The Client

Although not many people have heard of this film, The Client is excellent. The Client is based off of a novel of the same name by John Grisham (I reccommend the book as well).

Brad Renfro portrays a young boy named Mark who witnesses the suicide of a renowned lawyer who is defending an infamously notorious mobster, Barry "The Blade" Muldano, who had murdered a senator. Before killing himself, the lawyer tells Mark the location of the body of the senator which would prove Muldano guilty. After being questioned by police, Mark finds a lawyer, Regina "Reggie" Love (Susan Sarandon) to defend him in court. Together, they face Roy Foltrigg (Tommy Lee Jones), an attorney attempting to prove Muldano guilty. Because Mark knows the whereabouts of the body, his life is wanted by the mob. Together, he and Reggie work to find the body while protecting their lives as well as te lives of their loved ones.

In this film, Susan Sarandon's portrayal of Reggie Love is phenomenal. She is sassy and funny, and her performance is just great. Tommy Lee Jones's performance as a pompous, abnoxious, yet humorous attorney is spectacular as well. I think that the number one performance in this film has to go to Brad Renfro as rebellious but compassionate Mark.

I am a huge fan of the "legal thriller" genre, so this film is just very appealing to me. It's one of those films where you find yourself constantly wondering what will happen next. This film is very enjoyable and thrilling.

The Blind Side Inspires

Today is an autumn Sunday, which for most people means one thing: Football. The greatest football film of all time, in my opinion, is The Blind Side. This film is not only a treat for football lovers, but for those who don't have a particular interest in football as well. My mother is not a huge fan of football but she adores this film.

The Blind Side is based off of a book titled The Blind Side: The Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis. The film revolves around the true story of Michael Oher, the current offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. As a child, Oher was taken away from his alcoholic mother and put into various foster homes, many of which he ran away from. At the age of 17, Oher met the Touhy's, a wealthy suburban family that took him in. He became part of their family and was encouraged to join the school's football team. Although he struggled at first, he eventually became the star of the team, attracting numerous recruiters for college teams.

The acting is truly great in this film. LeAnne Touhy's character, portrayed by Sandra Bullock, one of my favorite actresses, is hilarious. She is so bold and confident. Bullock's performance is like the cherry on top of this film. My next favorite character is S.J., portrayed by Jae Head. Now here's a character that puts a smile on your face every time you see him on the screen. He is just hilarious.

Overall, this movie, as cliche as it may sound, is like a rollercoaster ride. It makes you smile, it makes you cry, it makes you burst out in laughter. It is also a film that really makes me think about all the things I take for granted, and how I should really be more appreciative of everything that I have. The amount of goodwill that the Touhys have is truly inspiring. The Blind Side is a spectacular film that will put a smile on your face.

Cupcakes and the Vice Presidential Debate

This week, I read Ruth Marcus's article, In our debates, the ingredients never blend. Ruth Marcus's writing style is truly unique, and she is able to use many analogies and metaphors to prove her point. I found this technique to be effective. In her article, Marcus discusses the awkwardness and choppiness of the Vice Presidential Debates. Her stance is that the candidates' performances at the debates were not up to par. She cites that, "The candidates talk past one another. They fail to engage; they evade direct answers. The audience is left unsettled and confused."

Marcus compares the debates to a "classic Mamet." At first, I did not know what this meant, but later found out that Mamet is a playwright. I still could not fully understand the metaphor, but I was able to infer what it meant based on the rest of the article, which disccused how choppy and somewhat unproductive the debates were. Marcus also compares the debates to the show, "Cupcake Wars." This metaphor, I understood. She compares the process of creating recipes to policy making, and the process of working as a team of chefs to leadership ability. If the debators are not able to communicate well, they will not be successful in "finishing the cupcakes," or rather conveying their stances to the audience.

Overall, I admire Marcus's writing style. She is able to convey her message very well through the usage of metaphors which is unique a well as effective.

In our debates, the ingredients never blend

Gone With the Wind

About a week ago, we, CAP 10 students, were asked to write about something that we are truly passionate about. So I thought to myself, what am I passionate about? What do I like to do? Well, one of my favorite things to do is to watch films. As weird or unique as it sounds, I love watching different films, and tend to have strong opinions about the characters and storylines. I decided to dedicate my first creative blog post to one of my favorite films of all time, Gone With the Wind.

I have seen Gone With the Wind a countless number of times. And yes, I can sit through the entire four hours of the film. I find it an inspiring masterpiece that everybody should definitely see at lesat once. Gone With the Wind is a masterpiece about the story of a young woman, Scarlett O'Hara, during the Civil War and post-Civil War period. The film is based off of the book of the same title written by Margaret Mitchell (which I am in the middle of. It is amazing!) The storyline is extremely conplex, but since it is so brilliant, I will summarize it.

Before the Civil War, Scarlett (Vivien Leigh) is a wealthy, southern belle who lives an extravagant life. She believes that she is in love with a family friend's son, Ashley, who is engaged to another woman. Her life is turned upside down when the Civil War breaks out. Scarlett meets Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), a dashing and scandalous blockade runner. He falls madly in love with her but she refuses to return his affections, because she is not willing to let go of her "love" for Ashley. The reason why I put "love" in quotation marks is because she doesn't really love Ashley. Throughout the entire film, she believes she is in love with Ashley, but the viewers of the film know that Scarlett and Rhett obviously belong together (this is the only part I find frustrating about the film, that Scarlett cannot realize that she belongs with Rhett. But I guess that is one of the plot points that makes the story so unique and innovative). By the end of the war, Scarlett is forced to work to support her family. The whole time, Rhett is standing by her (and you're rooting for him to finally win her over); however, she still refuses to return his love for her and by the time she realizes that....well, I won't give away the ending.

If I had to pick my favorite film character of all time, it would undoubtedly be Scarlett O'Hara. Her character is so headstrong, courageous, confident and strong willed. She is the strongest fictional female character ever created. Although she can be manipulative and backstabbing, her strong will and bravery is what many females, including me, look up to.

Rhett Butler is the dashing and charming "bad boy" who falls madly in love with Scarlett, who does not return his affection because she will not let go of her love for Ashley. He is not afraid to speak his mind and is just hilarious because he is so sarcastic, yet not afraid to tell the truth. In a nutshell, Rhett Butler is prince charming. I seriously think that a new expression should be invented in honor of Rhett Butler: instead of saying something like, "I've married my prince charming," one should say, "I've married my Rhett Butler." He is just that ideal.

The beauty of Gone With the Wind is its power to inspire those who watch it. Its message of never giving up (as cheesy as it sounds) is beautifully conveyed through the iconic character of Scarlett O'Hara.It is not only a beautiful story, but I've learned so much about the Civil War from it as well. The conplexity and meaningfulness of the story is breathtaking. Gone With the Wind is a cinematic masterpiece, and everyone should definitely watch it at least once.

 

Nicholas Kristof is Brilliant

After I read Nicholas Kristof's article, "Obama's First Term Report Card," I had a huge smile on my face. I adore Kristof's analogies, metaphors, similarities, and overall, his writing style. This article had so much of Kristof's own personal flair and voice. It was amazing how unique, outrageous, yet effective his writing is. My personal favorite was the last line of the article in which Kristof writes, "Osama bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive. That’s not a bad re-election bumper sticker." I loved how Kristof was able to be a bit goofy, but at the same time, write an extremely effective article in which he was able to convey his message to the audience. Overall, I enjoyed this article and hope to be able to develop my own unique voice in my own writing.

"Obama's First Term Report Card"