Trash Response Questions

1.  The conditions in Colva Prison are terrible. People are crammed into small cages and it is very hot. The cages are stacked on top of one another. It smells bad and it is very crowded. It is very loud. I think children would be locked up there because of needing food or money, and doing bad things to get it such as stealing, or just general violence.
2.  Olivia and Gardo got a visit with Olondriz by paying people  in the administration bribes.
3.  What Raphael learned about Rat was that he had several thousand pesos saved up in his house. He also learned that Rat was saving up to buy a boat and go back to his home, Sampalo, and live there by the ocean and fish.
4.  The gardener tells Raphael and Rat that the houseboy, Jose Angelico, had taken six thousand dollars from the Senator and escaped with it in an old fridge. Angelico put in in a fridge that was old and being replaced, and got the people that delivered the new one to take him and the fridge away with the money. He paid them to do it.
5.  If I got six million dollars, I would do various things with it. I would probably put some in bank accounts to save up, have some just for fun things, give some to my parents for whatever they needed it for, and donate some to charity.

Joy Abstract Noun Poem

Joy looks like a beautiful bright sunset on a warm day in summer
Joy smells like the kitchen when its warm with cookies baking
Joy tastes like those warm chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven
Joy feels like swimming in the ocean on a warm day in the middle of December where it feels like summer
Joy sounds like a song on the flute when I play it without mistakes

"Country Strong" Movie Review

“Country Strong” Movie Review Table

Rating Scale 1-5 #’s

Category	Rating (#)	Reasons
Suspense & Movement	# # # #	Suspense was little, movie moved along at a reasonable pace.
Acting & Casting	# # # # #	Great acting. Casting was great, the actors fit their characters.
Mood & Emotion	# # # #	Strong emotions, but it was primarily one emotion the whole time. The mood was also strong.
Plot	# # # #	Not advanced or intricate, but enough for a good story.
Meaningfulness of Theme	# # #	The theme was not apparent until the end. It was not very positive; the main character had success but she had had so much strife that the success was not enough for her in her life.

Genre: Drama
Rating: PG-13
Actors: Gwyneth Paltrow, Leighton Meester, Tim McGraw, Garrett Hedlund
Director: Shana Feste
Writer: Shana Feste
Length: 1 hour 52 minutes
Release: 2011

“Country Strong” Movie Review

    Yesterday I watched the movie “Country Strong”. It was released this past January and was directed and written by Shana Feste. The PG-13 drama stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Garrett Hedlund, and Leighton Meester as country singers and Tim McGraw as Gwyneth Paltrow’s wife. The movie is one hour and fifty two minutes in length. Is it worth those one hundred and twelve minutes to watch “Country Strong”?
    Plot, suspense, movement, acting, and casting are all very important elements in creating a good movie. The plot of “Country Strong” is simple. It is enough for a good movie but not that much. Gwyneth Paltrow’s character, Kelly Canter, is a very famous country star who is in rehab. She is ready to come out and continue her career, and does. Conflicts between her, her husband and the two newbies in the music business played by Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester come up because of different romances occurring that maybe shouldn’t. Of the three concerts that are scheduled in Kelly Canter’s new tour, some go well and some do not. Will she get back on her feet or will she fall flat and end her career? The suspense of that storyline is minimal, but it moves along well enough to keep you interested. The acting in this movie was fantastic because it was expertly cast; the actors and actresses seem to fit perfectly and actually be their characters. All of the above elements in this movie were well done.
    Mood, emotion, and theme can effect the genre and the joy of watching a movie. All three of those are moderate in this movie. The mood and emotion in this movie are strong, but their is little variation. There is a lot of sadness at the mess that Kelly Canter has gotten herself into. There is happiness at her various large or small successes, though. The theme in this movie showed some messages about how not to live your life, not things about ways to better yourself and your life. Kelly Canter’s life was very messed up, so in a way it showed you the result of fame and bad choices. Another theme idea was not apparent until the end-sometimes success is not enough after so much negativity. Average theme, emotion and mood were shown in “Country Strong”.
    Overall I really enjoyed watching “Country Strong”. As I watched I was thinking ‘I would enjoy watching this a second time’. I rated this movie one through five using the number symbol (#). In the five categories, it had an average of four out of five. It scored a three in the meaningfulness of theme, fours in suspense and movement, mood and emotion, and plot, and a five in acting and casting. I would recommend this, but only to some people. If you do not like country music, or are just not in the mood to hear it, stay away, because there are some really good musical performances that would not be appreciated. This movie is fitting for someone who wants an interesting story, but not necessarily a happy one. As said, there are great music scenes and lots of interesting drama. Overall, I think this is a wonderful, enjoyable movie.

