The movie begins with scenes of the streets in a big, fast-paced city. These scenes were accompanied by jazz music. The music was smooth and set the tone for the kind of night life of a big city. The audience saw the streets of the city many times through Travis' eyes as he drove along in his taxi cab. Travis, at one point speaks of what he calls the scum of the streets. The audience views the very streets which Travis speaks of.

There are times when one gets the feeling that this movie is like a detective story. A few times Travis is shown writing down his  thoughts but at the same time the audience can hear what he's writing. At such times, the fact that everything is documented, makes it seem as though there is some sort of authority to the narration. The narrative therefore hints at the possibility of a kind of good against evil theme. This is what actually does happen at the end of the movie as Travis goes up against the pimps.

1. Wooderson

   Portrayed by Matthew Mccoughney in Dazed and Confused-this is our Peter Pan  . Living on dreams and a vision of his past that he is able to inflate to more mythic proportions with each passing year. Not yet old enough to look out of place in the crowd ,but different enough to set him apart . His popularity held by the fact that his tales of glory never grow old  . He needs no  new experiences , because he can recycle his  every few years.

2. Stiffler

   Portrayed by Sean William Scott in the American Pie series - Tom Sawyer on steroids,  a complete bad boy  , no consideration for his friends or anyone else  . His sole redeeming feature is that he never gets away  with anything for long . He is loud , uncouth  and rude and yet you can still find your self wanting to hang out with him because he is not afaid to say what we may be thinking.

3. Guy "Shades" Patterson

   Portrayed by Tom Everett Scott in That Thing You Do-oddly enough this jazz loving drummer is the new generations Atticus Finch. he seeks to do the right thing in an industry where the "right" thing is to make money . He is gentle, quiet , looking for the best in everybody.  In the end his life doesnt nessicarily work out like he thought it would, but it works out well.

4. Danny Ocean and Rusty Ryan

   Portrayed by George Clooney and Brad Pitt in Oceans 11-They are the new Hardy boys . They just happen to work the other side of the street. Pals to the end , seeking not just to pad thier own pockets ,but to right a few wrongs as well . They manifest our daker side, if we had taken a different turn could we steal  with such blithe oblivion.

5. Maximus Decimus Meridius

   Portrayed by Russell Crowe in Gladiator - Maximus like Ulysses is on a quest , a quest to go home . To finish his job and retire to a quieter life . His travels  take him on a much different path than he had expected . Temptations of murder , power , lust , follow him , until he finds his way home .He is the warrior and leader that we aspire to .Yet we find  ourselves asking  do we have what it take to follow his path .

Like our predecessors we are all of these and none of them ,part sinner and part saint. We all reach for lofty goals , see our selves as "good" . But when no one is looking  will we take what is not ours ,lie to cover our shortcomings. The answer is different for every man in every different instance. Remember we are not they and they not us . We are merely snapshots of each other.

Sula is a story centered in a small town called Medallion, Ohio. The novel tells of generations of the families that inhabit this town, and focuses chiefly on the youngest generation-that of Sula Peace and her best friend, Nel Wright. The two girls become friends, finding comfort in their similarities. Together, they grow into women and have a bond that, while unspoken, is strong enough to ultimately overcome any adversity. Nel is married at a young age and settles into the life of a housewife, while Sula ventures out into the world, attends college, and doesn't return for ten years. Despite this separation, upon their reunion, the affection between the women is as strong as the day on which they parted. This kind of bond is uncommon at best, and the love between the two, though it grows strained, is constant.

Seemingly undermining this constant love and performing what most would consider the ultimate betrayal, Sula sleeps with Nel's husband, Jude. Jude leaves his family; Nel is heartbroken and distances herself from Sula. Nel is convinced that what weighs on her is the absence of Jude; she believes that she misses him and cannot forgive Sula for what has happened. She begins to see a gray ball over her shoulder made of “muddy strings” (109) and hair. Nel does not know what the ball is or why it follows her, but she fears it. Finally, at the end of the novel, when Sula dies and Nel overcomes her grudge, the ball explodes, and Nel realizes that the ball was her own sorrow for missing her best friend, not her husband. Through all things-even what seems a complete betrayal, and the hurt feelings that follow-the friendship between Sula and Nel survives.

