China-town: does color matter?

After finishing the genre film noir I thought in the beginning that it could only work with black and white, but I can't think of any other genre to put Chinatown in; even though its in color. I actually think I like it more. I know your supposed to learn from and appreciate black and white films more in this class, but they really don't do it for me, ya smoke and light can look cool sometimes, but not enough I think to take away from all the good things that color bring to a movie. It's just an opinion but I know that I will always be a color lover. 

The Break-up (actually)

So in class the other day Carah brought up a very good point from a very good movie. The Break-up staring Vince Vahn and Jennifer A is a movie about a young couple who fall in love, break-up, and try to make it work again. But unlike your everyday romantic comedy they actually stay broken up. This did probably kill the movie in the box offices but I mean is it so bad that a movie called the break-up actually had the couple not get back together? Of course we all hate it at first or at some point, but how much more realistic is that. I mean its not like just because you dated someone and you broke up that five years later your going to get back together just because you ran into each other somewhere. In my mind the ending was genius in addition to a very funny movie. 

Pan's Labyrinth: A fairy tell of life

As I watched the movie Pa's Labyrinth by Guillermo Del Toro I kept trying to ask myself throughout the whole thing...what is the director trying to get out of this? You see this movie does an incredible job of mixing a fairy tale and real life together, but I could never put the two together but after reading a new york times review it finally hit me! The fairy tale helps to explain the significance of the real storyline. That sounds confusing but you see the real story takes place in spain during a war and people are fighting against whats left of the army which are the "villians" of the movie, and the little girl has to fight her way through evil characters, just like in real life. So to sum that up more logically you can look at the story in two ways. One is the non-fiction way where the free men of the country are fighting for their lives against the army. The other is the fiction way where the little girl has to fight her way through her imagination. Both tell the same story of fighting against evil. So here I believe the director wants us to see both separate stories, but put them together at the same time. 

The second thing that immediately caught my attention in this film was that yes this was a fairy tale alright, but it was not a fairy tale for children, not at all. For example one of the first scenes of the movie involves the captain of the army taking a beer bottle and literary smashing an innocent mans face in, blood and all. I knew right there and then that this was no disney movie. This brings up the question...What are adults going to get out of this type of movie? I mean a fairy tale for adults, who would want to watch that. This is what made this film so good in my opinion. I think the direction the director was going for was to give us an easier way to view the story of fascism, and how terrible it is. But instead of doing it from a confusing real life story, he simply turned it into a fairy tell and worked its way in with the story. 

I tried to compare other films the director had with this one but none really seemed to be as in depth and detailed as this. Yes he had some other hits like Blade 2 and Mimic, which in my mind are not phenomenal movies. This movie was. It's one of those movies you know took so much time and effort to put together, that the director wanted it so bad he didn't sleep, and my hat goes off to him I think he did a great job. The only thing I question about his dedication is why make such a good movie and end it so abruptly? It was put together amazingly but I still think the ending could have been stretched a little more. 

Final Scene: The Explanation

Throughout the whole movie of Unforgiven directed by Clint Eastwood I kept asking myself where is this showdown, when does good fight evil, when is the intense shooting going to take place? Finally all my questions were answered with the final scene of the movie. 

As I break down the final scene I realize a number of things that caught my eye. The first is that like any other western, the main character never flinches, showing signs of bravery like a traditional western hero would. The second is the luck of Munny throughout the scene, now I know in your classic western the main character usually always wins, but I believe he was able to kill 6 or 7 men before one of them kills him. Although unrealistic something about the scene made me think more of Munny, perhaps its the David vs Galioth type of battle but it sure was good. And finally the final quote from Munny.

"Deserves got nothin to do with it"

. This quote made the movie in a lot of peoples mind. Wow is that powerful. It pretty much sums up the entire thought process of Munny before he kills a man. Whether its right or wrong, your now able to realize how he able to do the things he do and be okay with it, something niether the schofield kid or ned could do. 

The Godfather (1 and 2)

The Godfather directed by Francis Ford Coppola starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino was one of the most brilliant stories I have ever witnessed on screen. I want to first state that this review is coming from someone who has yes, never seen the Godfather before. Im embarrased that it took me 18 years of my life to finally see it.

