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Reviews
Citizen Kane (1941)
Great Citizen
This was a really cool film, due to the fact that you never see the main character's face. This was probable done to make you feel as though you were the reporter going around interviewing all the different people from Kane's past to figure out what the hell is important about rosebud.
The straightforwardness and relatively fast pace of the story are what i think make it a great movie using the old phrase: keep it simple stupid. Everything moves smoothly, it felt like I being fooled,like there is something much greater that I just can't seem to grasp.I knew from its reputation that there must be something that separates this movie from all the others. Something buried within its simple plot line that everybody else has seen, but that I just could not seem to get a handle on. And then, during those final frames, that something was revealed, and it all began to make sense, understood why this is such a respected film.
Psycho (1960)
Honorable Horror
Yes, everything you've heard is true. The score is a part of pop culture. The conflict is well known. But nothing shocks like the seeing it for yourself. Psycho is the one of best horror film ever made, and I usually hate this movies. The story is incredible and so is everything else. The shower scene was so important because the elements of sexuality and murder are so surreal. In 1960, seeing a naked chick getting stabbed in a shower was something that nobody had experienced yet, and was quite shocking. Nowadays, seeing people having sex and getting hatched to death is nothing uncommon. The soundtrack is so important in this film. Sound is such an important element in movies. The only other horror movie that even comes close to using sound with such perfection is Halloween.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Crazy as they want to be.
The movie is perhaps more comedy more (favorite scene is when Jack gets all the patients all hyped up about baseball and his commentary of a fictional baseball game going on) and entertainment than heavy drama. Still that doesn't mean that the movie isn't filled with some powerful emotional scenes. The tension between the patients and the staff gets more and more notable and grows throughout all of the movie, which eventually leads to a what I believe is a triumphant ending.
Jack Nicholson is of course awesome in his role.It was just Jack being Jacking:improvising all his lines and actions during the entire movie like he was actually admitted. It was a really Oscar worthy performances.
The Palm Beach Story (1942)
Too Screwy
This film was just was just way to crazy for me. I mean I don't really know what i should expect some a screwball comedy but I just could not get into it at all. A pretty gold digging air headed wife is at odds with her husband who is an inventor. He lets her travel to Florida to get a divorce. While down there using her beauty, ingenuity, luck and appealing charms - live the 'good life' in Florida and gets money from a multi- millionaire to advance the good of her husband's career. The story is just like what? I just can't do it. The only awarding thing from this movie was the Weenie King who just gives her money because he likes her face.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Friends & Outlaws
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is an entertaining amusing comedy of the friendship shared between the two buds. The legendary outlaws and their Hole in the Wall gang,they came toward the end of a long stream of bank and train robbers in the 19th century. Their exploits were perfect for a film that was intended to portray outlaws who mock and defy the law of the land.The film is filled with great scenery shots as well. One interesting aspect of the film was that instead of the over the top violence typical of outlaw films, the screenplay focused on the journey of the bandits, using slapstick comedy, conventional Western action, contemporary music, and funny dialogue to define the past and mock typical western film clichés, in a genera that was dying out.
The Killing (1956)
Nior Killer
I have always thought that Stanley Kubrick is one the of the best if not the best directors of all time. He has never made a bad film watch them all for yourself you won't be disappointed.The Killing was one of Kubrick's first films a Film Noir film to boot which is by far the best one of the genera I have seen thus far. The plot has a really cool interesting crime plot that twists and turns.The other thing I thought was interesting was during parts of the film you would see the camera go past a door showing the door frame reviling the set, I do not think it was a mistake but just something different that I can not quite put my finger on. The most notable thing about this film was toward the end of the film after the shootout in the apartment there is this great first person long take walking through the apartment looking at all the carnage that took place.
The Exorcist (1973)
Thank god for the devil
The Exorcist is the sensational, shocking horror story about devil possession and the exorcism of the demonic spirits from a young innocent girl.This filmed changed horror film genre forever before this it was only filled with stupid giant monsters attack cities. I noticed the film's screenplay is a horror tinged western tale of good vs. evil, which was based on author William Peter Blatty's 1971 best-selling novel of the same name. This is nothing short of a horror film masterpiece, with sensational, nauseating, horrendous special effects 360 degree head- rotation, the spider like walk down the stairs and of course the projectile spewing of green puke.
