Dark City

Wow this movie was good. The plot was truly amazing. I've never really been into the whole alien/sci-fi type of movie but the dark city does a good job of balancing the whole alien aspect with ideas of humanity and how we work.

In my opinion, the most powerful point in the film is when John tells the Strangers that they were looking in the wrong place if they wanted to find out about humanity. Its not what's in our heads, but what's in our hearts, that makes us a unique species.

The whole idea of perpetual night is what gives Dark City its film-noir vibe. because without that, i wouldn't say this movie reflects what a film-noir movie is.

I think the directors cut of the movie is superior to the regular version for two reasons: no narration in the beginning, and the tuning doesn't come till later. The idea of not knowing what the hell is going on really grabs the audience and keeps them on the edge of their seat, hoping to learn more. We learn information, piece by piece, and when the truth is revealed you get that feeling of oh wow what the heck i never could have guessed that.

So if its not clear, Dark City gets two thumbs up in my book

Asphalt Jungle

This movie is the first real mobster type of movie that ive seen apart from the godfather. Its a pretty good movie, not one of my favorites but it does have moments that grab my interest. The heist itself was very interesting to me and got my heart racing a bit. The thrill of it all is captivating and the director did a very good job of making the audience feel the tension and fear of being caught. But of course they didnt get caught (right away) because that would just be no fun!

My favorite character in this movie is Dix. This is because hes smart and trustworthy. Every time he is on screen he is strong, always with a stern look on his face. It is clear to see he is not a guy to mess with. One thing i dislike about his character is how he treats women. If it wasnt for Doll, dix would more than likely be dead at the railroad tracks. I'm interested to see how this movie will end because at this point everything seems up in the air

Unforgiven

So this is the first western movie iv'e ever watched and i can honestly say i'm pretty impressed. What i was most impressed with was todays part of the movie when we saw actual gunfights. This movie sticks to reality instead of adding in hollywood fluff to appease viewers. Seeing the Schofield Kid's reaction to killing one of the cowboys was surprisingly touching, you don't expect to see a sensitive side of this character because he supposedly killed 5 guys. This is when the reality sets in, that killing a man has an affect on you, one that you cannot explain until you do it yourself. Unforgiven shows us that killing a man is a traumatizing experience and that the west wasn't all fun and games back then The harsh exterior of the kid is taken off when he breaks down after killing the cowboy, and i have a feeling he won't be doing anymore killing in the rest of the movie.

Movie Cover, id say its pretty symbolic of what the movie is all about

The Seventh Seal

Honestly, it is had for me to fully immerse myself in this movie. The whole being in another language thing puts us watchers at a disadvantage. I feel like i am so concentrated on looking at subtitles that you miss a lot of visual elements of the film such as the actors facial expressions and the "Mise-en-scène". Another thing that is hard to concentrate on is the tone of voice that is used when saying lines. Tone of voice can tell us so much about a statement: is it a serious statement? is it sarcastic? is it harsh? 


Although there are some unfortunate things that get in the way of fully enjoying this film, the story line is truly amazing. The scenes are so simplistic but say so much as in when the man on the horse asked the dead guy for directions or when the main character first meets death. And the idea of playing chess with death is quite bizarre but that makes it all the more interesting.


I have faith in Mr. Bennett that this movie will gain speed and become more and more interesting as time goes on but for now i'm just sitting back and trying my best to balance watching the subtitles and the scenes.

Lets start a quote debate

everybody is going to have a different opinion on what is the most important quote in Runaway Train. So lets talk about in right here, thats what these things are for right? 


okay my favorite quote is hands down...


Sara: You're an animal! 
Manny: No, worse! Human. Human! 


it shows so much about how manny views human nature and how we are a disgusting race in his eyes. He seems to have lost all hope in humanity and truly believes that we are the scum of the earth. Its a pretty moving statement in my opinion.


okay guys so whats your favorite?

Runaway Train

I honestly think i found a movie to add to my lists of favorites. And i'm not just saying that to win some brownie points, i really do believe that its a great film. The plot left me on the edge of my seat literally (since seeing the bottom of the screen is difficult for a midget like myself) and figuratively. One aspect of the movie i want to expand on is how complex of a character manny is. This convict is more than a savage, as some perceive him, he is very smart and powerful in his own ways. The things he says i always very deep and thought provoking, he makes very intense statements about humanity such as that we are all scum and that we are all alone. Putting a character as strong as manny in a movie is risky, but id say it payed off. You may be questioning how good of a person manny is right before the end of the movie, wondering whether or not he will stop the train and save the others or not stop it and kill everyone. But with quick thinking, he not only saved buck and sara, he also freed himself of any struggles and gave ranken what he truly deserved. The final minutes of the film show just how complex of a character manny is and it leaves us with the message that criminals are not all savages, and all people don't act as human beings.

Just some analysis

When you watch a movie, for the first time, you really are looking at it just at the surface, or at least that is how i feel. I try to absorb myself in the plot, and in this case, the mystery, instead of really wondering why every detail is put in a film. I tried to break this habit while watching Citizen Kane. The first thing I noticed was the No Trespassing sign we see in the first scene. This sign on the chain link fence is the first image we get in this film. It gives you an immediate feeling of alienation and loneliness. The entire first scene, where the camera is panning up over the cain link fence and giving us a glimpse at the deserted xanadu gives us a good idea that this film will end in tragedy or some kind of morbid event. 
So much can be absorbed about this film just from the first scene which has no dialouge. Although there is no dialogue, Welles gives us so much information and really sets the tone for the movie just from camera angles and lighting.


Another thing ive learned in this class is how little the picture quality matters. This movie is not in color and it is most definitely not in high definition or 3D or imax or anything similar to that. But as soon as you immerse yourself in a film, you forget about picture quality and really concentrate on content. Movies these days always have a gimmick, whether it be Avatar with its remarkable special effects or every movie coming out in 3d. These movies lack content, they concentrate less on the story and more on how cool they can make some guy getting his head chopped off by an alien helicopter. In my opinion, content is exponentially more important than effects.