FILM HISTORY 3 : CONTEMPORARY CINEMA Flashcards
Name the president of the United States from 1981-1989. He had become famous from being a B-Movie actor in action films during the 1930s & 40s.
RONALD REAGAN
The advent of what new device added yet another diversion(like the television in the 1950s) with which movie theaters had to compete with. Hint: The way movies were screened, the number of revival movies houses declined, as well as how movies were filmed, windscreen processes diminished because this new invention allowed audiences to have most of film history at their finger tips.
VIDEO CASSETTE RECORDER
Major studios started rebuildling what type of structure that included owning the production company, distribution rights and exhibition theaters. By the end of the 1980s, the studios owned 3,500 of the countries 22,000 theaters
VERTICAL INTEGRATION
The top 10 box office performers of the 1980s were all men. The return to conservative “traditional”values in the 1980s did not bode well for female actresses & directors who had a difficult time finidng good work in the 1980s. Name three of the top male 1980s star moneymakers.
HARRISON FORD, DAN AYKRYD, EDDIE MURPHY
The 1980s was a decade of big money and military spending both of which were what people wanted to see at the movies. The riches 20% of the U.S. accounted for 44% of the income while the poorest 20% received only 4.6% of the income. Close to 3 million Americans were homeless, mostly consisting of Vietnam veterans, women and children and who are still barely surviving to this day. What Charles Dickens line can sum up the decade’s ironic dilemma?
“IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES; IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES”
The War Film. Name the actor who helped re-invent the glory and the proudest American post-Vietnam War, with his recurring portrayals of the “common man” characters Rocky Balboa & John Rambo.
SYLVESTER STALLONE
With Steven Spielberg as his mentor, this energetic protege brought a comedic zest to family friendly creating the Back to the Future trilogy and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the ingenious amalgam of live action and animation, which served as both a tribute to and rebirth to classical animation.
ROBERT ZEMECKIS
Name the “Actress of the 1980s (&the 1990s)” best known for her diverse roles like SOPHIE’S CHOICE (1982( playing tragic, comedic and courageous women and has now (by 2012) been nominated 17 times wining 3 Oscars.
MERYL STREEP
What 1975 film is know as the “godfather of summer blockbusters”?
JAWS
Achieving his biggest popular success with Vietnam war film PLATOON (1986) winning best picture, director and editing, this film maker had been working for a full decade having won an Oscar for his screenplay MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (1978) quest conservative status quo polarized audiences, yet was the perfect counter-balance to the patriotic flag-waving blockbusters i.e. TOP GUN (1986( & RAMBO : FIRST BLOOD PART II (1985)
OLIVER STONE
This New York filmmaker opened the world’s eyes to the complexities in the modern ghetto neighborhood. his first film SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT (1986) was a breath of fresh air about a woman who explains why she doesn’t need to commit to one man. His film DO THE RIGHT THING (1989) is an unsentimental critique of bigotry from black, white, brown and yellow! His combination of brilliant comic timing, improve acting, melodrama and inventive camera techniques makes him one of the most exciting film makers of the decade!
SPIKE LEE
This independent film maker began as a novelist and screenwriter writing screenplays for B_movies (PIRANHA, 1978 and ALLIGATOR, 1980) and using the money to make his own films that explored historical and social troubles with a Marxist analysis of capitol and labor (MATEWAN, 1987, and EIGHT MEN OUT, 1988). Unfortunately, the decade mainstream audience was not interested in these subtle and subversive stories.
JOHN SAYLES
Attending the California Institute of the Arts, with a major in animation, this director worked with Disney initially and made his feature film debut with the off beat comedy PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE. His weird sensibilities are fable-like with a fondness for the bizarre and grotesque yet presented in an accessible childlike way. ONe of the 1980s biggest box office successes was his comic adaptation of BATMAN (1989)
TIM BURTON
Explain what happens to the three characters at the end of JAWS 1975.
Chief Brody
Captain Quint
Biologist Hooper
Chief Brody - Shoves a pressurized scuba tank into the sharks mouth and shoots in.
Capt. Quint - gets eaten and killed by the shark
Biologist Hooper - He ends the ocean with scuba gear in a sharp proof cage and escapes
Actor of FIRST BLOOD (1982)
SYLVESTER STALLONE
Actor of COMMANDO (1985)
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
Actors of JAWS (1975)
ROBERT SHAW
ROY SCHEIDER
RICHARD DREYFUS
Actor of TOOTSIE (1982)
DUSTIN HOFFMAN
Actress of TERMINATOR (1984)
LINDA HAMILTON
Actor and Actress of BATMAN (1989)
MICHAEL KEATON
KIM BASSINGER
Actor of BATMAN (1989)
JACK NICHOLSON
Why does Buggin’ Out decide to boycott Sal’s Pizzeria in DO THE RIGHT HING (1989)
because sal would not put “brothers” on the wall of fame
What does Mookie decide to do in the riot at the end of DO THE RIGH THING (1989) Be specific.
