Friday, November 9, 2012

Movies

Since it's dark outside in the evening - and since you might feel more like staying inside - I thought you might enjoy watching some movies.

Please find below a  list of some movies that I thought might inspire some further thoughts and discussion. Please pick something you haven't seen yet and fee free to add to the list.

Thank you,

g

Here my little movie list:



What the Bleep Do We Know?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usMsTPg-hHk

Dead Poets Society
info: http://www.allmovia.com/mov/dead_poets_society/

Hermann Hesse
Siddhartha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3ivwSlKGrc

Bab'Aziz - the Prince that Contemplated His Soul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMbOZaVLUYk&feature=related
Michael Ondaatje
The English Patient
info: http://www.ovguide.com/the-english-patient-9202a8c04000641f8000000000058087

Margaret Atwood
A Handmaid's Tale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VdFkF6vtLE&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.ca%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dyoutube%2520handmaid%27s%2520tale%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D9%26ved%3D0CGIQFjAI%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.youtube.com%252Fwatch%253Fv%253D8VdFkF6vtLE%26ei%3DGtp8UKTqM8_SigL4zYCQAQ%26usg%3DAFQjCNHUFHe_e3DiNdhTVNTw59Ag01ueFQ%26sig2%3Dqyw4XTMQFimhQq_xgbcIbg&has_verified=1

Albert Camus
L'Etranger 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok_DIXTyLVk (part 1 of 11)
-> please follow prompts for the other parts!
see also:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfssRWwEh6o&playnext=1&list=PL09D3D3079C444F27&feature=results_main

Jean Paul Sartre
A Huis Clos/ No Exit
version 1:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDC2BAFDB14EA33CF
version 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAKGnuFDtkY&feature=related
version 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1m_q0-Fr0U   
and:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG4ANnIPPao&feature=relmfu 
and:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VK31lT3lP0&feature=relmfu   
and:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XereNJ0qeA&feature=relmfu 
see also:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mshvqdva0vY&feature=related

Samuel Becket
Waiting for Godot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acXfUGO1f5c    
and:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bn1Sd4j2No
or any other version

Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Scarlett Letter
version 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mASLaix01dY&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1 
version 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igf07t7hHJs 
and: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ymUSMc_yGU&feature=relmfu
-> please find the other parts yourself!

Herman Melville
Moby Dick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F73Kt1_FEn8&feature=related


Ernest Hemingway
For Whom the Bell Tolls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok5VxzxjP6w

Umberto Eco
The Name of the Rose
http://www.allmovie.com/movie/v34422

R.K. Narayan
Malgudi Days 
http://www.malgudidays.net/

Chinua Achebe
Things Fall Apart (47 parts on youtube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7FS95IcRNU&playnext=1&list=PL5F007E11CFA22EB8&feature=results_main

V.S. Naipaul
The Mystic Masseur
info: http://www.merchantivory.com/mystic-synopsis.html

Tennessee Williams
A Streetcar Named Desire
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC772146FE03E1953

Arthur Miller
The Crucible
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmYjqAYu1z7a_47j3qJRJ0oFzCeVRpcku

George Bernard Shaw
Pygmalion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmdPj_XbF30

Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsUNXVpjJDw

James Joyce
Ulysses (Documentary in 9 parts & other material)
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1841CBAE194DED6B

Bert Brecht
Galileo Gallilei
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4LT5IaRhv8  
and:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJNsmtTsWsE&feature=relmfu 
and:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb-oJcnHVqM&feature=relmfu 
and:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUdXj-Yg1EY&feature=relmfu 
and:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQDlokClhvo&feature=relmfu 
and:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5hADnC3nKQ&feature=relmfu 
and:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IbPtNsOpwU&feature=relmfu 
and:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UgeWfQP81A&feature=relmfu 
and:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlMTxjY3NrY&feature=relmfu 
and:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQdixfCVI0Q&feature=relmfu

Eugene Ionesco
La Cantatrice Chauve (7 parts)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxpwH9CJpvU&list=PL24456B1679EE07AB&feature=plcp

Heinrich Mann
The Blue Angel/ Professor Unrat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXGMQWdXdyU

Thomas Mann
The Magic Mountain 
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGdO5RviGkxC_b8J4unurDPDAXnptg84j

Franz Kafka
The Trial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhypl_nfZZE&feature=related
Coming out soon as well: Metamorphosis

J.R.R. Tolkien
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSfkU29hXwM

Spirited Away
http://www.veoh.com/watch/v15849725GGRtKHsq?h1=spirited+away+(eng+dub)

Hero
trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh-gwDRjKXA

Rising Moon
info: http://mubi.com/films/rising-moon

Memoirs of a Geisha
trailer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0397535/

Anand
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RShJwyaWKA

Black Orpheus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGEVUHkJG1o

V for Vendetta
trailer: http://www.youtube.com/movie?v=Et6M2r3yTAw&feature=mv_sr

The Motorcycle Diaries
trailer: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm328633344/tt0318462 

Meshes in the Afternoon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S03Aw5HULU

Wavelength
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzPwuP6AmCk&feature=player_embedded#at=567

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy27guq83kQ

L’Âge d’Or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysfjixWNzaM

Marathon
clip 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHaClrGsQs4

The Other Half
preview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gMdezmHpZs

Sitanda
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL347A093EFBD0B572

Cell Phone
info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399650/

Family Ties
info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0823462/

The Year My Parents Went on Vacation
trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Q_FGhTCCU

Eagle's Bride
http://watchnigerianmoviesonline.com/Eagles-Bride-1-Nigerian-Nollywood-Movie_v1803

A Separation
trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2Sswx_vrWk

Madadayo/ Not Yet
trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bObIlquRNk

Monsieur Lazhar
trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pBm9keEBAY

Footnote
trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfsn17MqkBo

Departures
trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtdENmR6jKw

William Shakespeare
-> anything 

... and any other literary or experimental movie of your choice.

If you would like to learn more about film/ movie analysis and/or get a little intro to film studies in general, please check out the following link & connected website:
http://chs.smuhsd.org/bigue/art_of_video/index/filmtextualanalysis.html

47 comments:

  1. The movie that I have chosen to write about is The Dead Poets Society. The movie takes place in a monumental period in time (the 1970's) as a more freethinkers and arbitrary way of life started to a rise. The fact that this movie involves young boys in a time of life where the decisions have a lot of weight behind them and are influenced by both conformity and self ambition. This is symbolized by two subsequent scenes, the first of which is of the main character receiving their predetermined timetables as they discuss potential future careers.This scene is followed by, and juxtaposed with a shot of a flock of birds flying in V-shape. This can be interpreted as a metaphor that compares the boys being guided into a forced and controlled path, with that of a birds flight being restricted to a conformed shape. This embodies how their lives are being stripped of their freedom and independence. This is also connoted by the experiences undergone by Neil and how he becomes victim of being under the control of extremely conservative and strict figures, which include the schools administration and his very own father. It's hard to blame them though, because one does need to understand the setting of the movie. It is a time where the understanding of art and self expression was incredibly premature and under appreciated. This is further exemplified when Neil's father believes that pursuing his dream in acting is squandering the opportunity of being a doctor. This reveals that he would much rather strive for something shallow like status or success in contrast to something with actual substance such as happiness. The movie also made me realize something quite tragic, which is how problems that plagued the education system back them have still not been eradicated. Can people confidentially stand up and say that the present education system, encourages exploration, and curiosity that much more than the showcase of ignorance and thick headedness that we've just witness in the Dead Poets' Society? The answer is a shameful, "no".

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  2. I have chosen to watch Schindler’s List as I heard it was one of the greatest movies of all time. I was not disappointed. The magnificent plot kept me riveted the entire time. The story takes in World War II which was a time of great sorrow and pain. Millions of Jews were murdered by Nazis because of their belief and religion. They were dehumanized and treated like insects. The director completely captures and effectively conveys what the conditions were like and how hopeless everything seemed to have been. The movie is in black and white which is a style most people are not accustomed to nowadays. However, I feel like the black and white images allow the audience to be fully submerged into the film. The connection between the present and the past is greater without the use of color. It makes the audience feel like they are actually reliving history and experiencing the lives of people living in that tragic moment in the past. The black and white colors also bring about sharp contrast in many of the scenes throughout the movie. For example, in the scene when a worker is shot in the head by a soldier, the blackness of the blood is sharply contrasted to the whiteness of the surrounding snow. This contrast greatly increases the mood of brutality and violence in the movie.



    In addition to accurately conveying the violence and trauma Jews underwent during the Holocaust, the director also effectively shows the mindset of the people living in the era who were not Jews. Even though it may seem like the entire German people hated the Jews, this was not the case. Many Germany people did not believe in the Holocaust and were against it. However, they were too afraid to speak out against it as they feared they could become persecuted along with the Jews. One scene from the movie that stands out is when a little girl repeatedly yells “goodbye Jews” as the German soldiers force the Jews into the ghetto. I don’t believe she inherently hates Jews but instead, she is taught by the society that Jews are bad. This shows how easily influenced the majority of humanity is and that people often accept propaganda without thinking about its consequences. It is truly shocking how millions of Germany people just accepted the fact the Jews were subhuman and that they should treat them like animals. Humans are supposed to be sentient beings and the most intelligent creatures on this planet but in the face of an oppressor, we reduce our mental capacities to mindless beings incapable of thought. However, as a contrast, the director also includes the message of hope into the film. Just the actions of one man can change the lives of thousands of people. The idea he conveys is that there are people who are brave and courageous enough to risk their lives to make a difference and to do what they believe in. Schindler, who is a German, bravely opposes the Nazis and uses his influence and wealth to save thousands of lives. In the midst of death and despair, he is the shining beacon of hope that helps and encourages the Jewish people into overcoming the difficulties of that time period. It is through Schindler that people realize there will always be those people who do not blindly follow the majority and who fight for what they believe in. I believe that if the majority of people in the world are like Oscar Schindler, we would easily eradicate war, poverty, discrimination and all the things that hold back the human race from truly reaching its potential.

