Coming Home

Well, it was made in 1978 and is titled "Coming Home". I kinda guessed what it was going to be about and yes-I was correct. A response to the Vietnam War, but not in an Apocalypse Now way, it was more of a Deer Hunter meets Forest Gump and JarHead. It was directed by Hal Ashby and won 3 out of 10 oscar nominations. It was slow, but intense and very emotionally gripping. The characters were welled formed to create a massive amount of conflict throughout the whole film culminating with the ultimate decision of who Jan Fonda playing Sally Hide will chose; her Husband or her new love, the paralyzed war vet. The composition was very diffused but yet it was very beautifully shot. I liked the Husbands performance the best, but didn't dislike the other two main characters performances.

All that Jazz

Boom baby, loved this movie. Cinematography-Lovely, Acting-superb, great composition and movement within each shot (granted thats easy to do with a dancing piece like this, but still. impressive. It shows as well because it had 11 oscar nominations and 6 wins including best set decorator, best actor, best picture, best director etc. Th editing almost was Requiem for a Dream and Spun style (All that Jazz coming first, premiering back in 1979) but none the less, I liked it and like that quick close-up cut away style. It worked well with the piece because it gives the audience a little jerk awake each time the we are brought in at a close-up level and at the same time our main character Joe Gideon, played by Roy Schneider, is being propelled on by his speed pills.
Although we didn't get a chance to finish the movie what I saw I really enjoyed. I would recommend it and am going to go out and rent it soon so I can finish it. (Note to self)

Citizen Cane

Obviously a classic, enjoyed it but was the fourth time I had seen it with a 3 month span and therefore it was a little redundant. What I like about the film and what stood out for me this time particularly was the use of dutch angle throughout the film and it becoming more dramatic as Cane's character arc progressed into a crazy mad state.
I love the large and extravagant sets put together for the film and the many crane shots. What I didn't like was the editing, it became too slow, stuck in the mud really towards the end giving me at least a feeling of boredom and craving for the film to simply end...Ok, I didn't a few things...Rosebud? What is that even?-Never explained enough, too vague and disgruntling.
However, I did like a great deal too-dont get me wrong. I was impressed with Orson Wells performance in particular, and the fact that he directed it was even more of a feat.

Y tu' Mama

After watching this movie I needed about an hour to process it before feeling like it had ended. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish and almost everywhere in between. There were a couple unnecessary scene's, or shot's within scenes (graphic nudity) but it didn't really take away from the movie enough for me to care all that much. The performances of the actors was brilliant, not many young actors could pull off the roles of the two friends but they did a wonderful job. Good twist at the end which gave the movie a deeper impact on me personally, yet almost seemed unnecessary. The story and idea of short interactions with strangers who come and go as well as longer friends who go so suddenly was really easy to connect with and added to the films success.

Cinematically, the shots were beautiful. It had the colorful feel of 70 mm film possibly? Not sure but it reminded me of Sin Nombre and City of God slightly. Over-all great movie and most definitely something I will be watching again in the future.

Easy Rider

I really liked this film and the message it carried. During the time it was made the general feeling of society was to go against the "norm" and that is exactly what the two main characters in the film do. The cinematic style of the film was even against typical standards of cinema. For example the transitions in certain scenes cuts in a way that I have never seen before. Short clips from the next scene are cut intravenously with the previous scene as opposed to a fade out and in or typical transition. Also, the end of the movie was in every way anti-"norm" or simple the oposite of typical movie endings. It was completely not-expected yet it played a large part in why the movie was so successful.

Everything about the movie combined together made the movie what it was, and I thought it was a great movie. The acting, the shots, the storyline, everything; great movie.

The Graduate

Never having seen this movie before I didn't know what to expect, honestly though I wasn't expecting much. I had read about it and it seemed like and odd story-line over hyped because of Dustin Hoffman. However, not more than 30 min. into the film I realized I was wrong. The cinematography was simple but effective and combined with the over-all composition of each shot it really emphasized the films beauty. I liked the use of metaphor in the film pertaining to isolation, it allowed for the films meaning to be more dramatic and draw the audience into sympathizing more with Ben (Hoffman). One thing that I felt was that stylistically the movie had characteristics of movies during the golden age of Hollywood. What stood out most for me in the film the most though was the actors performance, without the superb acting the movie would not be nearing as popular/a classic in my mind.

Intro

This is my blog. awesome.