The worst of american Idol

So I was watching the highlights from the worst of American Idol. I thought it was hilarious, I don't care if its fake or staged or part real and part fake, whatever the case it made me laugh, and that is what is important. It got me thinking about other shows that I watch, Wipeout, the soup, AFV, I realize I just like seeing people humiliate themselves. This may not be nice to say, but judging on the success of these shows, many people feel the same way. I think its also something of that you can't help but look at a train crash, or car crash senerio. I think humans are programed to not want to see people hurt but we like to see messes, whether its a car wreck on the side of the road or people looking like idiots on TV. I wonder why it is. I wonder if it makes us feel better about our lives. I have a good life, but just like anybody I get down in the dumps, whats better than seeing someone else have a bad day. I guess its just a fulfilling feeling. I wonder what all of you think of this idea.

My thoughts on Control Room

This great documentary follows the men and women who work for Al Jazeera, a news station that broadcasts to the middle eastern countries. Around the time 9/11 took place I had first heard of Al Jazeera, and I had heard from people that it was a propagandist tool for terrorist. I never questioned this until seeing this documentary. I think a lot of people in America think this because we've been told that by our leaders. After watching the documentary I now know that this is simply not the case. Are they completely objective; I wouldn't say that. At the time the doc was filmed, the war in Iraq had just started, many of those who work for Al-Jazeera are Iraqi, or muslim, and their people were being killed by our bombs, so its hard to remain objective when you see this. Also one of the workers for Al-Jazeera was killed by a US bomb. I wouldn't say they were anti-American or hated Americans, one of the lead journalist for Al-Jazeera said "I believe in the constitution, and I believe in the American People." These people were simply against the war, and they're reports echoed that.

They were heavily criticized as being propaganda for the enemy because of 1) when bombs killed innocent lives they showed this, and they were accused of fabricating these shots, 2) they aired footage of killed American troops, and american POWs. Americans may not be used to seeing these horrible sites but this is war and they are showing it in all of its horribleness I have to say that the journalist who work for Al-Jazeera seemed to not harbor anti-American feelings and this is shown in several instances. Many of the other networks that have offices at CENT COM, commented on the Al Jazeera staff as being nice people and they are seen socializing with each other. Also one of Al-Jazeera's journalists' had a great relationship with Josh Rushing, the media liazon at CENT COM. Rushing is my favorite figure in the entire film. He is what I believe a true patriot, someone who loves his country and is brave enough to serve, but also brave enough to show that the American perspective is not the only one that matters. He a tremendously sympathetic guy, and its interesting to note that he now works for Al Jazeera, the english version. All in all, the film does a great job of showing that Al Jazeera is not the monster Americans thing it is, it is biased, but you show me a news station that is not biased, and don't tell me Fox News.

If you liked Josh Rushing too follow this link, he was on the daily show about 2 years ago.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-july-16-2007/josh-rushing

Summer and TV

I used to dread the summer for one thing, TV sucks during the summer. But as of lately theres some good stuff on TV. One of my favorite shows Rescue Me, is on during the summer. I look forward every week for a new episode. I recently just started watching Wipeout and its hilarious, I strongly recommend everybody watch it. The Soup is on during the summer as well. I remember when there seemed to be nothing on during the summer but I've been very happy lately that that has changed. TV shows are sort of like friends, or maybe the characters do. You watch them constantly for maybe 5 to 6 months during the fall and winter and they become such a big part of your life, than that season or god forbid series finale comes and it devastates you. You make so much room in your schedule for your shows and then one day you got nothing to recorded on your DVR. Maybe I'm just being dramatic but I just really miss Jack Bauer and Peter Griffen, and the gang from Lost, I want them back. I wonder if anyone else feels the same way, or maybe I'm alone and way to dependent on TV, either way let me know.

