Los Angeles City College Godfather 1972 Francis Ford Coppola Questions

I need support with this Film question so I can learn better.

1. Choose 1 (one) film to watch from the following list. Make sure you view the official, uncut, correct version of the film if multiple films have the same title – check the year and director, when noted.

1980s:

• Blade Runner 1982 Ridley Scott
• Raging Bull 1980 Martin Scorsese
• Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981 Steven Spielberg
• The Empire Strikes Back 1980 Irvin Kershner
• The Shining 1980 Stanley Kubrick
• Blue Velvet 1986 David Lynch
• This Is Spinal Tap 1984 Rob Reiner
• Back to the Future 1985 Robert Zemeckis
• Brazil 1985 Terry Gilliam
• Die Hard 1988 John McTiernan
• The Terminator 1984 James Cameron
• Do the Right Thing 1989 Spike Lee
• The Thing 1982 John Carpenter
• Platoon 1986 Oliver Stone
• Amadeus 1984 Milos Forman
• Once Upon a Time in America 1984 Sergio Leone
• Ran 1985 Akira Kurosawa
• Scarface 1983 Brian De Palma
• Chariots of Fire 1981 Hugh Hudson
• Rain Man 1988 Barry Levinson
• Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown 1988 Pedro Almodóvar
• Ordinary People 1980 Robert Redford
• The Killing Fields 1984 Roland Joffé
• Reds 1981 Warren Beatty
• Sophie’s Choice 1982 Alan J. Pakula
• À nos amours 1983 Maurice Pialat
• The Big Chill 1983 Lawrence Kasdan
• First Blood 1982 Ted Kotcheff
• Vagabond 1985 Agnès Varda
• To Live and Die in L.A. 1985 William Friedkin
• Pennies from Heaven 1981 Herbert Ross
• Yellow Earth 1984 Kaige Chen

2. Choose ONLY 2 question from below to answer in your Post: (300-450 words per answer)

1. Is the film a big budget formula franchise? Focus on a scene and discuss if you think it is playing it safe and pandering to the audience or taking risks and blazing new territory.

2. Does the film have a direct political message or any hidden meaning? Discuss a scene and how you feel about what the film is saying.

3. Does the film seem to be dominated by a star personality? Focus on a scene and discuss if you think that hurts the film or makes it more fun to watch.

4. Is the film dominated by CGI special effects? Focus on a scene and discuss if you think it is realistic or fake and if you think this makes the film better or not.

5. Does the film handle sex, violence, crime and action realistically? Focus on a scene and discuss if you like it or not.

6. Is the film a more experimental or art film? Focus on a scene and analyze how you feel about the ambiguity, alternative viewpoints, experimental techniques or other features of the film compared to the mainstream industry of that era.

7. Is the film a comic book film with superheroes and exaggerated action? Focus on a scene and discuss how you feel about this type of film and its place in the cinema of the era.

8. What does the film say about the era and society in which it is made? Focus on a scene and discuss how it seems bleak, nihilistic, hopeful, happy or whatever and how you feel about it.

9. How does the film deal with poverty, crime, drugs or other social issues? Pick a specific scene and discuss if it is realistically handled or if it seem like a problem to you?

10. Does the film give voice to alternative viewpoints? Focus on a scene and discuss how realistic or new the depiction of minorities, women, gay characters or any other underrepresented group is and how you feel about it.

11. How realistic or fake is the acting in the film? Focus on a scene and discuss how you feel about the performance in that era.

12. Is the storyline confusing or simple? Pick a scene and analyze how it fits the overall story and if it jumps around or moves directly and how you feel about that.

13. Identify the genre of the film. Focus on a scene and discuss how the film meets your expectations for that genre, how it plays with them, or how it does something new.

14. Think about the visual style of the film and the techniques used in comparison with some of the films from the first couple eras in this class. Do you think the filmmaking has gotten more fun to watch or not? Focus on a scene and analyze what you think about this.

15. Does the film seem like a phony piece of garbage to you? Do you think the filmmakers are disingenuous, greedy idiots who are just trying to make money and get famous? Do you feel like modern Hollywood is full of garbage and wish for more meaningful and powerful films? Focus on the worst scene in the film and discuss your feelings about this.