Topics: Brandon T. Gass

Why is it that people find it so difficult and unsavory to read? Very few people actually enjoy and take it upon themselves to read anything from literature, modern works, the news, or frankly anything that consists of many words that require analytical thought to understand. Has this become too much for people? Literacy should never be compromised.

Albert Camus is one of the fathers of Absurdist philosophy and one of the greatest writers of all time; his philosophical works The Myth of Sisyphus and The Rebel have defined his ideas, while his novels such as The Stranger and The Plague have actualized them. Examine and breakdown the fundamentals of absurdism.

An in-depth analysis of the popular TV show The Office and how it rises above mere entertainment to become a genuine, nihilistic examination of everyday American office workers and the meaning they can find in their cyclical lives.

General American movie-goers tend to object to sexual content in films as being inappropriate or pointless ("Why do we need to see it?") but conversely don’t object to violence and gore. Is it not more vulgar to watch people get murdered or tortured even rather than to see a little bit of intimacy on screen? Dissect examples of popular films and their appeal to either violence or sex, and the audience’s response.

The film movement New Queer Cinema was meant to describe independent films of the 1990s that helped bring queer narratives to the screen. This article would review the history, importance, and films of the movement.

With the latest bunt in the cinematic superhero world, Suicide Squad, it has become clear that critics are collective tired of the ringtone narrative that nearly all superhero films cradle. Suicide Squad specifically, held the concept of ‘fight fire with fire,’ which obviously entails that things won’t work out. Examine the failures of Suicide Squad as a whole and what it might take (if possible) to have another good superhero film like The Dark Knight.

While it is common for the second film in a series to ruin the franchise, many of them MAKE the franchise; such is the case with Kill Bill and The Dark Knight Trilogy. Perhaps these films’ sequels were so monumental because they were planned out to take place over three films or two films, rather than the corporate industry suits just wanting to force, say, another Iron Man onto the screen to make more money. These turn into hollow films.

Just from the new Kong: Skull Island, much can be asserted about the aesthetic and narrative relationship between Kong and Jurassic World. Both films are enormous block-buster snowball movies filled with star-studded casts thrown in disaster scenarios of utter peril and outrageous visual effects. A parallel/examination of the two movies and what they say about the state of hollywood would be highly relevant.

The Witch has made a ground-breaking impact in the art-house film world for its innovative, minimalistic, and period piece approach to black-magic and witchcraft. While the film was generally liked by audiences, many objections to it were "it wasn’t really scary, just creepy." Is this true? Is horror in film merely having a demon jump scare the audience? The Witch should be applauded for actually bringing three dimensional characters and a powerful narrative into its inner workings; where most horror films completely fail. Is The Witch not true horror?

Should the audience judge a film based on whether they "liked" it or not? Shouldn’t the audience step back, look at a work of cinema objectively and judge it on its quality, not whether or not it was "too long" or "boring." Even if a film is, at first preview, "boring" or "too slow", The Shining, for example could be appreciated even if you don’t like horror, simply for its master-craft of cinematic voyeur and its layers of hidden ambiguity and subliminal messages. Should the artists’ be judged by their intentions above all else?

Many people say nowadays that "nothing is original anymore." And they don’t mean it in a negative connotation, necessarily, just as fact. Has everything been done by Homer and Shakespeare? Is everything now simply a variation on what’s been done? And if so, is that a bad thing?

With new movies coming out such as Star Wars, Ride Along 2, Kung Fu Panda 3, Fifty Shades of Black, Allegiant, two new marvel movies (Deadpool and Captain America: Civil War), Star Trek: Beyond, and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, it would seem that original films are becoming more and more rare. Is hollywood running out of new, innovative, and creative stories to tell? While almost everything is a sequel, triquel, or another superhero movie, the few new films like The Boy, The Forest, and American Ultra tend to suffer and get negative feedback. Does hollywood not put enough effort towards these more original words and only rely on the ones they know are more likely to sell?

Due to J.J. Abrams’s recent involvement in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he was unable to direct the third new Star Trek, leaving it to Justin Lin (Fast and Furious) to direct. Will the signature mark that Abrams’s left on the series lose its aura that was present in Star Trek and Star Trek: Into Darkness? Abrams’s is producing Star Trek: Beyond, however, so perhaps his creativity will find its way into the new one as well.

Pop music is bland, simple in technique, hollow in intention, and infectious. It’s what many people want to hear because (most commonly) the message behind it is so broad, that almost everyone can relate to it on a basic level. Often times the musicality of pop music is also far from complexity and artistic craftsmanship; many pop artists do not compose their own music or lyrics. Because of these reasons it would seem that Pop music, as an art, is somewhat soulless. Is this breed of simple minded music slowly killing deep, musically rich songs and bands?

In any form of art, whether it be film, poetry, or literature, some of it is very abstract. So abstract, that some people assert that perhaps it is lacking in actual meaning. Many students in an Intro. to Creative Media class I am taking has postulated that David Lynch’s films are void of meaning because they are so abstract and ambiguous. Is this something that should be thought? That simply because we cannot conceive of the artists’ intention that perhaps there is none?

What constitutes a successful film in modern time? There appears to be, more or less, a pattern: a very "safe" story (nothing too abstract or of a minority complex), boring "filler" dialogue, un-original and one-dimensional characters, soulless (in content) to some degree, and harboring hollow thematic elements.

For example, Colin Trevorrow’s catastrophe and embarrassment Jurassic World. It’s not that the box-office record setter didn’t have a plot, it just had a plot that was so full of holes it had no structure. There are countless holes and problems with the concept and story of the latest installment. Frankly, there were no characters, there were only low-caliber actors reading a script with absolutely no heart. The movie was layered with gross product-placement worse than perhaps any other movie in recent memory.

On the other hand, take a look at Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece The Master. The Master is a culmination of tremendous writing and execution thereof in film. Arguably one of the most original and transformative drama’s seen this decade, The Master was a true achievement from one of the great living auteur filmmakers. Beautifully portrayed by wonderful actors all around, complimented with a mesmerizing score, and shot in astonishing 65mm film, The Master is the epitome of modern art film.

Now, looking at the audience’s reaction to both these films reveals a great about what they look for in cinema. While The Master was hated by many average movie-watchers (considered too complex for general audiences) Jurassic World broke box office record history making almost 2 billion worldwide. Jurassic World was mindless entertainment delivered through over-stimulating CGI and explosions. The Master was a film that demanded patience, and an appreciation for cinematography; the poetry of film. By looking at the general opinion and results from public audience’s, is it clear what is expected and desired from cinema by the general public?