Weekly Film Review: "August: Osage County" - Comm 460

I couldn’t wait to put up my weekly film review post this week so it’s a bit early but WOW! Just wow. Yesterday I went to the theatre and saw August: Osage County. I went in with high expectation, I mean anything with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts could never be anything less than extraordinary, but my expectations were met and far exceeded. As a self-proclaimed movie addict and connoisseur, I must admit that it really says something when I say that this is honestly the BEST movie I’ve ever seen. And after Silver Linings Playbook set my movie standards at an all-time high I never thought I would find a movie better, but it has been found!

The film is a dark comedy that masters family dysfunction. When the pill addict mother, Violet Weston’s (played by Meryl Streep) alcoholic husband Beverly (Sam Shepard), goes missing she calls upon her three strong willed daughters to help her cope. When the daughters, Barbara (Julia Roberts), Ivy (Julianne Nicholson), and Karen (Juliette Lewis) return to their rural Oklahoma home, “shit hits the fan”. The film’s plot twists are around every corner and the family tension reaches sky high; all the while their already intolerable mother grows more and more hostile.

This is the most superb cast to come together in quite some time and not one performance could be deemed anything less than exceptional. The two shining stars of the show however, and probably obviously, are the genius Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. The relationship between this mother and daughter duo is tit-for-tat and tension ridden. The film can best be summed up as a raw, authentic, emotional, intense, and shockingly uncomfortable look into one family’s dysfunctional journey after a major loss.

Nothing that I could put into words could describe the phenomenon that is wrapped in the talent of this film. I think it is safe to say that August: Osage County is a must see!

#Freberg13 meets #Freberg14

Yesterday in communications 460 (my social media class) we had the pleasure of meeting some students who had taken the course before us. Their visit inspired me to improve all of the social media sites that I have accounts with and to be different!
The four girls gave us so many great tips for staying ahead of the game. Jessica Bledsoe (@J3ssBecause on Twitter) is now the co-owner of River City Networks ( http://keeplouisvillewired.com/ ) and self-proclaimed "Social Media Goddess". Judging by her professional & knowledgable demeanor she definitely has the know-how to back that claim up. I was inspired to hear that so much of her knowledge on the topic of social media she learned from our influential professor Karen Freberg.
The other three women had just as much to show for their hard work in the field of social media. Rachel Cleary (@_TheRachel_) currently interns at 102.3 the Max and Louisville Magazine. Diana Riesenberg (@Di_Berggg) had great advice for the group leaders of our semester long social media project. This was so helpful for me as I am the group leader for the GlowGo5k (@GlowGo5k) event that will be hitting Louisville this summer! And Amanda Roberson (@amandaroberson) who is a paid blogger. Her blog "8 Louisville Restaurants for Your 2014 Bucket List" received over 78,000 views!

Take Away Points:

1. Manage your online social presence
2. Think before you tweet (or post on any social media platform for that matter)
3. You get out what you put in (this can be applied to anything in life, but for communication majors specifically you have to put some serious work in if you want to be taken seriously)
4. Utilize LinkedIn (it's basically an online resume and great place to make connections)
5. Be sure to educate yourself as well as learn from others & experience

I'll end on that note with a positive quote! (by the way there are plenty more of those to come from this Pinterest junkie)

     

Weekly Film Review : "Her" - Comm 460

The "Other" Post: Each week we are to create a blog dedicated to something we are passionate about, the choice for me is a no-brainer, film! I am completely & unapologetically obsessed with film; the art, the acting, the narrative, the cinematography, & well, all aspects of it! So each week I will do a "review", basically just me saying all the things I love about a particular film that I either have recently seen or one that is an oldie but a goodie. I will also most likely plead that you see it!

