Reviews and Ramblings

Okay so, WOW!!!! This movie was visually staggering!!!! Between the intimate scenes and the animation, I could not tell what was real and what was fake at some points in the movie!!!! Okay so, I know, the movie came out like, 2 or 3 months ago, and I haven't been keeping you guys updated. AND I'M SORRY ABOUT IT!!!! But man, does senior year freaking KILL you, if you have a crazy mother, who is like, best friends with one of your teachers. Anywhos-- So, back to Beowulf. Alright well, after I saw the movie, I just had to see if there was anything else to the story. Now, I feel stupid admitting this but, I did not know that it was a poem. I know, I know.... how shameful, right? Well, anyways, so, when I got home, well, more like the day or two after, I googlified Beowulf and guess what!? There is like, half of the story missing!!!! I'm so shocked, right? I mean hello, it HOLLYWOOD!, Captain Obvious! But still, I mean, if you are going to take something so monumental, ...

Alright, so I FINALLY got to see the third Godfather!!!! My sister got the set for my dad on his birthday.... it took us like, 2 and half months to see all three. LOL I thought that the first and third were the best out of the series. The second one seemed to have jumped around so much, that I lost myself a couple of times, trying to figure some stuff out. The first one was amazing!!!! --grainy texture to the film, the variety of actors, the clothes, the props, and of course, the locations. Everything just went together so well. The third was amazing as well, since Al Pacino was at the top of his game. The second was made beautifully, just like the first, but the story jumped around so much, it often takes a few minutes (sometimes when it went back to the original event) to realize what is going on. Granted, there are other movies out there that are similar, but they are not a part of a series. Francis Ford Coppola did a wonderful job with all three movies in the series, but ...

     In the Seven Samurai and the Magnificent Seven, there are a lot of similarities, but also a lot of differences. The Magnificent Seven was made after the Seven Samurai, and was even a sort of tribute to the Seven Samurai. For the first thing, and foremost, the most extreme difference that is noticeable, is that the Seven Samurai is in black-and-white, and it is placed in a small town in Japan, where the villagers are farmers. The Magnificent Seven is based in a small town in Mexico, and a small town in Texas, right across the border from each other.      The biggest similarity is the plot of both films. There is a town/village of farmers that keep getting raided or pushed around by bullies, who want food. After so much time, then the villagers get extremely agitated with the bandits, so they decided to ask the highest respected person in the village. In Seven Samurai, they ask “Grandfather” what they should do, and it is decide...

Monsters perform many functions in movies. Please write an essay on how Del Toro treats the creation of monsters in his movies "The Devil's Backbone" and "Pan's Labyrinth." Support your argument with examples of how teh cinematographer's craft was used to support this principle.      This is the prompt for our cinematography final. And this is my essay for our cinematography final:      Del Toro uses monsters to convey the conception of imagination and difference in hi movies. In "The Devil's Backbone", he uses the 'monster', Santi, a prior occupant of the orphanage to show how messed up the older guy, Jacinto had become, from his days at the orphanage. There is a sense of imagination because Carlos, the new-comer, at first believes he only sees something that is not real. But then, this imagination turns into a remedy. Which is exactly what Del Toro wanted. Similarly to how Akira Kurosawa places every single strand of hair i...

     This movie was originally made in late 1979. (released mid 1980). Obviously everyone wore the typical disco outfits of the time period; however, there were different characters who had certain costumes on because of the different scenerios that were happening. It is a comedy/romance and I highly recomend it. There are many wonderful uses of transitions throughout the film, allowing for more imagination to happen. Special effects are not needed for the most part, although are used. Most things, are not so much as "special" effects as just effects, where you can see how/where/what is being used which in some peoples minds makes it special. However, this just makes the film more enjoyable.      It is rated PG despite some nudity, and sexual references. There is many different forms of jokes in this film, which are impossible to catch in one sitting.      There are flash back in where the characters are ...

     This movie was based on 'The Odyssey' by Homer. You can see the similarities of the story in this movie. But, 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' has it's own story line in there, too. The entire movie is in black and white but because of the colourful language and actions, the movie seems to have colour. But, the comparisons of 'The Odyssey' and 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' are very similar.      Most of the characters are recognizable if you have read the book. Cyclops, in this movie, is a 'bible salesman' who is really a part of the KKK and is helping to catch these three men who have escaped from jail. The journey for the main character in this movie, is finding his wife before he loses her. While he, Uylsses, was in jail, she, his wife wrote to him that she was going to get remarried. He told the other two men he was chained to that there is a hidden fortune. When he finds her, she has even turned their eldest daughters aga...

