Steven Spielberg's first film that he ever directed was Jaws in 1975. This film contains a great white shark that starts roaming a small community off an island called Amity. The mayor of the city refused to close the beaches when a horrible shark attack occurred because summer was around the corner and he didn't want to lose money. The beach is their main money maker for this small community. After another shark attack occurred, the mayor finally let some of his men go out to sea and catch the shark. They caught a shark thinking it was THE shark to kill those two people but when one police chief (Roy Scheider) brought in a marine scientist (Richard Dreyfuss), he told them another story. That the teeth marks that appeared on the bodies did not match the shark they caught and the another way to prove that was to cut the shark open. The mayor would not have it, he didn't want to scare his business away. Before this attack happened, a hefty fisherman laid out a high price to kill this shark himself. The mayor turned him down. Another shark attack happened the next day and the mayor finally gave in and told Brody to use the fisherman and kill this shark. Brody gathered the local fisherman and the marine scientist and settled out to sea to do whatever it took to find this great white.
The use of elements, camera angles, sound scape, dialogue, blocking, editing was, to me, in an old fashion sense. The music definitely gave away when the shark was near or something was about to happen, I knew what to expect. Spielberg followed the simple three strikes and your out theme; there were three attacks before they did something about the shark. The way Spielberg used his zoom, for example, in one scene when Brody is sitting on the beach after the first attack happened, looking out for all the citizens, there was this close up on Brody's face where the camera was zooming in but in the background it looked as though it was zooming out. It was a cool effect of getting a close up on Brody's face while he was having a bit of a melt down. It really showed how chief Brody cared about his community and the safety for his people.
Spielberg used these elements quite well for his first film. Even though the music gave away when there was a shark present and you automatically know something is about to happen, it never over powered the scene. I think he could have used less of the soundtrack because just seeing a person in the water at night gets you all worked up that something could happen without music letting you know it's about to go down. Gives more of that suspense feel. This is most certainly a classic adventurous/horror film that I recommend that everyone should watch at least once.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Easy A
Will Gluck directed Easy A in 2010 staring Emma Stone, Penn Badgley and Amanda Bynes. Gluck also directed films such as Friends With Benefits and Fired Up. This film is about a high school girl named Olive (Stone) who ruined her flawless reputation by the rumor mill. Olive starts out by telling her best friend Rhiannon (Aly Michalka) a lie about her weekend with "George" just so she can get her friend to drop the subject. This lie spreads quickly by Marianne (Bynes), a super Jesus freak, who over hears Olive and Rhiannon talking. Olive quickly becomes the new talk of the school. One afternoon in detention, Olive and Brandon (Dan Byrd) are cleaning, talking and they end up making a deal. Olive agreed to help Brandon prove to people that he wasn't gay when he totally is. She helps him and this "act" helps both of them with their "reputation" at school because in high school, it's all about the reputation. Olive's generous deed spreads quickly and soon, guys are coming up to olive to help them with their social life. When I mean guys, I'm talking about nerds who have low self-esteem. All the while, she is studying the Scarlet Letter in her English class and that's when she embroiders a red letter A to her wardrobe. This is when heads really start to turn. All this helping Olive does starts to spiral down hill when really nasty rumors start to spread; that's when one particular guy truly tries to take advantage of her. Olive created a video blog explaining her side of the story, the true side.
This film's use of music, soundtrack, was beautiful. It didn't over power the film and it definitely did not ruin any moments of the film. I can tell this director, Will Gluck, focused more on dialogue than anything else. This was a humorous movie with excellent back and forth remarks between the actors. The setting was at a school, outside and in classroom buildings; really low key. The way this film was shot was a story that had already happened. Olive made a video blog about her side of the story. The rumor mill changes every time it's being told and she wanted to make that clear, that this was her fault and to clear her reputation again. The film goes back and forth from Olive's web cam (real life) to her story (past life) showing each stage of Olive's story. The editor cut the film perfectly so nothing was out of place, everything flowed like a river going downstream. The camera angles were at eye level with all of the actors making us feel the emotion they were portraying.
