This event was a presentation of the film “Space balls” in the quaint Gish Theater by the well known director Mel Brooks. First of the audience was welcomed by the melodic music of Queen as they chose a one of the elegant seats. As 9:30 approached the audience became quite and the lights were turned low. Eric Browning entered the stage and started off by introducing himself. Eric Browning is an advocate of the film industries that has studied film production and American culture and is enthused with gender qualities within film and French films. After introducing himself, Eric presents the film as well as the theater. The Gish Theater was named to celebrate Dorothy and Lillian Gish, Ohio native actresses. “Spaceballs” was written by American film director, …show more content…
Screenwriter, comedian, actor, producer and composer. Mel brooks is well known for his comic personality and the way he implements that into his works. He loves to create parody films that play off of the original films and references. “Spaceballs” was created in 1987 and became one of Mel’s best known films and popular among science fiction fans. The film parody the original film, “Star Wars” and uses many different science fiction films as references such as “Planet of the apes” and “Alien”. All of the characters are named close to the original names such as Lord Dark Helmet and Captain Lone Starr. In addition, much of the setting is also closely related to the setting of the original movies. This film exaggerates many scenes from each reference film in this movie to add to the comical effect. Much like the plot of “Star Wars” the plot of “Spaceballs” is for the Hero, Captain Lone Starr, to rescue the princess, Princess Vespa, from the evil villains, Lord Dark Helmet and his fellow spaceballs. Princess Vespa runs away from her wedding to Prince Valium and blast into the universe with her trustee companion, Dot Matrix. They find themselves in a bind when they are caught in Dark Helmets’ space ray. Dark Helmets plan is to capture and hold her hostage in order to retrieve the code for the shield around Druidia. With that code Dark Helmet can steal their air and use it for his own planet. Lone Starr and his side kick Barf are to break into Dark Helmets ship and rescue Vespa and Dot. With this mission they find themselves facing many challenges expected by a science fiction film. They retrieve the two damsels but end up crash landing on the desert moon of vega. Adventuring across the desert the four end up passing out but become rescued by the Dinks and are taken back to a cave which is inhabited by Yogurt, the old and wise one.
He introduces Lone Star to the power known as the Schwartz which he later uses to defeat Dark Helmet. Vespa is once again captured and her dad, King Roland ends up giving the code. With the code Dark Helmet unlocks the shield and transforms his ship into “Mega Maid”, a giant robot with a vacuum to suck out all of the air from Druidia. While all this happening Lone Starr and Barf continue to try to rescue Princess Vespa as well as destroy Mega Maid. In comparison to “Star Wars” there is a critical light saber fight between Dark Helmet and Lone Starr due the prevention of Lone Starr getting to the self destruct button for the ship. Lone Starr looses his saber but still defeats Dark Helmet by using the shwarts. Lone Starr races back to the ship that is occupied by Barf, Princess Vespa and Dot, before the ship self destructs. As they escape in a nick of time the people of the ship frantically pack into the escape pods except for Lord Dark Helmet, President Skoob, and Colonel Sandurz. They get blasted into space along with the remains of the
ship. Princess Vespa and Dot return to their home planet safely while Lone Starr and Barf are congratulated yet decline the reward money that was promised do to the gratitude of their good deed. The only request made by them was a tank of gas and money for food. Lone Starr and Barf stop at their usual diner to enjoy a hot meal. While dinning, one of the customers suffer from the birth of a alien just like the event in the movie “Aliens”. When the two return back to their ship they are are greeted with a message from Yogurt. Lone Starr is informed that he is a prince which then enables him to rush back to Princess Vespa to he can wed her. They arrive just in time right before Valium and Vespa say “I do”. He then steals the spot light and they get married, hence happily ever after. This event was a hilarious parody film in the classical Gish Theater. “Spaceballs” had me rolling with laughter and gave me a sense of gratification due to the many witty references used in the movie. I was super comfortable in this cozy and elegant theatre that had fine wooden seats lined with velvet. The contradiction between the posh setting and the amusing film displayed was quite interesting. It was swell to get out of my dorm room and watch a film to relieve the built up stress that has been placed upon me as well as learn about the film and the author who wrote it. “Spaceballs” was written and directed by Mel Brooks, a man well known for his parody films and comic personality. It was shocking to learn that this movie had a 22.7-million-dollar budget and bringing in 38 million in sales. The sales were generated mostly through VHS sales in the late 80’s and