Thesis on "What the Bleep Do We Know"

Quoted Instructions for "What the Bleep Do We Know" Assignment:

Here is the assignment for my class, at the bottom I have what I want my critique and review on and my cell # please let me know if you can do this, I need to know asap. The movie I want it on is: What the bleep do we know!? Please make sure that this paper is a critique and review, not an essay or anything else, and Please go by the scoring criteria please...

Pam Daniels

Hello all,

Here is some assistance with the Cultural Activity Review and Critique due in LP 8 (Week 6).

First, this assignment is based on DOING AN ACTIVITY on a particular day at a particular time. It has to be SOMETHING NEW and not something you did before. It*****s not a research paper. And, it*****s not a write up of a trip you took or something you did in the past. You*****ll find a new cultural activity to do and then write a review and critique.

Please review the following SCORING CRITERIA of the assignment BEFORE DOING THE ACTIVITY. You*****re expected to explain your interest before doing the activity and to anticipate your idea of its value. So, you need to think about the activity before doing it.

SCORING CRITERIA (10 pts each):

-- unique to and chosen for the course

-- fits within examples given

-- date, time, and place of activity specified

-- details of events or progression

-- compares/contrasts activity to similar in other eras

-- insight into historical significance of event

-- reasons for choosing

-- realistic picture of understanding prior to activity

-- describes understanding after the activity

-- value critique (why worthwhile or not)

-- enjoyment or dislike

-- why liked or disliked

-- 1200 words minimum

-- free of grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors

WHAT IS A CRITIQUE AND REVIEW?

A review and critique is NOT A BLOW BY BLOW DESCRIPTION OF WHAT HAPPENS. This is called a plot summary. You do need to give some details of the activity*****s progression, but do this briefly. You only need to identify highlights of what happened. You*****ll spend most of your writing time on the other criteria. Even though I explain this each term, I still have students who submit a long and boring plot description.

Imagine a movie review article you might have read in the past. The ***** will have to describe the film quite early in the article. This brief description will flow over into observations (perhaps about what was expected versus what really happened). A reviewer is not just providing a summary description; s/he will focus on the observations that relate to the opinions about to be given. These observations will probably provide the raw material for the comparison to a related activity back in history, because the assignment requires that comparison. A comparison to related activities (other movies, the book, etc) is often part of a movie review. You'll be engaging in a review and critique if you assess the activity, if you talk about its value or lack of it. Perhaps you thought it was vulgar or fun or informative or useful or appropriate for children. How does this assessment compare with your assessment of the same kind of thing elsewhere in history?

HOW TO CHOOSE AN ACTIVITY:

The instructions in the Assignment area direct you to choose from a trip to a museum, attending a play, going to the ballet, listening to an orchestra (possibly relating to a famous composer), watching an international film, assembling a virtual field trip to one of the many *****museums***** on the internet, reading a piece of literature, attending a religious service, watching a documentary film, etc. The activity must be chosen specifically for this course and not something you*****ve done before. It can relate to something you*****ve done before, but what you do here must be a new activity. For example, if you traveled to Washington, D.C. three years ago and visited the Smithsonian, then you cannot use this activity. But, you can visit another museum and compare it to your prior Smithsonian adventure.

Here are some of my ideas. Perhaps you*****ll like one of these. Or, perhaps my list will nudge you into another idea. The rest of this letter presents various ideas, including the *****virtual museum***** which can be done entirely online.

FILMS:

*****Baraka***** Religion, music, dance, film. Baraka means *****blessing***** and the jacket hails this film as a *****transcendently poetic tour of the globe.***** The images and music are without commentary, unless you get the DVD and consider the special features. This film is beautiful. I*****m not doing it justice. It*****s compelling. It*****s delicious.

*****Il Divo (Live at the Greek)***** Music, pop culture, popular themes in songs. From

Netflix.com: *****The hugely beloved *****˜popera***** quartet brings their cultured voices and international style to the stage in this concert performance featuring a passionate set of both old and new hits. Check out some of the comments on Netflix.com. Examine the group*****s popularity, themes, and personas.

*****The Queen***** History, film, cultural icons. Helen Mirren won the Academy Award for Best Actress. From Netflix.com: This drama *****goes behind the scenes as the queen and prime minister try to manage Diana's death on a personal level while also dealing with a public calling for royal treatment for their beloved princess.***** The movie blends the acted footage with actual news footage.

*****Ken Burns America (The Shakers)***** History, religion, art. From Netflix.com: *****Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns directs this look at the unique religion and the peaceful and productive pastimes the Shakers practice on a daily basis.***** Productive pastimes? They produce furniture and other practical objects that often appear in museums as art.

