Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Did they do the right thing?



This movie has been by far the most contreversial and most iniative of thought for me. This movie really made me think. It was the first movie to have to do with racism and a problem that we have had to deal with in our society in the past. Although this kind of treatment recieved by both the black community from Sal and Sal from the community is accurate as to what "did happen" in our society, but not to what is happening now. The scene that sticks out to me as most shocking is the murder of Radio Rahim by the police after he assaults Sal. This led to the community attacking in rage against Sal's Pizzeria and burning it down to the ground. When watching I was outraged at what was happening, I didn't know what to think when I saw them choking him. Even one or two of the officers said to let him go but the big policeman held him in a chokehold till he was no longer breathing. I think its important to understand that this kind of thing happened in our society's past and was not completely uncommon for that time but it is should be seen as outrageous and unbelievable today.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

The Battle of Algiers


After reading the New York Times review of The Battle of Algiers (Pontecorvo) I have come to appreciate the movie for what its worth, not simply on my own viewing pleasure or displeasure, taste or distaste. I was admittedly very bored while viewing this film, there were moments when the action would continue and following the plot was worthwhile but in my opinion throughout the rest, with the different language, subtitles, lack of enthusiasm, and difficulty to comprehend it seemed like a loss to me. Peter Rainer of the New York Times movie review has enlighted me however to a more "in-depth" while also "broader" perspective of the film. Pontecorvo wasn't just going for a film or box office type movie, the docuementary can be seen as art and even though its difficult to be enthraled by the film, you can still appreciate it for its worth as a film that re-defined its genre and opened all kinds of new doors for countries around the worl, not just in film making, but in life itself.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Was Teddy telling the truth?


Memento has been the best movie we have seen so far this year in Art of Film (In my opinion). I enjoyed Groundhog Day a lot, however I had already seen that multiple times. Memento is a one of a kind movie, mixed with its reverse chronological order and Leonard's condition, it was so much more than I expected. The whole movie led up to the final scene, which in the black and white scenes case was the ending and the color scenes case, was the beginning. Here we learn how Teddy may not have been lying to Leonard the whole time, he may in fact have been a cop and tried to just help Leonard. We learn how Teddy had Leonard kill a guy to try and get the money out of the trunk and in doing so explained how there was no Sammy Jenkis and Leonard was really the one who couldn't condition his memory to save his wife. These ideas are very interesting, definitely make you think and question your entire viewpoint of the film thus far. My conclusion was the same one that Leonard drew, he burned the pictures of himself after he supposedly killed "John G" and the picture of the man who was supposedly "John G". I think Teddy had been lying the whole time to try and make off with the money and not get caught by Leonard for who he really was, John G. who raped and murdered his wife.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Double Indemnity


We recently just finished viewing our first of 3 films in the film noir category, Double Indemnity. I was very pessimistic going into this film, I had never seen a film noir and had only heard of Sin City as being somewhat good. This film blew all my expectations away, i loved it. Just the way everything flowed, with so much suspense built by walter's voice over to keys and keys figuring out the plan but not who that other somebody is, this movie was absolutely fantastic. I must say it completely opened the doors for me to go out and see more film noir now, i look forward to seeing Sin City, which i hear is just like this kind of a theme, but newer and a little more updated. Our next film is Kiss Me Deadly, which im sure will be just as outstanding a film as Double Indemnity. Thanks to this film I now am eager to learn more about Film Noir and definitely eager to watch more from this epic genre of films.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Groundhog Day

In our fourth hour Art of Film class we recently finished the film "Groundhog Day", directed by Harold Ramis and starring Bill Murray. I had previously seen this film a good two or three times, however, I still enjoyed being able to re-live each comedic moment as Bill Murray so expertly acted them out. I love watching this movie, I don't think it could ever really get old for me just because each time different aspects of the movie catch you off guard. The first time watching it I remember being touched on how he cared for the older man who died that day. The second time I remember laughing long and hard over his "suicide montage" that I didn't find as appealing the first time. This time watching it, it was the little details. Details such as Ned Rierson's reactions that so fine-tuned the production of the movie it added the last detail to make it so great. The words to the song as well, as pointed out by Mr. K., definitely added more to the immense detail and planning put into this film, let alone all the different camera angles, shots, and filming detail we have learned so much about in class. Overall I really enjoyed viewing Groundhog Day and would recommend it to anybody who enjoys a exuberant comedy.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Bringing up Baby

We just finished another film in our 4th period art of film class, Bringing up Baby. Its a ridiculous screwball comedy the deals with a woman falling in love with a man and in an attempt to keep him for herself she sets of a series of comedic events that eventually short change the man quite severely. I found this movie almost annoying in some cases, especially when Susan would try to coax David into another laughable scheme or scenario where hes completley clueless and shes making up stories as to get by. She foolishly follows David around hopelessly in love with him throughout the story. I did like some of the slapstick humor that was produced such as the falling down the hill, both David and Susan walking into the stream, and the crashing of the brontosaur skeleton at the end. It definitely leads me to not be opposed to viewing films from the same genre of screwball comedy's, however, it doesn't necessarily make me race out the door to go rent them.

