MYST 5

This weekend I was at a basketball tournament and I was a lot bigger than most of the players there. While I was there somebody called me Godzilla. Naturally that made me want to see the new Godzilla movie. On Saturday we had the night off and my team and I went to see the movie. You would think that this movie would be full of monsters and action throughout the whole film, but that is not the case. Although you see the monsters, there is no fighting until near the end. There is also a love story incorporated into this film. The main character's name is Ford and is played by Aaron Taylor Johnson. He has a wife and a kid, and he is also a marine. Him being a marine symbolizes how he is not there that often. When the monsters were discovered he had to go and fight again. the rest of the movie is him trying to get to his family while saving the world at the same time.


A key scene in this movie is when Godzilla and Ford make eye contact. Ford had just destroyed the egg sack of Godzilla's enemies while Godzilla was fighting them. Godzilla got knocked down and Ford was right in his line of sight. you could see it in Ford's eyes that he was saying "get up, get up" to Godzilla. He also realized Godzilla isn't there to hurt people. he is there to save his city. After about 20 seconds of Godzilla and Ford staring at each other Godzilla gets the power to get up and beat his enemies. This is when the action really starts to kick up. there is about 20 minutes of fighting after this and it is very suspenseful.

Overall, I found this movie very entertaining and would recommend this movie to anyone. The only downfall of this movie is that they completely modernized it and didn't really follow the plot lines of the past Godzilla movies. Other than that I still really enjoyed watching this film and recommend it to everybody.

Formal Film Study 2

For this Formal Film Study I chose to do 3 big name films of Steven Spielberg. What I want to do is compare the camera angle and music of the movies to see what similarities they have and also differences they have. I am assuming that there will be more similarities in the films considering they all did remarkably well in the box office. The films were also wildly popular. The films I did were Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, and Schindler’s List.  

Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan were made in the 90’s while Minority Report was made in 2002. Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan were made about WWII, but what is interesting about the two is that it shows both perspectives of the war. Saving Private Ryan shows how American soldiers dealt with the war and what the hardships were of fighting for their country. To briefly explain Schindler’s List, it shows the hard times of the Jews during WWII. It shows how they tried to hide from the Gestapo and stay safe from going to a concentration camp. A man named Schindler creates jobs for them and saves thousands of lives from the Nazis. Minority Report takes a different plot and is about a futuristic police force that is capable of figuring out future crimes and preventing them now. For Saving Private Ryan it’s like a basic war movie, but with a twist. For these movies it’s not so much the plot line that is the same it’s more of the lighting and shots used that really tell you about a character or the mood of the scene.

What Spielberg does in Schindler’s list is make you remember that historic time period very deeply. The shots and camera angles of scenes are so deep that the scene will be embedded in your brain for a long time. Janet Maslin of the New York Times says, “Mr. Spielberg has made sure that neither he nor the Holocaust will ever be thought of in the same way again. With every frame, he demonstrates the power of the filmmaker to distill complex events into fiercely indelible images. "Schindler's List" begins with the sight of Jewish prayer candles burning down to leave only wisps of smoke, and there can be no purer evocation of the Holocaust than that.” Another example of making you never forget something about the movie is every time Schindler talks. Depending on his take in the scene Schindler is either in darkness while talking or in some light. I feel when it is dark he is taking a bad position in the scene and visa versa when in light. Saving Private Ryan is light most time symbolizing an American victory I feel like. One thing I did notice is that every hand to and combat scene is in the dark or a dark place. Basically any type of killing is shot in darker scenes. Minority Report is a dark movie as a hole. It is a man with a mission to find his son. He is an angry man throughout the movie so the dark lighting in the movie symbolizes his anger and drive to get his son back.

Most of the shots were close up due to the fact that there was a lot of 1-1 talking especially in Schindler’s List. In Schindler’s List every time he was talking to somebody he would take a shot of Hennessy. That really stood out to me and I don’t know why. I don’t know for sure why he does it, but my guess would be to show power. Hennessy is an expensive alcohol especially back then. In Saving Private Ryan there is a scene where an American soldier and a German soldier get into a hand-to-hand combat battle and the shot was a close up on both of them and really gets you to feel that moment of the movie.

Another thing I noticed about the movie was the music was classic up-tempo action music. There were no words just up-temp beats showing that there is a bunch of action going on and it is very intense and suspenseful. The music would appear during intense war scenes in Saving Private Ryan while the music would come while Schindler was talking about something important. In Minority Report the music was playing a lot because of how many action scenes there were.