The director utilized these elements quite well. Nothing seemed out of place or out of tune. There wasn't an over use of a song and the actors definitely made their characters believable. This film is great for a humorous afternoon with the family. This movie has a lot of 80's references, which I loved, and it allowed me to be more connected with the film. The director did an absolutely fantastic job at directing this film, I give Gluck two thumbs up. It is definitely a must see if you want to laugh a bit at some high school rumor mills. It's also great for comparing the rumor mills in this high school to your own high school rumor mills.
This film's use of music, soundtrack, was beautiful. It didn't over power the film and it definitely did not ruin any moments of the film. I can tell this director, Will Gluck, focused more on dialogue than anything else. This was a humorous movie with excellent back and forth remarks between the actors. The setting was at a school, outside and in classroom buildings; really low key. The way this film was shot was a story that had already happened. Olive made a video blog about her side of the story. The rumor mill changes every time it's being told and she wanted to make that clear, that this was her fault and to clear her reputation again. The film goes back and forth from Olive's web cam (real life) to her story (past life) showing each stage of Olive's story. The editor cut the film perfectly so nothing was out of place, everything flowed like a river going downstream. The camera angles were at eye level with all of the actors making us feel the emotion they were portraying.
The director utilized these elements quite well. Nothing seemed out of place or out of tune. There wasn't an over use of a song and the actors definitely made their characters believable. This film is great for a humorous afternoon with the family. This movie has a lot of 80's references, which I loved, and it allowed me to be more connected with the film. The director did an absolutely fantastic job at directing this film, I give Gluck two thumbs up. It is definitely a must see if you want to laugh a bit at some high school rumor mills. It's also great for comparing the rumor mills in this high school to your own high school rumor mills.
Monday, April 1, 2013
(500) Day's of Summer
This movie was directed by Marc Webb in 2009 who also directed Spider-man 1 &2. Leading actors Summer (Zooey Deschanel) and Tom (Joseph Gorden-Levitt) tell a love story that isn't your typical guy-meets-girl-guy-loses-girl-guy-gets-girl-back. These two meet each other and then it jumps forward to a part where things go wrong. This movie keeps going back and forth showing their "friendship" develop and then showing moments of awkwardness and pain. Tom ends up falling for Summer; she, however, does not. I feel that these two taught each other a lesson. Tom showed Summer that love is real when you find the one and Tom thinks that Summer "taught" him that she wasn't for him, that soul mates are not real. But what she really taught him was to be who he really was meant to be and to not be afraid of being him. This led him to quitting his job that he hated and pushing himself to be an architect, which is what he really wanted. Tom needed that push and Summer gave that to him.
I enjoyed the fact that the movie showed the lives of Tom and Summer when they were kids, giving us a brief history of where they were coming from. I love the use of the jump cutting; they started with Day 1, the meet, and then it jumped to Day 309, where things go wrong. The director would show them having a good time, laughing all the way to the part where she doesnt' look happy and he's trying to please her like Day 1 but she just isn't feeling it. Webb just keeps going back and forth with happy scenes to sad scenes forcing you to realize and try and figure out if these two are going to work things out and stay together or break up and move on. Tom and Summer needed each other at that time in their lives to be able to live happily at the end of the 500 days. The music was extremely moving. It pulled me into their 'love' story at the beginning when everything was fine and dandy. Each piece of music he chose fit the scene or section of the movie and complimented the emotion Webb wanted from the audience.
I thought the characters played their roles quite well. Especially Tom, I could feel the pain and the happiness he went through when he was falling in love to the point where he's getting his heart stomped on. It was obvious that Summer cared but she clearly just wanted to stay friends. At first it appears that Summer was starting to feel something for Tom, and that hope made you believe she would fall for him because they were holding hands, kissing, and sleeping with each other but all this time she just wanted to have fun and she knows Tom is falling for her yet she doesn't pull away. Messing with his heart, his emotions. It could not be easy to do that to someone because in real life, I couldn't bring myself to toy with another's emotions like that. I can see though how the audience is rooting for them two to stay together because their chemistry looked as though they were made for each other. Or so we thought.
