When A Great Opportunity Comes With A Twist



         Tonight's marathon is about being given a special job or career opportunity that comes with a twist. Whether it's a young woman becoming an assistant to a demanding  high-profile editor-in-chief at a fashion magazine, a promising young drummer who has to contend with a hard ass instructor who won't stop until he realizes a students potential, a young and impatient stockbroker whose willing to do anything to get to the top, including exchanging illegal inside information with a ruthless and greedy corporate leader who has a knack for taking the youth under his wing, a rising lawyer who never loses a case making a deal with the devil, and finally a young man becoming a personal bodyguard to a chancellor who offers him a chance to rule the galaxy together. These three movies together combine to form a marathon that represents a young person being given a great opportunity but not without it coming with a twist that not only shocks them but makes them regret their decision in the first place. The films on the following menu are:

     The Devil Wears Prada 2006, Whiplash 2014, Wall Street 1987, The Devils Advocate 1997, and Star Wars Episode lll: Revenge of the Sith 2005

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      Now one can see how awesome and intense this marathon builds up to as the films fly by. Here the opportunities progress as each film passes but the challenges behind those opportunities increase and get more demanding as the storylines evolve. Here the scenarios start out innocent and charming but get more brutal and over the top as bright and young people are given the opportunity to move up in the world but not without a cost. That cost is enduring a teacher or coach whose worse than you can ever imagine and demands more than one can ask from you. There is also a lover whose pushed aside or disregarded by the lead protagonists in their quest for personal gain. For the actors playing the instructors, each one of them has either been directed to either an Oscar nominated, an Oscar winning performance, or critical acclaim, pushing them further than their roles previously asked them to do. While the instructors used their younger apprentices for financial and personal gain, they also pushed them to be the best kind of servants they could be whether it was for right or wrong reasons.

