WEEK 4 BLOG THE DARK KNIGHT CHRISTOPHER STANTON

Title: The Dark Knight

Writer(s): Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan

Director: Christopher Nolan

Year: 2008

Actors: Christian Bale (Brue Wayne/Batman), Heath Ledger (The Joker), Gary Oldman (James Gordon), Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth), Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent/Two-Face)

Story: After going on a vigilante’s crusade to save Gotham City from all the crime bosses and low life’s, Batman faces his biggest challenge to date when the  major crime syndicates turn to the unpredictable and psychopathic Joker to rid Gotham  of Batman for good.

Plot:  The movie starts with the Joker (Heath Ledger) and his cohorts who are in the process of robbing a bank which is used to launder money for the mob. After successfully completing his task the Joker confronts the mobster and explains his true purpose for being in Gotham City, to kill Batman (Christian Bale). Meanwhile Batman has teamed up with Lieutenant James Gordon and the new Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to bring the mob bosses to justice.

After traveling to China to capture and return Lau the mobs accountant, to testify against the crime families, the mob boss decide to seek out the help of the Joker to take Batman out of the picture forever. The Joker then goes on a killing spree through the city promising to kill a person a day until Batman removes his mask and revel himself.

The Joker a man of his word begin killing and wreaking havoc on Gotham when he kidnaps Harvey Dent and his girlfriend, and Bruce Wayne’s oldest friend the assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal).  The Joker then issues an ultimatum either the Batman can save Harvey or he can rescue Rachel both hidden in separate warehouse rigged with liquid explosives. Choosing the City or his own personnel feelings Batman decides to free Dent and sacrifice Rachel in the process. While in the middle of releasing Dent the explosive detonates leaving Harvey badly burnt.

Harvey Dent stricken with guilt and slipping into insanity becomes Two-Face. Two-Face then begins hunting down the people responsible for Rachel’s death, leaving their fate and life up to chance including Lieutenant James Gordon’s family.

In his search for the Jokers location, Batman recruits the help of Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) the Head of Research and Development at Wayne Enterprises. The two together use a prototype city wide tracking device to search out the Joker.

Finally capturing the Joker, Batman learns his true plan for destroying Gotham. The Joker has launched a sickening scheme by loading to Gotham City ferries with explosive one containing normal citizens and the other full of prisoners. Giving each boat a detonator to the other and telling the occupants the only way to survive is to blow up the other ferry. Neither group decides to push their button showing the Joker their city is still worth saving.

Batman then confronts Two-Face still holding Gordon’s family hostage an altercation ensues and Batman drops Dent of a building and he falls to his death. This Makes Batman in the city eyes a killer of the cities “golden boy” and a wanted fugitive

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUSPq37NMHw

Actor: Christian Bale is a wild card style actor. He has also been categorized as a method style actor for his unwavering dedication to transform himself into different character for every role he plays. From a insomniac in the drama film the Machinist (which he lost 60 pounds for the role), or the uptown psychopath in American Psycho his ability to reinvent himself helps him to fit all different type of roles.

Actor:  Morgan Freeman is an interrupter, impersonator and a character style actor from playing critically acclaimed roles like Nelson Mandela in Invictus or Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding in the Shawshank Redemption. His authoritative presence and demeanor is why he is considered one of the best character actors of all time.

Actor: Heath Ledger like Bale would be considered a wild card style actor. From roles like Gabrielle Martin in the fiction revolutionary war film the Patriot or the sexually confused cattle hand Ennis Del Mar in Broke Back Mountain he was a rising star in Hollywood until his untimely death in 2008.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/10/michael-ironside-christian-bale-weight-loss-machinist_n_5962132.html

http://entertainthis.usatoday.com/2014/11/19/morgan-freeman-tim-robbins-amispronouncing-shawshank-redemption-after-20-years/

Roger Ebert (July 16, 2008). “The Dark Knight”. Chicago Sun-Times.

WEEK 3 BLOG CHRISTOPHER STANTON HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HOLLOWS PART 2

Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2

Writer(s): Steve Kloves, J.K Rowlings

Director: David Yates

Year: 2011

Actors: Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort)

Story:  While away, searching for and destroying Lord Voldemort’s horcuxes, Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts to find the school in complete disarray.  After the death of Headmaster Dumbledore, Harry, together with his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, combine with the rest of Dumbledore’s Army.  Harry and crew take on the almost impossible task of freeing the school from the Death Eater’s control, which are in league with the new Headmaster, Professor Snape. They additionally seek to defeat and relieve the world of Lord Voldemort forever.

Music: The score for this film was composed by Alexandre Desplat, accompanied by the esteemed London Symphony Orchestra. This movie’s use of high string instruments, such as violins, to arouse the audience in moments of triumph makes the viewer swell with emotion. Similarly, the low strings, like the cello and the beating of the bass drums in time of peril, give the audience a sense of foreboding or dismay. Overall, the score of this film enhanced the journey for viewer of this Harry Potter film. The music used in this movie is absolutely brilliant, as it was in the previous installments.

Sound Effects: The intense use of effects from dynamic explosions to the snapping and popping of spells leaving the wizard’s wands is fantastic. I could not have imagined them sounding any different. Sounds that remind the audience of hot liquid metals meeting, presented when Harry and Lord Voldemort’s spells combine in the final battle sequence is completely awesome. Whether it is the crisp sound of the wizard’s capes as they disappear, or the booming of rubble as it smashes to the ground, each sound enhances the magical wonderment of this movie.

Dialogue: With all the other types of sounds and effects weaving in through this film, it would be easy for the viewer to overlook the dialogue.  This is especially true with unpronounceable charms, spells and imaginary items, like horcuxes, being used. However, the dialogue, and the emphasis on the words being said, is inspiring. The message of good over evil, and the fostering of love and friendship, and relationships the cast members develop throughout this movie, is inspiring.

Harry Potter”. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 1 June 2011.

Deathly Hallows Director David Yates On Harry Potter”. Empire Online. Retrieved 9 September 2012.

Week 2 Blog: Hercules

Title: Hercules

Writer(s): Ryan Condal, Evan Spillotopoulos

Director: Brett Ratner

Year: 2014

Actors: Dwayne Johnson (Hercules), John Hurt (Lord Cotys), Ian McShane (Amphlaraus), Rufus Sewell (Autolycus), Aksel Hennie (Tydeus),  Ingrid Bolsø Berdal (Atalanta), Reece Ritchie ( Iolaus) and Joseph Fiennes (King Eurystheus)

Story: After completing his twelve labors Hercules is now a mercenary for hire. When a tyrannical warlord threatens Thrace, the King and his daughter seek out Hercules and his band of warriors to save them from domination.

Plot: Set in ancient Greece, the story centers on Hercules, who is born to a mortal mother and the God, Zeus. This outrages Zeus’s wife Hera, and she tries to have Hercules killed. Even as a child Hercules foils her attempt by killing the snakes she sent to poison him.

As a youth Hercules, is cast out into the wilderness where a deal is struck between the gods. Hercules must complete twelve labors set before him, and in turn, Hera vows to no longer make attempts on his life.

After completing his twelve labors, Hercules returns to Athens to his family only to be bewitched by Hera and made to slaughter his family. Disgraced, and with a price on his head placed by King Eurystheus, ruler of Athens, Hercules escapes capture and becomes a mercenary for hire.

Throughout his travels, Hercules is banded together with Amphlaraus the prophet, Autolycus the thief, Tydeus the feral warrior, Atalanta the Amazon archer and Lolaus the storyteller. After defeating a pirate, which the king of Macedonia hires him to remove from his land, Hercules is searched out by Ergenia, the daughter of the King of Thrace. The king, Lord Cotys, seeks his help in defending his land from a tyrant warlord, Rheseus.

Hercules and his companions agree to help the Thracians and train an army to fight against Rheseus. The first attack by Rheseus’s army is comprised of demon warriors, and after a hard fought battle, the outnumbered and ill-trained Thracians win the battle.

The second wave of combatants sent by the warlord were said to be centaurs, but turned out to be just men on horses. With Rheseus’s army out-numbering Hercules and the Thracians three-to-one, they again are victorious, this time capturing Rheseus.

At a banquet to celebrate their victories and to crown Lord Cotys the one ruler of all of Thrace, Hercules discovers that he was tricked by Cotys, and was used in a plot to take control of the lands from rebel people. After refusing to join Cotys and to lead his army, Hercules and his companions are captured and set to be executed. While in chains, Hercules is told that he was set up by Cotys and King Eurystheus, who explained that it was he who had Hercules’ family killed to make a pariah out of him and to destroy his legend.

Lord Cotys, who is drunk with power, is set to have his own daughter Ergina beheaded for helping Hercules realize the truth of his treachery after Hercules breaks free of his chains. Cotys unleashes the three wolves, which comes to be the thirteenth trial of Hera. He defeats the wolves and wages war on Cotys and Eurystheus. He first tracks down King Eurystheus and avenges his family’s death, and then turns his rage on Cotys.

The final battle ensues, with Hercules and his six companions facing the entire Thracian Army. Hercules ends this fight by using his strength to push over a giant concrete statue of Hera, and crushing Cotys with the head of the statue.

Lighting: This film uses multiple styles of lighting to help tell the story. When situations in the film look bleak and dismal, low-key lighting is used. For example, when Hercules and his men are captured, and about to be executed, the lighting is set down low to establish the mood of the scene, allowing the viewer to just see the action in front of the camera without distraction of other things happening around them. In the battle scenes, the film uses high-key lighting and natural lighting to allow the viewers to see everything that is going in the shot. Finally, when Hercules is sitting in the banquet hall and discovers the treachery of Cotys, the scene is done in three-point lighting, so the shadows of the lighting drown out all that is going on and allows the focus to just be on Hercules.

I believe that the use of lighting in this film was used beautifully. If it was shot in just one style of lighting, it would have taken away from how this story was told. This film was shot, in my opinion, in the true form that a film from the fantasy genre should be.

Hercules Official Trailer #1 (2014) – Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane Movie HD”. YouTube. 2014-03-26. Retrieved 2014-07-14.

Hercules (2014)”. Box Office Mojo. 2014-07-25. Retrieved 2014-11-03

Christopher Stanton Week 1 Blog: Braveheart

 

Title: Braveheart

Writer: Randall Wallace

Director: Mel Gibson

Year: 1995

Actors: Mel Gibson (William Wallace), Sophie Marceau (Princess Isabella of France), Patrick McGoohan (King Edward “Longshanks”), Catherine McCormack (Murron MacClannough) and Angus Macfadyen (Robert the Bruce)

Narrator(s): Angus Mcfadyen and Mel Gibson

Story: Braveheart is a 1995 film based on the thirteenth century revolt of English occupied Scotland. This movie chronicles the life of William Wallace as he returns to Scotland after the murder of his father, who was killed by English agents. Wallace leads a rebellion of Scots in an attempt to free Scotland from the ruthless control of the English King, Edward “Longshanks.” Additionally, Wallace seeks to avenge the murder of his wife, Murron, by an English Lord.

Plot: The film starts off in the year 1280 with Malcolm Wallace, accompanied by his oldest son, and his clan leader heading to a council meeting with the English. Prior to his departure, Malcom notices young William lurking behind, wanting to be with his father. Upon arriving at the meeting, the English kill all of the Scottish participants as William witnesses. After the funeral of his father and brother, William is taken away on a pilgrimage by his uncle Argyle. Argyle seeks to ensure William is educated.

Meanwhile, Longshanks, with great disdain of the Scottish people, meets with his English council of nobles. After the wedding of his oldest son Prince Richard II, Longshanks reinstates the policy of “Prima Nocte.” This policy states that all English lords in Scotland the right to have sex with all Scottish female subjects on their wedding night. His theory is, “If we can’t get them out, we breed them out”.

Many years later William Wallace returns to Scotland, and reunites with his old friend from his youth, Hamish, and his boyhood love, Murron. William and Murron soon fall in love and are secretly married to avoid Murron having to be exposed to the right of “Prima Nocte.” William’s world is turned upside down when he comes across some English soldiers beating and trying to rape Murron. William fends off the soldiers but as he and Murron are trying to escape, they are separated, and Murron is captured by the English lord and executed to restore order.

 

 

Murron’s death causes William to retaliate against the English Lord, which unites the Scottish clans in rebellion. William and his clansmen overtake the English fortress and execute the lord in the same style in which Murron died.

For years Wallace’s force increases in numbers, and wreaks havoc on the English by thoroughly defeating the English in different forms of conflict, like the battle of Stirling. Wallace then ventures on the English soil, and sacks the town of York, killing Longshank’s nephew. This gains the attention of Robert the Bruce, the next in line for the throne of Scotland, who is eager to join Wallace’s cause.

On the eve of the battle at Falkirk on July 22, 1298, Wallace is called to a negotiation and is met by Prince Richard’s wife, Princess Isabella of France, who is there to offer King Edward’s terms for ending the war. William disagrees with the king’s terms, and the battles ensue. The Scots lose the next battle due to the treachery of Robert the Bruce. Wallace, however, escapes capture with help of a remorseful Robert, and reorganizes his force in guerilla- style warfare on the English over the next seven years.

As King Edward is preparing an army to invade Scotland, Princess Isabella tips off Wallace, and Wallace and Isabella begin an affair. While convening at a war council with the Scottish nobles regarding the English’s plans to attack at Edinburgh, Wallace is betrayed once again, this time by Robert’s father. Wallace is taken prisoner and handed over to King Edward.

Wallace is taken to London where he is convicted of treason and condemned to public torture and death. William refused multiple chances for mercy, and even when he was stretched and drawn-and-quartered, he would never submit to the king. His final word is, “Freedom.”

In 1314, after the death of King Edward, Robert the Bruce, totally moved by William Wallace’s valor, organizes an all-out assault on the English force still in Scotland, and wins Scotland’s freedom.

Chronology: This film’s story was shown in chronological order. This made this film much easier to follow, and helped lead the up to the fabulous and emotional ending. Over the course of this entire movie, you find yourself sympathizing with the Scots and their cause, and feel a sense of triumph when the film finally concludes.

Had the movie been presented in a non-linear style, it would still have had the same dramatic impact that it did. William would have still ended up the hero of millions, would still have been a significant contributor to reason the Scottish people earned their right to freedom from English rule.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112573/Copyright © 1990-2014 IMDb.com, Inc.

 

Braveheart (1995)”. Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Archived from the original on 2014-05-02. Retrieved 2013-02-07