Sunday, September 5, 2010
Philadephia Museum of Art: The Last Renoir
The Philadelphia Museum of Art was first established in 1928. The museum is on higher ground because the land that it is on was once a reservoir that supplied drinking water to the city. In later years, the reservoir became polluted due to the industrial factories that had opened during the Industrial Revolution, so they drained the reservoir and build this fabulous museum. The museum’s architectural design was based upon ancient Rome and Greece’s buildings like the pantheon and the aqueduct. I knew that the building had to be based upon ancient Greek and Roman architecture because of the ionic columns in the buildings exterior and interior. The statue of the Greek and Roman Goddess Diana also symbolized that they cherished Greek and Roman culture. The architecture is something to marvel at, but this summer I visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the Last Renoir exhibition.
The Last Renoir is an exhibition that showcases Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s last three decades worth of artwork. The exhibition has most of the artwork, but it may be short one or two paintings or sculptures. The museum’s exhibition pamphlet shows a picture of Gabrielle Renard, who is his children’s nanny and their long time friend because she is Renoir’s wife’s cousin. This showcase of Renoir’s artwork taught me that his artwork influenced many other artists during his time and after his time. One of those people was Picasso. Picasso was upset that he did not get the chance to meet Renoir, so he attempted to create his own version of Renoir’s girls. Although it was still a little bit off, Picasso did learn a new way to paint the same picture. The last three decades of his life, Renoir started to stray away from his original paintings of impressionism and started painting pictures with nudes and paintings that depicts the life of his family and his friends’ families. One of my favorites is his two self portraits and the two photos with Gabrielle in it. (One was the side painting of Gabrielle and the other was Gabrielle with Jean or his elder son.) I took about one hour to two hours in the exhibition rooms because I want to learn more about this artist’s work, life and family. Visiting this museum is a wonderful opportunity to understand a once famous artist that I have rarely heard about.
Not only did I see the Last Renoir, but I took a public tour to the European Art 1500 to 1850. This collection of art is very full of rich culture and history. There is just so much to learn and so much to see because there are Knights and their weapons and there are paintings and furniture from that time period in different countries. Some of those countries include the Netherlands, France, England, Italy, Germany, and the United States. Each country had its own unqiue form of art. For example, England has a room with furniture and paintings, and sculptures from the house of William Penn. They moved the entire room to the museum for people to see a section of an old English home. From that room we can infer that the owner is pretty wealthy by looking at the fireplace and its design and by looking at the painting of him and his wife. His wife was wearing a very long and puffy dress that had a very vibrant color. We can infer that the dress was probably made from a very expensive material like silk. That room also had a couch from that time period and it was the original. That couch was made by a famous designer that wrote a book with his designs and his designs travelled to most of Europe and landed in the colonies. That would be the reason that in America, we would have a similar couch.
This museum is very unique and the museum price for general admission is free on the first Sunday of every month and they have a very big collection of art. It is a place that I intend to visit again when a new travelling exhibition arrives.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The West Lake in HangZhou , China
The West Lake is one of the biggest lakes in China and it is one of the most famous lakes in Chinese history. Many emperors have enjoyed the scenic view of the West Lake and have added their own scenary to the view. One emperor added the three islets that sit in the lake. The three islets are part of the outer West Lake, the site is well landscaped, creating an impression of "an islet in a lake and a lake on an islet." There are three pagodas built in the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) rising from the lake, each with five openings. On moonlit night, the pagodas release shafts can release candlelight on the night of the Moon Cake Festival in mid-autumn, when the moon is full. To travel to different locations on the West Lake, I brought boat tickets that allow me to travel to an island in the middle of the lake. The lake has great scenary that are meant to be in nature magazines, so bring your cameras and camera filters.
World Expo 2010
The World Expo is a great vacation destination for the summer and it is an even better place to see the people of China. Out of all the visitors that pass through its gates at the Expo Axis or other side entrances, most of the visitiors are either Chinese that live in China or the Chinese people coming to China to visit their extended family. The people are generally very nice and friendly, but there are a few people who were nasty and rude. For example, I was waiting in line to get on an Expo Bus to move to the European pavilions , when an old man and his family charged to the front of the line. They were behind me and they charged to the bus pretending that they were the the royal family and everybody else was unimportant. More importantly, they pushed someone off the bus just so that they can bring the old lady onto the bus. The volunteers were looking at the line; pretending that nothing happened.
The old man thought he had an excuse by saying that they were one family and they need to stay togeather. He failed to notice that everybody was with their families enjoying the Expo. When he grabbed his family and charged onto the bus, it was like that was the last bus and no more busses were coming. They ruined my day with one incident because I got furious and shouted at them. They were shaming their nationality with their unacceptable behavior that might have some people look down on them and other races of people would have been shocked to see a Chinese person act like that.
Just be a aware of these people when visting the pavilion because they they still have the old agricultural mind. They want to be fast because they experienced a time that was extremely harsh and there was not food and people had to be forceful. However that is no excuse to charge to the front of the line.
The old man thought he had an excuse by saying that they were one family and they need to stay togeather. He failed to notice that everybody was with their families enjoying the Expo. When he grabbed his family and charged onto the bus, it was like that was the last bus and no more busses were coming. They ruined my day with one incident because I got furious and shouted at them. They were shaming their nationality with their unacceptable behavior that might have some people look down on them and other races of people would have been shocked to see a Chinese person act like that.