      The first movie of the night is the 2006 critically acclaimed comedy and drama titled The Devil Wears Prada starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep. The story centers around a smart but sensible beautiful young female graduate, who lands a job as an assistant to a demanding editor-in-chief of a high profile fashion magazine named Miranda Priestly. The Devil Wears Prada is a surprisingly well acted adaptation that lives up to the standards of its source novel while also being an eye opening exposure of New York's fashion scene. Meryl Streep makes for a great antagonist with Anne Hathaway holding her own against her as the young person who seizes the opportunity of a lifetime but not without realizing how stressful it'll be to live with that chance. That chance requires her to not only ditch her personal life with her boyfriend but to make her entire focus be on her demanding yet rude boss. This is the perfect starting point for tonight's marathon with the apprentices being young and attractive up and coming people being taken under the wings of high profile yet eccentric masters.
      The second movie of the evening is the 2014 Oscar winning drama titled Whiplash starring J.K Simmons, Miles Teller, and Paul Reiser. Nominated for six Academy Awards and winner of three including Best Supporting Actor for J.K Simmons, the story focuses on a rising young drummer who enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory with dreams of greatness. His dreams are crushed when an aggressive instructor pushes his students to the limit with the intentions of making a student realize their full potential. It can be said that Whiplash is essentially the male version of The Devil Wears Prada with the apprentice being a young drummer boy with big dreams and the mentor being an aggressive, cold-blooded brutal instructor. The drummer boy ends up pushing his girlfriend aside to give his all towards impressing his instructor which doesn't happen much to his disappointment. The heart of the film is the commanding performance by J.K Simmons as he comes off as being intense, inspiring, and a true professional at his craft. The film is riveting and moves at a fast-pace while being carried by the strong performances of Simmons and Miles Teller. The whole film can be generalized as a battle of wills that keeps building until it's intense and richly beautiful final scene. Whereas Devil Wears Prada ends on a note where Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streeps characters finally respecting each other and Hathaway getting what she wants, Whiplash ends on a similar fashion with the masters pushing their young apprentices to get the best out of them while sharing a deep feeling of respect for that person.
      The third movie of the marathon is where things become more intense and corrupt with Oliver Stones Oscar Winning drama titled Wall Street. Starring Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Martin Sheen, and Daryl Hannah, the story centers around a young and impatient stockbroker played by Charlie Sheen, whose determined to get to the top. Through the help of a ruthless and greedy corporate raider Gordon Gekko played by Michael Douglas, Sheens character is taken under his wing and helps Gekko by trading on illegal inside information concerning Wall Street deals. Wall Street takes the concept of a great opportunity being presented to the young by the powerful and takes it to it's next level of intensity and grand filmmaking. Oliver Stone delivers a powerful story about a young man who dreams of having it all but ends up becoming entangled in a web of greed, corruption, deception, betrayal, and ultimately loses everything. Add to this web is a beautiful young girl played by Daryl Hannah, who comes between both Gekko and Bud Fox played by Sheen. One of the most powerful movie lines to come out of the 1980s is said in this film by Gordon Gekko, "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good."
      The fourth movie of the marathon is Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves drama and thriller titled The Devils Advocate. The story centers around an outstanding young and bright Florida lawyer, having never lost a case, is suddenly offered a job to work for a high-end law firm in New York City. His high-end boss who presents him with the biggest opportunity of his career to date makes him the offer of a lifetime but the twist with this film lies in the fact that Reeves character is essentially working for the devil himself played flawlessly by Pacino. Reeve's wife in the film Mary played by Charlize Theron, agrees to go with her husband to New York at first but then confides in him that she hates his job and wants him to drop the opportunity and head back to Florida. He assumes she's insane and blows her off as she begins to have devilish visions occur while he's working his cases and becoming more closer to his boss. The Devils Advocate remains one of the finest films of Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves careers with the latter proving to moviegoers that Reeves has what it takes to deliver a strong and effective performance in the movie. The films strength is built upon the strength of the performances of it's two leads with deep character development all around along with top notch directing from Ray's Taylor Hackford. The film takes the dark tone of Wall Street to the next level with an even more intense plot involving an apprenticeship and a teacher who works his student for personal gain as well as molding them to become the next successor. The Devils Advocates supernatural thrills blend together with it's courtroom drama, Wall Street feel to deliver a richly satisfying thriller as well as providing a solid end to tonight's awesome marathon.
      The fifth and final movie of the marathon is Star Wars Episode lll: Revenge of the Sith, the third installment in the infamous prequel trilogy of the popular Star Wars saga. Drawing strong parallels to Wall Street and a touch of Devils Advocate, Revenge of the Sith centers around a young Jedi named Anakin Skywalker being appointed as Chancellor Palpatine's personal bodyguard during his run in office. While doing so, he is told about a secret mystical power that keeps people from dying to which Anakin takes great interest in for the sake of his wife Senator Padme Amidala. When Anakin discovers that Palpatine is really a Sith lord, he is given the opportunity to become an apprentice of Palpatine's in exchange for saving Padmes life. Padme tries to talk Anakin into leaving his position with Palpatine and making him realize that he is making horrible choices. Anakin much to his blindness and ignorance, ends up betraying everyone he once stood with and cared for and becomes Palpatine's new apprentice named Darth Vader. Although Star Wars fans know the end of Vader's story with him being saved by his son at the end of the Original Star Wars trilogy, Revenge of the Sith is an effective film in this marathon that not only brings the marathon to a stunning close but utilizes many elements from the previous films in the marathon such as young person wanting to get their foot in the door with the career they want, an older person seeing great potential in them and taking them under their wing, the teacher turns out to be a different person than what the apprentice originally envisioned and are stuck with having to obey their wishes or end up losing and becoming busted. Revenge of the Sith bears the strongest resemblance to Wall Street out of all the films listed due to it's story structure and morality tale about when young people dream of having it all but end up losing it by being misguided and doing questionable things because their masters say so. Palpatine pushed Anakin to get the best out of him for his own personal gain much like Al Pacino does with Keanu Reeves in Devils Advocate, and Michael Douglas does with Charlie Sheen in Wall Street.

So what are these movies trying to say as a whole when you put them together as one? The message says that sometimes you have to go through pure hell to get what you want. Sometimes the people that you look up to with respect and hope to learn from may push you harder than you originally anticipated, but usually it's to get the best out of you. The Devil Wears Prada says that giving up one's principles to succeed at a job is not the way to go through life. One's loyalty should be to their significant other rather than someone who asks more of you than what you can provide for them in regards to a job. Whiplash says that sometimes the worst instructors can become the people who push you to greatness, and get something out of you that you never thought you could achieve prior. Wall Street says that greed is NOT good and if one is not careful, it could become a persons downfall as well as providing a lifelong lesson about doing what's right. No job is worth breaking the law and risking one's reputation over like what Bud Fox did. The Devils Advocates final message says that you never should make a deal with the devil nor take too much pride in your job to the point where it gets in the way of your personal affairs. The fear of loss can make people do things that they normally wouldn't do as evidenced in Revenge of the Sith. A man's free will cannot be messed with and at the end of the day, good will always triumph over evil.

