THE CINEMA
art entertainment review reference
1.
Watching Kingdom of Heaven, I Remember
I remember Jerusalem as the home of Christ.
Christ is born in Bethlehem. He is crucified on the Hill of Calvary (now the
altar of crucifixion), is buried in Golgotha (a place of skull), and on the
third day, he arose again.
I remember Jerusalem in the Basilica of the
Holy Sepulcher, I am a Christian.
I honor the Wailing Wall (Western Wall) of the
Jews. I weep in the wailing walls, the city of David, where Solomon built the
temple. I mourn with them.
In Jerusalem, a mosque stands over the spot
from which Mohammed is said to have ascended to heaven. Abraham is said to have
prepared to sacrifice Isaac on the same spot. I believe the Dome of the Rock.
Hence, I remember Jerusalem, a place of prayer
for all faiths.
It is comforting to know that God has no
favorites and his love for all manifests in the everyday conquest of our hearts
and life journey. God, above all, strengthens us to be better beings everyday
in the chances we can make out of life.
The film, "Kingdom of Heaven," (2005)
highlights this Holy City. It tells the story of a blacksmith (Orlando Bloom;
Legolas in Lord of the Rings), who after his dolours, transforms to become a
brave knight and baron of Ibelin. His loyalty is grounded on the kingdom of
conscience, which is imperfect in human conditions, but buttressed in the hands
of God. His humility in being a blacksmith lets him serve the people. His
bravery in being a knight lets him deal with wars and speak the truth. He
portrays a modern Christ in some point of his life, teaching even a king, a
woman, a child, a gravedigger and a bishop, among others. Being in a company of
various troops and conditions of people, he endures and values every person,
sharing about right action, courage, and loyalty to God, above all.
According to Kenneth Turan of Los Angeles
Times (IMDB), "Scott and company have gotten so accomplished at
re-creating history that the results have a welcome offhanded quality, making
them spectacular without seeming to be showing off."
"Kingdom of Heaven" stars Liam
Neeson as Godfey de Ibelin, Orlando Bloom as Balian de Ibelin, Marton Csokas as
Guy Lusignon, Eva Green as Sybylla, Nasser M. as Muslim Grandee, Ghassan
Massuod as Saladin, Jeremy Irons as Tiberias, Edward Norton as the king, John
Finch and more.
Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Prometheus) is the
director. William Monahan (a novelist) is the screenwriter.
References:
Lands and People, III, The Near and the Middle East
Wikipedia Online
IMDB
2.
In
Time: Don’t Waste My Time
The idea of codes is dynamic. See how science-fiction opens conduits to discovery and innovation.
The concept of the movie "In Time" is done with sheer style, updated with today's modern technology.
The idea of codes is dynamic. See how science-fiction opens conduits to discovery and innovation.
The concept of the movie "In Time" is done with sheer style, updated with today's modern technology.
Imagine arms with life codes like the candies
and stuff you buy from the supermarkets. Imagine your arms scanned to get the
things you need. Your payment is the time that's left for you to live by (the
time you need to live). Time, as the basic resource is well portrayed in the
movie to be so prized, but never paid well for the poor.
Those that control the system can't run
anymore, their faces a false sophistication melting like wax.
In another aspect, it shows us thoughts about
life, profusely. There is a vivid picture of capitalism, where only a few
groups or individuals own lands, businesses, and means of production.
It also shows mayhem by chance in the ghettos,
where those who have got more are robbed by bad guys. With social implications,
the ghettos are a minority group (check history).
A contemporary scene becomes evident, in the
supply of commodities (coffee and food in stores) restricted to a few, though
demand is high because of the high cost of living brought about by rising costs
in all the time zones (only the rich can afford).
In the end, two young advocates Will Salas and
Sylvia Weis (from divergent zones), collaborate and work together to find
solutions to uphold the living conditions of the people and to correct the
systems, like what Robin Hood does (but no arrows now, only guns). Also, kids
of hope shine in their innocence to bring forth more life time to their
degenerating zones and one generous senior (victim) offers his centuries
(life), for the hope of change and progress believing in the kind heart and
blood of Will Salas. The old man wrote in the glass window, "Don't waste
my time."
Moreover, 25 years old establishes an age of
responsibility in every form and any form of life. One is supposed to start
earning trust from elders, parents and community from the good work lived and
served, especially for the under privileged.
But then, the impossibilities! No time; no
future can alter man's death or creation, except God who gives and takes life.
But maybe, if fiction.