Just be a aware of these people when visting the pavilion because they they still have the old agricultural mind. They want to be fast because they experienced a time that was extremely harsh and there was not food and people had to be forceful. However that is no excuse to charge to the front of the line.
The First meeting of the CPC
The building that stands in Puxi today was the old clandestine location of the first meeting of the Communist Party of China. It is now a museum that offers free admission to learning about the history of Shanghai, the Nationalists Party of China and the Communist party of China. The museum offers artifacts that have been rarely seen in other museums and it offers a glimpse at the profound effect that the CPC had on China today. However the museum did inaccurate create a model of the meeting by putting Mao Zedong as the leader and everybody looking to him. The leader of the meeting could not have been him because he was only twenty to thirty years old.
I learned a lot about how the Communist Party of China formed and who was at the first meeting and Why they created the meeting. They created the meeting because the Nationalist Party was weak and failed to create a unified central government that tended to the needs of the common people. People were starving in China under Chiang Kai Shek's rule because his government was very corrupt. The degree to the corruption is extremely corrupt compared with the current government of China.
I learned a lot about how the Communist Party of China formed and who was at the first meeting and Why they created the meeting. They created the meeting because the Nationalist Party was weak and failed to create a unified central government that tended to the needs of the common people. People were starving in China under Chiang Kai Shek's rule because his government was very corrupt. The degree to the corruption is extremely corrupt compared with the current government of China.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Expo 2010
The popular World Exposition Fair started in England during the Industrial Revolution for countries around the world to showcase their new technological advances. England set a precedent for other world expos to be held in developed countries, but this year we broke precedent and held the world exposition fair in Shanghai. Shanghai is China's largest city and it is one of China's most technologically advanced cities. Shanghai encompasses both Pudong and Puxi on the Huangpu River. This city has flourished and boomed because of Western occupation and Chinese workmanship. This city's skyscrapers were built by migrant workers, but the design came from successful Chinese architects. The World Expo is an example of migrant workers handiwork and Chinese Architect's creative designs. These pavilions at the expos were gorgeous, but there are just too many people. In the two days that I was at the expo, I have seen ten pavilions and experienced a heat wave that would make Americans cry and long lines filled with mostly Chinese people. Each pavilion has its own unique style, but I really enjoyed the united pavilions of Chinese provinces, the Spanish pavilion and the pavilion of the future. These pavilions are my favorite because they had short lines, gorgeous exterior designs and their interior material is worth seeing.
The United pavilion of the Chinese provinces is worth seeing because their lines are short and fast and each pavilion has a unique style. Some of the pavilions like the Jiangsu pavilion and the Hebei pavilion are worth seeing because they connect their province's most famous cultural possessions and their current technological and scientific advancements. Jiangsu province has a huge jade statue that looks exactly like a Chinese cabbage. It was unique because the color was chosen very particularly and the shape was shaped so precisely. Then there was a second floor that included the Jiangsu combs and the old Jiangsu tea room's interior look. Each comb had a unique design that is extremely difficult to make because of the complexity of the design and the precision of the colors. There would be a mountain water design and a wind and water design on the combs. The Hebei pavilion had artifacts that were uncovered from their province. There are old Chinese scientific discoveries and inventions like alcohol and the old Chinese telescope for looking at the stars and planets. Then they have the current space exploration technology and advancements. They also offer a model of a future city and a movie on a future city. It was like the old cartoons except the technology seemed feasible. The province pavilions are only a small part of the Expo’s total 5.28 square kilometers. Another one of my favorite section of the Expo is the European sector.
Out of all the European pavilions, my favorite was the Spanish pavilion because it had a theme that taught me about Spain’s people. It started with a 360 degree show that showed women dancing a traditional Spanish dance. While she was dancing images would appear on all sides of the screen. They would be images of the Spanish land and people because there were groups of horses on the dry land running at a very rapid pace. The movie would be synchronized with the rhythm of the women dancing and it was hard to see what she was dancing because there were too many people in front of me. Then in the next room they would show baby faces and pictures of Spanish families. The pictures were arranged on a wall and they were all together and they formed a picture. It was like all the families are united as one. Then the final room showed a gigantic baby that moved and cried, but we knew that it was not real. The Pudong side had the national pavilions and the Puxi side had the theme pavilions. To get to that side, you can ride an electric motor car or you can ferry over to the other side.
The Theme pavilion that I enjoyed was the pavilion of the Future because it was so new and unique, but the designs were all very feasible. The Pavilion starts with a movie about a futuristic city that motion picture directors would have made. Then there was a room that was filled with ideas from different scientists, engineers, architects, and mathematicians about how to make a city life better. They wanted to make city life better because in the next fifty years, more and more people will be moving towards the city. They want to make life better, but still keeping the same things that we have now. One of the quotes in the pavilion said, “We need to reinvent the wheel again”. That simple quote hit me and I thought it is impossible, but there are people that can do that in ten to fifty years. This pavilion had a sculpture that was made from trash, but it looked like a modern city. That was creative and fun to examine. Each continent had pitched ideas about what they are doing and what they will be doing. The pavilion was just so unique that I could have stayed in there for two hours and just looking at their inventions and ideas.
