According to Vincent

At the beginning of the movie Collateral, Vincent tells Max what he thinks about Los Angeles:

"Tell you the truth, whenever I'm here I can't wait to leave. It's too sprawled out, disconnected. You know? ... 17 million people. This has got to be the fifth biggest economy in the world and nobody knows each other. I read about this guy who gets on the MTA here, dies. Six hours he's riding the subway before anyone notices his corpse doing laps around L.A., people on and off sitting next to him. Nobody notices."

The story Vincent tells, in addition to being shocking, is a pretty strong (and not very positive!) statement about what he thinks people in Los Angeles are like.

So, what does Vincent think about Los Angeles? Do you agree with him? Why or why not?

Please share your thoughts in the form of a "comment" on this post. (You don't need to write very much, but you should write in complete sentences.) Please do this by class on Friday, Sept. 30.

That movie with Tom Cruise in it

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the late posting on this! Here is Monday's homework (due Wednesday). It is based on the movie we started watching - Collateral.

From the part of the movie that we watched, please write a comment sharing your thoughts in the following three areas ...

1) Examples of American culture (at least 3 examples; try to see if you can find any examples that are unique not just to the U.S. in general but to Los Angeles in particular!)
2) Compare this movie to the other movies we've seen so far this semester (4-5 sentences)
3) Explain what you think will happen next (4-5 sentences)

Let me know if you have questions!

Plot Questions, Opinion Questions

Hi everyone,

My apologies for the late posting on this assignment - but you can now upload your responses to the Beverly Hills Cop questions you had for homework this weekend!

As we discussed in class, you'll need to answer two questions: one question from the "plot" section of the handout (this question was assigned to you in class on Friday), and one question of your choice from the "opinion" section of the handout.

Please be sure to state which "plot" question you are answering (you can include a short sentence or even just a heading with the number of your question - no need to get fancy or re-type the entire question!).

As always, I look forward to seeing what you write. Happy posting!

AC in BHC

Part of your homework for class today was to write down some examples of American culture that you saw when we watched the first part of Beverly Hills Cop.

Remember that we have defined culture as "the behavior, beliefs, values, attitudes, and customs of a particular group of people" (adapted from dictionary.com). Any criteria can be used to define culture: someone's age, nationality, religion, race, ethnicity, profession, and/or hobbies can all play a role in determining the culture (or cultures) to which he or she belongs.

For your homework tonight, pick one of the examples of American culture that you wrote about and write a brief comment on this post. In your comment, please answer the following questions:
a) What example of A.C. did you choose, and how is that example shown in the movie?
b) How is this example of American culture different from a similar example in your home country's culture?

Make sure to write your comment before the beginning of class on Friday. Let me know if you have questions!