avatar

watching Avatar in class was the first time seeing the film. I had heard the ravings and rantings for it and how good it was, as well as seen how many awards it won at the grammys. Upon watching the whole film, i can totally see why it won all those awards as well as opinions. This was by far a momumental movie not only for the storyline, but also the digital effects and cinematography as well. The characters seemed as if they were real people, i could barely tell the difference other then the fact that the navi people were half animal half human.

As the story goes, you can see a resemblance to American history and how the English people took the land from the native american indians in order to make themselves more propserous, which was basically the same idea the Americans in Avatar had while on Pandora. Even my Anthropology teacher said that they should show this film to American History students because it is so similar in what happened many years before;; this only goes to show that history repeats itself.
I was in awe of how the planet Pandora looked and the different culture that the Navi people had. After watching this movie it made me feel really bad about the world that we live in, because in Avatar their world was so simple, and made of beautiful colors, and culture was kept as key. Here it is not so much like that, we have buildings everywhere and the sky is the typical blue and the ground is the typical dirty. Our ground doesnt light up at night, which was another cool effect i liked in the film. Of course one cant make a film without bringing in the factor of love, and the love story in this film particularly interested me due to the fact that it wasnt 100% real; this is why at the end, when the military guy is changed permanently into a Navi member, it made me so happy that he could finally be one of them without having to wake up to reality back at planet Earth.
This movie was by far one of the best ive seen so far this year. It was so real, and invigorating. It made me want to be one of the Navi people and live amongst their ways as well. I recomend this movie to everyone of all ages, because in some way or another everyone can relate to it. it is a beautiful story set in a beautiful world.

gone with the wind

The book was called Gone with the Wind written by Margret Mitchell in 1936. The drink is called Scarlet O'Hara which is a cocktail made with Southern Comfort, cranberry juice, and a hint of lime. Her dress was green in jail. the mopvie takes place during the civil war, in the 1800s

MOB MOVIES|| GOODFELLAS;THE GODFATHER; A BRONX TALE

these films are a few of many great mob movies. They all have many things in common with eachother. the things thaat they have in common include the characters being of Italian descent, bringing forth very strong family ties to eachother. In all of the movies even though they were not blood related, the mobsters treated eachother like family [even if they were about to kill you]. All the movies showed that when they were about to do a job and take somebody out, instead of acting with hatred towarsd them, they were even nicer and treated them like royalty [even though they were about to end their lives]. Another similarity amongst these films that i noticed was that they take place in the new york/new jersey area; i liked this affect because it makes it more realistic being the fact that most of the mafia is located around this area anyway. another similarity was that even though the guys were living in the same area and doing the same things, there were groups that didnt like eachother; each family had an opposing family rival. The Capos or the Dons of these mafias from each film didnt want their underdogs to get into selling drugs, because they knew it was bad for them and would only bring trouble and more shame on the family name. The dad in A bronx tale though, did not want his son C to have anything to do with Sonny and his gang, he tried hard to have his son not be involved, but C did it anyway. [as well as in Goodfellas, where Henry Hill's father did not want him involved, but wanted him to go to school and be successful, and even hit him for rolling with the mob crew, but Henry did it anyway]. It shows that these young people in the film [c and henry] just wanted to fit in, and they saw the opportunities that were in store for them, and stuck with it, defying their own parents].
The main stereotypes in these films is the mafia is all italians. Just looking at the films are very steryotypical; it shows them in their guinea tees, with their guns, the italian attitude that they dont give a ------- [haha], and that theyre all basically killers. Obviously this is nto true, but this is how the movies make them out to be. Food plays a big part in these films also; especially in the godfather; people who have no associations with italains may think that they only eat pasta and sauce. Family is also a big role within the three films; it shows italians keep family close before anything else. Another stereotype in these films is respect. Many people think the mobs are all about respect and other things; in other cases it may not be like that.
The Goodfellas is a true story based on the life of Henry Hill. The events in the movie truly did happen, and the movie is narrated by his voice [ not henry hills real voice, but its supposed to be] either way it still tells his story of wanting to be a gangster ever since he could remember. Its a treat to see this film and how its based on a true story to see how the mafiosos really did their work and ran their "business". It gives us a little piece of history as well as a mind catching story. im sure its loosely based on the true story; giving us the main info we need to know about these people; i also read that there is a book written by henry hill and it seems that it is more interesting then the movie; but thats all cases the book is better then the film. either way it goes to show us that stuff like this really goes down, and we dont even know about it because it is all kept secrets; these movies enable us to experience what it is like to be an american gangster.