Whether you are staying in Shanghai or just going to the Expo, remember three pavilions are a must to see and remember that elderly people can have one person accompany them on the express line to some pavilions. This is a unique Expo and being placed in Shanghai is the best because Shanghai is more convenient than New York. The subway system connects Hongqiao and Pudong together by subway. It is easier and cheaper for many commuters coming from other parts of China or from other parts of the world.
The United pavilion of the Chinese provinces is worth seeing because their lines are short and fast and each pavilion has a unique style. Some of the pavilions like the Jiangsu pavilion and the Hebei pavilion are worth seeing because they connect their province's most famous cultural possessions and their current technological and scientific advancements. Jiangsu province has a huge jade statue that looks exactly like a Chinese cabbage. It was unique because the color was chosen very particularly and the shape was shaped so precisely. Then there was a second floor that included the Jiangsu combs and the old Jiangsu tea room's interior look. Each comb had a unique design that is extremely difficult to make because of the complexity of the design and the precision of the colors. There would be a mountain water design and a wind and water design on the combs. The Hebei pavilion had artifacts that were uncovered from their province. There are old Chinese scientific discoveries and inventions like alcohol and the old Chinese telescope for looking at the stars and planets. Then they have the current space exploration technology and advancements. They also offer a model of a future city and a movie on a future city. It was like the old cartoons except the technology seemed feasible. The province pavilions are only a small part of the Expo’s total 5.28 square kilometers. Another one of my favorite section of the Expo is the European sector.
Out of all the European pavilions, my favorite was the Spanish pavilion because it had a theme that taught me about Spain’s people. It started with a 360 degree show that showed women dancing a traditional Spanish dance. While she was dancing images would appear on all sides of the screen. They would be images of the Spanish land and people because there were groups of horses on the dry land running at a very rapid pace. The movie would be synchronized with the rhythm of the women dancing and it was hard to see what she was dancing because there were too many people in front of me. Then in the next room they would show baby faces and pictures of Spanish families. The pictures were arranged on a wall and they were all together and they formed a picture. It was like all the families are united as one. Then the final room showed a gigantic baby that moved and cried, but we knew that it was not real. The Pudong side had the national pavilions and the Puxi side had the theme pavilions. To get to that side, you can ride an electric motor car or you can ferry over to the other side.
The Theme pavilion that I enjoyed was the pavilion of the Future because it was so new and unique, but the designs were all very feasible. The Pavilion starts with a movie about a futuristic city that motion picture directors would have made. Then there was a room that was filled with ideas from different scientists, engineers, architects, and mathematicians about how to make a city life better. They wanted to make city life better because in the next fifty years, more and more people will be moving towards the city. They want to make life better, but still keeping the same things that we have now. One of the quotes in the pavilion said, “We need to reinvent the wheel again”. That simple quote hit me and I thought it is impossible, but there are people that can do that in ten to fifty years. This pavilion had a sculpture that was made from trash, but it looked like a modern city. That was creative and fun to examine. Each continent had pitched ideas about what they are doing and what they will be doing. The pavilion was just so unique that I could have stayed in there for two hours and just looking at their inventions and ideas.
Whether you are staying in Shanghai or just going to the Expo, remember three pavilions are a must to see and remember that elderly people can have one person accompany them on the express line to some pavilions. This is a unique Expo and being placed in Shanghai is the best because Shanghai is more convenient than New York. The subway system connects Hongqiao and Pudong together by subway. It is easier and cheaper for many commuters coming from other parts of China or from other parts of the world.
World Expo 2010 in Shanghai
The popular World Exposition Fair started in England during the Industrial Revolution for countries around the world to showcase their new technological advances. England set a precedent for other world expos to be held in developed countries, but this year we broke precedent and held the world exposition fair in Shanghai. Shanghai is China's largest city and it is one of China's most technologically advanced cities. Shanghai encompasses both Pudong and Puxi on the Huangpu River. This city has flourished and boomed because of Western occupation and Chinese workmanship. This city's skyscrapers were built by migrant workers, but the design came from successful Chinese architects. The World Expo is an example of migrant workers handiwork and Chinese Architect's creative designs. These pavilions at the expos were gorgeous, but there are just too many people. In the two days that I was at the expo, I have seen ten pavilions and experienced a heat wave that would make Americans cry and long lines filled with mostly Chinese people. Each pavilion has its own unique style, but I really enjoyed the united pavilions of Chinese provinces, the Spanish pavilion and the pavilion of the future. These pavilions are my favorite because they had short lines, gorgeous exterior designs and their interior material is worth seeing.
The United pavilion of the Chinese provinces is worth seeing because their lines are short and fast and each pavilion has a unique style. Some of the pavilions like the Jiangsu pavilion and the Hebei pavilion are worth seeing because they connect their province's most famous cultural possessions and their current technological and scientific advancements. Jiangsu province has a huge jade statue that looks exactly like a Chinese cabbage. It was unique because the color was chosen very particularly and the shape was shaped so precisely. Then there was a second floor that included the Jiangsu combs and the old Jiangsu tea room's interior look. Each comb had a unique design that is extremely difficult to make because of the complexity of the design and the precision of the colors. There would be a mountain water design and a wind and water design on the combs. The Hebei pavilion had artifacts that were uncovered from their province. There are old Chinese scientific discoveries and inventions like alcohol and the old Chinese telescope for looking at the stars and planets. Then they have the current space exploration technology and advancements. They also offer a model of a future city and a movie on a future city. It was like the old cartoons except the technology seemed feasible.
