4-1 "Watchmen"

Warning the information contained in this blog will divulge the ending of the movie Watchmen.

A lot of hype has been on the new movie Watchmen. The movie depicts a cast of superheroes that are not exactly what you would expect. The superheroes depicted in the film are not exactly what you would think of when you think of superheroes, but most of them still act in a moral mannerism. I will explain this by stating how some of the watchmen don’t act the way a superhero should and how some still do the right thing in the end.

The whole movie revolves around a group of heroes that try and help the world by fighting crime. The world is a different place though. It is a world that has evolved with the presence of these heroes. Nixon is still president and in his third term he files a law that states that all superheroes with the exception of The Comedian and Doctor Manhattan are to stay out of the affairs of the public, however, Rorschach, another hero stays on illegally.

The idea that superheroes would give up on saving the world just because the world doesn’t want them is not a hero trait. And in the movie there are other non hero traits the so called hero’s commit. The first is that The Comedian rapes one of his fellow superheroes. The other is that one of the heroes destroys a city to bring the world together in hatred toward Doctor Manhattan in the belief that he was the one that destroyed the city. And the last is that the other heroes find out about the plot but conspire to keep it a secret. They end up killing Rorschach because he was not willing to keep the secret.

However, the actions taken do in fact maintain the ideals of a superhero. A superhero is supposed to put the safety of the majority ahead of anything else, and in destroying the city they kept the world from committing nuclear holocaust. And in killing Rorschach they averted the world from finding out the truth.

All in all the watchmen were in fact heroes even when they didn’t do what one would see as hero type actions. They killed their fellow heroes, innocents, and acted like pure jerks, but they did it in hope of keeping the world from destroying itself. If that is not hero characteristics I don’t know what is.

3-1 "Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band"

Let me discuss some thoughts I have on Musical concerts. In today’s day and age it has become a ritual of sorts to see ones favorite band in concert. But, what bands will hit it big this year? To understand, one must look at the factors that determine a bands’ popularity. In most cases it is the fan base and proceeds. If a band sells out at every destination on its tour, one can be confident in saying that band is popular. I will discuss one bands tour and why it has become a ritual of sorts to see them in concert.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have had quite a successful European tour this year. According to brucespringsteen.net nearly 1.5 million tickets have been sold and it is expected to grow to over 2 million with the newly released tour dates in the U.S. This is monumental in the music world. Bruce Springsteen is a contemporary singer and song writer and tours with the legendary E Street Band. His music is labeled as heartland rock. With the number of tickets sold it is very apparent that seeing these musicians has become a ritual. Even in 2008 the musicians had a large number of tickets sold.

Bruce Springsteen has become a household name and in most cases people love to see him in concert. A lot of people have even made it a ritual to see the man in concert every time he comes into town. Some people even travel the globe following the man’s tour place to place. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are defiantly successful musicians with a large fan base and a ritualistic following.

The idea that seeing ones favorite band in concert has become a ritual has been proven time and time again. I have shown this by explaining how it is true in regards to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. However, this is just one band of many. There are many bands with the same sort of ritualistic followings.

References

Brucespringsteen.net. (2009). EUROPEAN TOUR EARNS RAVES AS SPRINGSTEEN HAS
NOW SOLD OVER 1.5 MILLION TICKETS IN 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2009, from http://www.brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html

2-1 TV shows

In the world of television there have been many shows that have become popular, and a lot more that, have been complete flops. But how does one determine whether a show is hot or not? There are many factors that determine this, but the most used is ratings. Ratings usually consist of a number that represents how many households are viewing the show during its air time. Another way to determine whether a show has been popular or not, is to look at how long the show has been aired. Most of the time one can determine if a show has lasted two or more seasons it has been semi popular to the viewing public. I will now give examples of some new shows that may or may not have been liked by the viewing public.

According to tv.com the most viewed show from 1975-Present has been Lost and the least watched show has been Moonlight. Now this actually speaks to me because I have actually never heard of moonlight, and I can say out of the 100 shows on the list I have watched more than 70 of them. But to say that shows from 1975 do not compete with shows today can not be accurately measured due to the enhancement in visual effects, TV resolution, fads, movies, worldwide events, and etcetera to date. So to better understand what actually makes TV shows popular we must look at one specific time period that the shows are completely contemporary.