Our characters for this evening:



   

  

 



When A Woman Turns Fear Into Strength

Tonight's marathon is all about a woman turning her fear into strength while combating an entirely new species in space. Even though the characters in Ridley Scott's 2012 blockbuster Prometheus are entirely different than the ones in the Alien series as well as the one's in Gravity, the entire setup of the marathon is centered around the concept of a strong female character in each movie taking their fear of the unknown and turning it into strength to overcome the situations they're in. In the case of this marathon, those situations are women going toe to toe with aliens or a new breed of species. Whether you thought Prometheus or Gravity were good movies, one cannot deny that they both helped to reaffirm the belief that the Alien franchise is one of the finest science fiction series ever created, and Ellen Ripley is one of the best action movie heroines there is. One can say that this marathon is essentially a character study regarding the major female characters in each movie. For tonight's exciting marathon, we have on the following menu:

 



                           Prometheus 2012, Alien 1979, Gravity 2013, and Aliens 1986

      This is the ideal way to present the theme of a woman turning her fear into strength with the main character of this marathon being Ellen Ripley played by Sigourney Weaver in the iconic Alien franchise. Ripley is a character who experiences great changes in her character as the films go. She begins as one of the crew members of the Nostromo in Alien to becoming the leader of the marines in Aliens. She also goes from being a parent to losing her child during her 57 years in space and through the character of Newt in Aliens, finds reason to keep going and become a mother again essentially. The first three Alien movies center around Ripley's journey with battling the Xenomorph from the beginning when she first discovered the alien to the very end of Alien 3 when she performs the ultimate self sacrifice not just for herself but for the good of mankind. The character Ryan Stone from Gravity is a woman who contends with issues of isolation, grief for losing a child, and having to find her way back to Earth alone essentially. This marathon gives us three distinct directing styles such as Ridley Scott, Alfonso Cuaron, and James Cameron, three different filmmakers who give different perspectives of the theme of women becoming stronger while trapped in space. Themes that run rampant throughout this marathon are loss, regret, safety, acceptance, renewel, second chances, and ultimately doing what's right.

      The first movie of the evening is the 2012 blockbuster and semi prequel to the 1979 classic Alien titled Prometheus. Starring Charlize Theron, Noomi Rapace,  Idris Elba, and Michael Fassbender, the film centers around a team making a journey across the universe on a trillion dollar mission to find a structure on a distant planet containing a monolithic statue of a humanoid head and stone cylinders of alien blood. What they discover instead is the horrifying reality that they are not alone in the universe. Prometheus received general praise from critics but also heavy criticism from many science fiction fans due to logical problems with the characters and story. Examples are scientists brought on the planet acting like cardboard characters straight out of a horror movie, scientists entering dangerous caves containing extraterrestrial species without taking proper procedures such as bringing weapons and wearing space helmets when one see's a member of the group becoming infected. Prometheus doesn't come without it's admirable traits which is stunning cinematography and visual background which is a trademark of Ridley Scott's films. The end of the film implies that the movie is indeed a loose prequel to his 1979 classic Alien with the emergence of the Xenomorph. Prometheus is the perfect first movie for the marathon because it gives us a female character to ultimately care for, and also a foreshadowing of the character of Ellen Ripley in Alien and Aliens. Noomi Rapace's character in Prometheus is essentially the Ripley of this story as she senses something terrible happening and takes steps to fight back against it as well as protecting human kind.

