Will Smith - the most powerful actor in Hollywood

Willard Carroll "Will" Smith Jr. is a widely known American actor, producer, rapper and songwriter. He was born on September 15, 1968 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  to Caroline, a school board administrator, and Willard Carroll Smith, Sr. who was a refrigeration engineer. He was raised baptist. Smith attended Overbrook High School. What is interesting, he could have studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology but he said he never wanted to apply to college because he "wanted to rap". 

Smith started his recording career as The Fresh Prince in the hip hop band DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. They performed humorous songs and became very famous. They released 3 albums with hits like "Parents Just Don't Understand",  "Rock the House" or "Girls Ain't Nothing But Troubles". In 1998 the group won the first Grammy awarded in the Rap category. 

What could go wrong? - you may ask. Well, in the years 1998-1999 Smith spent his money so freely that in 1990 he was almost a bankrupt. With some help came the NBC television network - he was to play in a sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air". This is how his acting career started.  Will Smith set for himself the goal of becoming "the biggest movie star in the world", studying box office successes' common characteristics.

Smith didn't give up his music career, with the group he released another album with the hit "Summertime" for which they got the second in their career Grammy award. At that time many of Hollywood producers started to offer him roles in their movies. His first major roles were in the drama "Six Degrees of Separation" from 1993 and the action film "Bad Boys" from 1995. 

In 1996 Smith starred in "Independence Day" - a massive blockbuster becoming the second highest-grossing film in history at the time and bringing a huge popularity to the actor. 

In his acting career he starred in more than 20 movies, he was also a producer of many of them. One of the best are: "The Pursuit of Happyness","Ali", "I Am Legend" and "Seven Pounds", which is my favorite. Personally, I consider will Smith as a great actor because of his acting skills, his sensitivity in playing and the perfect choose of the films he plays in - in my opinion he plays only in those ones that he knows that will be good.

Smith has been nominated for five Golden Globe Wards and two Academy Awards and honestly... I don't know why he doesn't have an Oscar yet!

In April 2007 "Newsweek" called him "the most powerful actor in Hollywood". He is the only actor to have eight consecutive films gross over $100 million in the domestic box office, eleven consecutive films gross over $150 million internationally, and eight consecutive films in which he starred open at the number one spot in the domestic box office tally. He has been ranked as the most bankable star worldwide by "Forbes". As of 2016, his films have grossed $7.5 billion at the global box office. Even president Obama admitted that a biographical movie about him was ever made, he would like Will Smith to play his role. He also spoke to Smith about the possibility of making a movie about the election of 2008. 

It may not be a surprise, but Will Smith is my favorite actor. I watch all of his movies and they never dissappointed me. If you are also interested, his newest one, "Collateral Beauty" is now in cinemas. :)

Task: Think about your favorite actor/actress and write a letter to a friend in which you will describe that person. 

New Year's-Themed Movies

There is  always a lot of pressure on New Year's Eve - decisions what to do, where to go and what to wear may cause a lot of problems.  It is said that the way you spend New Year's Eve is how you will spend the entire year.

While it can be fun and nice to go out with  friends  and hit some great party,  it can also be a horrible experience -  huge amounts of people make us spend hours waiting to get into a club or bar, drunk people make us nervous and after some time we really desire to come back home.

 There is  a great alternative to celebrating New Year's: staying in and watching a New Year's Eve-themed movies !

Some of the greatest American movies to watch during New Year's Eve:

1.  WHEN HARRY MET SALLY - One of the most iconic romantic comedies made in the USA. It is very hilarious and features one of the best New Year's Eve scenes of all time.

2. AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER - Another classic romance. It shows how romantic and tragic, a New Year's Eve kiss can be.

3. NEW YEAR'S EVE - Funny and entertaining stories connected with New Year's Eve confusion. This is a perfect movie to enjoy with group of friends or during girl's pyjama party.

4. BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY - Although the whole action is not strictly connected with New Year's Eve, there is a lot of Christmassy mood , what makes it a perfect choice for this special night.

5. IN SEARCH OF MIDNIGHT KISS - The action takes place on 31st of December. Two lost souls find themselves on the dating site to survive New Year's Eve together

TASK: Find out and write down some traditions connected with celebrating New Year's Eve in United States. 

Back to the Future

If  you're a cinema lover you probably know this movie by heart. And at some point you fell in love with Michael J. Fox.

   Marty McFly, a typical teenager of the eighties, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-travelling DeLorean by his mad friend Dr. Emmett Brown. Marty lands in 1955 and faces the complicated story of his future parents in which he unintentionally takes part in.