"Something Borrowed" Movie Review

“Something Borrowed” Movie Review Table

Rating: 1-5 +’s

Category	Rating	Reasons
Mood	+ + + + +	Conflicting moods, going back and forth between good and bad as the scenes change, but most of the time a strong mood.
Plot	+ + + +	Not the most original idea, but a very interesting story that was fun to watch.
Location	+ + + +	Good dramatic scenes with pouring rain, nice beach scenes when the tension rises, a good scene walking around a nearly empty city. No extremely beautiful scenery.
Pace & Suspense	+ + + +	Not very much suspense, but plot moves fast enough to keep you interested.
Characters	+ + + +	Good casting, people appear to fit their characters very well, but with some of the minor characters it was hard to follow how they fit in and who they were.

Main Actors/Actresses: Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin, Colin Egglesfield
Director: Luke Greenfield
Writer(s): Emily Griffin and Jennie Snyder
Run Time: 1 hour and 52 minutes
Release: 2011
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Website: Rotten Tomatoes

“Something Borrowed” Movie Review

    Recently I watched a new movie. The movie “Something Borrowed” is funny and has a good storyline. It stars Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Colin Egglesfield in a romantic comedy that was directed by Luke Greenfield and had Emily Griffin and Jennie Snyder as its writers. It is rated PG-13 and goes the length of one hour and fifty-two minutes. It is very recent; it was released in the last year. Is “Something Borrowed” worth watching?

The plot is good in this movie, but is fairly typical of a romantic comedy. The plot is not very original. The typical troubles with the best friend of many years and the male lead about to be married to the wrong girl; the twist comes at the end where the solution is a bit different than you have often heard of before. The story is of a woman, played by Ginnifer Goodwin, that has for a while been in love with a friend she met in law school, played by Colin Egglesfield. She introduced him to her long time best friend, played by Kate Hudson, and the characters of Kate and Colin are now about to be married. Many problems come up before the impending marriage; will the character of Ginnifer Goodwin form a relationship with the male lead, played by Colin Egglesfield, before it is too late? The plot has lots of twists and turns.

The location and characters in this movie are about average. The places always fit the mood very well. They are primarily on the beach and in a city, with weather to fit. The characters are well portrayed by their actors and actresses; it is well cast. The minor characters are sometimes a bit confusing as to who they are and how they fit into the story. Any confusions with them are inconsequential to understanding the story, so it is fine. Overall the characters and location in this movie are at a level to be expected.

The mood, pace and suspense have similar ratings to those of the plot, location, and characters; the mood being slightly higher. The mood is always very strong in this movie. They use elements with the weather and location to very clearly portray the mood. There is the typical stressful-because-characters-are-falling-apart scene in the rain, as well as a romantic walk down an abandoned city street. In this movie there is happiness primarily but in some scenes there is anger, and often humor. The pace in this movie is moderate. The storyline has enough twists  and turns to keep you interested, especially towards the end, when a twist comes with the character Darcy. The suspense in this movie is minimal, as it is with most movies of this genre. There is the suspense toward the end over what will happen as the plot wraps up, but other than that, there is very little suspense. Overall the mood, pace and suspense are not bad; but not extraordinary either.

The movie “Something Borrowed” is great. My friends and I had a wonderful time watching it, and I think I would enjoy watching it a second time. My rating scale was one through five using the plus symbol (+). The movie was a four in all of the categories: characters, pace and suspense, plot, and location; except one. In the mood category it scored a five. That is an average of 4.2 pluses out of five, which is very good. I would strongly recommend this to any lover of romantic comedies, or any one in general who wants to watch an upbeat movie that turns out good in the end.