Stagecoach

Along with Citizen Kane this movie quickly elevated itself to be one of my favorites. Not only did it fill my expectations of what a western should be, but it also filled my expectations with some of its amazing cinematic aspects and with the acting.

Stagecoach is about a small group of people who end up traveling together to Lordsburgh in a small Stagecoach, among this group are an outlaw, a prostitute, a drunk, a thief, a gambler, a sheriff, a wife of a calvary officer, a whiskey peddler, and a comical driver. As odd as this small group of people is, most of them come together in the end to survive, there are however, a few exceptions.

One of the things that i thought that Ford did really well was his use of sound. One thing that really interested me was the types of music chosen for the stagecoach (which was usually happy and upbeat) and the music that played in the shots where there was a cut to the Indians (which was dark and quick, with Indian war drums). Another thing that Ford did with the sound that interested me was when Hatfield was holding the gun up to Mrs. Mallory's head, When all of a sudden you hear her speak, and then you hear the Bugles of the calvary off in the distance.

Citizen Kane

A true American classic, the movie Citizen Kane was directed by and starring Orson Welles, and is said to have been told about a multi-million dollar tycoon in the around the time when the film was directed. In this movie Welles included some amazing knowledge of directing and cinematography as well as acting. This film is now called an American classic but was considered less than great when the film first debuted. This film was essentially black balled when it was released by none other than the man that Welles was portraying in the film, and didn't pick up its status until long after it was made. Personally i thought that this film was amazing, and is now among my favorites. I never thought that i could appreciate a film that was created some years ago, and I would have never ever thought that i would appreciate a movie that was created in black and white.

Some elements that have elevated this film to the level that it stands today come from the cinematography, the shots that Welles used are stunning, as are some of the angles that he chose to get his point across. And Welles really succeeded at the deep focus shots, there were so many scenes where Welles kept the character of Charles Foster Kane in the background, but still in some focus. He was always putting his character in the middle of the shot even if he wasn't the center of attention reminding the audience of his character and his importance in the film.

Film Review

Not only with blood and violence but with an amazing plot and storyline, Pan's Labyrinth tells an amazing mythical tale of a young girl with a pregnant mother and a abusive angry stepfather. Guillermo del Toro is an amazing spanish director who also directed films such as Blade II and is the future director of the movie Hellboy II, Guillermo was also nominated for the "Best Writing/ Original Screenplay" Oscar for Pan's Labyrinth. Guillermo not only directed this Academy Award Winner but he also wrote the screenplay for it. Some of the films leading stars include Ivana Baquero (Ofelia), Sergi Lopez (Capitan Vidal), Maribel Verdu (Mercedes), and Doug Jones (Pan). Some of the stars have even worked with Guillermo in other movies as well such as Doug Jones as Abe Sapien in Hellboy.

This film was set in fascist Spain in the year 1944, and the director helps to give the film a dark deep depressing feel by keeping most of the scenes dark and without much color. Much unlike other films in this genre this movie seems to keep to a dark feeling while other fantasy movies are generally composed with a bright joyous color that keeps the movie light and uplifting. The director may have done this just to show how harsh those times were for the people of Spain in 1944.

Ivana plays the character of Ofelia who is a young bookworm who loves stories of another world or one of a fantasy. She and her mother are brought to a fort where her mother is to give birth to the Capitan's first son. But while she is there she finds herself chasing a fairy into the night and into Pan's Labyrinth where she is told by Pan that she is a princess and that she must complete some small tasks so that she may regain her throne and meet her parents in her kingdom. At first Ofelia is hesitant but she agrees and is swept into a world of magic.

All of the dialogue for the film was in Spanish with a variety of subtitles including English. And the acting in the film was very good in some parts and very poor in others, for example I thought that the acting done by Sergi was horrific because I never felt like he really belonged in the movie. He poorly played his part and it greatly showed, when a scene came up with him in it you were almost drawn away from the movie. However parts of the film with Ofelia were amazing, she brought my full attention to the screen and completely convinced me that she was the character.

Overall I recommend this film to anyone, the amazing plot and the excellent directing made this movie one of my favorites. Especially the costume and makeup done with Pan and some of the other creatures that appear in the film. And I completely agree with all of the Oscar nominations and the oscar wins, this film truly earned all of them.