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    Replies
    1. I remember watching this movie long ago; I just wanted to add that I also found it quite interesting how the director used color to contrast the black and white tone of the movie. It seems that the color red was presented a few times throughout the movie to emphasize not only the blood, but also a little girl's red coat. The color creates a connection between the audience and the little girl. It makes it more emotional and difficult for the audience to bear when later she is seen dead and only recognizable by her red coat.

      http://media-cache-ec6.pinterest.com/upload/145593000423204176_6gNERzVO_c.jpg

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  3. Although I know that Japan has various interesting traditional ceremonies, like the relatively well-known tea ceremony, it never occurred to me that there is a Japanese movie like “Departures” that unveils the rare subject of funeral rite. This movie successfully encapsulates various layers of important issues inside the unusual theme of the intricate ceremony in preparing the deceased bodies for burial.

    This movie tells the story of a man, Daigo, who lost his job as a cellist when the orchestra is disbanded. In an attempt to find a new job, he stumbled upon a newspaper job ad with a job description as someone helping with ‘departures’, but it turns out to be unexpected job of preparing the dead bodies to depart from this world. Having no other choice, he then takes on the job and constantly discovers a new perspective of life.

    At first – like everybody else – he has prejudice towards the job, as it’s considered taboo to touch the dead body (even his wife thinks that it’s a disgusting job and decides to leave him if he doesn't want to quit that job). However, as he attends more and more funeral, he understands the importance of the job, which is to represent the family in loss to pay their last respects to the death (something that he regretfully didn't do when his mother passed away) and prepare the deceased body for the next world in a peaceful manner. He takes pride in his job and learns to perfect the art of the funeral ceremony.

    The journey of the character becomes the central tool of conveying the message to change our stereotypes and open our minds towards life, as well as death. But more than that, from the various funeral ceremonies scenes, the story is enriched with different issues like transgender, acceptance, family, love and hope. Each funeral ceremony scene was shot in such detail perfections that bring the scene alive and emphasize the emotions attached to each context. The meaning behind the storyline left me speechless with a mixture of feelings and an emotional contemplation of life.

    PS: I don't feel like going into much details of the movie, because I think you guys should watch it ☺ It’s a really amazing movie, a complete package of meaningful, sentimental stories and comical journey, wrapped in good cinematography and soundtracks.

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  4. Growing up the Lord of the Rings Trilogy was potentially (in my opinion) one of the best movies and they were based on one of the best book series. Full of adventure and intrigue and at 10 years old I was terrified of the Orcs. Watching now still excites that sense of adventure and excitement but the World JRR Tolkien created and that Peter Jackson brought to life is full of historical references and amazing cinematography. Something that perhaps makes the Lord of The Rings Trilogy that much more captivating is the thought that went into the world that is Middle Earth, from languages to side stories every character is elaborately thought out. References from legend are also entertwined Beowulf in particular has significant influence evident throughout the movie and books as the biggest realization for Frodo throughout the trilogy is that his greatest enemy is perhaps himself, which is the same as Beowulf. The movie's are infamous for there beautiful scenery. They were filmed in New Zealand, and with both beautiful green rolling hills and awe-inspiring mountains make's the movies seem even more sureal. The Lord of the Ring's is a classic heroes tail, full of triumph and defeat.

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  6. The movie that I decided to watch was V for Vendetta. While looking through the list of movies this first caught my attention because of how much I'd heard about it. My friends have constantly told me that this movie is on one of their top five movies ever. I just never really got around to it. However last weekend I finally gave it a chance, and my word I was completely blown away. The way this movie tackles so many moral issues in such an entertaining way, it truly is one of a kind.

    The one moral issue that stood out here was particularly the attempt at a Utopian society. I've watched many movies on the topic, and this one stands above all the rest. It shows that without a doubt that any attempt at a Utopian society leads to the exact opposite; a Dystopian society. Why is it that in a world that was created to keep all its habitants in the happiest possible state, that everyone is miserable? One big reason come to mind. For one it’s the creation of one man and his view on what is perfect. There is no way that the thinking of just one man can represent an entire population of people. Every single human has an almost completely different mode of thinking that it’s quite astonishing really. There is no way that one society, seeking to be the perfect society for such a huge pool of people could ever prosper. This movie illustrates that well, the society grows tired and eventually revolts, which is never a good thing for anybody involved.

    Another thing to discuss in this film is the extremely powerful use of a symbol. Our hero in this film uses a Guy Fawkes mask not only for personal reasons but also to evict emotions of the people. “Remember, Remember the Fifth of November.” This phrase is repeated and along with the mask takes on a very powerful message, a message of revolution and fighting for your right. Censorship and dictatorship is not the way to live and the mask represents the opposite. Another thing I’d like to point out about the movie was its social commentary on society and how it views homosexual people. This movie show’s those who were homosexual along with some other population that for some reason were unwanted were exterminated. In today’s world people have become more accepting of each other, but there are still people out there that go out of their way so as to not allow certain groups of people be accepted by general society. Quite honestly that is a disgusting and unneeded view. We are all human being’s, just because some people differ from the general public does not make them any different. They are humans and should be treated as humans.

    Overall I’d like to point out that this movie goes right up there with some of the best movies I have watched in my lifetime, and probably even stands right up there with some of my favourite movies. It’s a masterpiece from start to finish. It tackles many current issues and does so in a way that is fresh and interesting to watch. I would recommend everybody to give this movie a shot. I was thoroughly impressed by the direction and that too the story and how it set up this fascist dictatorship society, great watch.

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    Replies
    1. I’ve watched V for Vendetta as well, and I thought it was an amazing movie. You mention that any attempt at a Utopian society will inevitably lead to the opposite—a Dystopian society and I think you’re right that not everybody’s view of perfect is the same, but also I think that whatever we do, it’s impossible to make anything perfect, which is why Utopian societies always turn into Dystopian societies.
      Another thing that I thought was a great part of the movie was Evey’s transformation from a quiet girl into a strong woman who defended her beliefs. I thought this was a more hopeful part of the movie because it shows that even if we don’t believe it, we can become incredibly strong in the face of adversity. I thought it showed an amazing potential in people.
      One of the other comments here about V for Vendetta mentioned the quote “People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.” from the movie. And I think they’re right, we shouldn’t be afraid of the government because we’re supposed to be the ones who control it.

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  7. I chose to watch the movie "Galileo Gallilei" from this list of movies. The reason that I originally chose it was because it was related to science, so I figured that I would probably find it interesting. As I watch the movie, I found that I was far less concerned with the science, as I was with the cultural attitudes of the time.
    The time period of this movie in the settings of the 15th century. One of the central ideas in this film was about how science was suppressed by religion. This stemmed from the fact that people were and still are afraid of change. People like to know why stuff is and do not like when these ideas are challenged. At the start of the film, the idea that man and earth were the centre of the universe was the accepted idea. This is common of everyone to view themselves as the centre of all. Whenever someone has a problem, they view it as a big issue, when in the relativity to the larger scope it is irrelevant or not very important.
    Another main idea presented is the inability to accept change. In the second part, the characters were not even willing to look in the telescope because they were afraid of what they might see. When ideas have been ingrained in the mind for so long, it seems crazy to change them. They become part of who we are, so in theory if they are wrong then who we are is wrong too.
    When the telescope was first invented, the king wanted it to be able to spot the enemy from further to kill them. This is not what the invention was intended for, however it was force to be used for that task since Galileo needed money to survive. This depicts the nature of possessions or money taking over the pursuit of knowledge.
    About this time period, it was thought that science and religion were two things fighting one and other instead of two halves of the whole. They were convinced that either one or the other had to be the absolute truth, and that they could not co-exist along each other. Everything is connected and needs to work together no fight and suppress each other.
    At the beginning of the movie, everyone laughed at his new scientific discoveries and viewed them as crazy. This is very common through history that some of the best ideas take time to be accepted. Once people were finally willing to open their eyes and see how things truly were, were they able to accept these new ideas. People got offended by the claim that earth was not the centre of the universe because they felt downgraded or second rate by this when actuality it makes no difference to how they live their lives.
    If people do not want to watch this whole video, I recommend at least watching part 5 4:45-5:15 and listen to how he explains that creating a precise pearl almost kills an oyster. This relates to human life in which we create these supposedly great things by tainting our natural resources which are way more important than any material possession.
    In the sixth scene of the movie, the girl is willing to accept the ideas of a horoscope but won't even look in the telescope and see what is right in front of her. We all need to step back every now and again and actually see, and learn from our environment, not just books or past knowledge. We need to draw conclusions ourselves and not just accept current ideas as right or concrete.
    The last thing I would like to touch on is how in the movie they displayed how in ancient Greek work, it was just theorized and not actually checked. One need to check and comprehend issues, not just hear and regurgitate them to get a passing grade.
    Knowledge is a tool that everyone is able to attain. It should be used to justify and back up issues. Don't just believe everything that is told to you, put it to the test and see if if holds up before you deem it to be true. Times change, and people must adapt and change with them, for this is the reason the past is the past, and shapes the present

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  8. I chose to watch the movie, "Cell Phone"; it is a Chinese movie. When I saw the title of this movie, I thought it would be about something that I can easily relate to as someone who lives in a generation where cell phones are very common. Before I started watching the movie, I was expecting something interesting about cell phones, but what I really saw, was not anything close to what I had expected to see.

    The main theme of this movie deals with the topic of deception. Before cell phones were invented, good lies were almost equivalent to reality. People could make up stories and others will most likely believe those stories. After the invention of cell phones, people still deceive each other, but they get caught more easily. Cell phones have brought people much closer together than they had ever been before, and that is both a good thing and a bad thing. When people are closer together, they can show love and care across a long distance, and that can be extremely importance for many people. With cell phones, people can work together more effectively, and the immediate need for help can be satisfied with cell phones as well. There are just countless advantages to having cell phones in this world. At the same time however, we should be aware of the negative impacts. The invention of cell phones has made people better liars as their identities can be hidden behind cell phones. Privacy has also become much less private. There are just too many benefits and disadvantages to having cell phones, and if we spend too much time studying those things, we are really not getting the theme of this movie.

