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?The Waste Land? and "The Fisher King", 2006.
A comparison of the themes in the Thomas Stearns Eliot poem "The Waste Land" and that of the film "The Fisher King".
900 words (approx. 3.6 pages), 2 sources, MLA, AU$ 42.95
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Abstract
This paper reviews, compares and contrasts the poem "The Waste Land" by Thomas Stearns Eliot and the movie "The Fisher King". The author of the paper argues that both the poem and the movie deal with similar themes. While the poem is about the fall of Western civilization into a world of madness and chaos without meaning, the movie can be interpreted as a modern day parable of the cynicism that pervades our society and how we can reclaim our lives from the ruins of society. The paper discusses other similar themes as well, including the loss of innocence and the rediscovery of lost youth. The paper also cites evidence that both the play and the film have characteristics of Homeric similes.
From the Paper
"Eliot's poem touches upon the decline of civilization and the inability of individuals to bring about change. This same theme is touched upon in The Fisher King where the trappings of modern society destroy individuals and individual lives. Jack in the beginning saw the young urban professionals, "yuppies", as enemies of society, yet he did not realize that the true enemy was the structure of society which created a populace of mostly uncaring and dispassionate individuals. By denouncing them, he becomes an instrument of the forces that corrupt society which he had fought against. It is this realization that makes him fall from grace through the discovery that his comments on the radio to a listener had caused the death of those in the bar."
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Translating "The Firm" for the Screen, 2006.
An examination of the challenges in converting the John Grisham book "The Firm" to a screenplay.
1,100 words (approx. 4.4 pages), 3 sources, MLA, AU$ 51.95
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Abstract
This paper studies the process of converting the book "The Firm" by John Grisham to a screenplay and movie. The paper begins with a description of the book and the characters. Then the paper discusses the specific challenges that the screenwriter had to overcome in order to create a successful screen adaptation. The author of this paper discusses how the writer and director combined characters, simplified the plot and changed the book's ending.
From the Paper
"The Firm is a rangy novel by John Grisham that explores the parallel corruption in business and in government. A young lawyer, Mitch McDeere, is recruited by a high-profile law firm in Memphis, Tennessee, with a breathtaking employment package that he cannot refuse. But he soon learns that there is a sinister side to the activities conducted by his new firm, and he finds himself quickly engulfed in a network of intrigue and violence that involves the FBI, the Mafia and the partners of the firm. His marriage is threatened, he is blackmailed by the FBI into informing on the firm, and the apparent accidental death of two of the firm's partners turns out to be murder."
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Translating "The Firm" for the Screen, 2006.
An examination of the challenges in converting the John Grisham book "The Firm" to a screenplay.
1,100 words (approx. 4.4 pages), 3 sources, MLA, AU$ 51.95
»
Click here to show/hide summary
Abstract
This paper studies the process of converting the book "The Firm" by John Grisham to a screenplay and movie. The paper begins with a description of the book and the characters. Then the paper discusses the specific challenges that the screenwriter had to overcome in order to create a successful screen adaptation. The author of this paper discusses how the writer and director combined characters, simplified the plot and changed the book's ending.
From the Paper
"The Firm is a rangy novel by John Grisham that explores the parallel corruption in business and in government. A young lawyer, Mitch McDeere, is recruited by a high-profile law firm in Memphis, Tennessee, with a breathtaking employment package that he cannot refuse. But he soon learns that there is a sinister side to the activities conducted by his new firm, and he finds himself quickly engulfed in a network of intrigue and violence that involves the FBI, the Mafia and the partners of the firm. His marriage is threatened, he is blackmailed by the FBI into informing on the firm, and the apparent accidental death of two of the firm's partners turns out to be murder."
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"Eat Drink Man Woman", 2006.
A review of the 1994 Ang Lee film "Eat Drink Man Woman".
2,500 words (approx. 10.0 pages), 4 sources, MLA, AU$ 101.95
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Abstract
This paper is an in-depth review of the cultural/social binaries in Ang Lee's 1994 "Eat Drink Man Woman." The paper discusses how these binaries allow the characters to show their complexity as they face the demands of conflicting expectations. The paper also dissects the characterization and development of the movie's three female leads. The paper concludes with the author's assessment that Ang Lee successfully subverts the patriarchal binary schemes of these women's societies.
