Bruce Almighty is Irresistible
There is a guilty pleasure one gets from watching characters we identify with struggle on screen, and we begin to think to ourselves that maybe our lives aren’t so bad after all. Such is the case in Bruce Almighty, a new release from Universal Pictures directed by Tom Shadyac. The movie is by no means sensational or groundbreaking, but it has an irresistible charm that draws in viewers in desperate need of a break from reality. The unfortunate protagonist (Jim Carrey) becomes convinced that God has abandoned him after he loses a coveted news anchor position to a slimy coworker. God (Morgan Freeman) grants Bruce his heavenly powers and challenges him to do a better job, pointing out that “…Gandhi only lasted a week!”
Predictably, events spin out of control as Bruce is overwhelmed by prayers (received in the form of e-mails), and he manages to lose the only woman who had ever truly cared for him. It’s easy to wonder what caring and compassionate Jane sees in the somewhat narcissistic and negative Bruce, but Jennifer Aniston pulls off the role beautifully, with an ease that assures her movie career will continue to thrive. Of course, Carrey provides the life force of the movie, and it is his inimitable physical humor and impeccable comedic timing which save a script bordering on cheesy and overdone.
Most satisfying of all is watching Bruce’s conversion from a self-absorbed man suffering from a middle age crisis to a considerate human being aware of other people’s emotions. As God he initially grants all wishes, and pandemonium breaks out, as the real God explains that humans usually don’t know what will truly make them happy.
Bruce is the focus of the book because he is dying; well, we're all dying, but he's dying soon.
Braff himself has a warm, easy-to-watch screen presence. He can say nothing during the lull in a conversation, while the camera remains focused on his face, and it feels right. Portman and Sarsgaard are also genuine, each wonderfully relaxed in their roles. Production design is superb: details in every scene are arranged well, and the photography, by Lawrence Sher, is - like the story and the acting – unpretentious, never distracting, tricky or cute. This film never seems to manipulate us; instead it engages us, arouses our curiosity and amusement, bids us gently to care about Andrew and Sam and even Mark, leaving us entertained in the best sense. This movie is as confident, as secure in itself, as comforting, as a well worn pair of house slippers or your favorite reading chair. A splendid film. Grade: A- (09/04)
During the third stage which was initiative vs. guilt. Bruce was wondering why he was feeling that something was missing in his life. Bruce when he was around this age felt always like he didn’t fit in. Bruce would spend a lot of time alone really did not like talking to other children.
The Devil stealing Goodman Brown’s innocence eventually leads him to a life of despair. All throughout his life, Brown had let the Church dictate his life, and when he finds that it is all a ruse, the foundation that his...
Throughout the graphic novel, Bruce hides his true sexuality by taking on a false identity for people to
Juror #1 originally thought that the boy was guilty. He was convinced that the evidence was concrete enough to convict the boy. He continued to think this until the jury voted the first time and saw that one of the jurors thought that the boy was innocent. Then throughout the movie, all of the jurors were slowly convinced that the boy was no guilty.
The theme of the starts off by the Joker showing up with school buses with his gang and robbing a bank. Gotham City Police Commissioner Jim Gordon and Batman decided to include the new district attorney into their plan to get rid of the Joker and other crimes. After all of this happens the of the movie switches to a romantic mood when Bruce Wayne finds out that Harvey Dent is going out with his best friend and long time crush Rachael Dawes, which he has always had a place for her in his heart. One evening when Bruce throws a party for Harvey Dent for winning the district job, he takes Rachael outside and asked her when she said they win be together did she mean it and all she could say was “Bruce” don’t make me year only hope for you’re normal life.
“Raging Bull” (1980) is not a so much a film about boxing but more of a story about a psychotically jealous, sexually insecure borderline homosexual, caged animal of a man, who encourages pain and suffering in his life as almost a form of reparation. Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece of a film drags you down into the seedy filth stenched world of former middleweight boxing champion Jake “The Bronx Bull” LaMotta. Masterfully he paints the picture of a beast whose sole drive is not boxing but an insatiable obsessive jealously over his wife and his fear of his own underling sexuality. The movie broke new ground with its brutal unadulterated no-holds-bard look at the vicious sport of boxing by bringing the camera into the ring, giving the viewer the most realistic, primal, and brutal boxing scenes ever filmed. With blood and sweat spraying, flashbulbs’ bursting at every blow Scorsese gives the common man an invitation into the square circle where only the hardest trained gladiators dare to venture.
The Fight Club, directed by David Fincher, constructs an underground world of men fighting with one and other to find the meaning to their lives. Ed Norton and Brad Pitt are the main characters who start the fight club. They make a set of rules in which everyone must follow.
Issue One When we become part of the fictional world of comics, either through the mediums of comic books/graphic novels, movies or television, our first thoughts do not go to the injustices we see before us. Instead of “Hm, that criminal is not being given his proper rights due to him”, we think, “Holy shit, Superman just punched that guy through a building” and enjoy the thrill of the story. We don’t pay attention to the forms and importance of justice, or better yet the lack of traditional justice we have come to know and respect in our world. We see flashy heroes in colorful spandex race through the sky or on the land to the next big criminal act to halt it in its tracks and deliver them to law enforcement, wrapped in a bow. However, over the years this “neat and tidy” mindset of dealing with crime and criminals, even superhuman ones, has changed.
A catechism: Who is Batman? He is Bruce Wayne. Who is Bruce Wayne? A billionaire fighting crime under a secret identity. Why does he fight? In memory of his parents, murdered in an alleyway mugging when he was a child. How did he react? He swore by the spirits of his parents to avenge their deaths by spending the rest of his life warring on all criminals. How did this event and oath change him? He became dark, obsessed, dour. How will his quest end? Only with his death or exhaustion. Will another replace him when he dies? No-Bruce Wayne's origin, history, talents and resources are unique, others may imitate, but none can replace him.
Bruce has a lot of fun with his new divine powers at first, but once his world starts to suffer from his selfish use of these powers havoc breaks out. After his girlfriend Grace leaves him, Bruce starts to see the pain he has done. He then prays to God, asking him to take his powers back and fix everything.
Before watching God’s Not Dead, I was a bit apprehensive about how much I would like the movie because I feel that often Christian movies tend to not be the most accurate or even enjoyable movies to watch. However, I decided to watch the movie because I was curious as to what it was all about. God’s Not Dead is a 2014 drama that highlights a Christian college student defying his Atheist philosophy professor’s beliefs. Overall, while the movie was enjoyable, there were certain stereotypes within the film that I think demeaned plot, and I would have found the movie to be more enjoyable without those stereotypes.
The Passion of the Christ is one of many films about the life of Jesus but this particular one is different to the others. Released in 2004, directed by Mel Gibson and filmed in the ancient Aramaic language, `The Passion' focuses mainly on the death of Christ and shows us the full extent as to what he suffered to save mankind.
The 1960s was a very “interesting” time in history. With it's cars, culture, and people! But one thing in particular, is the movies during that time. Movies like “Psycho,” and “Sparticus,” one movie that really stands out is “The Magnificent 7.” Considered a “classic,” The Magnificent 7 was directed by John Sturges, and was released October 23, 1960.