Going along with the horror genre I would like you to go out and seek out a horror film to screen independently and be prepared to discuss next class. While watching the film of you choice be sure to look for the elements we discussed that help group genre film such as:
SETTING
THEME / TOPIC
MOOD
FORMAT
On a side note, once you have identify the elements of genre then perhaps it would be benifitial to go ahead a write a review for the film you screened for your blog.
Here is a list of the 100 best horror films that have been deemed significant by Time Out London.
Below are several links the articles I would like you to read in relation to our classroom discussion.
- Filmsite.org is a film website that has a extensive list of the Main Film Genres as well as sub-genres and hybrid genres. Warning: Website has pop-up windows.
- allmovie.com also has a extensive list of Movie Genres and Subgenres with many film examples for each genre.
- Life123.com gives us some examples of Characteristics of the Horror Genre.
- And finally, another article about Writing a Film Review, including writing about genres.
Sick, Fat & Nearly Dead
ReplyDeleteDirector: Joe Cross, Kurt Engfehr
2010
*documentary
This film is a documentary about a man from Australia who exhibits many of the unhealthy traits that have befell much of the demographic of the developed nations. He is slightly obese and suffers from a range of illnesses and is committed to try “juicing” to see if the all the hype about getting your fruits and veges actually heals the body, not just makes one lose weight. The man’s name is Joe Cross and the film follows him across the US for 60-days while he juices and encourages others to do the same. Juicing is a term used to describe a process that squeezes all of the liquid from nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables in an attempt to detoxify and cleanse the body of the unnatural, processed yucky-bits that can fill our body by consuming fast food and other processed foods. Joe loses an awesome amount of weight and suffers less and less from his afflictions. He even inspires an acutely obese truck driver to join the juicing practice and the man slims down to half his size recovering from many illnesses associated with Metabolic Syndrome (obesity, hypertension and dyslipidemia).
I chose this film because I wanted to vary the genres of the films I am reviewing and also because I started juicing and thought it would be interesting to write about. This film does a pretty good job of working in narrative with a topic that could stand to lose audiences because it could turn too clinical. The directors make it fun by adding cartoons to depict Cross’s illnesses and the positive effects of juicing. The style of shooting was pretty characteristic of a documentary, nothing too flashy; really raw and most probably hand-held. The fact that the documentary was focused on the director was a strong choice because the audience wasn’t just being flooded with information, you feel like you are experiencing all of these things with him.
The self-implication that Cross exhibits works well because it engages the audience and uses pathos as a rhetorical device through the journey of this man to gain our sympathy, root for him and be inspired to start juicing by the end of the film. Without the story about the truck driver supporting the principal story of the protagonist, I feel the film could have fallen flat, so that was a smart choice on the part of the filmmakers to include.