Tom Brennan Film Analysis

This period of our lives is a one bursting with challenging events and life-changing transitions, don’t you think? However testing this phase may be though, it's how we accept and counteract these alterations that ultimately opens up a deeper understanding of our world and self. J.C. Burke’s thought provoking novel, ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’ and John Marsden and Matt Ottley’s heartbreaking picture book ‘Home and away’, address this concept of transition and their challenges associated as each protagonist undergoes a catastrophic journey surrounding a challenged attitude and the need for maturity development.

is that there are outsiders in today’s society. When one is made into an outsider, the bias

Based off Charles Webb’s 1963 novel by the same name, The Graduate is an American romantic comedy/drama released in the United States on December 21, 1967 starring Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, and William Daniels. The film was directed by Mike Nichols, produced by Lawrence Turman and the screenplay written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham. The film was produced by Lawrence Turman/Mike Nichols productions starting in March of 1967. Mike Nichols has also directed other well known films such as Catch-22 (1970), Working Girl (1988), and more recently Closer (2004). The film was distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures nationally and United Artists internationally. AVCO Embassy Pictures studio, founded by Joseph E. Levine, the films executive producer, also claims production/distribution for other hit films such as Godzilla, King of Monsters! (1956), The Fog (1980), and Prom Night (1980). The movie was well received due to its $104 million dollar box office opening tab. The score was produced by Dave Grusin and the songs written by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.

The phases of life and social context is predicated through the sum of personal feats and experiences as crises and adversity are the greatest motivator which propel individuals to become better than they were before. J.C. Burke’s ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’ is an example of the transitional process through entering a new, unknown area which acts as a catalyst for beneficial change. Hindered by emotional and physical turmoil, the protagonist Tom Brennan alleviates his devastated life in the new town of Coghill forming relationships along the way and achieving new goals. Lisa Forrest’s article ‘Testing new waters after leaving the swimming pool’ (TNWALTS) is another type towards transitional change that explores the personal crisis and career

Glory road is a film based on the 1966 Texas Miners, the first all-black NCAA Championship winning basketball team. When the coach, Don Haskins decided to recruit players based purely on ability, and not race. With the purpose of telling the story of the Texas Miners, their experiences and lives leading up to, and becoming the NCAA Champions. At the forefront of this movie are racial issues which we know were rife at the time throughout America. The relationship between sport and psychology is not abundantly clear in this film. I believe, however that, that is because the film was not made for that purpose, as a documentary or article may have. The film was made for the purpose of entertainment, and to tell the story of the Texas Miner -Which it effectively does. In saying that, being a sport psychology student and after critically watching and examining the film, I was also clearly able to see many psychological concepts and issues woven throughout the film, there relationship to sport, and the effects it had on the Texas Miners, and their Championship winning team.

Characters in ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’ and how they deal with aspects of growing up or transitions into new phases of life and a broader world.

An important idea in The Wave is ‘words can be used for harm or for good’. This idea means that words can be used to hurt people mentally and create bad things, but, at the same time can cheer a person up and change their life in a good way. The confusing thing is, is that good words can also be bad. For example, if someone said that they won their basketball game and you said ‘good’, then that would be a good thing to say. It’s also quite the same with harmful words. In The Wave, this conundrum is used in a smart way. For example, Ben Ross is taking his first class with The Wave as a base when he introduces the line,

The Wave is a story about a high school senior class that has been intrigued to join their teacher’s cult known as the Wave. Several people tried to prevent the denial of his movement. Laurie Saunders the main character in the wave, is a rebellious girl who is very ashamed of this movement and is not inspired by her history teacher. He shows them a very emotional video of what Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party did. Some of the students take it more personal than others do. Because of Laurie’s bravery, independence, and determination, Laurie denies the Wave.

