The Graduate (Mike Nichols; 1967)

The action is mainly seen through the eyes of Benjamin Braddock, a confused twenty-one year old, who is worried about his future but who does not simply want to follow the commercial path of his affluent family and their friends. His life becomes complicated when he is embroiled in an affair with an older woman, Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's business partner. It becomes even more impossible when he falls in love with Mrs. Robinson's daughter, Elaine.

FARGO

"There's more to life than a little money you know...."

Based on this quote, discuss the character flaws of one character in this film.

200 words.

DUE: 6/10

The Coen Brothers

The Coens are clever directors who know too much about movies and too little about real life. —Emanuel Levy, Cinema of Outsiders

The adolescent experiences of the young Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan, forced indoors by frigid Minnesota winters, provides a remarkably crystalline metaphor for their later film work. Born in Minnesota to academic parents, the brothers were raised in a typical middle-American, middle-class Jewish household. Their childhood was largely unremarkable and aside from the production of a few super-8 home movies, a future in filmmaking seemed unlikely. Joel proceeded to New York University where, in lieu anything better, he enrolled in a film course. Ethan, on the other hand, ventured to Princeton; choosing Philosophy as his major. Joel's film school experience would assist him in landing a number of editing jobs on small budget films, providing him with exposure to film production practices. With this grounding the brothers were motivated to make their own film. With the help of investors from the local Minnesota business community the Coens set about making their first feature length film—Blood Simple.

Joel and Ethan Coen have worked within the realms of various genres, adopting appropriate methods of realisation to reflect these representational frameworks. The dialogue in their films is a prominent factor in the organisation and maintenance of these generic constructions and in the fulfilment of specific stylistic strategies. The Hudsucker Proxy's synthetic visual design is mirrored by its stylised dialogue, the criminal milieu of Miller's Crossing is characterised by memorably rich gangster jargon, while Fargo's attention to visual realism operates concurrently with the application of an appropriate regional Minnisota dialect.

Language operates as a cue to the themes and characters in the films of Joel and Ethan Coen. That they construct dialogue of wonderful inarticulacy, such as the Dude's (Jeff Bridges) scrambled speeches in The Big Lebowski and Carl's (Steve Buscemi) consistent malapropism in Fargo, is not merely a joke at the expense of their characters, but rather the critical interrogation of communication breakdown, while Raising Arizona is to some extent about a desire to improve one's position.

Many of the films of the Coen brothers are specific to particular regions and communities—The Coens' detailed reconstruction of identifiable communities, with all their quirks and eccentricities, has led many critics to accuse them of adopting a lofty superiority to their characters.

The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen; 1998)

When "The Dude" Lebowski is mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski, two thugs urinate on his rug to coerce him into paying a debt he knows nothing about. While attempting to gain recompense for the ruined rug from his wealthy counterpart, he accepts a one-time job with high pay-off, to find "The Big Lebowski's" young wife Bunny, who is seemingly kidnapped. He enlists the help of his bowling buddies to solve this crime....but this only seems to screw things up further.......

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Joel Coen;2000)

Loosely based on Homer's "Odyssey," Everett Ulysses McGill and his companions escape a chain gang and try to reach Everetts home to recover the buried loot of a bank heist. Along the way they are confronted by a series of strange characters, among them sirens, a cyclops, bankrobber George 'Babyface' Nelson, a campaigning Governor, his opponent, a KKK lynch mob, and a blind prophet, who warns the trio that "the treasure you seek shall not be the treasure you find."

Now that we have seen such timeless Kung Fu classics as Shogun Sammurai, Kill Bill, Enter the Dragon, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and of course Kung Fu Hustle one should be quite the Kung Fu connoisseur. Using examples from all the films we watched in class please explain how the elements of philosophy, honor, choreography, violence and action are intertwined throughout the Kung Fu genre and make a film truly a Kung Fu classic. Also note the styles of cinemetography, such as climactic slow motion action scenes, that render a Kung Fu movie great.

minimum 300 words.

maximum 500 words.

If you pas 500 words you fail for being that kid.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000-2005)

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is a timeless story that takes place in QING China when miracles were credible and spirits and gods were present in man's world. It is not unbelievable that zen warriors float through the air, skim the water and battle in trees and on rooftops. Pain, revenge and duty are the stuff that bind us in this world and are the main plot line of the movie, but in the afterlife love and faith linger on.

Li Mu Bai, a great warrior decides to turn in his sword, the Green Destiny to a treasured friend. When the sword is then stolen, it is up to him to retrieve it. At the same time he is trying to avenge his master's death by the evil Jade Fox. He is joined in his quest by Shu Lien, the un-conceded love of his life. During all of this, they are introduced to Jiao Long Yu, the mysterious and beautiful daughter of a well known family. She is the mysterious link to all these tales. But through all the many subplots, this is in essence, a love story.

American Splendor

(Shari Springer Berman / Robert Pulcini; 2003)

This is the true story of Harvey Pekar, a cynical file clerk at a local VA hospital. His interactions with his co-workers offer some relief from the monotony;their discussions encompass everything from music to the decline of American culture to new flavors of jellybeans and life itself. At home, Harvey fills his days with reading, writing and listening to jazz. His apartment is filled with thousands of books and LPs, and he regularly scours Cleveland's thrift stores and garage sales for more, savoring the rare joy of a 25-cent find. It is at one of these junk sales that Harvey meets Robert Crumb, a greeting card artist and music enthusiast, who years later, finds international success for his underground comics.

Crumb's success inspires Harvey to write his own brand of comic book: American Splendor, a truthful, unsentimental record of his working-class life. First published in 1976, the comic earns Harvey cult fame throughout the 1980s and eventually leads him to the sardonic Joyce Barber, a partner in a Delaware comic book store who end ups being Harvey's true soul mate. The film takes us through their bizarre experiences of Harvey's cult celebrity stature....

Everything is Illuminated

(Liev Schreiber, 2005)

Adapted from Jonathan Safran Foer's best selling book, Everything is Illuminated is both a funny, quirky, and thought-provoking film. The main story is a grimly familiar one - A young Jewish American--Jonathan Safran Foer--travels to the Ukraine in the hope of finding the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis. He is aided in his search by Alex Perchov, a naïve Ukrainian translator, Alex's grandfather (also called Alex), and the grandfather's deranged dog, named Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. He has only a photograph and the name of a village. Will they find the village? This directorial debut by Liv Schreiber will leave you smiling and, most likely, scratching your head just a little bit.

ASSIGNMENT: How does the past illuminate everything? Consider both the film and your thoughts on life in response to this question. 200 words