Sparrow: Frankie… you are back from Switzerland. How was the tournament? The final soccer game was great.
Frankie: It’s called football, not soccer. How many times do I have to tell you? Stupid Americans, you guys keep trying to change the name of the beautiful game.
Sparrow: I’m sorry. I guess the word "football" is more descriptive of the game… kicking a ball with the feet!
Frankie: Exactly. That’s my point. If you pay attention, American Football is played mostly with the hands so you people should called “handball.”
Sparrow: Stop giving a hard time… I didn’t come up with the word “soccer.” So, did you bring me a post card?
Frankie: No… You can’t read anyway.
Waiter: What’s up Frankie... How was the soccer tournament?
Frankie: Stop calling it soccer, it’s called football! It was great. I’m sorry the U.S. team didn’t qualify.
Waiter: I’m not surprised because our national team sucks! Will we ever win the World Cup?
Frankie: That’s pretty unlikely. I think it’s easier to elect a black president than having a championship team caliber.
Man at the Bar: Frankie… Brazil played like crap. Looks like they still haven’t recovered from the Maracanazo.
Frankie: I agreed. That team was a huge disappointment… But they have this emerging star named Pele. I heard he’s awesome… Let me show you something.
Man at the Bar: Is that a drum?
Frankie: Yes, but a very special drum. This is what fans use to cheer up their team.
Willy: Pretty cool drum… Soccer is for girls anyway. Come with me; let’s go watch a real football game.
Frankie: As I said before, we call it football not soccer. But I don’t want to waste my time with you. People like you will never understand what football means to us.
Monday, June 15, 2009
UBU REVIEW 3
Film criticism is a very democratic tool where journalists have the opportunity to write a review on any given film. But as someone who reads movie reviews, I always question the legitimacy of some critiques.
The Internet has become an outlet for people to express their opinions, and some voices that once were ignored now I’m being heard. There are quite a few blogs that do film reviews, but many of the writers have not being trained to do this job so they don’t “understand why film works, how it works, what it means, and what effects it has on people.” I was confused when we watch (in class) the Beckett on Film.
People have to think out of the box when watching a film like this because all the characters express their thoughts out loud, but they don’t communicate to each other. In other words, there is no dialogue among them, but that is very confusing because they’re involved in a love triangle. In today’s society, who would write a review about this film? But recently there had been some movies that echoed the Beckett on Film. For instance, Paul Haggis’ Crash shows how many people coexist in the same city. Their stories are connected, although many characters do not take part of the same dialogue.
I have to admit that I was lost when I first saw the Beckett on Film. I wasn’t able to make any connection with anything in my experience. At times, I felt like the movie was being produced for a different audience. But the reality is that most people felt the same way I did because today’s films are all about action, comedy, and horror. The leave no place for critical thinking; the movies the we are presented in these days are pretty straightforward. Also, the majority of movies are very rational, not like Naked Lunch, where the creation of irrational thoughts is one of the main themes of the film.
The Internet has become an outlet for people to express their opinions, and some voices that once were ignored now I’m being heard. There are quite a few blogs that do film reviews, but many of the writers have not being trained to do this job so they don’t “understand why film works, how it works, what it means, and what effects it has on people.” I was confused when we watch (in class) the Beckett on Film.
People have to think out of the box when watching a film like this because all the characters express their thoughts out loud, but they don’t communicate to each other. In other words, there is no dialogue among them, but that is very confusing because they’re involved in a love triangle. In today’s society, who would write a review about this film? But recently there had been some movies that echoed the Beckett on Film. For instance, Paul Haggis’ Crash shows how many people coexist in the same city. Their stories are connected, although many characters do not take part of the same dialogue.
I have to admit that I was lost when I first saw the Beckett on Film. I wasn’t able to make any connection with anything in my experience. At times, I felt like the movie was being produced for a different audience. But the reality is that most people felt the same way I did because today’s films are all about action, comedy, and horror. The leave no place for critical thinking; the movies the we are presented in these days are pretty straightforward. Also, the majority of movies are very rational, not like Naked Lunch, where the creation of irrational thoughts is one of the main themes of the film.
UBU REVIEW 2
As a supporter of equal rights between men and women, the first thing that got my attention was the word feminism. Taking into consideration that the first wave of feminism “focused on the promotion of equal contract and property rights for women and the opposition to chattel marriage and ownership of married women (and their children) by their husbands,” it’s clear that women have made some progress when it comes to issues of equality.
But they are still discriminated against. The video on The Production of Meaning exemplifies the impact that commercial have on our lives. In many adds of today’s society, women are portrayed as a sex object. It’s typical to see a hot girl drinking your favorite beer, smoking your favorite cigarette, or driving the car of your dreams. People are being sold the idea that if they consume the products being advertised, they can get sleep with a beautiful girl. “I bought some Calvin Klein underwear, now I’m good looking and I can get laid all the time.”