The Western Genre

This ones a little overdue for those of you who check my blog. I was sick from school for 3 days last week so I am finally posting my post-film blog on the 2 westerns we watched in 4th hour, My Darling Clementine (John Ford) and Once Upon A Time in the West (Sergio Leone). Previous to this unit, I had only viewed one western before. This was of Tombstone which included the legends of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. Seeing these characters that I adored in that film brought into even older retrospect to My Darling Clementine really made it stand out for me. I extremely enjoyed the sense of measure that characters have in westerns, they all fit there prospective "roles" as oppose to such versatile acting so commonly seen in todays media. Secondly we viewed Once Upon A Time in the West, which was another fantastic film. I loved the way the director employed suspense to such extreme measures to draw out every seconds worth of drama available throughout the film. Although I extremely enjoyed both films, I favored My Darling Clementine due to my past dealings with the characters of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. These films have completely opened the doors for me into the Western genre, I now appreciate these films more and will no longer "avoid" renting them from a movie store.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

El Laberinto del Fauno


I was quite lost on monday afternoon, searching for my film for the latest Art of Film Journal requirement. My first idea had been to see Raiders of the Lost Ark, however, I remembered Mr. Klob mentioning in class the most important requirement for our two outside of class Film reviews, 1 has to be before 1960 or a foreign film. Thank goodness I remembered that, my first film had been Star Wars Episode V, and I was on track to have to re-do the whole assignment over MEA. However, searching through my tv’s on demand system, I noticed a film that was causing quite a stir in our class. Pan’s Labyrinth (Written and Directed by Guillermo del Toro), was the film that I chose to satisfy the “foreign film” requirement for our outside of class film review journal.

Taken from the commentary track from Doug Jones from the website, http://www.panslabyrith.com/gallery.html , he speaks about the character of The Faun and how he was created, not using CGI or other computer animation programs and sequences, however with on the set construction and production.

“The clay sculpture, becomes a negative impression, then upon placing becomes a positive impression glued to me. This kind of work took days, meticulous artistry and absolute precise measure was needed to create this kind of a character.”

This shows us how hard it was being able to create such a realistic impression of The Faun that could be used in the movie. This add’s to every scene he is in, creating these film sets, such as his Labyrinth and Ofeilia’s room, to just be encompassed and focused on him and his character. Doug Jones also played the role of the Pale Man that chased Ofeilia down the long corridor under her room. She had taken from his feast of food that was never supposed to be touched, awakening the beast from his slumber. Jones makes several comments on the construction of the Pale Man as well, tying it into the creation of the set as well, showing us how real these sets are, creating the most lifelike image possible.

“This design was done with silicone pieces, different then latex foam rubber, making it have more lifelike movement…The process took over 5 hours to apply for filming, with all of the special pieces in order on me.”


This shows the commitment of the actors as well to creating such a realistic fantasy for us to see.

Doug Jones has mentioned the art and design crew of DDT worked long and arduous hours creating the characters that we see. They cumulatively worked on the creation of many of the key settings that we see in the film. These settings include inside the labyrinth, the pale man’s location, the ending scene of Ofeilia’s mother and father on their thrones, and many more. The “about the filming” section of the website includes a detailed description of how the filming process went down, shedding some light onto their decision of settings and locations.

“Hic collaboration with his longtime director of photography Guillermo Navarro and production designer Eugenio Caballero moved swiftly. Recalls del Toro, ‘We were popping out set designs in one or two days. It was very intricate work: puppetry, traditional prosthetics, CGI, etc., but executed in a context that was totally unexpected.”

Guillermo then goes onto describe the music score from the film and how it was crafted to fit the characters and scenes as well.

“…and entrusted the sound design to Martin Hernandez, who has worked on all of Inarritu’s films as well as City of God. The score and sound design combined to creat an atmosphere del Toro describes as ‘very expressive, very grand, fairy-tale like in some aspects.’ Hernandez and his team prepared thousands of sound tracks for environments and creatures, producing an overall very emotional score…. ‘We tailored the score on the basis of ‘themes’ for each character and its environment, thus giving each situation its own sound and personality.”

I think Pan’s Labyrinth or El Laberinto del Fauno was a phenomenal movie through its addictive storytelling and luscious environments; it’s easy to see how Ofeilia can get lost in her fantasy world inside Pan’s Labyrinth.

Monday, October 15, 2007

My First Western

As the title so rightfully calls it, our classes viewing of My Darling Clementine was the very first film that I have watched that has been labeled solely under the "Western" genre. I have come to have many expectations for a Western, after seeing so many cliché's of them for so long in modern day film's. I must admit, I dont think I can invision anyone besides Henry Fonda playing Wyatt Earp anymore. He did such a terrific job of completing every thought and idea I had about a main character and hero in a western, I had nothing left to call him out on.

The only part about the movie that I seemed to be irritated over was how Wyatt seemed to forget about his brothers death right up until the very last couple scenes involving the chase of the Clantons back to their home and then the gunfight down at the OK Coral.

I originally had doubts about the film when we first started watching. Played in black and white, with the old My Darling Clementine song streaming through the speakers, I was sure that it would be boring and a waste of time. However, the cast of My Darling Clementine sure proved me wrong. Although there were slow parts, the action was quite consistent throughout the film. I greatly enjoyed watching this film and afterwards I now feel like Ive been missing out for so long on such a great genre.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Citezen Kane's Mis-en-scene

Citezen Kane had many revolutionaryu characteristics to the way it was filmed. These different traits have thus been formed amongst movies and are used widespread in all major releases. The most apparent, and in my opinion best utilized, technique is Orson Welles use of Mis-en-scene. His use of low-key lighting helped establish when Kane was in charge, dominating over his communicators when he was bright and they were lower, and how he was despairing in the beginning at his death. I think this really helped improve how we viewed Kane and helped bring this important aspects to movies of the future.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Star Wars Epsiode V – The Empire Strikes Back



One of my all time favorite movies, this 1980 science fiction thriller released by Lucas Arts changed the way that movies have been made ever since. The Empire Strikes Back (Directed by Irvin Kershner) is the second installment of the “then” 3 part series entitled Star Wars including “A New Hope”, “The Empire Strikes Back”, and “Return of the Jedi”. I fell in love with Star Wars and the whole plot and background along with it when I first watched these movies back in elementary and middle school for the first time. Since then I’ve even been so keen as to follow the release of the updated versions, The Phantom Menace, The Attack of the Clones, and The Revenge of the Sith. The movie start’s with the young and talented Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), hero of the first film, trudging through the Arctic Tundra on his animal when all of a sudden he Is blindsided by another creature. Back at the allied command center, many people begin to worry over Luke, especially Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford). Han eventually goes out and rescues him, bringing him back to the Ally base in the morning. This particular opening featured many different key literary and dramatic aspects that stuck to the film as it progressed, eventually enunciating and emphasizing them more and more as the plot continued to unfold. From there the Empire attacks the Ally base on the planet Hoth, so Luke and his squad are forced into a defense position against the AT Walkers. Upon their return to the base, the ally’s realize they have to leave before the Empire destroys the planet. Luke, remembering what Obi Wan had told him, took a fighter jet and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) to the Dagobah system to begin his Jedi training with the Jedi Master Yoda (Frank Oz). On the Millennium Falcon, Princess Leia is accompanied by Han Solo, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels). After a long and arduous escape from the Empire, cunningly using their own garbage as a means of cloaking, the Millenium Falcon and its passengers head towards Cloud City in hopes of finding Han Solo’s friend Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), so they may have a safe port to dock from. However Lando has fallen corrupt as well and after landing, Han, Leia, Chewie, and the droids are taken into custody by Darth Vader (David Prowse) and the Empire. Here comes the most exciting and climactic moments of the film, however they are also best kept a secret. What I will include is that Luke, upon completion of his training from the Dagobah system and Master Yoda, ventures with R2-D2 to meet with Vader and rescue his friends. Luke and Vader’s “Face Off” is by far my favorite part of the film to watch, over and over even, due to the intense action as well as the masterful portrayal from both actors. Mark Hamill “really is” Luke Skywalker in every clip, and when he learns the news of his family from Darth Vader, he could not have done a better job of portraying how you might feel. Arguably the most convincing part of the whole series, let alone Episode V of Star Wars is the setting’s associated. Actually being on the Planet Hoth is one thing, but by filming in the snowy mountains and actual frozen tundra, it really makes the scenes feel real. The visual and special effects that go along with the settings, to enhance on screen essentials, are amazing. Such ridiculous feats include space travel through the Millennium Falcon and the Imperial Star Destroyer, flying on ground in a speeder or walker, Jedi lightsaber battles, Lukes training, Cloud City’s awesome visual effects, and all the different creatures throughout the movie made to look as if from another planet. The Cinematography wasn’t anything that necessarily “stood out” to me, however, I will say that during certain key moments, such as Han’s last words to Leia or Luke and Vader’s final meeting, the use of close-ups mixed with movements and angles, creates a truly profound shot that really makes you a part of the movie. In the end, I came to like this movie even more so than I did before upon analyzing it and studying all the different aspects that cumulated into making such masterpiece that, all though was created in 1980, is still just as good 30 years later.



-Towey

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Comedy of the Masses

For our 2nd blog post, our assignment is to write about an aspect of film or films that we see today, or traits that are common or reoccurring throughout different films, or genuinely anything to do with movies today. Since I have no exact outline of what to cover in my "spiel" on present day comedy, Ill be just covering a generic outline of what I feel is portrayed so fervently today. As evident in many of the last "amazing" or blockbuster hit caliber movies, (Superbad, Knocked Up, 40 Year Old Virgin, Blades of Glory, Anchorman...I'm sure there are more that I simply cant remember) sex is no longer used as one of those topics directors "tiptoe" around or "steer clear of", but more or less embody completely and use jokes based on sex to catapult their films to the top. There is always severity of things and sexual jokes in movies is no different. For instance Superbad, the goal of the main characters is to "get with" or "hook up with" the girls at the party by the end of the movie. Less monumental an occasion is in Blades of Glory when Jon Heder's character stops focusing on the routine in order to hook up with their opponent's sister, thus causing drama and hilarity in he process. This kind of a trend has been continuing for less then the last 10 years of films that I have seen, however this does not rule out anything before 95 and on. In my opinion, these jokes are attention grabbers towards the audience and almost make them feel more a part of the film. I think that they trend will continue and even upscale in movies until it becomes a "social norm" to accept such comments and quotes.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Critiquing the critic - 2007: The year Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen saved movie comedy.



For our blog assignment, critiquing the critic, I chose to review a report written by Philadelphia weekly online’s Sean Burns. He recently wrote a review highlighting Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen’s newest comedy blockbuster Superbad and briefly mentioned their performance before in Knocked Up. Burns noted many interesting facts that I did not previously know regarding both movies, and their marketing campaigns.

Knocked Up turned into this year’s most unexpected blockbuster, the only mega-hit powered by generous reviews and audience goodwill rather than a presold multimillion-dollar marketing campaign. Superbad seems poised to follow a similar trajectory.

It’s interesting when you take a step back and look at the truth in his statement. Many movies released these days are hyped with millions of dollars being spent on marketing, advertising, sales promotions, sweepstakes, ad campaigns, and every other form of media. But in the long run, those movies rarely turn out to be what they were hyped to be. As Burns so duly noted, in Superbad’s (and Rogen’s Knocked Up) case it is the exact opposite. Where, virtually out-of-nowhere, a movie comes through theatres knocking audiences off their feet with laughter and destroying the competition.

Throughout his article, Burns pays careful attention to “the fine print” as he cautiously but thoroughly details key plot points and cinematics that are crucial to the underlying plot of the movie.

Seth likes to overcompensate with wild theories about non-Ivy League girls having lower standards, but the prospect of starting a new life without his trustworthy sidekick clearly has him spooked.

Overcompensation is indeed key to the character, as Seth can’t help drawing pictures of penises all the time, and he’s prone to loud, blisteringly profane monologues, even though he clearly has no idea what he’s talking about. He’s a potty-mouthed, gynecologically fixated bluster of a kid whose entire sexual education took place on dubious websites.

Throughout my reading of Burns review, I couldn’t help but agree with what he was saying. He commented many times on how Superbad was a non-stop riot and we couldn’t have ended the summer with any better of a film, outlying my opinion precisely, as if he had seen it with me. He even goes into such detail as describing the two cops in the picture, Rogen and SNL’s Bill Hader, as the key to the film. As I had felt while watching the movie, that these two policemen were “reliving” there glory days of high school through their companionship with Fogell or “McLovin” and their ridiculous irresponsible actions.

Sure, they puff out their chests and wave around guns, but deep down these two are every bit as needy, clingy and desperate for approval as Seth and Evan. (High school never really ends, does it?)

Burns end’s fashionably with a very observant, almost profound, statement. He explains how the characters of Superbad symbolize youth today and how its off-kilter humor and feelings of inadequacy leave us with the impression of “everything will work out in the end.” All in all I agree immensely with Burns on his major points of Superbad’s inarguable humor that relates to us today and through this review and my response, even increases my desire to see it again.



Towey

Monday, September 10, 2007