Tap Film Analysis

I attended a production of The 39 Steps. The two act play was an adaptive parody piece derived from the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock movie based on the John Buchan novel; originally conceptualized by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon, it was then adapted for the stage by Patrick Barlow. Additionally, it paid homage to Alfred Hitchcock, in that the play seems to include a representation of almost every famous scene from a Hitchcock film. Eric Harrell, the Producing Artistic Director, described the play during his introduction as, “Alfred Hitchcock meets a spy novel meets Carol Burnette.” After viewing the play, I would agree that that is a fairly accurate assessment of the over-all tone of the production; however, I would have substituted Monty Python

The movie is shot as a documentary about a British band in the 1980’s while they are on tour in the United States. Eventually through a series of mishaps, the popularity of the band starts to wane. We learn that the band has troubles keeping drummers, the permanent members are not exactly the brightest, and reminiscent to Yoko Ono, one of the main character’s girlfriend starts to interject herself into the band’s business.

Dope is a film written and directed by Rick Famuyiwa, which depicts the struggles and achievements of Malcom Adekanbi. Malcom, a teenager who is growing up in the Darby-Dixson neighborhood commonly known as “the bottoms” in Inglewood, California, understands who he isn’t, but struggles throughout the movie to figure out who he is. This film brilliantly explains a few reasons for delinquent behavior, including societal need to label and/or define people, which is often decided based on race, gender, socioeconomic status and social standing, as well as how to overcome obstacles that have been placed in front of us, thereby changing the trajectory of our lives. The following quote from the movie given by Malcom explains how labels have made it hard for him to figure out who he is: “For most of my life I’ve been caught in between who I really am and how I’m perceived. In between categories and definitions…. But when you don’t fit in you’re forced to see the world from many different angles and points of view” (Famuyiwa, 2015). Malcom wonders if he’s a geek, a poor black child who doesn’t know his father and is being raised by a single mom, a menace, a drug dealer or is actually Harvard material.

Smashing anything from pumpkins to instruments, Rock & Roll is a form of art with flare. Generations of people from the 50’s to modern day have enjoyed a little bit of rebellion in their life. But while the rebels continue to rage against the machine of society, that society is constantly changing. Different issues become highlighted and more relevant as others fall to the wayside, but Rock music does not stand by jovially. With constant adapting and innovating, Rock & Roll always finds something to scream about.

Chapter 18 was engaging to read and discuss in class. Throughout the chapter, we were give a detailed description of two concepts that came to life during the 1960s and further on. One of these concepts was, ‘The Power Trios’ which displayed the musical capacities of many guitarists. Most of them were given double duties by playing both the rhythm and lead roles. Just like any other genre of rock and roll the influence of the power trio came from Chicago blue bands and specifically from the Muddy Waters trio. The second concept we talked about was Heavy Metal. This style of music is strongly supported by drum and bass rhythms, which were developed in Britain. This genre of music was highly criticized by social media due to the negative attention

The movie begins with a commentary by a black passenger, who is also a detective that was involved in a car accident. The driver also a detective has gotten out of the vehicle to interact with the Asian driver who has caused the accident. As they exchange racial insults, the black detective exits the vehicle and arrives at his crime scene. The movie moves on to a Persian shop owner and his daughter looking to protect their shop by purchasing a gun. He is immediately insulted by the gun shop owner because they are not speaking English in front of him. On another part of town, two black young men carjack the local district attorney and his wife. Later that night the district attorney wife is upset because a Hispanic worker is changing her locks

The United States has become one of the largest empires in the world for the production of agricultural products. In order to keep the rapidly increasing demands of the consumer met over the past sixty years technology has had to revolutionize itself from the inside out. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the “Averaged annual U.S. retail Choice beef price ($/lb)” has doubled since the early 2000’s. History has shown that there is a wide obsession around the idea of cheap and easily produced food. It is also suggested that the techniques and practices used for this intention are making substantially negative impacts in our societies. Fresh is an important documentary film by Ana Sofia Joanes that highlights multiple

1880s.The movie revolves around the perspective of Little Tiger, and the struggles she encounters. It consists of engaging illustrations that effectively explain the push and pull factors compelling the Chinese to leave China as well as demonstrated the many struggles endured in Canada. The film displayed many different perspectives of the Chinese, through the filthy setting, and each of their individual financial struggles and conflicts. This also explains the sudden compulsion to move to Canada, as the income was better, the environment was cleaner and they would be properly fed and tended to. China was not the best place to live in during the 1880s. Due to

A man once said that music is the heart and soul of a person. He was correct, because the Rolling Stones put their heart and soul into their music. It was said that in the University of California students taking musical courses learned about how the Stones changed music and its evolution (Weiner 136). The Rolling Stones put much effort in making their music, revealing the darker yet bolder side of rock and roll (“The Rolling Stones Biography” 2). In a way, the music created by the Stones had a topic of new realism, or a harsh reality. But they also wrote catchy tunes to party along and bop around with. With the title “World’s Greatest Rock Band,” (Weiner 146) the Stone’s music definitely lived up to its title.

Workers became historical theme in many films. However they are often presented in a romanticized story. The film Iron Road is an example of a film that highlights the experience of Chinese cheap workers in Canada. Iron Road is a story of disguise and forbidden love, but it sets against the building of the railroad. Chinese workers can endure hardships and be capable of hard work that that are world renowned. Conditions in China ensured that there was a ready supply of cheap labour.

I do not think that Compton has adequately accomplished his purpose. Although he attempted to provide the audience with bountiful information that “Smells Like Teen Spirit” conveys emotions that relate to young adults, his essay contained an ethical fallacy of dogmatism. Even though he does attempt to acknowledge the opposing views by saying, “Cobain’s lyrics do in fact carry a confused message…”, his attitude implied that “Smells Like Teen Spirit” does have meanings, but that some do not understand

Einar’s body is male, but on the inside, he’s female – and when he looks at the

The Grateful Dead is a movie on an American rock band called “The Grateful Dead”, which was directed by Jerry Garcia and was released in 1977. The Grateful Band was formed in 1965 in California. The band was known for their live performances and their unique style of fusing different elements of music like Country, Jazz, Blues, and Folk. This documentary is basically about the concert experience of this band which includes their interaction with their fans. Their fans who were also called “Deadheads” talked about the band, music and the members of the band. This documentary also featured behind the scenes footage and the basic concert environment when the band was performing. Another feature of this documentary was the interviews with the band

This movie was very different from most of its predecessors in the sense that it challenged traditional narrative and technical elements of classic Hollywood cinema. One of the ways it bucked tradition was in in the fact that the

Hollywood has had an obsession with well, Hollywood from the black-and-white golden era until now. While a smart business move, you run into problems where your movies may be seen as something by Hollywood for Hollywood that celebrates their industry. An industry historically built on underrepresentation and both thematic and screen “white-washing”.