citizen kane

This movie is good for people who want to be in big business because it shows a lot of techniques that people could learn from. This was a very controversial movie at the time it was in theaters due to the communism controversy going on at that time. I liked how this movie incorporated what was going on in real life in the movie. Citizen Kane has to be Orson Welle's best film he ever was in hands down; he did a great job.
it starts out with an eerie feeling in the castle called Xanadu, with Kane on his deathbed uttering his last words, "Rosebud". After that the movie continues on as a newsreel, talking about the death of this famed and accomplished man. It then goes through his life from the time when he was a child and his parents gave him up in order to give him a better life and so on to his great successes as the owner of the New York Inquierer newspaper. Noone had known what Rosebud had meant, and they wanted to; so the entirety of the movie is a reporter interviewing different epople that Kane was close to in order to find out what it meant; telling their stories and creating flashbacks. Rosebud is never truly found out until the end, where KAne's wooden sled in the scene when he was just a little boy is thrown in the fire where all of his other collectibles and items were thrown. On this sled, read Rosebud. So i guess it meant his childhood and peace and a simple life [before he grew famous and hated as well as loved]. Noone saw this though, thats what makes it a great ending to the movie. The scene just before this particular one, shows the reporter talking to all of his coworkers, thinking that rosebud maybe meant something he couldnt get orsomthing lost, saying that one word cant explain a mans life & certainly not his life; and that rosebus perhaps may have been a missing piece of a puzzle. When the Sled is shown at the end it gives a powerful feeling especially after the mysterious reporter said what his thought of Rosebud meant.
I think that this is a great movie and everyone should watch it at least once. IT shows the perks and downfalls of the rich and famous life. The scenery was amazing as well as the acting and storyline. i would definately reccomend this film. Anyone in a film studies class should watch this film at least once, it is the best one in the black and white era; hands down.

vertigo

this particular film was very confusing and weird to me. it had a lot of substance though. My other teacher even told us before viewing that one would have to watch it more then once to fully understand what goes on. The main character john follows around Madelin, his old friends wife because he is afraid she is up to no good; hesitantly, john accepts. While following her around he sees that she has an obsession about a women in an old painting in a museaum [ which ends up being her spirit in her body toward the end of the film.] the acts of her life are reanacted with the two, and she ends up dying the same way her spirit did years before.
I thought the ending was terrible. it was good for the point they wanted to prove, but i feel like it could have been better. but i guess thats one thing that i noticed while watching hitchcock movies, that he does things his way and noone elses. which is good because it is solely brought back to his work; i would have enjoyed it more if the ending had more closure. Especially with john and his girlfriend at home who loves him; as well as Madelin's husband too. This film was not torture to watch but it was very confusing; i reccomend it though, because its hitchcock at his best.

notorious

i didnt get to see the full movie of notorious due to the fact that i was absent a couple of days; but it was another one of hitchcocks films. he did a good job just like all of his other movies. it is a dark, peverted, love story. it is about a daughter of a nazi spy, and she is forced to get fond with a nazi leader and learn about their secrets. The spy from the american side falls in love with her and goes to take her as his own. in the end they end up with eachother which is nice, but to be honest i dont remember what happened in the middle part; so i cant elaborate too mcuh on this particular film :\

shadow of a dought

to me this movie seems like the epitome of a suspense film. hitchcock did a great job with covering up the acts that uncle charley had done in the film; yet still made him seem sketchy at the same time, building up the momentum to the film. it wasnt my personal favorite of his collection, but it was still good to watch. i think that any filmmaker who wants to create a suspense movie should see this film, because he incorporates all the right elements to make one. it is filled with a lot of twists, which made the movie watchable; overall i thought it was good.

purple rose of cairo

this movie confused me at first when watching it. it seemed to unreal to believe when the character comes out of the screen to be with the distressed woman. i do have to say, when he does leave, the other cast in the movie coming to an abrupt stop is very creative. I liked that idea; they were waiting for him to get back to the movie so they could carry on with their performance, almost as if they were performing a play, not a movie. It is a good movie for a hopeless romantic, because then they could relate to Cecilia , the distressed housewife in the film. This movie wasnt one of my favorites but it wasnt exactly murder to watch it; ive sat through worse. Another good thing is that it gives a different perspective about reality and lets you see a more creative side of film

freaks

upon watching the movie freaks i was a little dissapointed in the ending. although it was said to us before that there were unnessecary cuts made that couldnt be fixed or found for the movie; you can really tell that something was wrong. other then the ending i enjoyed watching the movie. it was interesting to see how those people were and to see how their dissabilities were real and how they still do normal things. i liked how they all ganged up on the madam at the end; it shows that even with dissabilities, they still have power; and i guess even more when they ban together.
I feel the movie sends out a strong message to its viewers to not be too quick to judge, which is something that many people should take into consideration. Also, to never underestimate anyone too!! the whole movie itself was very enjoyable!!

i just returned from seeing the 1926 version of Phantom of the Opera @ the cedar lane movie theater. I am a big fan of the phantom of the opera, i have seen it on broadway as well as the newest version of it on film. I am taken back by this version though; i always wanted to see this version because of the scary look of the phantoms face in it; and tonite was a perfect oppurtunity for low cost. i am very pleased with the film. i thought it was beautiful; i didnt expect it to be a silent film though; but it only made it more authentic. during the film there was an organist playing the organ for the movie live in front of us which i thought was really cool; & he was very talented at what he did. Another thing that was very special about the film was that it was shot in color; the owner of the actual film talked to us before the showing & told us that it was shot in two strips of technicolor; along with other things. The film was not black in white but shot in blue, yellow, red, and orange tones, this created a more eerie feeling for the film. The masquerade ball was shot in technicolor though; and it was beautiful, the different colors were vibrant and visible ; which makes this film unique [especially for the time it was made]. the only complaint i have about it was the ending where they threw the phantom into the water.. it was too sad compared to the most recent film where they show that the phantom lives within christine forever, giving a sense as if he never dies at all. either way i love the story of this classic film; and tonite was a good experience and im glad i took advantage of it.