I Don't Know What to Make of That

 

If we say, I don't know what to make of that, it means I don't understand. It is folksy, like someone in Texas might say. 

Homework: Remember you have to do three assignments. The first  choice is Pulp Fiction. Write one sentence to describe each scene. I think there are seven or nine scenes. Write them in the correct chronological order.

1.              An army friend of Butch the boxer’s dead father delivers a watch to him.

We are almost finished Pulp Fiction. The movie will end with the scene that it starts with. The diner scene. This is called Bookends.

 

Why is he calling him Ringo? He is making fun of him. He is calling him cute little guy. Ringo is the drummer in The Beatles

 

 

 

I want to watch a different genre of movie each time. This time let’s watch a Western movie. It’s a cowboy movie

The directors and writers of this movie are two Jewish brothers. The movie is also a picaresque. This is when the hero / protagonist must travel, go on a journey, etc. to escape danger. The protagonist usually does not have much money and gets into a lot of adventures.

 

 

Narration. Voice over. It is used to explain the movie. Some filmmakers do like it. They think the movie should explain itself. The narrator went to Harvard University. His roommate at Harvard was Al Gore, the Vice President of America. Can you hear his accent. It is a Texan accent. Texas is more conservative. They still have the death penalty.

Why did he shoot the bird on the bridge.

Psychotic.

Dorks

 

We won’t take a break. Movie techniques.

I said before this movie is not in chronological order. First, second, third, fourth. First, next, after, finally.  Why is it out of chronological order / linear order. Our lives are chaotic (crazy, not organized). The movie is trying to show this by messing up the time order. Why is the watch important to this idea of chaos in our lives? Why does the protagonist (main character) care so much about the watch?

Paying homage to: this is an idea you will often see in film. When the director copies a famous scene from a famous movie to show respect to that director or the history of film. I am going to show you Tarantino copying / paying homage to Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange.

Closeup shot going through the windshield.

Ketchup

Catch up: hurry up

Flashback: memory scene

Heirloom: something that is important in a family but not valuable to others

Cameo: when a famous person goes in a movie for a quick shot or a few minutes only

 

Dorks: nerds, sissy boys, etc.

Don't Be a Square

 

                                                                         A Clockwork Orange

I haven’t decided what movies to watch yet. The first one is Pulp Fiction. I like to do a different genre of film each time. Genre: comedy, science fiction, horror, documentary, etc. Pulp Fiction is a dark comedy. Some people say Film Noir. That is a type of fiction set in Los Angeles before the 1960s. Usually, it involves police and crime. The idea is everything is bad and corrupt. Grades:

Attendance (10%): Come to class. Every hour that you miss of class, I deduct 1% (minus).

Homework (20%): I will give homework after each movie is finished. You must do three homework assignments.

For the tests, I will tell you the words to study. If you didn’t see a movie, you will not be able to answer the test questions.

We don’t take a break.

This movie is NOT in chronological / linear order. First, then, after, finally. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5….

You must think about why the director (Quentin Tarrantino) has done this. Why is the film not in chronological order? You tell me.

Opening credits: tell the actors in a movie; they also set the mood for the movie with music. We will spend time studying them.

Why is the briefcase so important to them? What is in the briefcase?

Look at the combination lock = 666

This is the number of the Devil. Evil number.

Let’s look in other parts of the movie to see if we can find some hints about what is in the briefcase.

Hint 2: Light coming out

Hint 3: The sense of awe people have when they look in the briefcase. They can’t seem to talk about what is inside.

Hint 4: The bandage on the back of the briefcase owner’s neck. M. Wallace.

“That is pride fu(*ing with you. F(*& pride.” Ignore pride because you are old now and you can’t do anything to solve this problem. Foreshadow: hint about something that will happen later in the story. This idea of pride is important to the theme of the movie.

Square: someone who is NOT cool

December 2025 Final Exam Film and Culture

We will focus on three films on the final exam: A Scent of a Woman, Seven, and Nosedive. If you know the following words and phrases, you will do fine:

dystopic, science fiction, column, paragraph, plot, character, theme, colonel, disillusioned, nosedive, misanthrope, information, misogynist, wrath, sin, revenge, infected, similar to, genre, aliens, infected, homoerotic, myth, society, rank, army, riddle, twist of fate, bookends, superficial, vision, future, animation, detective, sentence, creation, insane asylum, jail, hitch hike

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Power of the Dog for two reasons.

First is the bookend idea to start / finish a movie or song.

Both Power of the Dog and Pulp Fiction have bookends.

Remember I said the start of the movie looks like a film reel.

Phil talks about Bronco Henry three times. Every time, George ignores him. He doesn’t want to talk. Phil studied classics in university, or myths, which are stories that are not true. Do you think Bronco Henry is real or maybe he is just Phil’s dream lover.

 

Our last genre is science fiction. There used to be a TV show called The Twilight Zone in 1950s and sixties. It had were short stories with a twist of fate.

A twist of fate is a surprise ending. I think Black Mirror follows that idea. I think the writers of Broken Mirror grew up watching Twilight Zone.

Opening credits: beginning of movie

Nosedive. When an airplane is crashing. It is a dystopia. This is a story set in the future where it is bad or scary. Something terrible is going on in the society.

This episode has my classmate from high school.

