Drive is nothing short of visually spectacular. Drive goes further than to just show itself off as a story, it exemplifies itself as a piece of art. The lighting, cinematography, coloring, and wide array of shots/angles were just some of the nails hit right on the head by the entire crew behind the making of Drive. Drive, in my opinion, was a movie that was immensely overlooked by many; that’s why I am able to consider this movie a hidden gem to anyone has yet to see it.          

There were many important scenes throughout the movie. One of the most important and impacting sequences would probably have to be the opening sequence. There was definitely a layer of mysteriousness and tranquility as Driver manipulated multiple systems to escape from the cops and create a nice diversion for his hasty escape by using the busy parking lot. This scene really established the intensity that Gosling was going to hold as the main character, Driver, throughout the movie. Another important scene would have to be the scene where Driver, Irene, and Benicio spend some time together driving down the Los Angeles River and hanging out. This established a connection between all three of them, that cannot be found between any other characters in the movie. I thought that this sequence was a good support and nice building block for Irene and Driver’s relationship as well. Another scene that I found not only important, but more entertaining was the night of Standard’s return and party. As Irene and Driver talked in the hallway, Standard and Benicio came out to take out the trash. Standard had already heard much about Driver and it was hard to say what was about to happen between the two men, Driver and Standard. At some points in the conversation it felt as though they were going to fight or even become friends. However, the meeting went fairly smoothly and there was no fight; which personally I thought was going to happen by the tone in Standard’s voice at the beginning of the conversation. 

Another scene that I found very important to the movie was the pawn-shop heist/chase scene. As Standard is gunned down; Blanche and Driver drive away pursued by a mysteriously fast Chrysler 300. Fortunately, Driver escapes the pursuers. However, this shows that they were not only being monitored but set-up. This adds an element of suspicion, wonder, and angst as Driver later tries to find out who was chasing them through whatever Blanche knows. This was a very entertaining scene and the car chase shots were on point throughout. Another scene that is very important to the overall movie is towards the end when Bernie Rose pays a visit to Shannon. During this scene, Bernie slits Shannon’s entire forearm open and leaves him to die. At this point it was clear that everything was going to spiral downward from there, ending in nothing but bloodshed. Driver later finds Shannon dead in the shop, a very powerful piece of the scene. Driver definitely appears upset over the loss of his friend Shannon and hungry for revenge. That is why I found this scene to be very important and powerful. 

Drive’s multiple story lines develop well into each other and flow nicely. On one side you have the story of Driver and Irene’s developing love and on the other side you have the bad mafia deal drama unfolding. As much development that there was between Irene and Driver, I’d have to say the story line of the mafia deal was definitely more compelling because of the immense amount of characters/heists involved. With the love story there is no fear of losing any of the likable characters, but with the mafia side there is constant fear that one of the main characters will be taken out, which they eventually are. I’d have to say the scene where Shannon is killed in cold-blood is definitely more compelling than Irene playing with broken-off crab claws at the crick. Maybe it’s just because I’m a guy that I found the crime-side story more compelling and interesting. However, I can say that the most important relationship developed on the love side, goes to Driver and Irene. It seems that Irene is the only one in the film that can bring Driver out of the one dimensional silent mood he is usually in. She brings out qualities in him that you cannot see brought out by any of the other characters. When he’s with her you see communication, happiness, and desire. Much of Driver’s character development comes through Irene’s love. You see a brighter side to Driver’s character when he’s around Irene, and that keeps the audience from getting bored of him, I think. Much of the connection between these two characters come through visual elements, such as brighter lighting and close angles. The music that goes along with their montages together also brings them together as a powerful relationship in the film. 

I 100% recommend anyone to see Drive if they haven’t and if they have watch it again and again. There are so many different things to see and notice that can easily be missed after watching only one time. I thought this was a really solid film and definitely deserved a nomination in a category other than sound mixing, I think this movie should’ve definitely been nominated for Best Achievement in Cinematography due to its fresh, clean look. Enjoy Drive as a piece of art and as a darkly-spirally-webbed story. 