To better give an example of shows and what is hot or flop I need to give examples that are contemporary to today. So I will speak about the most viewed shows today, July 9, 2009 , the first is the number one on tv.com’s number rated show True Blood and tv.com’s least rated show Skins. And just to let the rest of my readers know these are shows rated by Neilson’s TV ratings. I will begin by speaking on why Skins has become so unpopular. Skins is a British show aimed toward young adults. It is a show that involves a list of characters working for a programming company. They are a cast of teenagers ridden with problems ranging from drug addiction to food disorders. The reason this show is so unpopular, to me, is because it does not relate to teens and young adults in the Americas, however it does fit with the same genre in Britain, which is quite illuminating on the difference between America and Britain. The number one rated show in America today, July 9, 2009, is True Blood it basically tells a story of vampires living in Louisiana that have progressed to the point that they can drink synthetic blood and of course there are other vampires that don't want to drink synthetic blood and it causes serious problems. This show has actually become quite a treat toward the American viewing community, because Americans love the idea of immortality and we all can share the ideas of discrimination toward a type of people we don’t know, whether that be by race, religion, ethnicity, or vampires of course. So I can really see why people love the show. So television shows are really up to the public to decide whether they are worth while or a loss of time.

No one person can judge whether a show is great, but word of mouth can boost a shows rating. So the main thing I have to say is that shows have their own audience and the show is only great if the viewing public decides to watch it.



References

Nielsen Television Ratings. (2009). Nielsen Television (TV) Ratings. Retrieved July 9, 2009,
from http://www.zap2it.com/tv/ratings/zap-nielsen-tv-ratings-cable,0,64810.htmlstory

tv.com. (2009). Most Popular: All Genres. Retrieved July 9, 2009, from http://www.tv.com/shows/top-shows/today.html?tag=content;main

2-2 "Homer Simpson" "Breaking Bad" "Godsmack"

(Fig 1/ GS/ http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Godsmack/Pictures/)

(Fig 2/ BB1/http://www.amctv.com/originals/breakingbad/)

(Fig 3/ BB2/ http://www.amctv.com/originals/breakingbad/)

(Fig 4/ HS/
http://animatedtv.about.com/od/picturegalleries/ig/The-Simpsons-Pictures---18/Homer- Simpson--Arms-Crossed.htm)

Homer Simpson, Breaking Bad, and Godsmack are all contemporary icons in today’s day and age. Homer Simpson is a character in the hit cartoon series The Simpsons. He is the father of Bart, Lisa, and Maggie and he is married to Marge. Breaking Bad is a hit TV series on AMC; it stars Bryan Cranston, as Walter White, and Aaron Paul, as Jesse Pinkman. It plays the story of Walter, a high school chemistry teacher, who has been diagnosed with lung cancer and begins a life in crime, selling Meth, in order to earn a huge amount of money for his family before he dies. Godsmack is a rock band, and includes front man and songwriter Sully Erna, guitarist Tony Rombola, bassist Robbie Merrill, and drummer Shannon Larkin.

Homer Simpson is what people believe to be the typical middle aged family man. He really is living the “American Dream”. He has three children and is married to his high school sweetheart. In my opinion Homer has been almost like a role model in my life. I want a nice home in a nice area and I would like to someday marry a woman and father some children, but I don’t want my life to become drab and meaningless that’s why Homer’s life is so inviting. There is never a dull moment in his household.

Breaking Bad is a great show filled with great characters and a pulse pounding plot. Bryan Cranston’s performance is to say the least amazing. The show really produces the message that there is a thin line, created by all Americans, that divides normality and criminal behavior. Bryan Cranston’s character Walter is a perfect example of this. In his normal life he is a happily married high school chemistry teacher with his son who has cerebral palsy. He is and upright citizen with no history of criminal behavior, but when he is diagnosed with lung cancer and only has 6 months to live he hits his breaking point. At this time he sees it is his responsibility to leave his family with a substantial amount of money to pay his medical bills and have some left over to live on. He realizes that the only way to do this is to use his skills in chemistry to create some of the most potent Methamphetamine to ever hit the streets of Arizona. He enlists his old student Jesse Pinkman to aid him in cooking and dealing the Meth. Once Walter crosses the line into crime his future is set into motion. So the show really does speak heavily on the line between good and bad behavior and how easy it is to pass over it.

