Assignment 18- Your New Top 10 List

At the beginning of this class you published your own personal top 10 list.  During the course of this trimester you watched films in class, probably watched films at the movie theater, and probably watched films on DVD.  Considering all the new films you watched, update your top 10 list.

It is possible that your top 10 did not change.  If that is the case also list the top 3 films that you saw this trimester and describe how close they came to cracking your top 10 films of all time.

Assignment 17- The Bourne Identity

This film was directed by Doug Liman (Swingers and Go) and spawned 2 sequels to date.  Write a 300 word review of The Bourne Identity.

"300 words" does not mean 210 words.  If you can't figure out how long 300 words are and you don't want to count individual words, then count the amount of lines (at least 25 full lines is about 300 words).

Assignment 16- Meet the Parents

Including today, there are 8 class days remaining (1 short day being 30 minutes). That means there are less than 7 and 1/2 hours left in this class. At this point you should have 15 blog assignments done plus one new movie review (for a total of 16 assignments).

Meet the Parents is the 17th assignment for this class. We will probably watch 2 more movies in these remaining days (to bring our grand total to 19 assignments).

19 assignments completed (correctly) equals an A and 5 credits. Anything less than that will be evaluated based on work completed, work ethic, quality of work, etc.

For Meet the Parents write a 300 word critical review detailing your opinions of the film. As always, proofread, edit, and use spell check.

Assignment 15- Juno

Write a 300 word critical review of the film Juno. The writer of Juno, Diablo Cody, won an Academy award for best writing directly for the screen.

As always, proofread, edit, and use spell check.

Assignment 14- The Prestige

Christopher Nolan's The Prestige is a finely crafted tale of magic and obsession in my opinion.

What do you think? What is your opinion?

Write a 300 word critical review detailing your opinions of The Prestige.

As always use spell check and proofread and edit when you are finished to catch any grammatical errors.

Assignment 13- Rushmore

Critical review- 300 words

Assignment 12- Top Gun

300 word critical review of Top Gun.

Assignment 11- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Write a critical review of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button directed by David Fincher.

Here is a sample review that I wrote after I saw this film in the theater.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button written 12-29-08

Simply stated, I loved this movie. It was flawless in its complexity. It had so many beautiful facets to it. The acting was spot on. The story was very interesting. The set design and the whole visual feel were brilliant. But, the aspect of this movie that stood out most in its excellence was the make up/special effects used to show the same actor at different ages.

The main story involves the title character, Benjamin Button, from birth to death. A span of about 85 years. This is not a summer blockbuster type movie with tons of action and special effects, although it does have some action and excellent special effects. This is a long epic drama. So, if you're in the mood for a light hearted 100 minute movie, then you will be disappointed.

Director David Fincher has crafted a beautifully told story of this very unique character played superbly by Brad Pitt. Pitt's Benjamin Button was born as an infant with the physical characteristics of a very old man (balding hair, wrinkled skin, eye cataracts, arthritis, etc.). As each day passes his body gets larger as he grows as any child does, but his body also gets younger. For example, at 7 years old he looks like an 80 year old man who was shrunk down to the size of a 7 year old. At 17 he looks like a 70 year old and so on. This movie chronicles his life told in flashbacks read by Julia Ormond from Button's diary.

Every actor was solid in every performance. Taraji P Henson played Benjamin's adopted mother with depth and passion. Jared Harris was funny and likable as Captain Mike. Tilda Swinton was enjoyable as Benjamin's short time "girlfriend." Cate Blanchett was beautiful and riveting as Benjamin's love. 

I can't say enough about how good this movie is. The look of this movie alone is enough to see it. The cinematographer, set designers, visual effects workers and the director have created a visually stunning work of art. The story is very emotional and dramatic. I can confidently say that I wasn't the only one walking out of the theater after tears had streamed down my cheeks.

All this being said, if you are not a fan of long dramas or are not emotionally deep enough to connect with characters that don't wear costumes or shoot guns then this might not be the movie for you. To fans of film in all its genres this is a movie not to miss. Who knows what films the Oscars will acknowledge and for what, but it would be a crime if at least a few nominations aren't given to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

IMPORTANT- Everyone read and follow directions

If you have any intention of getting your work graded and receiving credit in this class you must do three things for each assignment.

1) Complete the assignment (follow all directions and specifications) and publish on your blog
2) Post a comment on the assignment's blog entry here at
walskefilm2.blogspot.com telling me that you are done and you want me to grade your work.
3) Read the comment that I will post on your blog entry. Make any corrections that I suggest.

Many of you are not posting any comments on the assignment's blog entry telling me that you are done. I have searched out your work and graded it, even though some of you are not doing your part. From this point forward, I will not be grading/giving credit for any work that you do not inform me of by posting a comment.

Assignment 10- Raiders of the Lost Ark

In the last couple of years, a film came out called Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. That movie was the fourth installment to the Indiana Jones Franchise. Raiders of the Lost Ark is the original movie that spawned the three sequels.

I personally love Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (3rd film), and I hated Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (2nd film) and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (4th film).

Write a 300 word critical review detailing your opinions of this film. DO NOT SUMMARIZE THIS FILM. IF YOU WRITE ANY MORE THAN 75 WORDS OF SUMMARY IT WILL NOT COUNT.

I am going to continue to repeat this until everybody in this class gets it. DO NOT WRITE A SUMMARY, NOT EVEN A MINI SUMMARY. Set up the plot by writing a sentence describing the main characters and a few sentences to introduce the plot. That's it!

You can use more details from the film, but those details are included to support your specific opinions about the film. (example- The action sequences were spectacular and seamlessly choreographed like when Jason Bourne was being chased by the cops in the city. The stunt driving that was done with the old Mini was awesome.) This was a very simple example with not a lot of detail, but hopefully you understand the idea. Ask me about this if you are still confused.