This movie, with an unexpected twist at the end, will have you cheering for either Tom or Summer; but mostly Tom because he's the one with the broken heart, the real struggle. This movie had a very moving portrayal. It made me experience emotions of joy and anger with Tom and Summer's "relationship". I highly recommend watching this film, it's definitely a must see if you want to see two people struggle to find that happiness that many are too scared to find.
I enjoyed the fact that the movie showed the lives of Tom and Summer when they were kids, giving us a brief history of where they were coming from. I love the use of the jump cutting; they started with Day 1, the meet, and then it jumped to Day 309, where things go wrong. The director would show them having a good time, laughing all the way to the part where she doesnt' look happy and he's trying to please her like Day 1 but she just isn't feeling it. Webb just keeps going back and forth with happy scenes to sad scenes forcing you to realize and try and figure out if these two are going to work things out and stay together or break up and move on. Tom and Summer needed each other at that time in their lives to be able to live happily at the end of the 500 days. The music was extremely moving. It pulled me into their 'love' story at the beginning when everything was fine and dandy. Each piece of music he chose fit the scene or section of the movie and complimented the emotion Webb wanted from the audience.
I thought the characters played their roles quite well. Especially Tom, I could feel the pain and the happiness he went through when he was falling in love to the point where he's getting his heart stomped on. It was obvious that Summer cared but she clearly just wanted to stay friends. At first it appears that Summer was starting to feel something for Tom, and that hope made you believe she would fall for him because they were holding hands, kissing, and sleeping with each other but all this time she just wanted to have fun and she knows Tom is falling for her yet she doesn't pull away. Messing with his heart, his emotions. It could not be easy to do that to someone because in real life, I couldn't bring myself to toy with another's emotions like that. I can see though how the audience is rooting for them two to stay together because their chemistry looked as though they were made for each other. Or so we thought.
This movie, with an unexpected twist at the end, will have you cheering for either Tom or Summer; but mostly Tom because he's the one with the broken heart, the real struggle. This movie had a very moving portrayal. It made me experience emotions of joy and anger with Tom and Summer's "relationship". I highly recommend watching this film, it's definitely a must see if you want to see two people struggle to find that happiness that many are too scared to find.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Rear Window
Rear Window, a 1954 mystery/thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. My impression of the movie, I thought it was a delight. The film built up the mystery, the suspense, about the neighbor that Jefferies (James Stewart) is "spying" on. It Made me think "did this neighbor murder his wife" or "Is Jefferies really losing it". Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly) showed the side of her that isnt afraid of a little adventure and mystery. At first she seemed like the classic-drop-dead-goregous-rich girl who wouldnt get her finger nails dirty for no body but she shows this passionate love to Jeff and, to me, it seemed that she showed her more adventurous side to prove her love for him or to save their relationship. Stella (Thelma Ritter) is the nurse that cares for Jeff and she, too, gets involved with the sneaky mystery business that is going on across the windows view. These three working together to figure out a mystery puts me on the edge of my seat.
The main plot of thie film is that Jeff, who has a broken leg is at home all day and night with nothing to do, starts to watch his neighbors and witnesses some things he probably shouldnt have. With the help of Stella and Lisa, they dig deeper and go against detective Dolye (Wendell Corey), who doesnt believe Jeff, to uncover the mystery that unfolds before their eyes. They will do what ever it takes to solve this mystery.
The acting, at first, was hard to get use to because the acting was different in the 50's compared to acting in the 21st century. Stella's character was the most believable, right off the bat, just on how she portrayed the character of the nurse on helping Jefferies who was in need of assistance. Jefferies and Lisa's charcter took some time to get used to because I wasn't impressed with their acting at first. They didn't portray their roles straight away, they took their time and built up to their role unlike Stella who gave it her all in her first few lines. As the movie picked up their characters became much more believable. I found this to be when I was drawn into the action and became curious on what was going to happen next. That's how I know when an actor does their job.
