Moises, Blade Runner

Blade Runner is a film that blurs the lines of moral relativism within humanity. In the film, we have a genetically engineered group of beings known as replicants. These replicants look and seem just like humans, but they possess superior strength and knowledge. Because of killings by a group of replicants, they eventually became banned on Earth and deemed outcasts. But who is the real outcast here? Is it the replicant, who is seemingly carrying out its life plan the only way it knows how (like a human), or is it the Tyrell Corporation that created the replicants in the first place. To me, Blade Runner is attempting to convey the evils that corporations stand for, and how worse they could eventually get. Today, corporations are slowly getting to the point of the Tyrell Corporation, which creates beings that are "more human than humans". That means that a single corporation is altering humanity, leaving them in charge. I'm pretty sure most can agree when I say I don't like the idea of a corporation altering the way we know humanity.

It's interesting to point out some folklore that has developed since the release of Blade Runner. Many companies whose logos were displayed as product placements in the film went on to experience great economic downfall. RCA, Atari, Regional Bell, Pan-Am, and Coca-Cola all had some kind of setback after the release of the film. It seems that Ridley Scott, knowingly or not, not only got his point across, but also put it into action.

Moises, Casablanca

Casablanca is a film that stayed neutral despite being filled with political undertones. Almost everything about the movie focused on the war and politics, but the filmmakers did an outstanding job at making sure Casablanca would not alienate or insult its audience. A lot of that has to do with the time of its release. In the early 1940s the film industry was growing, and Casablanca was merely another studio film intended to make money. Sure, it was a great one that would have a lasting legacy, but Warner Brothers wasn't trying to shape anyone's political views. Had there been political controversy in the film, it most likely wouldn't have had as much exposure. But who knows, maybe some controversy would have made Casablanca even more of a masterpiece.

In the closing scene of Casablanca, Rick and Renault disappear into a cloud of fog, which is symbolic of the political haziness of this film.



The dominant in this frame is the fog, and the subsidiary is the two men. The first thing we notice in this frame is the overall haziness. This creates a mystery as to what the future holds. The proxemics are public, as we are watching them walk off and left as bystanders in the situation that just took place. The lighting is very dim, with the exception of in front of the two men, where you can see a glow shining upon them. This shows that there could be a bright future waiting for the two men, hence the line "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Gnuse, Moises - Roomates

Michael and Adam show just how hard it is to share a room.

Music is Paranoia by The Death Set

Moises, Wolfman: Then and Now

George Waggner's 1941 film The Wolf Man was a breakthrough feature that set the standard for depicting werewolves in film. The 2010 remake, however, will most probably not have the same legacy. Despite the tremendous improvements in special effects and make up, the original film's transformation was, in my opinion, a lot more powerful than today's CGI and computer engineered transformation. What the original film did was take the little resources they had and used a stop motion type effect to capture the transformation from the feet up. Sure, this doesn't look quite as impressive as a full shot of Benecio del Toro instantly transforming from man to beast, but it did enough to captivate audiences at the time and create a pretty scary monster. This years movie simply did not have the originality and that "it" factor that it takes to be a good horror movie. What I mean is that most good horror movies go as far as they can to show us something we've never seen before. Not necessarily even special effects, but just something we do not expect - this is what makes horror movies scary to us. While it may have looked impressive and cost a lot of money, the transformation in the remake was just completely unmoving. Never at any point was I shocked or scared at what was going on, I just felt like I was seeing a guideline to using cheesy special effects. The original Wolf Man exceeded movie-goer's expectations and broke barriers to create a monster that will forever live on in the horror movie world - something the remake just couldn't do.