A friendship much like Nel and Sula's develops in Almodovar's Bad Education. Enrique and Ignacio meet and become friends when they are very young, in religious school. They quickly bond over their love of the cinema-particularly Sara Montiel-and soon, discover a love for each other. The two boys explore their sexuality together and become very close, as a result. In the midst of their blossoming relationship, the school's principal, Father Manolo, develops feelings for Ignacio and begins to act on them. The Father soon realizes that there is something between the two boys and separates them by expelling Enrique from the school. Several years later, masquerading as Ignacio, his brother Juan enters Enrique's office, offering a script for a film and himself as an actor. From the start, Enrique senses a problem with his “friend,” not recognizing him at all, and rightfully so, as Juan is not who he claims to be. Enrique's uneasy feelings around Juan demonstrate the power of his and Ignacio's relationship, as the audience can read in his face that he never quite trusts Juan. After the film is made and all of the mysteries are solved, Juan gives Enrique a letter Ignacio was writing just moments before he died. This letter is a symbol of the love between the two friends-Enrique being the last person Ignacio thinks of before his death. The film's close, an epilogue of sorts, informs the audience that Enrique continues to make films with passion to this day, a testament to the passion he first discovered with his childhood friend. Ultimately, the friendship of Enrique and Ignacio is greater than the intrusions of those around them, much like that of Sula and Nel in Morrison's novel Sula.

Stories of great friendship are all connected, just as those who share in a great friendship. The relationship of Sula and Nel, and that of Enrique and Ignacio are such great friendships, because they overcome whatever is thrown at them. This is why the theme of friendship is greater than those of superficial matters-friendship endures.

Let's just say that it could have been worse.

Now, I'm not just ranting about Beowulf in general. I actually had a reason to shun the movie when it first came out. In fact, I was dead-set against watching it with anyone. I didn't want to hear about it, but, if I did, I turned it into a personal vendetta against the monstrosity known as the “sexy” Grendel's mother- aka Angelina Jolie.

In all my years of studying the epic, Grendel's mother never was “sexy.” She was a glob of fat. Even in the later story entitled Grendel, she was worthless in everything but revenge.

So the only thing going through my mind when I watched this movie was hate. Yes, hatred was boiling my mind. It clouded my judgment for the first, oh, fifteen minutes of the movie before I finally started to pay attention.

And then I was entranced. Throughout the movie, I was almost glued to the screen, making comments to my friends about how things were different between the movie and the epic.

The one shining moment came with my wonderful realization- Grendel was speaking Old English! Actual Old English. I was impressed. Beyond impressed. It was like sinking into a sea of wonderful happiness.

Or perhaps I'm being a little too dramatic.

At any rate, I watched the movie, liked it well enough, and when it was over I knew of only two things.

1. I would have liked it more if I wasn't an English major who has a slight obsession with Beowulf
2. I would have not appreciated it as much if I hadn't seen the movie

So, it's no surprise that the tale of the vengeful prince is so widely familiar-and so widely made fun of. After all, the original is both difficult to understand, in terms of language, and excessively long.

An uncut version of the play runs around four hours, and let's face it: that's way more than the average person's attention span. The solution? Shorten it! Of course, abridging a work of literature solely for entertainment is often done with less than total concern for the original's integrity… resulting in delightfully irreverent abbreviations. Here are five of the best humorously shortened Hamlets, guaranteed to make Shakespeare cringe and you laugh out loud.

1. The Simpsons' Hamlet

   
   Who doesn't love The Simpsons? I've been a fan since I was too young to understand most of the jokes, but some of my favorite episodes have to be the literary parodies, making fun of everything from The Odyssey to Lord of the Flies. This approximately six-minute version of Hamlet, from an episode featuring three classic stories, stars Bart as the Danish prince and bartender Moe as his murderous uncle. It doesn't quite follow the real storyline, but the hysterical ghost encounter and play-within-a-play scenes more than make up for it.

