Eduardo Herrera

Film History II

March 25, 2014

Professor Oakes

Dazed and Confused

Dazed and Confused is a film directed by Richard Linklater, an American director who also directed the 2003 movie School of Rock. The filmed borrowed the name Dazed and Confused from a popular Led Zeppelin song.  This filmed gave rise to many great actors who would later become to star in movies that are blockbuster hits, such as Ben Affleck, Matthew McConaughey, and Mila Jonovich. The movie follows a group of teenagers and their misadventures on their last day of school before their summer break. Dazed and Confused was influenced by the 70’s, this is very apparent in the soundtrack during the movie having songs such as Black Sabbath’s Paranoid, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Tuesday’s Gone, and Aerosmith’s Sweet Emotion, and especially the scene of stealing the rival school’s statue and painting them with Gene Simmons/Paul Stanley’s Kiss make up. This movie raises the issue about teen’s partying, most of them are smoking Marijuana, and Drinking Alcohol, this depicts a problem with the youth of the era, since also children who are underage partake in the drinking in the movie. Dazed and Confused is a movie about change, and how the internal struggles of a character often paint the big picture that make the big decisions in their life. We can see this from McConaughey character as being the student who graduated from High School but never really grew out of the mentality. We can also see it in Newhouse’s character on how he portrays himself as a Intellect insulting everybody who he does not see as his friend, how his struggle is to not look like a “wimp” because he got into an altercation. Another Example is Mitch Kramer’s character who is trying to fit in with the older crowd even letting himself get caught up with the excitement and missing his curfew. Dazed and confused is a movie that depicts the 70’s lifestyle of a group of teens who are in no hurry to grow up.

Sex, Lies and Videotapes

Eduardo Herrera

Film History II

March 18, 2014

Professor Oakes

Sex, Lies And Videotape

            Sex, Lies and Videotape is an independent drama film by director Steven Soderbergh.  This movie plays on the roles of perversion in James Spader character, Graham. Graham is brought to the home of John Mullany, who is a friend from a university. Mullany’s wife, Ann, helps Graham find a home in the new city. Meanwhile John is having an affair with Ann’s sister Cynthia.  Graham has a sexual perversion where he is uncomfortable having sexual relationships with women, but he is more comfortable in filming women talk about their sexual experiences and later pleasure himself to those tapes. This because a problem because Graham videotaped Cynthia, and in this video she told graham that she was having an affair with her sister’s husband. Once Ann found out, she wanted to do a videotape and later it is implied that Ann had a sexual relationship with Graham. Once John found out, He bursted in rage about being caught and his wife accusing him of cheating, and took his anger out on Graham. This movie plays on the horrors of intimacy; Here is a woman who has a good life, but a bad husband who is cheating on her. Sex, Lies and Videotape raised the stakes for an independent film and what it was meant to be. Before this time independent films were not getting much viewing, and were shunned out of the limelight, this film put the independent industry in the limelight.  This film inspired many independent movements such as the likes of “500 Days of summer and Little Miss Sunshine.” Sex, Lies and Videotapes is a movie about a loveless relationship where sex is the main reason for the lack of love. In this movie, Friendship is lost, Lack of trust in family is created, and new love is formed between two people who lost love, and found it in each other.

Do The Right Thing

Eduardo Herrera

Film History II

March 4, 2014

Professor Oakes

Do The Right Thing

            This movie is directed by Spike Lee, who also directed movies such as The Inside Man, He Got Game, and Mo’ Better Blues. The movie takes part in Brooklyn, and takes focus around Sal’s famous pizzeria. The focus of the movie is about Buggin’ Out who is played by Giancarlos Eposito, (Gus from Breaking Bad), and his struggle to boycott Sal’s Famous Pizzeria for the reason of not having any African Americans on the pizzeria’s “Wall of Fame”. The film strikes many racial themes in the movie. An example is the police officer killing Radio Raheem. This depicts era (and current), which shows mistrust in the police force. In todays and much like Back in the 80’s the police were seen as the aggressors in the culture. The police are seen as the oppressors. Also the ending to the movie is something history has played over several of times.  There is a point when the struggle between causes starts clashing violently and riots ensue. Saul’s pizzeria ends up being vandalized and burned to the ground. Much like the opening song “Fight the Power by Public Enemy” this film takes the racial relations of the small community in Brooklyn and puts them to the test. Whether this would be poking fun at a white guy for living in a African American neighborhood, or the struggle to have a picture of African Americans in a small pizzeria that probably doesn’t mean anything at all. This movie takes form in fighting the power on whatever scale it is, from the small scale of the pizzeria, to the bigger scale of the police and revolting against them. This movie shows the culture struggles, and finishes it up with a quote from two great civil rights leader, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther. Malcolm representing the Violence that was needed to cause a change, Martin Luther representing the peace that was need to be maintained.