     This review is a bit different from what I normally write; however, I was not able to see the entire film, and was stuck up to the ending point you will get to. Hopefully I will be able to see it over the summer and will be able to post a 'Part two' review of it. Much of this review may seem like the retelling of the story but, I had been typing while watching, hence the reason for the different writing style. Enjoy! :-D      The samurai picked up a stick and threw it in the air. It pointed in on direction of the road and he walked around the stick, as if the stick was leading him to his destiny. He then comes across a father and son fighting at their house. It is unfourunate though, that when he is allowed a drink of water, the father, who has just unfortunately lost his son thinks of him as a beggar or stealer. Shots of people looking out their windows at him gives the impression of fear. Then, a dog walks down the road w...

III: The Blizzard      The portrayal of man against nature. Which isn’t like any of the other dreams. There is a group of men who are hiking up a mountain. Nature, which is represented by a snow storm demon, is just telling the man to take it easy and freeze to death, to die. But he is struggling and trying to make it to camp. The scene is quite dark with snow billowing all around these four men. There is also a part where it gets really bad and the snow almost seems black. I don’t recall much music or effects in this segment. However, when the main character is laying in the snow, the snow storm demon, who is a beautiful lady, is covering him with ‘blankets’ which is actually snow. The themes and elements of this particular version of the story isn’t like any of the others. Others do have demons which seems to be the only similarity. The shots are mainly medium shots of everyone. The end, the sun comes out and everything is bright and happy, etc. So...

     so, I can't sleep anymore tonight.      i kept waking up, since like, 3.      I have a lot of things on my mind right now I guess. One main one being that I may pretty soon lose another Grandma. I have more than two because of step and half and what-not. Pretty big family. This one is directly blood, though. As was the other one. So now, once she dies, I will only have one blood grandma left. I may be confusing some people but, it makes sense to me. Anywho. See, this Grandma, she has two different kinds of cancer. Breast cancer and now lung cancer, which is new. She's had breast cancer for years, shes a survivour. But it runs in the family. I'm at risk for it. And she has refused treatment since she was first diagnosed because she is stubborn, which I get from all over the place. And, she is taking care of my Down Syndrome aunt. Who is 40. And still doing well. But when she goes, my aunt wil...

II: The Peach Orchards     The girl that the little boy thought that he saw was a messenger. She was a tree spirit, but she had a message to deliver for the other Peach Orchard tree spirits to the little boy and his family. Because it was "doll day", to celebrate the Peach Orchards. But, since they had been chopped down by the little boys family, they sent the messenger to his house. After much thought, they allowed him to see them in bloom again. They danced, made music, and sung. As a way of the trees being made, in a quicker pace. All of which hypnotized the little boy. But then, he went up into them, after seeing the girl again. All of a sudden, the trees disappear, and you only see the stumps. The dolls, inside the house, and the spirits were on different levels, just as a tree is. He then saw a small, little tree in bloom, which represented the little girl. Because she was a younger generation of the spirits, but still one, she was on the level of w...

I: Sunshine Through the Rain      For some odd reason, the curiosity of the little boy over takes his mother's warning. Kurosawa's dream seems to be a warning to himself that he is about to have a major change happen in his life. The fox people are holding a wedding precession in the middle of the forest, just after the rainstorm, and the little boy is caught watching them. Something that is forbidden. In the tradition of the fox people, he is supposed to kill himself, and is not allowed back inside his home. The symbolism of the huge doors to enter the home area show how the Japanese people are forced to live in isolation. When the boy is walking through the field of flowers, the vivid colouration shows the beauty of life, and because of the task he has of killing himself or finding the fox people, it is important to understand that he robbed his own life of beauty. The use of masks in this short, as in the same as in Kurosawa's 'Throne of Blood' helps t...

A spiring/ A ssonite B eauty/ B ig Bang C lose-Ups/ C arefulness D elicacy/ D aring E ffects=colouration/graphics F ast paced=action/sex G raphics are numerous in both forms of Cinema, and extremely beautiful: -fake blood -computer graphics H orrible translationsinto English/ H orrible plots I ndirectly, both are completely involved with each other, it's J ust that it sometimes, as horrible as most American films are now, some of the Cinese films made are just as bad, or almost there. But, it's O K in a sense, because of their use of cinematographic e L ements. M any differences: N ewer ideas/ N o change in pace, usually the same stuff. O ld themes, old tales to be told/ O nly for entertainment(mostly) P ayment to the actors is very different, Q ueerly though, or maybe not so much, R eplicas in cinema are used so much, and so well, that it is possible to actually by many on the internet now. However, most of the replicas used in chinese cinema are from a S tory, or a T ale fr...