An American Movie

An American Movie is a great little documentary. I watched this in the spring semester while taking one of Bjorn's Production classes and I got why he showed us it. We were only making 5 min shorts, and it was pretty time consuming and challenging, so we were able to really sympathize with Mark. This poor guy had so much debt and all he wanted to do was make a great horror movie, but problem after problem kept stopping him. At first Mark seems a bit annoying, preachy, and somewhat of a bum, but after watching the film, you realize Mark is a really smart and ambitious guy, who actually knows what he is doing. He's a hard worker and he's very passionate, and the guy not only grows on you but he inspires you. His family and friends also grow on you. They are a ragtag bunch but they love each other and stick together and although what Mark goes through is rough the movie is uplifting and happy because you know the guy is doing what he wants to do and is working to make his dream come true. I felt the makers of the documentary were sort of poking fun at the subjects but in the end I think they really do like Mark and he's painted as a sympathetic person. I really enjoyed this film immensely

Shattered Glass

I did not think I was going to like this movie, but wouldn't you know, I gave it a chance and really enjoyed it. The film was interesting and really surprising that it was based on a true story, The fact that Glass was able to get away with everything he did is shocking. What this movie does perfectly is show what plagiarism can do to your career, or what it can do for you education. I think the lesson of this film is don't plagiarize, don't make up facts. I've never considered plagiarizing, and never would. I have my own thoughts and I don't need anyone else's. And as far as stealing other people's work, whenever I think theres a slight chance I need to give someone credit I do, period. I don't really understand why Glass did what he did. Well I do, he wanted to succeed, but he must've realized one day he would be uncovered. He probably has a career in story telling waiting for him. The movie was well made and the acting, even by Hayden, was good.

The Hurt Locker

WOW!!!! What a movie!!! I implore all of you to go see it. Its the story of a bomb diffusing unit of soldiers in Iraq. Its one of those movies that stick with you for a while. For a film made with a low budget it has a very big look. The actors do a great job of conveying what war does to a human. The other thing that is exceptional about this film is its ability to keep you on the edge of your seat. The movie was more suspenseful than any movie I've ever seen. You never know which mission is going to kill the unit, which I imagine is true to life. I can't say anything negative about this film. The ending just sort of takes your breath away and throws you for a loop. I can't urge you all enough to go see this movie. Its the best movie I've seen in a long time.

This Film is Not Yet Rated

I love this movie for what it does, and that is to call the MPAA and its rating administration (CARA) out on its biases and its unfair and inconsistent practices. The MPAA is the creation of the five major studios and it really only caters to them, a film created outside of these studios is going to have a hard time getting a fair rating. I also like that the MPAA says that CARA reflects the average American parent. They should really say that CARA reflects the average conservative parent. Its clear that they have a problem with sex especially when it comes to sex between same sex couples. I've never really gotten why sex is deemed more indecent than violence. Some of the CARA members weren't even parents or were older and their kids were already grown up. CARA really reflects the views of the MPAA's former leader Jack Valenti. This current ratings system is so corrupt and unfair and that is seen in its inconsistent practices. For example the most recent Harry Potter film is PG, the last two were PG-13. This current film has the same amount of violence if even a little more (a boy has a spell cast on him that makes him bleed from his chest, and its not subtle looking. I'm not saying that Harry Potter films should be rated PG or PG-13 but a better system could ensure that rhe ratings of films could be done much more consistently and in a more uniform matter.

A little about me and the film Outfoxed

My name is Mike, I'm going to be 24 next month, and I've taken many classes with Bjorn. I love discussing media and am looking forward to discussing many different topics with all of you. I love movies, television, books, music, video games, but my favorite type of media is film. I'm going to try to talk about every film we watch in this class. The doc. Outfoxed was really informative and presented the information in an entertaining way. I thought the section in which Bill O'Reilly says shut up repeatly was hilarious. The truth is I disagree with the film's stance that the Fox News Network is wrong or dangerous. I consider myself liberal and I beleive that network has the right to share their beliefs but obviously they need to lose the fair and balanced stamp. All news networks do what Fox News does it's just maybe not as blatant and obvious. News programming is usually not presented as biased as Fox News is, but all news programs set out to tell stories and each story is presented in a different perspective based on which channel your watching. The one clip that really bothered me was the one in which Bill O'Reilly intereviews a young man whose father died at Ground Zero. After their interview whenever O'Reilly brings up the young man he exagerated and basically lies about what the young man's views. I usually disagree with O'Reilly but do occasionally find his program interesting and sometimes funny, but O'Reilly truly showed bad taste in this situation.
Overall, Outfoxed was informative and interesting and does a great job illustrating what Fox News' agenda is, but I ultimately believe it exagerates how harmful or damaging this is.

