The comedic masterpiece City Slickers debuted in theaters in 1991. The brain child of Billy Crystal, who starred in and produced the movie, City Slickers tells the illustrious tale of three men going through crises of character. To relieve themselves of their pain to do some soul searching, the men enroll in a traditional western cattle drive. The lure of being cowboys lead them westward, where they face trial and leave with life affirming success. City Slickers’s comedy revolves around the stereotypical western lifestyle and the life lessons Mitch, Phil, and Ed learn are based in the Western ideal of individualism. Childhood friends Mitch, Phil, and Ed are running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain in the beginning of City Slickers. Their …show more content…
The scenes filmed in New York are mainly close ups and tight shots. There are no sweeping views and the sets and costumes seem to only feature dull colors. This helps highlight the tension and apathy surrounding the men. When Mitch has his birthday party, Ed and Phil’s gift to him is a two week vacation to New Mexico, a chance to live out his childhood dream of being “Mitchy the Kid.” Though City Slickers is a comedy and can be taken lightly, it is interesting to look at how the three men begin their journey West. They are all firmly ensconced in the middle class. Their dreams of childhood, playing cowboys and baseball, have been smothered by the cut throat society of the East coast. Mitch fears he has lost his passion in life, recently married Ed is afraid of long term commitment, and Phil, who had an affair, has lost his wife, kids, and job. They feel that they are the outsiders of their society, tired of the status quo and desperately looking for an escape. It is reminiscent of the language used when describing the first westward pioneers: men who wanted to travel outside the established United States to find new success and
1. The Grapes of Wrath was written by John Steinbeck and is historical fiction. 2. Tom Joad who has recently been released from prison for manslaughter goes back to his family farm in Oklahoma. He becomes acquainted with a preacher named Jim Casey.
After camping on Dry Canyon in northeast New Mexico, Sam Ketchum, Bill Carver, Elza Lay, and an outlaw named McGinnis made of with $50,000.They were soon pursued by a posse/Old western cops to a hideout near Cimarron, New
They begin dancing at their wedding feast which is situated in Packingtown, which is Chicago’s meatpacking district. Reading the novel there are clear indications that things are not all good between this couple. In fact, after arriving in the United States they come to the realization that the streets are not paved with gold literally. They make the decision to seek employment in Chicago’s busy industrial yards, where many cattle are being slaughtered on a daily basis and put into cans and packaged. The family’s living conditions are not great, so they begin looking for a new place to live which is way beyond their current
The Cold War is often seen as a dark time in American history, not just because of the international conflict, but because of the strife it caused within the United States itself. During the Cold War, the general culture in America was fearful and paranoid about the rise and spread of Communism within their society. One example of how this hysteria manifested is illustrated in the movie, Trumbo, which tells the story of when the Hollywood industry blacklisted famous writer Dalton Trumbo, along with other workers in the industry, who were connected to Communism. Dalton Trumbo and his associates faced bigotry and were effectively attacked for standing by their ideals, which was a reflection of how American culture had changed at that time. By
Although Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid displays some of the typical aspects of the Western genre, such as having action and adventure and taking place in an untamed frontier, it mostly depicts aspects that are not typical of the Western genre. Unlike many Westerns, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is not overly violent. There are some shooting scenes, but the movie is mostly focused on the debacles that Butch Cassidy and Sundance get themselves into. In the beginning of the film Butch and Sundance encounter many situations that could have turned into a big shooting scene but they don’t. An example of this is when they were being chased down, and instead of confronting them and having it turn into a big fight, they instead flea to Bolivia where they won’t be tracked.
1. In the film, Birdman directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu is about a man named Riggan, whose well known as the “Birdman.” In the film we witness Riggan struggling who is making his mark in the world using broadway. When he achieved his fame as “Birdman”, he isolated himself from the screen as he battled with his inner voices which later caused him to commit suicide. His inner voices in the beginning of the film weren’t as powerful as it was towards the end.
