the truman show

The Truman Show is a great movie. I enjoyed watching it again and looking more closely at it. I loved the way the show was seen not just as a movie by us, but as a show by viewers who were watching him in the movie. The way the tv show viewers cheered for him, allowed their connection towards him transfer to the movie viewers. I started cheering Truman on as well, hoping that he would escape the virtual prison he was in.

At times we end to wish for a simpler life, one that was certain and clear in meaning. Although this is what Truman had, he still decided to leave the wonderful village created for him. I guess to much perfection and predictability gets boring, simplicity must not always be the best choice. If this was not a movie, I wonder how Truman would adapt to the “real” world.
I loved the use of camera angles, the use of small cameras to view Truman’s daily life. I found the idea of the set amazing, including the sea and the scheduled sunrise/sunset.

concieving ada

They say that pictures can speak a thousand words, or something like that. In this movie we see how powerful images can be when linked with technology. Somehow we are able to use an image as a time portal. I believe that pictures are a form of time travel, that people are able to view past moments or an insight into someone’s life. That made me wonder whether or not to consider Adas conversations to be literal or not. The best part of the movie is the end, where her memories are transferred into the young girl. Her memories and idea are transferred technologically, however, aren’t ideas and memories able to be passed down through education? I guess this is an easier way then late night cramming.

Johnny mnemonic

The movie was not one of the best in terms of entertainment and seemed “cheesy”, but a number of messages did get across. In this movie you could see the evil image giant corporations have. Just like some of the other movies such as Tron and Total Recall, corporations are seen as the villain. This movie made me wonder how many cures might be out there but are controlled by companies to be used by their advantage.
I liked the idea that Johnny had used a part of his memory to store data as a carrier. Again memory comes into the picture as an important element, just like Total Recall and Blade Runner. It made me think about the limits we should set for involving technology into our lives. Our minds are tools that may transfer ideas and memories, but to use technology to play with our minds is another issue.
Certain characters that seemed to have supposed to be scary, such as the Jesus character, come off humorous. I guess the topic of control can be related to “Jesus,” referring to the Church/Religion as a tool to control people. This can be seen again when he received a video message in the Bible. Although I did not enjoy the acting, I was still entertained.

Total Recall

Total Recall was a funny movie, filled with thrills and excitement. The movie was confusing as to what part of it was a dream and what part reality. It is possible that Arnold’s character was dreaming of a life that he found more interesting then his present one. Throughout the movie I believed that everything was really happening, however, after watching the movie again I questioned how much of it was. I remembered how in the beginning when Quaid fell into dream state at total recall, one of the doctors mentioned blue skies in mars. Another was when Quaids friend showed up and told him that he shouldn’t have gone to total recall, but the problem is he never told him he would actually go, he only asked about it. I found it interesting how Quaid and Hauser had very different personalities even though they were the same person. That the different memories they had, created different personalities. I also enjoyed how they referred to major corporations negatively, they seemed to show a concern towards the power corporations have begun to have. The control of oxygen on mars reflects this idea. The idea of people living on other planets was an interesting concept, although a bit extreme to me.

Blade runner

I enjoyed blade runner a lot more than the other movies so far. The darkness that surrounds the movie enhances the mood of the story. The movie seemed to elaborate on an idea of how technology has limited our sense of individuality. That life has become a routine leaving us unafraid of the world. The only fear I saw in the characters was from the replicas that were afraid of dying. The human being thought the movie did not seem to show many forms of emotion. When the doctor saw the replica in his room he did not fear him, even though it was almost certain that it was there to do so. I wondered thought the movie on whether or not Rick Deckard was a replica or not. I found it interesting at how well he does his job; it brings up the notion that “it takes one to know one.” There were a couple of quotes I had found interesting at the time, they related to fear and of control over death. There are many who fear death, most would say because it could happen at any time. Here it is just the opposite, the replicas fear death because they know it is certain and when it is going to happen. I also found it interesting how memories can be implanted to create a personality. A person’s character and personality is altered by events that occur in our life. The movie shows how without memories how do you know that you existed or still do?

THX 1138

THX 1138was extremely “slow” in regards to the unveiling of events. Although t times I found myself wandering off, I realized that the long periods that were uneventful were there to emphasize how controlled the environment was. By shaving the characters heads, we were able to see how the elders were able to manipulate the others to be the way they want. I saw what seemed to be a religious figure and how they used religion as a form of control. It seemed to give a sense of meaning in their lives besides from their other regular routines. We see how the world may become in an age where technology has become an essential part to our lives. Where although we believe that we have meaning, everyday is a constant struggle between the issues that we are forced to deal with. However, in THX we are able to see a world that is controlled, from the food that is eaten to the amount of medication that is taken. Control now chances from being comfortable and stable into a sense of despair and a force to rebel against. The movie uses special effects to enhance the creativity of the characters, such as the robotic guards. Although the movie is old, it has been cleaned and digitally re-mastered to give it a fresher look.

Tron

The movie Tron depicts a number of political and social issues. Tron is a masterpiece of technological advances, from the use of cartoon and special effects such as painting. Although I could never sit through a whole screening of Tron in the past, I did not find it that difficult to do so this time. The movie shows the issues between big industries and the conflicts that are created between them and artistic creators. Many artists feel that industry has destroyed their creativity and suffocates them in hope of making money over quality products. This can be seen in the movie as how the master computer and the senior executive president of the company keeps the creative rebel out of their systems and away from the company. When the characters are in the computer system, the programs are blue and the master computer and its components are red. Blue can be seen as a calm and neutral color while red that of anger and aggression. The colors significantly depict the differences between the characters intentions and enhance the good vs. evil theme in the movie.