“Somewhere you made a choice. All followed to this.”
Anton Chigurh, No Country For Old Men
It’s Christmas morning. Mariah Carey is playing over the speakers quietly. I slowly rise up from under the blankets and make my way downstairs to join my family around the tree. Little about myself; I love giving gifts, but am a horrible gift receiver. I think it’s because I have a tough time hiding my feelings. “Socks?! You shouldn’t have.”
My girlfriend at the time hands me a gift, beautifully wrapped in gold and red. I carefully tear all the paper off and in my hands I now hold a box. “Nature Valley Granola Bars? You shouldn’t have!”
“No, Cody. Inside the box..” I am politely told from a voice across the room.
Inside, there is no granola to be found. But there is a blu-ray disk.
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men was released in box offices November 2007 and features incredible cast members such as:
The story is set in the in 1980’s on the Texas – Mexico boarder. While out hunting for antelope, Llewelyn Moss stumbles across the aftermath of a drug exchange gone horribly wrong. After exploring the scene, he discovers a lump sum of cash (2.4 million dollars to be exact) and can’t resist taking the money. This could help solve a lot of problems in his life, but instead is the start of many more.
Unknowingly to Moss, the briefcase of cash contains a GPS tracking device. This is when our antelope hunter, becomes the hunted, and must escape the literal hands of death. Enter Anton Chigurh, now listed as #44 on Empire Magazines Top 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
“If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?”
Anton Chigurh
No Country For Old Men
Little spoken words. Music quietly played through out. Intense scenes of chaos. An ongoing battle between good vs evil. Well developed characters. I had no idea that Christmas morning I would be opening a box that would, not only become my favourite present, but also my favourite movie recommendation to others.
No Country for Old Men is almost considered, by me, a modern day Charlie Chaplin silent film. Almost completely removed of all music and spoken dialogue for much of the film, the strength of the film are the provided by the outstanding performances from the entire cast of actors. Josh Brolin as Llewelyn Moss, for example, often builds tension in scenes without saying a single word.
“One of the things you realize about gettin older is that not ever’body is goin to get older with you.”
Llwelyn Moss, No Country For Old Men
The Coen Brothers did an amazing job on this film. If you don’t believe me, take a look at this list of awards this movie has won since released in 2007. I highly recommend you sit down and watch this movie, not once, but a couple of times. I have seen it, I believe 5 times now, and each time I pick up on another small, but big detail, I missed the time before.
Those lyrics have haunted me since the first time I heard them.
The Greatest Showman is a 2017 musical film that tells the story of P.T. Barnum, the founder of Barnum & Bailey Circus. The movie features an all-star cast including Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, and Zendaya. From the very beginning, the movie captivates the audience with a powerful opening song that sets the tone for the rest of the story. The Greatest Showman delivers an inspirational message about acceptance and embracing diversity. A message everyone should hear.
The movie begins with a young Barnum who grows up in poverty and dreams of making something of himself. He falls in love with a girl from a wealthy family, Charity, and they build a life together despite her father’s reservations.
Barnum isn’t a stranger to hard work, and his dreams of success lead him to start a circus featuring “freaks” and outcasts from society. At first, the circus is a success, but it eventually leads to conflict and controversy.
One of the major themes throughout the movie is acceptance. The characters are all different in their own way, but they are brought together by their differences. Barnum’s circus becomes a safe space for people who are rejected by society and are seeking acceptance. The characters face adversity from society, but they find solace in each other and in their shared love of the circus.
Another theme in the movie is embracing diversity. Barnum’s circus features a diverse group of performers, including a bearded lady, a little person, and an African American trapeze artist. The movie portrays the characters as unique individuals who should be celebrated for who they are, rather than shamed for their differences. The movie encourages viewers to embrace diversity and see the beauty in what makes each of us unique.
Throughout the movie, the characters face conflicts and adversity. Barnum’s decision to feature “freaks” in his circus leads to protests and backlash from the community. The characters are forced to defend themselves on several occasions. Barnum’s ambition and desire for success lead him to neglect his family and the people who matter most to him. However, the characters overcome these challenges through their determination, resilience, and support for each other.
In the end, the characters learn valuable lessons about the importance of family, acceptance, and embracing diversity. Barnum learns that true success is not measured by wealth and fame, but by the relationships he has with the people he loves. The characters eventually realize that their differences make them unique and special, and that they should be proud of who they are.
