now widely agreed that film is one of the most important art forms of the twentieth century and deserves to be taken seriously as an academic subject. Most colleges and universities in the United States and Canada now offer at least a few general courses on film, and all the leading institutions of higher education in these countries have programs or departments devoted exclusively to film study. Furthermore, because of recent developments in video technology and breakthroughs in film distribution and copyright laws, it is now possible to bring a film into the classroom and study it with the same degree of insight and analysis that is generally afforded the printed text.
……….Because of its importance and in order to avoid all these hurdle the film music society was established. The Film Music Society is a non-profit organization established by professionals in the film and music communities. The FMS promotes the preservation of film and television music in all of its manifestations, including published and unpublished scores, orchestrations, recordings and all related materials.

Usefulness of Dvd for films.

2005-04-08T21:41:00.000-07:00

Films have the capability to effect human life. Each film conveys a message to society .Dvd are the enhancement for cinema. Then, the greatest thing to happen to home theatre since the concept was even thought of took place: the DVD revolution. Suddenly, we were blessed with a home video format that could store an entire film on a single disc that was the size of the compact disc introduced to in the 1980s, but carried at least eight times as much information. With dvd we can watch movies easily while sitting in our home. And moreover its more reliable. We can see movie anytime whenever we want to see.

The first question to ask when speculating about the future of films and Dvd is what the studios actually want. The simple answer to this question is that they want to have complete control over their multi-million dollar assets, including the distribution of their films. The coming advent of Dvd will help in this regard, since studios will be able to send their films to theatres as data instead of as a collection of unwieldy film reels. With their films converted entirely into digital form, the film studios would be able to bypass the network of distributors that has outlived its usefulness and can sell their product to anyone. Without the need for local distributors, all of the revenue earned from the sales of a film would go straight to the studio that made it in the first place. So Dvd are overall important for film. We can also buy DVD movies online there are many sites which provide this services

Films and social life

2005-04-07T04:21:00.000-07:00

Men life and entertainment are the counterparts of a same coin. Without entertainment, life will become miserable. From starting human being want some source of entertainment. Earlier the main source of entertainment was radio. But with the advancement in technology , gave a new fabulous invention i.e. Cinema. And the smaller version of that is Television. Now it becomes a basic necessity of life. We can’t even think life without films. Today many sources of entertainment are available and film are best amongst them. With films all we have come to know many things like what’s our society is, what’s their value, importance of relationships and many more. film are also a main source of investment. moreover films gave a chance of our young generation to prove their worth. Each film is based on a general philosophy that moves around our social life. Films are a combination of each and everything starting from a scratch like comedy, love. And it reveals each and every feelings. Due to nonsense movies the innocence of childhood has been replaced by the very real threat of violence.
And One answer, common in the film, is that the reason that we care about what happens to some fictional characters is because we identify with them. Although or, perhaps, because these characters are highly idealized — they are more beautiful, brave, resourceful, etc. than any actual human being could be — viewers identify with them, thereby also taking themselves to be correlates of these ideal beings. In Various source of entertainment are available now like video,Dvd,CDs and cassette etc.

Source:

http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/violence.html

Films as social and cultural history

2005-04-05T02:48:00.000-07:00

Source:

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/film/socialhist.html

filmmovement

2005-04-05T00:08:00.000-07:00

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