FIGHT THE POWER

In the film Do the Right Thing, the director Spike Lee ties in many important and meaningful scenes. One that I am going to talk about is the one where Radio Raheem is strangled to death by the police officers. I think that Spike tries to make a point of the extreme racism that was present during this time not only by the the public, but by authority. It was shocking to see police officers whose duty is to not only enforce but obey the law treat someone the way they did Radio Raheem. There is not justification for killing someone who is not guiltly of murder or any other crime just to get them to calm down. I think that Spike was trying to show that the police officers were racist, because had Radio Raheem been a white man, they never would have done what they did. It upsets me to know that people were treated that way. This film also reminds me of the movie Crash. It is similar to the scence where a police officer and a man are sitting in a car after the police officer just picked this guy up off of the side of the road. The man reaches into his pocket wanting to show the officer his lucky charm, and the officer, assuming that this man was about to pull out a gun, takes his own gun and kills the man. It is the most frusterating scene ever, and the officer feels guilt after he realizes that it was only a charm that the man was going to take out of his pocket. I think Spike did a good job of getting his point across about the extreme racism, but I wish he would have chose an alternative ending.

The Battle of Algiers

I chose to read review on what the critics said about the film The Battle of Algiers. I could not disagree with the critics more when they rave about how breathtaking they thought this movie was. I would hate to keep bringing up how much I dislike black and white films, but black and white and subtitles combined? Really? Not for me. I guess I wish I understood what was so remarkable about films such as this, but I think it is just way over my head. I'm really not interested in politics either, which is not necessarily a good thing, but I never have been and i'm not sure what my future holds for me in that area. What I thought they did a really well job of would be the way they made the audience feel as though they were a part of the action with the hand-held camera movement. I agreed with Michael Atkinson from Village Voice when he stated:

“Pontecorvo’s fierce piece of 1965 agitprop is suddenly HOT HOT HOT… No movie so effectively squeezes you into the shoes of grassroots combatants…ASTONISHLY
TIMELY AND AN ELECTION YEAR MUST-SEE!”– Michael Atkinson, Village Voice

I think that this aspect of the film helped grasp the audience's attention and during theses action scenes I found myselft pretty engaged in the film, but at other times not so much.

Totally and Completely Confused.

I think that I would have enjoyed Memento if it would have been a little bit more clear and easy to understand. I was so confused the entire time and it really bothered me because phsychological movies are my favorite genre ever. I love trying to figure out why things happen but in this movie I couldn't keep up with what was happening and I couldn't help but give up on it. This movie reminded me alot of the movie The Number 23 because they are both about a story where the main character commits a crime but has no recollection of doing so. In The Number 23, the main character comes across a book that tells a life story of one no different than his own. He begins to recall certain memories and is convinced that after a murder had occured the man who wrote this is still out there and responsible. This story is a lot like Memento in way that the character is so convinced they have done nothing to a point where they believe they have done nothing. It is emphasized more strongly that the main character in The Number 23 discovers that he is indeed responsible for everything that has happened, and all though it is less ovbious in Memento, we can assume that Leonard is also responsible for the death of his wife.

KISS ME....NEVER!

I'm sorry about how embarrassing my title is, but I really disliked this movie and I NEVER want to see it again. It made sense to me up until the part where we find out that the key opens a chest that will set you on fire if you look into it. The ending really ruined the whole movie. I think the film could have been worth all of our time if they had simply made what was inside the box more realistic and made the ending not out to be such a joke. I feel like the ending totally takes away from the plot of the movie because it is so distracting. It made me forget about what had already happened in the film because it was so unexpected and unbelievable. I like how the title tied into the movie though. I thought it was creative how they took it out of the part where the crazy lady is asking him to kiss her over and over in that creepy voice. If I had to choose my favorite thing about the film it would be were the title was created from I suppose.

"We're both rotten."

My feelings are mixed for the move Double Indemnity. I thought the ending was terrible and really unbelievable because the acting wasn't very well done. Now that I think about it, the story was really dumb, but it surprisingly held my attention. I'm not sure what kept me watching during this movie, but I guess that explains the mixed feelings I have about it. I think that there could have been a little more action going on and the ending could have been a bit more dramatic and better played out by the actors.

This doesn't really have to do with what I am talking about, but something I always wonder from old films like this, and just history itself, is where people get there accent-like sounding voices. It's not a really strong accent, but no one sounds like that when they talk now-a-days so I would just like to know if anyone can explain that to me if it is not just an accent! I hope that I don't sound like an idiot but hopefully people know what i'm talking about because I always notice the voices and wonder where they get that from!

Groundhog Day

The movie Groundhog Day was equally frustrating as it was enjoyable, and it included a great life lesson. This movie teaches people to take a look at the world around them and appreciate the life that they are living. In the film, Phil gets his reality check as he relives Groundhogs Day over and over until he finally realizes the purpose for him reliving this specific day. He learns to be less self-centered and starts caring about others. Although he doesn't go about it in the right way in the beginning, by the end he naturally starts caring about people in his life and learns to love everything about his life and not be so crabby all of the time. I like how there was a romantic twist in the movie. It was nice to have the female character not so typical to that of a common screwball film. Rita wasn't nearly as dumb, obnoxious, and needy as the usual screwball female characters. I liked how she wasn't the one chasing after Phil, like Susan and Dave in Bringing Up Baby, Phil was the one pursuing Rita and I loved that because one of my pet peeves is watching girls try to pursue guys that are clearly not interested! Overall I think this film was very meaningful and served as a great eye opener for those that still seem to think it is all about them.

Bringing Up Baby

Finally! A movie I honestly really enjoyed. I loved the film Bringing Up Baby, and it was even in black and white! I have never liked a black and white film before, so this is definitely a big deal for me. I think that what held my attention the most was the constant action. Between Susan's constant nagging and the all the action with the leopard, my attention was consistently held. Another aspect that may not seem very common that really drew my attention was the wardrobes. I love the style of clothing during that time period and I found Susan, played by Katherine Hepburn, to have a great sense of fashion. On a website called Movie Diva, they talk about the creator of Hepburn's wardrobe and how great it was:

Katharine Hepburn’s wardrobe is by Howard Greer, who blended his on-screen
work with a salon in LA where he designed dresses for private clients,
sometimes the same ones he dressed in the movies. Hepburn’s wardrobe is quite
chic and she wears two extremely eccentric veils, one as an evening accessory
with her lame dress in the supper club scene, and one aggressively (leopard?)
spotted one in the final one. Bringing Up Baby’s most memorable costume however,
is the silly negligee that David is forced to don after his shower.

I think that Howard Greer did a fabolous job of assembling Katherine’s wardrobe and I think that fashion in the 1930’s is the greatest thing ever and if I could choose to obtain a style from any era it would be that of the 1930’s.