Divergent

So yes, over the fall break I watched this movie. I am definitely not a fan of the new teen book movies. But, I still watched it and I was impressed. If I looked at this movie as more of an action film than a teen book movie I liked i†. The characters were very fun to watch in their vunerability and strength. The cinematography In this movie was what made It acceptable. If it had been bad I may not have been able to watch it . The cinematography really kept the mood through the whole movie.

Toy Story

This is my favorite movie of all time so it only makes sense for me to blog on it. I am very proud of Pixar for making such an incredible movie for the first full length animated movie. This movie still stands up in its animation to movies being made today. You don't get that gross feeling of bad animation you can get from other movies that were animated in the nineties. This was released the year I was born so I have a feeling of ownership when it comes to this movie. Also the target audience for this movie was for kids so I grew up watching it. 

The character Buzz Lightyear will still be my favorite character in film till I star as a character for Disney some day. When I was little I would've don anything for a Buzz Lightyear toy. 

intersteller

This is the best movie I have seen this year. If you are wanting to see an original that is good see this movie. I feel that the last year has been just a lot of sequels this movie is not. There is still the Nolan charm that is so special about his movie in interstellar. His twist endings time bending and emotional characters maze you as you watch.

The acting was my favorite part of this movie all of the characters, even the little children and ninety year old women, were perfectly believable in their portrayal. I felt like I was watching gravity but with an actually good story so I was very happy.

Christmas Vacation

National Lampoons Christmas Vacation is a christmas comedy that I watch for the first time this year. "It is definitely one of the top three christmas movies I have ever seen. (Herb)" I am impressed by how entertained it kept me. hopefully some other people can see it this year too it is worth a watch.
There are plenty of quotable moments so it is a great movie to watch with friends. Hopefully everyone who watches this feels the same as me. There are some moments that are a little mature. So, I don't think this is meant to be a family film, but it is still pretty innocent in nature. The characters in this movie impressed me. I would not be surpassed to find this movie is after book.
 

King Kong

King Kong is an action movie that starts off slow but starts to pick up the pace later on down the movie. They start off in New York city and are trying to get money to fund a film on an uncharted island. They end up having the ship, but the people are funding for the film end up backing out at the last second. In a rush, the main character, Chris Rock, runs away to start the journey to this island and produce the best film of the century. After a close encounter with the cops, they just barley slip away on the boat and set sail for Skull Island. No one knew on the boat what they were about to get into, but Chris Rock had his mind set on making this film and capturing the essence of the 40 foot ape on camera.

This movie was a good movie but not the best ever to be produced. This movie did however capture every bit of my attention through its magnificent special effects. The King Kong fight seen with the dinosaurs was probably one of the best animal fight scenes I have ever witnessed. Then King Kong is actually a really nice beast and helps the young lady. This movie was not one of my favorites but it still was memorable.

Holes

There is one movie that I could watch over and over and absolutely never get tired of it! This movie is Holes with Shia Labouf when he was indeed famous. I love how easy the movie is to track. The characters all end up being connected in some way or some how. The history of the land and the present time flashback are easy to follow and not get mixed up with each other. The timing of jokes is also impeccable. I love the small things that holes does well too.

Just filming in the middle of nowhere with a lot of holes has to be a fun scene. This movie has a fantastic message to it too. It shows that not all criminals will stay bad. It also shows that sometimes you are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. There is always a bigger plan working itself out that you cannot see. Sometimes just trust is the only thing that you have so you must honor it always.

Pixar Short Films

I absolutely loved the Pixar short films that we were shown in class a few weeks ago. Those short films really took me back to the good ole days when Toy Story was the hot topic movie! My favorite is probably the old man playing chess with himself. Then out of nowhere another old man comes up and looks just like him. He is about to beat him and then the old man cheats and beats him. The look he gives the other old man is absolutely priceless in my mind!

I also really enjoyed the blue birds one. I always thought it was hilarious how the awkward bird had no idea he was different. He was the happy and jolly the whole film. The laugh that they gave the bird was very funny also. His laugh just made me laugh too. Once the birds were thrown into the air and naked, I thought the awkward big bird would mock them. He just laughed at them still. It gave off a very message on how to deal with adversity.

