Justin's Blog

Recently, I went on a little film marathon watching all of the 2010's Planet of the Apes movies in succession. These films were really interesting and I would love to share my thoughts about them. Starting off,  The Planet of the Apes series is a trilogy of science fiction movies that explores the idea of intelligent apes taking over the planet and becoming the dominant species. The movies in the series are Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017). Now I will give a brief synopsis of each movie. Rise of the Planet of the Apes follows the story of Caesar, a chimpanzee who is born with increased intelligence due to a genetically engineered virus. Caesar is taken in by a scientist named Will Rodman and raised alongside humans, but when he is mistreated and taken away from his family, he leads a revolution of apes against humans finally giving apes their own freedom. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes takes pla...

     Recently in my film class we watched Swiss Army Man directed by The Daniels. Before getting into the editing, cinematography, and story of the film, I would like to give a brief plot description.  Swiss Army Man is considered a comedy/drama film. The movie tells the story of a man named Hank played by Paul Dano, who is stranded on a deserted island and is about to commit suicide when he discovers a dead body washed up on the shore, played by Daniel Radcliffe. Hank discovers that the body, whom he names Manny, has the ability to talk and has various strange and useful abilities, such as expelling water from his mouth like a fountain, propelling things with his flatulence (farting), and even exhibiting a strong erection that points in the direction of home. As Hank attempts to use Manny's strange abilities to help him survive and find his way back home, the two form an unlikely friendship. Throughout the movie, Hank and Manny engage in surreal conversations and ...

     The film that my group decided to make was actually based on a true story. I would like to describe the plot to my readers and let them know how we plan to put this onto a screen. Javen is currently a sophomore wrestler at North Central College and he is having a great season while training hard. He has his sights set one winning a national title, but there's one opponent that he's particularly worried about: a rival wrestler named Hayden who beat him earlier in the season. Despite his loss to Hayden, Javen tries to stay focused and determined to be the best wrestler he can be. He also studies Hayden's style and technique, looking for weaknesses to exploit. As the season progresses, Javen faces many other opponents and wins all of those matches be he can't shake the memory of losing to Kyle. Finally, the national tournament comes around and the day to revenge his loss to Hayden is going to be in the National Finals. This match is very intense with both wrestlers gi...

     One of my favorite movies of all time is The Wolf of Wall Street directed by Scorsese, who is one of the greatest auteurs of the film era. Scorsese has directed other many popular films such as Casino, The Card Counter, and The Aviator. The Wolf of Wall Street is by far my favorite though. The Wolf of Wall Street is a long film that is based on a man's true life story. This man is Jordan Belfort, a man who became rich through illegal activities and corruption. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the lead role of Belfort and does it excellently. Belfort is a charismatic and intelligent man that uses his whit, charm, and brains to manipulate people and get what he wants. Belfort started off as a struggling stock broker but quickly rose to the top by using his illegal tactics. Without going throughout the whole plot of the lengthy movie, I would like to share the basis of the movie starting off with the great cast of Jonah Hill, who plays Don...

      One of my favorite films of all time is Good Will Hunting directed by Gus Van Sant. This movie tells the story of a man named Will Hunting who is a brilliant yet troubled young man from Southern Boston. He works as a janitor at the prestigious school Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Despite the fact that Will does not have any formal education past high school, Will has a genius level intellect and is able to solve very complex math problems that have stumped even some of the math professors at MIT. His talents though are recognized by a math professor at MIT by the name of Gerald Lambeau. Professor Lambeau wants Will to recognize his talents and potential. As mentioned, Will is a troubled teen and got into a fight with some guys who bullied him as a kid. As part of his sentence for the altercation, Will is required to attend therapy sessions with Lambeau, who eventually turns Will over to Lambeau's old friend Sean Maguire. Through a series of therapy se...

      I have recently watched a movie called Southpaw on Netflix and I believe it reflected a narrative structure very well. First, I would like to start with a quick rundown of the movie.  Southpaw is a 2015 American sports drama film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by Kurt Sutter. The movie is about Billy "The Great" Hope, a successful but troubled boxer who loses his wife, Maureen, in a tragic accident. After the loss of his wife, Billy spirals into a deep depression, loses custody of his daughter Leila and is left with nothing. Determined to turn his life around and regain custody of his daughter, Billy seeks the help of a tough trainer named Tick Wills, who teaches him how to box again and reignite his passion for the sport. As Billy makes his way back to the top, he has to confront his own demons and deal with the people who contributed to his downfall, including his former promoter and a rival fighter named Miguel Escobar, who seeks revenge for a past ...

      To start off, I would like to discuss the plot of Get Out. Get Out is produced by Jordan Peele who also has a well known youtube channel  (click on this link to view his channel).  Get Out is a psychological horror film directed by Jordan Peele, released in 2017. The film tells the story of a young black man named Chris Washington, who visits his white girlfriend Rose Armitage's parents' house in the suburbs. While Chris initially believes that the weekend trip is a chance for him to meet Rose's family, he soon realizes that something is off. The Armitage family seems to be welcoming and friendly towards Chris, but he begins to notice strange behavior from the family's black servants, who seem to be acting in an unsettling and robotic manner. Chris also meets several of Rose's family friends, all of whom seem overly interested in his race and physical appearance. As the weekend progresses, Chris becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the situation and beg...