La La Land Analysis

In his 2001 film entitled Lantana, director Ray Lawrence provides a dramatic look into the consequences of jealousy and infidelity in relationships. The film focuses primarily on two couples, Leon and Sonja, and John and Valerie, whose relationships are both seemingly in the midst of their own downward spirals. As the story unfolds and the issues affecting each of these relationships are uncovered, the film paints a vivid picture of the different ways that such themes can quickly bring ruin to relationships, and, in the case of some of the film’s characters, lives.

At Land (1944) is an experimental fifteen-minute silent film written, directed and starring Maya Deren. Composer John Cage and poet film critic Parker Tyler were also involved in making the film. It deconstructs narrative conventions and experiments with film techniques. It has a dream-like narrative in which a woman played by Deren, is washed up on a beach, like a fish and goes on an unfamiliar passage encountering other people and other versions of herself. Throughout the film there’s lots of going through, climbing up, down, through. Deren is clearly searching for something; her expressions are often confused and hopeless. This film is open to multiple readings and interpretations but I believe the film depicts the tensions between self and society. Throughout the film Deren functions as an outsider, an unseen intruder. I am isolating three significant frames

The films Singin’ in the Rain and La La Land are similar in many ways. Both movies can be placed in the musical genre. These movies could also be placed in the romantic comedy genre. Although these movies are similar in there genres and conventions of romance, they have almost polar opposite endings. The main couple in Singin’ in the Rain, Don Lockwood and Kathy Selden, share a typical happy ending. This typical happy ending of a romantic comedy consists of the two main characters falling in love and living their “happily ever after” life. In contrast to this perfect “happily ever after” ending, La La Land ends in a very different way. In the movie La La Land the main couple, Mia and Sebastian, do not end up together at the end of the movie. By using the two stills provided, domestic happiness in films can be discussed.

LaGravanese makes an excellent job with the characters, the soundtrack, and the scenery, making the message clear for the audience. Throughout the movie, the director uses many strong facts that strengthen his credibility and appeal to ethos, as well as build the movie’s argument. The director establishes his credibility by showing the audience actual video footage of Los Angeles area from the early 1990s and a series of captions demonstrated the racial tension between different gangs. Also,

The film represents the main protagonist Nola all the way down to her three lovers, with each representing a different personality trait that is not necessarily race identifiable. Lee develops a new form of cinema by creating a new aesthetic. Lee details the double standard that exists for Nola by showing her deviating from social norms. She refuses to live by anyone else’s rules and resists conventional ideals such as marriage and monogamy. This film portrays a possible explanation of racial dynamics within gender and sexuality. If roles were shifted for men and women through various aspects focusing on mise-en-scene, editing and narrative conventions.

One of the symbolic representations in La Mission is where it takes place, in the mission district of San Francisco. It represents the traditional stance of Che the main character and compares it to the shift to a more hipster neighborhood with new people like Lena moving in who haven’t been in the neighborhood until recently. He also restores old cars into low riders which is historically Mexican American style of car. The music featured in this movie is a mix of traditional chorales, native drums and guitars mixed with newer more modern version that also show the transition that this community and culture are facing coming to terms with change and homosexuality that is culturally unacceptable.

Our film follows an extended family on their journey from New Mexico to California, as young daughter Olive prepares to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant.

The physical qualities of the film made the story’s tone and message come across quite clearly. The color, live action shots, background noises, historic footage, and subject interviews gave a very realistic outlook at how the south end of Los Angeles actually is. Another thing that made the film very informative was how the camera and audio was used. It contributed to the tone of seriousness, especially when they did the private interviews with a black background and just light hitting the subjects. These parts of the film make the viewer’s thoughts and ideas be biased to one side of the story. I personally think that it was making the viewer feel sorry for Lonnie and his friends. Overall, however, the film does communicates its message of the reality of those parts of Los Angeles quite well. The only weakness to the effectiveness is its biased persuasion. The best thing about this film is that you can gain more information about the event, rather than gaining little information from an article. The voices and reality of the interviews in the film gives an experience that just reading won’t give you. The film was well executed and got the point across, and if someone wanted to know more about how serial killer Lonnie David Franklin Jr.’s past and acquaintances were, this is perfect for