The Avengers

I recently watch The Avengers for the first time ever last week. I had never really seen any comic book movies before. I had seen one Iron Man before but that was it. I had never seen Thor or Captain American. I just never really got into the comic book hero movies I guess. It is safe to say that I am officially hooked on the hero movies. I absolutely loved The Avengers movie. It was it's own movie in itself. I did not need any back story to understand what was going on.

The Avengers really captured my attention the whole time. There was never a dull moment in the movie. There were multiple twist and turns throughout the movie and it kept me on my toes. I really believed that they were doomed at the end. I wanted to believe otherwise but I just could not do it. This was a very fun movie to watch and I truly to recommend it.

Coach Carter

This is my favorite movie by far. I absolutely love every single aspect of what this movie stands for. It stands for peace, justice, and equality. Coach Carter is about a ghetto, inner-city high school basketball team that is flat out horrible. They get a new coach who used to be an All-state player while attending that high school. Coach Carter is his name. He plans not only to turn the basketball program around, but he also plans to turn the lives of his players around.

The players are very selfish and also do not live in the best place on the block. Coach Carter plans to keep these boys out of trouble while on the streets but also in the classroom. Coach Carter tries to make these bouts excel in everything they do so that they can make it in life. He tries to do all of this while in basketball season. The results get better but they may not be enough when Coach Carter gets nearly fired. This movie is a fantastic movie and it will teach anyone a lesson about life.

Shooter

One of my all-time favorite movies is one called shooter. It stars Mark Walhberg as the main character named Bobby Lee Swagger. I know right, it has to be a great movie with the main character named swagger. Swagger is set up by the government to assassinate the president. He ends up getting away and then trying to clear his name with the help of an old friend's widow and a degraded FBI agent. There are many shooting scenes that may seem unrealistic but it's a movie, just enjoy it.

The whole scenario of Swagger running for his life when really he is the good guy seems intriguing to me. It makes me think how many times this may actually be a true story. The wrong man getting framed for a crime that he did not commit. There is a lot of action and also many twist and turns in the plot. You may think you have the ending figured out but I promise you, you don't.

Polar Express

I have decided that since the Christmas season is here I have to watch at least one Christmas movie a week. I loved watching the 25 days until Christmas countdown on ABC Family as a kid. Those movies made my childhood pretty much. I stumbled across a movie called the Polar Express this week. I have become a huge fan of this movie now! I never thought I would pay so much attention to the animation so closely. It was not my decision to pay attention though. It was so fantastic that I had to notice it. The children looked as real as I could have imagined. The sing-a-longs were very catchy and they tunes stayed in my head. 

The message behind it is very inspirational and I did not think I could take anything away from a children's movie, but I did. The love and compassion that is shown is really touching. Believing in something like Santa is a little bit like believing in God. Amazing things will happen when your eyes are opened to the truth. I loved this movie and it has become a top 5 Christmas movie.

Total Recall

I happened to have my roommate talk me into staying up late to watch this movie that came out in 2012. It is called Total Recall. At first I saw some futuristic city with robots and what not and I was very skeptical of what this movie was going to be like. I am not a huge fan of a sic-fi films or future robot dominance films. For some reason this movie captured my interested and held me. I could not stop watching the movie because of the non-stop action. There was always something going on. The whole movie has the viewer questioning what is real and what is a "dream."

I can honestly admit that I had no idea what the protagonists should have done half of the time. There is one scene in particular where he must choose between his best friend and a lady he just met. That is a very tough life decision. One wrong decision changed the whole movie. This movie will keep anyone on the edge of their seat and I recommend it to everyone.

Godzilla

Godzilla the movie completely blew my mind. I had never seen any of the first Godzilla movies so I could never really judge this one based on the old ones. I knew the story behind Godzilla but that was pretty much it. I was totally confused at first when I saw the big dinosaur monster at the beginning. I knew that was not what Godzilla was suppose to look like. It was throwing me off until the son of the scientist started to clear up all of the confusion. I knew everything was about to be bad when it started in Japan though. Crazy stuff always happens in Japan in movies.

I grew rather attached to the idea of Godzilla. I was with the Japanese scientist from the beginning in just letting the monsters battle it out themselves. Clearly the bullets they had were not going to do anything. The ending of the movie was what really made the movie for me though. Godzilla comes out of nowhere to handle business. There was just enough human intervention to keep the role of humans relevant too. The nuke at the end had me feeling some type of way though. I was not a fan at all of that but it still completed the ending. It was a great movie and anyone who has not seen it is missing out.