The General (1926)
Generally Good
Buster Keaton is generally regarded as one of the greatest silent comedians and after seeing this film i totally agree. The Civil War adventure classic was made toward the end of the silent era. It is filled with hilarious sight gags,great timed stunt work,It is memorable for its strong storyline of a single, brave, but foolish Southern Confederate train engineer in pursuit of his passionately loved train "The General" and the woman he loves. His resourceful uses of machines and various objects (water tanks, a large piece of timber, a cowcatcher, a rolling artillery cannon on wheels, and unattached railroad cars)makes this a must see
Criss Cross (1949)
Don't trust a dame
This is just classic crime thriller, from the start when you see this guys in the room talking about doing something that seems sketchy and a fight breaks out. After this scene i knew i was watching a great Film Nior flick. Like most Film Noirs it uses Flashbacks to show background of the plot, which is done actually well because it gives you just enough without dwelling too much on how things happen you know Steve has come back from somewhere most likely the military and tries to rekindle his love his wife, but she remarries another man. The best part of the film I believe is the end when we uses the titled and Steve is literally Criss Crossed losing everything: his girl, his dad, and his life.
On the Waterfront (1954)
Brando at his best
Tis is a powerful drama of corrupt unions for dock workers and how one man, Terry fights back. The story is pretty simple and has been done before but the script is superb and all the actors are great. Brando is outstanding as terry,I actually started to get a lump in my throat when he comes to terms about the corruption. The photography is amazing showing Seldom has the brick grimness of a workingman's neighborhood stood staring in such an true light And coloring it all is the pale chemical air of the big city showing the mood of film very well.
I wish all Film Niors were made so well, because I think more people would enjoy them.
Gun Crazy (1950)
Shooting Blanks
I really love Film Nior, but i thought this film was pretty awful and cheesy. To be completely honest I thought it was so bad i fell asleep for part of it, because I just could not get into the film. Nothing about the film did anything for me.I am not really sure why I love gun shoot outs and all that awesome stuff but i think it was the awful acting that just did it in for me. The only aspect of filmed i liked was the trick gun shooting. I mean I have seen this plot before where some poor sap of a guy gets manipulated by some girl who he thinks loves him, but uses him to get things she wants by stealing.I was so happy that both of them died at the end because Bart was idiot and Annie was a word that rhymes with witch.So go do yourself a favor and skip this film if you can.
Do the Right Thing (1989)
What is right
I don't even know where to start with this film. It such a complicated film on different levels story wise. I loved the acting in the film there wasn't bad actor in the cast but i really loved Samuel L. Jackson as the DJ and voice for the neighborhood (I wish he was a DJ in my town) and Spike Lee really made the character of Mookie believable.
I really loved the shots in the movie there were a lot of interesting shots of characters breaking the 4th wall and the camera would have a fish eye first person feel to it. Other shots would just be crooked which I thought was a cool thing to do it was almost like it was so hot the cameraman couldn't hold the camera straight.There was also a reddish-orange tint to the movie to have to look like it as really hot.
The most important thing is at the end of the film was whether Mookie did the right thing when he threw the garbage can through the window, that started the riot that destroys pizza shop. I believe Mookie did it to saves Sal's life, because it redirecting the crowd's anger away from Sal's person to Sal's property.The question is never answered at the end of the film but only has you thinking more about it by the contradictory quotes: one from Martin Martin Luther King, Jr. advocating non-violence, and the other by Malcolm X advocating violence is self-defense.
The Graduate (1967)
Movies Grow Up
This is just a really great film, from the story which was one of the first films to show the generation gap that started in the 60's where adults and their teenage/young adult kids just couldn't understand each other from how they dressed to the music they were listening to, and The Graduate really shows this alienation that most kids felt during this era in American society.Especially in this one great scene when Dustin Hoffman is in a diving suit and goes into the water this is a great scene for two reasons: first it shows the alienation where he can't here anything (like he can't understand his parents)and he's alone all though he's surrounded by people. The reason it is such a great scene is that it's all in first person so you know exactly what Dustin Hoffman's seeing and there are no cuts during the shot.
Casablanca (1942)
Classic of all Classics
I was so excited to watch this film for my class because I never saw this film before and I have always wanted to see it. Probably due to the fact that i read somewhere once that one of the my favorite movies Batman: Mask of the Phantasm uses a lot of the same plot elements as Casablanca. Saying this I love the use of flashbacks to show important parts of the film. I also just love the styling of 40's everyone just is dressed as fancy as they could just a great moment in America's history. The film also has a great love story which is such a relief to see because most films love stories are just way to sappy or overdone, I feel it was just perfect to fit the mood of the film and the moments that were happening of the world. How Rick was a symbol of America during the start of World War II he did not want to get involved in any other's business (Europe) but towards the end of the film he has no choice to, make sure Ilsa is safe and gets on the plane (Pearl Harbor).
