Martha Marcy May Marlene Review

Elizabeth Olsen finally delivers the best piece of acting in her family since her two eldest siblings coined the phrase "You got it, dude!" Martha Marcy May Marlene is nothing like the days of Full House, however. In fact, it is extremely critical of the "American Dream" life. What if the dream of a big house, a nice marriage, the hope for children, living in a loving family with a vacation home overlooking a beautiful lake, was something our culture has simply brainwashed us to desire? What if American culture was nothing more than a cult, trapping each individual in it's twisted ideologies? This film tackles topics such as this and presents them in ways that will shock the audience. Half way through the film I was asking myself, is this film really going here? That is something you have to find out for yourself, but examining and pondering on the questions the film presents is a worthwhile experience.

The film opens on Martha Marlene (Olsen), a girl escaping from a cult she has recently become apart of. Her sister, who has not seen her in years, takes her into her own home oblivious to the experiences her sister just went through. The film cuts back and forth to the life she experienced within the cult, who named her Marcy May, to her life living with her sister after her escape. Every actor brings something to the table in this film: John Hawkes plays the chilling leader of the cult, Brady Corbett, an underrated and talented actor, plays another creepy member of the bunch, and Sarah Paulson plays the sister who is horrified by how strange Martha has become. The power of this film would fall flat without the performances within it. The best coming from Elizabeth Olsen, whose performance has enough range to represent the ways in which Martha's environment molds her. The audience watches a normal, seemingly happy girl get re-socialized from what is considered "normal" to our societies standards, as she learns to find her own "role" among her new family.

While the movie is dark, the visuals are aesthetically pretty. A friend of mine commented on the fact that the film almost looked like a polaroid picture. It has an interesting look to it. The cinematography is not the strongest point of the film, but it does help. There are a couple ominous and unsettling wide shots of the main character being surrounded by the setting around her. Some shots, she can barely be seen, which develops the idea of how we are all at mercy to our environments. The editing is full of explicit match cuts that parallels and connects the world of the cult with the world of "normal" life. The more and more they match up, the more and more the audience starts to question its own way of life. Moments left audience members so uncomfortable, all they could do was laugh because they could not handle it, others sat there in silent fear. You may want to laugh at moments when Martha asks her sister "Why is your house so big?" as if it is a stupid question from a person who has completely lost touch with normalcy. And then you'll realize she is sort of right. And it will be horrifying. Just as Martha is separate from what is considered normal in our culture so will the audience start to become separate from it. So much so, that they can get an outsiders perspective. Even though Martha leaves the cult, she is consumed by it constantly. It is interesting how we view our culture when we see it from the outside; what will we find? What will we say? While some aspects of the film are explicit and undeniable, some aspects are left in ambiguity and are not so easily explained. It is hard to say if the film fully makes a statement on American culture, but it certainly questions it. The film gets better with subtle links and ambiguous moments, but even those moments give a sense that something is missing, which I think helps the film for not beating the audience over the head with it's statements and meaning. The audience already gets a harsh beating from just watching the film. A warning to the light hearted: this film does have unpleasant sex scenes, and moments that will scare you as if it is a horror film. But for it's thematic qualities, possibly harsh convictions, and strong performances, this film is a must see.

Melancholia Review

After Von Trier's controversial remarks and Kirsten Dunst winning best actress for the film at Cannes, Melancholia has been greatly anticipated. It finally hits theaters tomorrow. While, it will not be widely distributed, please make sure to go and see this film. If you are not familiar with Von Trier's work, this is a good one to start with. The film is more merciful than Antichrist, but still has all the 'Trierian' style you could ever want as he creates yet another beautiful world for audiences to behold. Von Trier does not seem to forget that the end of the world does not solely bring about the end of life, it brings up an examination and reflection of life. For this apocalyptic film is just as much about living. Even when facing the end of life as we know it, Melancholia displays how emotionally vivid, and visually stunning the apocalypse can be. 

