The Avengers Review

The Avengers PG-13 Nick Mantegani 5/7/2012 EN121 The Avengers is a Sci-Fi/Action movie directed by Joss Whedon. It is rated PG-13. The movie stars a vast assortment of stars, including Robert Downey Jr. , Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson and more. It was released in May 2012, and is available in a 3D format. The Avengers is the first movie in an ongoing series.The film acts as a sort of sequel to several films made by Marvel Comics, including Iron Man and Iron Man 2 (starring Downey, 2008 and 2010, respectively), The Incredible Hulk (Edward Norton, though the character has been replaced by Mark Ruffalo, 2008), Thor (Chris Hemsworth, 2011), and Captain America: The First Avenger (Evans, 2011). In The Avengers, ancient Norse god Loki (Tom Hiddleston), brother of Thor, gathers an army from an alternate universe to enslave the people of Earth. He acquires a powerful weapon called the Tesseract, capable of destroying nearly anything.Nick Fury (Jackson), director of S. H. I. E. L. D. , an ag ency protecting the world, enlists the help of a group of superheroes. Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, and the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) join the effort, and are later joined by Thor and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). Though at first the big personalities of the heroes clash and they fight each other, Fury eventually teaches them the importance of working together as a team to defeat the enemy. Fighting alongside each other, the Avengers manage to thwart Loki’s evil plan and send him, along with Thor, and Loki’s army, back to where they came from.The Avengers is every comic book lovers dream come true. The individual hero movies leading up to the release of this movie were such a success that fans had been salivating to see these extraordinary beings come together and fight alongside each other. Whedon brought the characters together in a spectacular way. The banter between Iron Man and Bruce Banner (Hulk) shows a meeting of great minds. The relationship between the Black Widow and Hawkeye creates many questions that make these two lesser characters seem much more significant, which is important to the appeal of the movie.The clashing personalities of Iron Man, a self-described â€Å"Playboy billionaire† who questions everything and doesn’t play by the rules and Captain America, a man thrust forward in time from the 1940’s who still has his sense of values and morals from the his time, shows two men who have to work together who couldn’t be any different. All these relationships and more are what makes the fact that all these people coming together is truly a remarkable thing and could potentially have been disappointing if Whedon had downplayed any of the elements that makes each character who they are.Whedon managed to take each character and let them act as they are intended to, such as Stark’s cockiness and Thor’s nobility, and still be able to not glorify or discourage any of them to make the team more significant than the individual heroes. Roger Ebert compares the Avengers to the dogs in the Best in Show category at the Westminster Dog Club. â€Å"You have breeds that seem completely different from one another (Labradors, poodles, boxers, Dalmatians), and yet they're all champions,† says Ebert.He is right; though the characters differ in many ways, they are all the same in that they have spectacular powers that they use to fight evil. This makes the â€Å"team mentality† work perfectly in this film. Never did one character seem to mean more to the group than any of the others (except for when Hawkeye was brainwashed to fighting for Loki, but once he returned, he was just as much as part of the Avengers as anybody). The Avengers did not start acting like a team at first, but once they did, they managed to defeat Loki with relative ease.The message of the film is that it stresses the importance of teamwork. It shows that no matter how talented the individuals in a group may be, they can’t perform to their best abilities until they all start working together and use each other to bring out the best in themselves. The acting in The Avengers was fantastic all around. Those who were fans of the original Avengers comics (or the individual heroes’ comics) expect their idols to be portrayed accurately, and just about every single one is done so to a great degree.Ruffalo, Renner, and Johansson do great justice to their characters, and are very likeable and portrayed well. Ruffalo does a particularly good job in showing his struggle to keep his cool so as not to transform into the Hulk. Hemsworth shows that apart from his fantastic resemblance to the comic book character and his obvious good looks, he has the right idea as to what Thor is really like. He is a god and a mighty warrior, but he knows he is not above anyone and will protect the earth no matter what. Evans and Downey both fit their characters perfectly, and their attitudes are correct for who they play.Samuel L. Jackson does a great acting job in the movie. You cheer for him at times, and then despise him at others, which is always impressive when a character can get that sort of reaction out of an audience. However, as great as his acting was, it seems as if the creators of the recent Marvel Comics movies wanted to put him in The Avengers somehow, so they stuck him in the role as Nick Fury. To Avengers fans, this could be slightly irritating. Clearly he looks nothing like the original character, and the original character never acted like Samuel L.Jackson, but now Nick Fury will be remembered always by many, many people as a Jackson-like character, which is frowned upon by fans of the comic book. A more accurate portrayal of Fury could’ve been done by George Clooney, who is also a talented actor and, when one compares the two, looks exactly like the character in the comic book. The textbook says, â€Å"There is the ever-present danger that a ll the [special effects] in action, adventure, and science-fiction films will dazzle us but do little to increase our understanding of the world we live in or the drama of human life. (264). The Avengers relies heavily on the use of special effects and CGI to portray the heroes in action or the world itself, from the giant, levitating headquarters of S. H. I. E. L. D. to monsters only Ebert can describe as â€Å"Loki's ginormous slithering, undulating snake-lizard-dragon machine, which seems almost to have a mind of its own and is backed up by countless snakelings. † Indeed, it would be impossible to show the same movie without as much CGI as was used to make it. However, the heavy amount of CGI doesn’t take away from the acting and story of the ovie. If anything, it enhances the characters in not just a visual way, but it shows the viewer who the characters are and what they are truly capable of. In addition, the 3D format of The Avengers is a nice touch. For decades, comic book fans have enjoyed the adventures of the Avengers and have grown up in love with the heroes in the super group. A large scale movie featuring this group is what the fans have always desired. Each superhero received their own movie, building anticipation for the combining of these extraordinary people.Whedon made that combination happen, and the actors involved brought these heroes to life in grand style. Works Cited Barsam, Richard Meran. , and Dave Monahan. Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. New York: W. W. Norton, 2010. Print. Ebert, Roger. â€Å"The Avengers. † Roger Ebert. com. 2 May 2012. Web. 07 May 2012. . IMDb. â€Å"The Avengers. † Internet Movie Database. Web. 07 May 2012. .

