The Butler

The long White House service of an African-American butler Cecil Ganes (Forest Whitaker) is used as a prism through which we view the development of the civil-rights movement. As the liveried Cecil, silent and dignified, serves sandwiches and coffee and exchanges courtesies with a variety of chief executives, Cecil’s son, Louis (David Oyelowo), becomes a militant and manages to hit every highlight, including the Freedom Rides in 1961, and Martin Luther King’s motel room on the day that he’s shot. The movie’s right-mindedness is relieved now and then by scenes at Cecil’s house, where his wife, Gloria (Oprah Winfrey), grows restive and resentful, drinks and dallies with a neighbor.

Elysium

The title of Neil Blomkamp’s new film, set in the year 2154, refers to a space station: a haven for the wealthy, spinning just beyond the limits of our polluted planet. Our hero is Max (Matt Damon), who, like the majority of humans, toils and sweats on Earth, where the cops are intemperate robots. After an accident at work, he takes on a reckless task, assailing an evil billionaire (William Fichtner) and winding up on a shuttle to Elysium, hell-bent on reaching this artificial heaven and obtaining justice. Rather than viewing a future world from a distance and admiring its digital enhancements, we feel thrust into the thick of it with such immediacy and sensory impact that, like most of its inhabitants, we can only dream of escape.

Enough Said

This mild romantic comedy has an up-front twist that’s beside the point. Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a California divorcée who works as a masseuse, goes to a party and meets Marianne (Catherine Keener), a poet who becomes a client and a friend, and Albert (James Gandolfini), a TV historian, who soon becomes Eva’s boyfriend – and who turns out to be Marianne’s ex-husband. Much else is beside the point, too, such as Eva’s trivial conflicts with her daughter, Ellen (Tracey Fairaway), who’s about to leave home for college, as is Albert and Marianne’s daughter, Tess (Eve Hewson).

The New Yorker. September 23, 2013, p. 22 (adapted).

Based on the three film summaries presented above, judge the following item.

Instead of causing a feeling of admiration for the achievements of the future civilization, Elysium makes the audience feel repulsion.

The Butler

The long White House service of an African-American butler Cecil Ganes (Forest Whitaker) is used as a prism through which we view the development of the civil-rights movement. As the liveried Cecil, silent and dignified, serves sandwiches and coffee and exchanges courtesies with a variety of chief executives, Cecil’s son, Louis (David Oyelowo), becomes a militant and manages to hit every highlight, including the Freedom Rides in 1961, and Martin Luther King’s motel room on the day that he’s shot. The movie’s right-mindedness is relieved now and then by scenes at Cecil’s house, where his wife, Gloria (Oprah Winfrey), grows restive and resentful, drinks and dallies with a neighbor.

Elysium

The title of Neil Blomkamp’s new film, set in the year 2154, refers to a space station: a haven for the wealthy, spinning just beyond the limits of our polluted planet. Our hero is Max (Matt Damon), who, like the majority of humans, toils and sweats on Earth, where the cops are intemperate robots. After an accident at work, he takes on a reckless task, assailing an evil billionaire (William Fichtner) and winding up on a shuttle to Elysium, hell-bent on reaching this artificial heaven and obtaining justice. Rather than viewing a future world from a distance and admiring its digital enhancements, we feel thrust into the thick of it with such immediacy and sensory impact that, like most of its inhabitants, we can only dream of escape.

Enough Said

This mild romantic comedy has an up-front twist that’s beside the point. Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a California divorcée who works as a masseuse, goes to a party and meets Marianne (Catherine Keener), a poet who becomes a client and a friend, and Albert (James Gandolfini), a TV historian, who soon becomes Eva’s boyfriend – and who turns out to be Marianne’s ex-husband. Much else is beside the point, too, such as Eva’s trivial conflicts with her daughter, Ellen (Tracey Fairaway), who’s about to leave home for college, as is Albert and Marianne’s daughter, Tess (Eve Hewson).

The New Yorker. September 23, 2013, p. 22 (adapted).

Based on the three film summaries presented above, judge the following item.

In The Butler, the main character gets involved with fights for the African-American civil rights.

In 2011, the first feature film shot entirely on a smartphone was screened at a West Hills cinema in Los Angeles. Olive, by director Hooman Khalili, was filmed solely on a Nokia N8 and thanks to its cinema run, qualifies for Academy Award consideration. Olive is a reminder that the traditional days of filmmaking are now behind us. The film industry today is in a constant state of change, with a wealth of new opportunities available for those with their finger on the pulse. Thanks to rapidly evolving digital technology, film making and distribution is undergoing a major revolution. Avenues such as YouTube, web series and smartphone applications are all viable — and often lucrative — methods of getting work into the public eye.

How new technology is changing the film industry. Internet: <http://trueherostudio.com> (adapted).

Based on the text above, judge the item below.

Olive was the first movie ever to be completely filmed with a Smartphone.