The film's style, performances, and tone are very Von Trier, but very strange. The story focusses on two sisters. Justine (Dunst), on her wedding night, and Claire (Gainsbourg) who is facing the end of the world. People within the world Von Trier creates, an alternate Earth, are aware that another planet entitled Melancholia is approaching Earth. There is debate on whether or not the planet will either hit or pass the Earth, which provides a great tension between skepticism and absolute knowledge. But there is not just another planet closing in on the world of the film, the audience itself is closing in on the world. The best aspect of the film is its ambiguously strange sequences. The audience will get a sense that they are missing something, some understanding of how the characters are interacting, and will slowly close in on these aspects slowly throughout the film just as the ominous planet approaches Earth. While the film is is still incredibly intense and dark at times, this is Von Trier's most humorous film. There are instances that resemble the dry and depressed humor of a Wes Anderson film. Kiefer Sutherland does a great job at being subtly hilarious. And there will be times where you will laugh during the film. However the title of the film is Melancholia, so you will get your dose of sadness and depression. Much of this comes from Dunst's performance. Her moments of happiness are undercut by her subtle looks of sadness, as her depressive background starts to be revealed more and more. It is extremely interesting watching her try to pretend to be happy on her wedding day, a day in which everyone expects the bride to be happy. It is probably her best performance to date. 

I cannot ruin much, because part of the film is feeling like you really do not know what the hell is going on. But I will say Von Trier does an amazing job compressing time within the film. One of the first shots shows a huge sun dial, so you know time becomes an issue. There is this motif of counting and keeping track of the world, in the way we track time; at the wedding there is a competition to see how many beans are in this vase, and Kiefer Sutherland's character, who seems to be a symbol for reason in the film, constantly reminds people that the golf course on his property has 18 holes. One would think that'd be a given. The film explores whether or not we can truly know or be certain about anything. What will we realize when another world we know so little about is going to crash into our world, which we know even less about? All we can do is hope that the universe will miss the Earth after it perishes. 

Take Shelter Review

Take Shelter, directed by Jeff Nichols, follows Curtis (Michael Shannon), a family man from Ohio who simply wants to take care of his family. He works hard at his job, and supports his wife and young daughter who has hearing problems. Everything seems to be going smoothly for him as his family plans to get their daughter help and even move to a nice house by the beach. But nightmarish dreams start to torment Curtis. He knows he could have some type of mental illness, because his mother suffered from mental illness and had to be put in a home when he was ten. Either a huge storm is going to come and wipe out the world, or he will have to leave his family due to his illness. The stress of trying to prevent an unwanted future creates marvelous tension in the film. But his attempt to change things, ironically make this doom approach faster. Curtis spends a ton of money expanding the storm shelter in his backyard. This investment will put a hold on his daughter's treatment as well as wipe out the savings for his new home. While he is trying to protect his family, his actions start to push them further away. The film seems to comment on today's economic crisis as money is a reoccurring motif in the film. But we all know that storm has come, and our country is trying to deal with it. Maybe the ways we try to deal with it, however, is only making things worse. We need to be more prepared, perhaps.

From the very beginning of the film, there is a strong sense of doom. Curtis stands in awe and fear of an ominous storm looming towards him. Next to his feet, in his front yard, sits a small garden with a few sad flowers and a yard stone that eerily resembles a gravestone. It creates a sense that this approaching doom cannot be stopped, it is as certain as death. In a scene, which yet again showcases Shannon's talent as an actor, he screams at his peers who are sitting at tables eating dinner. As he stands in the middle of the room, his friends sit in rows, and it is hard to not see this as some type of sermon. Curtis preaches, "There is a storm coming! And not a' one of you are prepared." He is criticized for not having attended church recently by his father in law, but there is always a religious undertone to the film, as if a plague is approaching, that humanity is about to face the rapture. Or it could all be one man's illness. Throughout the whole film, the audience will question whether or not Curtis is really crazy or whether or not he truly has some biblical, prophetic vision.