The Greatest Showman is a memorable and engaging movie that delivers a powerful message about acceptance and embracing diversity. The characters face conflicts and adversity, but they overcome these challenges through their determination, resilience, and support for each other. The movie uses storytelling principles and concepts to deliver its message in a powerful and memorable way. The themes of acceptance and diversity are relevant in today’s society, and the movie serves as a reminder to embrace what makes us unique and celebrate our differences.
“If you haven’t been to the Barnum Museum lately, you haven’t been at the Barnum Museum.”
The Greatest Showman truly is a movie that I believe EVERYONE must see. It’s a valuable lesson to teach our children early in life so they can grow up to be accepting adults. For myself, it’s reminded me to focus less on the “stuff” in my life and more on the people, places and experiences that bring me joy.
First of all, who has NOT seen this movie?! I just checked and it looks like its streaming on Disney+, Amazon Prime, and Crave…I highly you recommend you watch it. I admit, I love love love this movie because I love love love Dolly Parton but of course, there is much more to this movie than the Queen, Dolly. Go give the iconic song “9 to 5” a listen while you’re at it; Dolly Parton wrote it on set to kill time!
Once upon a time there was a receptionist, Doralee, who was beautiful and sexy, but also kind and smart. Every day, two other women in the office, Violet and Judy, would gossip about Doralee, implying she is sleeping with the Boss, Franklin, who by the way is a chauvinist and sexually harasses Doralee on a daily basis. But, one day Violet and Judy see they were wrong and that Doralee is the loveliest lady and a devoted wife. Because of that, they decide to teach Franklin a lesson and through a whirlwind of nonsense, end up kid napping him. Because of that, the 3 women end up running the office and make a ton of changes all under the guise of Franklins instruction, like daycare, flexible hours, job sharing, etc . Until finally, Franklin manages to escape and the ladies have no other option but to go to the office with him where he plans to out them; the Chair of the Board happens to show up and praises Franklin for all the changes he has made to boost morale ( the ladies unfortunately still do not get any credit because it was all done under Franklins name). And ever since then, Franklin was rewarded for his “hard work” by being promoted to a new position in Brazil and the women will no longer be subject to his chauvinistic ways. In fact, Violet gets promoted and takes over Franklins position in the office!
The story has it all – characters you are rooting for and can identify with, especially if you are a woman or have ever felt over looked at your job, it inspires us to stand up for ourselves, to incite change, and visually it grabs your attention, especially if you are a vintage lover. Whenever I watch an older movie or period pieces, I am always excited by the styling and design – it is a huge part of the story for me. Doralee, especially grabs my attention. While this movie takes place in the early 80s, Doralee has a lot of 50s/60s styling, she puts a lot of effort in to her look, and it’s one of the reasons she is a target; that could be a whole blog post on its own – why are women who do their hair and makeup, who put obvious thought in to their outfits, who have any sex appeal “hated” and labelled as stupid, slutty, distracting, etc., by, often and sadly other women, but also just society in general. It isn’t until Judy and Violet are forced by the situation to get to know Doralee that they realize she is kind and smart and only interested in her own husband. Which, I think, makes Dolly Parton the absolute perfect person to play this part.
Throughout the story, you establish an emotion connection with the characters, you are able to justify their actions, and you are really rooting for them to come out the other end as champions. This story has all the ingredients for a compelling story and is able to combine them in the exact way to give the audience, me, you, a great story, that is visually fantastic, but would be great if told in any era or medium.
What’s interesting still, is that the story of 9 to 5, while about 40 years old, is still pretty relevant, which, again, is a whole different blog post. So, in the meantime, read this Rolling Stones article, that talks about how the themes in the movie still hold true today, in real life.
I think we can all agree, we’ve gotten to the last TV episode of the night of our favourite show, it’s getting late and boom, cliffhanger! You couldn’t possibly watch one more episode…. right?
While we all KNOW there are cliffhangers and suspenseful writing keeps us on our feet, I’ve never thought about the important aspects of what goes into properly creating suspense in stories.
While the included tips help suspenseful storytelling, it is also important to include relatability, build up of tension and suspense, emotion, authenticity and urgency.
Limit the point of view by telling the story from the perspective of the characters. As they learn more, so does the audience
Setting & Imagery
Choose the right setting and imagery. Suggest that disturbing things will be revealed soon.
Style & Form
Play with style and form. Pay attention not only to what happens but how it is conveyed and paced. Use short, declarative sentences.
Dramatic Irony
Reveal key parts of the story to the audience, but not the characters. The mystery becomes not what will happen but when and how the characters will learn.
Cliffhanger
Build extra suspense by cutting off the story right before something crucial happens or in the middle of a dangerous situation with a slim chance of hope.
EXSM 3989 - Digital Storytelling Class Blog 