Little Angel, Make me Happy

This movie was soooo sad, but also beautiful. I really liked this movie and there were a couple of scenes that really stood out too me. One of them is when the little boy dies from the measles. This was heartbreaking but to make matters worse when the kind old man gives him a proper funeral the soldiers scold him for honorably burying a German. The old man explains that he's just a boy but the soldier does not care. Its heart breaking that war does this to people. The acting by the children in this movie especially by Georg, was impressive to say the least. This was a special film and I am glad to have seen it. This and Beshkempir were my favorite films from this semester,

24 spoiler!!!!do not read if you watch the show and are not caught up

Okay, well Tony is a bad guy after all. I sort of saw it coming but I actually thought he was going to die instead of what happened. It doesn't make sense because Tony has been helping Jack and the FBI the whole day but now all of sudden is really bad. They better have a good explanation. You know what as I wrote this i just thought of something. He may have only been helping for two reasons 1) he's bad but he does not want to kill thousands or possibly millions of people like Jonas was planning on. Maybe he has a specific target. 2) He was helping only in order to steal a canister of the virus and really did not care if several people died. These are the best I can come up with. Also I wonder what Jonas was referring to as far as his threat to the Pres about being just a small part in a big machine. Also the way Tony killed Moss was strange and really disturbing. Instead of just finishing the job and putting him out of his misery Tony suffocates him which def. took longer than just shooting him. I felt bad for Moss, I liked him and he deserved the silent clock. Also I really thought Kiefer did a great job in this episode with his scene with Kim. He was so convincing and really made the scene quite emotional. Also Elisha Cuthbert did a great job too, usually when Kim comes back its pretty stupid but the scene was great. I read some complaints on how this scene was poorly acted and unneccesary but I say its completely neccesary and expertly acted by both actors. I hope some of you watch 24 so we can chat about this crazy episode.

ER Finale plua the return of Rescue Me

I don't know how many of you watch ER but the season finale was last week and I got to say, I wasn't a faithful watcher of the show but I did watch it enough to feel nostalgia at the end. I haven't watched a season in about 4 or 5 years but I always enjoyed watched reruns on TNT (Primetime in the Daytime). It was a really dynamic show, great guest stars, great ensemble cast, excellent camera work, crazy over the top stories but very entertaining. The show had a 15 year run and it always earned a lot of acclaim. Before the finale they did a retrospective of the show and it was very sad to see all the characters from the past that had left or died, and with almost evert iconic show there was this sense that an end of era had been reached. This same feeling happened with The Sopranos, Seinfeld, Friends, and it will happen with Lost, and 24. But anyways it was a bittersweet moment in TV that I wanted to share with you all. Feel free to let me know what you thought of ER.

Also This week marked the return of one of my favorite shows .......DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!!!! Rescue Me. The first episode of the season was great, not over the top like a lot of premiers but nonetheless enetertaining Rescue Me has the amazing ability to mix really intense drama with very darkly and sometimes morbid humor. No other show can do this as well as Rescue Me and I'm glad to see the show back. Its been two years maybe more since we've last seen the show and its good to have it back, this is one of those shows that will deninately be missed when its over. The acting from everybody is just sooooo good, it probably has one of the best ensemble casts on TV right now, and they always get very talented guest stars (this season we have a very foul mouthed Michael J. Fox dating Denis Leary's ex-wife. ) Anways I want to here what you guys think about Rescue Me so hit me back.