How I Met Your Mother

How I met your mother is an excited tv series that consist of different stories a character, Ted, is telling his children on how he met their mother. All of the episodes have many different emotions or attitudes that make the show interesting. There are 5 main characters, Ted, Lilly, Marshal, Barney, and Robbin.

What I love about this tv show is that it follows a strict plot throughout the whole series. After every episode there is another reason or story that follows the next. Many different type of people can relate to the show, and this is the reason why so many different viewers watch it. I recommend this show to anyone who is looking for a new show to watch.

Walking Dead

I was first introduced to the Walking Dead earlier this year due to my roommate and I getting bored and getting on Netflix. This decision to watch the first episode has extremely ruined my life. I am completely hooked on it. We both watched the first 3 seasons in a matter of about 2 weeks. It was out of control honestly because it was so addicting. Once we learned that we would have to wait for the weekly episode to come out on Sunday it was devastating. We had been so spoiled by Netflix by having back-to-back episodes and without commercials. Waiting for new episodes to come out is killing me.

The Walking Dead is addicting because the characters are very relatable. There are many different characters for the viewer to relate to also. This is why it has become so popular. The characters are rounded and static and they have many different scenarios to be in. The shows seems very real to the viewer because of how real the zombies look and because of how real the emotions are in the characters. Do not worry, I will not say anything about the actual plot because I am not a spoiler. The Walking Dead is simply addicting and I regret nothing when it comes to viewing it.

Homefront

Homefront is a movie about an ex-DEA agent who was in a crisis that went terribly wrong. The main character, Phil Broker, was undercover in a biker gang who was drug trafficking meth around the United States. After his cover was broken, he was forced to retaliate against the gang after earning their trust.  Broker is exiled to a small town down south with his nine year old daughter Maddy. His daughter fights off a boy who was bullying her at school and this sets in motion a round of events that end in his direct confrontation with the local Meth drug lord. His past history with the biker gang also enters the arena, making matters more complex. But he has a mission in his mind to protect his daughter and he is ready to pay any cost that it demands.

The movie was an excited thriller that did very well with the camera work and special effects. I felt as if the plot was well directed too. Throughout the whole movie, I was on the edge of my seat and was waiting to see what would happen next. The gun shots could of been a little more realistic but all in all it was a well thought out movie. 

Edge of Tomorrow: Good film poorly marketed

Tonight I finally saw Edge of Tomorrow, or Live Die Repeat or whatever they're calling it, and I gotta say that it was a great movie although it was horribly marketed. The premise of the film is basically that of video game where you continue to die till you beat the game so to speak. At the time of it's release my girlfriend didn't want to go see it because it looked cheesy. This coming from the same girl who saw Amazing Spiderman 2....smh. I'll never see that cluster bomb of a movie. I usually wait to see things on RedBox any way so I didn't care.

Going into this I was skeptical because of what I had heard with the speculation surrounding it, but keep in mind it was mainly from people who hadn't seen it either. People always judging a book by it's cover....but when I saw that Cinema Sins actually took some sins off at certain points and he was calling it a good movie I knew I was going to like it.

Without giving anything away, I personally believe that it is one of Tom Cruise's best flicks and Emily Blunt looks like a fox. I appreciated how they didn't CGI everything *cough*blue Pocahontas*cough* and seemed really grounded for a film that was basically groundhog day on steroids. I highly recommend everyone to see it.

Edge of Tomorrow is just proof that marketing is a key part for a film to be "successful" these days. I mean look at Guardians of the Galaxy. Sure, it's a great movie and it's made by Marvel, but it has a talking tree and talking raccoon. If a film like that can be successful then I don't see why a lot of other movies can't be.

 (Like I said, a straight up fox)

Broadcasting Presentation

I greatly enjoyed the presentation given in class by my fellow student Victor McCarty. He really kept my attention the entire 25 minutes of it. The brief history was actually enjoyable to listen to and the visual aids helped keep my attention. I am a broadcast fusion media major so I know some of the problems that he was referring to in his presentation. I believe in his theories of broadcasting and I also believe that here at Huntington we have the best broadcasts in the Crossroads League. I would definitely like to keep it that way also.

