Assignment: Movie Review Assignment Guidelines
Gangs of New York (2002).
Overview: By the end of the semester, you will be required to submit one movie review, worth 15% of your overall grade. Your movie options are listed below--please note that they are time sensitive. They've been selected because they coincide with particular content we are doing on particular weeks. When you pick a movie, your review is due two weeks from when that movie was listed on the syllabus.
Requirements: Reviews should be 2-3 pages. Your review should contain 3 main things:
1) An overview of the movie itself--what's the general plot, when does it take place, etc.
2) What a contemporary reviewer thought about the movie, and whether you agree and why. For example, if you pick West Side Story your review should discuss a 1961 review of the movie. Note that a contemporary review may not be available for some of the oldest movies, like The Crowd, in which case you can use a review that was written later.
3) A discussion of this movie as a way of looking at New York--what is this movie's impression of New York? How is the city depicted in the movie? What specific historic events or people, if any, are depicted in this movie? What does this movie help us understand about New York, and how does it reflect or challenge any themes from class? You are not obligated to use sources from class for context, though you might find it useful to do so.
Handing It In: Reviews should be uploaded to Blackboard.
Where to Find It: Some of the movies may be available on streaming services for free or for a rental fee. You can find out for best results put the title of the movie in quotation marks. Some movies are available in their entirety on youtube. Others might be available through the New York Public Library or through the CUNY library. Plan in advance and make sure you've found a way to watch the movie you've chosen.
Full List of Options
--Civil War/Draft Riots: Gangs of New York
--Gilded Age: The Age of Innocence
--Progressivism: Ragtime; Hester Street
--1920s: Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle; Speedy; The Crowd
--1930s: 42nd Street; Brighton Beach Memoirs
--Postwar: On the Bowery; On the Waterfront; West Side Story
--1960s: The Cool World; The Landlord
--1970s: Fort Apache, the Bronx; Crooklyn.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.