This movie would forever surprise me. My first time watching this movie was around the time it was first released. They were showing it at the movie theater that Alfred let us go see for 2 dollars and my friend asked me if I wanted to go and I had nothing better to do. It had Leonardo DiCarprio and Brad Pitt so it had to be good. Then I saw Margot Robbie. At the time I didn’t know what cult films were and didn’t know that this was a cult film. The movie was so long and had so much detail and was actually showing us how movies were filmed and how scenes were reshot and how the camera moves around to catch angles. The movie had like 3 storyline in one. We see the life of DiCaprio trying to land a movie role and when he does he battles with executing the role but ends up doing a good job. While that happens we see Brad driving around in this boss car and sees a young hippy girl and takes her home and sees where she lives and it was all suspenseful from there. Then we had Margot Robbie going to the movies to watch a movie that she was in. The second half of the movie was the best. The movies started off kinda slow but then the ending was what got me. Brad’s Pitbull stole the movie at the end and when DiCarprio aka Rick came out with the flame blower to kill the girl in the pool. The end was so crazy that I had to watch it again and again. When I first watched the film I didn’t know what the movie was really about but was entertained by the ending but having taken this class and talked about the movie and its history, It all makes sense. Thanks Schlegel!!!
To talk about Ferderic Jameson and Postmodernism, we basically learn about the a late 20th century style and concept in the arts, archetype and criticism that represent a departure from modernism and has at the heart a general distress and Grand theories of ideologies as well as the problematic relationship with a notch of Art. When we talk about films we like to say that they lost its aura and that in order for it to come back we have to look at old films and old art and understand why they were created and how we can incorporate it into our times but make it better. And with the advance in technology that has happened in sometimes a negative way and sometimes in a positive way. And with the creation of the film “Once Upon a Time In hollywood” we see Quentin Tarantino take history into his own hands and create his own ending the shocking Hollywood and the audience that watched it and have recollection of the original story. We can read about things, but to actually watch it and see it with our own eyes makes it real and heartfelt. That is the power of film. It brings a story to life for all to see, every detail and every dialogue matters and is intentional.
This semester was filled with 14 films, each with different learning topics and experiences. I didn’t know what to expect with some of them but I learned to appreciate each film for its creativity and storytelling styles. My favorite movies of the semester were Pink Flamingo, The Warriors, Dazed and confused, Detroit Rock City and Matinee and Detour and Blacula.
The Warriors visual was amazing and the comic book style of storytelling was very suspenseful to watch. They risked their to go represent who they were traveling from Coney Island to The Bronx by train in the middle of the night In New York City. The way they had to fight their way through each gang and the cops showed their dedication for what they stood for. Although they lost some members, they never gave up.
“Dazed and Confused” and “Detroit Rock City” were the two teenage films that I really enjoyed. I feel like no matter what age you are, you can sit down and enjoy a teenage movie and just enjoy what happens or learn a lesson. Your teenage years are the time of your life that you question who you are but try to find who you are through trials and error and speech from adults who want to talk themselves into thinking they are where they want to be when life is really unexpected. From the drugs and unpredictable nights, I was entertained.
“Blacula” was the horror film in the category of blaxploitation. Blacula incorporated the history of African American by using the original names Africans had coming to American. Blacula did not play the bad guy fully although he was a vampire who needed to feed but he was acting out the nature he was created to be. Then we had a black cop who cracked the case knowing that something supernatural was happening around him even though the other cops didn’t believe him until they had to see for their own. The love story was powerful. He didn’t want to take his leading lady without her willingness to go with him.
“Pink Flamingo”was Fierce and so unexpected. I can’t talk about Pink Flamingo without saying the word Fierce. Divine did what he had to do in order to prove to his competition that he was the baddest of them all and would do anything to prove it then would leave the state before he gets caught for what he did. I love the trial at the end when they had a cameraman taking pictures of the consequence of messing with him and his family. Divine opened up doors for more people of the freaky nature to not feel alone.
“Matinee” was a beautiful way of ending off the semester with. We always talk about the way creators and filmmakers came out with new and improved ways to watch movies and talked about how society responded to it and Matinee was a visual representation of all of that. There was something special about Matinee that I would watch again just for entertainment purposes. It was unintentional but surprising that it was about a crisis while we are experiencing an unexpected crisis of our own.
If I could take this class again, I would!!!
Cult Movies 