    The world today is full of deception. However to me, the world was full of deception before cell phones were invented. I can almost be certain that everyone who can speak has told a lie in his or her lifetime, and that is regardless of whether cell phones were invented or not. Cell phones are just tools to make our life more convenient, and depending on how we use such tools, they can breed happiness or disasters for us. The protagonist uses an example in the movie when he is talking about lies. He says that when we were still babies do not yet know how to talk, we communicate with our body language, and it would take a long time for us to tell a lie with our body language. Once we have learned to speak however, deceiving becomes so much easier. We have lost our honesty in the process of growing up, and that is really unfortunate.

    Dishonesty has the potential to destroy a friendship, or any type of a relationship. No one likes to be labeled as a liar because our credibility is crucial to the relationships that we can get into. We all like others to be honest with us, but we aren't always honest with others. Honesty has become a precious yet rare trait to have, and the most important thing that I learned from this movie is the fact that treating others with honesty is the best way to respect them, and it is also the best way for us to gain respect from others. At the same time, it is also important for us to learn to speak of the truth at the right time.

    This movie is more depressing than I thought it would be, but I did gain a lot from watching it. I am pretty sure whenever I look at my cell phone from now on, I would be reminded that I have to stay honest.

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  9. Remember remember the fifth of November. After watching V for Vendetta
    I doubt that will ever be an issue for me.

    The movies takes place in a totalitarian society in what seem to be
    almost apocalyptic times. V, the mysterious freedom fighter in a Guy
    Fawkes mask, takes us on a journey of political upheaval and citizen
    unrest. Along the way he saves a Evey Hammond from deranged secret
    policemen and finds himself an unusual accomplice. We quickly discover
    England is full of prejudices and lost freedoms and V, who is seen as
    a terrorist to society, is trying to make the government accountable
    for their actions.

    Dystopian movies like this always seem to have such a moving effect on
    those who watch them. Because of this dark nature to movies like this,
    points that are relevant to our society can be represented in interesting
    ways in this one. One of the line's that stuck with me was "People
    should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid
    of their people." Very often do you hear people talk about what the
    government is doing and how people are worried about how it will effect
    them. The irony now becomes very clear in our democratic state. We voted
    these people to represent us and do what is right for us, yet we are
    afraid of their actions and control? How is it we are timid to what we
    voted into power?

    Another thing that I found quite interesting in this movie was the weird
    sense of admiration for V. Despite him killing, hurting, destroying
    people's property, and inducing fear in many, I still rallied for him
    in the end. It's a weird phenomenon in that as a bad person by almost
    anyone standards you can still be liked as they are portrayed as good
    compared to their enemies. Another example of this is the popular TV
    show Dexter. Despite being a cold, calculated serial killer most who watch
    the show hope he doesn't get caught by the police or that his identity
    remains anonymous.

    This movie will definitely go the re-watch list as its excellent
    character development, plot twists, and overall build-up and excitement
    are fantastic are more than enough for me to recommend this movie to many.

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  10. I watched the film adaptation (1995) of the play 'Othello' by Shakespeare because it has always been one of my favourite plays by the famous playwright. One of the reasons why I find Shakespeare's plays so intriguing is because of his unique use of characters, in this particular case - Iago. Iago is by far the most multi-faceted character in the play, as displayed by his manipulating and sly nature with no concrete motive behind his actions. This is perhaps the biggest mystery behind the entire play, as no one truly knows why Iago chooses to conspire against Othello. He gives the audience many different possibilities such as the fact that he was passed over for the position of Othello's lieutenant or that he had suspicions of Othello sleeping with his wife Emilia.

    To counteract the darkness and evil nature of the malcontent Iago, Shakespeare provides some comedic relief with the character Roderigo who is extremely gullible and desperate for Desdemona's love. He fails to notice that he is being used by Iago and his stupidity creates a sense of superiority for the audience that allows us to take pity in him but also to laugh at his misfortune. Apart from the clever use of contrasting characters, Shakespeare provokes the audience to think about many themes such as trust and love.

    Although we usually think of trust as something positive, Shakespeare actually puts it in a more negative light as Othello's trust is exploited and he is manipulated by Iago to turn against his wife. This idea of jealousy as something destructive is emphasized and we can see how quickly relationships can be destroyed by this powerful emotion. On the other hand, Shakespeare provides this pure, unconditional image of love through Desdemona as she continues to be a faithful and loyal wife until her unfortunate death. Her purity and innocence is the epitome of virtuosity and she acts as a device to fill the audience with hope. Although Desdemona is rather unrealistic and is a shallow character that is perhaps one of the least developed, she plays an important role in showing what is still good and just in humanity.

    This play is one that covers so many aspects of humanity, both good and bad, stimulating the audience to reflect upon themselves and on how the play could relate to them. It is because of the sad ending that makes us realize the extreme power of negative emotions and the destruction that they can cause.

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  11. I have never been able to find a movie that is as engrossing, imaginative and visually stunning as the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I first saw the first part of the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, when I was in elementary school, and I was immediately captivated by the visuals, the acting, the soundtrack, but most importantly, the awe-inspiring fictional world of Middle Earth created by J.R.R. Tolkien and translated into film by Peter Jackson. Although the trilogy has a relatively simple overall plot and an overly predictable ending, the entire 11 hour journey throughout the trilogy was an absolute breathtaking experience.

    It would not be an overstatement to say that I was completely obsessed with the LotR Trilogy at one point in my life, leading me to watch all 3 movies more than 8 times in total. It also encouraged me to read the original books, which is a rare occurrence for me. The reason I was so drawn and fascinated was due to the movies’ ability to capture the imagination of the audience, and depict it in such an intricate and beautiful way that even the toughest critics would be hard pressed to criticize. I believe the trilogy accomplishes this primarily through its stunning visuals; from the plains of Rohan, to the desolate wastes of Mordor, the way the environment is captured rivals any scene from the documentary series, Planet Earth. The sound component of the movies are just as breathtaking as the visuals, with epic soundtracks beautifully produced to instill emotion and thought into the viewers. The fantasy creatures of the movies, such as orcs, dwarves, trolls, elves, ringwraiths and Gollum are also depicted very realistically, in that there is no element of childishness or shallowness in them. The level of creativity and imaginative prowess of this movie is simply astounding.

    Even though the overall plot structure of evil versus good in the trilogy is not particularly original, the movies' theme of friendship felt very powerful to me. The strong bond between Frodo and Sam is a lesson that even the harshest circumstances can be overcome when we have others to depend on. The weakness of mankind, and how easily they can be manipulated is also an interesting theme of the movies and it helps us to put perspective on how easily human beings can be corrupted and motivated to do evil things by lust for power and greed.
    My favourite character of the trilogy is undoubtedly Smeagol. The tragedy of his downfall from a happy hobbit to such a loathsome creature is perhaps one of the most memorable moments in the 3rd movie. He is the ultimate symbol that represents the product of corruption and evil. It is sad that he could not be redeemed in the end, but that is an accurate depiction of reality.

    I obviously enjoyed this trilogy, for a variety of reasons including the soundtrack, the visuals, the characters, the complexity, and the theme. I believe that a good movie must contains all those things, and LotR exceeds in all those aspects.

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  12. I decided to watch The Motorcycle Diaries after hearing from numerous people that it would make me want to get up and travel through Latin America. It was not until halfway through the movie that I realized it was not a love story between man and woman; it was not a movie intending to depict the beautiful landscape of Latin America; it was most certainly not the pleasure seeking, coming of age story about growing up in the way I thought it might be. The Motorcycle Diaries depicts a love/hate relationship between a man, Fusser, and the mass inequality of social classes that defined Latin America at the time. The movie is based on the actual 10 month journey of two friends, Ernesto Guevara (Fuser) and Alberto Granado, across Latin America in 1952. Fuser would later become known internationally as Che Guevara, “one of the most prominent and inspiring leaders of the Cuban Revolution”.
    The Motorcycle Diaries is a coming of age story that uses multiple examples of metaphors and symbols to illuminate the path taken from boyhood to manhood. Two prominent examples are the bumpy road these friends travel on throughout their trip and the act of Fuser swimming across the river that separated the lepers and the doctors at the leper colony in Peru he volunteered at on his 23rd birthday, despite his asthma. His courageous swim across the dangerous river also gives insight into his character. He is young, but does what he believes is ethical, no matter the price. Granado and Fuser are exposed to the endemic disparity between themselves (the haves) and the indigenous populations of Latin America (the have-nots) that they come across. Reflecting on the Incan ruins of Maccu Pichu, Fuser says to Granado that a peaceful revolution, one without guns, would never work. This foreshadows Fuser’s future life as an iconic communist revolutionary who had many people killed under his command. Whether those killed were innocent or guilty is another matter that I won’t be touching on. Other examples of foreshadowing are Fuser’s short political speech on the night of his birthday, his impulsive honesty, and his consistent recognition that he is no longer the same person he was before the trip. Lastly, the movie has too many instances of pathetic fallacy to count.
    The Motorcycle Diaries attempts to paint a sympathetic portrait of Che. He is seen as a real person, one that stands up for what he believes. He stands up and later fights for the people of Latin America. I tried to avoid delving into the plot too much to encourage anyone reading this to see if for yourself. I enjoyed watching this movie and having no idea what it was about or, to be honest, who Che Guevara was. I now know a small part of the story behind the man of whom this iconic picture was taken (http://static.freepik.com/free-photo/che-guevara-classic-vector_34-15641.jpg).

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  13. The other day my friend told me that I should watch her favourite movie, "V for Vendetta". Halfheartedly I agreed, as I had nothing better to do and we watched the movie together. I must say that after the movie ended, I absolutely fell in love with the plot. It left nothing sugar coated. I loved how the plot was so raw and realistic, I enjoyed how it didn't have a fairy tale ending and the fact that it shed light on grim ideas. I also found that the ending could be left to your own interpretation, and I enjoyed that each person could take away something different from this movie.

    After the nuclear war of the 1908's, the fascist coup d'etat took over the UK, ridding the country of "undesirables" - namely homosexuals and immigrants. The country was utterly corrupted. The story follows a young woman named Evey Hammond. She is rescued from the secret police by a masked man named V and later, under certain circumstances, she ends up also saving his life. They become companions and face various situations together. The story is essentially about V taking revenge for the wrongs that the government has done, and trying to bring about change in the corrupt society that they live in. He is cruel and a killing machine, yet he fights for the betterment of the country. Evey also, after meeting V, learns about herself, and finds her true identity. She learns to be fearless, and to stick to her beliefs.