Promote Good Practice in Handling Information Essay

1. Identify legislation and codes of practice that relate to handling information in health and social care. 2. Summarise the main points of legal requirements and codes of practice for handling information in health and social care. I have found 4 legislations that support handling information in health and social care. 1.Data Protection Act 2.Freedom of Information Act 3.Care Standards 4.Human Rights Act. Article 8 states of the Human rights act states 1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence. 2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. This means that an individual’s wish to protect his or her privacy must be balanced against the needs of the relevant public authority to obtain or use specified information. Outcome 2:- Be able to implement good practice in handling information. 1.Describe features of manual and electronic information storage systems that help maintain security. *Ensuraing cupboards that contain personal informatio are locked at all times. *Creating passwords on computers and locking them when inactive. *Only giving out minimal information over the telephone unless im absolutely sure that i am speaking to the next of kin or a GP. *Checking other professionals ID’s on entering the building. *Ensuring each person signs in and out of the building so i know where they are are in the event of a fire. 2. Demonstrate practices that ensure seciruity when storing and accessing information. *Locking the file cupboard after use with a set of keys that only a senior members of staff and nurses have. This is good practice that ensures security. Also locking the drug trolleys through all rounds. 3. Maintain records that are up to date complete accurate and legible. *On all entries of paperwork weather it be in care plans, daily updates or food and fluid charts, it is vital that they must state a date, time and signature in black ink. All information must be clear, consice be truthful and to the point. Outcome 3 – Be able to support others to handle information. *I can do this by reminding my collegues of how impotant it is to lock cupboards immediately after use which store personal records and inforamtion, each person has there own folder with they’re information in. Making sure all stickers off blister packs and medicines are destroyed before disposal is also just as important. 2. Informing new members of staff and demonstrating completion of paperwork such as food and fluid charts for example makes people aware of the importance and security for the residents. I always tell my colleagues to ask if they are unsure and i will do my best to help and if i cannot help i will find some who can help and also learn from it myself.

East Asian Co-Production in Film Industry Research Paper

East Asian Co-Production in Film Industry - Research Paper Example Various scholarships have been offered on popular culture that is conventionally exploring the meaning of texts. This has resulted in popular culture co-productions and collaborations in East Asia, drawing on empirical studies of cultural industries in Korea, Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines (Yau, 2003). This has consequently employed the usage of a regional framework in order to analyze the consequences of collaboration and co-production. In Asia, particularly East Asia, the rapid growth of the creative industry has induced a severe shortage of talented professional working force that includes the director, producer, and the scripter. The search to secure human capital is very significant to the success in this highly competitive field of creativity and artistry. However, the structure and dynamics of human capital development in this creative industry are yet to win the full understanding of its assessors in matters of a provision of efficient programs meant to accelerate human capital development. The resultant lack of understanding is caused by the complexity of work, as well as the fact that fostering creative talent requires a relatively long time that the rest of non-knowledge intensive industries (Chua, 2004). Japan is currently the nation under a considerable critical spotlight in the continuing debate on the Asia imaginary. Japan’s long history of cultural and economic hegemony in the region has always been challenged by Korea and China as from the early 1990s.

