Sandlot

This is one of my favorite movies ever. It is about a kid who moves to this town during the end of school and has no friends. While he still has no friends he follows these kids to a sandlot where he watches them play baseball, well just practicing. One day he gets asked to come play and try to fit in. Well he does and he becomes part of the gang and gets into the biggest pickle of his life.

Cameron Krones

Pirates of the Caribbean

This movie is awesome. It is about pirates and the East India Trading Company. It's about how a bunch of pirates went and stole aztez gold and kept them for themselves, however, the is a catch; if you take the gold then you can't die and you are cursed. It is about the pirates taking over and killing people in order to get the last piece of gold in order to break the curse. It is an awesome love/adventure story. It is the best and only good one oout of the trilogy because the other 2 can be confusing and because it was the first one.

Cameron

Beer League

I watched Beer League the other day and it was the first time that I have watched it in about a year. forgot how hilarious the movie was. It is an awesome movie because what is better than being in a drinking softball league and not having any worries.

Cameron Krones

Serenity

Over the weekend I watched Serenity, a sci-fi action movie that is a sequel to the television show Firefly. It is directed by Joss Whedon, who has also directed Buffy, Angel, and Dollhouse.

The movie picks up where the show Firefly ended. There are six members of the crew on board now (two members have left but make appearances in the movie). One of them is River, a teenage girl. River was kidnapped and trained by the Alliance (the government) until she was rescued by her brother. Now the Alliance wants her back. Mal, the captain of the ship, decides to help her by continuing to hide her on his ship. Because of this, an assassin has been sent in pursuit of Serenity, and its crew. They realize that they must discover the secrets that River has learned about the Alliance while in their possession. They can use these secrets to save themselves. They go to the ends of space to find answers.

Far out in space, they find a planet that only River knows about. All the people are dead. It looks as though they just lay down and died. They crew finds a recording made by the last sane person on the planet. The recording reveals the Alliance put chemicals into the air to control the citizens’ behavior. It worked so well however, that everyone stopped caring about anything, including living. A few people had the opposite response and became insanely violent and aggressive. The crew realizes that this was the creation of Reavers (cannibals that are present throughout the television show). The crew broadcasts these findings all over the universe, destroying the Alliances creditability. Then the crew leaves immediately and is chased by both Alliance and Reavers.

During the final battle, members of the crew are killed. In the end, Mal and River save everyone they can. The movie ends with the funerals of their lost crew members, and the rebuilding of the ship. Fans of Joss Whedon believe that there may be another installment of the story someday.

I think the biggest issue in this movie is the stereotype of sexism. All of the women on the show are made to seem weaker than the men. Even though they are depicted as being strong, they still rely on rescue from the men. River is depicted as being extremely physical capable but mentally unstable. She relies on her brother to keep her safe. Zoe, the assistant captain, loses all will to carry on when her husband is killed. This is understandable, but I found it cliché that it was Mal who had to pull her through. Kaylee, the engineer, spends the television show and movie pining away for the doctor (River’s brother). I don’t think this movie is overtly sexist, but after watching it a few times along with the television show, I began to notice a pattern. I think however that if I had to pick the movie apart to find something remotely discriminatory, the movie is worth watching and I would recommend it.

Niki Habbe

Ratatouille

Even though this blog is supposed to be about romance, comedy, horror, and action; I decided to do one last movie and chose Ratatouille. Ratatouille is about a little rat that likes to cook. That is not the only point in the movie though. Through out the movie there are references to lessens that should be learned. For example, in one of the first scenes Remy steals from the old lady. Yet, once he sees Gusteau's figment it tells him not to steal. This theme is repeated through the whole film. Another not noticeable theme to the movie, at least not to little children, is Antone "Ego's" last name "Ego." This is shown because he was the restaurant reviewer and thought he was the top. At the end though he changes to the nice guy and his name does not fit him well.