I appreciate all that Victor showed on Thursday. It gave some people an insight on what we do in FDN sports and how we actually got there. It shows how broad of a major we have here at Huntington. This is a good thing because it will get you experienced in many different aspects of broadcasting, film, and animation. Victor did a great job capturing this concept and I appreciate it.

Olympus Has Fallen

I just watched a fantastic movie called Olympus Has Fallen! This movie is pure propaganda against the Koreans. It gets your blood flowing and heart racing. This movie makes you really think about what could happen in the future to America. We say that we will not negotiate with terrorists but when our president's health comes into question we seem to panic. It brings up valid points of how someone might be able to overtake the White House. Do I think it is actually possible? No I believe no one could actually take it from us, especially in the manner in which the Koreans did it in the movie. I believe that the Secret Service could have taken down many more of the bad guys and that they would not break protocol when comes to bringing people down to the safe bunker.

This was a great movie all in all though. I enjoyed the special effects of the bombs and missiles going off. The gun fire actually looked real and the bullet holes looked very realistic too. The bullets did the amount of damage I believe is actually possible too. It was a fun movie to watch and I would recommend it to anyone.

End of the semester

As for my final blog i just wanted to say that i enjoyed the class. it was very interesting and i learned alot about the development of art and media art. I know alot of you see me as an outsider because i do not feel the same way about life as most of you do but thats ok. im glad that we has some of the conversations in class even though some were made out to make me out to be a horrible person but thats what helps us grow as people. i wish i would have done more of the readings and actually keep up with the class. it was fun and i hope i get a c in the class

sniper

I am a huge action and military film lover. one of my favorite series of movies is the sniper series. its about a sniper that goes in by himself and his spotter. the thing that i like about it is the realest that comes with what they do. in the first one the are in middle of the jungle back in the Vietnam days and have a sniper trying to follow them and they have to somehow kill the sniper to make sure that they can complete there objective. Snipers go in alone sometimes to take out targets and usually have only a couple guys with them. they have to track for miles to get to the location after being airlifted there. its just so real that some of the stuff could have really happened in real life and you would never know. i defiantly recommend that you watch the series.

best tv show

Today i had a friend come up to my room and wake me up. the first thing that she said was are you really watching phineas and ferb. ever since the show has came out i have enjoyed watching it. it is always making me laugh. one of the best things about it is that they are so young and so smart but no one thinks anything about it. there sister is always trying to get them into trouble and there mom gets super mad when she finds about about what they do all summer. I love watching it because of the way the humor is in the show. its so subtle. i laugh so hard every time some asks or says arent you alittle to young to build so and so. like duh what would make you think that. i also love that they always get there supply in like 20 minutes. like that could ever really happen.

Destiny

I dont know about any of you but i am extremely excited to play the new destiny game. from watching videos abut it it looks amazing. the graphics and story line look like it is just going to be amazing. It brings that space alien feel like in the halo series with Activison making the game play unbelievable. im excited to play this when i get a chance to go home, It looks like the next big thing besides COD and Halo.

broadcasting

The presentation over broadcasting was very interesting. it was very cool to see how it went from being only spoken over the radio to now with the internet. When we watched the short clip about Richard Nixon and JFK its crazy to think about what would have happened if that was never broadcasted. chances are that JFK would have lost the campaign and the world we be so much different then what it is now. There would be no assassination of JFK in the history books. Your whole history from then on would be completely different. it is remarkable to think about it.

agents of shield

i know i said i dont like scifi and made up stuff that will probably not happen in our life but i have always liked superheros. i just recently stopped liking scifi. i love the avengers, captain america, hulk, etc... there are my favorite group besides the ninja turtles. Last week i start to watch Agents of shield which is a tv series about shield after the attack at new york. yesterday i finished the first episode and would have to say if you havent yet seen it and like super heros to give it a try. it is a wonderful series that takes you into what shield was really about in the avenger movies.

Video Killed Richard Nixon

The presentations on Thursday were all really great! I enjoyed Evie's one on horror survival games. It kind of puts me in the mood to play them, even though I get scared really easily. I get scared when I accidentally die in Morrowind, which is not a horror game. Still, I might try my hand at some more of them. Maybe I'll go for the less realistic ones and play them with the lights on.