  The success of the film led to its continuation. In Back to the Future Part II Marty needs to fix his own future while in Back to the Future Part III he helps his friend Emmett Brown to face the culture of Wild West and conquest the love of his life.

  Despite the fact that I'm not a science-fiction lover I strongly recommend this trilogy simply because it is a story about consequences of previously made decisions. The effect is intensified in the way that it concerns a story of Marty's parents and leads to a conclusion about our own lives.

I hope you will enjoy this cinema's classic.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio born November 11, 1974 in Hollywood is an American actor and film producer. He is the only child of  Irmelin Inderbirken and former comic book artist George DiCaprio. 

• nominated for six Academy Awards
• won the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Revenant
• founder of his own production company Appian Way Productions

DiCaprio's father is of Italian and German descent, his mother, who was born in Germany, is of Russian and German ancestry. DiCaprio's parents met while attending college, later moved to Los Angeles, California. 

DiCaprio was named leonardo, because when his mother was pregnant, she was looking at a DaVinci painting in a museum when he first kicked. 

In 1992, he had a breakthrough in his career, when he was handpicked by Robert de Niro out of 400 boys to play the lead role in This Boy's Life. 

Next year, he played a role a handicapped brother of Johnny Deep's character in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. The film became a huge success and DiCaprio was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. 

The film Titanic made in 1997 transformed Leonardo into a commercial movie star, resulting in fan worship among teenage girls that became known as ''Leo-Mania''. 

The role of a stockbroker who was arrested in late 1990s for money laundering in Woolf of Wall Street made Leonardo win a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. DiCaprio said that he was going to take a break from acting and would ''fly around the world doing good for the environment''.

Additionally, he's never done drugs, and had to speak to a drug expert to prepare for Wolf of Wall Street. 

The Revenant (2015) was received well by the critics. DiCaprio earned numerous awards, including his first at the Academy Awards in the Best Actor category. 

Task:

Find information about his environmental activism. Write a short essay about his involvement on that score. It should not be shorter thatn 200 words. 

Assassinations Of African-American Activists

Assassinations Of African-American Activists

United States of America is a country which „unity” never was and still is not an easy and straightforward matter. Even our first associations with this country are mainly about varied society in different states. This is obviously connected with different origins of Americans which are most visible because of the skin colors. The constant fight between white and black people stems from an early stage of development of the USA and propagation of slavery.

However, the fight for blacks’ rights started to be really violent in the 50s and 60s so in the times of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. The African-American civil rights movement became a serious threat for Parliament. Race problem is so significant that whenever it is mentioned on the greatest scale - someone gets killed. It is not only in case of ordinary people but also politicians from the highest position. What is more, it is not limited to this period, when we notice that also Abraham Lincoln was shot because of his actions on abolishing the slavery. People always are silenced by an assassin and get shot. It is both really tragic and ironic how the issue is dealt with since shooting away anyone who causes problems seems to be in the range of possibilities. However the case of Malcolm Little, or Malcolm X as he preferred to be called, was of the highest significance because his death was more or less caused by his comment on John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the US president’s  assassination. 

Spike Lee’s film titled “Malcolm X” is a really detailed biography of Malcolm. It contains all of the most important events, and we see all different changes of values he undergoes. It ends with a really dramatic scene of his death. The one held responsible for the attack in the ballroom was Thomas Hagan, whose real name was Talmadge Hayer. He hit Malcolm 7 times using a shotgun. The film was based on Malcolm’s autobiography so it is based on the most believable source. For obvious reasons he had not wrote about his death but predicted it since several times before someone threatened him and once, shortly before his death at a rally of his followers in a ballroom in Washington Heights, someone attacked his home. He felt that people who wanted him dead were from Black Muslims Organization, which he left shortly before. They fell apart mainly because of his comment on the assassination of President Kennedy. He called it a case of ``chickens coming home to roost'' and an outgrowth of violence that whites had used against Negroes. He was suspended by Elijah Muhammad and then started his own movement but still remained loyal to his beliefs which were more than critical towards white people. It is really difficult to judge him based on Spike Lee’s adaptation. His character is really complex. However it is quite hard not to notice the irony between him and JFK. Malcolm X died from black man hands. In the end viewers get the impression that somehow his hatred and arrogance was punished.