    The plot of the story is complicated, full of twists and turns but I think it holds an important message. It displays corruption at it's extreme, and integrates many historic events into the movie plot. I loved the suspension and the intrigue the movie manifested. The characters are so unique and developed. V is definitely not sincere, he is displayed as a killer, ruthless and ferocious. Yet, the audience cannot help but sympathize with him. I know I was rooting for him throughout the whole movie. We never get a clear understanding of his identity, Evey on the other hand comes off a quiet woman, but throughout the movie we learn that she really is a fighter in her heart. As the story goes, she grows into a fearless lady who stands up for her beliefs.

    I believe the ending is completely up for interpretation. In the end, V dies, but I don't believe he does. He represents an idea, and his beliefs were spread around the nation. In the end everyone comes out wearing the Guy Fawkes mask and V's costume, displaying their demand for a change in the government, and V's victory. His idea came to life, and as V said "ideas cannot be destroyed." I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and it as definitely become one of my favourites.

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  14. I decided to watch the movie that originated from Margaret Atwood's book "A Handmaid's tale" because the title of this movie caught my eyes. I actually had a chance to read the book in high school as one of my choices for an oral exam for English 12, but I chose a different book and I thought this was a good chance to get to know the story.
    As I was watching the movie, I felt like this movie could have generated a lot of controversy between people who are feminist and who are non-feminist. Margaret Atwood is a feminist, and she made it very clear by creating the idea of 'Handmaids".
    In the movie, a totalitarian society is created, and healthy, fertile women are chosen to be handmaids to be assigned to a Commander's house to help bring a baby to the family. They are all trained and forced to believe that they are not unique individuals, but they are some kind of machines whose only purpose in this world is to bear a Commander's child. The idea of this was rather shocking to me at first. The handmaids even lose their identity, and are called as if they are an object that belongs to the Commander, such as the main character whose name becomes "Of-fred".
    The part where I found I felt the most uneasy was when they were in the middle of their "Ceremony". The Commander and the handmaid have a sexual intercourse while the Commander's wife holds the handmaid's hands. In this part, what is suppose to be a beautiful and divine practice is shown as mindless and painful process for everyone, especially the wife of the Commander.
    I also found the usage of color in this movie particularly interesting. The handmaids wore red, the aunts wore brown, the wives wore blue, the Commanders wore black, and so on. This shows a distinct division in the roles of each and everyone in the society and how nobody really has a unique identity.
    At the end of the movie, the main character kills the Commander and escapes with the help of her lover, who used to be the driver of the household. This shows the destruction of the totalitarian society and the Republic of Gilead officially falls down. This movie really got me interested in Margaret Atwood and her beliefs as a feminist. I started researching about her and also started reading her other works. This movie was really inspirational and I would definitely watch it again.

    -Jenny YoonJi Lee

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  15. I watched "Memoirs of a Geisha". I have read this book years ago but did not have a chance to see the movie. The main character (protagonist) in the movie is a very famous Chinese actress named "ZhangZiYi". I have been noticing her since her first movie "Wo Hu Chang Long", which was another inspiring movie. In "Memoirs of a Geisha", ZhangZiYi acted as a japanese girl named Sayuri who was destined to be a Geisha -a traditional Japanese entertainer of men who was master of traditional arts including music, serving tea (which is a fine Japanese art), dancing and singing etc. Although some say a Geisha as a prostitute, but Geishas were talented girls that were a lot more valuable than prostitutes. There was another actress that I was very familiar with named "GongLi". She acted as a Geisha named Hatsumomo who was sadly losing her popularity due to her age. She views Sayuri as a threat to her since Sayuri is so much younger and talented than she is. Hatsumomo survived on her looks, and when she became less attractive due to her age, she was angry and depressed.
    I feel great sympathy for the lives of Geishas. Due to their unfortunate backgrounds, they had no choice but to train to become Geishas. The only trait that was left valuable on them were their good looks. Lives of Geishas are tough. Their trainings are strict and exhausting. They needed to trained in every detail possible with proper walks, poses, facial expressions, looks etc. Despite all that, they need to practise dancing, singing, and instruments everyday to entertain the thirsty men at night. It is almost impossible for Geishas to end up with their true loves because some men would offer a really high price to buy them. Seeing a Geisha's life, I feel that we are really lucky to have been born in this decade. Women were mistreated in so many countries in the history, and they could not even choose their own paths in lives. This movie inspires me to treasure this life of mine that has a future of my own will.

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  16. I chose to watch V for Vendetta... yet again. It must have been my fourth time watching the movie; however, the messages it conveys are both insightful and interesting. The totalitarian world that the movie is set in is not a far cry from what we find ourself in right now. It is our choice if we wish to rise against those who wish to oppose our freedom of speech, choice and life. The movie touches on some interesting aspects. One such being the power of an idea. V never shows his face, he is unknown and an enigma. However his idea, the smallest idea that people should have the control of their lives spread like wildfire when those who believed in it rose. Thats what i strive to do in the world. I wish to leave my mark in the form of an idea. I know that a dream that i dream alone is just a dream but one what i dream with others may soon come to be known as reality. It is well known that actions speak louder than words but that is just when the words being used are not powerful enough. People rally to the sound of powerful words and righteous ideas. I ask myself what I stand for in this world and the answer, more often than not, is I don't know. V was able to make such a difference in the perspective's of others because he believed in what he was preaching. I think to find where I stand in this world is finding what i believe in.

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  17. I watched “Memoirs of a Geisha” as I actually own the book but was never really motivated to watch the movie. What I found to be the best part of the movie was that it did not need to insert random action sequence into the movie as often book adaptions are usually always tampered with to make it more interesting. But this movie was captivating and intriguing without needing Hollywood effects. This movie is about a young girl who born to a low status family and unfortunately must endure what the higher class bestow onto the lower class. One of the movies main messages is the prevailing theme of rank and classes. As the young girl Chiyo, is sold to become a geisha where she is subjected to climb her way to the top of the geisha hierarchy. At first it is because she wants to escape and be reunited with her sister as she has also been taken against her will to become a geisha. But as time passes and she rises in rank her naivety diminishes and she realizes to be respected and treated well she needs to have status.

    The other theme of poverty and wealth is one of the large driving factors of this movie. From the beginning to the end Chiyo, or known as Sayuri when she is a geisha, seeks money so that she can have the freedom and life that she wants. She is forced to endure more financial burdens when her sister runs away causing her to inherit her debts. In this situation that is presented to Sayuri we see her at her worst as her geisha training is stopped so that she can work off her debt. It is at this point where she is at her lowest, crippled by the finical debt. We see her rise out of the financial crisis by working again and she eventually starts to make enough money to pay off her debts and becomes a more successful geisha. This is somewhat of a metaphor of an idealized dream is if you work hard you can succeed. Although her life wasn’t easy and there were many hardships she had to face the two prevailing themes of poverty vs wealth and status were the major driving forces in her life.

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  18. I watched the movie “Spirited Away”. Since the entire movie is in the form of an animation, I thought that the movie would not be that scary or have any brutal images in it. Moreover, a couple of my friends recommended this movie to me, telling me that this is a “must-watch” movie. Hence, I decided to watch it.

    In this movie, one of the biggest transformations that I have seen in the female protagonist, Chihiro, is her transformation from a dependent, easily-scared little girl to a more independent and brave girl. As seen from the beginning of the movie, she is scared and does not want to follow her parents to an unfamiliar environment as she perceives the place to be hostile and eerie. However, upon her dad insisting on continuing the journey, she is then afraid to wait in the car all by herself, and hence, unwillingly tagged along. This illustrates Chihiro to be a typical little girl who is scared easily. However, ever since her parents are transformed into pigs after eating without permission, her behaviour transforms dramatically. She is no longer like the old Chihiro that we first saw at the beginning of the film. She has to save her parents, and the only way to do so is to work at the bathhouse. She seems to have grown up overnight and starts undertaking many adult-like tasks such as working at the bathhouse. The environment around her inevitably forces her to grow up psychologically and undertake greater responsibilities overnight.

    On one level, I feel that in some instances, it is good that children are becoming more independent. However, on a second level, I feel that growing up too quickly is not such a good thing after all. By forcing a child to be more mature as compared to other children, such as in the case of Chihiro, it seems to have rid them of a happy and carefree childhood. Childhood is one of the best times in life, and it seems unfair to the child by doing so.

    This movie aptly highlights the fact that people should never judge a book by its cover. The place where her parents thought was an abandoned amusement park was extremely beautiful. It was a place filled with greenery and fresh air. Chihiro’s mother even thought the place was so good that it was suitable for having a picnic session. However, despite its outer beauty, it was actually a scary place where Chihiro almost lost her parents.

    Overall, “Spirited Away” was a great film and I definitely enjoyed watching it. I will also recommend the movie to some of my peers as well.

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  19. Movie Blog: Breakfast at Tiffany’s

    I remember when I was a little girl, I watched my mother watch this movie on our old VHS player on the television set. I was too young to understand what was happening in the movie, but I remember staring at the TV and being captivated by Audrey Hepburn’s pretty face, sleek black dress and classy stature when she began the movie eating a pastry outside of Tiffany’s. I’ve always wanted to watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and understand how my mother enjoyed the old classics, which is why I chose to finally watch the film yesterday.

    The movie is set in New York in the 1960’s, which surrounds the protagonist Holly Golightly with a sophisticated lifestyle. It isn’t a coincidence that her last name sounds like go-lightly, because her character is a both a delicate, lovely girl, but also carefree and often fleeting from place to place. Holly is a peculiar character; she even names her cat, Cat, which she justifies by saying that she and Cat are both equals, neither belonging to the other and so she does not have the right to name the cat. She aspires to marry rich so she can provide a home for her brother Fred who has gone to war, and as a result she finds herself jumping from one wealthy man to the next, in hopes of securing a beneficial relationship. All the while, she becomes best friends with her new neighbor Paul, whom she calls Fred because he reminds her of her brother. The two end up falling in love amidst the unusual circumstances; however, Holly can’t seem to commit because she is frightened of being “caged” and “belonging to another”. The entire movie is centralized around the theme of “freedom” and questions how much freedom is too much, and how much is appropriate to settle for. There are also many stereotypes present, especially a comical one of the Japanese neighbor who is very animated in an Asian way.