The United pavilion of the Chinese provinces is worth seeing because their lines are short and fast and each pavilion has a unique style. Some of the pavilions like the Jiangsu pavilion and the Hebei pavilion are worth seeing because they connect their province's most famous cultural possessions and their current technological and scientific advancements. Jiangsu province has a huge jade statue that looks exactly like a Chinese cabbage. It was unique because the color was chosen very particularly and the shape was shaped so precisely. Then there was a second floor that included the Jiangsu combs and the old Jiangsu tea room's interior look. Each comb had a unique design that is extremely difficult to make because of the complexity of the design and the precision of the colors. There would be a mountain water design and a wind and water design on the combs. The Hebei pavilion had artifacts that were uncovered from their province. There are old Chinese scientific discoveries and inventions like alcohol and the old Chinese telescope for looking at the stars and planets. Then they have the current space exploration technology and advancements. They also offer a model of a future city and a movie on a future city. It was like the old cartoons except the technology seemed feasible.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Walt Disney Pictures Alice in Wonderland (2010)
I stepped into AMC Theatre 4 on a rainy day. The day was perfect for watching a movie because it is very dark and wet and there's nothing to do. Watching this movie in the morning got my mind working because it was funny, creative, and entertaining. There were great actors, great special effects, and awesome visual effects.
Alice and Wonderland is from a classical novel that every American should read. It is wonderful book and now a wonderful movie. This movie could be used as a teaching tool to help students understand the novel, the time period, and the general setting. The movie also showed Alice's emotions and feelings really well. It is understandable to be scared of a nightmare and a place like Wonderland. Wonderland is weird, strange, surreal, and sometimes hard to understand. It is created by a Englishman because the movie is about dethroning a monarch and saving a land. England was a monarchy , so it knows a lot more to getting rid of bad monarchs or dictators. The Red queen resembles a dictator that is power hungry. She wants the kingdom and got it by force. The classical tale and the movie has landed a place in my memory. Her relationship with her sister is a classic sibling rivalry because the youngest always get everything. The oldest sibling is always the one that is left unsatisfied and jealous. Even the battle is about the rivalry between two siblings because the younger one , the white queen, got the kingdom. So the older sibling, the queen of hearts, believe that the older one is more responsible and thus she should get the land. However, the queen of hearts has no friends or council, because she created allies using fear and power. The White Queen used that to her advantage and got Alice to slay the queen of hearts' most powerful beast. Without that beast, every body is free because she no longer has the power.
This movie also gave us a history lesson on a family of monarchs. When the older brother ascends the throne, sometimes the younger brother would use force to get rid of his blood brother. This fact is true because humans have a nature to want power and they always want more. The story also tells us that with great power comes great responsibility. The Queen of hearts had all that power , but she took no responsibility. She created hatred among her people because the people believes that she is enjoying too much time in her castle. She eventually became oblivious to what was going on in wonderland. She believes that everything is perfect and protesters should be decapitated. It shows her irresponsibility in following what her people want. This happened a lot in medieval England, ancient china, medieval France, and the Ottoman empire. This means that this story, movie, and book showed us the time period that it was written in and the historic activities going on. It also hints that the story takes place before the Opium war because it was mentioned that they wanted to find a shorter route to China. All movies have stories, some of these stories could hint at the past, the present, or the future. Avatar hinted that we might discover a new planet and ruin it all together. The Hurt Locker hinted on the past Iraq war and what happened. This story hinted on a medieval fugue with two monarchs facing each other.
Alice in Wonderland also tells us about a childish dream. It shows us that we all want to travel to a place where we can enjoy the moment without pollution, crowds, or pressure and stress. It tells us that we all want a place to think, relax, and "flush out" our thoughts to someone trustworthy. The time spent in Wonderland helped Alice understand her dilemma in the wedding ceremony. When she climbed out, Alice knew her future as clear as day. She also became happier because she understood more about herself and others around her. For example, she made the connection of the two fat boys with two girls. Those two girls were her friends and they knew what would happen that day and they would also "fight". The connection is similar to the connection that Dorothy made at the end of The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy said, " I had a dream and you were in it". It just explains that the author of the Wizard of Oz had read Louis Carroll's books.
This movie's connection with Louis Carroll's novel, Through the Looking Glass and Alice in Wonderland is very precise and very informational. The three dimensional effects were awesome, but that was not the most important part in the movie.
However I have mixed feelings about this movie. Some parts were dull, some parts were exciting, and some parts were sad. This made me think twice about the rating of this movie because it was not consistent. I feel that this movie has too much dialogue and some of the dialogue could be cut out. I also found listening to their British accents annoying. Also , the movie started out to be very confusing. They did not introduce everything clearly. Although this movie has faults, I still love Alice in Wonderland. Watch it in 3D and you will not be disappointed. It has great visual and special effects, but incomparable to Avatar. Watch the movie in theatre because they have comfy seats and screens. Also, watch the movie in the morning because movies are cheaper in the morning than the afternoon.
