Photoshop

The company "Mattel" is the toy company that has had the recalls in children's toys in the recent past years.

The toys were made in China and said to have magnets that the kids could choke on, as well as lead based paint. The skull and cross bones is the universal 'Toxic waste' sign. Barbie, PollyPocket, and many other toys or products for infants were among those things that were recalled.

week eleven

Last semester, I worked back stage for the play 'Raised in Captivity'. For the most part we had nothing to do, so we were on Youtube all the time. One of the girls is really into the Hiphop style of dance, and had a whole list of videos. I couldn't remember any of the names, so while searching I came across this one. I tried to find a better one, but could not.

The quality it not good, but the show had to be amazing (if the people in the audience didn't have the flashes on their cameras on!). These dancers used black lights to make their show unique. They look to be good dancers but their use of lighting made it even more interesting to watch. (The reason I chose to do a dance video this week is because Dance CoMotion is has their semester performance April 9-11.) Instead of using just white gloves, they also use masks and poles to add to it. Hope you enjoy!

week ten

Well, since I mentioned Rent in the reaction essay, I thought it would a good idea to elaborate on it (and throw in a clip). Later, the actors mentioned are pointed out as they appear in the clip.
The clip is from the movie, but has at least five of the original cast members (from the Broadway version) playing the same characters. "Seasons of Love" is the opening song, and the tune can be heard throughout the movie.

Rent was written in the 90's by Jonathan Larson. Larson tragically died during the final dress rehearsals and never saw it on stage. It opened off Broadway but gained popularity and became the seventh longest running show.

The story is set in New York during the AIDS epidemic in the 80's. With eight main characters, their stories intertwine. Mark (on far end) is a film producer, Rodger (between Tom and Joanne) is a musician and is HIV+, Tom (sings second solo) is a computer teacher looking for work also HIV+, Benjamin (on Mimi's right) is a landlord and the only one to leave the group. Joanne (curly haired soloist) is a lawyer and Maureen's love, Angel (on left of Mark) is a HIV+ transvestite and Tom's love, Mimi (first close up) is a exotic dancer with AIDS. She falls for Rodger and is a drug addict. Finally there is Maureen (the redhead) who is a performer.

The movie takes place in the course of a year. During that time, Mark and Tom find work, Rodger writes his final song, Maureen and Joanne get married, Angel dies and Mimi nearly loses the battle to drugs. It is a musical, so be warned, but the singing and dancing is great (one of my favorites).

Reaction Essay 5

The Celluloid Closet

I found this documentary to be interesting. I did not know a lot about homosexuality in Hollywood and didn’t really pick up on its lack thereof. The only movie (that I can think of or have seen) is Rent that has both a gay and a lesbian couple. However; going along with the theme of being portrayed in a negative light, the gay couple are both HIV+. To counter act that or make it easier for the audience to deal with, the straight couples in the film are HIV+ as well; one even has the AIDS virus. Of course this play/movie was written in the 90’s and set in the 80’s during the AIDS epidemic in New York City.

Being in and around the Theatre since the sixth grade, a large population is either homosexual or a transvestite; in fact a few of my friends are. It has never bothered me, but the documentary pointed out how hard it is for them to find acceptance both in society and within themselves (which I found sad). I guess if you’re comfortable with who you are, the rest of the world should not matter.

It also made me laugh that Hollywood made a Production Code and censored themselves. I have a friend who is big on fighting censorship, but I always point out who does the censoring; the Catholic Church (not something I’m proud of as a Catholic) along with other religious groups (mostly Catholics though…) and the actual producers/writers themselves.

Reaction Essay 4

I was unable to make any of the film festival so chose to watch a documentary called Hollywood verse the Mob; Fact verse Fiction. This documentary is nine episodes long, most of which I have already watched. For this assignment I watched the final two; The Jewish Mafia and The Godfathers. The series build on one another explaining the rise and fall of the Mobs in America, and those who ran them. It does this by looking at the old film from Hollywood and showing how they related to actual events. The last two tied them all together and showed how the Mobs and crime families were all interconnected.
The Purple Gang, and Honor Thy Father were the last films to be looked at (and the ones I found most interesting). They talked about the most violent gang of all; The Purple Gang (Jewish Mafia). The rise of this gang came in the 1920’s when 2.5 million Jews immigrated to the United States. Because the poverty level was high for immigrants, the only way to make money was through crime. This gang thrived off Bootlegging, kidnapping, extortion, the selling of narcotics, gambling, car theft, and prostitution rings. Over time, this gang became the most feared because of the ruthlessness they showed. The gang was responsible for over five hundred murders in Detroit, where they were based. The gang disbanded in the early 1930s because of outside mobs taking over, and disagreements within. This was the only one of the organized crime circles that was not based on a Crime Family.
Honor Thy Father is based on revenge. New York was caught in a civil war between two old Sicilian families, only to be taken out by what was known as The Commission. The commission was made up of members from both sides of the families (younger generation) that ended the war; but only for a short time. The two families split into five and conflict arose again. In the 1960s Joe Valachi came out and told the FBI everything he knew about the crime families, causing their final downfall. The families turned on each other and started turning each other in to the authorities.
Hollywood (for the most part) was true to the actual events. The actors in The Purple Gang were wrong; instead of being Jewish, they were portrayed as Italian. At the time when the movie came out (1960) the producers knew a movie about a Jewish gang would not sell. The events in Honor Thy Father follow more closely. There is a scene where every mob boss in the nation to meet and discuss how to survive the crackdown. The meeting was raided and many were arrested.
I liked this documentary, as it looked an more recent U.S history as well as Hollywood movies. It tied two of my favorite things together (history and film) and shows how the film industry knows there history and how far off the track they will go to make the movie sell. It also shows how the organized crime unit came to be in America and how they helped shape it.

week seven

I didn't have much to do today, so I gave in and watched a movie.
One of my favorites actually, Windtalkers (I love WWII movies).

This one is perhaps my favorite because of the storyline. The U.S Army come up with the Navajo Code, (based off the Navajo language) and this code was used in fighting WWII on the Soloman Islands of Japan. The two main characters, Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) and Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage) are put into the same company. Joe is given orders to watch over Ben, and if all else fails, kill him to protect the code. Enders is forced to kill Ben's friend, Charlie Whitehorse under these orders. Ben is furious with Enders and nearly kills him. In the last few minutes of the movie Joe's is killed, but not before saving Ben. (There are a few sub plots in this movie, but this is the main one)



The movie has a few parallel scenes. Joe lost a company of 15 men a few months ago; thus the reason for him having shell shock. His first time back in action he goes on a killing spree. The scene is mirrored near the end when Ben goes on his own killing spree after losing his friend. The audio and lighting in these scenes are almost the same; the yelling and gunfire sounds are similar (but probably not the same). This reminded me of the presentation on Crash in class. The only difference was the action that was the same.

In these two scenes, the actors facial expressions are the same. The viewer can see the same look of desperation in the eyes of the actors during the killing spree. When the roles are switched, the one watching has the same surprised/shocked look on his face.

This is the reason I love this movie; the acting is amazing. It's also in my favorite genre.