Overall, I can see why these films made it big. Saving Private Ryan was destined to be good because it came out 5 years after Schindler’s list, which was also about WWII. They both were WWII films that almost played hand in hand. With one side being the actual war and the other side showing the holocaust and efforts of people (Schindler) who were against Hitler and the Nazi party. Minority Report doesn’t tie in with the WWII theme but does tie in with the action theme. As I stated above the music really told you when the action scenes were coming and some big time action scenes would take place.  Lastly, these films were overall good movies and made it big because they were made very well, had great music, and awesome lighting and camera angles.

MYST 4

Jobs is a film that really inspires you. The main character is Steve Jobs (Ashton Kutcher) and the story narrates his life of creating what we know today as Apple computers. They really show both sides of Jobs in this movie. They show how hard working he is as an individual, but they also show how much of a jerk he can be. In one scene where he is talking about who is going to make how much money off the investment and he completely screws over his partner, Steve Wozniak, by giving him absolutely nothing. Wozniak is played by Josh Gab and his character is very important in the film. When Jobs has his idea of a circuit board to be faster and in color he calls Wozniak in the middle of the night to have him come over and build it. Wozniak shows up and does it. They become full time partners and go to a convention to try to promote their idea. It goes terribly wrong, but Jobs still thinks his idea is unique and can make it big. The rest of the movie is Wozniak and Jobs creating Apple and then Jobs screws Wozniak over. There is a little bit of karma because Apple fired Jobs, while Wozniak still works for Apple. Jobs creates his new company "Next" and Apple wants him back because his new company would put them out of business. The second time around at Apple isn't any different, he wants the same thing and he gets it done, but loses a bunch of friends in the mean time. This movie is inspiring, sad, and very entertaining. I really enjoyed this movie and recommend it to people looking for an entertaining, but also inspiring movie.

A scene that really, REALLY stood out to me is in the beginning of the movie. Jobs calls Wozniak over in the middle of the night and is working on the circuit board. After they have a few lines and are talking like friends, Jobs looks at Wozniak and says, "Hey, thanks for doing this" Wozniak looks him right in the eye with a smirk on his face and says "No problem, it's what friends do right?" This scene stands out to me because, as I stated before Jobs screws his FRIEND over. It also stood out to me because of the lighting in these shots. all the lights are off except for the one Wozniak is using to work on the circuit board with and it is shining where you can see his whole face abd hand working on the board and Jobs in mostly in the dark. I feel that is portraying a role for the two characters. Wazniak being the better person and Jobs being the bad guy by being in the darkness.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and the cinematography of the movie. The lighting always showed something about the character and that made you really think of if you like that character or not. It keeps you on your toes and really touches your heart at the same time. As i said before i recommend this movie to almost anyone. It is along the same lines as the Social Network, but personally I think this movie tromps The Social Network.

MYST 1

I watched the movie "The Social Network" which is an American drama film directed by David Pincher. The main character is Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg. Mark's best friend, Eduardo Saverin, played by Andrew Grafield, is the next biggest character. The movie starts off with Mark having dinner with his girlfriend. This is where we are introduced to Mark's ego and bad attitude. They get into a fight and she breaks up with him and calls him an asshole. Calling him an asshole is a key part because that is what set Zuckerberg off to start creating his project. He goes home too his dorm and is very drunk. He starts blogging about his ex-girlfirend and how she is an awful human being and so on. He then sparks the idea to create a rating website. Its where two pictures of girls on campus go side by side and you can pick who is hotter. Obviously, it was a big hit with the boy students, but it really pissed off the girl students. Then the Winklevoss twins heard about Zuckerberg's rating website and how big of a hit it was, they wanted him to help them create their own website. The idea for the website was a dating website. That sparked Zuckerberg to create Facebook. His buddy Saverin helped with the financial situation while Zuckerberg did all the coding and appearance of the website. A key point that is in the movie is Mark never says thank you to Saverin. Saverin funded the whole website and once it was created Mark met a new partner. That new partner was Sean Parker, creator of Napster. Sean didn't like Saverin off the bat and devised a plan to screw him over in the contract of Facebook. In the end Saverin gets screwed and sues Zuckerberg for everything he has. The ending scene is the hearing and lets everyone know what the resolution of the case was.