Technology is not helping us improve. It is having a bad influence on our psychology, making us stupid, and superficial (shallow).

Are they happy or miserable (very unhappy)? And if they unhappy, but perfect people. 4.8. Why would perfect people tell lies?

Do they really have friends? Why does she have to ask someone she has not seen in many years to be her maid of honor at a wedding?

Are these really friends in the phone?

Will being an honest (true) person get you a low rating? Why?

Picaresque: road trip that the protagonist did not at first want to take

 

Dynamic character: is she a dynamic character?

 

The colonel was a dynamic character. At first, he was selfish and unkind. He was a misogynist. In the last scene, he changes and helps Charlie. And he is respectful to the female teacher at Charlie’s school.

Maybe that was just a good day for him and he was in a good mood. Just because he changed to help Charlie, if we truly look at people, do they really change? How about the next day? Will he stay the same or will he go back to being an unkind, mean old man

If I Were Half the Man I Was Five Years Ago

Scent of a Woman

Here are some homework questions for Scent of a Woman. Remember you only need to do three homework assignments. I will give you a free 25/25% percent for the fourth assignment.

1. Do you think the principal, Mr. Trask, will still give Charlie a recommendation for Harvard at the end of Scent of a Woman? Explain.

2. How does Charlie help the colonel? Tell at least three ways.

3. The autumn scenery reminds us of the four seasons and the changing of seasons. Why is this important to the movie?

4. Is the colonel a hurtful man? Explain.

The Power of the Dog

The Power of the Dog

1. How did Peter protect his mother?

2. Did Peter do an immoral thing in protecting his mother?

3. Why does Peter smile slyly at the end of The Power of the Dog (when he sees his mom with his stepfather)?

4. Why does Peter put on yellow gloves to handle the rope?

5. What happened to Phil at the end of the film?

6. Was Phil a misogynist? Explain.

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Seven

1. What did David Mills do to the man they arrested?

2. Did David Mills do an immoral thing at the end of Seven?

3. Is William Somerset misanthropic or disillusioned?

4. What are the seven deadly sins?

5. What is the worst of the deadly sins? Explain.

6. What genre is Seven?

Detective David Mills

I have watched this film twice. So, I don’t know what the title “The Power of the Dog” means. I am still thinking about it.

It was nominated at the Oscars / Academy Awards for

1.            Best Movie

2.            Best Actor

3.            Best Actress

4.            Best Supporting Actor

5.            Best Supporting Actress

It won Best Director. The director is a woman.

It won Best Soundtrack (which means music). The band is Radiohead.

The music matches the landscape.

This is set in Montana.

Montana is empty of people.

What is the genre?

Pulp Fiction was dark comedy. Film Noir.

Rain Man was a road trip picaresque. If you want to simplify, a drama.

Seven was a detective movie and thriller. It is a psychological thriller.

The Power of the Dog is a cowboy movie or western. It is also a homoerotic movie (gay).

The landscape is stark. That means not much grows there.

Foreshadow: hint of what will happen

 

 

“When my father passed (died), I wanted nothing more than my mother’s happiness. For what kind of man would I be if I did not help my mother, if I did not save her?”

Who does he need to save his mother from?

That boy murdered Phil.

When you see him, he is skinny and weak, a sissy. He does not seem like someone who can protect women.

Subtle.

So, his father is dead. He must protect his mother.

 

Phil talks about “Bronco Henry” three times to his brother. Every time, his brother ignores him and does not want to talk about “Bronco Henry.”

1.            Why?

2.            Who is Bronco Henry.

This is the second time Phil talks about Bronco Henry.

 

Phil is calling himself and his brother Romulus and Remus. They are two men who Romans believed started Rome in 753 B.C. This is not true. Rome is much older. It is a myth. A myth how we explain the world when we don’t understand it from science. The myth says the two brothers were raised by a wolf. One brother killed the other brother.

 

 

This story he is telling about Bronco Henry is impossible. It’s a lie. It is a myth about Bronco Henry.

His brother went to Yale and graduated number one in Classics. The history of Rome and Greece.

Phil got anthrax from that rope.

How did he save his mother?

Remember he gave the hide to Phil to finish the rope. That hide (animal skin) had anthrax.

The title is “The Power of the Dog.” When they look at the hills, he says you can’t see it, I won’t explain.

Is it his secret place?

The movie has a riddle. Something to solve.

Why is Phil so jealous of this woman?

1.            Misogyny: hatred of women

2.            Misanthrope: smart person who hates other people for being stupid

3.            Jealous because she steals his brother?

 

 

 

 

We are half way.

I want to show you ten minutes of a documentary. Documentary is another genre.

This reminded me of something.

I will post last weeks and two weeks’ ago tonight. So, there will be two sets of questions. One for Seven and one for The Power of the Dog. You have to do three homework assignments.

I will give you the midterm exams next week.  

Midterm Exam Fall 2025

Memorize these words for the test. Then you will be fine:

column, synonym, symbolic, definition, misanthrope, picaresque, is, pay homage to, positive, static character, foreshadow, chronological, heirloom, tracking shot, hints, paragraph, plot, setting, autistic, protagonist, Iconic, shot (from a camera), cameo, skills, stereotype, government, ambiguous, combination number (from a lock), briefcase, explain, details, near the start, introduce

Patrick Cowsill: Hope Is in B.C.