Sometimes we happen to stray into discussions about films in class. It happened today.
Given that some of you seem to have a keen interest in film, I thought you might be interested in the Slate Spoiler Specials. These podcast, typically between twenty and thirty minutes long, provide a lively and interesting discussion about recent films. The twist is that they spoil everything, so they are mostly intended for people who have already seen the film.
Having said all of that, some of you might enjoy these. I know I do.
This starts off seeming quite annoying, but stick with it to the end. The ideas might be thin but the writing in this is very clever indeed. There is not a word out of place.
A quick version of how we do any analysis of the constructed meaning of a film poster. In this case, we are looking at the poster for a movie called The Men Who Stare at Goats.
We start in Q02 today and then move to the computer room for this task. Firstly, read by sample analysis of the Shutter Island poster. It’s not perfect by any means, but it should refresh your memory about how to write an analysis of this kind.
Secondly, choice one of the posters below. I have pasted them into a Microsoft Word document so you can just download this and get straight to writing your own analysis. Move quickly, you only have the double session today to do this.
Crackerjack, by Paul Maloney and written by Richard and Mick Malloy, is a comedy about the sport of lawn bowls. Mick Malloy stars as Jack Simpson, a slacker who gets forced to play bowls and finds himself fighting for Bayside, a Melbourne club. Funny and friendly minor characters are played by Bill Hunter and John Clarke. This film is classic Australian humour, inspired many to play this sport, and would appeal to young and old.
Today we started watching our final text which is the film Good Will Hunting. I have put up a small number of resources and we should be adding to them soon.
In class today we were talking very briefly about the “real” Macbeth movie.
Wikipedia lists fifteen movies of Macbeth ranging from cartoons to Japanese warriors. The first was made in 1908 and the most recent, film in Melbourne of all places, in 2006. The list is worth reading just to get a sense of the many ways this story can work. They also list a further seven versions created for television (including the Shakespeare Retold version we are working with at the moment). To this list you can add the ten musical adaptations.
A simple search on the Internet Movie Database for Macbeth shows 48 filmed works called Macbeth.
You might hope that the text itself was the one true Macbeth. Unfortunately there is widespread belief that some of the currently published play was not written by Shakespeare himself.
I guess my point is that the search for the “real” Macbeth is not as easy as it looks.
There are six classification categories for films. G, PG and M are advisory categories. Advisory categories are not restricted to anyone. These classifications are recommendations only. MA 15 , R 18 and X 18 are legally restricted categories – in other words, there are laws regarding who can watch material classified MA 15 and over.
It is also possible for a film to be classified ‘RC’ (Refused Classification) – in other words, banned. The Classification Board is required to apply the law and classification guidelines in order to make its decisions. This occasionally results in material being refused a classification, which means that it cannot legally be shown, sold or hired in Australia.
Filmmaker Spike Lee, unveiling the first outtakes of his new drama Miracle at St Anna at Cannes, said it would show the forgotten contribution of African-American soldiers in World War II.
This week we will start to study World War Two and I so this article caught my eye. It won’t be out until later this year so keep it in mind to watch down the track.