As for class Linguini, Remy's caretaker, is shown as a poorer person in his little tiny apartment. Yet once he gets to own the restaurant he gets a fancy apartment with a beautiful view of the Eifel Tower. Gender is shown through the kitchen because there is only one woman in the entire kitchen so it is a male dominant movie I guess you could say. Even though it is animation and shown as a kids movie I think everyone should see it because animation has come a long way since I was a kid starting with Toy Story. Pixar has done a lot to make kids movies more enjoyable for older generations.

-Samantha Meyer

Crank

Crank is an action movie about a man named Chev, a hit-man, who gets injected with a poison. The poison will make him die if he does not keep his adrenaline pumping. So throughout the movie he does things to make him stay alive. Chev gets into fights with people, shocks himself with the paddles from the hospital, and even has sex in public just to keep himself alive. The movie full of action and I never really found myself bored or wondering when it was going to end.

In relation to class and gender you see Chev in a nice apartment in the beginning, so you know he makes a lot of money before they even tell you what he does. In relation to gender of course the hit-man is in fact a man. As for sex they show him as the dominant in the sex scene because he is the one who initiates the sex and then proceeds to dominate her. All in all it was a good movie and would recommend it to anyone.

-Samantha Meyer

Blood diamond

Blood diamond is about the civil war that is occurring in sierra lione that is being funded by diamonds. The main character Danny Archer (leonardo dicaprio) is a diamond smuggler, selling guns to the rebel fighters in exchange for diamonds. He comes across a man named solomon who was captured and forced to look for diamonds for the rebels. Solomon had found a huge diamond that he hid and Danny wants to try and help him get it back. Danny also meets a young reporter who eventually becomes his love interest. They all try to find the diamond in exchange for helping solomon get his family back. The woman, Maddy, gets everyone on a reporter convoy which eventually takes them to a military base where danny has friends who can help attack the rebel base.
This movie shows a large array of classes. It shows the struggle of the poor africans trying to get by in a war torn country, as well as the wealthy white guys profiting from the war. Also throughout the movie it seemed like the whites had more power and influence even in Africa. At one point Danny even says to Solomon he needs his help and without him, he would just be another black man in africa.
-Nick H

quantum of solace

Bond has always been a classic action norm, and I really like Daniel Craig as the new bond. Quantum of Solace is the second bond film he has been in, and it starts with his character bond kidnapping a guy he wants to question. Unfortunatly this guy gets away, so bond tracks him to a hotel room where he finds a briefcase, and is mistaken for whoever the bagman was by the main female character Camille. Camille is of course drop dead gorgeous in the movie, and is presented as a woman comparible to bond. Shes extremely beautiful and strong, can fight and fire guns and although she is presented as a strong woman, bond is still supior and has to help her throughout the movie. After some action scenes you eventually find out a group of wealthy investors (all are presented as old rich white men) are attempting to overthrow the Bolivian government and implement a general whome they can control. The general is presented as a foreign warhawk, looking much like sadam husein. Eventually we find out that the evil mastermind behind everything (a rich white guy of course) is trying to gain control of Bolivia's water supply. Bond and Emille head to the generals house to kill him along with greene (the main protaganist), and they do and everyone lives happily ever after.
Throughout the movie anyone and everyone portrayed as british is well dressed and well groomed, projecting a very high economic status of the brits. All the women in the bond film are extremely attractive as well, with the exception of M, who resembles a mother figure.

Land of the Dead

Land of the Dead is a zombie movie. Yet it is not your typical zombie movie because all the zombies remember what they did in their past lives. When the movie first starts there is a team of people killing all the zombie by distracting them with fireworks so they do not notice they are coming. One of the zombies in the group realizes that all the zombies are distracted and catches on fast to what the humans are doing. He gets a group of other zombies to follow the humans to the city where the humans are safe because they have built electric fences to stop invasion. Although the fences are there they begin to adapt and learn how to use guns and other weapons. Ultimately the people that are fighting them survive but the people in the city do not because they were not prepared for the event that the zombies would adapt to there defenses.

I think this movie, other than the acting, was decent. I am not a horror movie type of person, but this movie was barable compared to others. The only issues I saw in the movie was the issue of sex. The women were treated differently than the men because obviously they are women and show more emotion than men do.