The pain and grief of traumatic road accidents can complicate and severely damage many relationships, especially those in small, close knit communities. The line becomes blurred between perpetrators and victims, as beliefs become doubted, and sympathy arises for those who sadly lost their lives, and those who “move on from a moment that threatens to define them forever” (‘Shattered’, 2011). Viewers respond to compassion and remorse shown in the stories, typical views of perpetrators and victims become challenged, demonstrating the enormous influence of a person’s attitude on other’s perspective and opinion of them. The Story of Tom Brennan is an award winning Australian novel written by Jane Burke, published by Random House during 2005.

The Australian cinema in the 1960’s failed to communicate with the audience due to their lack of promotional messages that weren’t disseminated. Media is formed by cultural, political, economic and social conditions. These influenced or even directed its characteristics and its intended meaning. After a devastating blow to the film industry in the 1960’s, filmmakers of Australia had stopped creating and making quality Australian films. However, the Australian New Wave brought a revival of the Australian film industry during the 70's, 80's and 90’s. It introduced Australian qualities into film, including larrikinism, mateship and a classless social hierarchy. The Castle and Gallipoli confirm, promote and explore features of Australian identity

The novel ’The Story of Tom Brennan’ by J.C. Burke, focuses on a devastating car accident in a small town, caused by one character who was drink driving. This one event has an extreme effect on a family, who struggle to come to grips with the situation. Tom and Kylie struggle to begin their new life at their Gran’s place in Coghill, after moving there from their home in the small town of Mumbilli. In Coghill, Tom and Kylie also start at St. Benedict's where they react so differently to the same scenario. The author J.C. Burke used emotive and descriptive dialogue, first person narration and symbolism to demonstrate just how differently people can react to the same situation.

There are a variety of people in our society and divide into two main groups. There are people who associate easily with other people are more likely to interact with people. However, there are people who live in a quiet do not mix with other people. We call those people an outsider. To define an outsider as a single sentence from dictionary.com, “A person not belonging to a particular group, set, party, etc” (1). There are also various definitions of the outsider. Among them, Wing Biddlebaum who is the main character in Anderson’s work is not an outsider from the beginning. He chooses to become an outsider because people are misunderstanding his action with hands. Emily who is the main character in Faulkner’s work is an outsider from the start. Emily, who grew up in a wealthy family, is afraid of people’ eyes to her.

The Wave, Todd Strasser; This novel that is based on a true story takes place primarily in the fictional Gordon High School, which is set in a small suburban community. Some scenes also take place in the homes of Ben Ross and Laurie Sanders. As the novel's foreword explains, the real life event took place in a high school in Palo Alto, California. Some questions that I’m going to discuss some different topics such as: How does Mr. Ross manipulate his students into accepting the Wave? Why are they so enthusiastic about it? / What is the difference between adults and teenagers in the Novel? Are teenagers more vulnerable to the wave because they are young? / Compare and contrast Laurie’s and David’s reactions to the Wave / Was the wave successful? If so why doesn’t Mr. Ross want to repeat it next year? These questions will be explored further in the next few paragraphs.

Film noirs describe pessimistic films associated with black and white visual styles, crime fiction, and dark themes. Sunset Boulevard is a 1950 film noir directed by Billy Wilder. Sunset Boulevard presents many themes that are common with the genre film noir, but also introduces some differences from the typical movie in that genre.

Drinking to forget. Drinking to cope. Drinking to have a brief respite from the endless waves of stress that crash over one’s conscious and subconscious thoughts. Yet, despite all the liquor, stress still dominates the mind, stealing away even the brief respite from the stresses of the day, and leaving even more in its wake. Throughout the novel and the film, Mr. Alan Clay takes to the bottle of liquified anxiety, yearning for a sweet release that momentarily bestows its alluring serenity, but fickleness of the drink also occasionally serves to amplify his feelings of discomfort. Nonetheless, Mr. Clay continues to be drawn back to the bottle’s temptations, hoping that eventually he will be granted dissociation from his physical troubles that he so dearly desires. These recurring scenes exemplify the salvation from stress and the reinstatement of security as the place and future of Mr. Clay’s American Dream.