Assignment 9- Stand By Me

Stand By Me was adapted from a novella written by Stephen King and directed by Rob Reiner. It had a lot of popular young actors for the time (1986). River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Will Wheaton, and Jerry O'connell play the four main characters. Kiefer Sutherland played the main bad guy, Ace (he currently stars in the television show 24).

Write a 300 word critical review of Stand By Me. Focus the review on your opinions about the film. Do not summarize the film.

Assignment 8- Finding Nemo

We just watched the computer animated film Finding Nemo. Write a critical review of this film making sure to focus on your opinions. No more than 25% of your review should be summarizing the plot. That means in a 300 word review, at the very least, 225 of those words need to be detailing your opinions of the film. Focus on what you liked and/or what you didn't like giving details to support these opinions.

Do not say you liked it and hated it (it's one or the other). Your review should begin with a statement giving the reader a sense of how you felt about the film, followed by a very brief summary of the plot, the bulk of the 300 words are your specific opinions about aspects of the film (substantiated with examples from the film), and finish with a concluding paragraph summarizing your overall opinion of the film.

Opinion, opinion, opinion!

When you finish and publish this assignment, write a comment on this blog entry telling me that you have completed this assignment. After I have read your post, I will write a comment on your post telling you "good job" or whatever corrections need to be made.

Assignment 7- Iron Man critical review

Iron Man was directed by Jon Favreau the writer/director/actor of Swingers fame. He also played the part of Tony Stark's driver in Iron Man.

Write a 300 word critical review of Iron Man. Make sure you follow all the guidelines for critical reviews in this class (300 word minimum, good grammar, capitalization, punctuation, spelling (use spell check), proofread, etc.).

Vacation Assignment- New film review

Over spring break you are to see a new film at a theater.  The choice is yours.  Any new film at the theater.  Movies at the Regency Theatre in Huntington Beach cost 3 dollars if money is an issue.  If for some reason you cannot make it to the theater any new release on DVD will work.

After you see this new film you are to write a 300 word critical review.  As always, do not summarize the film.  Proofread, revise, edit and spell check before you publish.

Assignment 6- Napoleon Dynamite (critical review)

We have just watched Napoleon Dynamite the first full-length feature from Jared Hess.  He also wrote and directed Nacho Libre.

You are to write a 300 word critical review of Napoleon Dynamite.  As always, do not summarize the film.  Make sure you proofread, edit, and spell check your post before you publish it.

Assigment 5- The Matrix (critical review)

We have just watched The Matrix from the Wachowski Brothers.
Do not write a summary of the Matrix.


Your assignment is to write a 300 word critical review of The Matrix. You need to share your specific opinions of the film. Details from the film are used to support your opinion. Do not summarize the film and do not give away important plot details. Important plot details are called "spoilers." Spoilers give too much away and ruin the film for someone who hasn't seen it yet. Follow the guidelines from here.

Make sure that you proofread and edit your post before you publish it. Capitalize proper nouns and the first word in each sentence, and make sure that you use spell check. Detail your opinions about the film in at least 300 words.
Do not write a summary of the Matrix.

Assignment 4- Favorite Genre/ Top 3 Films in that Genre

There are many different genres or categories of film. Some examples are comedy, drama, action/adventure, science fiction, horror and documentary to name a few. Everyone has his/her own personal favorite. I would probably have to say that my favorite genre is comedy. Some films can fit into many categories for example Pulp Fiction could be considered a drama, an action, or a very dark comedy.

Assignment 4

Tell the world your favorite genre of film (describe in a paragraph why this is your favorite type of film)  and your top 3 films in that genre.  Write at least 4 sentences (a paragraph) describing why each film made your list.

Assignment 3-Being a Critic

The film reviews that you will soon be writing for this class are critical film reviews.  Critical film reviews are not short summaries.  They are your opinions about the film.  You will give a little information about the film, so the reader can get the general idea (like a movie trailer).  The majority of your 300 word critical reviews are your opinions.

You need to familiarize yourself with what a critical film review looks like.  Start by reading at least 3 film reviews from movies that you have already seen from this site.

After reading some film reviews go to this site and read all the steps that they suggest.

Finally, write a 300 word critical film review of your favorite film (or least favorite film, if you prefer).

Assignment 2- What film should we watch in this class?

Without giving away the entire film, write a 300 word persuasive blog post detailing why the film you choose should definitely be shown in  this film appreciation class.  List the merits of said film and your detailed opinions as to what makes it so good.

Assignment 1- My Top Ten

Considering that this is a film appreciation class, a prerequisite is that you must appreciate film. In turn, you will have watched many films. If you were to classify the films you've seen from your favorite to your least favorite, you would end up with a list as long as the number of movies you have seen.
This would take a very long time if you were to put in the work to remember, analyze and put in order all the films you have seen. This is why you are not required to create your own top 100.

Assignment 1- Think about all the movies you have seen. Of that group of movies rank the top 10. Film #1 being your favorite movie of all time. After each movie write a brief description (at least two sentences)of why it made your list.

Remember this is your list. You decide what criteria you are basing your list on. Post this list and the brief descriptions of each movie on your blog. Your grade will be based on the quality of your posts. Your opinion will not be graded. The substantiation of your opinion and the quality of your writing (grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. )will determine your grade. This list can/probably will change over the course of this class. At the end of the class, you will update/revise your list in a new blog entry.

Introduction to Film Appreciation

Throughout the course of this class you will be watching and analyzing different films.  You will be giving your opinions on specific elements of these films.  You will also be writing critical movie reviews of films watched in class and two new films seen outside of class.

All of the assignments will be typed on your blog where they will be graded by me.