Troy

A very interesting film i saw this week was Troy. In many ways this film reminded me of All Quiet on the Western Front. While watching Troy I always had the impression that it was a modern version of All Quiet on the Western Front just like how Dark City is a modern version of Asphalt Jungle. In both film All Quiet on the Western Front and in Troy the main characters all end up dying due to war. In addition, the gory fighting scenes that Troy displayed had the same affect on me as the fighting scenes in All Quiet on the Western Front. Both showed the reality of war and that is is no game. Both films were identical except the fact each film occured in a completly different time era.

A Simple Plan

The movie at first had a slow, monotonous, boring start but as the plot developed the whole aspect of the film became more interesting. One thing i noticed that kept appearing throughout the film is the raven. A motif for this film. It is also symbolic for everytime something went wrong, the raven was always present in the preceding scene. A very disturbing scene of the film is when Hanks wife is giving birth. Usually in a film the birth of a child is something to be in awe in or something to praise, but in this film this feeling is ruined when the wife spoke of her evil plans. The music, the face, the tone this scene had added to the disturbing feeling that the audience would recieve when viewing this scene. The fact that the wife had the newborn baby in her hands multiplies the feeling.

Memento

Memento is a movie that is unique in its own way. Memento is the first movie that I've seen that goes through two narratives but follow a different chronological order. Christopher Nolan is a genius for pulling off such a confusing movie. I thought it was brilliant how he delibrately made the film confusing so that the audience can get a sense on what Leonard was going through. The story with Sammy Jenkins was quite confusing since in the end it was revealed that Sammy never had a wife even though in all the memories of Lenny it was shown that he did have a wife and she was skeptical whether or not Sammy lost his memory. If this was false then where did Lenny get this story from. Also it was revealed that his wife survived the attack and died from insulin overdose. Again how is this possible if in the memory of lenny she did die that very night in which he lost his memory. The whole film is confusing and the audience cant really trust anything thats said in the film. The film is based on a recollection of memories but many of those memories can be false or tampered from what actually happened. Though confusing, this aspect of the film is what makes it so unique and also a very entertaining film to watch

Dark City

Dark City was a very interesting movie from the start. From the exposition the film is confusing yet exciting. The very first scene was a bit odd but yet exhilarating in the sense that the audience were anxious that the main character who is John to escape from the hotel from the Strangers. Right from the start the audience is introduced to the mysterious clan of the Strangers. Throughout the film little by little the audience gains knowledge of the strangers and of John himself. The way the film is displayed i think i brilliant because the audience never gets tired of whats going to happen. The audience is always on the edge of the seat anxious of what more information will they digest about the mysterious strangers. The way the strangers were portrayed as bald, pale, sadistic looking humans added to their mysterious, viscious, and frightening persona. The fact that this film is considered a film noir is a bit confusing. Its true that the evil characters lose in the end, the audience would never guess that this film is considered a film noir due to the frightening and sometimes disturbing aspects that the film has. If i were to watch the movie by my own i would never thought that this film would be a film noir.

Asphalt Jungle

The genre of this film is very new to me. Ive never heard of the genre film noir but i have seen movies from this genre before without knowing. Asphalt Jungle is an example of this genre. I think the cinematography of this film helps with the feeling that the director wants to give to the audience. The fact that the film is black and white is no mistake. It gives the audience a sense of a mysterious, dreary, suspicious atmosphere. Also i think its clever how all the characters have a flaw that results in their demise in the end. For example, Emmerich is an influential lawyer who had money but his weakness was his young attractive mistress. It was her fault that Emmerich was caught in the end for his crime and for his loss of money. Also the rough german accent of Doc also adds a sense of unfamiliarity to the audience with the character. The audience would never expect the next thing that Doc would do. The ending of the film is what Mr. Bennett told us was going to happen and that is why this film is considered a film noir. All the bad or evil characters in the ends up losing in the conclusion of any film of this genre. In a way, this can be a spoiler for every film that is under this genre. I dont understand why would people back then in the 50s watch films of this genre if they knew that the bad guy ALWAYS ends up losing. I cant watch a film if i know what to expect from the bad guy, it just ruins the whole point of watching it.

Unforgiven

The film is of the Old West. Like history, in the film women have less rights and privileges than man. An example for this is when the prostitute is cut up and all that happens is that her owner recieves horses. This shows that women is treated like animals. An interesting character is Schofield kid. He shows up to William Munny all tough and gives of the image of an omniscient character. However his true persona is revealed when he kills one of the people that cut up the prostitutes. Before this he claimed that he killed 5 people but this was false as he confessed that he just killed his very first person. This shows that killing another man, ending his life can have an everlasting affect no matter who you are. Also I think that the death of Logan was no coincidence for he is the only African American in the entire film. I believe this shows how the Old West viewed black people indirectly. However this view of black people is somewhat contradicted when Munny went to seek revenge for the death of his partner. He singlehandedly killed 5 cowboys. After doing so, he drank alcohol which went against his goal of never drinking alcohol again.

