What makes a classical Hollywood film a "classic?" Many films employ such explicit and characteristic styles that there is never any question of their intended genre. If one sees a lot of explosions and fight sequences it can easily be assumed that the viewer has been witness to an action movie. In the same way, if one finds that by the end of the screening he has become overwhelmed by a sense of anticipation, it is an indicator that the viewer has just witnessed a suspense thriller. Yet, the difficulty in identifying a film as being part of classical Hollywood cinema is that the characteristics of this genre are not always as obvious. It is rather easy to sit back and explain classical cinema as being: "you know, those black and white ones." But this kind of definition fails to give the artists of this genre the real respect that they deserve for it fails to recognize an artist's intentions and motives. Many understand the term classical cinema to refer to a period of film making beginning in 1908 and concluding with the birth of the independent film (Bordwell and Thompson 445). Yet, the problem of understanding classical cinema in this fashion is that this criteria is too general to fully understand the real foundations of a classical film (Bordwell and Thompson 441). Many different film movements occurred at this time simultaneously, all with distinct differences in style and narrative principles, thus making it impossible to identify classical Hollywood cinema merely as occurring during a specific time range (Bordwell and Thompson 441). How then does one understand how to classify a film as being a classic?.
The best way to identify classical cinema is to understand a classical film as having an overwhelming commitment to the telling of a story (Bordwell and Thompson 108 - 109). As the main purpose of any film is to present a specific narrative to its audience, this criteria may seem a little weak (Bordwell and Thompson 90 - 91).
A lot of people have different opinions on exactly what the matrix is after viewing the movie. ... Together, these three stars make the movie an action-packed thriller. ... Morpheus is the leader of the movie. ... The understanding of what exactly is the matrix is hard to catch the first time while viewing the movie. ... One of the most confusing parts of The Matrix is trying to figure out exactly what the matrix is. ...
The movie Twister is a good movie, but it has some flaws too. ... Some say that the movie twister is basically a movie length advertisement for a car, because nothing happens to the car in the whole movie, even though many things happen to it that would usually ruin a brand new car. ... This is the first scientific mistake that the movie makes. ... Well they have good reasoning because if what happened in the movie actually happened to someone, their car would get pretty banged up. ... All in all I learned a lot of science from this movie. ...
Age and maturity make play a big role in comparing a movie to a book. ... Secondly, the movie has graphics and the book does not, for example I did not know what Wizards chess was till I saw the movie. ... Thirdly, I did not know what Hermione, Ron, Hagrid, and Harry Potter looked like, somebody read the book to me and I could not picture what Harry Potter looked like. ... Unfortunately, what you cut can make or break the movie if you use a literal approach. ... This only goes so far, the thoughts of the character can not be hear and an entire movie voiceover makes the movie lose a part of its...
What is the real appeal of the film for American viewers? How did this film make it big in Hollywood? ... The female fighting scenes alone make this film worth seeing. ... They think that it is an action film or an Eastern Culture movie. ... Because Chinese history and its background make all American think Chinese know Kung Fu, therefore when a director wants to film an action movie, Michelle Yeoh and Lucy Liu are the first choice. ...
The woman's eyelids are closed, but molded to a position that makes her look like she's resting peacefully. ... The unspoken expectation for women to smell and look good is depicted well in Disney's Mulan, but in the movie, the rule is openly expressed. ... Sure, the tune is catchy, and most would never actually think about the lyrics or even a Disney cartoon, but what they"re saying is that you need to suppress your true identity to be accepted by society, to get married, and make your family proud. ... The others make remarks about her personality. ... They"re based on who...
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work in a record store? ... What would the staff be like? ... Many times an entire scene will be made that has no particular meaning, which actually makes the movie quite funny. Each character can make a joke about another characters problem. Although it is not nice, it makes the movie magnificently hilarious! ...
In the PBS video "What Makes Us Human," David Pogue explores mankind's evolutionary roots. He studies our ancient Neanderthal cousins to prove what makes us human. ... Homo erectus stayed in present-day Africa and Neanderthals migrated to what is present day Europe. ... Therefore, you needed to be more educated to make more useful tools. ... According to the movie, the hominoids would only resort to cannibalism under great stress. ...