The one camera shot that really caught my attention was the view from Jefferies when he used binoculars vs. when he didn't use the binoculars. When he used binoculars, the view was much closer and the light focused on the center of the circle and the outer circle was blacked out. When he removed the binoculars, the view was much further away and a wide shot was visible. It made it harder to see what was going on, just like if you were to use binoculars. Through out this film, there was a lot of shadowed lighting to create that mysterious/thriller look. It becomes a struggle to see which gets your curiousity going and you definitely want that in a mystery movie.
I think the message of this film is to follow your gut, your instinct. The detective didn't really believe Jeff, at first, when he said there was something fishy going on. When Dolye did investigate he didn't find any evidence that Jeff was talking about. Jeff had this feeling that there was more to the strory and continued to follow his gut to "solve" the case with the help of Lisa and Stella. The problem that occurs is that this wouldnt happen in real life because how can Jeff get away with looking through that window for so long? How can Lisa just break into the apartment and not get in any kind of trouble? Those questions puzzle me because nowadays, if someone was in that situation they would get in massive trouble, sued, or get a restraining order...Something.
I highly recommend seeing this film. It does leave you on the edge of your seat begging to know whats gonna happen next. It's fun picturing yourself in these situations that these characters get themselves into thinking to yourself, would I do that? Could I do that? What is he/she going to decide next? Are they staying together or breaking up? Will Jeff survive this mystery or will he get hurt? All these questions are racing through your head. You will not be dissapointed.
The main plot of thie film is that Jeff, who has a broken leg is at home all day and night with nothing to do, starts to watch his neighbors and witnesses some things he probably shouldnt have. With the help of Stella and Lisa, they dig deeper and go against detective Dolye (Wendell Corey), who doesnt believe Jeff, to uncover the mystery that unfolds before their eyes. They will do what ever it takes to solve this mystery.
The acting, at first, was hard to get use to because the acting was different in the 50's compared to acting in the 21st century. Stella's character was the most believable, right off the bat, just on how she portrayed the character of the nurse on helping Jefferies who was in need of assistance. Jefferies and Lisa's charcter took some time to get used to because I wasn't impressed with their acting at first. They didn't portray their roles straight away, they took their time and built up to their role unlike Stella who gave it her all in her first few lines. As the movie picked up their characters became much more believable. I found this to be when I was drawn into the action and became curious on what was going to happen next. That's how I know when an actor does their job.
The one camera shot that really caught my attention was the view from Jefferies when he used binoculars vs. when he didn't use the binoculars. When he used binoculars, the view was much closer and the light focused on the center of the circle and the outer circle was blacked out. When he removed the binoculars, the view was much further away and a wide shot was visible. It made it harder to see what was going on, just like if you were to use binoculars. Through out this film, there was a lot of shadowed lighting to create that mysterious/thriller look. It becomes a struggle to see which gets your curiousity going and you definitely want that in a mystery movie.
I think the message of this film is to follow your gut, your instinct. The detective didn't really believe Jeff, at first, when he said there was something fishy going on. When Dolye did investigate he didn't find any evidence that Jeff was talking about. Jeff had this feeling that there was more to the strory and continued to follow his gut to "solve" the case with the help of Lisa and Stella. The problem that occurs is that this wouldnt happen in real life because how can Jeff get away with looking through that window for so long? How can Lisa just break into the apartment and not get in any kind of trouble? Those questions puzzle me because nowadays, if someone was in that situation they would get in massive trouble, sued, or get a restraining order...Something.
I highly recommend seeing this film. It does leave you on the edge of your seat begging to know whats gonna happen next. It's fun picturing yourself in these situations that these characters get themselves into thinking to yourself, would I do that? Could I do that? What is he/she going to decide next? Are they staying together or breaking up? Will Jeff survive this mystery or will he get hurt? All these questions are racing through your head. You will not be dissapointed.
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