San Francisco

The different types of weather that are in San Francisco are shown in both movies but at climatic/important moments. The weather is also associated with the emotions of the people.

Zodiac

I noticed that since this move took place over such a long period of time the seasons often changed. This showed the many types of weather that San Fransisco gets frequently. It seemed to me that in the beginning of the movie, before the murders took place, the sky was blue and the sun was out. As the movie progresses, and the murders begin, the weather changes to down pouring rain and thunderstorms. This is the weather for a lot of the movie because all of the people living in the city were terrified of this crazy serial killer that was on the loose. The constant weather changes are related to how the residents of the city feel. The bad weather represents the deaths and the emotions that surround each one.

This movie stars Mark Ruffalo and Jake Gyllenhaal

Just Like Heaven

This movie also involves death but it is more about discovering yourself. During the accident, when the main character, Elizabeth, dies, I noticed it was raining heavily. This goes right along with the bad weather being associated with death or sadness. As the movie progresses, as well as the love story, the weather is more clear and sunny. A time that I noticed extremely excellent weather was when Elizabeth, the main character, is sitting in the flower garden. It seems like a sunny, peaceful, dreamy place that she fantasizes about when she is at work.

This movie stars Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo.


Fact:
San Francisco's climate is based on the cool currents of the Pacific Ocean. This moderates the temperature and produces a mild climate with minimal seasonal temperature changes.
The fog that this city is well known for is caused by the high temperature of the city mixed with the cold temperatures of the ocean.

Suburbia

People in Suburbia are unsatisfied with their lives. They often feel better by watching other people's lives and wishing for bigger and better material possessions. Money, of course, does not buy any of these people the happiness they want. The connection between these movies and the city is that these people end up going stir crazy because they are so overwhelmed by the sheltered world that they live in.

Suburbia is known for it's many small houses closely put together that are sometimes color coordinated. Although the houses all look the same the families inside each of them have a different story. Suburbia is predominately white and middle to upper class. The people usually have nice things like cars and SUVs, boats, pools, etc. 

Movies that portray suburbia normally show the characters feeling trapped where they live and end up going crazy. They try to break free and get away from their unfulfilled lives. The movies will also usually follow a teenager more than anyone else because teenagers can relate and are willing to pay to watch the movie. 

The Truman Show

This movie portrays suburbia in a different way than usual. The main character does not know that his life is a television show. He continually goes on living a life that has been planned for him. He begins to realize how repetitive and habitual the place is where he lives. He sits in his car in the driveway and notices that the same man, woman and car drive by at their exact same time each day. Truman also notices that he does the same things, at the same time every day. One day he decides to do something different and that is when unusual things happen. He goes stir crazy trying to figure out the unusual string of events in his life and how he got to where he is. Eventually, he is exposed to the idea that his life is fake and that there is something bigger and better out there waiting for him. Truman is extremely mentally isolated from the world through no fault of his own.  

After Truman finds out and escapes the suburbia he has lived in for so long, the creator of the show is interviewed on television. This is the part that I found to be so interesting because the creator talks about how the show was started with a corporation adopting a baby. I think this is crazy! How could a corporations possibly adopted a baby? Then I ask myself, what is a corporation exactly? When I saw this part in the movie it made me think of the documentary The Corporation because it is all about the terrible things that corporations do and talks about what a corporation really is. The corporations have so much power to manipulate the masses that we do not even realize it. The corporations do this with product placement. I believe that Truman felt like he has being told what to do and how to think by people, or corporations, everyday. He felt trapped but eventually broke free. 

When the movie begins I notice there are white picket fences on all the house, the people are white, and middle class. Since this movie is supposed to be a television show, it is heavy on the product placement. I notice whenever Truman talks to his wife she is usually advertising a product such as a lawn mower, cocoa and kitchen appliances. Every morning when Truman is headed to work he runs into the twins who always stop him right in front of an advertisement.