Alice and Wonderland is from a classical novel that every American should read. It is wonderful book and now a wonderful movie. This movie could be used as a teaching tool to help students understand the novel, the time period, and the general setting. The movie also showed Alice's emotions and feelings really well. It is understandable to be scared of a nightmare and a place like Wonderland. Wonderland is weird, strange, surreal, and sometimes hard to understand. It is created by a Englishman because the movie is about dethroning a monarch and saving a land. England was a monarchy , so it knows a lot more to getting rid of bad monarchs or dictators. The Red queen resembles a dictator that is power hungry. She wants the kingdom and got it by force. The classical tale and the movie has landed a place in my memory. Her relationship with her sister is a classic sibling rivalry because the youngest always get everything. The oldest sibling is always the one that is left unsatisfied and jealous. Even the battle is about the rivalry between two siblings because the younger one , the white queen, got the kingdom. So the older sibling, the queen of hearts, believe that the older one is more responsible and thus she should get the land. However, the queen of hearts has no friends or council, because she created allies using fear and power. The White Queen used that to her advantage and got Alice to slay the queen of hearts' most powerful beast. Without that beast, every body is free because she no longer has the power.
This movie also gave us a history lesson on a family of monarchs. When the older brother ascends the throne, sometimes the younger brother would use force to get rid of his blood brother. This fact is true because humans have a nature to want power and they always want more. The story also tells us that with great power comes great responsibility. The Queen of hearts had all that power , but she took no responsibility. She created hatred among her people because the people believes that she is enjoying too much time in her castle. She eventually became oblivious to what was going on in wonderland. She believes that everything is perfect and protesters should be decapitated. It shows her irresponsibility in following what her people want. This happened a lot in medieval England, ancient china, medieval France, and the Ottoman empire. This means that this story, movie, and book showed us the time period that it was written in and the historic activities going on. It also hints that the story takes place before the Opium war because it was mentioned that they wanted to find a shorter route to China. All movies have stories, some of these stories could hint at the past, the present, or the future. Avatar hinted that we might discover a new planet and ruin it all together. The Hurt Locker hinted on the past Iraq war and what happened. This story hinted on a medieval fugue with two monarchs facing each other.
Alice in Wonderland also tells us about a childish dream. It shows us that we all want to travel to a place where we can enjoy the moment without pollution, crowds, or pressure and stress. It tells us that we all want a place to think, relax, and "flush out" our thoughts to someone trustworthy. The time spent in Wonderland helped Alice understand her dilemma in the wedding ceremony. When she climbed out, Alice knew her future as clear as day. She also became happier because she understood more about herself and others around her. For example, she made the connection of the two fat boys with two girls. Those two girls were her friends and they knew what would happen that day and they would also "fight". The connection is similar to the connection that Dorothy made at the end of The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy said, " I had a dream and you were in it". It just explains that the author of the Wizard of Oz had read Louis Carroll's books.
This movie's connection with Louis Carroll's novel, Through the Looking Glass and Alice in Wonderland is very precise and very informational. The three dimensional effects were awesome, but that was not the most important part in the movie.
However I have mixed feelings about this movie. Some parts were dull, some parts were exciting, and some parts were sad. This made me think twice about the rating of this movie because it was not consistent. I feel that this movie has too much dialogue and some of the dialogue could be cut out. I also found listening to their British accents annoying. Also , the movie started out to be very confusing. They did not introduce everything clearly. Although this movie has faults, I still love Alice in Wonderland. Watch it in 3D and you will not be disappointed. It has great visual and special effects, but incomparable to Avatar. Watch the movie in theatre because they have comfy seats and screens. Also, watch the movie in the morning because movies are cheaper in the morning than the afternoon.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
OSCAR Night Who won? Is there personnal bias?
The Academy Awards have been a prestigious award for eighty two years. How has the procedure for choosing a winner changed and what are they doing differently? I believe that the academy is trying to keep awards from the rightful owner and giving it to someone else. James Cameron is the best director because he wrote the screenplay for Avatar, produced Avatar, and directed Avatar. Without James Cameron, there would not be a movie because he did the crucial work. However his team did the a lot of work too, but under his supervision.
James Cameron has won dozens of awards and have millions of dollars. The Academy hates James Cameron because Cameron has everything. Cameron has the awards and the money and the fans. They want to give the award of Best Picture and Best Director to Kathryn Bigelow because the audience least expect that to happen. But I ask the Academy , If Kathryn Bigelow would spent 15 to 16 years of her life for making a movie. Avatar is still better than the Hurt Locker because the story is more original, the picture quality is better, and the technology is newer. The new technology to film 3D movies was introduced by James Cameron because he wants the audience to pick up a bow and fight along side the Na'Vi. His dream became reality and everybody in the world accepts that. Not only is the technology amazing, but the worldwide audience reaction is even greater. The Amazon natives are using the movie as an inspiration to face the developing companies. The Palestinians are using Avatar as an inspiration to fight the Israeli. James Cameron made a excellent point when he said, " It doesn't matter if I win a award or not because I broke my own box office record, I received excellent reactions from the world, and I already have dozens of awards. This is just a big celebration for me. I just want to celebrate the success of my team and my movie. " My belief is supporting James Cameron's statement to ABC cameras and E News cameras. This also supports the fact that Avatar is still a great movie and the Academy is very bias and near minded.
