Black Hawk Down

I decided to write about Black Hawk Down which is a film directed by Ridley Scott in 2001 about a number of United States soldiers being dropped off in Somalia to settle a civil dispute. According to IMDB this battle took place in 1993 where 100 Army Rangers where dropped off into the heart of the city with orders to capture two infamous warlords. While doing so two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down by RPG‘s, forcing these Rangers to complete another difficult task of securing the areas of the crash. One of the pilots was then taken prisoner but no man gets left behind.

This is one of my favorite films of all time and is one of the reasons why I decided to write about it. Not until this blog post did I really notice the music though. I must have seen this movie fifty times but only now am I realizing the music’s full potential in the film. It truly lets the mood be known.

In general the movie doesn’t stick to one type of music. Throughout the film different genres of music are played. It opens with some authentic Somalia instruments letting you know where the story takes place. It then goes into some city background noise or harmonious flutes and violins. On IMDB the soundtrack includes Elvis Presley multiple times, Stone Temple Pilots, House of Pain, Jimi Hendrix, some indigenous artist and a lot of orchestra. I never realized that these famous musicians were part of such a great movie.

Certain scenes require different types of music, especially a war movie. Something different Ridley Scott did was put an orchestra while fire fights were happening and rock songs on their trip into the town. Generally you would think a loud heavy rock song would fit in with gun fire, loud explosions and helicopters but he proved me wrong. It does go quite well with it. He includes both sad and soft violins but also some very upbeat drums to describe various scenes of panic and pain.

For ex. You can really feel the soldiers pain and can put yourself into their shoes

The Godfather

The Godfather was released in 1972 and directed by Fancais Ford Coppola. It starred Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and James Caan. The film is rated number two just below Citizen Cane on the American Film Institute top 100 movies.

I decided to evaluate some of the scenes that are present in this film. In particular I wanted to focus on the special effects. Compared to today's movies they are absolutely terrible but givin the time period I don't think many questions were ever raised about them, especially because this was such a great movie.

At 3 minutes and 35 seconds you can tell where I am coming from. The shooting in the elevator is first. The gun used sounds like a firework and seems totally unrealistic. The second scene of poor special effects is when he is shot in the eye through his glasses. I was expecting blood to come pouring out but instead it looked like discolored water. I am in no way putting down The Godfather because it is absolutely one of the best films created. I wanted to shed light on how much special effects have evolved within the last 30 years.

1950-1985 Artist: Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Lichtenstein was one of the first to bring American Pop art form to the creative world. He shocked people with his exuberant style and comic book looking designs. Roy was born in New York in the year 1923 and drew ever since he was little. In the 1960s he received a job at Rutgers University where he was deeply influenced by a man by the name of Allan Kaprow. As you can tell he was also influenced by comics.

Personally I love his work and his particular style. He really motivates with his work and reminds me of clothing companies that I admire like OBEY. His style catches peoples attention but on top of that he was one of this first to do it. The Half-tones, colors and bold lines. All of his work is very similar to each other but very different from other works of art.

Whitney Museum of American Art

Recently I went to the Whitney Museum of American Art for my girlfriend’s project so I figured I can also benefit from this visit and I did. In particular I was interested in John Sloan’s paintings. I seemed to develop a liking to his work because in a way I can relate to them. I just can't get enough of his everyday New York lifestyle paintings. Being from New York I can relate to the sites that he paints and can appreciate them on a different level.
After about an hour of browsing we found a few of John Sloan's paintings. The one above really caught my eye and was painted in 1928, named Sixth Avenue Elevated at Third Street. I actually never have seen this painting before but I knew some info on John Sloan. I knew that Sloan was an American artist born in Pennsylvania who took the name of a realist artist. He often painted neighborhood life in the city of New York. His paintings are often perceived as if you are viewing life from his "window". I would certainly agree with this statement after looking at his works.
Now on to the painting, you can automatically see the variance of colors. The red brick, blue/purple sky, grey cobblestone and the women’s dresses. There is just so much going on in this painting that your eye doesn’t know where to look but I like it. I think this is where the curiosity comes in. I wonder were those girls are going and why they are running. Maybe they are trying to catch bus or to a show, however it lets your mind be creative. He did an exceptional job representing the hustle and bustle in a city. Since I didn’t see the painting before my visit I really couldn’t compare until I got home. The painting wasn’t that big so it actually made me examine it more closely. Like Edouard Manet’s work, Sloan didn’t put an excessive amount of detail in his work but when looked at from a distance it looks extremely detailed. For example the women’s faces are simply a few brush strokes but perceived differently like the pendant the lady is wearing in “A Bar at the Folies Bergere” by Manet.
This painting slightly reminds me of my favorite t-shirt company and designer Johnny Cupcakes because of its cartoony feel. Maybe this is why I was I was sublimity drawn to this particular painting. I do not know which one of Sloan’s paintings I like better. I love the action in this one but I really like the emotion that “McSorleys Saloon” gives.

Barbara Kruger

I decided to chose a photo of Mohammad Ali Vs. Sonny Liston in 1965. I thought it would be a good idea to search for iconic image and and then think of words. I stumbled on this image and thought it would be perfect to represent never giving up. I personally love the message and feeling that I'm trying to evoke. I hope people feel the same way when they see it.