The film has stunning visuals. It is an enthralling drama that has a few special affects that will shock you. The movie is subtle, but profoundly visual at times. With a dream sequence that creates a sense of falling as the furniture in the room starts to levitate in mid air. There is a paradoxical effect of staying still but falling at the same time. An appropriate feeling for the entire film. But the films strongest aspect are the performances. The building tension in the film would fail if not for Shannon's talent. While we are used to Shannon playing characters who are out of their minds, he brings a unique calm, yet stern presence to the film. Only it is a calmness that makes you feel like it will explode at any moment. The audience will fell the stress that Curtis feels, they will be angry at him, they will sympathize with him, and maybe even cry due to the torment he faces. I will not ruin anything for you, but the ending is tricky. And it will affect how you see the film for better or for worse. Which ever way you want to read this film, the ending will be a crucial factor in shaping that interpretation. While it is not the most complex film out there today, it is one of the most unique. I highly recommend going out to see this one. Simply put, the film has amazing moments that must be experienced. There will be moments where your mouth will be left open as if staring into a huge storm bearing down on you.

Body and Soul Review: An Examination of Censorship

Spoiler Alert*

We have all been there. We invest in an entire film or story only to realize it had all been the main character's dream. It is a cliche, we all see it coming, we all hope it does not happen to us again. But to see it coming in a film from 1925? The twist just might shock you one last time. Or was the reveal ending only a dream to the audience? What? Okay, Body and Soul was written, produced, and directed by Oscar Micheaux. He was an African American director who, instead of being controlled by the major studio producers of Hollywood in the 20's, became somewhat of an auteur and proved once again that directors with independent film making flair do it better than big budgeted Hollywood. I'll be saying the phrase, "for a Hollywood film in the 20s" many times in this post to show my oh so high opinion of them. The film stars Paul Robeson, who was the first black student to attend Rutgers University, played football, passed the bar exam, and decided to go into acting with this film. It is about a convict who escapes prison and pretends to be a priest within a small town. He falls in love with a member of the church, Isabelle. Only, because Isabelle happens to love his twin brother Sylvester, he basically rapes her, he steals money from her mother, makes her take the blame for it, and forces her to leave town. Interesting way of showing love.

The beginning of the film seems hard to follow. The audience is not quite sure why Jenkins (the escaped convict) is doing what he is doing, or why Isabelle is leaving town. But the film through flashback, returns to previous scenes and lets them play out longer. It is great to see this type of structure exist in a 20's Hollywood film, which are usually plot driven and continuous. This film is more interesting due to it's non linear style and use of reveals. Once Isabelle flees, her mother finds her again, is informed on the true situation in which Reverend Jenkins had been taking advantage of her. Everything gets worse, things are not turning out well, then Isabelle wakes up. It had all been a dream. Her mother gives the money to her and Sylvester, and they are happily married. The end.  Wait a minute. A twist ending? What is the purpose? The fact that this film caters to an African American audience in order to show them that the injustice, corruption, and exclusion that haunted their race at the time was a nightmare soon to be woken up from? It could be argued that way. Only the real reason is much worse: Jenkins is a corrupt character who exploits weak characters, and uses the power of the Church to gain money. When he takes money from Isabelle, the stash is hidden in a bible, which is appropriate. The film depicts the "man of the cloth" in a harsh way. And in anticipation of the film upsetting audiences, the writer, director, producer was forced to re-edit the film in a way that would reconcile his harsh depiction. If it wasn't for that damned Motion Picture Commission and it's censorship! The original cut of the film is lost, and I'm sure it would have been more meaningful and important than the dream ending which seems to uphold religious morals and ideals. While this ending has been repeated   in story telling, so does wrongful censorship. Still, censors only look at content and not context, and we see it happen again here. The MPAA does not account for meaning of film's; they would cut out a controversial, important scene or theme of a film with disregard to how it would change the meaning of the film, which if read in a different way could end up being more offensive than what they cut out. In the same way that blacks, and women, became more and more excluded from the film industry as it progressed from frequent participation of minorities and having half of the industry's screen writers as women, women and minorities are still being depicted in unfavorable, racist, and sexist ways in film because the MPAA does not consider how cutting out a sex scene in which a female is dominant might take away to what that film may be saying about women's sexuality. It has happened before. Censoring is seen as a form of protection, but it can hinder films in reaching profound meanings. Maybe Body and Soul, which despite it's poor production quality and jump cuts, would have been even more outstanding because of the original ending. It could have said something about religion that would make audiences think as opposed to a twist that would make the audience discount it all. It is hard to say. But for what this cut of the film does still warrants a view for a Hollywood film in the 20s. It further proves that all kinds of people should make films, poor, rich, black, white, male, or female. This film did some innovative things. And it remains as a historical example that puts how film's today are struggling into perspective. And for that, I believe this is an excellent, and more importantly, important silent film. 