early 90’s. One detail I find interesting was the marketing expressed in the film its self, such as the scene that they played the movie “Spaceballs” in the movie and showed real time action. It was entertaining yet proper to use as a marketing tool. Also, the mass amount of movie merchandise that was shown in the movie was also a creative twist to increase sales. I believe these marketing strategies were an exceptional way to make sure they sold enough to cover their large budget. I was especially fond of the complex genre this film has been placed into. This ludicrous film feeds from the genres of the films it references such as science fiction, yet still falls into the genre of parody and comedy. The complexity is interesting because it is like an art piece with many different parts assembled together to create something new and unique. The “Spaceballs” Film event was very enthusing and was presented pretty well. The environment was comfortable and the film was enjoyable. Although, one element I would change about the presentation is that I would furnish more information about the film such as how it was made, some of the artist that made props, and special effect artist. The information that was displayed was focused on the film creator and minimal facts about the film itself. Many of this theaters audience are college students and this film appeals to the science fiction fan base. Many of the science fiction fan base are enrolled in a creative field of study so I believe the audience would benefit from the more creative knowledge about the film. I immensely enjoyed this event due to the pleasant experience and how amusing film was. With that said I would highly recommend a friend that enjoys science fiction or parody films, to attend this event. If you understand the references to the movies which are science fiction, I think that it would be most enjoyable and the viewer would yield more amusement. I would not recommend this film to some one who is not a movie enthusiast for the fear they may not understand the movie due to the immense use of references. I would eminently recommend going to see a film in the Gish Theater because I believed it to be a delightful experience due to its classy look and feel. “Spaceballs was a comical event that deride the “Star Wars” and parody many other references. I believed the experience to be enjoyable as well as the film itself. The curators made exceptional decisions about the event. I would make minimal changes in order to make it more educational such as additional information. This film would be more appealing to the science fiction fan base and not as appealing for the apathetic movie viewer. I was very pleased with the event and I would recommend anyone that was interested to attend.
In the first 20 minutes of 2001: A Space Odyssey you see a group of monkeys going through evolution. The first change you see is that of a leader. In the beginning, each monkey did their own thing, and was not bound to any organization whatsoever. The monkeys did what they want when they wanted. Then the change begins. A single monkey, by himself, rises to the top of a cliff. He stands and screams. The other monkeys notice him screaming and began dancing and rejoicing. They scream and jump around, in what appears to be reverence for their new leader. Stanley Kubrick shows the change very simply, yet its message is still very clear. The monkeys had never shouted as loud or danced as much as they had previously in the film. Their actions confirm that something in fact had changed.
The Cameraman (1928), an MGM Buster Keaton feature, is one of the last truly great feature films of the silent era. From the artistic balance it finds between the simplicity of an all-too-familiar storyline and the complexity of technique and cinematography, to the very-entertaining and captivating performances of its actors, the film that was nearly lost to the annals of motion-picture history is a multi-faceted gem that is joyous to watch.
In Dialogue: Theatre of America, Harold Clurman said, “we make theatre out of life” (27), and it was precisely this view that motivated him to help create a uniquely American theatre. Clurman, considered one of the most influential directors of the modern American theatre, had a unique vision of what the American theatre could become. One of the founders of the quintessentially American troupe, the Group Theatre, Clurman was a contemporary of Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg, and even married to Stella Adler for twenty years. At a ceremony honoring Clurman, Elia Kazan stated that Clurman’s “greatest achievement [was] himself” (Harold Clurman: A Life of Theatre). An important figure in our theatrical past, Clurman’s theories on theatre and directing require close attention. In this paper, I will first provide a brief biography of Clurman, second, examine his theories of theatre and directing, and lastly, I will explore his criticisms of the then-contemporary theatre, and draw conclusions to the current state of the Broadway theatre.
Suid, Lawrence. "The Pentagon and Hollywood: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)." American History/ American Film: Interpreting the Hollywood Image. Eds. John E. O'Connor and Martin A. Jackson. Boston: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1979.