On the other hand, Martin Luther King’s beliefs and actions were totally different. His life was portrayed in a quite recent movie “Selma” directed by Avay DuVernay. In this movie we get a totally different type of activist – the passive resistance type. The impression we get of King is that he was the one who really inspired all African-Americans to unite and march from Selma to protest against oppression. When it comes to his death it is not presented, but only mentioned about at the end. King was shot in a more private occasion, while he was in a Lorraine Motel in Memphis with his associates. The assassin used a sniper rifle and because of that he was hard to capture at first. Really interesting thing is that the police arrived at the crime scene without being called for. He murderer was caught later on – it was James Earl Ray. Just like Malcom, King received numerous threats against his life. His situation was, however, quite different since his attitude was far less aggressive, he even was able to recruit white people who openly helped his cause. Unfortunately, they were killed too, like for example Viola Luizzo who was eliminated by Ku Klux Klan. The number of assassination attempts followed her case.

Two cases have something in common, but also differs significantly. Both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were fighting for their rights, and they both were considered to be a huge danger for the authorities. They were observed and wiretapped almost all the time. Another, not so significant, similarity would be the fact that they died at the exact same age – 39. However, their deaths had somehow different impact on the society. When Malcolm X shared his fears of being killed, he was laughed off as a publicity act. When he died people were thinking mainly about how aggressive he was. On the other hand, King became a national hero, and it is his statue that Barack Obama have on his desk. Such thing was unimaginable back in King’s times.

Many people died for the cause of freedom. From perspective of today it seems that such sacrifice was almost necessary because it really got the movements publicity it deserved in the first place. We are not able to guess how would the things go down if both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were alive. The one thing we can obviously say – people who were responsible for the deaths of these iconic figures had lost their fight because of the killings.

1. Write an essay:

Compare situation of black people of America then and now. Try to explain the roots of the problem and present examples of racial discrimination in the US. Try to answer the question if the situation have changed, and if yes - explain how.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1) "American civil rights movement". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.

Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2016. Web. 13 sty. 2016

<http://www.britannica.com/event/American-civil-rights-movement>.

2) Malcolm X. Dir. Spike Lee. Prod. Spike Lee. By Spike Lee and Arnold Perl. Perf. Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, and Al Freeman. Warner Bros., 1992. DVD.

3) Peter Kihss. "How Race Is Lived In America." Editorial. The New York Times 22 Feb. 1965: n. pag. Malcom X Shot to Death at Rally Here. Web.

4) ‘’Death of a desperado’’ Newsweek, March 8, 1965, Copyright @ 1965, Newsweek.Inc.

<http://europe.newsweek.com/death-desperado-malcolm-x-was-assassinated-50-years-ago-today-308253?rm=eu>

5) Selma. Dir. Avay DuVernay. Screenplay by Paul Webb. Perf. David Oyelowo and Tom Wilkinson. Celador Films, 2014. DVD.

6) Berman, Elizabeth. "The Photograph That Captured the Horror of MLK’s Assassination." TIME Magazine. Time Inc., 3 Apr. 2015. Web. 13 Jan. 2016. <http://time.com/3749091/mlk-assassination-photograph/>.

7) Caldwell, Earl. "Martin Luther King Is Slain in Memphis; A White Is Suspected; Johnson Urges Calm." The New York Times (1968): n. pag. Web.

8) "Viola Liuzzo." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Jan. 2016 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

9) Bartlett, Karen. "Why Malcolm X Is Getting Written Out of History." Newsweek. N.p., 20 Feb. 2015. Web. 13 Jan. 2016. <http://europe.newsweek.com/i-worry-my-father-being-written-out-history-307941?rm=eu>.

A Blockbuster Film

                               Casablanca

                             ~A Blockbuster Film~

''Casablanca '' is an American romantic drama film from 1942 directed by Michael Curtiz. It is set during World War II and the plot focuses on an American expatriate Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) who is the owner of the nightclub '' Rick's cafe Americain'' in Casablanca. It attracts a variety of clientele: Vichy, French and German officials, refugees who desperately try to reach still neutral United States.  Rick was in relationship with a woman Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman). At one point, she visits his Cafe and asks Sam, the pianist, to play her favourite song '' As Time Goes By''. Suddenly, Rick storms over, enraged, that Sam disobeyed hir order not to play that particular song. Then he spotts Ilsa. 

Rick finds out that she is here, in Casablanca, with her husband Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), who is a Czech Resistance leader. At that point, Rick has to choose between his love to a woman and helping her husband to escape Casablanca-Vichy controlled city- to continue the fight with Nazis. 