Godsmack is a rock band that has really made a name for themselves in the rock & roll community. They have produced two consecutive number one albums and they have had 17 top ten rock singles. This shows how incredibly popular they actually are. The bands musical talents have really proven successful. This band has really been one of my favorites.

1-4 "Transformers" "Ice Age" "Public Enemies"

When one deals with movies the main discussion is about what placement they will hit on the box office totals. The box office top ten include the top selling movies in theaters during the week. This week it seems like the Sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will maintain its throne as number one in the box office. The competitors include the three-quel Ice-Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and the new Johnny Depp movie Public Enemies. But even though the new Ice Age was forecasted to be in the top ten during the fourth of July weekend, it seems like that will not be viable.

The movie Transformers: Rise of the Fallen is a sequel to the hit movie Transformers. It seems like this weekend will be just as profitable for the film as its first weekend. Movie theaters across the nation predict that its theaters will maintain the number of screens the film will be projected upon. This will inevitably boost profits and viewers. The movie itself has a lot of good reputation based off its first installment. In the first movie a kid named Sam Whitwicky, played by Shia LaBeouf, has the power to save Earth from an allegiance of alien robots the Deceptacons. He is aided by another allegiance of alien robots called the Autobots lead by Optimus Prime. The new installment promises to be more action packed than the first which I can say to be the truth as I have recently seen it. But, the movie still has competitors.

The movies Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Public enemies are the competitors of the behemoth Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs movie is the third installment which continues the story of Diego, Manny, Ellie, Sid, and of course the adorable squirrel Scrat. They have entered a pre prehistoric world filled with dinosaurs and they must find their way home. The Ice Age franchise seems to be a repetitive storyline that in my opinion is getting extremely old. However, the movie attracts many of the nation’s youngsters which seem to be ever so attracted to the characters, which means big office bucks given by parents who just want to entertain their children. The movie Public Enemies is also a great movie and competitor to the behemoth. Johnny Depp plays the roll of John Dillinger. This is a great roll for Depp because it seems like both Depp and Dillinger love and loved the celebrity lifestyle. The movie in my opinion is a great and historically accurate portrayal of Dillinger’s life. However, the two movies mentioned seem to not be able to take on the behemoth Transformers: Rise of the Fallen.

The movie Public Enemies, in my oppinion, should actually be the number one box office holder, but the pop culture of the U.S. seems to think otherwise. The people seem to like action and visual affects better than substance now a days. People like big explosions and violence. I see a lot of movies, if it is out I have seen it. I am glad that movies like Public Enemies have been created. And, I hope that pop culture in the U.S. will become more than sex, violence, and Idiocracy. Don’t get me wrong though I too love the sex, violence, and Idiocracy in movies I just wish the U.S. mainstream would love substance more.

You can view all three trailers at the top of this Blog. The Public Enemies has Spanish subtitles sorry, but it was the only one I could get.

References

Carl DiOrio. (2009). Transformers' looks unstoppable. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i38d17fe532245c82e00bc8fe2b42f663%20/

Carrie Rickey. (2009). Ice Age: The search for a plot. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/carrie_rickey/20090630_Ice_Age__Dawn_of_the_Dinosaurs.html

David Edelstein. (2009). Public Enemies: Michael Mann's Mobster Waxworks. Retrieved
July 1, 2009, from http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/carrie_rickey/20090630_Ice_Age__Dawn_of_the_Dinosaurs.html

Donkin, J. & Forte, L. (Producers), & Berg, M. & Ackerman, P. (Writers), & Saldanha, C.
(Director). (2009). Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs [Motion picture]. 20th Century Fox.

Misher, K. & Mann, M. (Producers), & Biderman, A. & Bennett, R. & Mann, M.
(Writers) & Mann, M. (Director). (2009). Public Enemies [Motion picture]. Universal Pictures.

Murphy, D. & Bryce, I. & Bonaventura, L. & DeSanto, T. (Producers), & Kurtzman, A. & Orci,
R. & Kruger, E. (Writers) & Bay, M. (Director). (2009). Transformers Revenge of the Fallen [Motion picture]. DreamWorks Pictures &Paramount Pictures.