"To Kill a Mockingbird" Blog:

I LOVE this movie! It is so amazing. I read the book for 11th grade summer reading and it is still so fresh in my mind. The author completely transports the reader to the setting, the hot, humid, sticky, southern summer. Or, the dark, mysterious, ominous, Radley yard. I love how it focuses on Scout's point of view. It's a much less biased representation of the events. What does the dog represent? Could it be the racist town of Maycomb? Judge Taylor said Atticus was the only person that could defend Tom Robinson, as Sheriff Tate told Atticus he was the only person that could shoot  the dog. Therefore, is Atticus shooting down the town by defending a black man’s word against a white man’s? Is the rabies that is infecting the innocent dog racism? I believe it is. Defending Tom Robinson was Atticus’ “one shot” in bettering Maycomb and teaching his children.

"Precious" Blog

Alright, so, that movie was deep. At some points, it was really hard to watch. I wonder about the ending, though. How is she going to take care of her two children, work, and go to school? How can anyone possibly do that? I know from personal experience that people are forced to stay in abusive relationships because they are unable to support themselves and their children. It's impossible. The abuser, unfortunately and fortunately, supports the family financially. "Support" being a very ironic word. I'm glad she was able to. She made huge strides, in regard to her education. Precious was unbelievably strong. She, somehow, managed to never give up. Her strength, I think, was driven mostly by the need to care for her kids. At the end of the movie, she said something about her HIV diagnosis and the fact that she might die, but somehow she had to care and raise her kids. I can't remember exactly what she said, but it was along those lines. Her strength unrelenting. I found it interesting that even though the mom was shown doing the most horrific things, I still was sympathetic towards her character. 

Monty Python's "The Holy Grail" Blog


Black Knight with no arms left after a battle: "It's just a flesh wound." 
This scene was probably one of my favorites out of the entire movie. It was terrifyingly gruesome and violent, but so hilarious and ridiculous. Like, I'm watching someone have all of his limbs chopped off and laughing hysterically (on the inside, because no one else in class was busting out laughing, so I had to hold it all in.) If this was a "horror" movie I would not have been able to watch it, but because it's British comedy, I'm fine with it. Somehow, the British accents also soften the blow....I don't know, it makes it that much funnier. So, I did a little research in regard to the "Black Knight? and this is what I found. "The black knight is a literary stock character, often contrasted with the knight-errant; also see white knight. The character famously appeared in Arthurian literature and has been adapted and adopted by various authors, in cinema and popular culture. The character is sometimes associated with death." Thank you Wikipedia. The knight never gives up, even when he is just a torso. When the Knight is hopping around on his torso, he still tries to fight King Arthur. He says, "I'll bite your knee caps off."  As with the the characters in the rest of the movie, they were all adapted from characters from that era. So, I guess the whole movie would be a satire. Right? Yeah. The movie spoofs the real tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The movie spoofs movies, too. The opening credits, for example. The entire movie is an exaggeration/hyperbole for the sake of comedy. They didn't have to do much, though, as the world is a ridiculous place, not far from Monty Python's version.