The Bet Collector

The Bet Collector was a film jam packed with Philippine culture. The neighborhood was built with little allies connecting everywhere, and all the houses were connected. The main woman that was focused on lived in a house, but the front of it was a store that the family owned and ran. But you cant make enough money off of that so she was also a person who takes peoples gambling bets and numbers. This was a neighborhood filled with poverty. But I thought it was really cool that everyone knew Amy (the main woman) most likely because they placed bets with her but still.

The clothing was also something i noticed to be part of culture. It was the type of clothing you get so you at least have something to wear. It wasn't fancy at all, t-shirts and jeans most of the time. And the shirts got dirty real fast because the roads were dirt, everything was made from dirt.

The Language was another big part of the culture. They spoke Spanish but they also could speak some English if i remember correctly.

The climate was hot and muggy, humid and rainy. Nothing like in Minnesota except maybe in the summers. And everyone was prepared for those climates.

Kitchen Stories

Kitchen Stories was a movie based in Norway. Its a odd concept to a movie plot, but overall the movie was really quite sweet. You just have to be patient, because it grows a little long. But its about these men from Sweden who come to Norway to observe Norwegian men and there habits and everything in their kitchen.  Folke Nilssons is a researcher who is assigned to study the habits of Isak Bjørvik, an older gentleman. But the thing is if you are and observer/researcher you are not allowed to talk to the other man because you will disrupt his habits and the study will be ruined. You could see the Swedish culture in Folke Nilssons food choice, which was a nasty looking fish and a few other things.

The landscaping was much like Minnesota, it had many pine trees and it was snowing. And if you weren't told differently you might think it was Minnesota.

Overall this was a very cute movie but there weren't very many comparisons you could make because there wasn't much dialog in the beginning.

Little Otik

This movie was explained to me and a comedy... Not at all was that true. This movie is very scary and weird. I would have never thought of something like this for a movie plot. And the characters made me so angry when i watched this movie. They were all dumb like they didn't understand what could happen if they did something. They couldn't think ahead of what the consequences could be.

There was some Czech culture in this movie but not a ton. The majority of the the culture showed up in the food they made. Such as soup, potatoes, porrage, more of the bland foods in my mind. Not many fruits or anything colorful like our culture. They stuck to greyish foods.This movie didn't do the Czech culture much justice. It just made me think that they are crazy, and the neighbors are clueless and dumb. I cant express enough how much the characters got on my nerves. But there are similarities between American and Czech culture, we wear the same types of clothes, we eat some of the same foods (but not the majority), they have building complexes like ours, and the streets have stores and grocery stores like ours do.

Of Love and Eggs

Of Love and Eggs is based in Indonesa. Although the plot line was very hard to follow you could still get at taste of the Indonesian culture. The little kid named Bimo was just like anyother kid. He had a crush on an older woman and tried to go after her but failed. He is mischevious and a troublemaker just like most kids his age, from any part in the world.
But there were also differences with Bimo. He was a child but yet he still worked. Im not sure if it was a family run place or if he actually held a job. But his job was to stamp all the eggs they sold. And to me it looked like they worked in a farmers market type of place.

There wasnt much else that really happened in the movie. Overall i was lost in the plot which made me all sorts of confused so i couldnt really relate Indonesian culture to ours.

Hoop Dreams, Where are they now?

Hoop Dreams is an American film from the 1990's in Westchester, Illinois. It is a documentary about these two highschool boys, William Gates and Arthur Agee who are recruted to St. Joesph High school to play on the basketball team. We follow them through their highschool lives and watch them struggle to become professional basketball players.
The question i am asked to answer is: Where are they now? After doing lots of research i found that neither Gates nor Agee are playing basketball professionally. Their job paths and priorities might have changed, but their personalities have not. Gates is still that tall fit boy who is quiet, smart, and when you get to know him a truely outgoing man. He is now a pastor at Living Faith Community Church in Chicago. Gates married the woman he had a child with in the film, and now they have a son that plays at St. Joesph High school. And is doing his best at being a better father to his childern then his father was to him.
Agee is still that outgoing, loving, mischievious, and funny young man how had an infectious laugh. Agee now travels the nation being a part of a program called Hoop Dreams: Control Your Destiny Curriculum. Which helps youth focus more on academics making themselves more valuable. Agee is going to Tucson to shoot a film called Hoop Reality which is a follow up to Hoop Dreams. But this time Agee is going to mentor a kid from his old high school, but throughout the film is going to show youth that have big dreams of becoming professional basketball players that you still need a back up plan.
Even though William Gates and Arthur Agee didnt become professional basketball players, they are still touching the lives of many people, the majority of them being youth, and teaching them valuable life long lessons.