Global Financial Stability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global Financial Stability - Essay Example When the FED raises interest rates the value of the dollar tends to go up. â€Å"An increase in the foreign exchange value of the dollar, in turn, would raise the price in foreign cur ­rency of U.S. goods traded on world markets and lower the dollar price of goods imported into the United States† (Federalreserve) The growth of the U.S banking industry oversees has been significant since the 1950’s. In 1950 there were seven U.S. banks operating oversees with 126 branches; by 1976 the U.S. had 731 branches abroad (Fieleke). In 1978 the value of the total assets of U.S. banks oversee had reach $306 billion which is nearly 100 times higher than its asset balance 20 years earlier. U.S. banks were motivated to expand oversees because the international branches had a higher return on investment than the domestic bank branches. The U.S. banks that operated oversees were able to steal market share from the local banks due to their superior marketing expertise. The balance of p ayments records and tracks all the financial transaction made by consumers, government, and the business community with other nations. It measures the amount of imports that entered the United States territory. The biggest imported of goods in the world is the United States. The reason for this phenomenon is the high gross domestic product per capita of the people and the consumerism culture of American citizens. The United States has taken advantage of its banking industry to generate money oversees. The U.S has also used its power and economic resources to lend money to other countries to help in their development process. The U.S has used its banking industry as a tool to improve its diplomatic relations with many countries. For instance the U.S. controls Panama and the channel since they have provided a lot of the money used for expanding the canal which is extremely important for the trading activity between North and South America. The FDIC was created in 1933 and at the time it guaranteed the client’s money up to $2500. Today the FDIC guarantees deposits up to $250,000. The FDIC insurance was very instrumental in the growth of the banking industry during the past 50 years. Foreigners felt a greater level of security depositing their money in U.S banks because their local banks could not offer the types of guarantees in their deposits that the U.S. banks could due to their FDIC insurance protocol. In the 1980’s approximately 20% of the deposits of U.S. banks came from its international branches. During this decade there were inflationary forces in the U.S economy. At the time the government created The Emergency Credit Control Act which gave the Federal Reserve virtually unlimited powers to alter the nature of financial services available in the economy during emergency periods (Hester). The Reagan Administration did a bad job of controlling interest rates, but his tax cut initiatives during the early part of the 1980’s helped apprec iate the value of the U.S. Dollar in international markets. A lot of restructuring of banks occurred during this era. The United States during the 20th century was the biggest international player in the banking industry. The country’s banking sector aggressively expanding into the foreign territory to take advantage of foreign

Unit Contribution Margin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Unit Contribution Margin - Essay Example At break-even point, the Cost-Volume-Profit analysis equation is reduced to: PX = xv + FC Where p is the price per unit, x is the number of units, v is the variable cost per unit, and total fixed cost is FC. Solving the equation for Break-even sales units Break-even Sales Units = x = FC à · ( p − v ) Since unit contribution margin (Unit CM) is equal to unit sale price (p) less unit variable cost (v) thus, Unit CM = p − v Hence, Break-even Sales Units = x = FC à · Unit CM Break-even Sales Dollars = Price per Unit Ãâ€" Break-even Sales Units ; or What is contribution margin ratio and when is it most useful? The contribution margin ratio is the measure of sales, facility returns or selling price that residues after all variable costs and variable costs have been enclosed. Contribution margin ratio= (Sales-variables) / sales Contribution margin ratio plays a key role in; †¢ Determining the profits that will rise from several sales levels †¢ Assessing the influenc e on earnings of changes in sales. In particular, it can be used to estimation the decline in profits if sales drop, and so is an standard tool in the making of budgets. How is the breakeven equation modified to take into account the sales required to earn a target profit?

