Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Change - What do the rest of you think of me?


This website discusses what “some of the best foreign-policy minds in Washington” think of how president Barack Obama is managing the nation in the eyes of the international population as well as actually changing the nations vision of itself on the international scale. The responses vary from Excellent to Very Poor or as it is done on this website: Grade ‘A’ to ‘D’. Besides the three main issues (warfare, economy, health-care) the foreign policy making is one of the most important decisions the President has to make, and surely he is doing well in this area.

SOURCE

Change - We can do whatever we want! Or can we?!?


Writers of the Los Angeles Times state, in this article that, even though the President is gaining more support from Democrats, Republicans have become more critical of the Presidential policies, claiming the governments takeover of GM and Chrysler have done nothing for the economy under the leadership of president Obama, this issue had impacts on the presidential approval rating.

SOURCE

Change? - We are staying strong!


The Writers of MSNBC News reviewed Obama’s first increase in popularity since his inauguration in January. Reports show that the population is supporting how he is “handling of the economy and his proposed health care overhaul.” It also claims that new polls have shown a decline in support for the Afghanistan war and thus do not support how Obama is handling the last of three major issues.


SOURCE

Change - Are you feeling ok?


This article focuses on the health-care reforms and how congress and the President are losing support by the general population. This rating is once again coupled to the “Presidential Approval Index” of the Rasmussen Group as well as the actual percentage of voters approving and disapproving of the health-care reform. This is one of three major issues (war, economy) with which the president will have to struggle this term.


SOURCE

Change - Capitalism or not Capitalism?


This Article for ABC News illustrates the financial vision that president Obama has for the United States of America. In an exert from a speech Obama claims about the economic situation: “reckless speculation and deceptive practices of a short-sighted and self-interested few” as the cause for economic strain. He is speaking to those which oppose his plans and appealing to those who have not yet made up their mind.


SOURCE

Change - A broken man?


Politico talks about the placement of the presidents’ approval rating; it is a quick article outlining how Obama is doing in his approval poll (Gallup Poll). Te article indicate that Obama had his highest approval rating on Jan. 21, one day after his election with 69% approval rating while at his lowest rating was on August 23 with a 44% disapproval rating, one of the highest in the presidential history.


SOURCE

Change - The Presidential Approval Index


The “Presidential Approval Index” thought out by the Rasmussen Group is a new counter in which the Presidential acceptance within the population is calculated on a regular basis. This Index has harsh criticism but defends itself by acknowledge to what extent the population agrees and claims "The political thing I care about is if Barack Obama, if we have him leading by six points before Election Day last year, I want him to win by six points, because I want our polls to be accurate." This index is meant to simplify the process of evaluating the approval ratings.

SOURCE

Change - The right way to go?


President Barrack Obama has done a lot since he has come into office; these actions are not necessarily all good. The population of the United States of America has the chance to spread their opinion of their Commander and Chief. Over the past month this opinion had become very clear.



This is a chart with a very quick overview of the general approval of the president using the “Presidential Approval Index” (Rasmussen Measurements) to measure how many people strongly agree to the other end of the spectrum to people that strongly disagree with the decisions of Barack Obama.


SOURCE

Top 3 Dark Con




It may be a long time to wait, but these are the films you should not miss when they come out... Top 3 listed by Dark Con Festival, reveals that the future will be bright..

INCEPTION

Christopher Nolan ( Memento, The Prestige, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) casted a very long list of great actors (DiCaprio, Caine, Murphy, Page, Watanabe, Cotillard) to create a movie he calims to be a one of a kind. No further informations were leaked. Shame.





MOON

Sam Rockwell in a dramatic meltdown of human mind, alone in the space.





PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

The film is claimed to be the scariest we will ever seen on the big screen. Surely the trailer looks awesome but will it really be that scary?




Monday, October 19, 2009

Awaiting Movies




And here we are, it´s almost november, and we still are expecting some fine movies to come to our cinema. Let´s make a recap..

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus


The last film starring Hetah Ledger - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a fantastical morality tale, set in the present day. It tells the story of Dr Parnassus and his extraordinary 'Imaginarium', a travelling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom. Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Dr Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. Long ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr Nick, in which he won immortality. Many centuries later, on meeting his one true love, Dr Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on condition that when his first-born reached its 16th birthday he or she would become the property of Mr Nick. Valentina is now rapidly approaching this 'coming of age' milestone and Dr Parnassus is desperate to protect her from her impending fate. Mr Nick arrives to collect but, always keen to make a bet, renegotiates the wager. Now the winner of Valentina will be determined by whoever seduces the first five souls. Enlisting a series of wild, comical and compelling characters in his journey, Dr Parnassus promises his daughter's hand in marriage to the man that helps him win. In this captivating, explosive and wonderfully imaginative race against time, Dr Parnassus must fight to save his daughter in a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles - and undo the mistakes of his past once and for all...

Alice in Wonderland





Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice) attempts to work his gothic magic over one of the best loved stories of all time... Lewis Carroll's 'Alice In Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There', which first told the story of a young girl, who after following a rabbit down a hole, is transported to a strange world. Whilst the disney version of the tale relied on sweetness and light to delight the audience, Burton fans can be sure to look out for the same cartoon traits as earlier masterpiece 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'.
The traditional tale has been freshened with a blast of girl power, courtesy of writer Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast). Alice, 17, attends a party at a Victorian estate only to find she is about to be proposed to in front of hundreds of snooty society types. Off she runs, following a white rabbit into a hole and ending up in Wonderland, a place she visited 10 years before yet doesn't remember.
Among those who welcome her back is the Mad Hatter, a part tailor-made for Johnny Depp as he collaborates with Burton for the seventh time. "This character is off his rocker," Zanuck says.
Aussie actress Mia Wasikowska, 19, best known for HBO's In Treatment, has the coveted title role. "There is something real, honest and sincere about her," Zanuck says. "She's not a typical Hollywood starlet."
There is the usual Burton-esque ghoulishness (Helena Bonham Carter's Red Queen, whose favorite retort is "Off with their heads," has a moat filled with bobbing noggins), but Zanuck assures most kids can handle it. "The book itself is pretty dark," he notes. "This is for little people and people who read it when they were little 50 years ago."


Avatar



The storys protagonist, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), is a former Marine who was wounded and paralyzed from the waist down in combat on Earth. Jake is selected to participate in the Avatar program, which will enable him to walk. Jake travels to Pandora, a lush jungle-covered extraterrestrial moon filled with incredible life forms, some beautiful, many terrifying. Pandora is also home to the Navi, a sentient humanoid race that are more physically capable than humans, although considered primitive. Standing three meters tall, with tails and sparkling blue skin, the Navi live in harmony with their unspoiled world. As humans encroach deeper into Pandora's forests in search of valuable minerals, the Navi unleash their formidable warrior abilities to defend their threatened existence. Jake has unwittingly been recruited to become part of this encroachment. Since humans are unable to breathe the air on Pandora, they have created genetically-bred human-Navi hybrids known as Avatars. The Avatars are living, breathing bodies that are controlled by a human "driver" through a technology that links the driver's mind to their Avatar body. On Pandora, through his Avatar body, Jake can be whole once again. Sent deep into Pandora's jungles as a scout for the soldiers that will follow, Jake encounters many of Pandora's beauties and dangers. There he meets a young Navi female, Neytiri, whose beauty is only matched by her ferocity in battle. Over time, Jake integrates himself into Neytiri's clan, and begins to fall in love with her. As a result, Jake finds himself caught between the military-industrial forces of Earth, and the Navi, forcing him to choose sides in an epic battle that will decide the fate of an entire world. [D-Man2010]

Avatar is set during the 22nd century on a small moon called Pandora, which orbits a gas giant, and is inhabited by the tribal Na'vi, ten foot blue humanoids that are peaceful unless attacked. Humans cannot breathe Pandoran air, so they genetically engineer human/Na'vi hybrids known as Avatars that can be controlled via a mental link. A paralyzed Marine named Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) volunteers to exist as an Avatar on Pandora, falling in love with a Na'vi princess and becoming caught up in the conflict between her people and the human military that is consuming their world.




First Steps

And here we are, having our blog set up, for the Introduction to Mass Communication class. Hopefully, you will take something from these posts!

Let´s roll..