The End, It’s Been a Great One

Hello every one, here we are didn’t think it would ever happen but we are at the end the mega blog the final saga some would say. This week was a wild ride of a movie to be honest it kind of made me the most confused a movie has ever left me before. I don’t really know the meaning of the movie and if there was even meant tome one. It kind of felt like I was watching some ones trip and trying to piece things together. It really all over the place, I think it was not the best written or shot movie I’ve ever seen but it did keep you guessing. To say it was all bad would be a lie there was some good parts like when It ended.

I’m just joking around there was a lot of irony and crazy parts like when Lola rain right by the homeless man or the “bum” as Lola’s boyfriend called it. I also think that it was a good concept of a story line. It really reminded me of the episode of supernatural when Sam and Dean got stuck in a loop and lived the same day over and over again. I really liked that it was almost saying that life will work it’s self out and to just look around you. I also thought it was cool that when the people around Lola had their life work out her life worked out for them.

I feel bad saying this was a bad movie but I would say that it was probably a 5 out of 10 not all good but not all bad it just seemed to me the director wasn’t totally sure of what he was trying to do with it, but it was an experience to say the least. Of the things I loved was that everyone was connected and one little thing would change the whole course of their lives, it was really cool to watch. It just didn’t speak to me like other movies this semester did like Jaw’s, Piranha, and even Frankenstein these movie’s felt like I would watch the again and get just as much enjoyment out of it. I will say it could be the fact that I was trying to read along as good as I could and being dyslexic doesn’t make it the best movie for me so I really could have a unfair outlook on the movie. It really just felt like a 80s movie and did have nearly as much texture that most of the other movies of its time. I’m really looking forward to reading everyone else’s out looks on this movie because I think others will enjoy it more them me to be honest.

let’s take a look back on the semester

Now to looks back on this wonderful semester and look at some of my favorites from this class and I will say over all we watched some really great and ground-breaking movies over this past few months. I think the first movie that really stuck out to me is Frankenstein and I say this because of the roll it played in making Universal the movie giant that it is, and it really embodies everything movies where then and especially what horror looked like them it wasn’t as grand and what you see today. I believe that when you watch a movie like Frankenstein you really see what people were like at that time its really cool and is really one of the reasons I love movies so much and make this class so freaking cool. Even though Frankenstein is such a old move and is even a little more funny to us now after seeing modern movies but it’s almost like it’s a play that was recorded.

The next movie that really spoke to me was Thin Red Line, this movie really was awesome and not just because I love WWII movies more than any other move but because it covers a part of the war not a lot of people talk about. When most people think of the second world war they think Nazis and the holocaust because of the awful and truly unforgivable things that Germany did at that time. But the pacific side of the war was truly awful and was not something that anyone could understand the Japanese were really an insane enemy and gave the US a real run for our money. I’m not saying for one second that the war in Europe was any easier but the pacific side was truly a rough one. I just think movies like Thin Red Line need to be made more and we need to show more people. I also think the visuals that this movie leaves you with really show you how insane the land scape was on these small islands around Japan.

Then this brings me to maybe my two favorite movies of this class and when I say favorite I really do mean favorite, Piranha and Jaws. Even though these two movies really were on two different levels they really gave me the same feeling watching them. Piranha was not only an awesome story line but some pretty good camera work and made me have that pit in my stomach while watching it. Even though I’m an avid fish keeper and I know through some research that piranha aren’t man eaters but the way they write that in to the story and make it more possible.

Last but definitely not least Jaws, this movie was very impressionable on my child hood and really made my worst fair and that’s being in open water with sharks. The thought of them hitting my feet and possibly getting bit really shakes me to my core. But we aren’t here to talk about my problems we are here to discuss movies and this movie is one of the greats and really changed movies forever. I think this movie was really the one that shined a light on the work that goes in to making a movie like this and the people that make it possible. Jaws was truly one of a kind.

This semester was really great and we saw some pretty kick ass movies along the way it was truly great having the opportunity to have conversations like this and to be able to see other people’s opinions about the movies we watched. Thank you to everyone for a great class.       

Diva

I will say this week was a weird one for me and was definitely not my favorite but it was a good movie other whys. I’m not the biggest reader to begin with and I truly hate watching movies and trying to read at the same time it honestly makes my head hurt and is really hard to follow. Other than that, I think that Diva is a very interesting plot and is a well written movie, if it was filmed in English I think I would enjoy it a lot more and would keep my attention a lot more. I know I might sound very uncultured saying that but it really just comes down to that I hate reading movies. I really hate that fact that I couldn’t pay full attention to the movie because it truly is an amazing movie and has great story line and is beautifully shot in every way. I loved the chase of the men trying to get the tape from Jules and how it reminds me of a lot of movies that I’ve seen before.

