Images have the power to provoke strong emotions and feelings as well. It seems that this is one of the major aspects of television that Weinberg was drawn to. His purpose in making his films and television series is to show people footage of the world and the vast number of other people who live in it who have different outlooks, cultures and languages. By providing people with these kinds of videos he gives them the feeling that the world is a really big place and that there is so much more to learn and discover. The notion of “feeling” also relates to his idea of the three tracks: video, audio and the emotional track. When they are all put together in the final product, only then can a video be truly great and inspiring.

 As far as the closing is concerned, it truly is amazing what TV can do. Independent television in particular provides a voice for almost anyone who wants to say something. We do it now on YouTube, but many other innovators, such as Weinberg, were doing it more than 30 years ago.

I thought this film did a great job of providing interesting facts about the state of oil on our planet. The world’s governments definitely need to take a second look at this imminent problem.

Target Audience: scientists, environmentalists, economists, anyone interested in the oil crisis

Writer/Director: Adolfo Doring

snagfilms.com>http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/blind_spot/

 This element of dramatic music and placing the story in the 1950s makes for a brilliant juxtaposition with the film’s main issues of homosexuality, race, and opening your mind to more than what our town or neighborhood has to offer. It is as if Haynes made this movie to fulfill his wish to go back in time and see these issues play out because they are certainly unseen in anything else that comes from that era.

 If anything, to me this film feels like a critique of the 1950s era. The white middle class trapped themselves in a bubble wanting life to be perfect again after the horrors of the Depression and WWII. They refused to face the fact that the people who are different from them still deserve to be treated fairly. Instead they pushed them aside, forcing them to live on the outskirts of their own utopian society. Too bad for them, however, the next decade was the 1960s where human rights issues finally came to a head.

 McLuhan’s tetrad system is a means of explaining the effects of different media on society. The four tetrads, which occur simultaneously, are enhance, retrieve, reverse and obsolescence. Also, inevitably all media go through the tetrads. The questions that come with these terms are as follows: What does the medium enhance or improve? What does the medium retrieve that had been obsolesced earlier? When pushed to its limits, what will the new medium be flipped into? What is pushed aside or obsolesced by the new medium?

 It was important for McLuhan to come up with the tetrads in order to prove that there exists some scientific basis behind his observations of media. We can see the effects of new phenomenon of blogging through the tetrad system as well. Blogging enhances our ability to send out information and ideas. It retrieves the feeling of keeping a diary. It reverses into too much information and not knowing what is legitimate. Finally, it obsolesces in some respects newspapers, magazines and books.

I thought this was an extremely well-done documentary. Through interviews, pictures and videos we learn what life was like for the actresses during and after their musical days. Julie Stevens, who played an orphan, wrote and produced the film giving it a more personal touch.

 Snagfilms.com>http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0484211/plotsummary

Target Audience: middle-aged people who remember “Annie,” musical-enthusiasts

“Eres nada.” This is what Elena says to Sergio when she wonders aloud whether or not he is a revolutionary or a counterrevolutionary in the movie, Memories of Underdevelopment. This statement pretty much sums up the character, Sergio, for although he inwardly criticizes Cuban society, he chooses not to do anything about it. He floats in between and thus is nothing at all. This I felt especially true at the ending after he is acquitted in court and walks alone in the street. His whole world is gone—his wife, his job, his friends, and now even Elena have left his life. In his unhappiness with everything around him, he has isolated himself and so he is nothing.

In this film the director, Alea, comments on his native land, Cuba, and how it has been affected by the recent revolution.

The film, as LeSage points out, is often critiqued for not showing how an intellectual should implement his or her feelings of discontent. However, I disagree that the film should have done this because I do not think this was the message intended by Alea. I think that he knew what he was doing in giving us a protagonist who refuses to join the revolution even though he is an intellectual unhappy with the state of his country. Sergio is an antihero, therefore, he is not supposed to do the right thing, but rather the wrong thing, which in turn should make us criticize him and want to do the opposite of what he does which is to somehow support the cause of the revolution.