    Overall, I enjoyed the literary film, although a bit slow for my taste. I now see why my mother delighted in the movie so much, when I was young.

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  20. I decided to watch Spirited Away. I have been meaning to watch a Studio Ghibli film for some time because I often hear about how brilliantly done they are, but I kept putting it off because it takes longer for a movie to buffer than watching the movie itself. Before I continue any further, I would like to express my gratitude to my internet service provider for wearing my patience thin whenever I stream videos. Thankfully for me, my friend had a copy of Spirited Away at her house, so I went to watch it her.

    The protagonist of Spirited Away is a girl named Chihiro. At the beginning of the movie, Chihiro is a petulant and selfish child as she is unhappy with her parents’ decision to move. After a mishap at an abandoned park, Chihiro’s parents become pigs and Chihiro is left in the world of spirits. With the guidance of a boy named Haku, Chihiro ends up working at the spirit’s bathhouse in order to protect herself from the spirits. However, upon her employment, the owner of the bathhouse Yubaba takes Chihiro’s name and gives her a new name: Sen. The name change and the start of Sen’s job signify the end of Chihiro’s childhood. As Sen, Chihiro is forced to grow up fast in order to escape the spirit world and save her parents. Throughout the course of the movie, Chihiro learns to become brave and selfless, as depicted with her determination to save Haku from a curse even if it means having to undertake a long journey.

    The movie also highlights the importance of identity. Chihiro was able to grow as a character and remain strong because she remembers her name and aims to regain it and save her parents. On the other hand, No-Face, a spirit named as such because he has no identity, is quick to assume one based on the bathhouse workers, making him greedy and destructive while in the bathhouse.

    Overall, Spirited Away is an excellent movie and a gorgeous piece of animation. The fact that it is almost completely hand-drawn makes it all the more admirable. I admit I cried a couple of times, such as the scene depicting Chihiro’s despair when she sees her parents as pigs and when Haku remembers his real name. I definitely look forward to watching other movies by Studio Ghibli.

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  22. WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS (movie: 50/50)
    The movie 50/50 begins like every typical illness movie. The Adam (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is your average, possibly overcautious character. He doesn’t smoke, drink, and he “recycles.” He won’t walk across a red light even when there are no cars. He takes care of his body and he exercises. So when it is revealed to him that he has cancer, the first emotion that comes to his mind, other than denial, is simply anger.

    So, like most movies of this genre, the Adam starts living his life as though each day was his last. He makes some new friends, has some new experiences, even tries drugs, and pushes through the illness to make each day count.

    However, this movie turns atypical in showing the frustration that comes along with this disease. 50/50 shows viewers that no matter how difficult we perceive cancer to be for patients, we have no idea how much stress we put on them as well. Adam’s doctor speaks to him in confusing medical jargon, his parents obsess over his every treatment, he is forced to go to go to therapy and his current girlfriend is only staying with him out of guilt. In fact, the people who were of most use to Adam throughout this process were his best friend, Kyle (played by Seth Rogen), and the patients that Adam experiences the disease alongside with (evidently the same ones he got high with).

    Finally, the night before the surgery Adam breaks down. He screams about the injustice of his situation and asks repetitively why him. He feels as though he hasn’t lived and wants to accomplish so much more before he dies. For the first time, he admits that he is scared. And then he turns on Kyle, accusing him of being a bad friend for treating the situation as if nothing was wrong.

    When the pair returns to Kyle’s apartment that night, Adam finds a book that Kyle has been reading: Beating Cancer Together. At that moment, the viewer and Adam are shown why Kyle took the situation so lightheartedly, because that’s what Adam needed. The last thing that you can do for a patient is treat them like a patient. Adam needed was to be treated normally, because there is nothing else he could do but live his life and hope for the best. And that’s exactly what Kyle does for him; that’s what the other patients did for him; they treated Adam as if nothing was wrong.

    So does he survive the surgery? Well yes, but that’s not what matters. What matters is the message that the directors and authors were trying to portray, that these illnesses are scary and that the chances of survival may not always work in your favour. But, what matters is what we do in the meantime, when we know that our days or someone else’s are limited. How we treat them and what we do with our time matters. And the problem is that the best thing to do is likely not going to be the easiest, but it’s what you have to do, for them.

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  23. The movie I decided to re-watch was “V for Vendetta”. I remember that when this movie was first released back in 2005, that the only thing I wanted in my life was to go and watch this movie in theatre. However, being an eleven year old with a short attention span, I easily forgot about wanting to watch the movie and something else must have become the affection of my mind for the time being. However, I am glad this is the case because a couple of years ago this movie aired on cable television and I finally was able to watch it. To describe this movie in a word, I would have to say that it is exhilarating.
    A basic rundown on the plot would be a man, known only as V, schemes to take down the oppressive British government that is in power. His intentions may be considered a bit extreme because he plans to use an underground train filled with explosives to destroy the British parliament buildings. However, he urges the civilians on numerous occasions to rise up with him and take back the country from the ruling totalitarian government. In the end, he does succeed in taking down the government and returning power and authority to its rightful owners, the people.
    As stated above, I was glad that I saw this movie for the first time when I was at a more mature stage in my life rather than when it first came out. The reason being is that if I saw it when I was eleven, I would have judged the movie purely on what an eleven year old thinks is cool in movies, which is whether or not there is a lot of fighting and cool explosions. This would have caused me to completely overlook the meaning enrooted within this movie. Watching it again recently has gotten me to think about our world in the present and all of the revolutions happening globally against fascist governments similar to the one portrayed in the movie. Although we do not live in such an extreme situation as the one shown in the movie, I do believe our current system will not suffice in the long run. Personally, I feel as if the government is too involved in our lives. It is telling us how to act, what to think, and what to say with our current education system which basically rewards those who repeat what they are told and shun those who try thinking outside the box.

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  24. In this list of movies, I was astonished by the fact of how many movies there are whose pertaining plays and books I have read, but nevertheless, never watched their visual presentation.
    The Lord of the Rings trilogy is undoubtedly the best epic fantasy films ever made, rightfully turning the Academy Awards of 2003 into the "Lord of the Rings" Awards. These very films are ones that I have watched possibly 6 times already (my superheroes as a kid were Legolas Greenleaf and Aragon by the way) and ones that I believe that can never by compared in respect to the talent of Peter Jackson and the literary potency of J.R.R. Tolkien. Especially when you read the books themselves, the movies prove just to the work Tolkien has done and is an effective visual presentation of the Middle Earth that Tolkien fans fabricate in their minds.
    Whereas The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Dead Poet's Society are ones that I have previously watched, other literary works such as Waiting for Godot by Samuel Becket (a play that I have also happened to write a final paper on for my English Literature class), The Trial by Franz Kafka, The Memoirs of a Geisha, Ulysses by James Joyce, and Moby Dick by Herman Melville are ones that I have read but no necessarily watched (that's the plan now for these holidays). From this list, I nevertheless chose Waiting For Godot to watch in reminiscence of the many hours I spent analyzing this work of Beckett's.
    In the movie, Samuel Beckett has engendered two peculiar characters, Vladimir and Estragon that are caught in a reiterating lifestyle. This play is comprised of two men who lack the ability to perform any actions that are uncustomary to their daily routine; they are unable to either act or move in a way that is diverse compared to their other acts. Thus, entrapped in an exemplary lifestyle, the two men spend their lives in the wait for a mysterious figure, Godot. They can’t transfigure the reason behind their wait, but, nevertheless, spend their life’s precious time in the anticipation for this man. In particular in the film, my favourite was the soliloquy of Lucky, a servant of Pozzo who both walk by the main characters each day. In this speech, the information that Lucky dictates is truly amazing. Although, the sentences are in no particular order or pertaining to any peculiar subject, the complexity of a mind of a man such as him and the potency that lay within him is astonishing. Likewise, it can be compared to the individuals of our society today is portrayed. Nowadays, one spends the entirety of their life following a particular lifestyle, directed towards a particular path and thus becoming oblivious to things variant from what comprise their particular pathway or task. Nonetheless, he or she cloaks their true potency, their capability to do many other things due to the fact that they allow themselves to do so or other members of their society don't denote them the chance to do so. We are undoubtedly caught in a paradigmatic society, in a state of nothingness, in which tends to be analogous to another, and live accordingly to a predetermined path. All in all, this movie is effective in translating the state of man in an apathetic and analogous world, in which man’s entrapment in a life of indecision and depravity leads to a recurring and interminable cycle in their lives.
    In addition to this literary movie, I urge all to place such movies in their playlists to watch and decipher their literary qualities, may it not be this play itself, but many of the well-known Shakespeare plays such as Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh is absolutely an idol and probably the best directory to have brought the incredible works of Shakespeare to life), and also plays that are not so well-known but of equivalent potency such as King Lear and The Merchants of Venice.
    As for now, I believe The Hobbit tops everyone list of must-watch movies.

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  25. I also watched “Spirited Away”, and the overall animation of the movie was brilliant, and spectacular. The imagery and concept art not only gave a dazzling fantasy, but one that resembles that of Alice in Wonderland. The story revolved around a little girl that falls into a fantasy world, and has to undergo various tasks to save her parents.
    The main theme of the movie that I noticed was the development of Chihiro’s personality, as well as her psychological self. At the beginning of the movie Chihiro was depicted as a timid, shy girl who had a lot of insecurities, as well as fears. This is especially true since she recently moved to a new school, and is introduced into a new environment; however, as she overcomes all the tasks presented to her in the spirit world, she opens up and develops a strong, more confident personality. By the end of the movie, she is not only strong, but an independent young woman, even though her physical appearance did not change.
    The movie also presented several cultural tones, especially since the movie originated from Japan, and the theme of greed seemed to arise at several points in the movie. Specifically in the point of where her parents turn into pigs, which symbolically represent greed, as well as the character of no-face, and the baby who begin to consume everything. I believe it shows some real world problems, and addresses the fact that some aspects of society are heavily geared towards being completely taken care of, as well as only consuming the resources, but not supplying any work in return.
    The overall movie was well put together, and it was very easy to follow Chihiro, and her adventure through the spirited world. I would absolutely recommend this movie to others, as it raises very important issues, and displays psychological development in a very interesting, yet clever manner.