*****Frida***** History, art; a film based on the life and work of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.

You*****ll also find information about Frida and her artwork on the internet for creating your own virtual museum tour. She was interesting, and her work is interesting.

*****Moulin Rouge***** History, film, pop culture, music. Starring Nicole Kidman. From a reviewer on Netflix.com: *****¦a movie so cheeky, aggressive and bursting with vitality that it can't help being annoying and exhilarating at the same time.***** The movie is set in the bohemian revolution of Paris (late nineteenth / early twentieth century). The visual style has an artistic quality suggestive of that period. Quite a trip.

*****Blue Man Group (The Complex Rock Tour Live)***** Music, pop culture. Blue Man Group is a cultural event in itself, but with this version of their show they *****critique***** the *****rock tour***** of pop culture. It*****s fun and clever.

*****The Magdalene Sisters***** is a fictionalized account of the slave-like circumstances of the young women committed to the Magdalene Asylums. The DVD from Netflix also has the original documentary expose. Religion, sexuality, history.

*****Amazing Grace***** presents the story of William Wilberforce as he fights slavery in Parliament in England in the early 1800s. Religion, history.

Ed Harris plays the title character in *****Copying Beethoven.***** The movie presents his views on music through his interactions with the other characters, especially the young woman assigned to be his copyist. Music, history.

Ed Harris plays the title character and makes his directorial debut in *****Pollock,***** a modern painter. The movie also deals with other artists of the time that Pollock knew or knew about or reacted to.

The recent HBO series called *****John Adams***** is fascinating. It*****s based on a Pulitzer Prize winning book. It transformed my perspective of the revolutionary period of American history. It*****s on DVD now. There are 2 to 3 episodes on each of 3 DVDs. It*****s several hours long. If you love this sort of thing, go for it.

Lately I*****ve been aware about just how many excellent Holocaust period movies have been made. *****The Pianist,***** which won Adrien Brody an Academy Award, has an intriguing blend of seriousness and lightness, sadness and hope. I was so touched by his performance that I watched it again right away. I also found *****Everything Is Illuminated***** quite interesting. It features Elijah Wood and deals with the theme of remembering.

The movie *****Miracle***** shows a fairly accurate account of the 1980 Olympics. It*****s a hockey flick. Quite inspiring. One of my favorites.

The movie *****When We Were Kings***** is an Academy Award winning documentary about the *****Rumble in the Jungle***** fight in Zaire between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. In it you*****ll find a fascinating trip through sports, communications, music, and history. I don*****t consider myself a sports aficionado, but I loved this movie.

*****Bobby***** was written and directed by Emilio Estevez. It takes place in the hours leading up to the assassination of presidential hopeful Bobby Kennedy. There is a lot of actual footage of Bobby Kennedy, but the story of the movie is about the people at the hotel where the shooting occurred. If you add the Extras to your experience, you*****ll have a fine historical journey into the early 1960s.

*****August Rush***** is all about music. It*****s in the air. Can you feel it? It*****s a delightful story about a musical family trying to get back together. The music theme is so pervasive that this recent movie qualifies as a film for review and critique in this course.

*****Out of the Blue***** is a docudrama based on an actual sudden killing spree that shook New Zealand. Karl Urban won an award recently for his portrayal of one of the police officers.

Casey Affleck won acclaim for his role in *****The Assassination of *****e James by the Coward Robert Ford.***** This movie explores the way in which history becomes legend.

Tom Selleck plays General Dwight D. Eisenhower in *****Ike: Countdown to D-Day.***** Although it is dealing with World War II history, it*****s not about battle scenes. It deals more with strategy, personalities, and tactical constraints.

Ron Howard*****s *****Frost/Nixon***** has been getting critical acclaim.

One of the most intriguing films I*****ve seen this past year is called *****Day Night Day Night***** about a teenage girl suicide bomber. The film has a stark realism to it. It*****s not sensationalistic. It doesn*****t slam Islamic culture. There is something about the film*****s ending that gave me insight into what her mission means to her. On imdb.com, a user comment reads: *****mesmerizing high tension.*****

A quick search on biographical films on netflix.com yielded the following possibilities.

They all cross different areas of the humanities.

