Avatar

(James Cameron, 2009)

A paraplegic marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.

ASSIGNMENT:
Identify a theme in the film. In specific detail, explain how this theme is shown.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

(Spike Jonze, 2009)

An adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's story, where Max, a disobedient little boy sent to bed without his supper, creates his own world--a forest inhabited by ferocious wild creatures that crown Max as their ruler.

The Princess Bride
(Rob Reiner, 1987)

“No more rhyming now, I mean it. Anybody want a peanut?”

A kindly grandfather sits down with his grandson and reads him a bedtime story. The story is one that has been passed down through from father to son for generations. As the grandfather reads the story, the action comes alive. The story is a classic tale of love and adventure as the beautiful Buttercup is kidnapped and held against her will in order to marry the odious Prince Humperdinck, and Westley (her childhood beau, now returned as the Dread Pirate Roberts) attempts to save her. (IMDB)

William Goldman's book "The Princess Bride," on which this film is based, adapted a screenplay which remains fiercely loyal to his characters and story, while curbing the back-stories and superfluous exposition. He's constructed a framing device, wherein a grandfather is reading to his sick grandson, which allows him to make meta-fictional comments on the seemingly typical fairy tale being told. In doing so, however, he subverts the typical fairy tale, making it much more surprising and revelatory.

Rob Reiner, in only his third time in the director's chair, does a wonderful job of translating Goldman's script to the screen. He utilizes elements, whether by choice or by budgetary restraints, that would at first appear incongruous, but work as a whole to keep the audience off-balance, and thus more receptive to the surprises the movie has in store for them.

E.T. (Steven Speilberg, 1982)

A little boy befriends a stranded extraterrestrial (alien) and helps return it to its home planet.

"The special effects almost look a bit quaint now with all the computer advancements that have occurred since, but they also have more heart behind them than a lot of what we see today." --Tom Keogh