An anthropological analysis of Fight Club (1999)
Thesis - 2 pages - Film studies
Fight Club, a 1999 movie directed by David Fincher, has been heavily lauded since its release ten years ago. It was loved by all sorts of people for its gritty portrayal of violence, the brilliant acting, and its twist ending. But beneath these things lie some deeper themes that have boosted this...
Food for Moloch: The Cyborg as worker
Essay - 1 pages - Film studies
In Sue Short's book on Cyborg Cinema, she progresses by discussing the Cyborg as a worker. The word “robot” is derived from the Czech word “robota” which means “enforced labor.” In turn, Aristotle referred to slaves as “living tools”. It is easy to see then...
Let your doll be your guide: Women as an appendage for moral structure
Book review - 3 pages - Film studies
In the male dominated industry of Heist films, women are often portrayed as a nuisance or hindrance to the goal of the heist. Heist films create a binary between work and leisure which is demonstrated by the criminals' relationships with the women in their lives. In the film Heat, Neil McCauley...
Mean Streets: Movie analysis
Thesis - 4 pages - Film studies
Mean Streets marks the origin of long collaboration of filmmaker Martin Scorsese with actor Robert De Niro, and marks the beginning of the works of a remarkable duo. After making several films, including the autobiographical feature film Who's That Knocking at My Door (1968) and Boxcar Bertha...
Being there as a study of symbolic interaction
Essay - 2 pages - Film studies
After observing Chance the Gardiner become ‘Chauncey Gardiner' in the movie Being There it is easy to see why this film is such an excellent representation of many of the concepts in Symbolic Interactionism. Although many sociological notions are represented in the movie quite well,...
Gladiator and The Grinch: Movie analysis
Thesis - 4 pages - Film studies
Throughout Gladiator we see the character of Maximus go through many stages of development. From hero to zero and then back to hero again, Maximus is changed. He is portrayed as blatantly physically frightening and at times unfortunate and pitiful especially when he realizes he has lost his...
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
Thesis - 2 pages - Film studies
Many times when I watch a movie, I ask myself, why in the name of all things good am I watching this film? Who in the world would ever find this entertaining or interesting? What purpose could this possibly serve? These and many other thoughts went through my head while watching The Phantom...
American Beauty: Film analysis
Thesis - 3 pages - Film studies
I believe that we enjoy watching movies because for a brief moment in time we can escape from reality and be transported to different places and live vicariously through the characters depicted in the film. American Beauty is the story of the last year of Lester Burnham's life and the choices he...
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Movie analysis
Thesis - 2 pages - Film studies
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, a vivid imagination brought to the screen by Chris Columbus which was adapted by J. K. Rowling's book of the same title. A story of an orphan who discovers he is a wizard; and a wizard that saves the day and in the process wins our hearts and minds. The film...
Anti-Semitism revealed in Gentleman's Agreement
Thesis - 3 pages - Film studies
In Gentleman's Agreement, Phil Green, acted by Gregory Peck, embarks on the exploration of the anti-Semitic influences that Jews face, for a series that he is hired to write for a magazine. After long consideration he comes to see that the best way to communicate the experience of Jews, and not...
Film analysis: Ed Wood's Personhood
Thesis - 4 pages - Film studies
Tim Burton's 1994 film Ed Wood is a meaningful parody that brings to life the biography of Edward D. Wood Jr. (a struggling filmmaker, actor and writer who reveals his identity as a heterosexual transvestite) as he would have filmed it. Wood comes to terms with his fetishes and the comfort he...
Strawberry Homophobia
Thesis - 3 pages - Film studies
The 1993 film Fresa y Chocolate, directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, exposes homophobia as a product of the double standard of the revolution and the lack of sexual education in Cuban society. The movie focuses on the relationship between Diego, a flamboyant gay older man that dedicates himself to...
Bollywood: On the road to conquering a challenging world market
Thesis - 6 pages - Film studies
The topics studied under this heading will include: a lack of attraction for foreign investors, low profitability, and a lack of international recognition for Bollywood owing to the inadequacy of Bollywood films in international market, and the structure of the Indian film industry. Our objective...
Comparison of depictions of Native Americans in Ford's films
Thesis - 2 pages - Film studies
An examination of Hollywood films of the past, particularly those that fall into the genre of the Western are entertaining, but also serve as an interesting window into the context of Native American relations in the nineteenth and twentieth American centuries. The two movies Drums Along the...
The song of Alfred J. Prufrock: Critical reflection
Thesis - 2 pages - Film studies
Professor Arnold Weinstein's expertly expounds upon T.S. Eliot's personal and professional background to provide valuable insight in reading and perceiving “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” Eliot's “elitist, cosmopolitan, and international” language and social circle is...