Seventh Seal Ending

I must say the ending was a bit confusing at first but then i understood it. I admired Jons saving the family that he traveled with since death said," Your time has come, and so the people that traveled with you." The scene when Jons reunited with is wife was a bit odd. Both didnt seem were to happy that they finally saw each other. The dinner they had i believed is symbolic to the "Last Supper" that Jesus had since it was literally their last supper before death. Also another connection is when the mute slave says," It is finished," also symbolic to Jesus christ. This scene was very effective since the mute slave never spoken a word until that very line. I was a bit suprised thought that Jof, Mia, and their child didnt come to die since in a scene earlier in the film there was a skull facing towards to Jof as a hint that hes going to die. The very final scene the "dance of death" was also a very effective scene. It showed that death reunited all of the people no matter the circumstance. Jons was reunited with his wife just because of death, if death wasnt the case i believed they wouldve separated later in their lives.

The Seventh Seal

This film i personally think its harder to analyze since its in a different language. You are forced to read the subtitles in order to understand whats happening which changes the way how the director wanted the film to be seen as. Regardless, the Seventh Seal has many symbolic aspects. The personification of Death and his attire is all symbolic. For example, during this time the Black Death is at its greatest threat, it is no coincidence that death is dressed all black. Also, while choosing which color to play in chess, death is choosen to be black. In response death says, "It becomes me well." So the color black in the film represents death. There was always a saying that you tricked death. In other words you had a close death experience but somehow your survived. But in this film it is death that tricks Antonious Block in the church when he learned of Blocks stategry or trickery in order to outwit death in the game of chess.

Runaway train

Runaway train in some aspects reminded me of shawshank redemption because of the setting of the film. Both took place in a prison and were potrayed as a cruel place. Runaway train so far is an interesting movie in the sense that it has alot of action but at the same time the movie has many symbolic themes. For example, the main character himself is symbolic to the title of the film. There were several scenes in which the film potrays him as a train such as when he was doing push ups he sounded like steam was coming out of his engine. Also there was a scene where the main character refused to take any train because he thought they would take him to the lot. Then he sees a "special" train and contradicts himself by going on that train. It seemed that he and the train were one hence the film title since the train loses control.

Ending

The Ending of Citizen Kane honestly gave me chills. We finally find out wat rosebud meant. The loss of youth or innocence. Charles kane was truley happy only in his childhood and he lost it once his mother sold the property. The ending really did mesmorize me. The scene where the sled is burning is symbolic in the sense that all the joy that Kane once had dissapeared or was burned by money. Again i have to mention i absolutely love the cinematography. In my opinion i do give credit to the film for being regarded as one of the best ever made. For a film to be spectacular and to have such cinematography in the 1940s is quite a feat

Citizen Kane

It is interesting seeing how power can have a huge effect on people. As Charles Kane gains power he loses his touch with his loved ones. Such as his affair with his wife. He was caught and seemed like he didn't care, he just married the other girl. He then forces her into opera while she had no ambition to do so. I think its clever how Orson Welles employs techniques in giving the film a second meaning. An example is when Kane is yelling the loudest he can. His voice gradually decreases and turns into a honking noise signifying that he can yell all he wants but noone will care of his opinion.

Citizen Kane

Today we begin out new movie titled citizen kane. I was looking forward to viewing this film because it is usually rated as the best movie of all time which is quite a title. What confused me today is the beginning of the film. The slow and mysterious music with the castle and snow. Then out of nowhere u hear "ROSEBUD" which confused me of why would a man with such money would say that as his last words. Then came his life story basically and jumped into an informative yet jolly narrator as he spoke of Fosters life. The transition from slow, dreary, and monotonous music to a loud jolly speaker really does wake the audience up. Overall, i think the film has a great cinematography or angle of shot. It really does affect the viewer from where the film is shot.

The Ending

The ending for All Quiet on the Western Front was extremely sad. To see a group of eager young students die one by one in the war was quite devastating. Especially the last scene where paul would reach for the butterfly and then gets shot.  This scene was quite symbolic. Usually butterflies would be symbolized as hope or the unreachable. Unfortunately the butterfly was unreachable to Paul as he reached for the last beautiful thing he would see in his life. It was also sad to see that Paul was a completely different person when he returned home. Nothing would satisfy him. Not even his mom or sister. Thus he had to return to the warfront for it is the only place where he would feel "home." The Death of Kat was also quite symbolic. For Paul was carrying him on his back to escape from the bomber. Little did Paul know that he was dead. He carried Kat similar to on how he carried the dead pig in the beginning of the film. Shows that all corpses are the same no matter what. Even if its a human corpse.

Transformation of Paul

Today the film returns to showing the motif of windows and doors. An example is when Albert was injured. The nurses took him to the surgery room but while taking him there they closed the door on the camera. A depiction that something terrible is going to happen. This technique of closing doors on the camera ive seen several times. Im assuming that this technique originated from this movies. A scene thats buried in my head was the transformation of Paul's opinion of the war. Kantorek teaching his students about how war is about heroism asks Paul of his experience. You see in his eyes the torture, death, and misery he suffered at the trenches. Before he thought of war that its about herosim, bravery, and glory. But this all changed with the first bombardment.

All Quiet on the Western Front

Seeing todays scene of a man killing his first victim and his reaction was really touching. He tried all his best to save his life. This shows the horror that exists in war. The scene where the sniper shoots an enemy soldier demonstrated that war has different effects on people. That sniper enjoyed killing people. As for the other soldier who had his first kill regretted every second of that scene for he got to see his victim die slowly. Very sad. Although this movie is about showing the horrors of war it did have some humour such as when the four soldiers wanted to visit the ladies across the river. When the soldiers showed up to the ladies front door was a very comical scene. Shows that the film tries to achieve different goals such as creating a connection with the male audience with the pursuit of women.