I usually really enjoy fast passed movies and fined them very entertaining but, in this case, it really made it very hard to follow with the subtitles going at a very fast pass and trying to fill in the gaps made by me missing things in the subtitles. I do think it’s funny in this movie that it is based around bootlegging unheard singing and today having things like bootlegged movies is so normal and almost everyone I know has a jail broken fire stick and watches unreleased movies for free. I just think it’s so crat that people in the movie go to such great lengths to get that recording of the famous singer Cynthia Hawkins that ever lets anyone record her music. For sure if she was singing in modern day she should of has a lot more than just one bootlegged recording of her singing and this movie would make as much sense than it did when it was made. I really wish I was able to enjoy this movie more because it really deserves it and it really has a lot to offer. I think I may try to watch is again and see if I hits harder next time, its really a great written movie and a great storyline it’s just hard for someone that’s not the best reader or the best speaker od French.        

The Fly

The movie The Fly was a very interesting movie and was honestly not very predictable like most movies like this are. I really enjoyed to dialog between Seth and Ronnie, and how they almost worked on the teleportation device together. I really didn’t expect the fly to be involved in his odd mutation and the way they worked that into the story was really cool. I feel like the way they did it was really believable and did have that no way factor that most horror/ fyfi movies have. I would go as fair to say that The Fly was way less predictable them Jaws or Piranha and really made it enjoyable.

I also think that the graphics are pretty good and don’t make the movie cheap still to this day and still has a scary factor. The only thing that is very predictable to me was the relationship between Seth and Ronnie every movie has a relationship between the main characters in movies and thy always have a fight that leads up to the plot twist which in this case lead to him teleportation.

I think it’s really cool that how the writers had Seth to try to reverse the effects of the fly mutation. I just think it makes so much sense that he would try to dilute the DNA of the fly with human DNA and I guess in the movie if he could make himself a fly he could probably reverse it with some human DNA. The only thing that is weird to me that he started to fall apart due to the fly DNA I kind of think it’s a little out there but that’s really the only thing I was a little but if not believe able but I guess understand the idea behind it.

Over The Fly was a really well done movie and is really a great example of a 80s horror movie and is for sure up there with The Shining which is the stereo typical of a 80s horror movie. I think The Fly is a feat of makeup work and camera work and for it’s time most likely scared a lot of people and makes people look at flies a lot differently. In fact I think that I will look at flies a lot differently in the future after watching this movie. This was probably one of my favorites that we have watched this semester, it was an all-around great movie and had a long-lasting impact on the movie world.

Piranha Better Then Expected

This week was pretty special and definitely a one and a life time experience that was very cool to be able to watch a movie and then be able to listen to the director after. This was very cool and definitely not going to happen again in my life that I can tell, hearing about his creative mind and how he works with the story of his movies was truly amazing to listen to.

The movie we watched this week was Piranha and it was actually a really good movie and I really enjoyed the story line and even the actors and characters in the movie, I think it was a really well done fill for its time. It really didn’t come across as a spoof or a parity at all, I wouldn’t really be able to compare it to Jaws at all. I think they are somewhat similar in the way that the story revolves around the water and a killer fish but other than that it was quite different. I really enjoyed the relationship of the two main characters Paul and Maggie they where compete strangers at the beginning and they end up forming a real bond in such a short amount of time it was really great character development which is my favorite part of movies in general.

I really thought that Joe Dante’s decision to show the death of kids on camera was a very surprising one. I know kids die on screen all the time and it’s never easy to see and always makes me have the same reaction “why the kid” and never sits right with me. The difference between the death of kids in Piranha and in other movies is really the fact that you see kids get eaten alive and the reaction of what’s happing to them in that moment. Most movies cut the scene and just have sound or just not show it at all and have your imagination take over at that point and fill I the gaps yourself. But in Piranha they try to show every detail which in my opinion was a little much but I understand what Mr. Dante was trying to do. Over all I really enjoyed the movie and story line it really reminded me of Deep Blue Sea in a lot of ways, it showing humans trying to change evolution and it coming back to literally bite them on the ass no pun indented.                   

Jaws, What Started It All

This week was a very awesome week because of we were able to choose our main screening and we could choose from The Poseidon Adventure, The Exorcist, Jaws, Nashville, and Apocalypse. Naturally we choose one of the best movies of all time, which is Jaws, Jaws is a movie at almost everyone has seen and loved across the world. My Parents were both around 13 years old when Jaws hit the big screen and they both where right along with everyone and being scared of sharks after watching the movie. I remember watching Jaws with my parents as a little boy and being so scared to swim in even a freshwater lake. The Images were burned in my head of that HUGE shark gliding under the water, even though the movie was so old at that point the why it was filmed seemed too real.

