The Coen's

From all three Coen Brothers films, one thing really stands out in there movies. It is the unstoppable force that creates fear in others. In Raising Arizona, the unstoppable force is the "Hog from Hell." He at first just seems like a figment of HI's imagination. He has bad breams about him but isn't sure if it is actually coming for him. During the later part of the movie, the Hog shows up to HI's surprise and says "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Even though the Hog Rider is real in the movie, the Coens make it seem like its HI's conscience trying to talk to him. Another unstoppable force is Chigurh in No Country Fro Old Men. Chirgurh is one of the most diabolical characters that the Coens have ever made. Some reasons why he seems so scary and mysterious is that the audience doesn't know anything about him or his past. The audience has no idea what drives him to act and kill in the most unusual ways. One thing that also adds to Chigurh's creepiness is his unusual types of guns and weapons. Many find these very cool and awesome but when you think about them as you are a character in the movie, them are the last things you want to hear or see. The last unstoppable force is Margie in Fargo. Although she is not like the other characters, she is unbreakable. One example is when she gets to the crime scene of the first 3 killings off of the highway. She immediately can tell how many suspects and the way they were killed. The Coens are very unique in the way that they make characters but there are some relationships that can be drawn in all of their movies.

Sergio Leone

The film, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, is a great western directed by Sergio Leone. One scene that i thought was excellently planed and executed was the opening scene. It is hard not to compare it to Once Upon A Time in the West. It starts out with 3 characters, none are talking. They slowly approach each other and Leone takes shots from both points of view. It makes you think its going to be a shoot out. They keep approaching and Leone uses long shots to show the scene. This also makes it seem like a classic gun scene. But they keep approaching! This makes you go crazy and starts to make you get antsy. Eventually they come within feet of each other and you cant tell whats going to happen. Eventually they enter a bar at the same time a shootout is heard but not scene. A mystery man jumps out the window and is introduced as Ugly. During this whole scene not one word is spoken. This is just like Once Upon A Time in the West. Sergio Leone shows that he uses like styles to open a movie and introduce characters. This style adds mystery and suspense which is necessary to keep viewers glued to the screen. This proves that Sergio Leone is a master and can be seen as a great director. During the film i was wondering why Sergio would introduce Ugly first and why in that fashion. It is also curious because the title is The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Directors

Sergio Leone
Clint Eastwood
David Finscher

Hancock

I recently watched the movie ,Hancock (Peter Berg, 2008). I watched it over the Thanksgiving holiday and was very disappointed and disgusted with the movie and its plot. It veered away from the original Marvel or DC Comics type movies like Spiderman or Ironman. I encourage the individuality of the movie but Hancock couldn't pull it off.

One part that i disliked was the quickness of the hero's growth. In traditional movies, the hero has to go under a change of morals or views in order to defeat the bad guy. This usually takes up the majority of the movie. In Hancock, after twenty minutes of meeting him, he already changes and is in ship-shape. This design of plot lacks drama and suspense. Another part of the movie that was not clearly thought out was Hancock's villain. During the first half of the movie, all he does is fight petty criminals. He of course whoops their butts but as a viewer of many other super hero movies, i know that this is nothing special. After the majority of the film, the audience finally finds out the he has a wife which tries to live a normal life. They fight but nothing special happens. No dramatic last man standing or to-the-death battle happens. This is a main factor to my disliking of the movie as a whole.

One factor that i really liked was the underlying moral value that Peter Berg used. He showed that anyone can turn around their lives and start to feel special. He did this by portraying Hancock as a clumsy drunk who could care less about human safety and consequences. This is all changed by the end of the film because one optimistic man cared about Hancock. I thought that this display of high moral values and determination to change was one of the only good aspects of the film.

Romantic Comedy

Ever since the beginning of Aft of Film, i have looked at films more for their merit and overall moral values than just the blood and violence that i am usually interested in. In our Art of Film class, we have recently finished the great romantic comedy called Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993). It was one of the most interesting plots i have looked at under at microscope. Its in depth description of people in depression and agony made this movie unique and uncontested in the movie world. One of the best acting performances was Bill Murray (Phil Connors) in the movie. His face and gloomy personality make the actor seem dark and heartless. This look made me feel like he was the real deal and that i could actually see him being real. Andie MacDowell was also a great actress to pair with Bill. She has a sophisticated look to her face and shows that she wants to be accomplished and determined to make it to the top. This was a fantastic addition to the cast and made the movie what it is now. I also liked the complex plot of the movie. Its individuality was very new and upbeat than classic movie plots. The romantic comedy was a very old and used up genre but the use of great actors and a unique plot put the genre back on the top list of great movie themes.

Crystal Skull

I recently watched the new Indiana Jones movie (Steven Spielberg, 2008). It was less than all the hype had put it at. It had many different plans and ideas than used in the original series of Indiana Jones. The first new concept that i noticed was that major increase and use of special effects. Almost every shot or scene had some special effects added. This took away from the felling of the original series that everyone could connect to. This first distanced many viewers from the start. It set the tone of the movie and that it would be a totally new concept. I applaud Stephan for trying to make a old series new by adding a new age twist to it but many viewers of the original series disliked this addition. "For fans of the original films, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull that is reminiscent of the glory days of the series. However, for every great segment, there are five or six bad ones, leaving a barely entertaining film that presents far too many historical inaccuracies and emotional gaps and provides one of the most horrid titles in recent memory." This is just one review from Rotten Tomatoes from many that had a disgusted taste in their mouth. I am disappointed by the overall plot and style that the movie was produced in. This took away from the movie and is one reason why so many people where left with there heads down out the theater.

Rosebud

Recently I watched Citizen Kane, one of the most interesting and methodical plots I have experienced. During the whole movie Charles Foster Kane is missing something inside and his dying words of "Rosebud" help us learn about his problems. It takes a very keen eye to pick up on the settle objects and actions that the director, Orson Welles, uses to display his longing. In the last scene we figure out that Rosebud is a sled. This is one of the most famous endings were controversy begins. Many people think that this is a very important word but it doesn't explain everything about Charles Kane's life. I disagree. Rosebud is the perfect word to explain this movie. A rose is one of the most elegant flowers and a rosebud is a perfect flower that just can't achieve perfection. This is what Orson Welles wants us to think during the movie. Mr. Kane is just like a rosebud in that he has everything someone would want in life. Power, money, and a strong attitude that gets him what ever he wants, but there is one thing that Mr. Kane can't get no matter how much money he spends. His family. During one of the first scenes, Charlie is a little boy with his family enjoying a beautiful winter wonderland. In the foreground though we learn that Charlie is being sold for money. You can see that Charlie is having a wonderful time and nothing can stop him except to have his parents abandon him. We never see him go visit his parents ever again and you can tell that he is longing for love. This is explainable by the way old Charles Foster Kane uses his money. He buys very valuable items and statues. This is because he wants to cover his loneliness up by having very expensive things around him that people can admire. This still doesn't fix Mr. Kane. He even tries to get a wife to love him to minimize his desire for his parents. He practically throws money at her, trying to get her to pursue her dreams, but she eventually leaves him. This just aggravates the fire and we learn that Mr. Kane dies alone in his mansion full of priceless artifacts. During last scene, the audience sees a great crane shot over this vast ocean of artifacts. At the end of the crane shot we see the sled in the middle. This shows us that even though Mr. Kane wanted everything in the world, he could never have the real thing he wanted. His family.