Tuesday, February 24

BLOG ASSIGMENT:
Office Space: Unless you're one of these snooty, uptight, yuppy types, you cannot deny that director Mike Judge’s “Office Space” has had an indelible effect on modern culture.

It’s called RELATIONAL HUMOR - people can relate to the sh*t that Peter Gibbons goes through in his everyday existence - the same sh*t that we all have to deal with in our everyday lives….bosses, insane co-workers, managerial nonsense, technical glitches, impertinent computers and procedural headaches. Peter's had it up to here with the multiple managers, baffling computer errors and nonsensical documentation requirements of his employer, the fictional company of Initech.

You don't have to be a corporate drone to enjoy Judge's satire, it’s a catharsis of sorts for us all. Identify a bitter truth found beneath the hilarious situations in this film. Keep your responses unique and support them with examples from the film. Minimum 150 words.

DUE: Thursday, 2/26

The movie The Blues Brothers, which cost around $30 million to make, was released in 1980 and while initially it didn't do well at the Box Office, it has developed a world-wide cult following and is still regularly screened in cinemas around the world. It has developed into a cult classic, so popular that an official tribute show has toured and The Blues Brothers performed the half time entertainment for the 1997 Superbowl. Various other tribute shows are performing around the world.......

Some random facts:
- Continuation error when they go over the draw-bridge. The bridge is almost completely upright just before Elwood drives over it, but it is much lower when they actually become airborne.

- They used five or six Pinto's for the Nazi car that flew off the bridge. There was a lot of trouble getting a permit to do this; they had to prove that they could accurately predict where the car was going to land. They dropped one as test run (it landed in a cornfield). They sawed two in half, to get the camera inside them. They used one for the low-drop (into ditch in the road), and two for the high-drop (off the bridge).

- Elwood never takes off his sunglasses, and Jake never takes off his hat.

- Every time we see the window in Elwood's apartment a train goes past.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT: Why do you think The Blues Brothers became such a success years after it was released? Is it the music? The all-star cast? Choose a part of the film that substantiates your point.

DUE: WEDNESDAY, 2/11