The Man Who Fell To Earth Review

The Man Who Fell To Earth (Nicolas Roeg, 1976) stars David Bowie as an alien who comes to Earth to harvest it's water for his planet, which is in a drought. Along the way, the audience experiences American culture along with him. And experiencing it from an alien's point of view creates a complex and intricate look at how humans live. Bowie plays the character brilliantly, and he has an excellent hair cut. It fits the style and tone of the film. At times it is filmed in the slightly shaky, yet close up feel of the handy cam; almost like Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler, but with a ton of Kubrick's crazy colors, massive vision of time, and psychoanalytic theories. With quick zooms, pans, intercutting, and special effects, this film does not fail to visually stun the audience. 

At two hours and twenty minutes, this film's best aspect is it's complexity. Bowie's alien alias is Mr. Newton, and he is superior to almost every human as he sits back in front of numerous televisions and watches humanity unfold in front of his eyes. He sees into multiple periods of time, and the film's narrative reflects that as it jumps through time in disorienting ways. Newton obtains extreme wealth by presenting Earth with new technologies and is planning to return home to his family back on his home planet. The character is tormented by the distance between his family and the distant created between the characters he encounters on Earth. There is a great sense of loneliness and alienation in the film. While he would seem to remain separate from human interaction, he gets caught up in nearly all of it. Love, sex, violence, alcohol--the true wonders of human existence. Two paralleling sex scenes occur toward the beginning and end of the film, one intercuts between Samurai swords being swung and the other intercut by gunshots as the two engaged in the scene fire blank shots at each other. What are humans good for? The intimacy of sex and violence, the fact that we duplicate our existence in the media for aliens to analyze, or the fact that we are a constantly growing species that fights the inevitability of change? The film explores many aspects of humanity from Freud's psychoanalytic theories to religion. The title of the film even suggests Newton's connection to God in the film as his replacement human "wife" is religious and worships the character constantly throughout the film. She believes "God has to be out there somewhere" as she gazes into the sky. Well, looks like he fell to Earth. Only he is as flawed as humanity. A traveler on quest for water, he constantly consumes water, but this soon gets corrupted into the need to consume alcohol. Humanity's imperfections even manage to creep onto this "supreme being." He never ages, but the characters he knows grow pathetically around him. They change their values, and desires. Sometimes they try to force the past to exist again through Newton, who can see all of time in front of his eyes. 

While the film is incredibly dense and warrants a second viewing to get it all straight in one's mind, the film does fail to answer it's questions at times, and remains in ambiguity. It does not necessarily hurt the film, but the viewer can easily get confused and frustrated with a film that tries to deal with so many issues. And it feels like a very long film. Every detail Roeg added in seemed necessary to him, and the details add up to a massive amount. He was trying to do a great deal. There is no way the viewer can digest everything going on in this film, but the amount of what is being thrown in there is very apparent. For better or for worse. Nevertheless, this film is great. And it's style seems fresh, even when comparing to movies coming out today. For coming out in 1976 it seems timeless. Like the editing, which leaps through time and gazes into the future, so does this very film itself as it seems very much like a 70's film, very much like a 50's film, and very much like a film to come out in two years from now. I have not developed a definite rating system yet, but I highly recommend seeing this film, for its complexity, for its style, and if for nothing else, its experience as a whole. I mean, we are taking about Bowie here. As a moody, hipster alien. With red hair.