He throws a trash can through the window of Sal’s pizzeria.
Name the actors from DO THE RIGHT THING (1989)
JOHN TURTURRO
DANNY AIELLO
SPIKE LEE
ROSIE PEREZ
What does 40 year old actor Michael do to get an acting job in Sydney Pollack’s TOOTSIE?
He dresses up as a woman and does not accept the directors choice of her being too “soft” for the part
How does Michael fix the dilemma that he’s in at his job at the end of TOOTSIE? Be Specific.
During the live show he reveals to the audiences that he is Dorothy Michael’s twin brother.
Actor and Actress of THE FLY (1986)
JEFF GOLDBLUM
GEENA DAVIS
Actress of ALIENS (1986)
SIGOURNEY WEAVER
Actor of PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES (1987)
STEVE MARTIN
JOHN CANDY
Actor of PLATOON (1986)
CHARLIE SHEEN
Actor and Actress of RAISING ARIZON (1987)
NICHOLAS CAGE
HOLLY HUNTER
Actor and Actress of BLUE VELVET (1986)
LAURA DERN
KYLE MACLAUCHLAN
British cinema in the 1980s was a blending of the old (literate scripts, first rate actors, class consciousness) and the new (an obsession on the recent past due to a resentment by many toward the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher). Much of the cinema released during this time connecting to the “old” was related to a certain type of tradition that emphasized “period films, with picturesque rural homes questioning class, county and God issues.
MASTERPIECE THEATER
Name the producer and director who have been making films together for close to 50 years in England. Their film A ROOM WITH A VIEW (1986) finally found a large audience and was a surprising financial and critical success grossing over $50 million internationally and receiving eight nominations, winning three.
PRODUCER - ISMAIL MERCHANT
DIRECTOR - JAMES IVORY
The Britis cinema of the “new” was a continuation of what 1960s movement, which emphasized working-class life in a relatic style often backed by a Marxist ideology. What was new about these 1980s films was that many of these “left-wing” films had a fresh and exciting style often influenced by expressionistic and surreal genres like film noir.
KITCHEN SINK MOVEMENT
Name the most critically acclaimed and admired of the new Britist filmmakers. His earliest TV films were shot in the streets, quickly and cheaply. Once he teamed up with screenwriter Hanif Kureishi, the two found aperfect ethnic, class and sexual tensions between Pakistani immigrants and wroking-class Brits. They followed this up with amazing SAMMY AND ROSIE GET LAID (1987)
STEPHEN FREARS
Spain’s genuine poet, this matter of fact surrealist prefers exploring melodramatic female protagonists often through the influence of soap operas and experimental films, which he used to “makes you look at our human situations with irony.” His hyper-stylized world wonderfully becomes this concept of “camp”. His film WOMAN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (1988) is a perfect example.
PEDRO ALMODOVAR
The Netherlands produced a major talent with this Dutch filmmaker making two similarly structured films exploring the gritty truths of young people: SOLDIER OF ORANGE (1979) about a group of wealthy college students and their reaction to the Nazi occupation and SPETTERS (1980) which unsentimentally exposes generation gaps, battle of the sexes drug addiction and moral drift. Before coming to the USA and making his inspired sci-fi classic ROBOCOP (1987), his film THE FOURTH MAN (1984) was a stylistic masterpiece.
PAUL VERHOEVEN
Filmmaker Jamie Uys’ unusual mock documentary about a bushman who finds a Coke bottle charmingly explores the contrast between whites and black in South Africa, which was a huge financial hit for 3rd World cinema.
THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY
This revolutionary Turkish filmmaker was one of the country’s most famous actors and yet he was sent prision for 18 years for his political beliefs. While in prision he insruced Serif Goren to co-direct YOL (1981) exposing the injustices towards women in Turkey.
YILMAZ GUNEY
Name the most promising filmmaker to emerge from Japan in the 1980s was a comic humanist who made 10 films in 13 years, all satirizing Japanese culture. His film TAMPOPO (1986) looked at Yakuza, foodies and cinema. Also name his “partner-in-crime” who starred in most of his films and brought an important “everywoman” ingredient to the screen.
JUZO ITAMI
NOBUKO MIYAMOTO
Name the Actor of THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY (1980)
N!XAU