The Fast and Furious

Well guys its been 8 years since the original gang graced the silver screen with the original Fast and Furious and now they're back in ummmm Fast and Furious. Now I don't think any of you will be too shocked if I told you that this movie sucked (I see most everything because I work at a movie theatre). Well I was never much a fan of the three previous installments of this franchise but they were all at least tolerable. This film was just unbelievably bad. First off, there was really only scene of racing and half the time what we were seeing is an animated GPS screen. Secondly, the special effects were dismal at best. I mean they were so bad I can't imagine the film would've been greenlit. We can of course see why this film got made, it was probably fairly cheap and promised big returns. This film has a large target audience teenage and young adult males and most females for the eye candy (Vin Diesel and Paul Walker). This is why the film got made. Not because its a quality piece of cinema, but because it was cheap and sure fire way of earning profit (Sort of why terrible horror movies keep sprouting up. In this week's Entertainment Weekly they gave the F & F a B+. They cited the reason for the positve review is because the film doesn't pretend to be anything else. It is what it is. In this same issue of EW the feautured columnist says that he is angry at the horrible movies that have been released recently. Like the film companies just want to release cheap garbage that is stupid and brainless. We're better than this and we deserve better films. We do want to escape from the problems we are facing but that doesn't mean we want to see brainless garbage, theres nothing wrong with seeing quality films. We'll the success of the new F & F (72 million) made me think about all the garbage thats being released and how the quality films barely get released at all. Anyway just some thoughts what do you all think.

Beshkempir

I just wanted to get some thoughts out there about this really profound movie. I wrote in this weeks response paper how the film worked, at least for me, on two levels. It gives us a chance to see what life is like in different places, especially for children, but at the same time makes us reflect on our own childhoods. I know this seems silly for someone at a young age to say but being 23 years old, this film made me look back when I was 12 or 13 about the age of the boys in this film and it was a nostalgic experience. I remember getting into silly fights with friends just to make up a couple days to a week later. I think everyone remembers getting into fights about girls or boys. The movie touched me on this level. It also was interesting to see how quickly the children in this film have to grow up. Poor Beshkempir basically shames his family so he runs off only returning because his grandmother has died. I like how the film has him make up with his father and friends because I think that is a universal thing, people coming together after a fight over some sort of tragedy. This was an extraordinarily touching film, thanks for picking this one Bjorn!

My final project

For my final project I'm going to focus on Mongol, because of all the films we've seen this film struck me most visually. The colors of all the costumes and sets and locations were just so vivid, and everything had this larger than life feeling. It's hard to articulate and I'm sure I'm going to have a problem getting into words for the paper. The hardest thing to articulate is my feelings on the steppe that is featured in this film. I love it, it just gives me the overwhelming feeling of peace and tranquility. I don't know if that makes sense. I think its visually interesting watching the battle scenes in this film, when the battlefield is the steppe. I think there's something to be said about the conflicting emotions this evokes. Again I don't know if this makes sense but this is what my paper will focus on, I think. I love the idea of talking about this film's mise en scene elements

the Resurection of...........24

For all of you that do not watch 24, the new season is AWESOME.... Ive loved every hour of it so far. I just got done rewatching season 5 on DVD and that was also a great season, but those of you who do watch 24 know that last season sucked. It had its moments (basically the beginning and the end, the middle got really bad) but this new season more than makes up for the last season. I really think Kiefer Suntherland does outstanding work as Jack Bauer. Jack is one of those characters that you respect, idolize, fear, and sometimes become angry with. He has done horrible things, but he has always done them to protect this country, at all costs. He has completely ruined his life in his effort to protect America, and Kiefer really makes us feel horrible for jack. I think Jack Bauer may be the most interesting and compelling characters TV has ever seen. Most people who dislike 24 cite its unbelievable and far fetched stories, but all tv shows have elements that are hard to believe. We need to watch 24 for what it is, a kick ass hour of tv that is also dramatic, heart breaking, and heart pounding. If you don't watch 24 START WATCHING IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!
Id love to hear from people who watch 24 to see what ya'll think.

the wrestler, the reader, milk, last house on the left

I've been slacking a bit with the blogs, but here we go.

The wrestler- best movie of the year by far. Should have been nominated and should have won best picture oscar. Mickey Rourke should have won best actor, his performance was unbelievably amazing.

The reader- Also was a great movie, I found this film so interesting. Its focus on the Holocaust was really interesting and makes you think about it.

Milk- This was a good film, but I think Sean Penn was a little overrated. He was amazing but no where near as good as Mickey Rourke. I learned quite a bit about this part of history that I did not know before.

Last house on the left- Obviously this was not nearly as good as the three movies mentioned before but still its a pretty affecting horror film. Its quite disturbing but not nearly as disturbing as the original. I disliked the very end but other than that I liked it.