  

Disturbia

This movie also portrays suburbia closely with the stereotype. In the beginning it shows the main character, a teenager named Kale, who gets sentenced to three months of house arrest. While cooped up in the house Kale watches each of his neighbors daily patterns. He starts to notice the kids that watch porn, the neighbor that's cheating on his/her spouse, the beautiful girl next door that has a dysfunctional family, and the crazy murderer. Even though all the houses have white picket fences and they all look the same, each family has issues. 

Kale feels trapped in his house just like Truman felt in his fake world. In the movie Kale explains what he has observed about his neighbors as, " The world outside my window." Both characters have a bigger and better world outside their own. Kale is physically isolated opposed to being mentally isolate from the world. 

I want to connect the the first line of the movie to my blog. The first line is Kale: "Do you think he sees us?" Jeff: "No, he can't see us. But he can feel us watching." This is a great opening line for this movie. Even though these words are associated with fishing it makes me think of Kale's neighbor. When Kale is spying on his murderer neighbor, Robert Turner, he looks right at Kale because he can feel Kale watching him. 

New York City

I noticed that both movies portray the peaceful and beautiful side of NYC by showing famous parks and monuments. On the other hand both movies show sides of the city that are not so peaceful. Despite the bombing of terrorists and the corporations trying to take over the little guy NYC will always be a beautiful place.

The World Trade Center
This movie is based on true events which took place on September 11, 2001 in New York City. The movie shows more of what would have happened if you were right in one of the buildings when it got hit. The story follows a few local firefighters into the first building. As the movie goes on it focuses on only two characters, John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno. These two men were stuck under the rubble for many hours and some how survived.

During the first five minutes of the movie the city is being portrayed as majestic, beautiful, scenic, clean, and peaceful. I get this impression from the mood the music set and from the unique pictures of the city's more famous places. It gives the feeling of the stereotypical New York by showing the parks, tall buildings, famous statues, downtown and the ocean. But soon the city begins to get frantic as the buildings are hit. During the movie I noticed that the police take the public transportation to the first building. This seems odd to me because I pictured a bunch of cop cars with the lights flashing and the sirens blaring. This movie continues on to show the audience how the men felt trapped under the rubble while also flashing to the families and showing how they felt not knowing if their husband/father/brother etc., were going to be okay.
Finally, after people are saved and the buildings get cleaned up NYC is still beautiful in the end.


You've Got Mail
This movie is about a woman named Kathleen Kelly and a man named Joe Fox who both own bookstores in New York City. The movie shows the constant battle between corporations and independently owned stores. The difference between the two is that Fox represents the big box stores while Kelly is trying to maintain her mother's independently owned bookstore. The corporations are portrayed as being 'nothing but a suit', impersonal, big, and they pressure you into making decisions. When it comes to the little guy the movie shows the independently owned stores multiple times. A line that stuck out in my mind is "Save the shop around the corner, save your soul." This stuck out in my mind because of how true it is. If we are not careful there will be nothing left but corporations and we will be forced to buy everything from the same place.

You've Got Mail is set in New York and portrays it well but I can not help but think about what the underlying message is about corporations. Not only is it the main topic in this movie but it is also a topic that is being discussed in another one of my classes. We recently watched a documentary called The Corporation which is a film about the rise of corporations since they have been in existence. The corporations are looked at from a psychological point of view where the question "What kind of a person is a corporation" is asked and analyzed. There are many interview with many corporate insiders and critics such as Michael Moore and Naomi Klein.

I noticed that both movies portray the peaceful and beautiful side of NYC by showing numerous famous monuments and parks. I will always think of NYC as a fun and interesting place even after 9/11 but I'm sure that is very different for those people who still deal with repercussions. Some people have to deal with the loss of a family member or a friend. Some people even still suffer from heath problems related to the dust and rubble of the fallen towers.
I had learned about these health issues not too long ago when I saw the Michael Moore documentary Sicko. This documentary talks about some of the volunteer workers who are suffering from health problems after volunteering countless hours at the clean up. Part of the reason these people are still sick, after 7 years, is because they are either being denied the health care they need or they do not have the money for it. These people still have to deal with 9/11.