     A classic, made in 1959, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon. Curtis and Lemmon pose as women in the movie (not as a drag queens, just dressing as women) because they were witness to a big-time murder back home, in Chicago. The film is in black and white, as it was originally made, though the cover has a shot of these three joksters in colour. But with the film being in black and white, it is easier to see differences in lighting and some other elements throughout. One major lighting choice that kept catching this viewers eye wasevery time the lighting was on Marilyn Monroe, it was so soft, to make her look almost like an angel, where as on any other person in the film, even other women, it was the same, dull, boring lighting that was used on the men. The main reason this was done was because she was the star of the movie and this was one of the few ways to [literally] illuminate her amongst the rest of the cast. Because of the time perio...

The film is about all the different people this phone booth brings together and how they are all able to just be normal with each other because they all just want to talk on this disgustingly cool phone. They made this film to show how it brings the people together just so they can say they have been to the phone booth and to have been a part of something that is known world wide.

     The main theme in this film shows modernism but still traditional at the same time. How the city of Bombay has a lot of adverstisments of new things like technology, cell phones, hair products, etc. Then you see some shots of people carring baskets on their heads, traditional clothing. Then a second later you see cars driving around. So, it shows you the contrast and similarity of the modern and traditional aspects of the area. And with the laughing, it is sort of a silly thing and yet you see the peole, dressed for work, and in the traditional clothing.      With the laughter club, it allows you to express any fear or sorrow yo had/have. In the film, it has people telling their stories, in intimate settings, telling how life is hard for them, how they have to live, the workplace, tension, all the things that bother them, and they are told to just laugh by Dr. Kataria.      Dr. Kataria was the founder o...

     This is yet another documentary, which is also based in New York. There are a couple of shots that are from the feet up, or of just the legs, which are pretty cool. The shots are of people dancing, walking, kind of like to show that they are higher than others because they are working hard to no tbe pulled down. The people in the shots are of kids that have some problems with their families. There is one shot when the mom and her mother and grandmother are sitting there, and one of the lights is shining brightly in the middle of the shot. It looks kind of like you are looking at things through a drug ged up haze. There is another great shot of the mother, Kitten, crying, after both of her kids telling her and letting her know that they are disappointed in her. This segment was about emotions felt. From the shots and lighting used, and the story that's told, this is conveyed.      So, until next time--

     This is another documentary about a lady who is the "slate clapper" for films. There are a lot of miscellanious shots from various films showing her clapping the slate. A lot of the shots were angled, which is a little odd, but, it adds to the randomness of this documentary. There is a variety of lighting throughout this film, and all other elements of cinematography are virtually thrown out the window for this short film.      This review probably doesn't make sense to you but, it does explain completely the documentary, Lucy Tsak Tsak, which is what Lucy caclls the clap board.      So, until next time--

     This film is a documentary about a place that houses many different people. The film itself has a very grainy texture to it but, seeing as most of the things in the film just seem dirty, and there is vulgar language throughout the film, it makes sense as towht they would make it so grainy. It adds an element to highlight all this nastiness happening in our world. There are a lot of different kinds of people that are also highlighted in the film. One that stood out to me was the drag queen. This film is placed in New York, where the Sunshine Hotel is located. At the end of the film, there atour guide that is showing middle-class people the hotel and there are shots of all the occupants closing the windows, as if in shame of living there.      There is a variety of lighting techniques that are used in the film, along with shots, costuming (which the people wore themselves), and of course, the people themselves. I would dare to stat...

     El espinazo del diablo es asombroso cine. That translates to: 'The Devil's Backbone was an amazing movie.' And, it truly was. But as before, as many of our movies seem to have been, originated in another language, this time, Español, or spanish. The name 'Devil's Backbone' is revealed in the movie as a disease that fetuses have, forcing them to be still-born. The movie is based during the Spanish war, and in placed in an orphanage.      The costuming during the film generally stays the same throughout, since the boys live at an orphanage, and there is no way for them to get any new clothing. There is some change in clothing, but it is very minimal. In the sense of clothing and special effects (to a degree) the lady who runs the orphanage lost a leg, and has an attachment, which is seen being taken off and put on. Since the movie is based in previous times, before the prosthetics we know of, she has a make-shift one, most li...

     Throughout this film, there are manyshots with extremely amazing lighting. But plenty of the other shots seem to have only natural lighting. But, there are also shots inside, with much dimmer lighting, concentrating on the speakers voice when he is talking. Some scenes have lighting behind the main characters, making them seem mysterious, and extremely intellectual. With so many natural shots, from outdoors, actually makes the film seem surreal. Which is kind of ironic however, it kind of makes sense. The shots in this film are mostly normal but, there are some shots through the window of a plane that are warped and makes you understand the message of this film.      There's not much else that is drawling about this film other than the lighting and the mixture of type of shots that are used in the film.      So, until next time--

     Alright so here is the actual review:      The lighting in the film Hotel Rwanda was well done. There are a lot of outdoor scenes, where it looks like maybe natural lighting was used, however, you can also tell that it was messed around with. Most of the scenes look like the lighting was overcast, as if there was a dull storm overhead, waiting to happen. Which, of course, works tremendously for the film because of the message it is portraying. If you look back to one of my recent entries, I had written a poem when we were half-way through the film, and I titled it 'Are we all just numbers?' See, there was genocide happening in Rwanda that finally ended in 1994, which is what the movie is about. It is centralized around a certain family, the man who runs the hotel that has turned into a refugee camp. The costuming stays generally the same throughout the film because most of the people don't have anything left for or to them....

     'Visions of Light' is a film that talks about the importance of lighting in movies. It shows the development of lighting in films, ever since the beginning of film making. When films were first made, they did not want any shadows on the main characters. However, the brightness of the light on them needed to be very harsh, or very flattering to the actors or actresses. But then, cinematographers wanted to have shadows on the people because it added depth to the scene. To add emotion to the pictures.      Up until the late 30's, films were only in black and white because that was the only way that film was made. Then people started to turn to colour because the colour added to the affect of the watchers experience and the actors performance. However, black and white was still used quite a lot because ti seemed to add a sort of a surreal element to the film itself.      Lighting is still, and always w...

     Alright so, here is my review from Rear Window that I wrote last year. I breaifly scanned it and it seems fine to me.      In this film, half of the shots have fuzzy corners, as to mimmic the vision that the main character is seeing. Since this film was made in 1954, the film is grainy. However, with the plot and setting, it works completely. The main character is constricted to a wheelchair because he broke his leg. He is a newspaper photographer so he has a lot of film equipment in his apartment. So, he uses this to spy on his neighbors. The fuzzy corners, are to show what he sees through the camera lens as he watches his neighbors.      With these corners, it gives the film a feel like reality. Like you actually there, watching them. Since the entire film is from his apartment, you only see the changes of night and day. And what is outside in others' private worlds. A lot of the movie is at da...

     So, I think I have a test next period on chapter 1 vocabulary in German but, I have no idea. I beieve it actually might be on the genetive case, which is possessive case.      I am still a bit confused on that as well because the first day Frau Theiss explained it, I was on a field trip thus, I missed it. However, even though that was a week ago, I still don't quite understand it fully.      But, I am speaking more spanish lately, and I am actually mixing up spanish and german words again. One mixed phrase I keep saying is 'Ich bin Hambre.' Which is I am hungry, but in german and spanish.      That's how crazy I am.      Oh, and lovely enough, I will probably get put in my home school, whether by Dillard or my parents. Once they find out about the little 'academic probation' situation, my dad will probably ship me to McArthur. At least I will have some ...

     Lola, Rennt ist ein movie das ist originally in Deustch. In English, that means, Run, Lola, Run is a movie that was originally made in German. This is one of the most recent movies I have seen in Cinematography, my current 4th period class. Ina nut shell, it is about Lola, running around the city, in three different versions of the same scenerio. Since this is the case, all of the characters are wearing the same exact costuming throughout the entire film. Of course, there are parts of the film where there are glitches and you can pick out where the still photographer did not do his job properly. There are no costume changes in the film, but it seems like one of the actors plays multiple parts throughout the film. However, there are parts of the movie where people get killed and then they are back in the next part. So really, no one actually does die in this film. This is only because of the different versions of the scenerio.    ...

      Ararat is a film depicting the Armenian Genocide , which the Turks still deny ever happened. The movie basically skips around a few stories, which tie together completely. An artist, Arshile Gorky's, time painting a picture of him and his mother, while he currently living in New York, taken back in Armenia. He ended up killing himself. The stories that tie into that, are first mostly, the time of the Armenian Genocide, in which Gorky lived through, and the story of a boy, Rafi who is on a mission to find out the meaning behind the connection of the genocide and his father's death and life. A few more characters also have parts in the last story in where they also connect with other things that happen throughout the film.      This film is a bit confusing because it jumps around a lot. I think the director did that purposely to keep the audience on it's toes. You must pay attention because all of this is important to how things hap...