A key component in the movie that really stands out to me is how Zuckerberg doesn't say thank you ever. Throughout the movie Saverin is expecting a thank you or any kind of acknowledgement that he is paying for everything. There are scenes where Saverin pays a big amount and sits there waiting for a thank you and Zuckerberg just goes back to work and doesn't acknowledge him. Zuckerberg is an asshole throughout the whole film. that brings us back to the first scene of the movie where him and his girlfriend break up and she tells him "...your going to go through life thinking girls don't like you because your nerdy when in reality its because your an asshole." He doesn't believe it, but everyone who has seen the movie would say he is one. By him being one thats what caused the major lawsuit between him and Saverin.


In the end I really liked this movie. I can safely say this is one of my favorite movie. I really love the camera work. The lighting in the movie is usually darker and that is to show that this is a darker movie. There are sad and intense parts throughout the whole movie. When Zuckerberg is on screen and talking he is usually in the darkest spot to show that he has some evil in him. The plot is really easy to follow and it is fun to watch. The plot is very suspenseful and I recommend this movie to people who like darker and more suspenseful movies. I give this move an 8.5/10.

MYST 3

This is a movie I have wanted to see for a very long time now. I finally got around to it the other night. I really enjoyed watching this movie mostly because basically the whole time they are doing something involving basketball. Basketball is what intrigued me to give this movie a go in the first place. This movie was directed by Ron Shelton. Ron Shelton also directed "Bill Durham" 1988.

“White Men Can’t Jump” is a great mix of sports, comedy, and drama. With the main character being Billy Hoyle, played by Woody Harrelson, and Sidney Deane, played by Wesley Snipes. That makes for an all-star duo for the film. Billy Hoyle moves into a Los Angeles apartment with his girlfriend Gloria Clemente, played by Rosie Perez, and he goes onto street ball courts to hustle other players. One day Sidney Deane and his team were playing when a player on the other team got hurt. Deane urged the other team to pick the white bystander who assumed to not be able to play, that bystander being Billy. The team picks Billy and to everyone’s amazement Billy leads his team to beat Deane’s team. Billy’s strategy is to act like he can’t play at first, and then turn on the gas and not miss a shot for the rest of the game. Deane realized he just got played, and he wants in on Billy’s game. They then partner up to hustle the courts of Los Angeles. While Billy would hustle, his girlfriend would research obscure facts due to the fact she longs for the chance to be on the game show “Jeopardy.” Everything starts to go down hill near the end of the movie. Billy and Gloria fight all the time and they split up, and get back together a lot. When Gloria gets on “Jeopardy” she wins. She gives Billy money to get new and better clothes to clean himself up, but he uses that money to bet. Billy was warned if he uses the money to gamble that him and her were done for good. Billy still uses the money to gamble with deane and Billy winds up doubling his money. Sadly, Gloria kept to her word and left him for good. Billy is crushed, but at least he has Sidney Deane with the new found friendship throughout the movie. I really enjoyed the film and give it a 8/10.

One thing I did not like was how predictable the movie was. Although there was a valiant effort to try to keep the audience on the edge of there seat with each pick up game, everybody knew what the outcome of the games were going to be. Not even just the games were predictable, the character Gloria, played by Rosie Perez, was a very hot headed character. If you saw Billy Hoyle make a wrong move you knew that Gloria was going to explode on him when he returned to the apartment. Other than that I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.


In all, I really enjoyed the movie and the camera work. For example, in the scene where they are coming home from the 2-on-2 pick up tournament and Billy bets Sidney he can dunk. They show it from an angle coming from the street. It looks as if your a person standing on the other side of the street watching this bet happen. That was my favorite shot of the whole movie because you saw these two black figures standing next to a hoop and one of them trying to dunk and failing but the other one is laughing at him. Again as i stated above this movie was great and i recommend it to everyone. 

MYST 2

I watched the movie "Dazed and Confused" over the weekend. I have been eyeing that movie for a good year before I actually sat down and watched it. I know with the iffy title it doesn't sound like it is going to have that thick of a plot or any plot twists. Well, you're right. Basically what this movie consists of is a group of 5 high school football players in Texas in the 70's. It is the last day of school and all they want to do is figure out where the party is at. Back in the 70's there were traditions at some schools. At this school, one of their traditions is that seniors paddle the incoming freshman attending the school next year. The main character, Randy "Pink" Floyd, played by Jason London is the usual main character in a high school film. He is the star quarterback who walks around with poise and swagger. He has a girlfriend, but that doesn't stop him from talking to other girls. Pink finds a group of eighth grade kids named Mitch, Karl, Tommy, and Hirschfelder. Mitch is one of Pink's friends younger brother, so they go out of their way to find him and paddle him. After they paddle Mitch, Pink gives him a ride home. When they arrive at Mitch's house Pink asks Mitch to go out with them tonight. When they go out that night everyone already loves Mitch because he came with Pink. As I stated above there really isn't a big plot to this movie. To sum up the rest of the movie, basically the whole senior grade and Mitch go to a field and throw a huge party. Then Pink and his boys and Wooderson, the older guy still living in his high school days, played by Mathew McConaughey; go to the high school to engage in an illegal activity on the 50 yard line. The cops come and they call the coach instead of Pink's parents when the police see that it is Randy Floyd they arrested. Everyone gets let go and Wooderson and Pink drive to Houston to buy Aerosmith tickets and the movie ends. 