-Samantha Meyer

Hot fuzz debate

I love Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead.  When I first saw Hot Fuzz, I really was not into it that much.  I don't know why I didn't like it but my roomate had it and one day I decided to watch it again and I realized how awesome of a movie it was and couldn't understand why I didn't like it before.  But I like the wittiness and the character of Danny is just brilliant.  Remember it's for the greater good.

-Cameron Krones

Lord of the Rings

I love the Trilogy of The Lord of The Rings.  I just got done watching the The Fellowship of the Ring and now I'm about to begin the Two Towers.  Then after that I will watch the Return of the King.  Now I have a hard time deciding which one I like the most, because they al have the magical feel to them and they are all amazing in their own way.  But I would amost say that I like The Fellowship of the Ring the most because it introduced everything and just the special effects and the music.   I love the story and I wish that Peter Jackson woulr direct the movie the Hobbit which is a prequel to the Lord of the Rings.

-Cameron Krones

Hot Fuzz

Last night I watched “Hot Fuzz”. It is a British action/comedy film produced by Simon Pegg , Edgar Wright and Nick Frost (also responsible for movies “Shaun of the dead” and “Run Fat Boy Run”). It is a spoof based on numerous action movies. The movie begins with Officer Nicholas Angel being brought into his superior’s office. He is a decorated officer and believes he is being offered a promotion. However, he is informed that he is being transferred to the country.

When sergeant arrives to the small town of Sanford, he is astonished at the lack of policing. Sanford seems like the perfect town however, with no crime. As the movie progresses, accidents began to occur. These accidents are very obviously murder to Nicholas. He and his partner, the action movie obsessed Sgt. Danny Butterman set out to solve the murders and uncover a conspiracy.

Towards the end of the movie, Nicholas discovers that all the key members of the town (also the Neighborhood Watch Alliance) have formed a group that kills any person who attempts to disrupt the peace of the town. He and his partner ban together, and take the bad guys down… this are achieved through a montage of famous action movies with many hilarious spoofs. In the end, Nicholas decides to stay in Sanford, realizing there is plenty of crime and excitement in small towns!

The clearest negative aspect of this movie is the stereotypical depiction of small-town life. I have lived in large cities my whole life, and have made a few of these assumptions myself. After living in Carbondale for a few years, I realize these are all generalizations. Hot Fuzz depicts the Sanford police force as being bumbling idiots. They make bets about citizens, sexually harass the female police officer, and allow the Neighborhood Watch Alliance to make all decisions concerning crimes. The only actor and actress in the town are depicted as being sexually promiscuous and air-headed. All of the citizens are made to seem untrustworthy, suggesting that small towns are corrupt and bent on hiding the ghosts in their closets. However, the movie makes these stereotypical jokes to poke fun at those who make generalization about small-towns. I really enjoyed “Hot Fuzz”. I suggest that before watching it, you watch “Shaun of the Dead” by the same production group.

Niki

Rush Hour

Rush hour pairs Jackie Chan with a complete opposite loud mouthed partner played by Chris Tucker. In the movie, a foreign leader's daughter is kidnapped and held for ransom. Agent Lee (Jackie Chan) comes over from china to aid the FBI in the investigation. The FBI, wanting to handle the case on their own, attempt to pawn off Lee on Carter (Chris Tucker). In their first interaction, lee pretends to not understand english. Carter is portrayed as a bit ignorant by yelling his words in an attempt to make Lee understand. Carter first takes Lee to china town to talk to the first of many contacts he has. In china town the asian tourists are all portrayed stereotypically, becoming fastinated and snaping hundreds of photos at every little thing happening. Later, while driving the music tastes of these two opposite races are commented on. Lee turns on the beach boys, and being the uptight out of touch asian he is, he loves it. Carter of course critizices Lee and changes the channel to a rap station. Eventually the duo is able to find the hideout of the mastermind behind the kidnapping. Upon entering the building a huge brawl breaks out and, as they are often portrayed, every asian knows kung fu. Carter attempts to keep up and help out, but all of the fast paced acrobatic fighting is done by the asians. The mastermind Jin Tao escapes unfortunatly and the chase continues. After pursuing further, they find out that jin tao is actually british, not asian. This reinforces the idea that behind everything is the man, and whitey runs all. This trend continues throughout the cast with all the FBI agents and police supiors are the typical white middle aged man. Fortunatly enough in the end, everybody bad dies, and everyone that is good lives, giving us a happy ending,