Cuban Film School

The Cuban Film School students who created the film depicting the Cuban villagers used Italian Neo-Realism as they interviewed everyday villagers about what they think should be improved in the village. The people in the village lacked those amenities which we today often take for granted such as electricity, clean water and easy-to-access food. The ideologies of the Cuban Film School reflect those of the philosopher, Herbert Marcuse who also wanted to improve his society. For both Marcuse and the Cubans’ the ruptures in their societies were results of historical events. Marcuse was looking for a way to improve his society and the Cubans also wanted to relate the message that something must be done about theirs as well.

Through each of the films this week we learned the extent to which the damage procured by the repressive Cuban government affected its people. When civil rights are not respected people inevitably suffer when one small group reaps the benefits.

I have recently begun to be interested in hearing different arguments about believing or not believing in God, therefore, I enjoyed the scientific argument of Dawkins about why he is an atheist.

snagfilms.com/ Link: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/the_atheism_tapes_richard_dawkins/

Target Audience: scientists, people questioning their faith

Producer: Richard Denton

Today, the Internet has such a strong hold on all of us that it makes me wonder what is in store for tomorrow. I think in the future we will be able to access even more than we can now in the Internet. Television, for example will most likely soon make its way onto the Web. All other media as well will probably make its way onto the Internet like newspapers, books and music. We can see even now that all of these media have already started to infiltrate the cyber world.

Only being able to watch the beginnings of the three Spike Lee movies this week was very disappointing for I wished we could have watched all of them from beginning to end. I was not very familiar with Spike Lee before this week and now I know that I have been missing out. His films speak loudly about the issues of race and the clash of cultures in an urban world. Do the Right Thing in particular tells several different stories about everyday people just trying to find meaning in their live as well as resolutions to the struggles they face. Spike Lee knows black people and he is extremely successful in rendering their world onto the screen. His movies show the results of the ugly struggle that blacks have had to endure since end of the Civil War. They are so real and raw that you cannot help but be affected by them. It is also remarkable that when Lee was making his movies he was going against the traditional Hollywood dramas that were popular during his time and still became extremely successful. He is truly one of the greatest filmmakers.

I found this funny 2003 romantic comedy on YouTube. It is about a young, single woman, Jamie, who has never had trouble getting guys in her bed, but has never found true love. After 90 days of celebacy she realizes that the witty Irishman, Mick, is the love of her life.

I thought this movie was very cute and says a lot about the troubles of being promiscuous when at the same time you are looking for the right guy to settle down with. The ending dragged a bit, however, the movie as a whole works as a great romantic comedy.

Writer/Director: Jane Weinstock

Target Audience: young single, women, women in general

40 Acres and a Mule is the title of Spike Lee’s film production company. It serves as a reminder of Lee’s overall goal in making films and that is to bring forth the issues of race and the struggles of blacks in America. Forty acres of land and a mule were supposed to be the compensation that blacks would receive after the Civil War when they were set free, however, after the assassination of Lincoln, Andrew Johnson revoked this privilege. Since then blacks have been cut short on many rights given to Americans. Fast forward to the future and you have Spike Lee portraying the wrongs set upon his race and the anger and sadness that erupted from them.

Yanick Rice Lamb’s Spike Lee as Entrepreneur: Leveraging 40 Acres and a Mule discusses Lee’s journey to the top as well as his innovative business practices that helped him get there. Lee always stepped out the box in following his dreams to be a great filmmaker. He also never surrendered his artistic ideals to make the studios or anyone else happy. It was all Lee all the time—no one intruded on his vision. This is what a true independent filmmaker should be. Lee also built a brand for himself through his high status as an auteur. People knew his talent in making great films so they followed his brand. All of these savvy business practices and his ability to make influential films allowed him to place his mark “on the cultural, sociopolitical and economic landscape while helping to stimulate a new wave of filming.”

This short film made in 2005 is written and directed by Kai Ling Xue, a girl who is an outsider in her culture and wants to be accepted by her family. The film is her way of expressing her deep and profound confusion and emotions. It was filmed with a 16mm with original music.

I found this film to be very different than any other independent film because it is silent besides the music and consists of images and videos of Kai and then simplistic, straight-to-the-point language that narrates her story of trying to find her identity. I admire Kai for allowing people to better understand people like her.

snagfilms.com>>>http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/a_girl_named_kai/

Target Audience: gays, transgenders, young people