Good Will Hunting would have to be one of my favorite movie now. Going into it I was skeptical on how good it was going to be. It has some action in it with the fighting but it isn't Vin Desial crazy so it still has a great plot. Its seems crazy that Matt Damon starting writing this in college for a class because it seems that a writer with many movies under his belt would have came up with this. I had a love-hate feeling about the end of the movie. I absolutely hated it because we never get to find out what happens to Skylar and him; if she takes him back out not after how he treated her. On the other hand though I loved the ending because Will finally accepted who he was, got rid of his anger, realized the gifts he has and is finally ready for the world. Sean was the only shrink who got through to will because he was the only one who actually cared about him. He didn't go in trying to pick will apart but waited for Will to talk so if it meant sitting in silence for an hour he would. Chuckie also had a memorable part that helped to push Will to get out and do something with his talents when he told him that he owes it to him to get out and do something with his life and that his greatest day will be when he come to pick him up and Will wont be there. Will will just leave without saying goodbye or anything.
The first article I read was 'Too smart for their own good.' This article was about how the extremely smart people have trouble fitting into society, in a movie and TV scean. It tells about how ordinary people enjoy watching the 'mastermind' of entertainment, with some examples being Rain Man and Monk. The author refers to Will as a 'genius janitor that can humiliate MIT professors, but he's as grown up as the average schoolyard bully.' This article also talks about how smart kids are pushed to hard and then are robbed of their childhood. The line I really picked out of this was 'So we end up wanting smart, but not necessarily wise, children.' The author pushes to let kids enjoy their childhood.
The next article I looked at was 'Two thumbs up, five stars, and an Oscar. I didn't find this article as good as the first one. I think the author just relates the movie themes to real life to much and doesn't review the movie that much. He talks about the social and emotional aspects of the gifted and the problems they face.
The last article I looked at was 'Coming of Age in American Films and Novels.' This article wasn't to bad. It seemed to break the movie down some. He says that Good Will Hunting is a film version of the books 'The Catcher in the Rye' and Portnoys Complaint.' He goes into breaking down the characters and giving a few examples of what they did. I didn't feel that he criticized the movie but rather compared it to the two books.
The movie themes that people should get out of it. You cant make someone do something that they don't want, such as Will following the Professors dream and doing math his whole life. Adding onto the last one; you cant make someone do something but you can talk to them normally about it, like Sean did to Will. He actually made a friendship with Will and helped him to realize his gift and what he was capable of but Sean never made Will do anything he didn't want to. Sean also helped Will to forgive his past by making him realize that all the abuse and bad times were not his fault and he didn't do anything to deserve it.
In a way Will had a terrible life being abused as a child but as he got older his life improved and he was able to find a group of friends that cared for him and stuck with him. Its tough to say what would have been a worse life though; being abused when he was young but then getting friends and being able to go out and have a good time or being pushed to learn more and more as a child and not having an enjoyable childhood. All of the character in the movie contributed to Will finally going and using his talent for good. The Professor found that he was a genius and got him moving, Sean helped to get Will to forgive his past and motivated him, his friends helped to make him realize not everyone is gifted like him and they would give anything for what he had, and Skylar showed him what love is. Overall I think this is one of the better moives Ive ever seen and its one I would recommend.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
On The Waterfront
On The Waterfront wasnt as good of movie as Casablanka in my opinion. The movie had some good parts but mostly bad parts. The parts that really stuck out in my mind are from the scenes that have the popular lines, such as: when they are in the back of the car and Terry says to his brother "I coulda been a contender." That scene really seemed to play a guilt trip on Charley because Terry keep saying he could have done something with his life and not just be a bum and how Charley should have been a brother and not told him to throw the fight but to encourage him to do good. Another part that sticks out to me is when they are Terry and Edie have to run down the alley when the truck is chasing them and Terry has to break a window to unlock a door in the nick of time to avoid being hit by the vehical chasing them. Then after that when he finds his brothers body hanging on the hook after being killed by the mofia. The last scene in the movie is a very memorable one also. When Terry finally stands up to Jon Friendly and the epic fight they have where the rest of the Friendlys boys come to help beat up Terry and win the fight only to have the workers refuse to work for him and Terry a bloody mess limps into the building with the rest of the works following him.
