X-Men Movie Essays - Fictional Secret Agents And Spies,

X-Men Movie I am critiquing the movie X-men. This movie is based on a comic book and on an animated series. Both the animated series and the comic book revolve around mutants. These mutants often look human, however many look quite different than any normal human and also their powers are quite extraordinary. This creates one problem when converting to movie form. Make-up gadgets and special effects must be used so that our reality where the film is made may accurately reflect the reality where the film is set. Also, the characters from the animated series and the comic books all have personalities and physical features that the actors in the film must try to match. This is a difficult thing to do. Not only must the actors physically look like the character concept but they must also be able to play the correct personality. The movie also must keep in context with the animated series and the books. The sources both share a timeline and general background knowledge and stories that the movie must conform with. When you add this onto the feat of making a movie that is aesthetically and engaging for audiences you have a very tall order. For the most part however, the movie was successful in many of these areas. The special effects were well done in this movie. Storms power over the elements is well displayed. I believe that it is one of the high points in the movie when we get to see storm use her powers. Cyclopss eye beam was also well done special effect wise. However the head gear that they used, while close enough to the original, was very bulky. This hindered the actors acting capability. Actors do a lot of acting with their faces and facial features. Entire messages are sent with the eyes. This did create some problems for Cyclops in the movie. The headgear, while it was aesthetically pleasing, should have been reduced somewhat in size in order to better see the actors features. Rouges powers are well displayed as well. At this point in the timeline she has not yet gained her super strength or power of flight. So that is one less problem. She still however has the power of pulling other mutants powers from them. This tends to be a case of simply overlaying the special effects onto her from the original. However the only power that she really takes advantage of is wolverines healing. The special effects on this part seemed realistic enough. However I have never seen that kind of healing in real life, so I really must take it for granted. Speaking of Wolverine, his claws had a bit of a metamorphosis from the original sources. They were much bigger and thicker. This detracted slightly from the idea of the original sources. The claws appeared much more unwieldy however this did not seem to impair wolverines use of them. And so it did work out well. The claws also brought up the question of how they fit into wolverines hand, being so much bigger. However, wolverines healing power did seem to work well. The mind powers of others in the movie were slightly under done. However there were a few scenes that focused on the mind powers of various individuals. Mystiques costuming was very well done. So were her shape changing special effects. The various effects of her shape changing were believable looking and true to form with the various sources. Magnetos powers of magnetism were also well done. The sheer force of will and power behind Magneto was well represented by the special effects. The toad guy was an obvious extra, however, his tongue stretch effect was quite striking and caused the viewer to shrink back and go ugh. The rest of the minor roles were also well supplied with effects. Kitty Prydes phase and Icemans flower were well done special effect wise. The general acrobatics and fighting that went on were well choreographed. Many of the maneuvers were a little super-human, however, that is to be expected because of the nature of the film. There was a small amount of special effects used here as well and those effects were used well. The

Simon Birch essays

Simon Birch essays Im going to be a hero. Pretty vague job description, isnt it? These lines of dialogue are a spoken between the lead character, Simon Birch, and Ben Goodrich, who is played by Oliver Platt. This proclamation sums up the driving force behind Simons actions. His quest to be a hero is Simon Birchs maguffin. It is the thing that drives him forward through the film. Throughout the film he is constantly in search of a sign from god that will tell him when the time has come for him to be a hero. This most recent adaptation of a John Irving novel, A Prayer for Owen Meany, is filmmaker Mark Johnsons Simon Birch. What needs to be understood by the viewer is that the movie is an adaptation and not the book. Reviewers repeatedly said that the movie was not like the book and the reason for that is it is not the book. This seems to be something that critics lost sight of, the movie was judged against the book and not for its artistic merit. Although the film ...premiered to cheers from the audience...(17.), most critics seem to agree that there was no justice done to the Irving novel. Variety said that Simon Birch yet again showed that, capturing Irvings mercurial tonal shifts in another medium is not so easy. The article goes on to point out that Irving himself demanded a character (and hence title) name change. As well as suggested by rather than based on credit (13.). Irving is quoted as saying, The story is significantly different from my novel and it would be unfair to my readers to mislead them to think theyll see A Prayer for Owen Meany. Its not A Prayer for Owen Meany, but I liked it. And Im happy with the way I was treated (13.). This quote leads you to believe that Irving approved of the film, but his insistence on ...

Financial management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Financial management - Essay Example Dividends are the consequences of performances actual or expected. The market’s perception with regard to the change in dividend policy will have impact on the investment decisions of the investors which will reflect in stock prices. Therefore, dividend per se is not the dominant determinant factor, but it constitute as a signal to the performance of the company when it is changed and this perception is the key driver for performance of the stocks in the markets. Dividend policy The dividend decisions are guided by various factors relating to the business at the discretion of the management. Similarly, the motives behind the change in dividend policies could be influenced by taxation policies of the government, influence of major shareholders in dividend decisions, structure of the management, retention of management control, fulfilling the expectations of the market or simply meeting the guidelines already given. On many occasions the process of price discovery in market is f rustrated by earnings management or insider trading in relation to declaration of dividends. However the fundamental factors governing dividend policy in a company are stability in earnings, growth in profitability, opportunities available for reinvestment of the profits made based on marginal efficiency of additional capital and type or composition of the shareholders and their expectations. However, any increase in the rate of dividends is generally appreciated by the market and the prices of the shares react positively to such announcements. For a meaningful analysis of dividend policy the dividend history of the companies in relation to earnings (EPS) and dividend yield over years, leverage or debt to equity ratio and the management policy in distribution of earnings needs to be studied. Also, comparison with the industry standards will reveal the relative position of the company in the industry. Different types of investors will react differently to the dividend policy. For exa mple, retired people expect consistency in payment of dividends since they need regular income from their investments in the absence of earnings from employment or other sources. Therefore, any negative change in dividend payout will adversely affect the stock prices. Relevance of dividends to market value of the stocks highly correlated in such cases. Determinants of dividend policy The question of whether a company's dividend policy is relevant or irrelevant to its market value has implications in firming up the dividend policy of a company. Primarily the question has to be analyzed with regard to the motives behind the changes in dividend policy from the perspective of the management of the companies taking into account the market expectations, future capital investments proposed, the earnings guidance already given and the tax considerations involved. The companies have to formulate their dividend policies in tune with the needs for the development of the business since the shar eholders are the most important stakeholders in the business. Future expansions, mergers & acquisitions could be easily managed if the shareholders’ confidence on the company is maintained at the highest level. It is very important to note that the policy does not focus primarily on distribution of dividends per se. It is