The movie is very deep and contains multiple themes that the characters deal with throughout. One of the major themes that I found was the nature of reality and our perception of it. The main character, played by DiCaprio, often struggles on trying to figure out if he is in reality our if he is in a made-up world in his head. This internal struggle often explodes externally, sometimes compromising the mission at hand within the dream. Dealing with his perception, DiCaprio must balance out both worlds to ensure the safety of himself and his team. Another theme that I found extremely important was letting go of lost loved ones. DiCaprio stubbled with letting go of his deceased wife after she committed suicide. A part of him blames himself and wants to go back to that non-reality to live with her again. His own confusion also compromises the final mission, until he learns to deal with impulses and actually let go. 

The musical score/soundtrack of this movie is phenomenal. If I had to describe it with one adjective, I'd probably use Epic. The dramatic climatic score produces sounds I've never heard before which actually make you feel like your in the dream and the intensity flows through you. I really liked the ambient sounds throughout the dreams to, they were very clean sounding and you felt like you were inside a "dream-room". The dialogue between characters was also exceptional. Some of the characters acted with such passion that you felt an emotional connection. 

Visually, Inception is hands down amazing. The actors do an amazing job at filling in their characters and the special effects are so stunning. One of my favorite actors is the main character, played by Leo DiCaprio. I think DiCaprio was the perfect person for the role because of his acting capabilities. When he was upset and stressed out, I really saw it in him, it wasn't as if he was acting. When he was in an argument, you saw and felt the rage in his face. I really enjoyed the cinematography as well, the movie had a wide usage of shots ranging from wide to extreme close and panning to static. Kudos to the cinematographers for the crisp look that Inception has as well. The special effects were breath-taking to say the least! When DiCaprio and Page were sitting down and everything around them exploded- blew my mind. I had never seen anything like that before. And then as they were walking down the street; the whole street became animated and shifted itself to create a mirror of itself in the sky I was mind-blown once again. It was literally one of the coolest things I've ever seen in a movie. The special effects were amazing. The colors of the film were always so crisp throughout and I liked the slightly cool filter that seemed to be on a lot of the shots. The lighting was on point throughout but I never really saw any use of shadows or light manipulation to affect the tone, but its okay. The Mis-en-Scene was perfect, the created dream worlds were spectacular looking and the actors were dressed perfectly for their characters. The film is edited amazingly and I couldn't recommend any suggestions at all. 

I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't seen the movie so I'll leave the Act summaries short. First, The Set Up of the movie was very necessary in my opinion, for you to completely understand what going into dreams really was. This also gave the movie time to introduce its characters and close up any room for confusion. The first plot point came when DiCaprio was given the mission to do 'inception' on a CEO. Confrontation came when one of the people on the mission was shot and was at risk of death. Resolution comes when DiCaprio unlocks the secret and completes the mission and gains something he's been fighting for for almost a decade. The Aftermath leaves you wondering actually as to whether the entire movie was a dream and if the final scenes were actually reality. I liked that touch. Overall, Inception was an amazing movie and definitely one of my lifetime favorites and I recommend anyone that hasn't seen it, to watch is ASAP! 

I chose my bill because I wanted to go into a non-concrete bill. The bill was based around Reagan's "War on Drugs" so I thought it'd be interesting. Also, drugs in the U.S. is a huge problem and I wanted to investigate the U.S.'s first step in stopping the drug problem. I chose the presentation format of a timeline because I wanted the audience to be able to see the time perspective and how long each step took to become completed. The only challenge I had was finding good information on my topic because of how long ago it occurred. But, I had a good website that told me a lot of information, which was the point at which I overcame my challenge. If I had to do the project over again I wouldn't do anything differently because I am completely satisfied with the final project. The research and investigation aspects showed me a lot about the creation process. I used a site that literally told me every step behind the bill and how the name of the act even changed once it was signed by the President. But, it is very interesting to see how many amendments go into the bill when its still going through the House and Senate. The process was not harder than I imagined, the only difficulty came in finding the information and doing the research, but I used a great site that showed me everything I needed in order to put together a solid project. 

Embryonic stem cell

Opposition - http://bit.ly/nLEPPN

Support for Stem Cell Research - http://reut.rs/mjFlwM

Stem Cell Controv. Wiki - http://bit.ly/oGUUiZ

More debate - TIME - http://ti.me/5khCZ9

IVF explanation - http://bit.ly/9J2rZc

Blase Biello

Ryan Francis

John Neris

Prisilla Nieves