This week I have chosen the film that I saw with my mom over the MLK holiday. Her starring Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams can best be described as mesmerizing. The cast is superb, and the film deserves nothing less than a five star rating! I absolutely loved it and all of its quirkiness. The film takes place in futuristic LA, the not-so-distant future in my opinion, and centers around the life of recently separated Theodore (played by Phoenix). Theodore is an adorably shy, caring man who is lost after his wife Catherine (played by Rooney Mara) leaves him. Her plays on all emotions with its melancholy, funny, but uniquely hesitant nature. The future is represented as people having a disconnect from human contact and the ability to effectively communicate with actual people as a result of the convenience of technology (not so far off from the now). When a new "operating system" comes out that is more human-like than ever, people everywhere get one of their own. The operating system serves as a personal assistant, best friend, and lover, in some cases, to its owner. The OS has the ability to think, have feelings, and carry on deep conversation. Theodore becomes romantically attracted and involved with his OS  Samantha (voice by Scarlett Johansson) which creates a unique, heartwarming dynamic that makes you want to reach out and grab Theodore and make him your best friend. Amy Adams, who plays Theodore's friend Amy (oddly enough), deserves high praise for her ability to be so real and authentic in her role. On a side note, I find Amy Adams to be wildly talented and abundantly underrated. If you are in the mood for a touching love story with a hint of charming comedy, Her is a must see!

Privacy, schmivracy... Comm 460

I started using social media when I was in middle school. When you grow up with something it sees your good, bad and your ugly. And I mean ugly. No one warned me back then that posting selfies and updates about what I was doing would later turn into a digital record of my most awkward stage in life. Like the common saying goes with food, "once on the lips, forever on the hips", the same idea can be applied to your social media presence. Once on your feed, forever saved in digital "space".

When I began college I remember being warned that future employers would be stalking my Facebook profile one day. Be careful what you post they said, it will come back to haunt you they said. I never paid much mind to it because I figured that when the time came to get a job I would just delete everything that may make me look "bad". But as i've recently learned, even when you think you have deleted something, like a tweet for example, it is still floating around somewhere in that digital "space" and if someone really wants to find it, they can. The lack of privacy is daunting and I hope that someday there will be greater regulation of our internet presences's privacy.

However, while our internet privacy is still a huge issue I feel that one thing must be said to the employers. The "guidelines" for what companies consider a poor trait of an employee based on their internet presence need to be loosened up a bit. I understand the intolerance towards ignorance when it comes to potential employees making racial, sexist, or homophobic remarks; that is not acceptable. But I plead employers to realize that just because someone may drink or occasionally use "colorful" language, that doesn't make that person any less qualified for a job, or any less of a person. People are human, we can't expect everyone to live an ideal, plain, square-ish life. Personally, I am not a heavy drinker by any means, but most, if not all, of my friends are and I can honestly say that all of them have an amazing work ethic. It is okay to drink and have fun, you can still be an outstanding employee if you live an exciting life. So I plead that employers understand that and stop trying to scare everyone into being boring with the threat that if they aren't they won't get a job.

With that being said, I still think it wise for people to be cautious of what they post, if not for fear of future employers, but for yourselves. Posting things about sex, illegal drug use, and rants about something bad that happened to you is not wise. Do you want to have that on record someday for your children to see? For you to see again? Sit on a thought before making it public information. It's not only bad for your reputation, but rants, for example, are not healthy for your mind. Don't allow yourself to get worked up about something so simple as traffic, or slow walkers, or the annoyingly loud phone talker sitting next to you. The more annoyed you allow yourself to be over something that small, the more annoying it becomes.

Always remember to think twice, respect yourself and others, and most of all keep your social media presence fun, light & positive!

Comm 303 Blog #2

For me, music is something that I find particularly inspiring. It is not only an escape from the daily stressors of life, and sometimes the cause of stress, it is also a culturally important tool. No matter where you are in the country, and sometimes the world, you can talk to someone about music and certain songs and always have a conversation topic. Recently I have mainly been listening to music on my phone through my downloaded music from iTunes, or via Pandora, and sometimes through the iHeart Radio app, which allows you to listen to radio stations in all major cities in America. When I’m at home I tend to stick to listening to music through my laptop. As mentioned in the previous blog, I am a huge radio advocate so when I’m in the car I always have the radio on. For me, listening to music is an escape. When I’m feeling stressed, sad, overwhelmed, or need to get into an upbeat mood, I almost always turn to music. 

