Faith through Film and Fiction

This week for the Film Noir category I decided to watch Strangers on a Train because I have always heard of the main plot of the movie, the idea of two strangers committing each others murders, and wanted to see how the idea was first portrayed. I was not sure what to expect from the movie since I had never seen a noir film before, but I was not disappointed. I thought that the film might be boring since it was made in the 1940's and in black and white, but most of it was highly entertaining. I liked how the beginning scene only showed the shoes of the main characters, as it contrasted the differences between Guy and Bruno which would come into play later on in the movie. I found the whole idea of Bruno's to have two people do each others muddlers intriguing and kind of genius even though it is psychotic. When the first murder took place within the beginning of the movie, I was disappointed because I thought that was the main part of the movie. However, the plot was so much more than simply two strangers committing each others murders. I enjoyed how the movie was suspenseful in that I never knew what would happen next and the final outcome was unpredictable at points. Even though the film was made in the 1940's the cinematography was pretty good. One of the best scenes was when Guy was playing tennis and he looked into the crowd. Everyone's heads were going back and forth watching the game except for one person, who was Bruno stalking Guy. This created an eerie feeling that was present throughout the whole movie, also illustrated through long shadows and extreme close ups. I also enjoyed how similar the beginning and ending scenes were.`The character development throughout the course of the movie was great as by the end of the movie I found myself clearly rooting for one character over the other while at the beginning I was indifferent towards each character's outcome. The music playing in the background of intense scenes helped to set the differing moods of eerie to dangerous to anticipation. The common theme in the movie is man v. man as the two main characters have to fight over who will take the blame for the murder. Overall, I found Strangers on a Train to be very intriguing, as it was able to hold my attention throughout the whole movie, and kept me guessing what would come next. I would give it an 8 out of 10.

           This is the first Film-Noir movie I have ever seen, and it was very entertaining. Even though this film was made in 1944, I felt like it was a film that could be enjoyed by audiences of all ages and generations. The plot of this film is adapted from of novel of the same title, and the story is very original. I recognize many stories that have taken pieces of this plot that have been released more recently. This is a classic Hollywood thriller that is deserving of its praise and several Oscar nominations.
          I really appreciated the phenomenal acting of this film more than anything. My favorite actor in this film was definitely Edward Robinson in the role of Keyes. I loved his quick-wittedness and his mannerisms. The scene where he refutes the notion that Dietrichson committed suicide then proceeds to viciously quaff water was one of my favorites in all cinema I have ever experienced. Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray certainly filled their roles well, too. The themes of this story are timeless too. The overarching ideas of corruption and descent into evil are ones that can be seen in a large number of stories today. The camera work was well-done and the sound was as well. It is hard to judge these much, as I am not sure how the technology was different at this time as compared to the technology I am used to seeing in more modern movies. In all, I would recommend that all see this if they wish to see a Film-Noir (which all should), and I would rate it 9 broken legs out of 10.

This week I decided to watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I have seen this movie before as a kid, but didn't remember anything about it. This is Disney's, and the world's, first animated movie with only drawing animation used. The movie opens up with, "Once Upon A Time" and some other words that I could not read because it was blurry. I'm sure they have revamped the movie on DVD, but the only way to watch it in it's true form is on VHS. The color was a lot of pastels and overall pretty dull. The drawings are very well done,  but also simple on the face, and I'm pretty sure Snow White keeps her eyes closed for at least half the movie. Keeping in mind that this is the first animated movie, it is very impressive to what they were capable in the 1930's. It also shows how far animation has come since then. The music fits perfectly with the movie, it almost looks like a live performance where the conductor is watching the events unfold in front of him, and the movie has been choreographed according to the music. I'm very curious as to who the folley director was, and how they made the sounds throughout the movie seem real; specifically the mining in the coal mines. This movie was the start of an era of animated classics, and has only progressed since then to become so clear and real. Even though the newer animated movies such as Wall-E or Frozen might seem more impressive, the work that was produced 85 years ago is really spectacular.
I rate this movie a 8/10

When i was assigned a film noir to watch, i chose the usual suspects. On watching it, it took me by surprise. I thought the movie was going to be more investigative, stuffy, and dialogue drive, but it had a great sense of humor and was full of not over-the-top action sequences. I had mixed feelings about the camera work: i thought the elevator camera was really cool and then two guys get assassinated in the elevator, but the guy who shoots them is directly above them and there are blood marks behind their heads as if he climbed down, shot both, then climbed back up to where he initially was before taking the third guy hostage. I did enjoy the semi-framed narrative sequence, where Kevin Spacey is giving his account of what happened with the 5 conmen and then a sequence of those actual events happening, and then a new topic being introduced to present Kevin Spacey for him to recall and repeat the cycle. One of my favorite scenes was the Kaiser Sosa scene where he kills his family and then ruins the lives of the turkish conmen. I really wasn't expecting something like that to happen and it definitely threw me for a loop. Overall, i did enjoy the movie. Some of the lines are repetitive and some of the camera choices are questionable, but the characters are all solid and the narrative is well put together. 7/10.

