Straight-forward, enjoyable and emotional- that is the best way to describe “Life as a House”. “Life as a House” is a great movie to watch and not have to worry about sifting through confusing details. Hayden Christensen plays the part of a gothic teenage boy who is angry at the world, especially his parents who divorced ten years prior. He plans on going to a cabin for the summer with his friends to drink, do drugs and forget about life, but his plans come to a quick halt. His father, George (Kevin Kline), demands that Sam (Christensen) come to live with him and help him build a house. George feels that he and his son will grow closer by this experience and hopefully Sam will get out of his depressive mood and quit doing drugs.
At first Sam plans on leaving his father’s house after only one day. He decides to stay after Alyssa, the girl next door, comes of to talk to him. Little did Sam know, but this would be a very memorable summer in more than one way. As the summer continued Sam and his father grew closer and Sam also began to find happiness and a reason for living through his new relationship with Alyssa.
Just as things seemed to be going great, Sam’s father came clean with his motives. George only had a few months to live and he wanted to build a relationship and a house with his son during their last few months together.
Sam takes the news baldy and refuses to talk to his father for a few days. Alyssa tells Sam that he should spend what little time he has left with his father. Through the use of camera close-ups and music viewers can feel what the characters are going through.
A few more tangles in the plot help to fuel the emotion. A mother and father reunite and a tragedy from the past is brought forward. Viewers find themselves on the edge of their seats after the movie starts rolling. It has a slow start, but a great payoff at the end. It is hard to keep emotions hidden during this film. “Life as a House” can come to mean many things.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
"Crash" ... this one you'll remember
If you’re looking for an intense storyline and a harsh look at reality then “Crash” is the movie for you. While watching this picture you have to remain objective and watch how the story unfolds and each character acts or reacts to each individual situation. Through twists and turns viewers see how each of the characters in the movie are connected, but most of them aren’t even aware of the others existence or personal life. A statement from the official website for “Crash” best describes it: “They all live in Los Angeles. And in the next 36 hours, they will collide…” (www.crashfilm.com)
What is most interesting about the film is the reality of it all. As viewers are enticed from one scene to the next they soon realize that everyone has prejudice thoughts and which sometimes can even lead to discriminatory actions. One of the main characters, Jean (Sandra Bullock), is irate after she and her husband were carjacked. She yells at her husband, Rick (Brendan Fraser), not only about being carjacked by black men, but also that there is a Hispanic man, Daniel (Michael Pena), changing the locks in their home. She demands that they have someone else change them in the morning because this man will probably sell the keys.
The plot only thickens because more characters are introduced after the men who hijacked Jean’s car accidentally run over a “China man”. They drop him off to the hospital and leave so they can sell the Lincoln to a chop shop. The Asian man’s wife is on the way to the hospital when she herself gets into a car accident and finds herself in an arguing match with a woman who makes fun of her speaking skills.
Since the police are on the lookout for a stolen Lincoln vehicle they pull over a black man and his wife who are driving a vehicle fitting the description. The officers see that the driver and his wife are black, and since he was in power and being racist he decided to give them a hard time. Officer Ryan (Matt Dillon) ends up touching the woman, Christine (Thandie Newton), inappropriately while her husband is forced to watch.
This would not be the last encounter he would have with her. Later in the movie Officer Ryan must pull Christine from a fiery car accident to save her life. The plot continues to thicken, but the main message is clear: racism is everywhere. Whether a person is in a majority group or minority group, stereotypes perpetuate racism. Everyone continues to hold views of one another, until they “crash” into one another and are faced with reality.
Overall the movie is excellent. It is very insightful and will wake people up to every day situations around them. The film can be a bit confusing if you do not have time to sit and watch the storyline play out. There are many more characters and pieces to the puzzle for this movie and it is worth the time to watch it and figure it out for yourself. I would most definitely give this movie an “A” and recommend it for viewers who aren’t afraid to awaken to reality.
What is most interesting about the film is the reality of it all. As viewers are enticed from one scene to the next they soon realize that everyone has prejudice thoughts and which sometimes can even lead to discriminatory actions. One of the main characters, Jean (Sandra Bullock), is irate after she and her husband were carjacked. She yells at her husband, Rick (Brendan Fraser), not only about being carjacked by black men, but also that there is a Hispanic man, Daniel (Michael Pena), changing the locks in their home. She demands that they have someone else change them in the morning because this man will probably sell the keys.