2. The Animaniacs on Hamlet

   
   
   Okay, this one isn't exactly an abridged version of the play, but it's too entertaining to leave out. This little cartoon “translates” Hamlet's “Alas, poor Yorick!” speech into modern English-and not very respectfully, at that. It's a little bit cutesy (it is a kids' cartoon, after all), but there's still plenty for us grown-ups to laugh at.

3. Seamus Kennedy's “Three Minute Hamlet”

   
   Seamus Kennedy is an Irish singer and comedian, and one of my favorites among his pieces is his quick version of Hamlet (which is actually a little less than three minutes!) Some of the vocabulary's a bit odd, at least to this young American, and you'll probably want to look up the lyrics to make sure you catch everything, since he has to talk pretty fast to fit the whole story in so little time. But it's well worth it, especially the end! You can listen to the song on Seamus Kennedy's MySpace, and it's available for download on iTunes.

4. The Reduced Shakespeare Company

   
   
   The Reduced Shakespeare Company, which observes that “The comedies aren't as funny as the tragedies”, is famous for its show featuring ALL of Shakespeare's plays in extremely condensed versions infused with silly British humor. Their Hamlet is actually quite long (It's in four parts on YouTube; the link here is to the first), but certainly worth it. I'd also recommend the rest of their Shakespearean “reductions”, particularly Romeo and Juliet.

5. Hamlet in 60 Seconds

   
   No, that's not a typo. 60 seconds. If you watch only one of these five Hamlets, make it this one. It's absolutely hilarious. I can't think of a better way to spend a spare minute. (Thank God for subtitles, though.) Oh, and I recommend using the “pop-up” video option; it tends to work better.

Harold Crick (Will Ferrell), Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson), Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Penny Escher (Queen Latifah)

Directed by Marc Forster; written by Zach Helm; director of photography, Roberto Schaefer; edited by Matt Chesse; music by Britt Daniel; production designer, Kevin Thompson; produced by Lindsay Doran; released by Columbia Pictures.

Running time: 1hr 45 mins.

Go see “Stranger Than Fiction”

I could see a lot of people not liking this film, but I loved it. It’s got a sophisticated humor to it without being coldly intellectual. It’s a cozy film. Every character in this film gives the audience someone they would normally hate, but for some reason we can’t. Ferrell, plays an IRS agent half Spok, half Rainman, but likeable anyway. Thompson, plays the chain-smoking writer who always kills off her hero, but she suffers writer’s block so we like her anyway. Gyllenhaal plays a politically-militant, bakery owner who openly hates Ferrell, but she really seems to care about people so we like her. Even Queen Latifah’s character, whose job it is to annoy Thompson into finishing her book, is lovable for her concern for the writer’s health. Last but not least, Hoffman’s character is the kind of English professor that failed you, and me too, back in college. But the seriousness with which he tackles Ferrell’s problem is charming.

I found this film entertaining. There’s some good laughs too.

What about the “PG-13” Rating?

It’s not a movie anyone under 18 would enjoy. The humor is aimed at us literary types. I think the adult content is at pretty appropriate levels for the target market. For example there’s a scene when a bus collides with someone and it’s neither graphic nor cartoonish. The female love interest in the film, Ana Pascal, is the kind of overtly sexual gal that dresses for effect—the I’m trying not to be sexy, but I can’t help it—kinda thing. Of course Maggie Gyllenhaal is incredibly beautiful.

And of course there’s “sexual scenarios,” which is the over-amped Hollywood way of saying two nearly-clothed people are laying in bed together and they aren’t married yet. While its not good roll modeling I don’t think kids should look to movie characters as roll models. Hopefully they will get their morality from a parent.

What if I hate Will Ferrell?

This is a very different Will Ferrell. If you truly hate him you probably won’t change your mind but this isn’t Ricky Bobby. Ferrell helps the film makers pull off the nearly impossible task of showing us a boring man’s life without boring us.

Larger Story

It’s too obvious. There are some great lines in there about being a character in a story, which of course we are. The best is when Hoffman tells Ferrell that he needs to figure out whether he’s in a comedy or a tragedy. Ferrell asks what the difference is and Hoffman replies that in the end of a tragedy he dies, in a comedy he gets hitched.