American Movies

In Kimberly Peirce’s film, Boys Don’t Cry we watch as Brandon Teena continually teeters on a narrow ridge of “self”-awareness and “self”-denial. We watch him dress and perform the “self” of his mind, while actively stripping down the exterior world to its simplest and most innocuous potential, denying the reality...

The animated television series The Simpsons is a wonderful portrayal of the stereotypes and typical lifestyles of middle class American suburbia, and can be used to illustrate a number of key social theories and trends. Through the individuality and imperfectness of the characters, the show writers were left with a...

Directed by Barry Levinson, Rain Man (1988) is a dramedy that looks into the lives of fictional characters Charlie Babbitt and Raymond Babbitt, played by Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman respectively. While these characters are fictional, Raymond was based on a real-life savant named Kim Peek. One day, Charlie, who...

At the time that the film was set, the French had withdrawn from the Indochina colonies in 1954, paving the way for the entry of the Americans. During the Second World War, Ho Chi Minh organised the Vietnamese resistance to the occupation of the Japanese in Vietnam. In 1945, Vietnam...

SummaryMel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ depicts the final twenty four hours in the life of Jesus Christ. It begins in the garden of Gethsemene, where Jesus prays and discovers the disciples asleep. Following this, Christ is arrested after having been identified by Judas, who had previously been paid...

The focus of this assignment is The Revenant (2015), directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. The hero of the movie, the Revenant, is Hugh Glass, who is the lead guide for a band of fur trader. After being mauled in a savage bear attack, his group leaves him behind with three...

The movie “Training Day” featuring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke is filled with action, humor, and excellent acting. I liked the movie very much. On a ten-point scale I would give it a seven. Generally, I prefer to watch movies in the comedy or drama genres, yet this movie kept...

American University's recent production of "Little Women," based on Louisa May Alcott's famous American novel, was a successful performance due to its quality acting, high production values, and musical highlights throughout. Of particular note was the portrayal of Jo March, played by Julia Messer. Messer's portrayal of Jo was effective...

“Heaven’s Gate” is one of the most controversial films in its time and of its genre. The critics forecast its failure, while the film appeared to be a great success, the film is oftentimes referred to as a documentary, though in fact it is a hundred per cent fiction film,...

In as much as this is a fictional movie, it conveys important themes that are still currently in practice in the United States. The film begins by conveying the theme of distorted socialism. The U.S. government has succeeded in coming up with strategies to manipulate the citizens and make them...

American Sniper is a biographical film about war hero Chris Kyle. The movie loosely based on the novel about his life. It follows the life of Chris Kyle, U. S. Navy S.E.A.L Kyle became one of the deadliest snipers, serving four tours in the Iraq War, with over 255 kills...

Suzanne Collins’s important book The Hunger Games features some of the strongest characters in literature as well as one of the most compelling storylines. It is a story about a dystopia in which the leaders make children fight to the death as entertainment for the rest of society and a...

Trifles (1916), by Susan Glaspell, is a play that illustrates the disparity between the attitudes of men and women. Trifles highlights what Glaspell believes to be emotional and intellectual superiority of women over men. This superiority is based upon how the men and women react differently to the discoveries of...

Romanticism is a predominant feature in many literary pieces. Frankenstein is a novel by Mary Shelly that portrays Romanticism in an optimistic way. Through this novel, Romanticism is examined through the eyes of Victor Frankenstein, and the Monster, the protagonist of the story. Frankenstein is contrasted with a modern piece,...

Will Smith’s film The Pursuit of Happiness provides an overview of what poverty can look like in America for those who tend to struggle. The lead character, played by Smith, is Chris Gardner. Gardner is a classic man who is living out one of the classic stories in America. He...

There are a lot of differences between the movie Sleepy Hollow directed by Tim Burton in 1999 and the book written by Washington Irving and published in 1820. Among the differences, three are the most vivid. The first difference is a description and positioning of the protagonist Ichabod Crane. In...

“Tap” is a 1989 film directed and written by Nick Castle. Back in the 1950s, tap dancers were widely perceived as huge stars whose outstanding dancing skills engaged viewers across the world. The film teaches a number of valuable lessons about dancing that are worth exploring in further depth. For...

Intimacy is expressed in a variety of ways throughout the film. At the outset of the film, Reed proposes to his girlfriend Morley. Thus, the film begins with one of the deepest expressions of intimacy. Yet, even this deep expression would not be able to keep the two together. In...

For several centuries prior to World War II, the world was subject to colonization by European powers. Lead by the British, the French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese and others laid claim to foreign countries and exploited their peoples and resources. Following the war, the global landscape began to change. Nationalist movements...

In the movie, Titanic, several techniques are used that help to draw the viewer in within the first ten, even five minutes. Titanic is based on the historical event of the Titanic ship sinking, resulting in the loss of hundreds of lives. In Titanic, there are several techniques that are...