- Capote (there*****s more than one, they*****re all interesting)

- The Mystery of Picasso

- F for Fake

- How to Draw a Bunny

- The U.S. vs. John Lennon

- Just an American Boy

- Arna*****s Children

- Tom Dowd and the Language of Music

- Tupac: Resurrection

- I*****ll Sing for You

VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS or VIRTUAL MUSEUM:

To do a *****virtual museum***** or *****virtual field trip,***** you*****ll need to view it as a MUSEUM or FIELD TRIP on the internet. I say it this way, so you*****ll avoid thinking of it as a research paper. Many museums have quality photos of their regular and guest collections on their websites. You could even choose a kind of art, let's say Impressionism, and take in the show for multiple museums via various websites. You'll need to do a bit of poking around to line up something that looks interesting to you and that has enough stuff for a review and critique. Once you know your topic, locate one or more websites for your *****field trip.***** Then choose a DAY AND TIME and ATTEND YOUR VIRTUAL MUSEUM or TAKE YOUR VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP. Your write up will go better if you view it as an ACTIVITY for a review and critique rather than as research for a typical research paper.

There are so many kinds of museums to use as a guide. Here are some kinds of museums I*****ve been to: art (ancient, modern, contemporary, folk, different countries and cultures, different styles of art, etc), transportation, antique cars, toys, wax, farm tools, Indian Pueblo culture, Civil War, African American spiritual music, glass, weaving, southern plantation, sunflowers, Star Trek, etc. If you can imagine a museum on something of interest to you, you can assemble your own personal *****museum***** via the internet.

NATIONAL ANTHEM:

You can use youtube.com to review and critique the Star Spangled Banner. My favorite version was performed by Marvin Gaye in 1983. Search youtube.com for "national anthem marvin gaye". I'm also fond of those by Whitney Houston, Josh Groban, Carrie

Underwood -- just vocals that touch me. A critique might include the controversial versions by Jose Feliciano or Ro*****ne Barr. You can speculate about why Jose Feliciano received flack but Marvin Gaye didn*****t. There*****s even a video out there of Hilary ***** singing the wrong words. I also find it interesting that so many singers don't pronounce all the words correctly. Consider where the anthem is being sung *****“ sports events for sure. If you*****ve followed American Idol, you can consider how many of these singers are performing it.

MATT AND OTHER YOUTUBE.COM ACTIVITIES:

There's an interesting cultural phenomenon on youtube.com. It's called "Where the hell is Matt?" It makes me smile. It's international. It started as an email/blog phenomenon, and now there's a lot on youtube.com. Actually, Matt started it for his family and friends. There's so much there now and so many links and discussions that it could easily make an interesting cultural activity for review and critique. The website WhereTheHellIsMatt.com has a lot of videos. Matt has posted a three-part set from a lecture he gave at a college about his adventures. He has also posted various homage versions by other people. It*****s quite an interesting modern cultural phenomenon. There are many topics that could be drawn from youtube.com.

LITERATURE:

A Play: If you prefer a book as your cultural activity, consider reading a play. You can get a book of drama from many libraries, especially if you*****re near a college library. Go to www.pulitzer.org and search in the history of the prizes under drama. You*****ll see quite a few award-winning plays. You may notice that some of these plays were made into movies. You can compare the written play to the movie version. Some plays/movies that I like are *****Night, Mother,***** *****Glengarry Glen Ross,***** *****Driving Miss Daisy,***** and *****Crimes of the Heart.***** This last play, in particular, is fast reading and humorous. If you*****ve never read a play, you might be surprised how quick and easy it is.

A Novel: ***** Maguire*****s book *****Wicked: The Life and Time of the Wicked Witch of the West***** is a fun read. It*****s been made into a play on Broadway, though I haven*****t been to it. ***** Maguire has other novels that take off on fairytales, history, art, and literature. His novels are perfect for a humanities course such as this.

There are many more possibilities for plays, novels, poems.

CULTURAL EVENTS:

Some students choose to attend a cultural event in their area. It*****s a good opportunity to take the whole family to help you with your assignment. Here are some of the things students have done in the past*****¦

>Do a mock pilgrimage on a climb of Mount Fuji

>Attend a powwow

>Attend a festival

>Visit a war memorial

>Tour a cactus garden

>Visit Hoover Dam

>Attend a religious service of a type not attended before

>Take a bus tour of an historic location

>Visit an ancient ruins

Enjoy your activity :)

Linda

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Name Author Date

Cultural Activity Review & Critique

Due by May 1, 2009 11:55 PM

#I would like for you to do this critique and review on a movie called "What the bleep do we know!?" written by William Arntz, Betsy Chasse. This movie would be conidered a philosophical movie, because it presents a particular view of how the world works. Some of the criteria asks me to anticipate what I think the experience will be like, so you will need to know what notes to take during the movie, so that you can write the paper.

If you can not do my critique and review on this movie, please let me know, because I do not want it done on anything else! I have the dvd movie, not sure if I can download it and send it to you or if you have access to it. Should be available on line or blockbusters. (I hope) please let me know if you can't do this......This assignment is very important and needs to be done right, and I do not have the time, job, child.

Thank you, Pam Daniels cell 816-863-1489