Also, the broadcasting one. I learned a lot of interesting things about that one. It was fascinating to see the first news broadcast and hear the first radio broadcast. It's amazing how far we've come since those days.
I'm kind of sad about MTV, though. I wish it was still all music all the time because I like music a whole lot.

Ben's presentation about musical films was also really good. I think he was very wise about picking which clips to show us. The dancing one from The Fiddler on the Roof was intense! And I kind of want to see Les Mis now because of the singing dialogue. (I've never seen Les Mis, it's true. Please do not stone me to death or whatever it is that you do to people who haven't seen/read classic stories like that.)

Ghetto

Going back to the topic about music videos it was crazy to see how they got better going from having no people singing in the video to them trying to tell a story. i was listening to Ghetto by August Alsina and thought it was sweet how they made the video to really express the lyrics. the lyrics talk about a girl form the ghetto that doesnt need anything to be great and how he only wants her. through out the video it shows how happy he is with her and a cool part was that instead of her driving a fancy car she drove an old cutless. i thin the way they are starting to really show the meaning of the lyrics in videos has made music videos so much better

Seal team 8

Today i watched a movie about a navy seal team that goes on a mission and when they recover the objective they get sent on a whiled goose chase to find a uranium mine. They have to go on this second mission by there self and have no air support or back up. during the run they get back stabbed by the lady they rescued and 4 out of 6 seals die. after watching this movie it opened my eyes ad made me question how many mission like this are done a year when a team goes on a man hunt with no Intel and support. its like they were going into a trap from the beginning.

Well that's that....

I know that there have been a number of people that grumble about having to blog and think that it's really stupid, but I've actually really enjoyed it if that counts for anything! It's been interesting to creep through the blogs and read the posts to see what people have to say when nobody thinks anyone is reading their posts. Looking back at everything we've discussed in class and what's transitioned onto the blogs and even just the random things that people bring up on here about film, animation and anything digital media, I've realized what a brilliant group of people I'm attending school with. There are so many of you that have already shown such passion and talent for what you're doing and that is such an inspiration.

I cannot wait to see what the next couple of years bring to us all, and I know that at least one of y'all is gonna be famous! ;)

STAY REAL DMA STUDENTS!

Star Wars

What is all the hype about the stars wars coming out. ive seen every star wars movie and dont understand why people like them. the whole story line and everything just isnt interesting to me. I guess i just dont like scifi because stuff that isnt real and probably never will exist makes no sense to me. I dont like watching movies that take place in a different universe other then our own. I look at people like chewbacca and Yoda and just thing where in that hell did these characters come from. it makes no sense to me because there has never been a creature like them. i just don't understand why people like to watch things that will never be apart if the world that we live in.

Video Games

There is no doubt in anyones mind that video games have taken over some people's lives. This is extreme gaming and considered unhealthy by most people. However, gaming in its self is not a bad thing. It is a little bit like alcohol. I stress the words little bit also! Both of them ask you to consume responsibly it seems like the more you take in, the more you stop acting like your true self. I am not at all opposed to video games though. Video games do allow you to let stress out and channel it elsewhere. Video games are pure fun too.

Nothing is better to me than just starring blankly at a video game for hours when you just need to relax. Simply staring at that TV screen is and not having to think is a wonderful thing after long hours of studying! I am not saying that making this apart of your daily routine is healthy but every once and a while just being lazy after a long days work is perfect.

Ok Go!

The new music video that Ok Go has out is amazing! The title to the song is called I Won't Let You Down! We watched this video in class in Professor Leeper was not there I believe. I could not believe that the producers were able to make this video! The camera angles and all of the movement that was implemented in the process of creating this music video just blew my mind. I have no idea how the Ok Go group came up with this idea for the video. You knew it had to be out of America because of the futuristic scooters that they were riding on.

I wish I knew how they got the overhead view with the umbrellas. My guess would have to be that it was a drone that they flew up and zoomed out but I am not an expert and I will not try to act like one. I am easily fascinated with the little things like that in music videos. The details were completely on point for that production and it officially blew my mind! I would like to thank Ok Go for making a good song to go along with the catchy video also.

SWERY

SWERY65, or Hidetaka Suehiro, is probably my second favorite game director ever (No one, and I mean NO ONE will ever beat Hideki Kamiya). You probably know him from Deadly Premonition, which is gaming's first notable cult classic game.  He also made Spy Fiction (haven't played it yet), and D4 (PLEASE BUY THIS I WANT SEASON 2).