The first article I read was 'On the Waterfront (Motion Picture).' This article really seemed to put down the movie implying that it is hightly overrated. It really critized the actors saying that they couldnt play their parts. It says that no one can accept Edia as a college girl taught by nuns and that Terry is just the "ex-boxer whose brains are partly scrambled, but whose pigeon-loving heart stays tenderly intact." They say thay Father Barry is just a rambling priest. The article said that the head of the studio tha tproduced the movie expected it to be a failure, but was far from it winning some Academy Award.
The next article that I read was 'On the Waterfront' the book review one. I really wasnt a fan of this article. It was neat though how Leo visited the sites of where the movie was shot in the late 1960's and said that the "sites and some of the locals who appeared in the film's crowd scenes remained recognizable. The article made it seem that the book really protrayed the movie and was detailed enought to paint a good picture about what was going on.
The last article was Arthurs Miller's Proletariat: The True Stories of On The Waterfront. This article wasnt to bad. There was a lot of information in it. This article claimed that On the Waterfront is very possbily the greatest labor film ever made in America. This article says that the context in On the Waterfront 'are so authentic is seems more a documentary than a dramatic motion picture' which is the complete opposite of the other article when they said the acting was cheesy. They also talk quite abit about 'The Hook' and how it was never produced but had the theme of longshoremen who are harassed by a gangster union along iwth ship owners. This was a good article but I think it delt to much with The Hook rather than with On the Waterfront although the two are shared the common theme.
The movie overall had its ups and downs. I dont think it was the best acting in the world or the best plot but it was still recieved many awards. The music in the movie was way to loud. It something to thing about when they say that Elia Kazan made the movie to help justify his testimony with the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Marlon Brando definatly went on to make better movies.
The first article I read was 'On the Waterfront (Motion Picture).' This article really seemed to put down the movie implying that it is hightly overrated. It really critized the actors saying that they couldnt play their parts. It says that no one can accept Edia as a college girl taught by nuns and that Terry is just the "ex-boxer whose brains are partly scrambled, but whose pigeon-loving heart stays tenderly intact." They say thay Father Barry is just a rambling priest. The article said that the head of the studio tha tproduced the movie expected it to be a failure, but was far from it winning some Academy Award.
The next article that I read was 'On the Waterfront' the book review one. I really wasnt a fan of this article. It was neat though how Leo visited the sites of where the movie was shot in the late 1960's and said that the "sites and some of the locals who appeared in the film's crowd scenes remained recognizable. The article made it seem that the book really protrayed the movie and was detailed enought to paint a good picture about what was going on.
The last article was Arthurs Miller's Proletariat: The True Stories of On The Waterfront. This article wasnt to bad. There was a lot of information in it. This article claimed that On the Waterfront is very possbily the greatest labor film ever made in America. This article says that the context in On the Waterfront 'are so authentic is seems more a documentary than a dramatic motion picture' which is the complete opposite of the other article when they said the acting was cheesy. They also talk quite abit about 'The Hook' and how it was never produced but had the theme of longshoremen who are harassed by a gangster union along iwth ship owners. This was a good article but I think it delt to much with The Hook rather than with On the Waterfront although the two are shared the common theme.
The movie overall had its ups and downs. I dont think it was the best acting in the world or the best plot but it was still recieved many awards. The music in the movie was way to loud. It something to thing about when they say that Elia Kazan made the movie to help justify his testimony with the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Marlon Brando definatly went on to make better movies.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Casablanca
Casablanca is a movie that will always be in the top 5 movies ever made I think. It has so many things in it that are still used or at least referanced to today. I enjoyed the movie with my favorite part being at the end where they are walking into the fog with the memorable line of "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Other main parts or scenes that stick out in my mind are of Ricks Cafe Americain with everyone in it and how he has all the power in it, the part where he is drinking alone with just Sam in there and Ilsa walks in, one more being where he tells the kid what to be on so he can get enough money to get out of Casablanca. You can always pick out Ricks look, with his white suit coat and smoke.