      The second movie of the marathon is the is the 1979 horror movie classic titled Alien starring Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerrit, and Ian Holm. Nominated for two academy awards including Best Visual Effects and Best Art-Set Decoration, the film centers around a commercial vessel named the Nostromo receiving a distress call from an unexplored planet. When the vessels crew goes down to the planet and searches for survivors, one of the crew members gets attacked by one of the new life forms forcing the crew to head home. What they find on their way back is that a deadly new alien species has joined them on their ship, slowly killing everyone off one by one. Alien is the perfect follow up from Prometheus, and remains one of the most influential science fiction movies of all time. The film is expertly shot, filmed, and paced. The movie is slow but every moment is used to built up the suspense and anticipation for the alien making it's presence known. While the alien makes it's presence known, so does the rise of a female heroine named Ellen Ripley, one of the crew members on the Nostromo as well as inevitably being the last survivor after successfully defeating the Alien. Ripley being the films main hero is a process that slowly emerges throughout the course of the film as she is hidden within the comforts of her team members. Ripley is a great character in the science fiction universe as she learns by the end of Aliens to conquer her worst fears of encountering the Xenomorph and gets to move on with her life happily ever after in space (That's if one doesn't acknowledge Alien 3 and Resurrection as part of the series).

      The third movie of the marathon is the 2013 blockbuster and critically acclaimed space film titled Gravity starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. Winner of seven academy awards and also being nominated for Best Picture, the film centers around two astronauts repairing a damaged satellite in space suddenly end up fighting for survival as a missle destroys a Russian satellite, shooting debris in their direction and leaving them adrift in space. Much like the film Alien, Gravity is a masterfully directed and visually stunning space thriller in the same vein with the main focus being on a female character who grows progressively stronger as a person by the end of the film. Sandra Bullocks character in the film goes through two struggles in the movie both eternally and internally. The eternal battle is Bullock struggling to stay alive in space so she can make it back to earth without her partner played by George Clooney, and the second is overcoming personal grief with the death of her child and finding the will to live again when realizing that her situation is hopeless. Gravity is a thilling Science Fiction movie that is also inspirational for those who have fallen through hard times in life and experience a rebirth or a moment where they rise again as a stronger person. The end sequence of Gravity with Bullocks character taking several major steps onto the mainland is a visual demonstration of that.

      The fourth and final movie of the evening is the 1986 critically acclaimed action horror movie sequel to the 1979 classic Alien titled Aliens. Bringing back Sigourney Weaver in the role that made her famous as Ellen Ripley with Michael Biehn and Bill Paxton as supporting cast members,  Aliens picks up 57 years after the events of the first Alien with Ripley being awaken from her cryo sleep and living with the reality that no one really believes her story and the company she worked for essentially throwing her under the bus. When she is approached to return with a group of marines to LV-426 when contact with a colony on the alien planet has been lost, the marines find themselves battling a force that is more powerful than any major firepower they carry. Nominated for 7 Academy Awards and winner of two, Aliens is generally considered to be on par or better than the first installment in the popular Alien franchise. It is here that Weaver turns in her most powerful performance as Ripley building her character back up from being fearful of the Xenomorph in her nightmares to her taking charge of the marines and fighting to not only protect a little girl named Newt, but to exterminate the alien race before they reach earth. What makes Aliens a great sequel to Alien is that while Alien is a expertly crafted horror movie, Aliens is an expertly crafted action horror movie. Director James Cameron takes all the great aspects of Ridley Scotts film and expands on the alien universe, making it one of the most intriguing science fiction franchises ever. Aliens is the perfect movie to end the marathon with Ripley overcoming her fear of the Xenomorph, getting a second chance at being a mother when her real daughter dies on Earth during the 57 year gap, and successfully destroying the Alien species for good.

So what is this movie trying to say when you put all the films together as a whole? The marathon says that a situation as terrifying as the ones presented in Gravity or Aliens can make a person stronger turning fear into great strength and courage. Sometimes a situation like those can be a persons rebirth in the end as a dangerous situation can give life new meaning. If one experiences the death of a child or loved one during their lifetime, there may be a situation that allows you the chance to become a parent again such as Ripley finding Newt and becoming her new guardian. A species as deadly as the Xenomorph should be destroyed without hesitation and not considered to be brought back to Earth for financial gain as such a species can mean the wiping out of life as we know it. Women like Ellen Ripley from the Alien series and Ryan Stone from Gravity can experience transformations that'll present them with the will to live when their darkest moments arise, and through those moments they gain great strength and courage to prevail. Prometheus ultimate message is that the greatest things have the smallest beginnings.

Our characters for this evening: