Reflection Letter

Throughout my high school career and my first two semesters of college, I felt that my greatest weakness was in my writing.  However, as I progressed through Rhetoric 1302, I felt more comfortable with my writing and I believe that I progressed as a writer throughout this semester.  I admit I did wait until the last minute to complete my assignments, but considering how I usually spend a week to write a full-fledged essay I improved greatly on my creativity.  In RHET 1302, I was surprised how I improved on my writing and how I was able to write essays using my own knowledge and creativity.
    Compared to the essays I have done throughout my high school career, I can see that I progressed as a writer throughout the year.  11th grade English was especially difficult because my teacher stressed too much on timed writings, which were my greatest weakness.  I am now capable of writing better timed writings than I used to and I am proud of successfully thinking through my Rhetorical essay and my timed writings to make an effective argument.  In 12th grade, my teacher usually lectured on the assigned book before she assigned a literary analysis.  After first, I assumed that I was not capable of developing my own ideas and backing up my points but I proved myself otherwise.  I effectively used what I have been taught and applied it to understand the work in which I was writing and develop my own thesis.
    Overall, the semester has been great and I am proud of what I have accomplished this year.  I grew confidence in my writing and I feel better prepared for future writing classes.

Best Movies of the 21st Century

Upon reflecting which movie deserves the title "Best Movie of the 21st Century," it is necessary to consider the overall remarks on each movie.  It must be highly favored among age, gender, and ethnic groups.  Movies that are considerable as "must see movies," are those who have the largest impact on the audience. Following the criteria of best movies (listed below), the best movie of the 21st century is "The Dark Knight (2008)."
-Popularity
-Major Award winning
-Impact on Audience
-Critical Recognition
-Reveals a Message
-Choice of Actors/Actresses

 "The Dark Knight" won 92 awards and had over 150 nominations.  Heath Ledger and Christian Bale were the most awarded actors in the movie.  Critics such as Orlando Parfitt deems "Heath Ledger's performance electrifying."  The movie contained several stunning and action-packed scenes.  The technologies used were mind-blowing and the designs were novel, such as the BatMobile and BatPod.  According to the Box Office, "The Dark Knight" ranked number one, attaining the most earnings during Opening Weekends.  The movie’s climax reveals how a dystopian society, Gotham City, was able to believe in good when “the Joker rigged two ferry boats to explode” (“The Dark Knight (2008) - Memorable Quotes”).  

The second best film in the 21st century is "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)."  Pirates of the Caribbean is a captivating series involving love, war, and adventure.  "The Curse of the Black Pearl" was an unexpected successes ranking positive reviews and gaining $653 worldwide.  Like Bale and Ledger, Johnny Depp also won best actor awards highlighting the movie’s success.  Overall, the movie attained 28 rewards and 68 nominations.  The Pirates of the Caribbean series reveals the strong nature of the character's desires, unity, and the strength to move forward.    

The 3rd biggest movie of the 21st century is “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004).”  The Harry Potter series is a craze.  It fits into many genres such as adventure, fantasy, action, and romance.  Overall, the movie ten awards and had 31 nominations.  The Harry Potter series is not only engaging to read and watch but traveling with Harry and his friends teaches the audience memorable lessons about life such as friendship and family.  The movie had incredible special effects and the actors and actresses in the movie are excellent representations of the characters in the book.  “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” is appropriate for many age groups and it is quite entertaining.

"The Dark Knight," "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," and "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" are must see movies that are appropriate for most age and social groups.  Both movies not only contain action and adventure, it also touches other genres such as romance and comedy.  These films fit the "Criteria of Best Movies of the 21st Century" and it has appealed to the audience.  Thus, these three movies are well-deserving to be titled "the best movie of the 21st century."

Works Cited

"The Dark Knight (2008) - Memorable Quotes." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 21 Apr. 2010. 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/quotes
Parfitt, Orlando. The Dark Knight. Digital image. IGN Entertainment. 23 July 2008. Web. 20 Apr. 2010. http://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/article/892/892974/the-dark-knight-uk-review-20080723042803246.jpgPirates of the Caribbean Trilogy Blu-ray, Audio Quality. Digital image. Blu-ray. 16 Sept. 2008. Web. 20 Apr. 2010. 
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/screenshot.php?movieid=1007&position=5

Criteria for the Best Movies of the 21st Century

Movies have grown over the years and thanks to technology, enhancing movies with special effects. Movies have also grown to reflect the general audience, for instance Batman movies. Over the years, producers recreated Batman ultimately with the same plot and structure: Batman saving Gotham city from the hands of the Joker. However, each reappearing of Batman movies was highly advanced and "better" than the original films.

The oldest version of Batman on IMDb was "Batman" (1989), not only does it have bad quality compared to the recent Batman movie "The Dark Knight," but the costumes are not as attractive in the 21st century as it was in the 20th century. The technology used did not have incredible enhanced features that the 21st century audience would find amazing. "Batman Begins" (2005) was a much more intense movie with good quality and incredible effects. The story starts much differently than the 1989 version; Batman was a crusader. "'Batman Begins' explores the origins of the Batman legend." This movie became an opening for a much recent movie, "The Dark Knight" (2008); the title is novel in the epic Batman movie legends. "The Dark Knight" had captivating effects and mind-blowing technology. The costumes were effective in revealing the nature of the characters.

Movies change with the audience, in order to become big hits. As movies change the criteria for a movie's success also changes. For best movies, the criteria should be the following:

-Major Award Winner

-Popularity

-Impact on Audience

-Critical Recognition

-Reveals a Message

-Choice of Actors/Actresses

In order to attain the title “Best movie,” it has to be popular. The popularity will continue to grow and captivate audiences if it wins major awards and receives critical recognitions. It must also have an impact on the audience that the movie accomplished what it intended. For instance, "The Dark Knight" was supposed to be viewed as a legend or a hero or if the movie alluded the intended audience. Along side of this, it should reveal a message. "The Dark Knight" harnesses morals and a dystopian view of society. The choice of actors and actresses are critical in the movie making business. In the older version of the Batman movies, Batman and the Joker were huskier than the newer versions.

The audience is the main core in the movie making industry and an effective criterion allows the industry to create incredible movies.

 

 

Works Cited:

Batman 1989. Digital image. Bat-Blog. Web. 18 Apr. 2010. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxCWGaDkhn2lSiFpbIXmznlDyO94xk8nqU1cWA_wV39b-5bQ36twbyEQto7Zkie5_UmbuED7uTXrk0lb8ZQHd-yi6cRfnHTHiVI_9Fn2bkXCYH5QYKXpsnwVc3ATgOGtvLf-oGKSCfrk0i/s1600-h/wallpaper+1989+batman.jpg
The Dark Knight (2008). Digital image. IMDb. Web. 20 Apr. 2010. 

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm762353408/tt0468569

"Batman Begins (2005) - Plot Summary." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 19 Apr. 2010. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372784/plotsummary