Angeles, mainly taking place in 1993 featuring scenes set earlier in the century. The film can be

The similarities are that he was photographing chaos and innocent people losing their lives. The difference was that this time unlike other times this was happening here, in our own back yard, something that us Americans are not used to seeing. Unlike most other countries, the United States has never fallen victim to any major bombardments (Other than Pearl Harbor) that have devastated major cities like those during major world conflicts like the great war and WW2. So to us been under attack in in our own back yard was shocking as James described it, and as he said it “we were now part of the world in a way we have never been before.” During times of war and crisis situations everyone should play their assigned roles, unless there is a need

Upon watching the YouTube video, “Park Avenue: money, power and the American dream - Why Poverty?” I began to see some connections between what we have been learning in English 205 and the video I was watching. What the video shows is a group of ultra-rich white men that use their money and politics to keep themselves rich and to keep the rest of us down. They also use their power to advance their political agendas. How did these men get and maintain their money? Some of the men shown in the video come from a long history of money, while some of them made money on their own though dealings on Wall Street. I believe one of the speakers said something about hedge fund managers. You might ask, “But what do these men all have in common?”

Every night from 9pm until midnight Lagniappe House features live music performances of several styles from blues to countries music. Located in the Wynwood community, this outdoor restaurant is the perfect place to relax and share a good time. The stringed lights laced the entire backyard seating area and the palm trees portray Miami’s essence. Moreover, there’s a small quaint area with a little bar, couches, and chairs where the live music happens.

When watching historical fiction, there are certain features that will pop out at the viewer to show that it is a movie worth praising, with a plot that grabs and holds attention and a strategic use of humor, which keeps it from straying into a simple documentary. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, based off of the book by the same name by Boyne, has a haunting plot with somewhat relatable characters and considered a tragedy that will be loved by generations to come. La vita e bella (English: Life is Beautiful) is a tragicomedy of the same genre with a compelling plot of love overcoming any obstacle, a risky and unconventional use of humor, and characters as deep and complex as the sea. Life is Beautiful and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas are excellent films and are often given the same if not similar reviews by professional critics, Life is Beautiful ultimately comes out on top with its brave usage of humor for its topic, which is still as funny now as it was nearly a decade ago.

In 1989 a Hollywood producer was trying to cast a film called 3000. The producer wanted Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino to be casted but they both turned the movie down. 3000 was the story of a meeting gone wrong between a prostitute and wealthy corporate worker. The movie was supposed to be the vision of an anti-Cinderella story. After the movie was rejected it was rewritten three times and became Pretty Woman starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere and the story was now a Cinderella story. The movie was an unexpected success and was a low-budget and low-concept movie. Pretty Woman actually become the second most popular film in 1990 and it won People’s Choice Award for Best Picture. Since the movie was such a miracle success, looking at the movie through a fantasy theme analysis may help to see what helped the movie become such a success.

In 1945 August 6th, two atomic bombs stroke Hiroshima, led to death of more than 100,000 people. In March 11th 2011, tsunami and earthquake severely destroyed the Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima and led to evacuation of 120,000 local residents. But the effect of the 311 nuclear disaster had much more severe impact on Japanese everyday lives because the aftermath of nuclear leakage is much worse than nuclear explosion. The evacuated residents have lost their homes and still trying hard to rebuild their life somewhere in the country. “Land of Hope”, is a movie released in 2012 which depicts a story about a country-side Japanese family’s decision while facing separation, unsure of the future and death after nuclear disaster. At the beginning of the movie, the nuclear plant in Nagashima (a fictional city) was destroyed by earthquake and tsunami, which further led to nuclear leakage. The government later took charge of the emergency and noticed people within the 20km radius to evacuate. Ono-san, the older father of the Ono family refused to do so and ended his life at the end of the movie. Why Ono destroyed himself whereas the others struggled so hard to survive? Sono Sion, the filmmaker tried to tell us the cause of the nuclear disaster through Ono’s death: It was the government, who we relied and have faith on, took away everything from their people and made them hopeless.