Titbits

• none of the scenes was shot in Casablanca, the whole film was made in LA film studio
• when the film was being shot, not only did the actors not know what the ending would be, but also screenwriters. The script was being written au courant. 
• 3 Oscars: the best direction, the best film, the best script adaptation
• It is the most quotable film of all time
• In Maroco, there is a resaturant, ''Rick's Cafe'', which looks exactly the same as in the film 

''Here's looking at you, kid''

''Play it, Sam. Play ''As Time Goes By''

''We''ll always have Paris''

''Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine''

•                          

Task: Pick a film, in which Humphrey Bogart or Ingrid Bergman performed.

Prepare a presentation about it, including pictures/trailers and titbits. 

American Christmas Horror Movies

Not all of us like horror movies, however, watching one in a snowy December evening may be a nice alternative to the mainstream classics (if you seek that kind of entertainment, please check out Karola's post) as Titanic or Home-Alone. Even though I am not a huge fan of horror movies myself (too gripping), they may possibly reflect the Christmas atmosphere even better than those pleasant ones.

Sometimes, conjoining comic and terrifying elements may occur to be as tasty as the combination of sweet and salty (just quoting one of our teachers of American Pop Culture), if your nerves are weak though, just give a try one of the lightest proposals.

1. Christmas Cruelty (2013)

If you are looking for a movie that is brutal and pulls no punches, Christmas Cruelty is for you. We follow a serial killer and his victims as they all prepare for Christmas in their own ways. This year it doesn’t matter if you have been naughty or nice, Santa is coming to town no matter what, and he knows where you live.

2. Gremlins (1984)

A boy inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town. 

3. Tales from the Crypt (1972)

It’s the opening section of the third (and best) of Freddie Francis’ anthology films for Amicus that concerns us here. It’s Christmas Eve, and Joan Collins has just embedded a fire iron in her husband’s head as her daughter sleeps upstairs. A radio announcement that there’s an escaped lunatic in the area dressed as Santa Claus could provide her with the perfect alibi, as long as he doesn’t make it into the house before the police arrive.

The film that started the whole psycho-Santa subgenre, it may not be the most iconic example (the notorious marketing campaign alone for 1984’s Silent Night, Deadly Night gives that film that honour), but with a lean 12-minute running time it’s easily the most effective.

 

4. Christmas Evil (1980)

The sole credit for director Lewis Jackson, this terrifically strange one off predated Silent Night, Deadly Night’s notion that a traumatic childhood encounter with Santa Claus might trigger an unhealthy desire to dress up as the Coca-Cola Company’s benevolent mascot and slaughter those on the naughty list. Harry has been obsessed with Christmas ever since he caught mommy getting a little bit more than a kiss from Santa when he was a kid. Donning the suit and kitting out his van, Harry takes to the streets to deliver presents to hospitals and murder those who fail to recognise the true spirit of the season.

5.  Black Christmas (2006)

 
An escaped maniac returns to his childhood home on Christmas Eve, which is now a sorority house, and begins to murder the sorority sisters one by one.

 6. Jack Frost (1997)

A father, who can't keep his promises, dies in a car accident. One year later, he returns as a snowman, who has the final chance to put things right with his son before he is gone forever. 

If you have a free moment between cleaning, eating and spending incredibly long and worisome hours with your family - check out any of the mentioned movies (please bear in mind that not all of them may be proper for your age). Some of them may be considered as classics, being rather funny nowadays that scary. I recommend these newer ones for fans of strong thrillers with a lot of violence, but causing us the creeps, both types of horror movies can make us appreciate the warmth of home and the company of our family even more.

SOURCES: http://www.imdb.com



TASKS:

1. Try to think about possible pros and cons of horror movies. If you're not a fan of that type of movies, talk to your friends who like them. Discuss.

2. Write your review of a Christmas movie that you've watched. (It doesn't have to be a horror movie! Think about aspects that make Christmas even more vivid and magical.) (200-250 words)

Gone with the Wind

          ~ Timeless American Movie ~

'' Gone with the Wind'' is a romance film from 1939, adapted from novel with the same title. It was written by Margaret Mitchell in 1936.

The story takes place in the southern United States in state of Georgia, during American Civil War (1861-65). The main character Scarlett O'Hara falls in love with Ashley Wilkes, who unfortunately marries his beautiful and fragile cousine Melania Hamilton. Scarlett cannot accept the fact of rejection by Ashley, because with her beauty she could have any boy she desired. Then, on the horizon Rhett Butler shows up, who has the worst reputation in the South.  Scarlett and Rhett get married and shortly after they have a daughter: Eugenia Victoria called dimunitively Bonnie Blue. Unfortunately, the girl dies in the accident when riding a horse. Scarlett accuses Rhett of not watching Bonnie while horse riding, consequently accusing him of killing their daughter. 

