Do the Right Thing

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening

Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” was a great piece that had a lot of meaning to both Spike Lee as well as the black community. Lee grew up in Cobble Hill Brooklyn and went to Morehouse College where he made his first film. Lee started working in the film making industry writing and directing his own movies that started as small budget pictures. His first feature titled, “She’s Gotta Have It” was made on only a 175 thousand dollar budget. “Do the Right Thing” was Lee’s third feature after “She’s Gotta Have It” and “School Daze”. “Do the Right Thing” received great reviewers by critics as it did a great job of showing that issues of racial discrimination and black identity still needed to be dealt with.

2) Find a related article (on the film, director, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, etc.) and summarize the content. You may use the library or the internet.

The CNN article written by Todd Leopold takes a look back at Spike Lee’s film, “Do the Right Thing” and how it is still relevant in society today. The article starts off by discussing how the film originally impacted viewers after it was first released in 1989. In 1989 many critics and movie commentators believed that the film would cause trouble and riots, much like the one happened at the end of Lee’s film. However that was not at all the case; the film provoked talk among more urban communities and was seen as a reason to start a change for many. One of the great things about the film is that it is something that everyone in America can emphasize with, said Roger Ebert. The last major point that the article drives home is that race issues are still here in America, and even though we have a black president, racial discrimination is not over in America.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class. How did the article support or change the way you thought about the film, director, content, etc.?

This article from CNN definitely influenced and altered the way I perceived Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing”. The first time I saw the film I thought it was a little self-righteous of Spike Lee to make a film that seemed to be promoting violence in urban communities. However, after watching it a second time in class and reading the article, the film stands for much more than that. The film explores how racial discrimination still is potent by both blacks and whites in urban environments. Also the film does a great job of exploring abuse of power and police brutality, which is shown in the film by the NYPD. This is most definitely still a problem as there have been ongoing cases in America about police brutality. Overall the article form CNN did a good job of summarizing the movie but more importantly establishing the deeper meaning of the film.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/07/20/spike.lee.right.thing/

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text material and the article.

Spike Lee’s film “Do the Right Thing” is a great examination of how New York City was culturally back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The film explores what it’s like in an urban NYC community on the hottest day of the year. The film does an excellent job of conveying through pictures that it really is the hottest day of the year; the warm bright colors used in the film help portray how hot it really is outside. Because of the temperature, tempers flare up and conflicts arise out of small issues such as a bike rider bumping into a person of the street, and a pizza place only hanging up pictures of famous Italian people.  What makes the film so powerful though is not just the small conflicts, it’s the racial discrimination that arises from these small conflicts that show how people from that time period are, and how they behave. Issues shown in the film such as rioting is a product of the environment and how police choose to use force on citizens. This is still an ongoing issue in cities in the United States today and is the biggest reason why the film should be seen and understood by everyone.

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 1) ( ) I have not handed in this assignment for any

other class. 2) ( ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other

classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 3) ( ) If I used any passages word for word, I

put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 4) (

) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in

the text of the paper. 5) ( ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally

read. 6) ( ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in

another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 7) ( ) I did not

so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 8) ( ) I

checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and

ideas used in my paper.

Name: _Joe Katulak__________________ Date: _2/24/15_________________

Blue Velvet

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

David Lynch shows his dark side once again in the mystery, crime thriller “Blue Velvet”. The use of dark imagery really sets Lynch’s style apart from most other directors, and that feeling is definitely prevalent here in “Blue Velvet”. It appeared that many of the scenes used a lot of natural light in combination with some small additional light sources to give the film a very dark and surreal feeling. Also the use of violent imagery is definitely present throughout the movie. Because of Lynch’s style, he was never really afraid of going too far in the film when it comes to violence. His use of violence, specifically domestic abuse, really help to drive along the story.

2) Find a related article (on the film, director, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, etc.) and summarize the content. You may use the library or the internet.

The article from the New York Times, titled, “David Lynch, Still Disturbing After 20 Years”, discusses David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” and how dark and surreal it was compared to many other mystery movies that were made around the same time. Terrence Rafferty, the writer of the article mentions how the violence that takes place in the film is not something that is entirely new to audiences, but the way that Lynch goes about telling his story is a little more twisted and surreal than most. Lynch does a very good job of transitioning between a light hearted teen drama, and a dark twisted mystery which is definitely apparent when scenes transition between daytime and nighttime. The writer also points out that what is so interesting about “Blue Velvet” is the reaction from audiences in 1986 as well as today. Even though movies have changed a lot since 1986, things that are weird or strange have proven to stay weird or strange throughout time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/movies/26raff.html?_r=0

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class. How did the article support or change the way you thought about the film, director, content, etc.?

