Ethan And Joel Coen

These two directors could easily be my favorite directors that we have studied so far this semester mostly because of their interesting story lines and their ability to make the viewer think. My favorite movie from the unit is by far No Country For Old Men but both others are amazing movies as well, the reason I find No Country to be my favorite is because of the way they portray the characters and how they take the screenplay and really make it their own. The dark shadow that seems to follow the characters is extremely interesting and always keeps you guessing as to what could happen next, or more specifically who is going to get killed next and in what way. They also leave alot of questions in the film up to the viewer to decide which keeps the film in your mind for long periods of time and gives good discussions with friends. Other movies of note that I have seen by the Coens and loved consist of The Ladykillers, The Big Lobowski, And O Brother Where art Thou? These films are all spectacular and are always filled with witty comments and thousands of plot twists and never get old or boring.

Phillip Marlowe is Freakin Baller

Robert Altman is a skilled director, however only a single flick of his has caught my eye so far.  Of the three Altman films i have seen (The Long Goodbye, Nashville, And The Player) i have found that only one movie kept my attention and that was The Long Goodbye (Altman, 1973). The reason being is because this film has a ton of film noir elements, and film noir happens to be one of my favorite types of film.  For one there is the hard boiled smart and cunning detective, and there is also the fact that the detective seems to be from a different era in the way he dresses and the way he acts.  The reasons that the other two films were no so interesting to me is mainly the way that the plot line worked out. In Nashville (Altman, 1975) the plot seemed so messed up and so hard to follow that it really did not make me want to watch it all that more, not to mention much of the music played in the film was not to my liking.  In The Player (Altman, 1992)  the acting and the editing seemed way too over the top which really didn't make a good film for watching in my mind.  The musical score was there solely to annoy and was very bothersome while also mocking a classic hollywood film, Altman seemed to only want to mock hollywood in this film and it clearly shows in all aspects.  Although Altman was a very well credited director i do not believe that he could be considered one of the greats in my eyes, however i do look forward to seeing another film of his and i hope it lives up to my standards of The Long Goodbye.

Out of the many directors I have viewed films from, I have found that Kurosawa's films have far surpassed many of the other directors'. The way that he uses the hero in his films reminds me alot of the western, and because of this and my love for westerns, I find that his films are so very interesting to watch. By far his two best films that I have seen are Yojimbo and Seven Samurai, these two are my favorites because of the way he uses the hero. In Yojimbo the hero is just like the revisionist western hero, he is daring and smart but also gets himself into very awkward situations due to his flaws in character. The reason I liked Seven Samurai so much is because of the mixture used in the hero's, on one hand you have the classic hero who is kind, caring and does things for others and not for himself, while on the otherhand you have the Samurai who is almost the opposite. The other thing that I liked about Kurosawa was his use of the actor Toshiro Mifune, I thought that Mifune was an excellent actor and that he was the perfect person to portray many of Kurosawa's heroes with the exception for the main character in Stray Dog. Kurosawa made so many of his films look just like the kinds of westerns that I love, I had never thought that I would like foreign films this much, or ever samurai films in general but because of his unique style, Kurosawa made a new fan out of me.

Dracula.. In German

The film Nosferatu directed by Werner Herzog is based off of the book by Bram Stoker, coincidentally also based on the story of Vlad the Impaler. This film follows the books plotline very well and can also be compared to other films of its kind and genre. Another movie based on Dracula was released in 1992 by the director Francis Ford Coppola who also directed the film Apocalypse Now. Another thing that is weird about these two directors is that they have both directed a film about Vietnam and both done a remake of the book by Bram Stoker. Although each Dracula film follows parts of the book neither is alike when it comes to the ending. The Herzog film shows the main character powerless in the end and eventually he takes the place of Dracula. But in the Coppola film he fights back against Dracula and eventaully aids in his demise.

Dawning Of The Amazing Movie

The movie Rescue Dawn by the director Werner Herzog is an amazing film about the true story of Dieter Dengler and his trek through Laos' wilderness. This film is set during the Vienam war and tells how Lt. Dengler survived a P.O.W. camp and attempted to rescue other american soldiers. This film can be realated to another film that I've seen recently called Apolcalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola, since both of these films take place during the vietnam war i find it interesting to compare both films and the directors style in them. Coppola's film used a much more expensive budget and you can tell throughout the movie because a lot more of his movie took place in the middle of the action. Both films however show what can happen to a persons mind when they are in a stressful situation such as a war, the character played by Steve Zahn starts to go crazy near the end of the film much like you could see the insanity in Sheen's character. There are also many other characters in the prison camp that show insanity much like you would expect from a person in their situation, you can see that all of them are malnurished and look like they would die right then and there if you were to poke them with a stick. On the other hand there are many distinct differences between the films, such as what and where things occur. Rescue Dawn is much more of a psychological film because there is not much action aside from the opening scene, it takes you much more in depth of how a prisoner of war would have felt. Apocalypse was filled with tons of gunfire and special effects and didn't really give you that mellow vibe. Altogether both of these films are spectacular and give you great insight as to what may have gone on during the war.

Chinatown

The movie Chinatown is easily one of my favorite movies of all time. Although I am more used to the actor of Nicholson of being a much older man, I like his character even more as a younger person. Cuz he's baller. This film was perfect film noir with the dectective, the mystery and the depressing ending. One thing that i would like to question is how the officer actually hit Ms. Mulwray. It almost seemed as though she was shot by a sniper who was in one of the builings one because of how far away she was (handguns are not very accurate, with the exception of short distances) and two because of the bullet hole size (there is no way that a handgun would put a hole that large in a persons head), it abosolutely had to be a sniper.

Kiss Me Deadly

This movie was alright at best, through the entirely i felt that there were was to many weird and strange occurences such as the mysterious box, the torture, and the horrible acting. The ending completly threw me off with the sci-fi and was not a good thing to add. When a movie starts out normal and finishes with an ending that outrageous and obscure i like to question whether or not it was actually a good film.

Out Of The Past

Though many might not consider film noir to be a specific genre I still feel like this may be a genre, and coincidentally my favorite genre. Many of the movies that I see today fit into other categories but most notably they are a part of film noir. I thought that Out of the Past was an excellent example of film noir and i also thought that it was an amazing film. I thought that this was an interesting and different type of film noir though because of the use of elaborate scenery and lighting.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The ways that the director used to tell the story of Joel and Clementine in The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are truly unique. One thing that the director did very well was the use of the open ended conclusion, it leaves the view guessing, pondering, and even wondering if the couiple will stay together because of the past events. Or if the couple will stay together and live a happy life. Another thing that the dierctor did very well would be something that I think of as a scene montage instead of just a shot montage. But not only was it a scene montage but he mixed these scenes up in a specific order to confuse the viewer and to tell the story in a new way. With this scene mixed up scene montage I feel that the viewer was sucked into the film and that they were forced to figure out what was happening in their own heads.

His Girl Friday

Although I have found myself not to be too interested in the romantic/ slapstick comedy, I found this movie to be quite different than its counterparts of today. The reason that I found this movie to be so much better than Comedies of today may be because of the quick talking and the long takes that dierctors of today no longer focus on. I believe that this type of directing and acting requires so much more skill because of how easily it would have been to forget a line or to screw up a scene.

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.

Resident Evil Extinction

Me and a couple of friends went to see this opening night in theaters and i thought that it was pretty good, however i had little expectations coming into the movie. This movie by far surpasses Resident Evil 1 and 2 and finally has a director who knows what he's doing. The ending of the movie actually disappointed me and ruined my anticipation of the fourth movie. Overall i thought that it was a descent movie, mostly because i am a big fan of zombie movies. Although this movie may not compare to other zombie movies such as Dawn Of The Dead, it was good enough for me.

Critique The Critic

Recently I was asked to critique a film critic on their choices and how they viewed movies. As I was searching I stumbled across an almost legendary critic “Roger Ebert” and his review of the film “3:10 to Yuma”. Not only did I find his review insightful and very well written but the review also compelled me to see the film for myself, while analyzing the film Ebert claimed that the remake was better than the original. Now I already have a few reasons that I would love to view the film for myself such as my admiration for the actor Christina Bale, Bale has starred in a few of my favorite movies such as “The Prestige” or the recent Batman film titled “Batman Begins”, but I was also attracted to this movie because of my love for westerns such as Clint Eastwood’s “The Unforgiven”. When I also saw that Ebert had referenced Eastwood’s film in his review I was glad to hear him say that this film also followed the tradition of western films much like “The Unforgiven”. Now I have to say that there have been a few things that Ebert has reviewed that I did not completely agree with, but I feel that he has created an excellent review and that he has fully analyzed this film to the full extent. One thing that drew my attention while reading the review was when Ebert said, “Here the quality of the acting, and the thought behind the film, make it seem like a vanguard of something new, even though it's a remake of a good movie 50 years old.” Now I feel that sometimes it is unfair to compare an original film to its remake just because of the difference technological advancements can make for the film, you normally hear people say these things because the older films such as those filmed in black and white can bore those who do not appreciate filmmaking to its full extent. Most cannot see past all of the digital effects and the technological advancements to things like the plotline, character development, and acting, so they only see the remake as an achievement and treat the original like garbage. But Ebert found something different about the remake, he says that the thought behind the film and the quality of acting were the things that allowed this movies to surpass its predecessor. Building on that we can see where Ebert goes into detail about the actors and their thoughtful dialogue. “Mangold's version is better still than the 1957 original, because it has better actors with more thought behind their dialogue. Christian Bale plays not simply a noble hero, but a man who has avoided such risks as he now takes and is almost at a loss to explain why he is bringing a killer to justice, except that having been mistreated and feeling unable to provide for his family, he is fed up and here he takes his stand. Crowe, however, plays not merely a merciless killer, although he is that, too, but a man also capable of surprising himself. He is too intelligent to have only one standard behavior which must fit all situations, and is perhaps bored of having that expected of him.” I completely agree with Ebert and this review and now I look forward to seeing this film as well as the original so I can make my own comparisons.

Indroduction

I'm in art of film for my first semster of my senior year. i like to skateboard and play lacrosse and i love music