Easy Rider (1969)
Easy Watch
I was very surprised by this film, I thought it was just about some guys smoking weed and just being "hippies", but the film is actually very deep. It really shows the two different views of the time: the people that were free and enjoying their lives and the people who were threatened by this independence and eventually destroy them because of this insecurity.Also there are some beautiful shots of Wyatt and Billy driving across the American Southwest. Jack Nicholson of course is nothing but great, especially in the campfire scene when he was introduced to weed just such a great scene. This film shows that Hayes Code had to end so great films like this could be made.
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Spoiled Grapes
When I first saw that I was going to watch this film for my class I was pretty excited because I never saw it before and you always see it in the top ten films of all time. After watching it though I honestly thought this film was horrible and don't see what everybody sees in it. I hated the story, I don't want watch people just struggle through out the whole without any really closure.I need to be entertained and watching a family struggling from Oklahoma to California is not my idea of a great film. The only thing that i thought was great about the film was the cinematography some shots and scenes were simply amazing and couldn't believe that it was shot in 1940. Saying that though great backgrounds do not make a film great.
Frankenstein (1931)
Not a Horrible Horror Film
This was the second time I saw this film saying that I think it was pretty solid film.It's very cool for the period that it came from you started to see the film industry trying new things to attract people to see their films. I really loved the feel of the movie it gave me a real gloomy and almost depressed feeling and i could almost feel Halloween's cool air while watching this movie.I could also really feel the mob's anger near the end of the film. as far as the acting goes though I thought it was kind of weak, but the sets and camera work definitely made it up for me It's far from the best movie I have ever seen but for the time it was pretty amazing.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
Classy and Classic
My Man Godfrey is one of those classic comedies that has satire at its heart, here the rich are firmly in the target sights of the makers, for it's they who come across as bumbling fools, while Godfrey the bum is the one with tact and grace, he is the one they all should take their markers from. Yet as important as the social message is here: don't judge a book by it's cover.this is an electric script benefiting from great work from all involved. William Powell is Godfrey, it's a perfect performance as he is never flustered yet delivering funny lines with caustic impact. Carole Lombard is precious as the dopey love sick Irene, her interplay with Powell is comedy gold.
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
Wrong Place, Wrong Time
This film is the essence of the phrase "", because that's exactly what happens James Allen who thought he was going to just get a free hamburger but gets caught in a bad robbery and sent to jail. The film really made think also because of how ironic it is. Here you have the main character: James Allen trying to make something out of himself after coming home from war. but all he does is wonder around the country and is poor, then he thinks hes going to get free meal and goes to jail. Where he has to do hard labor which he didn't want to do, and only after he escapes from prison does he make something of himself, but hes criminal on the run. It's funny to me that he didn't become a criminal after he left prison and at the same time he made something of himself. What a crazy world.
Scarface (1932)
The original gangster
Before I watched this film I had no idea that the movie Scarface staring Al Pacino was a remake of this film. Saying this I never that film either until I watched this one. I must say I was very impressed with story (which at the time was original and fresh) and the whole classic tragedy aspect of the great rise (coming from nothing and became rich beyond anything you could imagine) and the epic fall (being gunned down like a rabid dog)of the main character. Seeing this film also made me realize how much other "gangster" films take from this movie. So if this movie was never made I don't believe the gangster film genre would have lasted or at least would of been as good. So if you love crime films and old movies this film you should immediately watch.
The Gold Rush (1925)
Silent Films: Silently passing by.
This is the first silent film I have ever seen, so I really was not use to having absolutely no sound (other than the piano in the background) in a 90 minute movie. So it was neat to see the actors using over exaggerated expressions to get their feelings/ideas across.
I felt like they did some of same gags over and over again, like someone getting chased around the cabin or The Lonely Prospector burning himself on the stove. It just got really old to me quickly. I don't know maybe because I'm from a different time period and way life but the film just didn't do anything for me. I didn't really like the plot of the movie and thought it was a little too spread out and could have had the same effect if it was only 30 to 40 minutes long and nothing would have been lost.