At the end of the novel, there is a scene where Melania was at the deathbed, enlightening Scarlett that Rhett loved her very much and that she should fight for him. Eventually, after all those years Scarlett realised, that she did not love Ashley, but only the illusion from the past. 

“I loved something I made up, something that's just as dead as Melly is. I made a pretty suit of clothes and fell in love with it. And when Ashley came riding along, so handsome, so different, I put that suit on him and made him wear it whether it fitted him or not. And I wouldn't see what he really was. I kept on loving the pretty clothes—and not him at all.”

The novel ends with Rhett leaving South ans Scarlett's words which became the most popular quote and often repeated by the readers. 

''I'll go home. And I'll think of some way to get him back. After all...tomorrow is another day.''

Titbits:

• Even though in the book Scarlett's eyes were "pale green without a touch of hazel," Vivien Leigh's eyes were actually blue. When possible, they adjusted the lighting to make her eyes look green.
• Although this is his most famous film, Clark Gable disliked this movie greatly. He said it was a "ladies' picture."
• None of the scenes were actually filmed in the south, except for a few of the opening credits
• Vivien Leigh hated the kissing scenes with Clark Gable. She said that his breath smelled terrible. This is probably because he had false teeth, a result of excessive smoking
• Margaret Mitchell's original name for Scarlett was "Pansy," and her original name for Tara was    "Fountenoy Hall." Gladly, she changed them.

Task: Prepare a presentation about your favourite film. It should last 5 minutes and include titbits. 

                                                                                           

"Doctor Strange"- a perfect superhero movie

As a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe I couldn't resist writing about it. However, it is too much for one post - 14 movies so far were produced and still 8 are planned for the next 3 years. This is why today I will focus on one film only and the chosen one is... "Doctor Strange", no surprise! Why this one? It is the newest one and, what is more important, it collects such good reviews that I consider it a perfect beginning. 







Cinema is extremely important in the American Culture - when we think about the movies, we immediately think about Hollywood and it is not without a reason. Since the 1920s, the American film industry has grossed more money every year than that of any other country. Marvel Studios  is a huge part of the phenomena. 

But let me come back to the main topic - Doctor Strange, released on the 13th of October 2016. It is a superhero movie featuring the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Who is he at the beginning of the story? Doctor Stephen Strange is an incredibly smart, gifted and self-confident (often arrogant!) neurosurgeon who devotes his life mainly to work. Everything changes the moment he has a serious accident in which his hands are crushed. As a result he undergoes many operations but all done in vain - his hands will never be in the same condition. As we all know, for a neurosurgeon it means the end of the practice. Stephen is not ready for this to happen, he tries every possible method but the medicine is helpless. Being given the advice, Stephen uses all his money and goes to Kathmandu in Nepal. And this is where the story of Doctor Strange begins...


Because I hope you will see the movie, I will not write about the plot. It is enough to say that Strange finds out he really knows nothing about the world. Hoping for recovery, he discovers a hidden world of magic and alternate dimensions, he learns all days and nights, and tries to understand the new world surrounding him. As it always happens in the superhero movies, we also have a villain, in this case a Master of the Ancient Arts, Kaecilius, but Strange has many friends ready to help him with the fight. 


 


But why is it so special and why the reviews are so good? Firstly, "Doctor Strange" is different from the previous films from Marvel Cinematic Universe - we see a completely different world surrounding the characters who do not use iron suits and traditional guns. Instead of guns, we have magic, space tunnels, time changes, mystical objects, buildings moving - all to save the world, as it always happens in Marvel Movies. Secondly, the special effects. It is impressive even when you watch it in 2D, I must admit sometimes I regret I haven't chosen the 3D version. This is one of the strongest points here. The third great advantage is the cast of the movie. Benedict Cumberbatch, known mainly from "Sherlock Holmes" as the title character is chosen perfectly - at first I wasn't sure if choosing the British actor for the American production with so many adnotations to the American culture was a good idea but trust me, from the very begginning it makes a perfect whole. Cumberbatch is extremely good in fight scenes but I think he is even better in all the funny moments, which takes place very often, and it is another advantage of the movie. In the cast there are also Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams, Mads Mikkelsen and many other talented actors. 


 

I strongly recommend "Doctor Strange", as well as the other Marvel Studios movies. These are the perfect examples of the typical American superhero cinema. 

Task: write a review of your favourite movie.