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  26. I watched the first movie of the Lord of the Rings. I was so happy when I saw Lord of the Rings on the list I had to watch it even though it must be about the 7th time I am watching it. Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of my all time favourite movies. Once I watched the whole trilogy in one go. My eyes were dead by the end of it....but it was worth it. This movie is probably one of the only movies where I like the movies even more than the books. The movie captures the descriptions in the books perfectly. Some of my favourite scenes are when Gandalf returns and when Merry and Pippin with the help of the trees defeat Saruman. This movie has multiple genres from adventure, fantasy, mystery to romance. It can be enjoyed by all ages except maybe very young children since there are some gory battle scenes. It's hard to pick a favourite character but if I had to, I would pick Sam. He is the greatest friend anyone could ever have. Frodo remains stronger than anyone else could have in his situation but the ring breaks him at the end. It is Sam who comes to the rescue and makes sure that Frodo destroys the ring. I always feel a pang of sadness at the final scenes of the third movie because the adventure is over and Frodo is leaving middle earth with the elves. Even though good has won, you know that none of their lives will ever be the same. On a much happier note, Aragorn becomes kings and is united with his love, Arwen. I have also decided to watch V for Vendetta when I have more time because everyone who has commented on it above seem to have a lot of good things to say about it.

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  27. Having always enjoyed watching other Shakespeare plays such as “Hamlet” or “Othello” back in high school, I decided to watch “Macbeth”. The play revolves around a fierce commander named Macbeth, whose lust for greed and power ultimately brings him to his downfall. Having never read the complete play except for a brief summary, I thought the movie told the story vividly.

    Two scenes really stood out from the movie. The first is Macbeth’s infamous dagger scene, where he acts to kill King Duncan. I read about the scene a year ago, but the movie actually brought the scene to life with a floating dagger. The effect was further amplified by the contrast effects of a black and white film. In addition, the actor’s interpretation of Macbeth’s soliloquy was brilliantly done and fits well with the dark atmosphere presented in the setting. Finally, the background music during the death of King Duncan was extremely similar to the music of the famous shower scene in the classic horror movie, “Psycho”.

    The second scene I really enjoyed was when Macbeth’s second visit to the three witches. The three witches cleverly played with the words of their prophecies and gave Macbeth false hopes and overconfidence, eventually bringing him to his downfall. The atmosphere and setting of the three witches’ scene was more mysterious than dark, which symbolizes the confusing prophecies.
    Overall, this movie was the best Shakespeare movie I watched.

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  28. For me, and probably for many others, the movie I have chosen is considered classic. I vividly remember watching this several times when I was younger; and every time I would be puzzled about what the main messages of the movie are. So I decided that I want to resolve my childhood mysteries. The movie I have chosen is “Forrest Gump”.
    After dissecting the movie, I realized that Robert Zemeckis' 1994 film Forrest Gump and can be explained through the techniques of motif and symbolism.

    Robert Zemeckis depicts how everyone has a destiny, but the journey to it is undefined. This message is clearly demonstrated through the motifs of a feather falling from the sky will follow the path of the wind. The feather seen both at the beginning and the end of the film has a clear purpose. The feather simply floats about on the breeze, no direct route and no known destination. This feather represents the journey to destiny, free and random. Therefore, wherever the breeze goes, the feather has to follow.

    Another technique used to convey Zemeckis' message is symbolism. Zemeckis places emphases on legs, shoes, and roads. The shoes bear people to their destination. Legs drive the choices they make and move them to where they wish to go. Roads give people options. The combination of all three leads to many possibilities. Numerous paths may be taken and all are part of the journey towards destiny.

    All in all, although movies like this contain vital messages to tell us about how things are, but emulating fictional characters has the risk of emulating something which is wrong in some way. So it is important to be cautious to use fictional stories as guides to life Nevertheless, I would still recommend people who haven’t seen Forest Gump take their time and dissect what the movie Is about.

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  29. The film that I chose to watch is a documentary called “What the Bleep do we know, down the rabbit hole.” It was interesting because the way that the directors chose to present the idea of quantum mechanics was special. Underneath all the commentary from the professionals about this topic, there is a journey of a woman, who overcame her anxiety issues and began to view the world with happiness and hope in her eyes, embedded in the film. I think the purpose of this is to compare the concept of quantum mechanics to the change in the woman’s attitudes of viewing the world. It is said in the video, that quantum mechanics is the new way of thinking, and I suppose that statement is true because the first chemistry course that I took in university is based on this concept. However, I think that everybody else might not think this way.
    Quantum mechanics is special and different because the ideas contradict with what we see in real life, such as how something, like an electron, could be at multiple locations at the same time. Even though some of the technologies that we use today are based on quantum mechanics, the public are not aware of it. Therefore, they would not know the importance of this concept and would not care if it even exists. Personally, I do not really understand quantum mechanics, but it works because it explains, on a small scale, how electrons move around an atom and, on a massive scale, how the universe works.
    Quantum mechanics is important because scientists might use it to develop more advanced technology that could benefit all of us in the future. Therefore, we need to have an open heart towards this concept and accept it. Not everyone could master the concept of quantum mechanics, but we need to support the ones who could by showing our appreciation and acknowledgement of its importance and impact in this world.

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  30. I watched Dead Poets Society. Having heard the name numerous times and seeing the movie on this list made me decide to give it a try. After watching it, I look at the world in a different light. It leads me to believe that many of us in the world are now "learning zombies", listening to what others have to say and not questioning whether it is right or not. Not only does this appear in our current education system, but it appears in our society as well. What is right, what is wrong and is that to be determined by the government or by the people? Although some of the characters took Mr. Keating's teachings to a new level, they displayed a sense of bravery and, dare I say it, nerves that are rarely seen anywhere. A great example of this is when shy Todd, at the very end of the movie, stands up and shouts "O Captain! My Captain!" while Keating leaves the school.
    One of the main themes in this movie is Carpe Diem, or seize the day. While Mr. Keating teaches his students in an unorthodox way, I believe he is teaching them what life is about. Mr. Keating is the type of person who changes one's life forever. While some of the students may have gone to the very extreme with his teachings, I believe that we all can learn a good lesson from this movie. What I shall take away from this movie is to take responsibility for my own life. However, I will listen to other's opinions about my decision, as we are often blinded by our desires (yes, and love). Other people see most clearly what we miss.
    Now if I may add a little interjection, the theme of this movie is much like the modern abbreviation Y.O.L.O. (though I am not making a direct comparison; this movie is much deeper, much more subtle, and I do not wish to offend). On the surface, is it a stupid excuse to do something completely silly and harmful to yourself. But if one looks deeper, "You Only Live Once" is a message that is screaming at ALL OF US. It's saying to try something that you've never tried (ie. learning how to play an instrument, going to the gym, learning something a new skill). It's saying that we only have one chance to live, so why regret NOT doing something.
    Overall, great movie 10/10! :D

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    1. I have actually seen this movie twice in high school and it got better each time.. the trend continued this time as I'm beginning to see more and more of the underyling themes and real beauty of this movie. I think Mr. Keating is a symbolic character for freedom and independence, and I thought the scene that you mentioned (O captain my captain) was a very powerful one that always gets me emotional. The storyline was brilliant and I'm finding myself uncover more underyling metaphors and other devices every time. I don't think this movie will ever get old. Great film!

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  31. Amazing sound effects, unique characters and creative scenery, combined with the enticing hard-fought battles of magic opens the world of Harry Potter. This exciting and popular series involves a normal 12-year old boy named Harry Potter who suddenly sets foot into the world of magic. Throughout his next 7 years, he experienced 7 difficult adventures, each stronger and more exciting than the one before. Even though the release of the last part to his final adventure was fairly long ago, I had not taken the chance to watch the film until just recently.
    This movie greatly brings out the sound imagery for each scene. The director control the dynamic range background music to enable us the imagination of peaceful or intense moments. During the final battle of Harry Potter vs. Voldemort, as their wands clashed together the immense intensity was enhanced by the trembling and ear-blowing sounds of suspenseful soundtracks that portrayed the inner message of the battle being the final magic duel. During times of remorse, softly grave music effects would be played to allow us to further connect with the emotions of the movie characters, to understand the sadness that they feel for having a loved one disappear from their world. After the first fight, when Voldemort was victorious and brought back to Hogwarts what seemed to be Harry's dead body, there was nothing but a faint, slow, and melancholic-sounding music mixed in the background of the scene as all the wizards and witches displayed that shockingly pale face upon the sights of the body in Voldemorts hands.
    Another special feature to this movie is the one-of-a-kind personalities of each individual character. The main story revolves around 3 protagonists, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger. The movie utilizes each characters specific personality to create moments of further interest and comedy. While Harry has a determined and strong-willed personality that perfectly matches the role of a protagonist, he acts based on his impulses and allows for rage to cloud his mind from logical thoughts. On the contrary, Hermione is calm and collected, always planning out her strategies and hence allows for her to take the most efficient course of action. Finally, there is Ronald, of whom is the clown of the trio. His klutzy decisions and cowardliness provides comic relief to the tragic or suspenseful moments of the scene. In addition, his arbitrary non-logical actions occasionally provide solutions to the hardest puzzles that they stumble upon.
    Through the combination of sound and character, Harry Potter - The Deathly Hollows Part 2 creates a fantastic world in which all readers can enjoy. If you have not yet watched it, I strongly suggest to finish the series now.

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  32. I recently watched “Hero” directed by Zhang Yimou. I chose this movie because it was one of the Asian movies and I thought it would be interesting to watch a movie from a different culture. The movie is set in ancient China when it was divided into little states and war and battles never ceased. The movie starts with a nameless man going into the palace to meet the king Qin who has conquered every state and finally unified the whole nation. Because this nameless man has slain all three assassins who have attempted to kill the king, he is allowed to see the king personally.

