Les Chorsites

Nay Hinain

Diala Esreb

Les Choristes

This movie is a critically acclaimed french film which was directed by Christophe Barratier. It was co-written by Barratier and Philippe Lopes-Curval, it is an adaptation of the 1945 film A Cage of Nightingales.

When the boys of the French country-side were misbehaving, they were sent to a boarding school called Fond de l'Etang. This school believed in the punishment policy in which the children would suffer for the consequences that they made. It came to the point where the teachers weren’t waiting for the lesson, but better yet for the next mistake that the children would make. Since the approach of beating the children for the problems they caused didn’t seem to have a working effect, the principle, M. Rachin, decided to get another teacher to join the faculty. The Teacher tried new methods when dealing with the children, because he didn’t believe in abusing children for disciplin. He starts a chorus, and has the children sing in it. It turns into a success and the children become very pasionate about the chorus.

We both enjoyed the movie because of the message it sends and we have grown attached to the characters because we witness them get out of their comfort zone, which demonstrates character development.

Gravity

Diala Esreb

Gravity

Personal Rating: 8/10
imdb Rating: 8.1/10
Rotton Tomatoes Rating: 9.7/10

"You'll see a little girl, with brown hair, lots of knots. She didn't like to brush it. You tell her I found her red shoe. She was so worried about that red shoe. And it was under the bed the whole time."

- Doctor Ryan Stone, Gravity 

Gravity Critique

Gravity is a fictional space drama film about two astronauts who are hit by space debris, become lost in space and attempt to come back    to earth. The movie was directed, written and produced by Alfonso Cuarón. The main character is an astronaut named Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) who is a medical engineer and she was on her first space shuttle mission aboard the Space Shuttle Explorer. She is accompanied by veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney). During a spacewalk to fix the Hubble Space Telescope, Mission Control in Houston warns the team about a Russian missile strike on a nearby satellite, which has caused a chain reaction forming a cloud of space debris. The debris hits them and they are lost in space. They also lost all communication they had with Mission Control. They are fending for themselves on a scarce supply of oxygen and are trying to find their way back to any space station.

            This movie truly portrays the emptiness and loneliness of the vast universe. Even while filming, Sandra Bullock was by herself. She couldn’t see the cameras and the crewmembers. She was in a black box, suspended by wires, acting completely on her own. Her only connection to the real world was through an earpiece. This is a parallel to how her character is in the movie. In the movie she was completely alone floating through space and her only connection to humankind was  the connection to the Houston Space Center, which was lost for the majority of the movie. The fact that she was alone in real life was shown in her acting. You could tell through her body language and her facial expressions that there was no one around her and she felt lost. It was truly lonely. And as watching, the viewers start to feel alone with her. They start to feel the extreme silence that there is in space, and the complete emptiness that there is in such a large universe.

            The special effects that were used in making this movie was so stunning, for some parts of the movie, I forgot that it wasn’t actually filmed in space. Every little detail seems to be correct. Even the physics behind everything is pretty accurate. Editors spent 4 years bringing Gravity to life. Most of the shots in the movie are entirely CGI, apart from Sandra Bullock. The images are so crisp and lifelike, that even without the intriguing plotline, I would still pay to see the movie.

            The main theme in this movie is loneliness. And the idea that even though people surround you, you are inevitably, alone. The extreme loneliness that there is in space really helps enunciate the fact that humans are alone, and even if you surround yourself with people, they are also alone, even when they are with you.

            I really enjoyed the movie, and strongly recommend it for everyone. Whatever genre you are most interested in, this movie will appeal to you. The film looks and feels so real you have to remind yourself virtually everything on screen doesn't actually exist.

Breaking Bad Season 5

Liana Gharzeddine

Personal Rating: 9/10

IMDB Rating: 9.5/10 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903747/?ref_=nv_sr_1) 

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 100% (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/breaking-bad/) 

 "I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And I was really -- I was alive." 

-Walter White, Season 5 Finale

AMC’s Breaking Bad is the highest rated television show of this year, as recorded in the Guinness World Records of 2014. It revolves around an ex-chemistry teacher who was diagnosed with cancer. In fear of leaving his family with no support, Walter White (Bryan Cranston), teams up with Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), an ex-student, to produce and sell crystal meth. Of course, that was just the beginning. Five seasons and ten Emmys later, the show is coming to a sad end. Unfortunately, it has to end sometime, especially if your main character is a ticking time-bomb. 

I think it’s safe to say that the second half of the fifth and final season of Breaking Bad held the most stressful and intense episodes of the show. Just as always, the show has separated itself from the norm of how television shows are usually made. When it comes to camera angles, background music, make-up, or plot line, Breaking Bad has always been different. The show doesn’t busy itself with dramatic misplaced close-ups or typical background tunes. There have been some who say that the show is very heavy and hard to follow because the filming is not what they’re used to. Breaking Bad is full of single shots of the characters without switching through camera perspectives. The sound effects played during the dramatic climaxes are simple single-noted beats to get your heart thumping in rhythm. Also, the make-up and the physical portrayal of the characters are other factors as to why Breaking Bad is unique. In this show, it’s very rare to find a character looking their best. Unlike most Hollywood productions, the characters hair, face make-up and clothes, accurately portray the severity of the situations they’re in. In the big picture, the creators do their best to make the show look realistic and not very Hollywood.

There have been many arguments as to how the plot line is controversial by romanticizing a drug lord and his life. I, however, disagree. The show does quite the opposite. It doesn’t illustrate Walter White as living an easy, rich, life without consequences. It actually shows the severity and horror behind dealing with drugs and crime. Personally, I think the show is giving off the right message because despite Walter’s millions, I would not trade lives with him for even a second.

With one more week and one finale left, the whole Breaking Bad fanbase is on edge. Will they let Walter’s cancer get the best of him, or will they make his drug past come back and bite him in the behind? Or, just maybe, they’ll let him live? Personally, I’m more concerned about Jesse, many’s favorite character. How will the show leave the kind-hearted, innocent, pressured young man in the end?

I guess we’ll have to wait a week to find out.

(September 23, 2013)