Shoot Promos on Race, Class, Gender, Etc

"You've always been what you are. That's not new. What you'll get used to is knowing it." - Cassandra Clare One of my favorite movies as a child was Rocky IV , the epitome of 1980's excess, cliches, and cheesiness. It certainly isn't the best Rocky but it's in my estimation the most entertaining Rocky film. Written and Directed by Sylvester Stallone himself, during the height of his star power and influence, when he could get any project green lit. Never to be confused by the sharp, witty dialogue of Aaron Sorkin or a Martin Scorsese level auteur, though you can argue that Sly certainly had a specific vision for this sequel. Nearly a third of the movie is composed of montages, including a montage in the middle of the film set to "No Easy Way Out" by Robert Tepper, which recapped the previous 3 Rocky films in a tidy 4:25. Would I have preferred a scene where Stallone performed a dramatic monologue to serve as the film's exposition? I don...

  "It's like a palm tree by the ocean that endures the greatest winds because it knows how to gracefully bend" - Stephen Kendrick If you're on a plane descending into Los Angeles for the first time, or driving through the streets of LA, one thing you may notice is the presence of palm trees. The palm tree is synonymous with Los Angeles: a symbol of luxury, wealth, exoticism, and paradise. They were planted intentionally as "street trees", despite lacking any functional uses of shade, reduction of heat, clean air, and fruit. But their uniqueness allowed them to grow and thrive everywhere, from beaches and boardwalks, major streets to tiny residential streets, the affluent neighborhoods to the hood, they're a unifying symbol. No matter where you reside, look outside of your window and you'll see a palm tree. Compared to more densely populated and vertical mega cities like New York and Tokyo, Los Angeles is much more horizontally spread out, with palm t...