    The king and the nameless man start out the conversation by how the nameless man was beat all the three assassins. This movie was not just about the plot, but also about the texture used in each story. It was very enthralling to watch the story illustrated with different scenes of clear raindrops, yellow flowers and leaves, brown sands, and red veils.
    The fighting scenes were portrayed very artistically harmonized with the sound of Asian instruments. One scene that left me a deep impression was when the nameless man protected the writing school from the waves of arrows with just a sword. Even though it would be impossible in real life, the whole atmosphere of the movie made it seem possible.

    At the end of the movie, it is revealed that the nameless man did not kill the assassins. He was part of the assassin group and it was their plan to kill the king, who mercilessly killed and attacked the other nations for his ambition. However the nameless man decided not to kill the king because he realized that if he did, it would bring more chaos than before. This scene made me think about revenge and what is really good and evil. At the same time, I had this idea that this might be a subliminal message from the Chinese government to make their people submissive to the power. Overall, I really enjoyed this movie and recommend others to watch it.

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  33. The movie I watched was “V for Vendetta”. Like many people have posted already, I chose this movie because I constantly kept hearing great things about the movie. I'm usually not fond of critical movies, or movies that try to send out a deep message, but I decided to give this a shot because of it's high acclaim. Very reminiscent to one of my favorite books with it's dystopian atmosphere, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, I definitely enjoyed watching this movie.

    To provide a bit of backstory, V for Vendetta takes place sometime in the near future in the UK. A totalitarian government is ruling over the people and placing harsh control over various aspects of life (including practice of faith and homosexuality).Similar to the Nazi's, any disobedient citizens are sent to concentration like camps, and are killed. The plot follows the story of the Guy Fawkes-masked vigilante known “V”, and his mission to overthrow the government.

    The main point that comes through is that the people need a voice, they cannot be controlled by the government. Although I agree with the basis of V's ideals that the people need a voice, I don't agree with his extremes and his actions. The thought of a harmonious people and government is great, but V's ideas are basically anarchy, which is also depicted in his actions throughout the movie. He blows up buildings and relentlessly kills people, some for his main objective, but others purely out of vengeance. Another thing to point out that seems to go unnoticed, is that V kills a lot of innocent bystanders (most of which are police). Although he mentions that this is for the greater good, that these innocent people need to die so that he can spread his point, he's still using others for his cause, despite the fact that if they agree with his ideas or not. It's ironic because V himself, is exactly what he is trying to overthrow, a person/government that will go to whatever extremes, even if it involves killing the innocent, to get what they want.

    Although there was some stuff I did not agree with, the movie was still very well done, especially with it's significant use of symbols. They are some very obvious and outward ones, such as the roses he places on his victims to symbolize Valerie, or the Guy Fawkes mask, but there are some other repeating symbols that have a much deeper meaning. The most prominent one is the letter V. There are some pretty interesting correlations with this that I noticed during the movie. One important thing to note, is the fact that the letter V is the roman number 5, which shows itself throughout the whole movie. During his time in the camp, V was the 5th occupant, as marked on his door, “V”. The movie starts on the 5th of November, which is also Guy Fawkes night. V's main inspiration is from Valerie, whose name starts with a V. There are 5 so called “major” targets that V kills during the movie. V's favorite quote is “ Vi Veri Viniversum Vivus Vici” (translates to “By the force of truth, I have conquered the universe while living”), which has 5 V's.

    There are even some deeper correlations that I read about later that I would have never noticed. For example, the other main protagonist is called Evey, which sounds like “EV”. E is the 5th letter in the alphabet, and V is the 5th last letter in the alphabet. As you can see the movie is loaded with symbolism, and was definitely well thought out.

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    1. Another interesting correlation to point out is the symbol “V” that is painted all over. It is almost identical to the “circle A” symbol used to symbolize anarchy, but in this case, it is inverted. In a sense it could be used to symbolize anarchy, but also peace, as it is inverted. Popularized by Churchill, “V” is also a symbol for victory, and then later on, the V symbol was a sign for peace. Perhaps there is some deeper meaning to this, such as that peace will be attained only through anarchy.

      As a lot of people posted, one of the most memorable quotes is “People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.” I however completely disagree with the quote. It is true that people should not be afraid to talk out against the government, but the reality is that neither should be scared of each other. If any side is scared of the other, we have 2 extremes, either anarchy, or a fascist society. The movie depicts both these sides perfectly, as before the totalitarian government took over, there was anarchy. The community could not deal with it, so the government took over and placed harsh regulation in order to create control. As seen, both sides failed. Instead, a community working in harmony is what we should strive for, a world where the people spread their concern and the government reacts to this. After all, the government is elected by the people, it is a representation of what we, as the people, want.

      In all, I'd definitely recommend this movie to anyone who wants to watch a great movie with deep meanings, symbolism, great effects, and even some romantic aspects laced in between.

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  34. After my stressful finals are over, I decided to watch the movie "3 Idiots." A movie about 3 roomates attending Delhi's Imperial College of Engineering. The main character Rancho is a very down to earth person who follows his own views and beliefs. He is one of those characters who disagree with the modern education structure and how marks determine the abilities of students. Rancho, the one who stands out among the crowd, studies engineering for his passion of machines and devices. However, due to his different approach in studying, Rancho incurs the wrath of the dean of college, Professor “Virus” Shahastrabuddhe. Rancho criticizes his professor’s style of teaching for lacking enthusiasm and understanding in discussing their lessons; thus this leads to a series of conflicts. In contrast, Virus’s favorite student, Chatur “Silencer” Ramalingam, believes in memorizing over understanding in order to be a successful engineer. Chatur is the typical student who studies without passion.
    At one point in the story, a fellow engineering student trashed his flying contraption that he was working on because it was rejected by the dean of engineering. Rancho finds this contraption in the trash and decides to help him finish it. However by the time Rancho finishes it, and flies it to the student’s dorm, they find out that he has hung himself in his room and spray painted on his wall “I Give Up.” What this incident is trying to show is how the current education system is developing pressure on students head. The moral of that incident is that University intelligence is useful and making some impact in the life, but it cannot be at the cost of life.

    This movie really made me think about my future career in engineering. It is great to get extremely high marks, but not at the expense of a happy lifestyle, and doing what you love. Luckily I chose to enter this faculty out of my own passion. I urge others to watch this movie as well, especially if they aren’t headed in the direction that they want in life. Don't let education get in the way of your life.

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  35. I have just finished watching “What the Bleep Do We Know?” this is by far one of the most interesting movies I have ever seen. At the beginning of the movie, I was unsure of what to prepare for as it introduces the idea of combining science and religion. Watching the movie, I was spellbound as we had convincing claims backed by solid evidence. Ideas were connected to each other seamlessly. The only actual initial problems I had with the film was that the video had French subtitles that I couldn’t do anything about, and the story of the female photographer gaining enlightenment which was interspersed between segments of the film. I thought the latter was extremely annoying. This was because I wanted to hear more from the various talking heads who presented some interesting thoughts and ideas.
    Even now, I’m still shaking off the post-movie daze. As a science student, the segments on quantum mechanics were very interesting. The ways the arguments and connections are presented seem very logical. The basic premise is that some concepts such as the particle-wave duality of matter and the interconnectedness of particles can be applied to us in a spiritual sense. Eventually we are presented with the idea that we create our own reality and we have power to change our reality. This is also combined with idea that god is superimposed in all of us based on some interpretations of quantum mechanics that we are all connected. The connections between quantum effects and day-to-day life will seem very plausible. In fact, I will admit it. After watching it, I was pretty much ready to take on the first religion in my life.
    However, as I was scrolling down the YouTube page, I noticed some of the comments. One of them included a link to a blog that has an in-depth analysis of the film. Upon reading a few more comments, websites, and movie reviews, I came to the conclusion that this is definitely not as simple as I originally thought. Turns out the film is sponsored by a cult that uses the film as more or less propaganda towards their religion. Most of the talking heads throughout the film are members of the cult and one of talking heads claims that he was edited in such a way that manipulated his views on the subject. To top it off, some of the experiments have not been repeated independently and cannot be called scientific experiments at all.
    Personally, I am not against religion. If we all prayed for the wellbeing of others and respected life and nature, I would even approve of it. In the movie, they give us the harmless idea that positive thoughts will lead to a better life. However, this can be done using science or religion separately. Once both are included, I feel it makes a mess of things especially as quantum effects are very small scale and only affect our lives is such a way that they can be omitted because their effects are so small.
    I even re-watched part of the film just to see things in a new light. Suddenly, a Tacoma housewife claiming to be channeling the 3 500 year old spirit of a warrior from Atlantis talking about quantum mechanics and spirituality seems quite humorous. I definitely think the movie is worth the watch. However, if you are going to watch it, I highly recommend reading this blog as well: skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/20¬05/04/what_the_bleep_.html.

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  36. The movie I decided to watch was Marathon. I was truly surprised by how great the movie was and how much I enjoyed it. The movie is about an autistic kid whose mother pushes him to run a marathon. She believes that her son loves to run and that somehow running will make him better. She finds her son a coach and does everything she can to make sure he succeeds. Her goal for him is to run a marathon in less than three hours. The family goes through some hard times because the mother makes the father leave the family and the other son feels left out. The mother also is put in the hospital because of an ulcer. Eventually, while in the hospital, the mother realizes that she has been pushing her son and he does what ever she says because the son is scared of being dumped. It is revealed that the mom previously tried to dump the child when she found out he was autistic. With this realization, the mom decides to let her son stop training for the run. She does not want to push him anymore and she feels extremely horrible about the way she has acted. As the mother is in the hospital, the son starts to have some feelings. As some know, children with autism have a hard time expressing feelings. The son is actually able to express some feeling and that is a huge breakthrough for him. However, he actually loves to run and sneaks out to go to the marathon. The movie ends with the mom finding the boy before he runs. Nevertheless, he still does the marathon. He finishes and runs the marathon in less than three hours just as his mother originally hoped for. The family is brought back together and is happy after a hard time that they have been through. The part that touched me the most about this movie is that it was inspired by a true story and that an autistic boy actually went through these trials. I have a huge soft spot for children with disabilities and it was very empowering to see someone with such severe autism succeed in something most people cannot do. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and the actors, I feel, did a really great job portraying their characters. Overall, a great movie!

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  37. I watched The Picture of Dorian Gray. When I first read this title, I thought that by “picture”, it was referring to a photograph, but instead it was talking about a painting. The main plot goes as follows. Dorian asks Basil, an artist to paint a picture of him. He asks Basil to make the painting resemble him, as he is at the time.

    Dorian meets a woman, but rejects her in the end and says that he’s no longer interested in her. When he gets home and looks at his picture, he notices that it has changed-he looks a little aged in it compared to how it appeared just a short time previously.

    Soon Dorian realizes that the portrait of him changes with every sin he commits even if his actual person doesn’t age with time. Later on Dorian brings Basil to see the portrait that he has painted. It looks extremely ugly so Dorian blames everything on Basil and kills him. He then blackmails someone to take care of Basil’s dead body.

    After a while, Dorian tells Lord Henry that he will be good from now on and looks at his picture. He wonders if it will change back and finds out that instead it looks even worse. So he picks up a knife and decides to destroy the painting. As he stabs the portrait, he himself is stabbed. When Dorian’s servants and other people find out about this, they see an old and ugly man stabbed to death on the ground. They couldn’t even identify him if it weren’t for his ring.

    At this time, the picture of Dorian has truly returned to its original form, looking nice and handsome.

    This movie makes me think in daily life, how our actions show who we are. Even though it might not show on our outer appearance, it definitely shows inside us. As in this movie, Dorian Gray’s sins were revealed in a painting of his inner self, his soul. So I believe that everyone should think of what they do before acting because it is something that reflects who we are and it cannot be reversed nor changed.

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  38. The movie I decided to watch was "What the Bleep Do We Know". I chose this movie because I remembered it as a recommendation from my grade 12 biology teacher who had told me its a must-see, and I had actually been meaning to watch it. Well, it definitely was not a disappointment! I really did not know what to expect when I started to watch it, I had no idea what it would be about but I kept an open mind and stuck with it all the way. I must say, it is probably the most engaging movie I've ever seen and I challenge anybody to watch it and not keep thinking about it in your head long afterwards. It's that kind of movie that you can't stop thinking about. So much information is packed in and I struggled to try and grasp everything, of course I couldn't take in everything as this was one amazing scene after another of scientific facts and conscious experience, etc. I found the part about the water droplets particularly interesting, as someone who never used to really have an open mind about things such as that, I found myself really interested. I thought this was a very well done movie, from beginning to end and it just went by too fast. I also found it really exciting to actually see them talking about something I learned in chemistry, which was quite refreshing. The Uncertainty Principle and the demo they did in the movie actually helped me with my chemistry course so I thought that was a really nice bonus. Overall, I really loved watching this movie and it was a nice sort of escape from reality - I really recommend it to others who have not seen it, if you want your mind to be bent.

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  39. Death is often a subject that people subtly raise. When people or animals die, their bodies suddenly become unfamiliar. By watching a few trailers of the movie above, “Departures” caught my attention because not only did it win an Oscar for foreign-language film in 2009, but the cultural aspect of Japanese funeral ceremonies also interested me. The movie delicately touches on emotions of grief. Through the refined methods of character development and plot of engaging the audience by touching our hearts, the director, Takita successfully creates an incredible movie worth watching.
    The movie begins with Sasaki allowing his apprentice Daigo to perform the ritual to clean and dress a corpse. Right away, Takita creates a humorous situation, which lightens the serious mood. The protagonist, Daigo then recalls how he returned to his hometown and became an encoffiner. Daigo used to be a professional cellist; however, since his orchestra disbanded, Daigo decided to move back with his wife, Mika, to his mother’s home in the suburbs. Daigo’s mother passed away two years before and his father left the family for another woman when Daigo was six, leaving the house empty. The promise of a large salary in the newspaper advertisement motivates him to be an encofinner. In Japan, encoffination is how corpses go through a process of ceremonial washing and dressing before being placed in a coffin. The job’s grim nature is evident after Daigo gets his first case with the company owner, Sasaki. The body had been found two weeks after the time of death; thus, the odor of rotten food and the degrading body strongly disturbs Daigo, and he began to vomit while lifting the body. But gradually, Daigo comes to appreciate the art of encoffination and the comfort to family members of the deceased. However, making money from deaths is seen as unclean and disgraceful, which results in Mika leaving him when she discovers his job. After a certain time, Mika returns with a surprise that she’s pregnant. However, while they are still disagreeing about Daigo’s job, Daigo receives a call for the encoffinment of a friend. Mika attends the family friend’s funeral and watches Daigo at work for the first time. By the end of the ceremony, she began to understand and respect Daigo’s job. One day, Mika hears that Daigo’s father has recently passed away and that Daigo must claim the body. When Mika tells Daigo over the phone, Daigo refuses to be associated with his father because his father’s irresponsibile abandonment of the family. However, Daigo’s co-worker understands how Daigo’s father must have felt and pleads with Daigo to see his father. At first, Daigo refuses, but he ends up going with Mika to his father’s funeral. When the funeral workers begin to move Daigo’s father’s body into the coffin, Daigo stops them. The workers became confused and angered by Daigo’s action, but Mika proudly explains how his husband is an encoffiner. The movie concludes with Daigo performing the ritual and realizing that his father is holding the precious rock that Daigo gave him before his father left, and Daigo then learns to finally forgive his father for leaving the family.
    By overcoming his past of the abandonment of his father and overcoming present obstacles of stereotypes in his new life and job as an encoffiner, the audience can see the delicate and inspiring moments that emphasize the themes of hope and forgiveness through Daigo’s conflicts. The director, Takita not only includes moments of awkward embarrassment, but also humor to lighten the mood since themes of death and funerals are serious topics. Takita does not overemphasize the deep emotions relateed to death, instead he subtly implies themes of love, hope and forgiveness.

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  40. The movie I chose to watch was Requiem for a Dream. The movie was scary, dark and very vivid. It showed the great effects of drugs in our society and how it can affect everyday people. The movie does a great job to frighten people and its scare tactics repel people from the thoughts of consuming drugs.
    The imagery, probably too much imagery, does a splendid job to portray the actual and realistic aspects of the drug society. The score in the movie captures the dark and eerie mood of the film.
    The movies itself follows the path of a drug user and, in another sense, it is a metaphor to a drug user. Four characters, each consuming drugs, have different yet similar endings. It begins well as the protagonists experience the initial effects but their lives get gradually worse as the addiction strikes. Money, the key supplier will start to deplete, and inevitably lead to the user suffering it's consequences.
    I recommend everyone, even though it may be unsuited for younger ages, to watch this movie. It will forever affect your choices on thinking about drugs. I also would like to inform those that have already watched it to avoid second views as the horror displayed in the movie will be unforgettable.

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  41. I chose to watch V for Vendetta because I have downloaded long time before and I never got a chance to really watch it. Also, lots of people wear the same mask on Halloween party and I never know what is that standing for, so I decided to find out the answer in the movie.
    When I saw the first scene, I thought I downloaded the wrong movie because it does not seemed like related to Vendetta. Afterwards, the titled showed up on the screen and I knew I was watching the right one. It turns out that the opening sentences tell us the theme behind this movie:"We should remember the idea because it may still change the world 400 years later. A man may die, but his thought will alive forever."
    The whole movie is in an intesive pase, which make me excited. I have some many questions in the first part of movie, such as why V's hands have so many scars, who is the real good guy and bad guy etc. After Evey Hammond escaped from V's home and hided in Gordon's home, mysteries started to be solved. Gordon is a TV show producer, however, he is also a "different" person because of he is homosexual. He said "you wear a mask for so many years and you dont even remember who you really are" when Evey saw the Koran in Gordon's storage. Finally he is caught by secret police because of the insulting of Chancellor.
    In this country in the movie, no one has real freedom. The government used the U.S.A. as a bad example to show how can freedom cause problems and chaos. The Chancellor, Adam Sutler, which sounds like Hitler, does not allow any differences exist. Everyone needs to obey his order, and everyone's talking is being monitored by secret department. When the chief Inspector, Mr. Finch got the diary about V and reported to the chancellor, the screen zoom in and shows only the mouth of the chancellor, which emphasized that only his words are powerful and must be obeyed.

    V helped everyone in the country to fight against their fear to the government, so that politicians can not control their people anymore. The movie also shows the dark sides of politicians, they use their own people to do bioweapon test and spread the virus to different places, and then give out medicines as a god so that people all believe that they are the right guy to make the country better and improve peoples standard living. Politicians use lies to cover the truth, but story tellers usually use lies to tell you what the truth is.

    It is a deep thought movie, and after the death of V, I think all the citizens in the country will finally get free and choose their own leader, may be Mr. Finch, to help them rebuild the society and live a better life.

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  42. I have watched V for Vendetta and I think that the story is a really strong metaphor of a country under dictatorship. A funny fact is that it actually plays for the first time in China recently and it became a really big issue.
    It becomes a big issue because like the country in V for Vendetta where things are censored and life is pretty much restricted. However, somehow the movie was able to show under the strong media filtering power from China. Although this might be an accident,the phenomena can actually show that people who are living in China knows they are living in an unfair situation.
    I know there are many people like V stands up for the situation in China but many of them are jailed. Hopefully, there will be a day that someone can stand up and actually stand against the government successfully.

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  43. I am not a movie person so I have not seen many of these movies. However, since V for Vendetta seems to be one of the most popular ones here, I have decided to watch it when I have the time. For the moment, I've watched the trailer it reminds me of a trend in the history I've learned in school, the books I've read, the TV shows I've watched and the reality of the countries I've heard new reports speak about. Citizens seeking to overthrow an “overbearing“ government.
    In the human race, a utopian society can never seem to exist. A single person who does not conform to the laws set out can bring all order crashing down. Rather this “perfect“ society can never happen because we are all born in different cultures and develop different ideals as we grow up. Each human has his or her own perceptions of perfection and ideas of how the world should be run. All these thoughts conflict with each other and bring down one government after another.
    I am glad Canada has a democracy rather than totalitarian government. According to the ideals of the majority of the population, we can choose to change how our government runs every few years. Although I want nothing to do with politics for my career, I am glad I have the opportunity to choose how my country can be run.

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