All in all, "In Time" is thumbs up!
Among others, Justin Timberlake (Will Salas),
Amanda Seyfried (Sylvia Weis), and Cillian Murphy (Raymond Leon) star in this
film. It is directed and written by Andrew Niccol.
3,
Agora: Snippets of Dialogue
"Whatever may be going out the streets we
are brothers," warns Hypatia in the film "Agora."
Set in Roman Egypt (391 A.D.) the film
"Agora" is a historical drama showing how a teacher establishes
affinity and harmony with her students.
In the story is a slave (Max Minghella) who
turns to the rising tide of Christianity, in the hope of pursuing freedom. He
falls in love with his master, the famous Philosophy professor, Hypatia (Rachel
Welsz)of Alexandria.
Though an atheist, the teacher favors the
principles of freedom, respect for life, peace, love, and responsibility. She
is occupied with books, lessons, and the billions of systems around the earth.
Sometimes classes extend even outside the
classrooms when a teacher vows responsibility to her students. The student's
ambitions with their potentials are gifts they can share to humanity and life
progress.
Moments of life are lessons to learn. If only
each teacher and student would bond all their good undertakings, then attending
school would not be boring. Teachers like second parents or leaders of a
community, are guardians for creating what the earth and nations can profit.
Depicting a typical Philosophy class of
arguments and subjects, and loaded with intelligent conversations, the
classroom becomes a core of bright ideas and goals. As one community and
together, the classroom should make a mark more than books to read, more than
fundamentalism and rules, but a fortress of truth and inspiration.
Orestes falls in love with his teacher, and
gives his loyalty to his mentor.
Romance and discipline show in the scene where
Davus, the slave, assists the teacher in all her needs. He goes to school with
with Hypatia and learns. He even assists her during baths. He falls in love
with his master and lusts for her. Later he fights for the Christian doctrines.
In the end, Davus brings the teacher to meet her death embracing the fate they
both have to meet.
"You are a Christian because your heart
is a Christian, " says the slave to the lady. The teacher helps the slave
and treats him like one of her students. She sets the slave free: heart, mind,
and body.
Snippets of Dialogue
"Do not touch my disciples," shouts
the teacher. This immense quest to groom good leaders in an unrequited love
forms the strength and responsibility of individuals and workers in different
paths of life.
"You don't question what you
believe." Faith is given a highlight above everything.
The film is under Tyler Perry Company.
It is written and directed by Christopher
Strokes.
4.
Best
War Pictures
Why do we like to watch war pictures?
We watch them because wars remind of history,
freedom, honor, and tradition. Wars have bled Nations new ways of life and
lessons to learn. Soldiers bow to obedience, unity, service and integrity with
mute tongues and that devotion to die for country and its people.
Wars have brought progress from oppression.
Life tells that war is like love, "It isn't fair in love and war."
Maybe, history has just to make movies and not wars again. Let nations and
peoples pray for peace in the world and among men.
Find these classic movies of war and virtues:
1. The Last Samurai
Tom Cruise stars as Nathan Algren with Ken
Watanabe as Katsumoto.
Nathan is a man adrift. The Battle he once
fought seems distant and futile. Once he risked his life for honor and country
and in the years since civil war; the world has changed for him.
The troubled American soldier finds himself at
the center of a violent and epic struggle between two eras and two worlds, with
only his sense of honor to guide him.
Edward Zwick is the director. "The Last
Samurai also stars Tomothy Spall and Hirojuki Sanada.
Film is by Warner Brothers Pictures.
2. Full Metal Jacket by Stanley Kubrick
This movie is with critics and awards
nomination (1987 war film).
Full Metal Jacket ranks 457 on Empires 2008
list of 500 greatest movies of all time.
It follows a squad of US Marines thorough
training. The plot is sad and harrowing showing how one dies - in a war like
the Vietnamese woman sniper, and a suicide committed by a
"trying-hard" and coping soldier.
In the end, Marines finish the day by singing
the Mickey Mouse Club March.
Story is based on the novel "The
Short-Timers." Movie stars with Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D'
Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, among others.
3. The Thin Red Line
Sean Penn is Sgt. Welsh in "Thin Red
Line." The story tells the horrors of war. Soldiers bond into a tight-knit
group with emotions that develop into unity and family.
4. Saving Private Ryan starring multi-awarded
actor Tom Hanks
5. The Patriot starring Mel Gibson
Benjamin Martin (Gibson) is a reluctant hero,
who later discovers that the only way to protect his family is to fight for a
young nation's freedom.