Overall, I agree with what the author had to say about the film. Saying that the film is still disturbing even after being out for over twenty years is definitely true, and an excellent point made by the writer. “Blue Velvet” uses themes that are common in even today’s movies which is why the film can still be appealing to movie watchers today. The article definitely supported my opinion on David Lynch, and actually made me more curious about his work. Knowing now the reputation that Lynch has with making movies, I’m curious to see what some of his more bizarre work contains.  One thing I was really happy about was that the article mentioned how the film goes back and forth between the feeling of a teen drama and a dark crime thriller. This is the exact feeling that I had during the movie. Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern’s characters each give the film a very 80’s vibe without much a feeling of darkness.  However the parts with Dennis Hopper's character are much more dark and give a much more uncomfortable feeling to the audience. Overall this article from the New York Times summarized and described “Blue Velvet” very well.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text material and the article.

“Blue Velvet” is an 80’s movie but not your typical one.  The film is a straight up mystery thriller that has a very different tone than what many people assimilate with other 80’s movies. In one of the opening scenes, the character Jeffrey finds a severed ear out in an open field, leading him to start asking questions to the local police. This scene does a great job of setting the tone in the movie, and Lynch builds off that tone throughout the movie, while also increasing suspense. Also, fairly early on in the movie we see Dorothy Vallens getting abused in her apartment through the point of view of Jeffrey. This scene also sets up some other potential events that happen throughout the movie but in my opinion it increases dramatic tension and suspense. Pulling off scenes like this is what I think gives Lynch a style of his own. Some of the takes in scenes where there was abuse appeared to be very long, making them almost uncomfortable to watch,
but in a good way. And being that “Blue Velvet” is a mystery, Lynch does a good job of making sure the audience is aware of everything that the main character is aware of. Overall “Blue Velvet” is a great mystery thriller and I would recommend it to anyone who likes dark and mysterious stories.

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 1) ( ) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class. 2) ( ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 3) ( ) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 4) () I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper. 5) ( ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read. 6) ( ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 7) ( ) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 8) ( ) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.

Name: _Joe Katulak_________________ Date: __2/17/15________

The King of Comedy

The King of Comedy

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening

As mentioned in the text, “The King of Comedy” is one of Martin Scorsese’s most underrated films. “The King of Comedy” came out in 1982 following two of Scorsese’s biggest films of all time, “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull”.  In “The King of Comedy” Robert De Niro plays a very different role than he has in some of Scorsese’s previous films but he still plays it just as he does in any of his previous films. Rupert Pupkin, the main character in “King of Comedy” is a calmer but still slightly psychotic character so he is not too different than some of the other roles De Niro has played under Scorsese.

2) Find a related article (on the film, director, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, etc.) and summarize the content. You may use the library or the internet.

The article, “'The King Of Comedy' At Tribeca: Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis & Martin Scorsese Celebrate 30 Years Of Cult Classic” takes a look back at “King of Comedy with interviews and comments from director Martin Scorsese and some of the main actors from the film. The film was screened in New York in 2013 at the Tribeca Film Festival and had Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis in attendance to watch the thirty year old film. Scorsese, De Niro and Lewis each had interesting facts to mention about the shooting in the movie. For example Scorsese never intended for the movie to be a comedy despite the fact that Lewis mentioned he was constantly laughing hysterically behind the camera during scenes. Also Lewis brought up the fact that there were certain scenes where the characters were able to adlib their own scenes and make up dialogue on the spot. The best example of this is a nine minute scene where De Niro’s character is in Lewis’s characters house.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/28/king-of-comedy-tribeca_n_3172426.html

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class. How did the article support or change the way you thought about the film, director, content, etc.?

The article from the Huffinton Post about “King of Comedy” is a great behind the scenes looks to how some of the movie was made. Overall the article made me respect the acting performances a little bit more after finding out that there were portions of the movie that were adlibbed. Being able to shoot an entire nine minute scene without a script is an extremely hard task for an actor to do and it only makes sense that De Niro and Lewis were able to pull it off. Also one of Scorsese’s comments made me think about the movie slightly differently. Scorsese is mentioned early on in the article that the film was not meant to be a comedy, and that quote made me look at the film in  a slightly different way. When you look at “King of Comedy” in comparison to another Scorsese/De Niro movie such as “Taxi Driver” or “Goodfellas”, there is a similar level of comedy in all three films but like Scorsese said it was not meant to be a comedy.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text material and the article.

“The King of Comedy” is another great Scorsese film that was able to nicely follow up “Raging Bull”. The film follows Rupert Pupkin, another obscure character played by De Niro, who definitely has some psychopathic tendencies. The story is easy to follow and at the end the audience is left with a very satisfying ending depending on each person’s perception. I see the ending as very straight forward but there is potentially another school of thought for the ending that it was all in Rupert’s head and that he never really made it as a comedian. To me the ending comes off pretty straight forward because of how the ending was shot and editing. In the previous parts of the movie when Rupert is talking to himself, the audience is clear on the fact that he is talking to himself even though the film cuts to and from shots of Rupert talking to Jerry Langford. When it comes down, the acting of the three main characters is what sells the movie. Each actor plays their own character perfectly and helps sell the movie as dark and twisted as Scorsese intended it to be. 