(this is probably the catchiest video game song ever)

Swery's work has a very interesting style. Despite being a Japanese director, his games are blatantly targeted towards a western audience. That means that his games tell Western style stories, with the insanity one expects from Japanese games. In fact, many reviewers have pointed out that Deadly Premonition is essentially the TV series Twin Peaks, but with hilarious amounts of insanity added.

If you have Playstation Plus, Deadly Premonition is free this month, so if it sounds like something you would want to try, there's really nothing to lose.

"... You see that, Zach? F.K.... in the coffee!"

Semester reflection

Although I am not a DMA major, I thoroughly enjoyed this semester.

This class has changed the way I choose movies. Previously, I only watched movies that had good reputations or were recommended to me. Of all the films we watched in class, I can honestly say that the only ones I've heard of prior were the Pixar shorts and most of the music videos.

 I've noticed that my tastes in movies is far more selective than my taste in games. I only see like three or four movies in a year. Very few of them are newer either, because there isn't anything I really want to watch on the Hollywood or indie sides. I don't look at games in terms of genres or like "That's a western/japanese/indie/whatever game". I just play whatever I think looks like I would enjoy, which means that my game collection could be described as eclectic. 

Conversely, my personal DVD/ Blu Ray collection only has the Dark Knight trilogy, and a bunch of random anime movies and series, along with a ton of Simpsons box sets. While a lot of that stuff is on Netflix or similar services, the only way to watch a lot of films like we saw in class is through DVDs that are likely expensive.

Off topic: why does there need to be a captcha?

Peter Pan

I watched Peter Pan Live yesterday, and I fell in love with the production design. It was really bright and colorful, and I loved the layout. I love production design, and their design just reinforced that. They really paid attention to the small details, and that helped the story grow.

I also appreciated the fact that they actively sought out native actresses for the role of Tiger Lilly. They also changed her song to  include native language. I know that native actors are often passed over, or forced to play a very stereotypical representation of native Americans. More films need to cast their actors accurately and include more diversity.

Thanks, Sleeper!

Even though I am not a DMA major this class was probably one of the most interesting classes I have ever taken.  I am definitely happy that I took this class because I learned so many different things that are actually interesting to me and that I will (hopefully) remember.  I never realized that there were so many different kinds of animation and a lot of my questions on animation got answered during this course.  There were certain kinds of animation that I had been very curious about for a while but did not know how to go about researching them.  I love how we covered so many different kinds of media and I never felt like I was lost, especially since I’m a psychiatric nursing major and not a DMA major.  I feel like I left this class half the time contemplating my major because the stuff we had gone over in class just fascinated me so much.

Also, (and I don’t give a shit if you think I’m trying to be a suck up right now because I’m not) I think Sleeper is a really cool guy and a great teacher.  His style of teaching is definitely the best way I learn.  I really appreciated how he didn't shove religion down my throat this entire semester and was open about different theories and such.  Thanks for a great semester and class, Sleeper!

This gif has nothing to do with anything but I had no idea what to put for a visual aid and I wasn't about to not put anything.  Plus, Jack Skellington, is amazing. 

Music's impact on films

I am curious to get some feedback on this topic but since it is the end of the semester it probably won’t happen, but if you see this feel free to comment your thoughts.  How important do you think music is in a film?  I feel like music plays a rather significant part in film and without it we would be somewhat lost during the film but I suppose it also depends on the film. 

Picture this though.  A man is outside with his beloved dog when all of a sudden a car hits it and the dog dies.  The music here can really help determine what the next scene is going to look like.  They could play very sad violin music to help express how heartbroken the owner is or they could choose to play a hardcore death metal song that would help express that this owner is about to open a can of whoop ass on this guy that just killed his dog.  I honestly think that is a pretty good example because I feel like music matters the most during very tragic events.  Without music (or the proper music choice) to guide us through films I think that we might be a little mislead throughout films.

Christian Films

One of the major things I got out of this class was when we were talking about Christian films.  Sure, a film can be produced to try and convert people but what atheist is going to go see a Christian film in the first place for that to even happen?  Probably none? Exactly.  Unless they go to just to critique the whole movie and to laugh at it or something along the lines of that. 

I think if someone wants to make films to try and evangelize and/or convert people the Christianity needs to be a more subtle aspect of the movie.  If there is a plot about something entirely different from Christianity but Christianity is still wedged in there it may get the wheels turning of the people who are not Christian.  Plus, if the Christianity is simply kind of snuck in there then the people who do not believe in God might actually be tempted to go see it.  People do not like religion being shoved down their throats so people are not going to go out of their way so that they can be told in an indirect way that they are a terrible person for not believing in God.

Indie Game: The Movie

When we watched Indie Game: The Movie in class, I don’t know if it was because I took an Adderall or what, but it kept me watching the entire time.  The creators of Fez, Braid, and Super Meat Boy all had such extreme passion and dedication for their games.  I know there are some people who do not necessarily like some of the creators of these games but you cannot deny the fact that they basically put their entire real lives on hold so that they could create these video games. 

Something that really hit me the most in this movie is when Phil Fish said that if he could not finish this game that he would probably kill himself.  That was a shocking thing to say but I feel like I understand him.  Have you ever worked really hard on something and then once you starting to finish it the project gets ruined?  It was be that kind of upset times 100 for this guy because he has spent so much time on his game. 

When it came to the creators of Super Meat Boy I think I admired them the most.  They were not making this game for anyone besides themselves.  They wanted to make a game that the thirteen-year-old version of themselves would love and that is exactly what they did.  The best part about their story in particular is that it all worked out in the end which was nice to see.

Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy was one of my all-time favorite cartoons ever.  The weirdness that show brought to Cartoon Network was hilarious.  The show was so successful that it had a full 7 seasons.  Mandy was such a devious little girl and I found it hilarious how much smarter she was than Billy.  Yet, I found Billy’s idiocy to be the most hilarious part of the show.  If you watched that show and did not start laughing at least once from some of the weird crap that kid did, you might just be dead.  Even Billy’s dad was pretty stupid and it just made the show that much funnier.

I really liked Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy because they did not always end up finding a great solution to their problems.  The show was chaotic but all went together so well at the same time.  Its madness that it captured truly kept me intrigued as a kid and even now I want to go watch it because I am starting to remember how amazing that show was.   I remember when I was little I always kind of secretly wanted to be like Mandy because she was such a little bad ass.  Everyone thought she was a little girl but she showed them with her intelligence and by being so sinister all at the same time.   

Class Presentations

I really liked the class presentations on Thursday.  They were very educational and taught me more about the history of each subject.  I was especially happy to hear the history of musical films since I grew up watching Fiddler on the Roof, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Calamity Jane, and many more.  I hope to learn more from the other presentations.

Star Wars

I love Star Wars.  My sister and I grew up watching episodes four through six.  It was one of those films that we enjoyed watching together and would even have a star wars marathon (episode four through six).  I only have to say that one through three are terrible movies.  In class I liked George Lucas in Love, that was really funny and tied everything about Star Wars in one short film.

Big Hero 6

Big Hero 6 was awesome!

I personally loved it. I loved the character design, the environment, the story, everything. There were some complaints from others I've heard that the story was predictable, but I think it was still a fun ride.

The animation was stelar, the fluid cartoony movement of characters was so much fun. Their designs were also super cool and fun. 

I especially loved that there was a preppy girl amongst the scientists, not often enough is it appealed that girls can be girly and still do things like science or anything else other than standing around being pretty.

I love when films like Big Hero 6 come out, films with original stories. I enjoy this because often I'm tired of the same-old-same-old Disney Princesses and other various franchises. It was a super hero story with a new twist on it. The setting of the movie was very fun, it was futuristic with advanced technology, yet modern and homey at the same time.

Totally worth the watch!

The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride is the most classic perfect movie of all time. It has literally everything you need in a movie. Action, adventure, mystery, a damsel in distress (it is a kissing story though, ew). It does have the most overused quote of all time, that whole “My name is Inigo Montoya..” bit, but thats okay because even though everyone on earth has seen the movie, not everyone realizes how much value it has to the world. Without the Princess Bride, there would be like, no basis for any classic movies ever (not literally but its really a good classic movie) Of all the adventures i have ever seen, The Princess Bride remains my favorite and most well rounded story.