The text had some good points in it also. It made me realize how much success the film has gained over the years and how big of hit it was when it was released. The first text I read just titled "Casablanca." I thought it was neat how when Merlock was trying to get a copy of the play and sent a letter to Burnett, that Burnett actually called back instead. It was cool to see how they decided on the closing scene for the movie with them saying "round up the usual suspects" so that the movie would end with an upbeat conculsion as they put it.
There is a big differance between what would be allowed now and what was allowed then in terms of the play. For instance they never produced one play of it back then because it was considered to racy for the times but now days the worst that would get rated would be PG. I never realized the scale of the movie until I read this article when they were saying how it incluence other movies with the its theme of "with romantic triangles and characters caught in catastrophic events larger than themselves" such as Titanic and Star Wars.
The second text I read was "Playing it Again and Again." I liked this article better because I felt that it showed how popular it still is today and how people are still trying to get its merchandice. When watching the movie I picked up on a few of the key phrases that are still used today but after reading the part of the article where it went through the characters and their key phrases I started to recognize a few more of them.
When they tried to turn it into a TV show the people were hating it and it didnt last long. Im glad that then Warner Bros tried to make a sequel MGM wouldnt let the actress to it so the film never went through. I dont think that it could have been close to as good at the original. Sequels dont have a good track record for being as good as the original.
It seems that clubs and restaraunts have had good success with Casablanca themes. They have popped up all over the world.
When the movie was made there wasnt much for merchandise to collect except for a few posters and things like that. Since there wasnt much merchandise, collectors went to collecting artifacts from the movie instead. Some of the vehicals and props from the show have brought in large amounts of money.
Overall I can see why the movie rates as good as it does with its collection of memorable line and main plot. It was an instant classic when it was release because of what was happeing during that time frame and what the movie represented.
The text had some good points in it also. It made me realize how much success the film has gained over the years and how big of hit it was when it was released. The first text I read just titled "Casablanca." I thought it was neat how when Merlock was trying to get a copy of the play and sent a letter to Burnett, that Burnett actually called back instead. It was cool to see how they decided on the closing scene for the movie with them saying "round up the usual suspects" so that the movie would end with an upbeat conculsion as they put it.
There is a big differance between what would be allowed now and what was allowed then in terms of the play. For instance they never produced one play of it back then because it was considered to racy for the times but now days the worst that would get rated would be PG. I never realized the scale of the movie until I read this article when they were saying how it incluence other movies with the its theme of "with romantic triangles and characters caught in catastrophic events larger than themselves" such as Titanic and Star Wars.
The second text I read was "Playing it Again and Again." I liked this article better because I felt that it showed how popular it still is today and how people are still trying to get its merchandice. When watching the movie I picked up on a few of the key phrases that are still used today but after reading the part of the article where it went through the characters and their key phrases I started to recognize a few more of them.
When they tried to turn it into a TV show the people were hating it and it didnt last long. Im glad that then Warner Bros tried to make a sequel MGM wouldnt let the actress to it so the film never went through. I dont think that it could have been close to as good at the original. Sequels dont have a good track record for being as good as the original.
It seems that clubs and restaraunts have had good success with Casablanca themes. They have popped up all over the world.
When the movie was made there wasnt much for merchandise to collect except for a few posters and things like that. Since there wasnt much merchandise, collectors went to collecting artifacts from the movie instead. Some of the vehicals and props from the show have brought in large amounts of money.
Overall I can see why the movie rates as good as it does with its collection of memorable line and main plot. It was an instant classic when it was release because of what was happeing during that time frame and what the movie represented.
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