The plot only thickens because more characters are introduced after the men who hijacked Jean’s car accidentally run over a “China man”. They drop him off to the hospital and leave so they can sell the Lincoln to a chop shop. The Asian man’s wife is on the way to the hospital when she herself gets into a car accident and finds herself in an arguing match with a woman who makes fun of her speaking skills.
Since the police are on the lookout for a stolen Lincoln vehicle they pull over a black man and his wife who are driving a vehicle fitting the description. The officers see that the driver and his wife are black, and since he was in power and being racist he decided to give them a hard time. Officer Ryan (Matt Dillon) ends up touching the woman, Christine (Thandie Newton), inappropriately while her husband is forced to watch.
This would not be the last encounter he would have with her. Later in the movie Officer Ryan must pull Christine from a fiery car accident to save her life. The plot continues to thicken, but the main message is clear: racism is everywhere. Whether a person is in a majority group or minority group, stereotypes perpetuate racism. Everyone continues to hold views of one another, until they “crash” into one another and are faced with reality.
Overall the movie is excellent. It is very insightful and will wake people up to every day situations around them. The film can be a bit confusing if you do not have time to sit and watch the storyline play out. There are many more characters and pieces to the puzzle for this movie and it is worth the time to watch it and figure it out for yourself. I would most definitely give this movie an “A” and recommend it for viewers who aren’t afraid to awaken to reality.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Philo T.
Philo T. Farnsworth was the man noted for the invention of television, but I would go as far as to say that most people would never know it. People wouldn’t even be able to find this information easily in a books or archives. A documentary, “Big Dream, Small Screen”, tells the tale of man who discovered television. The documentary tells how television was stolen from Farnsworth by a huge corporation- RCA. RCA couldn’t handle the thought of paying royalties to some small town nobody, but instead they were willing to beg, borrow or steal (as the story goes) in order to guarantee their claim to fame with television. With that mentality and drive an RCA official, David Sarnoff and Russian scientist, Vladimir Zworykin raced to build a television before Farnsworth. The battle between RCA and Farnsworth would go on for years. Farnsworth finished and showed viewers his creation, but RCA wouldn’t stop. They wanted to be acknowledged for producing the television.
Through long court battles and appeals, Farnsworth finally won the rights. His health had declined over the many years of fighting and RCA never gave him a break. He was the little man fighting the big corporation. Even though he had a patent RCA still fought for power. Farnsworth would only have victory for a short amount of time because soon after his big win the government put a ban on commercial television. It was a time of war and the television was used for the military. Farnsworth’s patent would soon run out and the rights for television production would become public. There is a memorial for Farnsworth in his home state, Utah.
Throughout the documentary many different people speak or are quoted about this misfortune. Philo T. Farnsworth was robbed of his great creation and would never truly reap the benefits of its success. The documentary does a great job of informing viewers of the ups and downs of the case. It is also very thorough in explaining the details of the steps of the television. Without “Big Dream, Small Screen” people may never about this young farmer who created television. It sounds outlandish that a young farm boy would beat a Russian scientist to the discovery of television, but through the great detail of the story it is evident. Hopefully people will be able to gain insight of the history of television by watching this educational documentary.
Through long court battles and appeals, Farnsworth finally won the rights. His health had declined over the many years of fighting and RCA never gave him a break. He was the little man fighting the big corporation. Even though he had a patent RCA still fought for power. Farnsworth would only have victory for a short amount of time because soon after his big win the government put a ban on commercial television. It was a time of war and the television was used for the military. Farnsworth’s patent would soon run out and the rights for television production would become public. There is a memorial for Farnsworth in his home state, Utah.
Throughout the documentary many different people speak or are quoted about this misfortune. Philo T. Farnsworth was robbed of his great creation and would never truly reap the benefits of its success. The documentary does a great job of informing viewers of the ups and downs of the case. It is also very thorough in explaining the details of the steps of the television. Without “Big Dream, Small Screen” people may never about this young farmer who created television. It sounds outlandish that a young farm boy would beat a Russian scientist to the discovery of television, but through the great detail of the story it is evident. Hopefully people will be able to gain insight of the history of television by watching this educational documentary.
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