Finding Neverland

This is the fictional retelling of the story behind the story of Peter Pan. By filming the movie from the perspective of J.M. Barrie the use of imaginative artistic scenes gets into the writer’s head and adds a beautiful artistic spin on an otherwise dry story set in britain. The drama evokes an emotional response, but the beautiful spinning scenes and landscapes that they seem to pull straight from JM Barrie’s own head add a wonderful texture to the film. He connects with a woman and her children through his stories, inspiring a young writer and finding something of a new love, while tearing apart his own marriage, sadly. The story is being taken on Broadway soon so thats cool.

Nick and Nora's

Nick & Nora’s Infinite Playlist is probably one of the more popular and mainstream indie movies out there, and like many indie movies, its centered around teenagers and music. The main theme is definitely romance, Nick is a bass player in a band with a slew of crappy names who’s in month 12 or something of his recovering heartbreak from his ex girlfriend Tris (Actually its only been 3 week, two days, and 23 hours, but he's so miserable it seems like he's been moping forever) 

Norah is Tris’s friend who is enveloped in music. They take a night long adventure to find the band Where’s Fluffy and fall in love basically, its a super cute movie and there’s not really a whole lot of plot to it. If there was no music or no romance this movie would be pretty much terrible, there is a piece of gum that travels from mouth to mouth to toilet to mouth to mouth to the back of some guys head, but that piece of gum is the only adventure happening other than the one in Nick and Norah’s hearts.

House

House M.D. is a medical drama centered around a professional diagnostician named Gregory House. Pretty much no hospitals have a diagnostics department, because thats part of the everyday work of doctors, so the fact that he is Head of Diagnostics means he’s just that good. He treats mysteries. House is cynical, bitter, pained by an injury from his past, and above all, brilliant. He takes medical cases that are mysteries because he doesn't care about patients, he cares about the thrill of solving the case, and his character draws many parallels to Sherlock Holmes, between brilliance and addiction to substances (in one episode there is actually a character who makes an attempt on House’s life, who is literally named Moriarty, so thats cool) The themes in House are very much centered around episode based mystery, and the draw of romance or series long plot are only minor pieces in the show, which is unlike a lot of shows, and a nice change of pace.

How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother is probably the best TV show on earth. It takes you through nine seasons following Ted Mosby and his friends through heartbreak and love and friendships and ridiculous adventures. Told from the perspective of a father to his kids, Ted’s stories are emotional and funny all at once. From his rich playboy friend Barney Stinson to his practically (and eventually) married friends Marshall and Lily, his stories are never bland and they always seem to come back to Robin, the series leaves you hanging constantly, hoping he will finally tell us that Robin is the love of his life, and sometimes he does. But it never lasts long enough to give us real hope. The story portrays so many different takes on love that it’s impossible to be angry with any character for too long before they're dragged back into friendship or romance, and the ride begins all over again.

Osmosis Jones

I simply MUST do a blog on Osmosis Jones.

Osmosis Jones has to be probably my favorite animated movie of all time. Technically it's a mix of animation and live-action. I wouldn't rave about it 

as "the best" movie ever, the live-action side of it fails to keep at the same pace as the animated portions. The live-action side of it is, if anything, bland and unnecessary.

However what I love Osmosis Jones is how much it appeals to myself as an artist, my interests and joys. The 90s feel it has, the stellar animation, the style of the way the characters and the world around them is illustrated, the character design, the character's personalities, I love it all.

And some of the concept art for the movie is freakin'awesome.

If you haven't seen it, I totally recommend it. I would warn you that the live-action scenes are dry and can be hard to sit through, but the animated fun inside the body is totally worth it.

Looking Back on This Semester

Wow, it’s hard to believe this semester is already coming to a close, it seems like it was yesterday that I was going through the orientation process. I can honestly say that while it’s been hard ate times, I have had a tremendous amount of fun. I have had the opportunity to grow academically, spiritually and socially. I’ve made friends, I’ve worked on two senior films, and I’ve worked on side project. This has been an amazing start to my four years here at Huntington University.

This class in particular has cause me to reconsider my views on film and what makes great art. It has challenged me to look beyond American films to some of the amazing work that is being done in foreign countries. While I may not always agree with what Prof. Leeper  has to say about politics and faith, I can honestly say that being in his class has force me to really think about what I believe and why I believe it. To which I say, Prof. Leeper, thank you. I cannot wait to see what the rest on my freshman year has in store. I’m looking forward to taking this journey with the rest of the freshman class.

God bless and peace out.