The ways in which the main charectors are portrayed is stereotypical for their respective heratiges. Lee is a calm quite respectful asian who, like all asians, knows awsome kung fu. Carter is set up as the typical loud mouthed fast talking black guy. Carter also owns a gaudi corvette and for some reason always loves to dance. Although their pairings are very different and result in hilarious consequences, neither are taken seriously by their supiors because they are both minorities. Rush hour pairs two stereotypical minorites for a action packed comedy filled movie.

-nick h

Smokin aces

Smokin Aces is an action movie about a mob boss who puts a million dollar hit out on a rival mob boss, Buddy Isreal. Many of the mob characters are protrayed as the fat italian mobster with much in the same way the sopranos portrays italians. Buddy Isreal is a vegas showman who became involved in the mob and is portrayed much like Frank Sintra, living a high class life of partying, prostitutes, and cocaine. When the word about the massive bounty on his head, a whole slew of contract killers start competeing to get to Buddy first. There are also FBI agents attempting to keep Buddy safe so he can testify against the mob. All the police and FBI agents are portrayed as upper class white males, also known as "the man". Some other charectors fit stereotypical roles such as hugo, the polish baffon portrayed as a sleezy track suit wearing, european ganster who is buddy's right hand man. The tremor brothers, a group of contract killers are a group of 3 white trash brothers. being from a poor background they are shown as stupid and crazy, going on rampant killing sprees as they listen to death metal. The brothers white trash background is further reinforced by all three being stepbrothers, with one mother in common. The few women in the movie are the two african american female killers. Their black backgrounds are reinforced with a hiphop wardrobe, and the use of slang. Although they are strong independant women, they still use a more subtle and seductive appraoch to getting to buddy isreal, as opposed to the brutal killing sprees the male killers use throughout the movie


- Nick H

Gone with the Wind

This weekend I watched Gone with the Wind, a romance movie adapted from the novel by Margaret Mitchell. This movie is set during the Civil War. It centers on the life of a young southern belle name Scarlett O’Hara. She is naive and selfish and a famous anti-hero of film. Scarlett lives a wealthy lifestyle, growing up in the family plantation named Tara. She is forced to mature quickly as the North declares war against the South. Scarlett assists as a nurse during the war and then works on her hands and knees trying to farm Tara without her slaves. This is when she states the famous quote:

“As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me.
I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill.
As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again.”

Scarlett soon realizes that the only power she holds in the world is the ability to control men.

Scarlett marries three times in the movie, the first out of jealousy. She discovers that her true love Ashley Wilkes is to marry her friend Melanie, and marries a man she cares nothing for in retaliation. Her second marriage is one of necessity. Scarlett it to lose Tara to tax collectors. She marries a family friend who has money in order to save her plantation. This husband dies in a fight defending her honor. Her third husband is Rhett Butler. Scarlett loves Rhett more than she is capable of understanding. He cares for her deeply. He states that “I love you. Because we're alike. Bad lots, both of us. Selfish and shrewd. But able to look things in the eyes as we call them by their right names.” However, the loss of their daughter Bonnie and the buried but present feelings she has for Ashley doom their relationship. This changes only when Melanie dies leaving Ashley to Scarlett. Rhett leaves Scarlett without a future exclaiming "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.” Then and only then does Scarlett understand what Rhett means to her.

Gone with the Wind is plagued with racial, gender and economic stereotypes. The most obvious are the overt racial stereotypes in the slave characters. Mammy is a caring motherly figure that watches over the family as though they were her own. Even after the war, she stays caring for the family until the end of the movie. Butterfly McQueen as Prissy (Scarlett’s personal servant) is hard to watch without annoyance. Prissy is depicted as a sniveling frivolous liar, incapable of caring for herself. The movie portrays Prissy as needing the O-Hara family to survive…

Throughout the film, economic status is present in the main character’s lives. They remain comfortable even during the war. Scarlett only has a peek into the world of poverty after the war, before marrying her second husband. All of the soldiers are portrayed as poor and uneducated. It is obvious that they are disposable, while Rhett and Ashley were both not. The socialites in the south still throw parties to raise money for the war effort.