The whole story revolves around the main conflict. A rich italian family named the coroloegns. This is not your everyday italian family, they are powerful, wise, and bad. The family has issues with the other family buissnesses and people that want to destroy them for their power. What the first movie did so well is gives you the inside look from a very real life family warfare, but only from one side of the story. It uses the strategdy of cardstacking so well that even though you know what the family is doing is wrong you still feel a sense of closeness to them, so much that you actually feel sympathy for them.

The main characters of the movie are Don coroloegn, the Godfather himself, and his son Micheal coroloegn. These two characters give off a certain bond that makes you think about the true value of family more than any movie out there. You see, the reason Don coroloegn calls himself the Godfather is because he is so powerful people come to him to ask favors, illegal favors that is. Something like this man beat my daughter and was not punished, so I need you to do it for me, and he would send someone to do it. In order to be helped by the godfather you need to be considered family and call him the godfather. Is there a better plot than that?

The setting and themes of the movie are also a great addition. It goes back in fourth between different states and even countries. A lot of it takes place in Nevada where the family lives and also in Sicilia, Italy. The movie does such a great job of switching back and fourth between to completly different settings that you almost forget that your in different places.

The Last thing I want to talk about is the the transition from the first movie to the second. Im usually not a fine of sequels but this was something else. After an amazing plot in the first movie it hits you with an ending that you swore wouldnt happen in the begining the story just gets better. Now I know there s a great reason why these movies won back to back oscars for best picture of the year. The first movie has the amazing plot and story, while the second explains a lot of the things you missed in the first and where everything came from. These movies are movies that should be watched by everyone at some point in time, they show the great respect people have for there family and is just a story that can't be igonred. I cant wait to see the third!

Critique the critic: Juno

As I read the critique on Juno by Micheal Phillips I finally realized why it was I didn't like the movie until the end. In the beginning of the movie everything just seems so clustered and messed up, and I could think of nothing more than how stupid those two kids were. However as the movies goes on, you almost feel like you gain a relationship with the character; you want the best for her and hope that everythings works out.

He then starts to talk about the role play of the parents of Juno and how they were thrown off by the pregnancy but surprisingly supportive which I couldn't agree with more. Now I know you have to keep the movie somewhat clean but come on you know that they could have done a better job and more realistic job of the parents freaking out than that. Thats not just a conversation that comes up and all of a sudden is okay the next day. Again it's nice that they are so supportive but we all know how our parents would react if something like this were to happen...

Another thing that came up in the article on the movie was the idea of how the movie promoted the anti-abortion theory. I found this very interesting because when I watched the movie I don't remember one time that I never stopped and thought about the whole abortion thing and whether it was right or wr0ng, I was so focused in on the movie and what would happen. Now I wonder to myself if the movie really is trying to promote it or not because it never came to me once! Maybe thats just me being an idiot too....

One thing I do disagree on with Mr. Phillips is he says the movie gives us a sense of relief in a way that if a accident like this were to happen and that there are happy times still if your the 16 year old pregnant teenager. Come on....the thing I probably disliked most about this movie was the lack of stress and anger that ALL the characters showed about the baby. In relief there would be 10X more gossip, 10X more crying, 10X more fighting, well you get the picture.

Overall my final review of the movie would be around an 8. This is around the same score that Michael gave the movie so I would have to agree with most of his critique as well. Again my favorite part of the critique was when he described the movie suddenly all coming together in the end which it did, I couldn't agree more. The one thing I would have to stress to the director however is some more realism to be portrayed in the movie, most of all with the parents reaction to their kids unwanted pregnancy. A well deserved eight of ten again. 

Then, stealthily, everything about the movie starts working together more purposefully. And by the end you’ve fallen in love with the thing.

Effect film has on MY life

Not being your everyday reader and writer I would say that movies are the only real form of literature I take in at home and away from school. In fact I can't remember the last book I read. I'm a movie lover. After school, road trips, at night in bed, all my free time is usually taken up by a movie if not by myself then with friends. Just this past Sunday I watched four movies, two with my good friend Nate, and two and home by myself. These movies included usual suspects, boondock saints, we were soldiers, and saving private Ryan. As you can see I have a lot of free time on my hands....