100 Films You Must Watch

I have always wanted to start a movie review blog because I see so many movies all the time. And because I have seen so many films, and want to start reviewing all the new ones I am adding to my watched list, I wanted to let some of you know about some of my favorite films. While this list excludes some of your favorites, this list has films spanning form as early as 1915 to now. If you see all these films you'll be able to communicate and participate with almost any film audience, generation, or film lover. Well here it is:

100 Films You Must Watch

1. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (Wes Anderson, 2004) – One of Wes Anderson’s best mixtures of comedy and sadness. It makes for an incredibly inspiring ending.

2. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007) – complexity in every scene. Every moment has some meaning to offer. This is film at its highest level in every way possible.

3. Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000) – A classic indie film, that messes with structure in a beautiful way.

4. Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999) – A great script, and tremendous acting. (yes it is homoerotic)

5. American History X (Tony Kaye, 1998) – Edward Norton is extremely good, powerful film somewhat graphic at parts

6. Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007) – Brad Pitt is amazing, Casey Affleck’s greatest performance, the tension between the characters keeps you really interested the whole movie

7. Vanilla Sky (Cameron Crowe, 2001) – Great soundtrack; ending scene could be one of the greatest endings ever. Is criticized for not being as good as the original but it shows you true love and shows you true heartbreak.

8. We Need To Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011) – An incredibly important film. It may make you feel like a terrible person. But like the subject of this film (a school shooting) it needs to be talked about and seen. Intense, extremely cinematic, and dense. Amazing performances.

9. Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000) –Sad. Funny. Uplifting. A nice film to watch.

10. Thank You For Smoking (Jason Reitman, 2005) – Witty writing, incredibly smart and funny.

11. In Bruges (Martin McDonagh, 2008) – Hilarious with a unique sense of humor. The chemistry between the characters is great.

12. Funny Games (Michael Haneke, 2007)– great commentary about violence in movies. But the director will be critical of you as a watcher. You will like the murderers in this film.

13. Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004) – Mind Blowing. That’s an understatement.

14. Let The Right One In (Thomas Alfredson, 2008) – Amazing cinematography, Swedish foreign film about vampires.

15. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001) – It’s just so good. It has it all; lots of dry humor. Great parody of human behavior

16. Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999) – Weird, but really interesting. A film that messes with your head a little.

17. Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese, 2002) – Daniel Day Lewis is too good, its violent, and classic

18. Moon (Duncan Jones, 2009) – Sam Rockwell should have won best supporting and best lead actor for this. A trippy sci-fi film by David Bowie’s son.

19. Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992) – An explosive film.

20. Rushmore (Wes Anderson, 1998) – Max is a great character. He writes a hit play, know latin, and falls in love with his high school teacher. Makes for a funny movie.

21. Snatch (Guy Ritchie, 2000) – Brad Pitt is extremely memorable in this. It’s a mob/gangster movie essentially.

22. Bottle Rocket (Wes Anderson, 1996) – Great in every way: acting, writing, music, style, everything. Wes Anderson’s funniest film.

23. Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966) – unique discontinuity editing, so innovative. European independent film from Sweden. One of the most complex and most challenging films ever made. About human identity, and film itself. Film is art. You better think to get this movie.

24. Waltz With Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008) – animated documentary; powerful. See it for its unique style, nothing else like it

25. Akira (アキラ, Katsuhiro Ohtomo, 1988) – Teen metamorphosis, dangers of adolescence, abject horror, and sci fi, all in one beautiful and complex Japanese anime film.

26. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994) – The way the story is told is the best part. A movie with unlimited classic scenes and quotable lines.

27. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) – a movie that changed the way we watched movies. First movie to have a scheduled time for when it would start and you couldn't be let in after it started. A unique narrative and incredibly complex film. So much going on with Norman and that mother of his.

28. The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2008) – great performances, really sad, love the way it is shot with handy cam

29. Through A Glass Darkly (Ingmar Bergman, 1961) – a philosophical film. Bergman includes mental illness, religion, self centered characters, in this magnificent piece of art.

30. Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein,1925) – a silent film from the 20s. This soviet montage film must be seen. A stair sequence that will shock you even today. Innovative editing.

31. American Psycho (Mary Harron, 2000) – a criticism of wall street, and the Reagen administration in the 80s. A horrifying, sometimes funny, but definitely complex film. We are only products of our reality that is a monster, and we cannot even see ourselves existing. What?

32. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956) – John Wayne classic, very sad and complex hero, condemned from rage

33. The Silence of The Lambs (Johnathan Demme, 1991)– Just watch Anthony Hopkins go.

34. A Beautiful Mind (Ron Howard, 2001) – based on a true story it is amazing, drama about professor with schizophrenia

35. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008) – very confusing, messes with your head constantly. It is very depressing but also really really funny, if you watch it more than once you start to understand it more

36. 8 1/2 (Federico Fellini, 1963) – Examining the struggles of direction. A narcissistic character struggles with his past and new creation. One of the best opening sequences of all time.

37. Apollo 13 (Ron Howard, 1995) – Ron Howard’s best film. Tension. History. Catharsis.

38. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Copola, 1979) – based off of the amazing novel Heart of Darkness; editing is amazing, subversive

39. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) –a technical and stylistic achievement; it is AFI’s number 1 film. The mise en scene is revolutionary, way ahead of its time

40. Adaptation (Spike Jonze, 2002) – such a great examination of screen writing. Anyone with a love for writing, movies, or pathetic and stressed out characters should this.

41. Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006) – amazing foreign film; fantasy meets war, great original score, and just classic

42. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002) – Adam Sandler like you’ve never seen him before. Like Magnolia you’ll be on edge the whole film, but you won’t really know why. Great PTA film.

43. The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010) – about morality, and skewed motives, friendship and revenge, along with the superficiality and hypocrisy of society

44. The Beginners (Mike Mills, 2010-2011?) – An incredibly beautiful, sad, funny, and witty film. Parallels to a father and his son as they deal with relationships. A dad who turns gay at 70, and his son, the main character, who falls in love but always seems to break it. One of the best movies I have ever seen.

45. A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)– Creepy, but great writing, it is subversive, complex, and controversial

46. Melancholia (Lars Von Trier, 2011) – Lars Von Trier condenses time and space in such a great way. We see human life unfold before our eyes in one night, as the characters face the apocalypse.

47. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977) – Amazing look at relationships and love; very unique movie especially for its time

48. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000) – One of my favorite foreign films, beautiful film in every way, hong kong cinema

49. The Godfather Part 1 & 2 (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972, 1974)– don’t watch the third one. The first two are just too classic to not see

50. Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa, 1957) – Kurosawa’s “Macbeth” adaptation. Considered to be one of the great Shakespeare to screen adaptations. Shakespeare with samurai!

51. The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967) – So innovative with sound, extremely thought out and detailed mise en scene

52. Exit Though The Gift Shop (Banksy, 2010) – documentary about street art raising questions about originality and art

53. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (Milos Forman, 1975) – Simply incredible, good parallels and comments on religion and has many incredible and memorable performances.

54. Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954) – considered as the best foreign film ever made, one of the greatest pieces in character development. Its length works to its advantage around three hours, it will not lose your interest.

55. This is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1984) – Extremely hilarious mocumentary, it was all improved, incredibly classic, “none more black”

56. Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)  – French new wave film, great obtrusive film techniques

57. Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2 (Quentin Tarantino, 2003, 2004) – Incredibly entertaining, tells the story in so many unique ways, great long camera shots, one of the bloodiest movies of all time

58. Rashomon (1950) – Kurosawa’s beautifully told film from multiple perspectives through flashbacks.

59. The Last Samurai (Edward Zwick, 2003) – who says Tom Cruise can’t be a samurai?

60. Inglorious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009) – an amazing look on an alternate past and WWII, with incredible dialogue, and action movie without very much action at all, the tension and dialogue is the action

61. Dial “M” For Murder (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954) – amazing “who done it” mystery, its old, but you are really interested to see it develop

62. Fargo (Coen Brothers, 1996) – Cohen brothers classic, it is really funny, but its dark comedy

63. Lost In Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003) – incredibly sad but sweet film about love and friendship when you’re feeling a little lost.