From the Paper
"Ang Lee's 1994 film Eat Drink Man Woman is a mature and empowering cinematic, comedic exploration of the lives and development of a splintering family in contemporary Taiwan. The film begins by setting up a series of stereotypes, drawn from the usual constructions of the Asian household, as well as woman's perceived role in modern society generally. The film is redeemed from simple Hollywood-style re-presentation of the standard tropes by subverting these throughout the film. This subversion itself, however, is becoming cliche in movies today, and the womyn who defy the odds to overthrow the oppressors (see GI Jane, Thelma and Louise, and their ilk) define and limit women unfairly. Lee, however, avoids the temptation of excess, and his characters make choices not because they are self-consciously trying to protest a male dominated world, but because they believe what they are doing is best for them. Their psychology meshes superbly with their development, leaving us satisfied that the characters have become stronger woman because of their own actions vis-a-vis their context, not because of the contrived agenda of the director."
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"Annie Hall", 2006.
Examines the relationship between two characters in Woody Allen's film, "Annie Hall".
2,478 words (approx. 9.9 pages), 1 source, MLA, AU$ 101.95
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Abstract
"Annie Hall", by Woody Allen, is a film that deals with relationships, the quest for meaning in life and the nature of romantic love. The paper examines the film which revolves around the relationship between Alvy Singer, a pessimistic comedian who thinks that life is meaningless, and Annie Hall.
Paper Outline:
Introduction
A Relationship is Like a Shark
A Deeper Analysis
Conclusion
Bibliography
From the Paper
"Just as history entails a working out of events through narrative, so also all narrative establishes an anticipation of retrospection. The natural desire of narrative for an ending is evident about two-thirds of the way into Alvy Singer's opening monologue, "Annie and I broke up and I still can't get my mind around that." Alvy gives us the ending of the story before he really gets started into the process of telling it. The anticipation of retrospection becomes clear in the attempt through repetition to understand the significance of this failed love relationship. The eruption of this thought about Annie from the midst of so much seemingly irrelevant material dramatizes the existence of latent desires and replicates in the text the tension of the unconscious in Alvy."
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Baz Luhrmann's "Romeo and Juliet", 2006.
This paper analyzes and critique's Baz Luhrman's 1996 film version of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet."
1,493 words (approx. 6.0 pages), 3 sources, APA, AU$ 66.95
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Abstract
This paper examines director Baz Luhrman's modern day film version of "Romeo and Juliet." The writer of this paper states that the film version of Shakespeare's classic sets the story in a modernized Verona that bears no physical resemblance to the play's original setting and also goes on to note that in order to keep the film down to less than two hours, much of the original text had been cut. This paper compares the film version to the original text of the play and states the pros and cons of trying to improve upon a classic.
From the Paper
"In the interests of keeping the movie less than two hours in length, many of the lines have been cut from the original version. What remains, then, is dialogue that is sufficient for transmitting the basic conflicts within each character. What is interesting, however, is to determine to what extent these lines have been trimmed and to observe that the story's emphasis shifts in the film version as a result of the revisions. First we see an enhancement of Romeo's character by virtue of the fact that his internal struggles are more pronounced than those of Juliet."
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?Blade Runner?, 2005.
This paper explains that Warner Brothers sci-fi film "Blade Runner" (1991) was a box office bomb.
975 words (approx. 3.9 pages), 0 sources, AU$ 46.95
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Abstract
This paper explains that the entire film "Blade Runner" is nothing more than a depiction of violence, for violence's sake and fails terribly in presenting any redeeming social value despite the reputation of the cast and the novel upon which the screen-play is based and the obvious investment in the production. The author points out that Harrison Ford brings to this work his usual contrived intensity by way of camera placements that emphasize his so called expressive facial expressions and eyes, which are used to over-emphasize, even in the chase and the love scenes, the ridiculously super human characteristics supposedly possessed by Ford's character. The paper contends that the lighting is a nightmare, taking away from the players much of their artistic freedoms to enhance their scenes; however, the worst part of the lighting techniques employed were the constantly flashing white strobe lights penetrating every aspect of the film.
From the Paper
"The true give-away of the bomb like nature of this or any other film in the genre is the long and convoluted prologue preceding the beginning of the story. When one can see this, they should run, not walk back to the box office and demand an instant refund. If the story and the action in this genre cannot carry the production then no amount of explanation will help. The Blade Runner, an agent of some sorts, played by Harrison Ford, is licensed to kill these interlopers on sight. Rather than calling them murders for hire, the killings are labeled "Retirements" of the clones. Reluctant at first, to take on the chore for the local police, Ford's character becomes intrigued with trying to figure out if the female lead of the movie is actually human or just another clone."
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An Ethnographic Film: "Trobriand Cricket", 2005.
This paper uses movement analysis to evaluate the ethnographic film "Trobriand Cricket" (1973) by anthropologist Jerry W. Leach and filmmaker Gary Kildea.
2,920 words (approx. 11.7 pages), 6 sources, MLA, AU$ 116.95
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Abstract
This paper explains that, in the film "Trobriand Cricket: An Ingenious Response to Colonialism", made in 1973 by anthropologist Jerry W. Leach and filmmaker Gary Kildea, the film narrative is devoted primarily to the historical context of the cricket game in the Trobriands, providing an illustration of some of the processes of cultural diffusion. The author points out that movement analysis, which focuses on some of the visible aspects of ethnographic films that are often left unrecognized in the film narrative, results in a more profound ethnological appreciation of its contents and is especially valuable for films that focus intentionally on cultural performance. The paper concludes that (1) "Trobriand Cricket" has severe constraints concerning the anthropological "statement" made by the film and (2) movement analysis may yield valuable insight in the initial stages of understanding performance.
From the Paper
"The cultural interpretation of any performance--no matter how transparently the performance is represented to the observer (as it is so effectively in ethnographic film)-relies on the kind of close observation that organizes several details of performance into a system. It is not simply growing and shrinking that are at issue in the Trobriand design, not simply linear formations that are at stake in the British style. The relationship of those features to other features, the relationship of growing and shrinking to force and speed and clusters of bodies, the relationship of lines to individual bodies and to a stabilizing energy field bring out distinctive patterns. The value of movement analysis lies in its ability to construct an articulate representation of particular and even peculiar performances in terms of the very general features that all movement processes share so that various patterns of association can be traced throughout the action of a given culture and between performances of various cultures. A system like LMA can abstract principles of conduct and can represent them accurately in their full complexity and peculiarity."
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Michael Eisner: CEO of Fun, 2006.
A study of Disney CEO Michael Eisner.
1,550 words (approx. 6.2 pages), 2 sources, MLA, AU$ 68.95
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Abstract
This paper examines the life and career of Michael Eisner, the chief executive officer of Disney. The author studies Eisner's meteoric career rise, from a $65-a-week clerk at NBC in 1964 to the youngest CEO of Disney in 1984, a position he still holds today. The paper discusses Eisner's views on leadership, negotiation, competition and the movie industry, citing examples from actions he has taken at Disney. The paper also includes a review of Eisner's autobiography "Work in Progress", from which the author quotes liberally.
From the Paper
"By the time he was 34 years old, Michael Eisner's imagination and sense of adventure, as well as an uncanny knack for knowing what people will buy, earned him a reputation as one of Hollywood's youngest whiz kids who was destined for big things. His successes at ABC and Paramount Pictures ultimately led him to his career at Disney. Michael Eisner is currently the chairman and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company and, according to his biography, lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Jane, and their three sons. This paper will provide a brief overview of Eisner's career and the impact he has had on the Disney empire in particular and the entertainment industry in general."
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Federico Fellini's "8 1/2", 2006.
A review of director Federico Fellini's film "8 1/2".
787 words (approx. 3.1 pages), 0 sources, AU$ 38.95
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Abstract
The paper provides a synopsis of the film, and praises Nino Rota's musical score and Gianni di Venanzo's cinematography. The paper concludes that the film demonstrates the failure of a quest for greatness with the acceptance of mediocrity.
From the Paper
"Guido is at a critical point in his career and he has been contracted to do a new film with the actors hired, a massive set of a spaceship built and a crew ready for production, but Guido has not a single germ of an idea for the movie. Beleaguered by actors wanting to know their parts, producers and crew asking what they should do, battling his own inner fears that ridicule his inabilities and at the same time his personal life is coming apart. Guido fantasizes likely scenes and his daydreams are brought to life through exquisite cinematography by Gianni di Venanzo, as he examines his life, his past and all his present problems."
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"Pirates of the Silicon Valley", 2006.
A review of the 1999 movie "Pirates of the Silicon Valley".
1,800 words (approx. 7.2 pages), 4 sources, MLA, AU$ 77.95
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Abstract
This movie critiques and reviews the 1999 straight-to-video film "Pirates of Silicon Valley", starring Noah Wyle. The movie is about the competition between Apple founder Steve Jobs (played by Wyle) and IBM founder Bill Gates (played by Anthony Michael Hall). The author of this paper provides a very detailed summary of the plot line and then critiques the movie. He concludes that the movie "offers fairly accurate coverage of this dynamic period in the growth of the two companies", however he feels that the role of Jobs was over-emphasized, while Gates' role was minimized.
From the Paper
"Because of the constraint of time, only 96 minutes, the full impact of the accomplishments of these two giants of the industry and the fast and turbulent times of their rise to the top of their respective companies and the computer industry couldn't be fully explored. The time frame being the period of the early 1970s through the middle to latter 1980s simply cannot be covered in a 96-minute film no matter how cleverly accomplished. The accuracy of the work however was amazingly true to the real world happenings between Apple and Microsoft."
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"The Natural", 2006.
A comparison between the Bernard Malamud novel "The Natural" and the 1984 movie based on it.
975 words (approx. 3.9 pages), 6 sources, MLA, AU$ 46.95
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Abstract
This paper reviews and then compares and contrasts the Bernard Malamud novel "The Natural" and the 1984 Hollywood movie by the same name. The paper begins with a two-page summary of the novel, calling it the greatest baseball fiction ever written. The story of a farm boy Roy Hobbs, the novel inspired the 1984 movie, directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Barbara Hershey, Kim Basinger and Wilfred Brimley. The author of this paper lauds the book, saying it reveals how an innocent country boy falls to the temptations of the urban life and style. On the other hand, he criticizes Barry Levinson's "The Natural" for portraying how Roy, despite all adversities, comes out on top -- what the author maintains is typically, disappointingly Hollywood.
From the Paper
"Over the course of the season, Roy gets emotionally involved with the dangerously seductive Memo Paris, Pop's niece. He also finds himself in the company of Gus Sands, Memo's friend and a professional gambler. Memo for all her beauty and style is a costly proposition. In the event of his desire for Memo, and need for sufficient money to maintain her style, Roy is led astray from his quest for success and honor. Realizing his mistake, Roy tries to redeem himself and, Pop too, who played into his hands of things. But alas! It turns out that Roy had run out of luck, the natural gifts deserted him. His magic bat "Wonder Boy" shattered in the final game of the season. Thus, Roy squandered a life destined for fame by pursuing women and, fortune. The tools designed for him by God, Wonder boy, and his Excaliber deserted him in his moment of trial. Roy fell an unworthy man."
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The Movie Remake, 2006.
This paper examines the movie industry's practice of remaking previously successful films.
2,786 words (approx. 11.1 pages), 9 sources, APA, AU$ 112.95
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Abstract
This paper explores movie remakes and questions whether the film industry uses its assets efficiently or wastes the audience's, as well as the film industry's, time and money by rehashing socially irrelevant characters and worn out plots. When a movie company produces a film, they have a tangible asset by owning the rights to that particular movie to do with as they please. The writer of this paper asserts that while the original movie may have been good in its time, it may not always stand the test of time when producers remake the film in an attempt to spark a renewed interest in it. This paper focuses on two films, "Shaft" and "Planet of the Apes," both socially controversial films from 1968 and compares them to their remakes in 2001.
From the Paper
"The 1960s was a time of racial turmoil. After nearly 250 years of oppression, blacks had finally won equal rights with the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Gone were the Jim Crow laws and other attempts to legally separate people according to race. However, simply making a law did not automatically erase the social confines that surrounded the issue of racial differences. Blacks and Whites had been legally separated for many years. Their origins were two different perspectives and ancestries. Even though blacks could no longer be discriminated against according to the law, this did not mean that they automatically gave up their own unique styles and culture."
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"Shawshank Redemption", 2006.
An analysis of the movie "Shawshank Redemption" directed by Frank Darabont.
1,257 words (approx. 5.0 pages), 0 sources, AU$ 57.95
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Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between Red and Andy in "The Shawshank Redemption" which is a drama about the experience of being in prison. "Red" is an inmate who has been in prison for thirty years and develops a relationship with the protagonist, Andy Dufresne, a New England banker who is wrongly convicted and given two life sentences for the murder of his wife and her lover. The paper shows how during his incarceration, Andy is assaulted, carves a chess set from stone, procures the funds and builds a prison library, assists other inmates achieve their high school equivalency diploma, launders money for the corrupt prison warden and after twenty years, escapes to Mexico and exposes the warden.
From the Paper
"Andy's central conflict is his view of himself. "My wife used to say I'm a hard man to know - like a closed book. Complained about it all the time. She was beautiful. God, I loved her. I just didn't know how to show it, that's all. I killed her, Red. I didn't pull the trigger, but I drove her away. And that's why she died, because of me, the way I am." Andy becomes introspective and analyzes his own behavior in the past and finds it lacking. The history and culture in which Andy originates is that of education, success, and professional dedication. Twenty years of prison has had a profound effect on Andy. Prison where the culture is comprised of each man having to look out for himself and do whatever is necessary to survive, but the need is still there for help and support."
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Edward S. Curtis and "Coming to Light", 2006.
An analysis of the work of American photographer Edward S. Curtis and the film by Anne Makepeace, "Coming to Light", which depicts the life of Curtis.
1,401 words (approx. 5.6 pages), 2 sources, MLA, AU$ 62.95
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Abstract
This paper explores the parallels that can be drawn between various aspects of the film "Coming to Light" and the work of photographer Edward S. Curtis, the subject of the film. By exploring these parallels, the paper then highlights what is both positive and negative about the film.
From the Paper
"The 84-minute long film depicts the life of Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952), who took it upon himself to preserve traditional American Indian cultures by means of photographic art. It was during 1900 when he attended a Piegan Sundance, that the photographer was so moved that he made the preservation of the cultures of the various tribes of North American Indians his life's work. As he believed that the Sundance was to be the last the he would see, he was inspired to use photography to preserve what he could of the beauty of the culture. Thus, with around 10,000 recordings, 40,000 photographs and one full length ethnographic film about his subjects, Curtis became the most famous of his time. However, with the Great Depression in the 1930's people's interest in Indian culture wavered and Curtis eventually died in poverty, nearly forgotten. His work did however survive and was rediscovered during the 1970's. It is from this material, and the help of both Native Americans and Curtis's family members, that Anne Makepeace was able to create her remarkable film."
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"The Good Woman of Bangkok", 2006.
This paper reviews and analyzes the semiotic references in Dennis O'Rourke's 1991 film "The Good Woman of Bangkok."
1,734 words (approx. 6.9 pages), 8 sources, MLA, AU$ 76.95
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Abstract
This paper examines the semiotic references that are found in Dennis O'Rourke's film "The Good Woman of Bangkok." The writer defines semiotics as being primarily concerned with how meaning is generated and conveyed and explains how the director used this form of communication to confuse his audience. The film, which is reviewed in this paper, discusses the prostitution industry in Bangkok and the director's goal to find the bond between the banality and the aesthetics of love. The writer also explores the semiotic codes used to define the signifier/signified relationship between prostitution and its meanings which are initially the typical codes of contemporary culture.
From the Paper
"Of course the code that these men use to interpret themselves and their own behavior is of a mostly deceptive nature. It could be argued that the filmmaker uses his own interpretive code in the same manner to deceive himself. Some argue that the true reason for the film was to indulge in gratutous sex only to justify oneself afterwards. The rice farm is seen as a reward, or a payment, for Aoi to provide her services as a prostitute."
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