Philadelphia
Essay - 3 pages - Film studies
The issue of HIV and AIDS in America in the late 1980's is one laden with sociological importance; the film Philadelphia (1993) attempts to address some of the issues surrounding this disease and question society's behavior around diseased individuals and its repercussions. Philadelphia is a film...
Dr. Strangelove or How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb: A satire that says a lot about the military and political system in the 1960's
Thesis - 2 pages - Film studies
In this term paper, I analyze the themes of Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb; what Screenwriter/Director Stanley Kubrick was trying to say in this film. Then I compare the themes to the topics of the 1960's and to the present. The film is a satire of the Cold...
Dexter's duality
Essay - 3 pages - Film studies
The opening credit sequence for Showtime's hit thriller, “Dexter,” clearly marks the series as an innovative, provocative, and darkly spun show. The opening credits nearly mirror the start to Mary Harron's 2000 “American Psycho,” and with good reason. Dexter Morgan represents...
Storytelling and Hitchcock's Psycho
Essay - 4 pages - Film studies
Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 masterpiece Psycho intricately weaves the seven elements of storytelling in a clever and highly stylized fashion. Hitchcock, known for his meticulous attention to detail, elaborately illustrates his character's traits with the use of mise-en-scene subtle mannerisms. The...
Lolita's Prison
Essay - 2 pages - Film studies
In Nabokov's book Lolita and in Stanley Kubrick's film of the same name, Lolita's role never sheds light on her character's interiority. Instead, Nabokov and Kubrick use men to convey the suffering of poor Lolita. The book is told from the perspective of the lecherous Humbert, and his conception...
3 voices analyzing "Drums along the Mohawk"
Thesis - 3 pages - Film studies
Drums Along the Mohawk,” a film made by John Ford from 1939. It is adapted from an historical novel of the same name. The film recounts the actions, relationships social and political tensions of the Mohawk River Valley during the American Revolution. The subject of this paper is the...
The America's: In women's hands
Thesis - 2 pages - Film studies
The film The America's: In Women's Hands provides a look into Chilean politics and the role women played in political transitions and regimes. In Chile, tradition and the Catholic Church defined women's role in society and the home; thus, Chilean women's politics have been motivated by...
Distinctive pleasures offered by independent features
Thesis - 8 pages - Film studies
The definition of what makes a film “independent” has been difficult to clarify with polarized opinion on whether independent status depends on finance or alternatively Andy Warhol's nihilistic perception of “independent” as meaning opposition to the dominant media on several...
No country for old men and evil
Thesis - 6 pages - Film studies
Evil is a term widely used, but rarely definitively defined. It is by definition, bad, and undesirable. But beyond this, every person has a somewhat different perspective about what evil is and to how to define it. It is possible that some evil is inescapable and is simply a part of life. But...
American Beauty: Evaluation
Thesis - 2 pages - Film studies
If you're like me, you really enjoy a good movie. A good movie captivates us, makes us hold our breath and helps us forget the world around us. A bad movie has the audience itching for it to end, or to somehow improve. At the very worst, a bad movie will make us angry that we spent money on...
Film analysis - The dreamers
Thesis - 2 pages - Film studies
Once the protagonists of “The Dreamers,” Matthew, Isabelle, and Theo lose access to the “Cinematheque Francaise,” they become even further cut off from the reality beyond the apartment. In fact, nearly the whole film is shot within the magical rooms and tight corridors of the...
A review of Schindler's List
Thesis - 1 pages - Film studies
The little girl in the red coat was in color because she was made to stand out from the rest of the crowd so that the viewer of the movie would be able to easily recognize her. Having one particular person stand out that was not a main character, gave the viewer a person to follow all the way...
Drunken deconstruction
Thesis - 4 pages - Film studies
Drunken Master (Woo-ping Yuen, 1978) stars legendary martial arts film actor and kung fu master Jackie Chan. Even though it is a comedy and contains nonstop action, and fight scenes, the film does contain some very serious political and historical undertones and has a wide influence culturally on...
Sexual minority film analysis
Thesis - 6 pages - Film studies
The traditional culture of China is one of the world's oldest and most complex cultures. Its intricate system of moral, social, and political philosophy derives from two social values: Confucianism and Taoism. Both worldviews emphasize government rule and social order. Rituals and customs, set as...
Teenage mutant ninja turtles (1990): Highest independent grossing film of all time (Before 1999)
Thesis - 9 pages - Film studies
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, independent films were often disregarded by moviegoers, but with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, that sure wasn't the case. Many fans did not realize that the first live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie was actually an independent film. That may...