A computer generated movie can win best picture because change is coming to the motion picture department. We have seen too many movies like The Hurt Locker because everybody wants to capture the Iraq War details. Compare it to Avatar, The Hurt Locker falls behind because Avatar is an epic movie that has romance, environmental cause, action, adventure, and science fiction. Nonetheless, The Hurt Locker has never captured my attention because it looks more like a news channel than a movie. I never even finish the movie once because I felt it was boring and only portrayed the soldiers as heroes. I understand that these soldiers are heroes, but to some of the natives , western soldiers have been a threat. Avatar portrayed the side of the natives very well because the Na'vi saw the soldiers as terrorists and land stealing aliens. Avatar has also portrayed the western soldiers as heroes. Avatar has moved me emotionally and physically. I was deeply touched by the natives' willingness to fight for their homeland. (They want to keep their planet fresh and without pollution.) I was also touched by the way a small team and an entire native population can defeat the powerful imperialist power. (It shows that natives can go up against the people with guns. ) I will ask Kathryn Bigelow and her "Hurt Locker" team, if their movie can be as touching to the world as Avatar has.
Friday, February 12, 2010
17 Again
For most people, they wish that they can turn their whole life around, if they became 17 again. Michael O'Donnell lived an mediocre life with a separated wife and two unloving children. He is forced to live at his best friend's house and strange things occurred. This interesting movie left many people feeling sad because they felt the nostalgia with the vivid details of turning seventeen again. This is an interesting movie that captured my attention with its humor because our lives would be very different if the parents were that same age as their kids.
Michael O'Donnell noticed that as a father he knew absolutely nothing about his kids, but he learned more about them as he turned seventeen. An old man or an angel turned back the clocks and Mike went back to his seventeen year old self that had abs and good looks and cool basketball style. The transformation was unusual, awkward, and scary at first, but the funny part was when his best friend did not recognize him. Then his best friend acted as his father to enroll him into high school again. Then the romance part started to form. His best friend tried to get a date with the principal, he tried to get along with his wife, his daughter tried to get a boy to marry her, and his son tried to date the girl that he has been crushing on. The whole story revolves around romance and family connections. He ended up being his son's best friend that helped him with basketball and dates. Then the funniest part is when he danced with his wife, but he's still seventeen. Then the whole story goes DE jax vu.
The director did a great job resolving all the conflicts in Mike's life by turning him seventeen again. He got his wife back and he knows more about his children and his best friend got a second date. The whole movie is worth watching, but rent it. Don't buy it.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
This weekend was a historic weekend with a record snow accumulation in the mid Atlantic states.This movie has a record food accumulation of Italian foods,American fast foods, and a Las Vegas styled buffet. Cloudy with a chance of meatballs was an entertaining movie for a rented movie. In this animated movie, the actions and inventions seems very unrealistic because food falling from the sky and rat birds. You would have to merge the DNA of rats and birds and that would cost billions of dollars. However this is only a kids animated movie and so the movie is for a one time watch. This movie should be rented at a Red box for a buck because there is nothing too special. Even though there was nothing special, I was intrigued by the creativity of the creators because we need a creative spark.
In the midst of the Great Recession, People are more worried about the rising cost of food and basic needs, so many people don't even think about being creative because they want to keep their good paying jobs. watching a creative movie alleviates the stress and pressure of work, school, and thinking. I really liked how a hamburger just landed perfectly in the people's hands. The funniest person was the mayor because he got so fat and still wants to eat more. He is a good representation of the obesity level in America. People are eating too much junk food and this movie teaches children a lesson about not eating too much McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell, and Kentucky Fried Chicken.When I saw food falling down and piling down in a dam, I knew that the movie was also about telling America that they are wasting too much food. Americans throw away half eaten foods everyday. The scientist was a genius ,however he needs to know that success is 95% failure and 5% success. He was lucky that he met a girl that can match him wit for wit. As the adventure continues, the hero is a team of citizens.
This movie also tells about the state of nature of humans. Humans are naturally greedy and evil. This movie shows how desperate the people are after the tourists left. These people were poor and some were in complete destitute. The people became greedy that all they want is for him to let food come down. The mayor represents the selfish,mean, horrible leader, and very parsimonious aristocrats. He wanted the scientist to drop food because he wants his people to have everything , but in the midst of the crisis he took no blame at all. Even though he was the one that got the machine into overdrive and overloaded the machine. The scientist could have fixed the all problem with a switch, but the mayor had to be selfish.