Gender stereotypes are present throughout the film as well. Male characters Rhett and Ashley are depicted as noble and loyal, exhibiting bravery throughout the film. Scarlett and Melanie (their counterparts) are depicted as either conniving or helpless. Melanie is portrayed as a sap, who allows everyone to step on her throughout the film. She dies at the end, still thinking all the characters around her were loyal. Scarlett is depicted as a conniving and backstabbing fiend who marries her way into power. I think these two character choices have plagued female roles throughout history. Female actors are often only offered these two roles to choose from.

Although overt gender, economic and racial stereotypes are present throughout Gone with the Wind, it is a corner-stone of American film history and integral to the construction of modern filmic conventions. It is important to take into consideration the time period in which this film is set and also the period in American history that is was produced. This allows one to be critical of the negative aspects of the film, while still enjoying it as a masterpiece!

Niki

Grandma's Boy

Grandma's Boy is a comedy about a video gaming tester. In the beginning it starts out with Alex getting evicted from his apartment. He decides to move in with his friend Jeff, but is then caught masturbating to an action figure doll in-front of Jeff's mom. He is then forced to move in with his grandma and her two roommates who watch Antiques Roadshow all day. Meanwhile at work he tells everyone that he has moved in with 3 attractive women who keep him up all night. This would have worked if his grandmother had not shown up to his job to drop off lunch. While at work he is supposed to be finishing testing a game, but is not able to do so because his television is being taken up by his grandmother and roommates. He also is working on his own game which one of the game creators, JP, decides to steal. The only problem is that his grandma has played the game and then wins against JP in a game off.

The director plays with gender because a woman is hired at a video game testing place and video games are seen as a man's type of game. Race is not really an issue in the movie because there are no references to it. Sex on the other hand like gender is definitely played up on.

--Samantha

Anchorman

Anchorman, is one of my favorite movies of all time.  I know that it is the slapstick type of comedy, but just something about it's originality does something for me.  I just finished watching it this morning and I could hardly stop laughing.  It becomes so much better every time I watch it just because of the unforgettable quotes that are in it.  If you are unfamiliar with this movie, it's about a anchorman/ his news team in the 70's and they are on top of the news world until a women who defies the rule that an women can't be in the news room.  From there their there world comes crumbleing down till they have nothing left, then it becomes a story of redemption which is spelled R.O.N. 

Cameron Krones

10 Things I Hate About You

Hi, my name is Samantha Meyer and I am currently a freshmen here at SIU. I plan on studying fashion design and merchandising. Obviously I have a love of fashion and shopping, but I also enjoy gymnastics and playing tennis occasionally. In the movie 10 Things I Hate About You I found that there are many stereotypes especially the cliques in the typical 90s teen movie.

In 10 Things I Hate About You it starts out with Cameron "the new kid" being shown around by Michael "the geek." He is showing all the cliques that would be in a high school. While Michael is showing him all the cliques Cameron sees "the it girl" of the school Bianca. He instantly needs to have her and will do anything to have her. Since Michael knows all the groups he ends up helping Cameron try to get Bianca. The only problem is that Bianca is not allowed to date because her sister Kat wont date. So it become this whole web of lie that all come out in the end. But like a typical Romantic movie everyone ends up with someone they wanted in the end.

The director showed all the stereotypes of a high school, yet some were in an exagerated way. The way class is shown in the movie is through the sizes of the houses and the high school. These were obviously upper class students. Gender was shown by the way that the people in the movie acted towards the opposite sex. Race was not really an issue in the movie because they were mostly the same race or if they weren't they were of the same social class so it didn't matter what their race would be.