This movie is an animated Adam sandler classic. The people who had to draw this movie were highly skilled and this movie is an artistic wonder. So this movie is a Christmas story about how Adam sandler is basically a scrooge and doesnt get to know people even though the holidays are sentimental and full of Jewish fun. There's an old man who is really nice to everyone but because of this town where everybody is basically scrooge, they all just use him to do weird chores such as him being a TV antenna for like an hour. The voice acting is excellent, the characters are really interesting and relatable especially the reindeer. The crude humor and the heart warming message are what make this movie my Christmas special.  1/1

For my movie with under a 15% on Rotten Tomatoes, I watched the Last Airbender. I watched the television show all the time as a kid and it was one of my favorite things to watch. But since I had heard so many bad things I had avoided watching this movie. I knew this assignment was all about terrible movies, but I had hoped that I would watch a movie that would be so bad I could just laugh at it, this was not one of those movies. Instead I just found myself getting really frustrated with how spectacularly  these people failed with this movie and turned an incredible tv show into this monstrosity. I recognize that it's difficult do condense books and tv shows into movies and that there was always going to be some deviations and deletions, but this was just utterly ridiculous. First and foremost, they couldn't even be bothered to pronounce the main character's name correctly, and didn't even get the most basic premises of the show correct. Again, I know that I'm biased and part of this is the little kid in me being mad that they even screwed up how bending works, but at the same time that's a very basic thing and integral part of the story, and by messing it up they weaken the story and prevent themselves from telling some of the more compelling tales of the tv show. The director very clearly wasn't trying to please the people who wanted the movie to be like the tv show, but at the same time they don't seem to help out the people who hadn't seen the show either. There were several things that you just had to know about this world going in, or pick up on very very quickly or you were simply doomed to be lost. And at the end they throw in two characters who would leave someone who hadn't seen the tv show completely baffled by the conclusion of the movie. Borderline emotionless acting and painfully cheesy special effects did nothing to help this film, but its ultimate failure lies in the fact that it tried to condense 10 hours worth of animated television into a 2 hour live action movie. This is very clearly not going to work out, and it honestly seemed like the people writing the script had never seen the tv show themselves. In short, this was a completely half-baked no effort going through the motions kind of movie that was made simply because they knew the name would make them a lot of money at the box office. I would give this movie a 0 out of 10 and would gleefully watch paint dry (or even golf on television) rather than watch this "movie" again.

For my movie this weekend I watched Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The film opens with a close up shot on a conversation between two men, with one dispatching the other (whom he calls Jim) to Budapest to meet up with a Hungarian general to receive information. This is followed by Jim in Budapest, following the man he is supposed to contact in a series of far away shots that are quickly cut together one after another, making it incredibly difficult to follow. Eventually they sit down in the cafe, and the far away shot gradually gets closer as we hear their conversation. It then cuts to a series of zoom ins on surrounding people, with ominous music playing in the background. Jim gets up to leave, but is stopped and shot by the waiter, who had been sweating profusely. The film then returns to London at MI6, where the man who sent Jim (now referred to by the others as Control) is explaining what happened to the others and trying to defend himself. Ultimately he is forced out, and Smiley, his right hand man, is forced out with him. They then follow this with a series of far away shots cut together rapidly(a common tool in this movie to create confusion) that show a series of activities, none of which are explained by any kind of dialogue. Ultimately though it becomes clear that control killed himself and Smiley is going about his daily routine. Tools like these types of shots, the lack of dialogue in certain scenes throughout the movie, the dumping of almost a dozen unintroduced characters at once and seamless transitions between flashbacks and the present combine to create this feeling of absolute and utter confusion, and it's masterful. This confusion is perfect for a spy thriller because it creates this sense of mystery and intrigue, and recreates the feeling of uncertainty and confusion that are felt by those engaged in real life espionage. Over time, this confusion is lessened little by little until at the very end the mystery of who the mole is is revealed, and the shots progress with the story. The movie begins with lots of far away shots mixed in with a few middle and close up ones, but as the viewer gets more and more clarity on the situation and understands more, the camera shots become closer and closer until a majority at the end are very very close up shots. At the end of these unexplained shots, the viewer is informed in a budget meeting that a year has passed since the death of Jim Prideaux, and the new leaders of the agency are arguing for more funding for a top secret intelligence gathering operation referred to as Witchcraft. Smiley is called in secretly by the under secretary to investigate the possibility of there being a mole in MI6, the theory control was exploring when he sent Prideaux to Budapest. Smiley enlists the help of another agency man named Peter Guillam, who became involved when an agent he used to work with named Ricki Tarr, who had gone off the grid, reappears and calls the agency. Everyone believes that Tarr was turned and had defected to the Soviet Union because his fellow agent had been found murdered, but Smiley and Guillam discover that he was actually set up because he discovered information about the mole in MI6, who was reporting back to a top Russian intelligence agent known by the name Karla. After investigating through stealing files and speaking to old friends, they ultimately uncover the fact that all the other leaders on MI6 under control, were conspiring together to pass information onto Karla under the guise of operation Witchcraft. It is also discovered that Prideaux is alive, and that partner was also a mole who had sold him out to the Soviets. The movie ends with a series of scenes rolling with Beyond the Sea playing in the background, the first happy soundtrack of the film. In scene after scene, it shows the conspirators being rooted out, with Prideaux shooting his former partner, and ends with Smiley walking into the same meeting room from the beginning, with control now dead and all the others arrested, he sits in control's old to chair to signify his new position of leadership, and the film ends. This film is a masterful piece that makes perfect use of suspense and intrigue to captivate the viewer throughout the movie. I would give this film a 9 out 10 and would definitely watch it again.