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 1) ( ) I have not handed in this assignment for any

other class. 2) ( ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other

classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 3) ( ) If I used any passages word for word, I

put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 4) (

) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in

the text of the paper. 5) ( ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally

read. 6) ( ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in

another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 7) ( ) I did not

so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 8) ( ) I

checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and

ideas used in my paper.

Name: ____Joe Katulak_____________________ Date: _2/11/15_________________

Raging Bull

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

“Raging Bull” was filmed in 1980, but if it is compared to other films from the same time period it would show little or no resemblance. Some of the other big movies from that time period include “Back to the Future”, “The Terminator” and “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back”, and while they are all good in their own right, the aesthetics of “Raging Bull” make it feel like it was shot in a completely different time period. At a time when blockbuster movies were starting to get popular, Martin Scorsese took a very different and dark approach from blockbuster movies at the time as well other sports movies from the time. Scorsese made the decision to shoot the film in black in white to further separate from other sports movies of the time like “Slap Shot”, “Bad News Bears” and especially “Rocky”. Scorsese also took a different approach from other sports movies because he relied heavily on the drama that was occurring outside of the ring instead of primarily focusing on just the boxing matches. It is Scorsese’s approach to the film that really separates it from almost any other film from the time period, especially any other sports movie.

2) Find a related article (on the film, director, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, etc.) and summarize the content. You may use the library or the internet.

The article “Brutal Attraction: The Making of Raging Bull” from Vanity Fair gives a terrific insight to how the film was made and what kind of challenges the cast and crew had to go through to get the film made. The article discusses the creation of the film from beginning to end. It discusses how De Niro first gained interest from the book by Jake La Motta. De Niro goes through many real life transformations as a person to make this role feel authentic. He trained like a real boxer and even had sessions with the real Jake La Motta to make his performance the best it could be. The article also discusses some struggles Martin Scorsese goes through while making the film such as a near death moment in a hospital. The article even goes up to the final editing process and shows how much Scorsese came to care about the final product of the film. To sum up, this article from Vanity Fair goes in depth and truly captures the feeling of what it was like to make Raging Bull.

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2010/03/raging-bull-201003#

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class. How did the article support or change the way you thought about the film, director, content, etc.?

The article from Vanity Fair titled, “Brutal Attraction: The Making of Raging Bull” essentially solidified my opinions of Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese. De Niro and Scorsese are both masters of their craft and the article gives great examples of why that is the case. De Niro simply becomes Jake LaMotta during the filming of the movie which is what makes his acting so great. De Niro would request to have time alone to himself for weeks, just help him learn his character better. And since the film is a boxing film, De Niro trained and worked with the real Jake La Motta to become a boxer and actually fought in three boxing matches (he won two) which shows his dedication to his character which is a trait that not many actors can possess.  Even though the article talks a great deal about De Niro and his dedication to the film, it also talks about how slowly but surely the film turned into another piece that Scorsese would hold close to himself. The article had come to mention how picky Scorsese would be in the editing room and that he needed to be able to see and hear every little detail that was supposed to be in the film, which is a simple example of how his work comes out to be so great. Overall the article gave great insight to the film and supported all of my previous feelings about Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese.   

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text material and the article.

Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull will go down in history as one of the greatest dramas and boxing films of all time, and for good reason. As an audience member watching the movie you are being taken into the ring and out of the ring unlike any other boxing movie has shown before.  In Raging Bull we see how boxer, Jake La Motta and his animal like character come to deal with his wife and brother outside of the boxing ring.  Not many sports movies have shown such a gritty and raw home lifestyle that at times Raging Bull becomes hard to watch because of the tense and realistic feeling that De Niro brings out in his character. Also the way the camera was used in the fighting scenes gives the audience an intimate feeling that most other sports movies don’t have. There are close ups of punches and blood being spilled, which gives the audience a very intimate feeling, like they are in the ring themselves watching La Motta fight. Lastly the choice to shoot the film in black and white sets it apart visually from all of the other movies that came out in the 1980s. Being that the film takes place in the 1940s, the choice to shoot black and white definitely enhances that feeling that movie is taking you back in time. Raging Bull is simply one of Scorsese’s masterpieces and will go down in history as one of the best films of all time.

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 1) ( ) I have not handed in this assignment for any
other class. 2) ( ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other
classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 3) ( ) If I used any passages word for word, I
put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 4) (
) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in
the text of the paper. 5) ( ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally
read. 6) ( ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in
another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 7) ( ) I did not
so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 8) ( ) I
checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and
ideas used in my paper.
Name: _Joe Katulak_______________ Date: __2/3/15________________