The meatball part was that the machine is wrapped in a cocoon that was the size and shape of a gigantic meat ball. The adventure of going into the meatball was dangerous because there was hot, and greasy oils that were boiling. There were headless chickens walking. Even though the movie was unrealistic, I believe you should watch the movie any way because it is creative and fun for the whole family. It also teaches the lesson of never waste food.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Julie and Julia
Renting a movie at Red Box is cheap, easy and very convenient. This weekend, I rented the movie, Julie and Julia. The story goes back and forth from past to present and runs parallel from each other's story. Julie Powell's story is in relation to Julia Child's life. She mentioned, "I was a government secretary and Julia was a government secretary. She's loves to cook and I live to cook". She makes the connection that she is similar. This point in the movie is the turning point and the definition on the movie. Julia Child's story begins at the beginning because it acts a introduction for the movie. The best actress in Julie and Julia is Meryl Streep because she added the third ingredient to being a good actor. She made her personality the same as Julia Child's personality. Compare her voice with Julia Child's actual voice and you can see no difference because she is the perfect actress for a part in this documentary and non fiction movie. The movie portrayed Julia Child's life extremely well because it showed how Julia Child influenced the world. The movie tells us that if a person can influence another person, then it can influence the entire world. It showed how She influenced Julie Powell into enjoying cooking. Julie Powell was able to accomplish a goal and write a book and had fans. The movie is not a summary of Julia Child's life,instead it is about what are achievements were and how she took a stand in society and what happened in her lifetime compared with Julie Powell's life.
Julia Child told us that society at that time was very complex about race and communism and that France was famous for its food and culture. Joesph McCarthy was mentioned in the movie and how he would interrogate people in the state department. He was ruthless by locking them up in a room with no windows for three days. Julie Powell told us about how society was after the terrorist attack on 9/11 because she was handling these person to person relationships.
For most people, cooking is a tedious task that people do all day because their family needs to eat. However Julia Child influenced Julie Powell about having fun with cooking and if you fail then keep on going forward. Julia Child's cookbook showed her how fun cooking can be because she was doing it as a hobby. Julie Powell tried it as a hobby and she became less stressed out to a happier mood. She changed her entire mindset about cooking and life. Have fun in cooking and you will enjoy it more. Some people say how do you have fun while cooking? I told them that you should improvise on some recipes. Julia Child improvised and Julie Powell improvised as well. Recipes can be changed accordingly to your personal eating habits. Some people like more oil and some people like less oil. Does it matter? No it does not because improvising is a way of being creative and thus having more fun.
I believe that through Julie Powell we learned the influence of Julia Child in the world today. Now cook for fun! Enjoy your weekend with a fun filled dish!
The Spy Next Door
Recently, I watched "The Spy Next Door" at AMC theaters. Since I watched the movie in the morning at AMC, the ticket price is only $6.00. Twenty years ago, that was the price of general admission in the afternoon. The movie starred the "old" Jackie Chan, George Lopez , and Billy Ray Cyrus. Jackie Chan is the dominant role in this action packed comedy. Jackie Chan is always in action packed comedies. My favorite action packed adventure comedy is Rush Hour 1 and 2 because they were able to fluently bring together three kinds of movie genre. The Spy Next Door makes a good third best action, adventure comedy because the story has been used before, Jackie Chan is getting old, there is no new use of technology, however it made me laugh spontaneously.
Not only is watching movies in the morning cheap, but it gives me a wake up call. I love a good laugh in the morning because it makes me happy throughout the day. The Spy Next Door was able to make me laugh spontaneously because the humor is not "squeezed" into the movie. Comedy movies like the Pink Panther 2 had nose pinching laughter because they forced us to laugh. The humor was tickling humor. Tickles are usually forced and the humor in The Spy Next Door allowed us a second to think and laugh. There was no forced laughter or bad comedy acting. I enjoyed Billy Ray Cyrus' funny southern accent and southern phrases funny because people do not normally talk like that. Jackie Chan's Chinese American accent was funny because he talked normally and tried to be fluent. Playing a part in a major movie is good for his resume, however this movie will hurt him. He can sing and act and be funny in a spontaneous way. Billy Ray Cyrus is a Television show actor , so he has no experience with motion pictures. He has played as a father in the 2009 movie, Hannah Montana The Movie, however he was horrible. I think he was better in this movie, than that one. George Lopez is a television host, so he's not good at acting in this movie either. He played a double agent and a traitor to the Central Intelligence Agency. He was not funny and acted mediocrity.
I am not saying that this movie is good because the story has been used by "The Pacifier". A secret agent goes to babysit a family of kids that he wants them to like him because he likes their mom. Then villains go after him and the kids that he babysits. The villains act too friendly in this movie because the movie is aimed at kids. In my opinion, this movie deserves a C for mediocre because Jackie Chan has played a part in many movies like this. He has acted in the Rush Hour trilogy, so he deserves a better movie to be in. Rent the movie, don't buy it.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
China's Uygurs — National Geographic Magazine
China's Uygurs — National Geographic Magazine
National Geographic is talking nonsense about Han majority coming into the province of Xinjinag. Xinjiang has been part of China for thousands of years. This land has always been ours and the Uigurs are part of the Chinese family. However family don't kill other family members. That is wrong on all levels. Xinjiang Uygurs are miniorities that purposely kill people and destroy public property. They sent buses and cars on fire. They killed hundreds of people. This is a terrorist attack. If they want to get a message across , then they can submit emails, phone calls or peaceful protests, but not by violence. "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only love can do that. Hate cannot be driven out by Hate, only love can do that"(Dr. martin Luther King Jr). You cannot fight fire with fire because the end resault is a bigger fire that rages on from both sides. The Central government only ended the fire by calming the Han majority and the Uygur minority. They did not contribute the violence in any way. I will reiterate that they did not contrbute to the violence in any way. The fault was in the Uygurs.