Climate Change and Green Buildings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Climate Change and Green Buildings - Essay Example Global warming is not merely an environmental issue but has several far-reaching economic repercussions as well. Accordingly, a new revolution in the real-estate market is observed, where efforts are on to build a low-carbon society, which has now become highly popular among the public and a top international priority. Although, cynicism regarding the viability of such a project i.e. economic benefits of green buildings, exist there are equally enthusiastic reports by researchers regarding its positive influences on reducing the carbon footprint. In recent years, amid growing concern that the impact of climate change is becoming more severe, there are indications that we are moving towards solutions to the problem. For example, when it comes to global warming issues, it is said that anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, are more than double the amount absorbable by nature, such as by forests and oceans. In order to prevent any further increase in gree nhouse gases in the atmosphere, it will be necessary to cut these emissions by at least 50%. Regarding the issue of biodiversity as a serious environmental problem along with climate change, at the 9th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity held in May 2008, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity(TEEB) study was announced. The TEEB study showed not only serious economic losses brought on by the progressive loss of biodiversity and ecological destruction, but also by the impact of deforestation in poor countries causing various natural disasters, such as floods. These are examples of the various repercussions of global warming whereby human actions have triggered a series of natural disasters leading to a vicious cycle of worsening poverty, food crisis, and shortage of pure drinking water in several developing countries where the actions of people in developed countries cause a negative impact on the water, food, and fish in developing countries. An other aspect of the study involved the use of market mechanisms as an advanced approach to biodiversity conservation (TEEB, 2008). Also, at the 10th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity held in Nagoya, Japan in November 2010, the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity’s Final Report was published. It was reported that various species are rapidly becoming extinct the speed of extinction of species is climbing as a result of the effect of climate change on ecosystems, and if appropriate measures are not taken, global losses in annual Natural Capital may rise to as much as 4.5 trillion dollars (TEEB, 2010). According to the EDMC Handbook of Energy & Economic Statistics in Japan 2009, the total amount of CO2 Emissions doubled globally from 1971 to 2007, with an increase of 98% across the world. This study focused on developed and developing countries (BRICs) that regularly emit substantial amounts of CO2, and also tracked these emissions on an annual basis. Increased industrialization, spurred by more construction, manufacturing, transportation, and travel, is reflected in the raised CO2 emissions from all the countries in the study. The developed countries (BRICs), however, showed an even higher increase, as a result of foreign companies expanding their

English for Specific Purposes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

English for Specific Purposes - Essay Example The first studies on special languages were in fact those on register, which developed in a Firthian environment. Following strictly in Halliday's footsteps (Halliday, 1978), British linguists identified special registers on the basis of lexical aspects, which they considered sufficient in themselves to distinguish them from common language. For example, the presence of a lexical item such as tablespoonful was enough to presume that the register was that of recipes or prescriptions (Halliday, McIntosh & Strevens, 1964; Strevens, 1977). However, as recent approaches to special languages have pointed out, differences do not apply to the lexical level only, but also concern morph syntactic choices and textual and pragmatic organization (Swales, 1990; Gotti, 1991; Bhatia, 1993). The social context (and therefore the aim) of each of the subdivisions of ESP exerts a strong influence on the linguistic strategies which are to be adopted. Therefore situational and functional requirements dire ct linguistic choices such as lexical density, the complexity and the length of clause structure, the degree of formality and the management of information, to name but a few. The most important d... cate a set of professional skills and to perform English and are learning the language in order to communicate a set of professional skills and to perform particular job-related functions. An ESP program is therefore built on an assessment of purposes and needs and the functions for which English is required. ESP concentrates more on language in context than on teaching grammar and language structures. It covers subjects varying from accounting or computer science to tourism and business management. The ESP focal point is that English is not taught as a subject separated from the students' real world (or wishes); instead, it is integrated into a subject matter area important to the learners. However, ESL and ESP diverge not only in the nature of the learner, but also in the aim of instruction. In fact, as a general rule, while in ESL all four language skills; listening, reading, speaking, and writing, are stressed equally, in ESP it is a needs analysis that determines which language skills are most needed by the students, and the syllabus is designed accordingly. An ESP program, might, for example, emphasize the development of reading skills in students who are preparing for graduate work in business administration; or it might promote the development of spoken skills in students who are studying English in order to become tourist guides. As a matter of fact, ESP combines subject matter and English language teaching. Such a combination is highly motivating because students are able to apply what they learn in their English classes to their main field of study, whether it be accounting, business management, economics, computer science or tourism. Being able to use the vocabulary and structures that they learn in a meaningful context reinforces what is taught and