Movie Review Name: Course: College: Tutor: Date: The Raiders of the Lost Ark movie review Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark was a movie worth watching. I was skeptical of watching an action fiction movie especially one that was based on ancient mysteries but this movie gave a different impression. The movie is about the much revered and talked about the ancient ark of covenant last documented in the Jewish holy book; the Old Testament. Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford, teaches archeology at a US college and is contacted by American military intelligence officers to try locating the lost Ark which was being sought also by the Nazis. The link to getting the Ark is a piece of retrieved ancient Peruvian golden idol that Jones had got only to be taken by force by his rival archeologist; Belloq.
The movie mocks the West in stereotypes of character and plot which focuses and involves mixture of goofs and gags. The moral was focused more on bad guys winning and the Rock Ridge’s mythical town being seized by the easy union of railroad robber lords and corrupted state officials. References: http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC03folder/BlazSaddlGolden.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_early_American_film http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blazing_Saddles Blazing Saddles – The movies
But most notably, it is the “doomsday device” that is the primary focus of the film’s satire. Even though these devices would obliterate all living things on earth, there was still debates about who “won.” Even though a “doomsday” device did not exist, mutually assured destruction, did. It can been seen as analogous in the sense that if a nuke attack occurred, the response would be even more deadly, assuring the death of nearly everyone. The characters in the film do symbolize various types of ideas and people. General Buck Turgidson is the head of the SAC Commander and a rabid anti-communist.
Neel Erickson Writing 1, Section 23 Essay 1: Analytical Argument 2/13/2012 Duality of Monstrosity and Humanity The depiction of monsters in film varies greatly from genre to genre, though they are commonly portrayed as soul-less beings with intent to kill for no apparent reason. Such a monster often embodies some human characteristic, whether it is in image or a certain aspect of personality, but the monster is void of other characteristics sufficient enough to consider it remotely human. Creators of such images of monsters aim to unnerve the audience with the idea of a creature remotely different from plausible nature, and to do so the creator draws a fine line between “normal” and monstrosity. In the alternate ending to I am Legend, director Francis Lawrence skirts this line, revealing an aspect of humanity behind monstrosity, and monstrosity behind humanity. Lawrence focuses on three different groups of beings: the indistinct creature, the alpha creature, and the ideal human (the character Neville).
According to John, they are “cunning, but not intelligent.” Despite this, the Indians manage to surround the group and take them hostage. These scenes clearly establish John, Michael, and the Lost Boys as an analog for the white colonizer. The group wishes to locate the “Injuns” for different, yet equally othering reasons. The Lost Boys wish to locate and destroy the natives because they represent a threat, albeit an imaginary threat, to the Lost Boys’ livelihood. The film even goes so far as to group the Natives with animals that the Lost Boys wish to hunt, and explicitly state that the Lost Boys wish to fight the Natives, as in the song
Friedrich W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922) is a seminal work of its kind. As a silent film, the fantasy travels beyond the theatrical backdrops of Melies’ Trip to the Moon to on-site locations in Bavaria. As a vampire movie, it is one of the earliest of its genre. As an example of German Expressionist cinema, trick editing supercedes the distorted mise-en-scene of its predecessors. Because Nosferatu is so expansive, scholars typically focus on only one or two aspects of the film, thus neglecting to discuss how discreet elements of style and narrative might work holistically.
The movie is about a man named Willard who is sent into Southeast Asia. At the time crazy things were happening, and Willard was sent to find out about the craziness and well as kill Kurtz, a man who was just as delusional as the place itself. The book and movie have some differences, but because the movie is really based upon the book there are a lot more similarities than differences. One similarity that is very obvious in both is close to the ending, how Kurtz really wanted to kill the craziness happening around him. Both the novel and the movie both focus more on the traveling to get to the chaos, which too, is very alike.
In Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Dr. Frankenstein reveals to the world a new threat. His man-like creation is seen as hideously grotesque, and he grows to despise everything about its natural form. In my research, though, I have come to see a different side of the story. The theory I chose to expound upon is that Dr. Frankenstein's creation is not born a monster, but rather a form of life with a mindset and consciousness no different than our own, shunned by a society of labels and judgment. I became interested in this subject after seeing many cases of bias and ignorance of certain cultures of our own society.
In contrast to this, Tim Burton uses the idea of a conventional monster in his film “Edward Scissorhands” (1990) to uncover the abstruse reality of the monster not being an individual, but being society itself. A similar idea to Burtons straying from the traditional monster idea is Robert Louis Stevensons novella “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” published in 1886 which explores the differences in levels of the social hierarchy and the unseen imperfections in a theoretically ideal society. “Nosferatu” directed by F.W. Murnau in 1922 is set in post World War I Europe, a time of closed society surrounded by the superstitious beliefs of dangerous, monstrous creatures that stemmed from traditional myths and legends. An appropriation of Bram Stokers “Dracula”, Nosferatu explores the concept of the traditional monster with a hideous physical appearance and a motivation to kill driven by the need for survival, a vampire.
“Perceptions of Invasive Species: The Cane Toad” Invasive species are often given a bad name. The word “invasive” itself naturally has negative connotations, which is perhaps why when people hear the term “invasive species” they automatically regard the species with animosity. As Davis et al. (2011) aptly put: ‘'non-native' species have been vilified for driving beloved 'native' species to extinction and generally polluting 'natural' environments. Intentionally or not, such characterizations have helped to create a pervasive bias against alien species that has been embraced by the public, conservationists, land managers and policy-makers, as well by as many scientists, throughout the world.’ The issue of native and invasive species is not clear, even though we tend to value native species and view invasive species with suspicion.