Recent Comments:
The Fine Line of Historical Films {Cinematical}
Apr 16th 2009 5:35PM I am History Teacher and PhD candiate in Holocaust studies. I pretty much love all historical films, even the fictional ones, (Gladiator, 300, The Last Samurai). I use movies, dramatic and documentary, in my classes every day. In fact, I couldn't teach with out them. While the great ones, like Schindler's List, are accurate and captivating, the not so accurate ones like Gladiator are extremely useful. These film makers go to increduble lengths to show what life was like in the time period, even if they are making up the history. The sequences of the gladiatorial games and the Roman army in Germania bring to life something that I can only talk about or at best show artifacts from the time. I even use the opening sequence from Peter Jackson's King Kong to illustrate the Great Depression. Here he was pretty much completely off, showing elements from the 1920's and 1930's at the same time but, it is excusable because it is so vivid and indelable on the memory. A film that is kind of in the middle is Gangs of New York. Here Scorsese, takes varying historical accounts and ties them together with fictional accounts to tell about an important, and often overlooked, event, the NY Civil War Draft riots. These histories could not have been told cinematically if he had not used some artistic license to create and twist characters to tell the story. (This is one of my favorite films and I watch it every year with my US history classes)
I agree with several other posters that these inaccurate films often prompt me to do my own research. As a history teacher and teacher in general, this is okay because any time someone is inspired to learn on their own this is exceptional and I can find no fault with a film that can do this.
Digital TV transition delay bill fails to pass in House {Engadget}
Jan 28th 2009 3:01PM FBO!!!!!
That moron really thought the DTV transition should be delayed. Oh that's right I forgot, he is a man of the people, I guess that means the truly ignorant people who have been living under a rock for the last two years. Suck it Obama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Proof that not everyone thinks he is the Messiah!!!!!!!!! Suck it Barack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Impeach Obama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
FBO!!!!!!!!!!! FBO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FBO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FBO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FBO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The portable, rollable X-mini II speaker gets a refresh {Engadget}
Jan 22nd 2009 8:38PM its an ipod touch, 1st gen.
The portable, rollable X-mini II speaker gets a refresh {Engadget}
Jan 22nd 2009 8:33PM Speakers look cool.
"I take a sip, sit back, and relax.... smoke my mind, make me fell better for a small time"
DMB
Mosler turns 20, celebrates with MT900 GTR XX for Europe {Autoblog}
Jun 12th 2008 2:23PM I guess those of us in West Palm Beach are lucky enough to be able to drive on the same roads as MT900 GTRXX. That is clearly the Flagler Bridge from Palm Beach into West Palm.
No Bob Marley for Marty Scorsese {Cinematical}
May 21st 2008 10:55PM Theodore Roosevelt. The most historically significant of the three. But of course, I am a history teacher so my opinion may be a little biased.
Redesign giveaway: HTC's new Shift UMPC {Engadget}
Apr 10th 2008 9:42PM I would use it for class and teaching. It would be nice and light in my bag.
Discuss: Iraq War Movies and Their Box-Office Deaths {Cinematical}
Mar 26th 2008 12:53PM I enjoy war fims of all genres. However, the good ones are made after the fact, Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, We Are Soldiers, Platoon; Full Metal Jacket, the Longest Day, Patton, even Battle at Midway(made just a few years after WWII). Society, particularly Historians, have had an opportunity to digest the events and influences of the war and can make meaningful conclusions about it. Making a movie about the war while it is still going on is different. The long-term perspective is non-existent or purely speculative. It's hard to make a point about an event while it is still going on. The final outsome is not written yet. Who knows if the men and women lost died in vain or not. Therefore these films are usually propaganda, either for or against the war. The films mentioned in the post are mostly dramatic recreations or pure fiction. Documentaries, such as HBO's Baghdad Hospital, provide a real look at what is going, not someone's idea of what is going on. It is the editoralizing of the events that is, at least for me, a turn off (even in documentaries). Some parts of society don't necessarily want to deal with what is happening. Therefore, none of these are the veritable cash cows that post war movies are, such as Saving Private Ryan or Pearl Harbor. The few that are making money, such as the Kingdom, are great stories not about the war specifically but, great human stories. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I avoid these Iraq War movies like the plague but, I'd rather make up my own mind. I would rather talk to the men and women on the ground in Iraq about the war and let them influence me, not some millionaire dreamer in Hollywood.
Oscar Predictions: Filipino Cruise Ship Bartenders {Cinematical}
Feb 20th 2008 10:48AM I was on a cruise over the summer (looks like the same ship) and I was amazed at how hard the Fillipino staff worked, and all the crew for that matter. Each person I met was an incredibly bright and reasonably informed individual. The perspective they offered me as History Professor was priceless. The point made about being a "colonist" is something I easily identify with after having many late night discussions with the bartenders (slightly inebraited). Natural born US citizens often take for granted just how much we we have and these discussions really help put that in perspective for me. Here I am with my wife eating and drinking like pigs and these men and women work their a$$es off for 10-16 months for next to know pay with maybe one day off every 7-10 days. This is a great article and I am glad to know that there are others who took to heart what this group of people had to say.
Discuss: Movies that Make Guys Cry {Cinematical}
Feb 19th 2008 12:33PM Reign Over Me
Performances by Don Cheadle and Adam Sandler are incredible. The whole movie is illustrative of the way men deal with loss and depression. Sandler's character absorbed in music and videogames; Cheadle's attempts to find his own life outside of his home, these are all pretty universal elements that pulls at every guys heart strings. Of special note has to be the sequence where Sandler can't discuss what happened with his female therapist but immediately opens up to Cheadle in the waiting room.
An excellent movie for any guy to watch (assuming your alone or don't mind crying in front of others).