National Geographic is talking nonsense about Han majority coming into the province of Xinjinag. Xinjiang has been part of China for thousands of years. This land has always been ours and the Uigurs are part of the Chinese family. However family don't kill other family members. That is wrong on all levels. Xinjiang Uygurs are miniorities that purposely kill people and destroy public property. They sent buses and cars on fire. They killed hundreds of people. This is a terrorist attack. If they want to get a message across , then they can submit emails, phone calls or peaceful protests, but not by violence. "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only love can do that. Hate cannot be driven out by Hate, only love can do that"(Dr. martin Luther King Jr). You cannot fight fire with fire because the end resault is a bigger fire that rages on from both sides. The Central government only ended the fire by calming the Han majority and the Uygur minority. They did not contribute the violence in any way. I will reiterate that they did not contrbute to the violence in any way. The fault was in the Uygurs.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Avatar
Around the world, people are enjoying James Cameron's latest masterpiece, Avatar. Avatar is a good movie because it has a high box office grossing. The movie has earned $1 Billion dollars worldwide and growing. It has the potential to overtake Cameron's last masterpiece, Titanic because Avatar was much more interesting. An Avatar is a remote body that is a mix of the Na'Vi DNA and human DNA. When I watched this movie at AMC theatres, I was intrigued by the natural environment , the vivid battle scenes, and the blooming romance.
Since the beginning of the 21st Century, environmentalist has warned us about global warming and taking care of our plant because it is becoming like a waste dump. It is always the human imagination to have a planet that is not polluted and it has all the environmental things that we enjoy. Avatar makes the audiences envious of Planet Pandora because it has no pollution, it has beautiful trees, mountains, skies, and animals. I loved the floating mountains because it looked so pure and beautiful that I became very envious of the characters that were in it. The floating mountains made me feel the nostalgia that I am still drawing imaginative creatures and planets. Americans go to the movies to enjoy a movie and take some time to relax. Avatar lets us feel the cool breeze of air and fresh unpolluted air. Avatar makes us feel like everybody is in heaven. In some ways, Pandora is a good representation of heaven because it has the environment that we enjoy. When I saw humans destroying the planet, I would have stood up against my own race because foreigners have no right to come and take the natives' land.
The battle scenes with the natives against the humans were extremely vivid because there was dramatic music, flashing scenes and slow motion shots. The battle scenes show that one human can change the way others view an entire race of humans. If they can teach one human to like the natives' planet, then the time to teach him or her was worth it. I really liked how Avatar had the confidence to take on the big bird. He had the courage and the assertion to do it. That scene portrayed him as a persevered and strong guy. My absolute favorite scene was when he jumped off the bird and went on to the big ship. He was killing the people with the motivation to protect their planet. He had the look on his face that said, " No body can stand in my way". The scene was extremely intense and I got extremely excited. All good movies need music that can get us excited.
As a student in filming, I know that music is an essential part in movie making because it builds a mood and it says more things than the speech dialogue. Music tells us the romantic parts and the dramatic parts. It helps us distinguish the two from each other. Music is the heart and soul of everything. Music is abstract and it helped Avatar to become more abstract than more realistic. When they were passing by the floating mountains, the music was very soft and happy because these mountains were the most beautiful things in the universe. The music was very joyful in the scene with Jake running for the first time in five years.
In general, Avatar is a fantastic movie that I would love to watch many , many times.
Since the beginning of the 21st Century, environmentalist has warned us about global warming and taking care of our plant because it is becoming like a waste dump. It is always the human imagination to have a planet that is not polluted and it has all the environmental things that we enjoy. Avatar makes the audiences envious of Planet Pandora because it has no pollution, it has beautiful trees, mountains, skies, and animals. I loved the floating mountains because it looked so pure and beautiful that I became very envious of the characters that were in it. The floating mountains made me feel the nostalgia that I am still drawing imaginative creatures and planets. Americans go to the movies to enjoy a movie and take some time to relax. Avatar lets us feel the cool breeze of air and fresh unpolluted air. Avatar makes us feel like everybody is in heaven. In some ways, Pandora is a good representation of heaven because it has the environment that we enjoy. When I saw humans destroying the planet, I would have stood up against my own race because foreigners have no right to come and take the natives' land.
The battle scenes with the natives against the humans were extremely vivid because there was dramatic music, flashing scenes and slow motion shots. The battle scenes show that one human can change the way others view an entire race of humans. If they can teach one human to like the natives' planet, then the time to teach him or her was worth it. I really liked how Avatar had the confidence to take on the big bird. He had the courage and the assertion to do it. That scene portrayed him as a persevered and strong guy. My absolute favorite scene was when he jumped off the bird and went on to the big ship. He was killing the people with the motivation to protect their planet. He had the look on his face that said, " No body can stand in my way". The scene was extremely intense and I got extremely excited. All good movies need music that can get us excited.
As a student in filming, I know that music is an essential part in movie making because it builds a mood and it says more things than the speech dialogue. Music tells us the romantic parts and the dramatic parts. It helps us distinguish the two from each other. Music is the heart and soul of everything. Music is abstract and it helped Avatar to become more abstract than more realistic. When they were passing by the floating mountains, the music was very soft and happy because these mountains were the most beautiful things in the universe. The music was very joyful in the scene with Jake running for the first time in five years.
In general, Avatar is a fantastic movie that I would love to watch many , many times.
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