Stanley, Robert H. The Movie Idiom: Film as a Popular Art Form. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. 2011. Print
In Germany, the advent of sound cinema was initially dismissed as American sensation seeking. The domestic success of Josef von Sternberg’s The Blue Angel (1930) then represents a turnabout of public sentiment. The film encapsulates the paradox of Weimar cinema as it relates to its American counterpart. While in opposition to the American industry, German cinema consistently looked to Hollywood as a point of reference and the film is a result of this. As Professor Rath is seduced in the film by the cabaret singer, Lola Lola, German audiences became seduced by the film and by the technology of sound cinema. The film is a showcase of its own technological achievement and arises from the paradoxical engagement of German with American cinema, an
Considering the film’s budget was $2,540,000, this musical made an impressive profit for its time. This would equate to a quarter of a billion dollars in today’s money. Singin’ in the Rain brought about impressive revenue due to its density and subjectivity. This film could easily be a child’s favorite film due to its eye-catching musicals and light-hearted comedy. But it could also be on adult’s favorite film list due to its thought-provoking depiction of Hollywood in the late 1920s and character development. In this film, we follow four performers as they transition from role taking in silent films to “talkies”. After a rival studio has immense success with its first talking picture, the characters decide they must transform their next Lockwood and Lamont film into a talkie. The viewer is engulfed in the passion and consistent nature of these characters. The need for personal satisfaction and public service rather than monetary gain is also relevant. Soon after, they realize the lead female actress cannot sing. This problem was irrelevant when they were performing in silent films. After a satire of this actress’s career, the movie is completed with another actress’s voice and their premiere of The Dancing
In the short story “The Fun They Had” by Issac Asimov, the author uses thoughtful reflections to indirectly express Margie’s unenthusiasm towards the school in 2157. During school, Margie’s feelings towards the school was revealed when she “…was thinking about how the kids must have loved it (school) in the old days” and was also “…thinking about the fun they had” (Asimov 2). Reflection is employed here to portray Margie’s comparison with her current school and the old school. Her thought of how kids in the past must have loved school suggests that Margie is not loving her school much as these kids, but really it is the opposite of them. In addition, Margie’s prediction of kids in the past having fun in their school stimulates readers to conclude
“I had to know what Tyler was doing while I was asleep. If I could wake up in a different place, at a different time, could I wake up as a different person?” (Palahniuk 32). When Tyler is in action, narrator is not contemporaneous in a sense that he is Tyler now. Tyler is someone who doesn’t give any importance to money-oriented world but he indeed believes in the willpower of constructing a classless society. The narrator is insomniac, depressed, and stuck with unexciting job. Chuck’s prominent, pessimistic, radical work, Fight Club, investigates inner self deeper and deeper into personality, identity, and temperament as a chapter goes by. Through his writing, Chuck Palahniuk comments on the inner conflicts, the psychoanalysis of narrator and Tyler Durden, and the Marxist impression of classicism. By not giving any name to a narrator, author wants readers to engage in the novel and associate oneself with the storyline of narrator. The primary subject and focus of the novel, Fight Club, is to comment socially on the seizing of manhood in the simultaneous world. This novel is, collectively, a male representation where only a single woman, Marla Singer, is exemplified. “Tyler said, “I want you to hit me as hard as you can” (46). This phrase is a mere representation of how to start a manly fight club. However, in the novel this scene is written as if two people are physically fighting and splashing blood all over the parking lot, in reality it’s just an initiation of fight club which resides in narrator’s inner self. The concept of this club is that the more one fights, the more one gets sturdier and tougher. It is also a place where one gets to confront his weaknesses and inner deterioration.
Sklar, Robert. Movie-made America: A Social History of American Movies. New York: Random House, 1975. Print.
Bordwell Thomson, David. “Sex in Science Fiction Films: Romance or Enginnering?”. (New York: BFI Publishing, 1984)
Gunning, Tom 2000, “The Cinema of Attraction: Early film, its spectator, and the avant-garde.” Film and theory: An anthology, Robert Stam & Toby Miller, Blackwell, pp 229-235.
Films were a new exciting form of entertainment from their debut in the early 1900’s to today, the film making business hit a growth period in the 1920’s. It was a time when movies came and went quickly and films that had no pretense of being art were made in mass. During this time of rapid change in the film making business, a certain aspiring director began his dream of working with cinema. Eventually, the talented and mysterious director, Alfred Hitchcock, played a huge part in establishing his and others’ masterpieces as an art.
The two decade period beginning in the late 1940s and concluding in the late 1960s represented the height in popularity for the Hollywood musical. With every major production proving to be box office gold, the level of critical approval was high establishing the Hollywood musical as a genre. Born with the coming of sound, the Hollywood movie musical derived from two sources: opera and operetta, brought over by European emigres, and the American tradition of vaudeville, the inspiration behind so many “backstage” musicals, the plots of which revolved around putting on a show. The interesting alliance between dream and reality in the musical gave directors, designers, and cinematographers the most creative scope within the commercial of Hollywood. Being able to experiment with elements like color, split-screen techniques, and surreal settings made the musical an important force in imaginative filmmaking, without it being attacked by cautious studio moguls. Fortunately, musicals could also easily bypass the censorious Hays Code, which was instigated in the 1930s as a moral guideline for film studios. Although guidelines like “ dances which suggest or represent sexual actions”, “dances intended to excite the emotional reaction of the audience”, and “costumes permitted to undue exposure” were condemned, musicals were full of “shocking” dances and scantily dressed women. Scantily dressed women and sexual innuendo almost went unnoticed by the censors as long as they remained within the seemingly harmless confines of the musical as if nothing immodest could happen in the context of the make believe world the family entertainment inhabited.
Hogan, Mike. "Baz Luhrmann, 'Great Gatsby' Director, Explains The 3D, The Hip Hop, The Sanitarium And More." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 13 May 2013. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.