If today’s advertisements had the intention to promote same rights for men and women, I’m certain that women would occupy a better place in society. Another aspect that got my attention is that there is and there has been a push towards a consuming society. Today’s adds tell us to spend lots of money on things we don’t even need. Wealthy corporations place unhealthy products in the market and they refuse to accept that they influence society in a bad way. This is exemplified at the beginning of the video when CEOs deny that cigarettes can cause an addiction. Every time that someone offers a different opinion that challenges the status quote, he or she is portrayed as crazy.
Kalle Lasn, for instance, asked people not to spend during the holiday season. The CNN anchor introduced the commercial saying: “this add points nothing at all.” Clearly Mr. Lans had a point, a point that was not convenient for CNN or for any other medium since they generate their revenue through adds, and a commercial that promotes no spending could be counterproductive for the business cycle.
But they are still discriminated against. The video on The Production of Meaning exemplifies the impact that commercial have on our lives. In many adds of today’s society, women are portrayed as a sex object. It’s typical to see a hot girl drinking your favorite beer, smoking your favorite cigarette, or driving the car of your dreams. People are being sold the idea that if they consume the products being advertised, they can get sleep with a beautiful girl. “I bought some Calvin Klein underwear, now I’m good looking and I can get laid all the time.”
If today’s advertisements had the intention to promote same rights for men and women, I’m certain that women would occupy a better place in society. Another aspect that got my attention is that there is and there has been a push towards a consuming society. Today’s adds tell us to spend lots of money on things we don’t even need. Wealthy corporations place unhealthy products in the market and they refuse to accept that they influence society in a bad way. This is exemplified at the beginning of the video when CEOs deny that cigarettes can cause an addiction. Every time that someone offers a different opinion that challenges the status quote, he or she is portrayed as crazy.
Kalle Lasn, for instance, asked people not to spend during the holiday season. The CNN anchor introduced the commercial saying: “this add points nothing at all.” Clearly Mr. Lans had a point, a point that was not convenient for CNN or for any other medium since they generate their revenue through adds, and a commercial that promotes no spending could be counterproductive for the business cycle.
UBU REVIEW 1
From the penny press to the emergence of digital, computerized, or networked information and communication technologies in the later part of the 20th century, the media have evolved. But some people have been lost in the translation. In this rapid growing digital culture we live in, older generations are having a hard time adjusting to the “new media.” Others refuse to believe that these manifestations of art are part the new trends of media. The way some people reacted to the Gantz Graf, a three-track EP released by Autechre in 2002, proves my hypothesis.
Sarah Dempster, writing for the NME, gave the EP a strongly negative review, claiming “It bleeps. It skronks. It krrraaaanks. But mainly, it blows like a ruddy awful hurricane.” She also called it a “festering hillock of tune-shy bum-wank.”
This type of music is not as bad as Ms. Dempster desicribed, maybe it was just different to what people were used to and, every time something new happens, people take some time to embrace. This kind of music is very popular in many parts of the world, especially in Asia. Through “new media”, different people from all over the world find something in common, they communicate to one another and this exemplifies how the media have played a key role in the globalization phenomenon. This electronic and highly computerized style of music has been used in many Hollywood movies. Also, music similar to the Gantz Graf is being played at the hottest and most exclusive night clubs of South Beach.
The video of Grantz Graf displays computer-generated imagery art articles. But the objects are “synchronized to the sounds in the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves”. Some people would argue that the video is pointless.
But the arguments around Grantz Graf show how the social factors such as age, race, and gender influence the way we think. The controversy also is an example of how “new media” has revolutionized the old concept of media. The latest manifestations of the way we communicate ideas reflect a globalized world. New media also encourages interactivity disregarding time and physical location.
New media is highly associated with software programs, video games, television, radio, movies ads, and more. At the end of the day, new media has succeeded because it turned out be a very lucrative industry. New media has changed the way we do things, and have served as different outlets for the new trends in life.
Sarah Dempster, writing for the NME, gave the EP a strongly negative review, claiming “It bleeps. It skronks. It krrraaaanks. But mainly, it blows like a ruddy awful hurricane.” She also called it a “festering hillock of tune-shy bum-wank.”
This type of music is not as bad as Ms. Dempster desicribed, maybe it was just different to what people were used to and, every time something new happens, people take some time to embrace. This kind of music is very popular in many parts of the world, especially in Asia. Through “new media”, different people from all over the world find something in common, they communicate to one another and this exemplifies how the media have played a key role in the globalization phenomenon. This electronic and highly computerized style of music has been used in many Hollywood movies. Also, music similar to the Gantz Graf is being played at the hottest and most exclusive night clubs of South Beach.
The video of Grantz Graf displays computer-generated imagery art articles. But the objects are “synchronized to the sounds in the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves”. Some people would argue that the video is pointless.
But the arguments around Grantz Graf show how the social factors such as age, race, and gender influence the way we think. The controversy also is an example of how “new media” has revolutionized the old concept of media. The latest manifestations of the way we communicate ideas reflect a globalized world. New media also encourages interactivity disregarding time and physical location.
New media is highly associated with software programs, video games, television, radio, movies ads, and more. At the end of the day, new media has succeeded because it turned out be a very lucrative industry. New media has changed the way we do things, and have served as different outlets for the new trends in life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)