One important part of the movie that the director never lets you forget is that Pink is a rebel. In the beginning of the movie Pink receives a slip from his coach saying that the team will not participate in any illegal activities or in no way shape or form jeopardize their season. The whole team has to sign in and give it to the coach. Pink doesn't like that, and decides he is going to wait the longest he can before signing it, IF he signs it. There is a scene right after Pink and his crew talk to their coach and he crumbles up the piece of paper and throws it the direction of the coaches. That shows him being a rebel and not wanting to listen to what is perceived as "the man." Throughout the whole movie teammates are trying to get him to just sign the paper so he could play. There is a scene where his friend Benny and himself are sitting in a truck talking about it and Pink tells Benny that maybe he doesn't want to play football this year. Benny gets very upset and freaks out on him. That is a key moment because Pink decides then that he won't be playing due to the expectations he didn't want to live up too. 

Overall the movie was a good time filler. Although it had no plot it still got you engaged. The best part of the movie was the soundtrack. I feel like that had such a big part to the success in this movie. It was all classic rock and well known songs of the 70's. I feel movie soundtracks are a very key component in making a movie good. I liked this movie, but what made me like it even more was the soundtrack. I recommend this movie to anyone who likes high school movies. 7/10 stars.

Review of the Reviews

Positive Review:
     
            This review is a bit of a longer review, but has great things to say about the movie "Moneyball." The tone of this review seems very upbeat. What I would take away from this is that he had a great time watching this film and also learned a lot about the system the Oakland Athletics baseball organization tried to use in 2001. He starts off the review stating facts of the game where the Athletics played the Yankees for the division title. The A's sadly lost that game 5-3 as the review states in the second paragraph. Manohla Dargis, the writer of the review, focuses mostly on the plot and character of the film. He talks about the plot and how he loves the storyline. He also talks about how great the cast is. He feels that every person actor/actress was casted perfectly for their roles. He relates this film to "The Social Network" because of the number systems they use. "Moneyball" uses math equations to scout their players based on hits and on base percentage, while "The Social Network" uses math equations to create a website. He also touches on the fact of how similar the cinemetography is between the two films.


Negative Review:

           This review is a very bitter toned review. He starts off the review saying "'Moneyball' is a mess of a film..." The reason he is so bitter towards this film is because of the way it would show flashbacks at random times. Although I felt that those scenes were necessary to the film, the writer of this review feels they were worthless. The review is set up in about 6 paragraphs with nothing good about the movie. He uses phrases like "aimless plot" and "one-dimensional" all to describe either the characters or the film itself. He uses the word "one-dimensional" to describe basically every character and complains the whole rest of the review about how the film lacks "multi-dimensional" characters. As you can tell, he focuses on the cast mostly. Completely bashing the script and how the cast acted. I can see how he thinks that, but he kind of over-exaggerated the boringness of the characters I feel.

2. The scene where Brad Pitt is driving away from the stadium because he feels being there is bad luck, and he turns around to go to the stadium and the A's loose is a very significant part of the movie and I feel that it is a very good scene. It is a very good scene due to that being the falling action of the film. Once he went to the stadium everything falls down hill.

3. The positive review would be more convincing because of the vocabulary and tone of the review. Dargis really explains the plot and why it is good and also how it can seen as a bad movie. So he gives you both side of the movie in one review. I feel that knowing both sides of what can potentially be an argument is very helpful and wise.

4. I would want to include how much I like the cast. Despite what the negative review says, I feel that the cast was great. Jonah Hill played the stats guy perfect while Brad Pitt played his boss and friend very well. I would leave out some of the plot line because there are some scenes that don't contribute to the film at all, but apparently are very important to the plot and I just don't see it. In all, I really liked the film and had a great time watching it.