Quarantine

Before I start to discuss my first movie, I will tell you a little about myself. My name is Niki Habbe. I’m a senior at SIU, graduating this semester with a degree in Psychology. My interest in human nature plays an important role when I watch and analyze movies. I tend to concentrate more prevalently on the characters of the film, and how the character choices that are made for each actor effects the plot. I will pay specific attention to how gender, race and economic status are portrayed through the characters in each film.

I watched Quarantine, a horror movie. The plot of this movie is that a cameraman and reporter shadow firemen to a call about a sick lady. Once inside the apartment complex, it becomes obvious that there is a rabies-like infection spreading through the occupants. All of the characters are sealed inside (quarantined) and they proceed to one by one become infected and kill each other.

Quarantine was filmed through the eyes of a cameraman character. This style of horror film became popular after The Blaire Witch Project was released. It is indented to make viewers feel uneasy, as their view of the movie is usually somewhat limited. This was the case in Quarantine. The cameraman’s light flashed on and off, often with zombie-like people popping out to grab the actors.

I felt that this movie exhibits many of the stereotypes that horror films are prone to. The majority of the film took place in a low-income apartment complex. No one seems to care that the lives of these occupants will be lost if the quarantine continues. Many of the occupants die quickly because they do not speak English. These characters are made to seem stupid, as if they wouldn’t understand to run if someone was trying to eat them… The reporter in this movie was a young, pretty female. She was incapable of making decisions without the help of a fireman or her cameraman. Her feebleness resulted in the deaths of many of the other characters. I also felt that racial stereotypes were prominent in the policeman character. He was conveyed as the “angry black man” whose rash decisions and disregard for the other people quarantined resulted in many deaths.

I think that until horror movies can move past using gender, racial and economic stereotypes, that the genre will continue to release films that viewers are disappointed after seeing.

Blog Introduction

Films can be divided into an array of genres. These genres of movies deal with race, class and gender, some more subtly than others. We will concentrate on four genres of film to discuss. Each of us has chosen one in specific to dissect. Romance, horror, comedy and action will be the focus of this blog. We will discuss the underlining importance of race, class, and gender in each.

The least obvious of the movie genres dealing with such issues would probably be action movies. We will look closely at four different action films and analyze the many aspects that deal with class, gender, and race. Hopefully this will help us to better understand the forms of media that surround us, rather than simply being passive consumers.

The focus of the romantic movie is to show how the media portrays love. Many romance movies show people who are about to get married and are planning their wedding. The way the director portrays the process of planning a wedding could influence actual relationships. Sexuality has an important role in romance movies. Many romantic movies exhibit high levels of sexual content. Also in terms of sexuality and love, the movie genre romance is becoming more liberal in the definition of relationships. In I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Hollywood is beginning to depict non-traditional households as successful. The same is seen in The Next Best Thing, in which a straight women and gay man who are best friends raise a child together. In terms of gender, the media shows males as being passive and refusing to work on their relationship, while the women is the dominant person working for something more.

Comedies are movies that are intended to make you laugh. There are different types of comedies. Slap-stick focus on physical aspects of comedy, while more recently it has expanded to include silly actions and dialogue. An example of this would be Will Ferrell movies. Some other types of comedies are situational comedy and a mix of comedy with other genres, such as romance. In these forms, you see less slap-stick, but rather the dialogue is what makes the movie what it is. An example of this could be The Big Lebowski.

Horror films play on the many stereotypes of race, class and gender. Often, a large male figure is depicted as the monster. He chases after women who are helpless. People of lower class are first to die. The storyline depicts as them as not having the intelligence needed to escape even the most simple of villains. This is personified in the new Friday the 13th, when small town farmers and college girls are easy pray for Jason. Race plays an unfortunate stereotype in horror films as well. The audience has now learned that minority actors/actresses in horror films will rarely see the end of the story, as they will almost always be killed. However, films that are able to break this mold, or were filmed before this problem became prevalent, are classic horror movies that will forever remain popular.

This blog is dedicated to understanding, praising, and breaking down the problems that make up these four genres. Race, class and gender play important roles in the storylines of romantic, action, comedy and horror films. We will discuss these aspects and more in this blog.