My favorite part has to be when the character Quint was interdicted and he scratches the chalk board just sitting in the back eating some crackers and goes on the rand talking about how he was the only man for the job and if anyone else tried they could die in the process. This is really when the movie gets going in my eyes, I love the sense of them on the boat playing card and the shark hunting them. It really just builds the suspense that Spielberg was looking for in his movie. It really makes we wonder how did they get all those shots so steady when filming in such hard conditions like hanging over a boat while still trying to not get wet and get the perfect shot. But the one thing I noticed is that this movie never over showed the shark at any point it was just enough to where we would fill In the gaps with our mind, it really created a suspense.   

I think the coolest part of Jaws is how much money and time Spielberg put in to the production of the movie, he really didn’t settle for anything less than perfect. I remember hearing stories of the crew trying to get bullet holes painted on a real shark in the middle of the ocean to get just the right shot. I also admire the work they did with the mechanical shark that was names Bruce and they never gave up on it even though it was probably one of the biggest pains in the asses ever. It really goes to show how hard movie producers really work on trying to make their story come alive. I personally thing the movie stunning shot of the whole move was when the shark appears under the surface with his mouth wide open about to eat the guy trying to get back in his row boat. This image is still one of the reasons I am so scared of being attacked by a shark even today this shot is just so bone chilling.

Jaws was really one of the best action adventure/ horror movies I’m ever seen the story is so great and for the time was so advanced that it scared so many people it has created a worldwide fear of sharks. Even though Jaws isn’t the only reason sharks are scary but it sure didn’t help their case for being cute and cuddly. I really enjoyed watching this movie again and it will definitely won’t be the last time. What do you guys think did this movie set a standard for horror movies in the modern day?      

Bonnie and Clyde

This week’s mean viewing was Bonnie and Clyde that was filmed in 1967, which is about a couple that is infamous robbery run that lasted 21 mouths and lasted from 1932 to 1934. Their robbery went across state lines from Texas, Oklahoma, Mexico, and Missouri. This robbery team was responsible for 13 murders which were mostly police officers that were trying to stop them from doing the robberies. Bonnie and Clyde ended up becoming heroes on some people’s eyes because they ended up being seen as people that were teaching the banking system a lesson.

The movie did a great job at showing the different parts of their rain of robberies across many states and how crazy they really were. This movie kept me interested the whole time and was a very good watch, it remined me a lot of the movie that was made not to long ago about the cops trying to hunt Bonnie and Clyde called Lawman. It was almost like watching the missing part of the store and was really cool to watch. This movie focused on their relationship and how they were in love which was a really cool part to see that you wouldn’t really hear if you read about the duo in other outlets.

The shoot outs seen in the movie were very advanced for the time, it was almost like they were real at times with bullet holes appearing like they were really made by a real gun. Also, things exploding around them while they get shot at by the police. This really added a crazy aspect to the movie and made it that more exciting to watch. Over all this movie was great and a really a good all-around movie. I love how you get to see bonnie and Clyde meet and their relationship Build over time and come full circle and ending with their death at the end of the movie. It’s almost like you don’t think it will happen after watching them escape death and capture for so long.         

L’avventura Was a Masterpiece

L’avventura is a brilliant movie made in 1960 and was the pioneer of a move much based around character building and not just right to the point like most movies of the time. the movie is about a young couple Anna and Sandro that goes on a boat trip together, while on the trip Anna Disapreas and is never seen again. While Sandro is looking for Anna with her best friend Claudia, they start to develop feelings for one another and start a love affair in the midst of trying to find Anna.

This movie was under a lot of scrutiny because of it drawn out feeing it had and that a lot of scenes where longer then people thought they should be. L’Avventura has many beautiful shots of mountains and the land scape around where the movie takes place. The one thing I noticed was there I a lot of silent scene when nothing is really happening like when the car is driving down the road in a seemingly barren land and the silence continues for serval minutes even as Sandro walks on the hill top thinking. I find this scene very ominous and almost cold and unsettling. The use of mirrors was a used in this movie a lot, it almost like they can have more in one camera angle.    

          

Director Michelangelo Antonioni’s were always amazing and full of life like II Grido which was made in 1957, but this fill was very different from his normal movies. This fill was a whole new still that was the start of the film revolution of the day, it’s almost like every shot has a bullseye on it and you know where to look every time they camera moves. Many times, now a days a lot of movies are over cluttered with movement and sound which almost makes it hard to see everything and even know where to look at times. Antonioni really thought about every single shot in the whole movie almost like he saw the movie before he made it so he could make it a true work of art.    

Thin Red Line and The Pacific

WWII has been in so many movies and tv shows that I can’t count them all, we have been making film about the war ever since it stopped in 1945. We have made film about solders coming home, solders fighting, and everything in-between. This is a war that film makers have put millions of dollars in to trying to replicate the battles and the hell the solders went through in Europe and the South Pacific fighting the Japanese and German soldiers. Even though both sides of the war were the same war they were vastly different and almost not comparable. We watched some sections of the documentary WWII in color and it focused on the European side of the war and specifically the liberation the Nazi concentration camps. This is something that you really can’t unsee, the sense are awful to watch as they pull out thousands of dead bodies and stack them in tucks to be brought to be burned or berried.  

