Does Toy Story 3 give children a subjective view on how they look at different genders? Why or why not? (Aaron V)

Question: Does Gran Torino offer an effective critique of the social prejudices within a viewer? How?

How does Amenabar combine the genres of Melodrama and Horror in The Others to not only cause emotional responses to characters and plot, but also to scare the audience with its frightening concepts?

In the film, the genres of Horror and Melodrama are combined very effectively, not only to frighten the audience, but to produce a heightened emotional response, especially around the central female character.  Using “smokescreen” horror tactics to mask strains on familial and religious convictions, while keeping formal horror conventions very subtle.  Further, Melodramatic techniques are used to create sympathy for the characters, further the plot, and heighten the emotion in a movie that is not just about “scares.”(Ben H.)

Release Year: 2009

Director: Greg Mottola

Question: Is pursuing the American Dream the road to happiness?

Jennifer W.

Director: James Cameron

Release Year: 1997

Question: How does James Cameron use the dichotomous relationship between rich and poor, and their aligning values of bad and good, to set up a classic romantic tragedy?

Julie P.

Date: 21 December 2007

Director: Tim Burton

Question: How does an audience accept and even take pleasure in the protagonists’ acts of violence and murder in Sweeney Todd?

Director: James Cameron

Year: 1997

Question:  What kind of moral implications does the portrayal of social status have on Titanic’s audience?

(Taylor S.)

Is Amelie an adult fairy tale?

Amelie can be seen as an adult’s fairy tale with its a whimsical plotline and visual imagery. Yet it overturns the archetypal fairy tale plot in which Amelie acts as her own fairy Godmother. She helps countless men and women including herself find happiness/love. However her good deeds are delineated by gender and reinforce traditional gender roles. In fact, Amelie’s good deeds further women’s false liberation and containment within the domestic sphere.  -Lauren S.

This scene made me feel very confused and disoriented because of the unconventional shots the director uses, as well as the absurdity of the action and discussion going on in the scene.  The dark lighting added a sense of mystery and complexity that made me wonder what was going on, as I struggled to make heads or tails of what the scene was trying to explain.  This scene in particular set the tone for the complexity of the rest of the film, and the careful attention to detail that had to be paid in order to try to understand what was truly going on. (Bryan S.)