Id love to know what all of you think of these movies so let me know.

the oscars

I thought this years Academy Award Telecast was pretty good. Hugh Jackman did a half way decent job. The opening was good, the midway musical number was not so good. Out of the 24 awards i guessed 19 right (not bad, i must say). I thought the tribute to those who had passed away was awkwardly handled. Half of the names I couldn't even read because the camera was moving around and looking at the screen from an angle. The one thing I was mostly upset with was Mickey Rourke losing the best acting award. His performance was legendary and he truly deserved it. Sean Penn's acceptance speech I thought was gracious and funny and also profound. Rourke deserved it though. The rest of the night there were really no surprises. Ben Stiller was HILARIOUS!!. I never liked him much but after tropic thunder and this stunt I have a new found respect for Stiller. Also, Seth Rogan and James Franco were very funny as well. Their video really brought up a good point too, Comedies are too often overlooked by the Academy. Anyways any thoughts on the Oscars would great, let me know what you thought.

Land of the Fathers

I thought this film had a great story, one that was compelling and touching, but ultimately I thought the movie was terribly made. First off the acting was terrible, but it wasn't good either. The editing felt choppy and rough giving the movie a sense of disjointedness. And I don't know if it was just me but the subtitles seemed to be horribly translated. It seemed like sometimes the wrong word would sometimes be in a sentence. I was immensely disappointed because (judging a book by its cover) or in this case a movie by its title, I was expecting something a lot more entertaining. I felt the story being as profound as it was deserved a far better treatment.

Oscar politics

The reading about the Oscars got me thinking its not just the foreign language films that get overlooked but even the mainstream Hollywood films and the indie/art films. This year the biggest disappointment and surprise was the Academy's overlooking of The Dark Knight. I know some people see the film as just a really good comic book movie, but to most its way more than that and I was pretty convinced that it would score a nomination. The article touched upon the fact that most or at least some of the voters are seniors so they sometimes ignore the violent or more sexually explicit films or ones that appeal to younger audiences (The Dark Knight). I haven't seen all five of the nominees but its just a disappointment that the Knight didn't get a nomination. It did what most mainstream blockbuster films can't do, entertained but also had a message, a message on society and evil. Its rare for a blockbuster film to be immensely entertaining and also very intelligent. The film should have been recognized for that, for being able to elevate itself beyond just a comic book movie. Also, going back to the foreign language film category its disappointing when really good films get overlooked because there's a good chance that without the nomination we won't easily be able to see these films. Let me know what you all think

Mongol on the computer screen

I don't know what you guys all think but I feel like Mongol would have been much more enjoyable had I seen it on the big screen. Some people don't seem to mind watching tv shows or movies on their computers and I usually don't mind but depending on the program it makes a big difference. Mongol is a film that needs to be seen on the big screen due to its scope and epic feeling. I couldn't appreciate the vast landscapes and the amazing costumes and sets on a tiny presentation. I wonder if the sacrifice of quality is worth the gain in easy access?

Some thougts on movies current and upcoming

I saw the movie Taken, this weekend and although it was a predictable action flick I really enjoyed it. Liam Neeson was great in the movie and the action scenes were really well done. Not an award movie but some mindless entertainment at its best. My theatre was in a bit of a rut, not getting any good movies but recently we've been getting some better fare. Frost/Nixon was great, Gran Torino was amazing, This coming Friday We'll be getting Slumdog Millionaire which I'm very excited to see. The films that we should have got at my theatre but we didn't include Revolutionary Road, The Wrestler and The Wrestler. It's tough getting these indie/art films, when we do get them its weeks after their initial release. We try to get our company to get them to us when they come out but for whatever reason they do not listen to us or its just not something they can do. But it gets frustrating when they ask us what we can do to increase business and our answer is to get us these good movies, and then we get them but weeks later.

Anways if anyone has seen these movies I'd love to hear what you thought or have anything you want to ask or say please comment.

intro

Hi all! my name is Mike Cappiello, this is currently my 5th year attending BSC and will be here for another year after this semester. Im from brockton but am now living in Taunton. I work at a movie theatre in Sharon and East Bridgewater. I really enjoy movies of all sorts, books, tv, video games and friends and family. Please feel free to comment and introduce yourself or to discuss movies or any other topic. Look forward to hearing from you all