The three main occasions I listen to music are in the car, at my house, and when I workout. In my opinion, music will be around forever and will be constantly evolving. I am excited to see what the future holds as far as the new devices that will be created for listening to music. Over the weekend I saw the futuristic film Her, in which a man falls in love with an advanced operating system. The film created a future where the people are so focused on technology that they become entirely detached from the ability to communicate with actual humans. However, the technology that the film features are amazing and I can definitely see the world headed in that direction. Or at least I hope that one day a wireless ear bud will allow us to use our voice to access our music and we can direct the technology to play what we want to hear, as they did in the film.

What is Social Media? Comm 460 Blog #2

What is social media? For me, the first thing that comes to mind is the endless list of "social media" platforms; Twitter, Facebook, Vine, Instagram, WordPress, Pinterest, and the list goes on! But do those platforms make social media or does social media make those platforms? Social media in the business sense is used primarily for social networking. Personal accounts however are used more for sharing and keeping people updated about their lives. Social media is and has been growing at a fast pace for the past 10 or so years, but in my opinion it has been in the past 4-5 years that the most significant progress and boom in usage has been created. I believe that social media will continue to be a competitive ,progressive, and innovative market as long as the internet is around because people are always looking for a way to stay in the loop, plus it is a wonderful business tool!

COMM 460 Intro Blog

Hello communication 460 classmates!
 My name is Madeleine Cull. I am currently a senior at UofL and if all goes as planned I will be graduating this summer with a degree in Communications and Sociology! I transferred here from University of Kentucky (I know..) when I was a junior and I have to say that I never expected them to be so different from each other. But after 2 years in Louisville I have come to the consensus that Louisville is definitely my favorite city of the two. I was born and raised in a small town in Northern Kentucky which is about 5 minutes outside of Cincinnati.
Although i'm majoring in communications, my real passion is acting and the film world. Once I graduate I plan to move home for a while until I have enough money saved up to move to LA. I am a firm believer in chasing your dreams and making your life exactly what you want it to be, because after all, life is too short to die wondering what you could have made of it. But of course everyone needs a back up! I am also really interested in event planning and working with animals or children so if I am lucky enough to go into any of those businesses I'll be a happy girl!
Last month I worked as a stage manager for Bunbury Theatre's performance of "A Homeless Holiday" and it was the best work experience I've ever had! I love working in the creative field and making people smile if I can. I'm currently taking 18 credit hours and if I had more free time I would spend it all in the theatre!
This blog site will be used for my comm 460 and comm 303 class but once I get the hang of this whole blogging thing I will be creating a personal blog account, info on that to come! Hope you all enjoy my posts! I have high hopes for the semester ahead in this class! Thanks for reading peeps!

- Madeleine

COMM 303 Blog # 1

Welcome to my blog! Apologies about the format, this is my first blog ever and I'm such a newby to the blogging world. But nonetheless I am excited to get started. For introductory purposes my name is Madeleine/Maddie Cull. I was born and raised in Fort Thomas, KY which is a small city right outside of Cincinnati. I am currently a senior at UofL but it wasn't until my junior year that I transferred here from UK. I have to admit, despite the rivalry I have a love for both schools in different ways. If everything goes as planned I will be graduating this summer with a degree in Communications and Sociology. However my passion has always been acting and film. Hopefully when I save up enough money I will move to LA and try to start a career in that field. But not to worry, I also have a passion for event planning, PR, marketing and social media; so I have a fall back plan if my true passion doesn't work out.

Generally speaking, I am one who like to stay up to pace with communication technology and all the ways we can be connected to different communities through the use of comm. technology. While I would love to be able to keep up with all of the new and exciting electronic toys, I unfortunately am not in the financial place to do so. So for now I will stick to my laptop and i-phone. For many people, they view radio as a dying medium, but for me as a somewhat old fashioned gal I personally love the radio. I listen to it almost every day for the music aspect of it (not talk radio) and especially in the car, if I could figure it out I would love to install satellite radio because I think the possibilities are endless with that! On the other hand, most of my friends and family do not use the medium and are more likely to not listen at all or to use some sort of i-phone hook up due to their hatred for commercials. Personally, I see radios future as a somewhat "ify" territory, as most view it as a dying technology. I believe that sooner than later the traditional radio will cease to exist and satellite radio will take its place.

Hope you enjoyed my first post and that I can figure out how to make this an informative and creative spot for information and input on communication technology.

- Madeleine