My whole life I really learned about the European side of WWII and never really knew much about the Pacific side of the war. After watching the Thin Red Line, it really made me want to learn more about that side of the war. Red Thin Line reminded me a lot of the Mini-series the Pacific which was a 10 episode show that is about the Pacific side of WWII and the hard ships the Marines Went through from the start of The United States involvement in the war in 1942 to the end in 1945.

The Pacific is a lot like The Thin Red line and could almost be watched together because the thin Red Line more detailed about one battle in 1942 in the beginning of American involvement. These two pieces of film show the hard ships and hell the solders went through from the nasty conditions, to a ruthless enemy that will stop at nothing to protect their honor even if it means they die an awful death. They also show the lack of water, food, and even the lack of support at times, American solders were seen as bodies and not people it really is hard to fathom being in this situation.

The Pacific

Thin Red Line

I think the best why they make you feel like you are there is the way the camera is being moved around, the camera is flipped around and darting from one angel to another while bombs explode and spray dirt everywhere and the sound of bullets wising by your head. This makes you feel disoriented and is like you are running in to gun fire yourself and really puts it into prospective how scary it was being on that battle field. The producers also use things like making the men look so dirty and nasty from days of not being about to even get a change of clothes. These films really do show the awful stories of WWII and really how bad it was, it also shows a part of the war that really got over shadows by the awful and discussing actions by the Nazis.                                   

Sex in Cinema

Sex has been something that has been in our lives in one way or another for our whole lives we are almost numb to it being in movies and tv shows now a days. It can be the plot twist, that sense in the movie, it can even be the plot of the movie like in movies like 50 shades of gray. But it hasn’t always been like this we used to shy away from it and even acted like it didn’t happen. It’s really weird to think of a society where sex isn’t talked about and even wasn’t allowed in movies.

In the early 1900s we started to see the rise of the movie star and the movie star becoming a heart throb and being famous for their sexiness. Like actresses like Theda Bara that drew people to her movies because of her strong, sexy, and dangerous persona. Many of her movies where age restricted to 21 because the content was seen as inappropriate for young viewers. It really is crazy to think that in the early 1900s there was no real drinking age and was more if a thing when you are old enough which was more like 16-18 years of age. So, it’s pretty wild that sexual content in movies was seen as a bigger deal then a 16-years-old getting hammered drink. It’s crazy to see where humans’ values have switched over the years.

          With the rising fame of the time you started to see things like love affairs and the sensationalizing of the sexuality of the actors and actresses. They even were sent out to sell war bonds for the first world war, this was really the first-time actors and actresses were used to sell things like we see every day in modern day. This was also was the start of actors and actresses were trend setters and determined what people saw as cool or excepted. What do you think do actors and actresses have too much power or do you think it’s a necessary part of our world?       

German Movies in The 1920s and 1930s

In the 1920s German Movie making was really all the German people had after WWI and following the effects of the treaty of Versailles. With a country of people that are so poor that they pay for movie tickets with pieces of coal to just have something to take their minds off their empty stomachs. Not to mention that the German dollar was so worthless that it costed 1 Billion marks for just a loaf of bread. Could you imagine spending 1 Billion dollars of a loaf of bread, think about how much a full trip to the super market would cost. Nazi Party used this time of great movie advancement in technology to capture their audience to preach certain ideas and to started forming the German people to follow blindly which we saw happen in the 1930s leading up to WWII.

The last Laugh

In German Cinema of the 1920s they spoke messages of Natural pride and the hard-working nature of the German people, they also talked about things that wanted to reinforce like the importance of the uniform. Which ended up being so important to the Nazi party. The movies of the time were not in your face about it but just so silty got the people ready for the Fascists movement in Germany in the 1930s. This made is easier for Hitler and the rest of the Nazi Party to carry out their awful actions in the 1930s and the early 1940s. The Scarcest thing is German Movies were enjoyed all over the world not just Germany, this could have been part of why the German Army was welcomed in open arms in countries like Ukraine. The people of Ukraine could have been affected as well and made the German expiation that much easier at the time.  

It’s really scary to think that a whole country was influenced by just watching movies and it was very effective in a country that was brought to its knees by poverty. It really makes me wonder if we are smart then this now? Would we Know if this was happening today, and be able to stop it? It just a really crazy thought and makes me want to watch out for things like this. What do you think do you think This could happen again? Do you think that a politic party could influence the minds of a country for their political gain? I personally would not put anything past a politician these days, what do you think is this something to watch out for these days or do you think we would sniff something like this out before it would happen?