Regarded as one of the best horror movies in recent times, Get Out thrills audiences while critiquing America’s long history of racism and race relations. The film follows Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) as he goes to his girlfriend Rose’s (Allison Williams) rural family home for the weekend to meet her parents. Despite Chris’s initial nervousness to meet Rose’s family because he is black, they seem nice and accepting. That weekend, they are hosting a party for her grandparents’ friends, and Chris quickly realizes that there is darkness lying beyond the surface of Rose’s affluent, liberal, and “accepting” family. Get Out was clearly thrilling to our GSP community, with both theaters cheering, gasping, and getting very animated at the intense moments. This film is a must-see for both horror fanatics and those looking for a thrilling movie!
by Emma Hibbitts & Olivia Estep The Truman Show can be described as a life inside of a TV show, inside of a world, inside of a movie. Although this may be confusing, those who have seen it will understand- the layers are the main idea of the film! Jim Carrey, an actor well known for his funny roles, took the role of Truman Burbank very seriously. This was clear while watching him try to understand his life that is being controlled by TV show producers, namely Christof (Ed Harris). In the movie, the world watched The Truman Show with wide eyes as the man they’d grown to love since his conception discovered his reality. This film captivated GSP’s audiences, all while making them laugh at its idiocy; although silly at times, this film can be viewed as satire about reality TV and its consequences. The whole theatre rooted for Truman as he searched for his real-life love interest Sylvia/Lauren (Natascha McElhone) and uncovered his life.
by Emma Hibbitts & Olivia Estep Ian is probably one of the most known people around campus, as he runs and introduces our beloved Classic Film Series. In a packed house, waiting to see Moonlight, we decided to interview him about his experiences with movies both in his life and here at GSP. Liv: It’s very clear that movies are one of your passions; how have they helped you through your darkest times? Ian: I think when you see characters in a movie struggle and then keep going it reminds me that the moment that I’m in is not the end of the story, that there's more to come and if I wanna see how it turns out I just have to keep going. I would say that's something that any story helps me remember, but movies in particular because they feel like a dream that I know I’ll wake up from at some point. Emma: What are your favorite types of films, and do you have a favorite? Ian: I really like movies that can only be a movie. It's like if it's a book it's based on or a toy or something I’m not so into, but the movies where the fact it's a film is fundamental to it working are really interesting to me. The movies that take full advantage of the art form of filmmaking, those are always my favorite. I guess then of those my favorite would be...I’m gonna be all pretentious and I will say Citizen Kane is my favorite. It’s like a movie's movie. Liv: What movie in GSP’s classic film series were or are you most excited for students to see? Ian: I’m really excited for you all to see The Truman Show because I think that that movie means a lot of different things, and one of those things is about leaving a safe space and going into something scary, which is what you all are about to do. When you go back home and then when you go off to college and beyond, it's a great place to see that movie and talk about that idea of leaving a comfortable space for the unknown. We hope this helped you get a better idea of why movies are so important in Ian's life, and how they can be important in all of our lives!
by Olivia Estep & Emma Hibbitts Movie ratings strikes again as this time we decided to ask people about Singin' in the Rain, Lady Bird, and Do the Right Thing. The results are as follows: Singin' in the Rain Ladybird Do the Right Thing While all these movies received really high ratings, people tended to place Do the Right Thing over the other 2 movies.
by Emma Hibbitts & Olivia Estep Produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee, this drama brought flaming-hot relevance to our GSP scholars as we watched temperatures and tensions rise- it takes place on the hottest day of the year in a lively, predominantly black neighborhood in Brooklyn. When Sal Fragione (Danny Aiello), the Italian-American owner of a beloved pizzeria in the neighborhood, refuses to put any pictures of black people on his “hall of fame” of white Italian-Americans at the request of Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito) and Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn), the neighborhood erupts in conflict. Among bystanders of this conflict is Mookie, played by Spike Lee; Mookie is torn between his outraged community and his boss, Sal. Filled with symbolism and unique cinematography, Do the Right Thing examines racism, race relations, community, and even police brutality. It is still very relevant a whopping 32 years after its premiere, and scholars have been discussing its present-day parallels.
by Emma Hibbitts There are not many coming-of-age stories that capture the authentic female experience as well as this film. Directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Saoirse Ronan, Oscar Award-winning Lady Bird “broke the glass ceiling” in this male-dominated genre. The film follows 17 year-old Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson as she navigates friendships, relationships (one played by heartthrob Timothée Chalamet!), school, financial issues, and college decisions throughout her senior year of highschool. In addition, Lady Bird tackles the ever-so-familiar mother/daughter conflict that all of the women in the audience can relate to. It was clear that most girls who saw this film loved its relevance, while a lot of guys could not relate to it as well as they do with more male-centric coming-of-age films. Girls and boys alike all agree, though: it is a change of pace, and very funny!
by Emma Hibitts There is not much that hasn’t already been said about this 1952 rom-com musical, but I think I speak for everybody that saw this movie when I say we love it. Singin’ in the Rain takes place when the movie industry is attempting to go from silent movies to “talkies” but the audience was mostly focused on the sparking romance between Kathy Selden (Debbie Renolds) and Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly). We get to watch their mutual dislike of each other at the beginning of the movie grow into something much more as they begin to fall in love while simultaneously enjoying the comic relief of Donald O’Connor’s character, Cosmo Brown. Between the musical numbers and the overall “feel-good” tone, you can’t help but be entranced by the magic of this movie. One of the collective favorite moments was when the cast began to sing “Good Morning.” I don’t think many of us realized that this song was from the musical but it just brought the overall experience of this film together.
by Olivia Estep After watching both Life is Beautiful and Independence Day we decided to see what others thought. We asked 15 random individuals to give each movie a rating out of 5 stars and then averaged these numbers together to get the following results: Life is Beautiful Independence Day While both movies were incredible, our community leaned more towards Life is Beautiful than Independence Day, preferring a more heartfelt movie over an action packed one.
by Olivia Estep |