6. Born on the Fourth of July
Tom Cruise delivers an engrossing
unforgettable portrayal of Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic. The film is based on a
true story of a zealous teen who eagerly volunteers for the war, to an
embittered veteran paralyzed mid-chest down.
Rose Flores Martinez
5.
THE CINEMA
From its humble beginnings, cinema has been
heralded as a uniquely endowed art form providing an escapist for a socially
alienated audience. From a historical point of view, cinema seems to have
played the same social role in the 21st century as that of the novel in the
18th century. Filmmaker and writer William Burrough writes, "What has made
money will make money." This axiom encourages studios to the
tried-and-tested formula rather than experiment with a new twist or a new
technique.
Screenwriter Clodualdo Del Mundo Jr., Ph.D
(University of Iowa), illustrates the "Filmaking Universe" explaining
the inner circle as the mainstream industry, whereas the outer circles reveal
for alternative films. "The farther the screenwriter is from the center,
the more independent he or she becomes," Del Mundo says.
It is important to know that there are
different audiences. The commercial industry already has a niche market but
independent filmmakers still have to look for their own audience. Apart from
being financed by independent producers and agencies, alternative films can
also be sponsored by embassies and screened for festivals (i.e. Cine Europa,
Spanish, and Japanese films).
"The idea is not to compete but to make
films that the mainstream is not doing. It is important to think of subjects
that the industry does not deal with, and look for new and different ways to
tell stories," adds Del Mundo. Today's trend also reveals
computer-generated films and characters - the Transformer, among others.
"It all depends on what one is looking for," he asserts. For the
industry, a good film is the one that will make money. The quality of the film
is incidental. However entertaining films can also be good."
How successful has the underground art film
been as an alternative to the commercial films? Experimental films, which
presumably are not concerned with commercial viability, have an entirely
different set of criteria. For example, in the commercial films of Anthony
Balch, it has been said that the conscious, logical part of the mind is like
the tip of the iceberg that appears above the water. What he is trying to do is
to jar people into developing an awareness of an area under the water by
actually showing them mechanisms of perception that, of course, go on all the
time.
"In writing a film, one has to be
interested in the project. That is a prerequisite. In my case, I try to write
the best I could. I work outside the mainstream so I do not get projects often.
However, I have a regular job as professor. In that way, I can choose projects
I want to write. My two jobs complement each other."
Certainly, the cinema is privileged for this
double adventure of acknowledging and exploring the strangeness of the world.
That which takes place in our dreams is infinitely more interesting (because
it's richer, less prearranged, more capable of revealing our relations with
reality) than the gestures and words, the thoughts and settings, that
constitute the fabric of our socialized life. Cinema is an instrument for
understanding the contemporary man and shaping the man of the future as well.
Clodualdo Del Mundo Jr. is a professor and a
respected filmwriter.
Rose Flores Martinez, 2009
6.
An
Analysis: The Story of the Gladiator
The old movie "Gladiator" portrayed
by Russel Crowe gives a vision of freedom.
"The idea is greatness. It is a
vision," says the lady lead character in the film Gladiator. I can
visualize from the story the writer's itch to show what greatness means. That
greatness is being true to your word, being truthful to yourself and doing a
noble and magnanimous deed. It is being brave despite trials. It is being true
despite poverty. It is fighting for what you believe in.
History tells us that Romans are thrilled with
games involving slaves. Audience bets on who wins the game while they get
entertained as depicted in the film. The story concept shows that greatness is
not being rich or being poor nor being a king or slave - it is something in the
character of the individual. No matter who or what he is. Maximus proves his
worth as being a good man by being true to his promise to King Marcus
Aurelious.
The idea also shows us about freedom. That it
can be won by staying together for a good cause and having true friends.
Working together for a vision to attain a goal despite dangers (it was depicted
in the senator's life , the loyal friends of Maximus, and the princess).
Greatness is an act that teaches men wisdom, wisdom to have strength and honor
to the extent of risking one's life.
The screenwriter with a deep thought about
greatness, principle, life and death weaved a great story form the simple but
encompassing idea of a good vision: the general who became a slave, the slave
who became a gladiator, and the gladiator who defied the emperor.
Indeed, a noble deed wins you freedom, even
after life. It will set you free.
Screenplay is written by William Nicholson.
Rose Flores - Martinez 2009
/ rosevoc2. On July 16, 2013. iwrotefiction
No comments:
Post a Comment