Smokey his best friend who is the same age and also black is a weed dealer that would rather smoke his own product rather than sell it and that leads to him and Craig in danger. This film represents neighborhood change, violence & transformation, and a local hero. I chose this film one it is one of my favorite movies, also because it is a gem to the black community, and lastly it relates to blacks who live in the ghetto and who have gone through the same struggle as Craig and Smokey but with a humorous and heroic twist. American culture can be expressed in different ways and for this movie is displays the culture of the ghetto. It seems that in
Released September 29, 1950, Sunset Boulevard is a film noir of a forgotten silent film star, Norma Desmond, that dreams of a comeback and an unsuccessful screenwriter, Joe Gillis, working together. Ultimately an uncomfortable relationship evolves between Norma and Joe that Joe does not want a part of. Sunset Boulevard starts off with an establishing shot from a high angle shot with a narrative leading to a crime scene shot in long shot (a dead body is found floating in a pool). The narrative throughout the film established a formalist film. Cinematography John F. Seitz used lighting and camera angles in such a way to create a loneliness and hopefulness atmosphere.
Bad Day at Black Rock Kathryn Abbott October 29 2015 DRAMA 3030 The unexpected arrival of a stranger to a small, Midwestern town creates a feeling of scepticism and suspicion, and through this the explicit meaning is revealed: Fear of the unknown and the moral and physical deterioration of a town left to its own devices. The film exemplifies these concepts through the use of mise-en-scène, and vivid cinematographic elements. The blood red coloured train stands out against a muted background.
In particular I believe the writer focuses more on Tre Styles and his point of view. Those that viewed this movie got to witness how racism, violence, gangs, and growing up in the hood shaped the future of all three boys. The movie starts out in the year 1984 focusing on Tre Styles and how his behavior in school forces his mom to take him to live with his father. His father has more strict rules in his home and his mother believes that he needs his dad in his life to turn him and shape him into a young mature man. Tre immediately reunites with his childhood friends Ricky and Darrin and they spend time catching up.
The intent of this movie was fulfilled by showing the audience the points he was addressing. The writer showed the cruel violence that was happening in Los Angeles and how no one on the outside seemed to know or even care about what was going on in the hood. The way the movie was produced showing a majority of the focus from Tre Styles point of view was helpful in letting the viewers understand how it is to live in the hood from someone’s perspective. There was two particular scenes in the movie that I felt was key to the development and understanding of the film. The first one was the scene where Tre’s dad Furious Styles takes him and Ricky to this billboard that is advertising “Cash for your home”.
The film starts out with an African American man walking in the suburbs. He sees a car and is frightened. A person in a hood strangles him from behind and kidnaps him. This illustrates the fear African Americans have in a white society. The movie then fasts forwards to New York City and turns the focus on Chris who is a successful young photographer.
The critically acclaimed film, Goodfellas, is a gangster crime drama that features an incredible amount of talent. Household names such as: Robert De Niro (Jimmy Conway), Joe Pesci (Tommy DeVito), Paul Sorvino (Paul Cicero), and promising stars like Ray Liotta (Henry Hill) and Lorraine Bracco (Karen Hill), attracted numerous Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. That type of cast power, linked with the signature talent of Martin Scorsese as a director, made for cinematic gold. Unquestionably, the actors and actresses did an excellent job augmenting the verisimilitude of this film and compelling audiences to empathize with their characters. But the cinematography in this film plays just as large a role in having audiences feel what the characters
Adversity in “The Intouchables” “My true disability is not having to be in a wheel chair. It’s having to be without her.” (The Intouchables). Lines like that are just a piece of the great undertaking directors Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano took when they decided to be part of The Intouchables.
Wall Street “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works, greed clarifies—cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all its forms—greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge—has marked the upward surge of mankind” (O. Stone). In 1987 the by Oliver Stone directed movie Wall Street was released, starring Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen.