Scott Pilgrim Vs. NMHU: Weekly Student Spotlight

Last week, my Movies in the Classroom Learning Community sponsored an open-to-the-public screening of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World to coincide with the end of Writing Project 3 (our Case Study on the film). My class had to also write a review of the film, while I offered my other classes extra credit should they choose to attend and write their own reviews. The result was a weekend of very positive reviews for Scott Pilgrim. So for this week's Student Spotlight, I've chosen one from each of my classes. Tiara analyzes the film's themes, and Capella looks at the faithfulness of the adaptation. Read, and comment on their blogs!

Finish HIM!!!

The movie was totally interesting and humorous. I liked the fact that it portrayed the awkwardness of a teenager’s life, the confusion of love, willingness to approve of another’s luggage, and realizing one’s self worth. Michael Cera fighting and defeating seven evil exes was surprising, he appears so weak and dorky you just do not expect it at all...I enjoyed the movie so much; I do not know why film critics cannot just appreciate it for what it was-funny.

Scott's Wicked World

Scott Pilgrim VS the World is a new milemarker in film making. From what I'm aware of, no other movie asside from cartoons has displayed the comic's genre better then this film. Different shots and scenes literally spell out onomonopias like you would see them in graphic novels. During some fight scenes as well as a scene taking place on the phone with Scott, his sister, and Scott's roommate, there is a space between two or even three "panels" that normally serve as the essence of graphic novels.

Questions? Quibbles? Controversies?

Weekly Student Spotlight: "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly"

Last week, my Movies in the Classroom Learning Community screened The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, my favorite movie of all time. So today's Spotlight features three student posts! First, "The Good"--Olivia continues to write concise summaries and interesting responses:

"You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig."

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly… a strong willed gunman, a greedy hit man, and a Mexican bandit out in the Wild West...I thought this was an awesome movie. I totally love the music, love Clint Eastwood and his amazing hair and just overall loved all the actors. I can definitely see why this is a classic. It had amazing suspense that kept my eyes glued to the screen. It made me really hungry too. I never knew what they were eating but I wanted some. I was never into western movies, but now I want to see more. It was just a classic “badass” movie.

Duong's post is only "The Bad" in that it needs some proofreading. And yet, his analysis of the film is very deep:

"What's his name? Lee! LEE!"

"The good, the bad and the ugly" is the epitome of Spaghetti Western, a genre of movies directed in Italia and Spain in the sixties. The superb music by Ennio Morricone is the highlight of the movie, with its simple yet extremely tense melodies. Together with the closeup shot at each character's eyes, the music creates a creepy suspense each and every time something is about to happen. Although Clint East Wood basically does nothing but frown, his character is well portrayed. He is still a badass despite his being The good, since he kills so many people. The character Tuco is the most well acted protagonist in the film. The actor, Eli Wallach, succeeds in depicting a dumb and funny yet emotional Mexican bandit in such a natural way that the audience is most attracted to him and even develop a sympathy with the character.

And last, "The Ugly" is a post by a student who didn't actually review the movie. Still, Vince posted an interview with Edgar Wright about Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, the subject of the Case Study we just finished, the group project the class is making short films about now, and the screening the class'll be attending Thursday at 7:30pm at the Ilfeld Auditorium (You should come!). And that's got to count for something right?

Questions? Quibbles? Controversies?

The Dramatic Dead

 This is the beginning of my response to a prompt on IGN. Follow the link for my full review!

It's interesting that the first review of any kind that I published online was of Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead: Days Gone Bye. This was before I even had a blog. I posted it on LivingSocial, a social network of readers, film buffs, and gamers, that existed almost solely inside of Facebook. I wasn't terribly kind:

...what really sucked me in was the Introduction written by (I believe) the author. He explains that he really enjoys the zombie genre because it lends itself so well to social commentary, and this really intrigued me as we see so many "apocalypse" stories these days ("I Am Legend," "World War Z," "Cloverfield," etc.). These are America's version of Britain's 19th century invasion genre (books like H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds"), and in the wake of 9/11, they say a lot about us as a culture - our biggest fear is an attack we cannot repel. Unfortunately, that's about where the series ends for me. It makes use of the usual clichés with only a few innovations (that zombies' main sense is smell is a pretty neat idea). While the art is generally good, the storyline is choppy, and I often felt like I missed a beat between frames. Still, if only for the Introduction, it's worth a read.

(Read More)

Weekly Student Spotlight: TX School Board Case Study Wrap-Up

Well, my students' Case Study of the Texas School Board's Social Studies curriculum changes is coming to an end--in fact, I'll be handing back grading papers this morning. But before that, let's look at one more student post on the subject. classof2010_knights' summary and position on Eric Foner's "Twisting History in Texas" are excellent.

Where has Martin Luther King Jr gone?

The article specifies that conservatives want students to learn more about the success in our country rather than the rights our people fought for. “Veterans Day replaces Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the list of holidays students should be familiar with.” The board seems to suggest that Americans don’t need to pay attention to the rest of the world, or of noncitizens in the country...Anyone who doesn’t want students to learn about “women who demanded greater equality” must not value their rights as a woman. People have fought hard to give those conservative board members their rights. Some have even risked their lives, such as Martin Luther King Jr., to make everyone equal. And yet the new curriculum advises that his birthday not even be recognized?

Leave here some comments!