64. Rain Man (Barry Levinson, 1988) – One of the greateset performances, a movie with a lot to offer

65. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976) – Scorsese’s somewhat masterpiece, it is pretty violent, but cannot be ignored

66. The Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998) – It is amazing, and it’s beautiful, Jim Carrey is perfect he is funny but can make you cry as well

67. Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011) – Almost an impressionist film that does not fail at creating its mood. A unique style is brought to life and comments on the hero, fairy tale, gangster drama, genres through the lens of Driver, a stoic, silent, sweet, but insane, vengeful, murdering character. Real Heroes are violent too.

68. On The Water Front –(Elia Kazan, 1954) great Marlon Brando, classic

69. Waiting For Guffman (Christopher Guest, 1996) – My favorite Christopher Guest movie, it was improved and extremely hilarious.

70. Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998) – greatest war movie ever made, shot so interestingly, the film was dyed in a certain ink to give it it’s look, innovative film

71. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) – kubrick’s classic, pretty confusing but amazing

72. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980) – great sports boxing film, De Niro got his Oscar

73. Hour of The Wolf (Ingmar Bergman, 1968) – delves into the predatory relationship between an artist and his fans—a gothic-like film that expands from Bergman’s usual psychological style but adds in a horror-like quality. Stems some metaphors from Persona.

74. City of God (Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, 2002)  – Brazilian film, crazy cinematography and great story telling

75. 500 Days of Summer (Marc Webb, 2009) – Real, yet unreal. Truthful writing. Defines the modern relationship with emotion and style.

76. Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky, 2010) – Natalie Portman’s amazing performance snagged the Oscar. While the film is overt in it’s meaning and shoves it down the audiences throat, its excessiveness can be forgiven by the amazing performances and creepy, inspiring story.

77. Gone With The Wind (Victor Flemming, 1939– how can I not put it on here….

78. Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance, 2010) – Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams create unforgettable performances in this sad, depressing, but loving film. You & Me.  

79. The Breakfast Club (John Hughes, 1985) – If you’ve ever been a teen in your life, you have to see this film. Which means you have to see it. Has everything you’d want teen angst, deconstruction of school cliques, romance, crying, anger, corny dancing, pop music, and a freeze frame ending.

80. The Hurricane (Norman Jewison, 1999) – Denzel Washington is amazing in it, true story about a boxer wrongfully accused of murder

81. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (John Ford, 1962) – James Stewart + John Wayne = John Ford’s dark depiction of the west. Not the most standard Ford film, which is why it is so great.

82. Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999) – holy shit. A long film. But it is incredibly intense at all moments and will keep you on edge unti lit absolutely breaks. And the break will shock you. You won’t see it coming. I promise.

83. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006) – An explosive opening (literally) starts off this intriguing premise of a world where women cannot give birth. The shots will leave you in awe.

84. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Edgar Wright, 2010) – cinematography and editing are so fast paced and has a really good style and mise en scene. It is so aware of its style and makes for a unique experience.

85. It’s a Wonderful Life – extremely great Christmas film

86. Y Tu Mama Tambien (Alfonso Cuaron, 2001) – foreign film, growing up, teens finding identity and exploring sexuality.

87. Bonsai (Cristián Jiménez, 2011) – the Chilean 500 Days of Summer. It has an incredible soundtrack and displays a relationship that parallels a story the characters hear and cannot help but end up the same way the story ends. This film is about the power of words. Blah. Blah. Blah.

88. Seven (or Se7en, David Fincher, 1995)– modern day film noir, and has disturbing parts

89. Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001) – dense in its style, and heart warming.

90. Meshes of The Afternoon (Maya Deren, 1943)– short film about self reflexivity and time

91. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980) – Jack Nicholson is incredible in it, even though it is scary, it’s a must see

92. Birth of A Nation (D.W. Griffith, 1915) – One of the most racist films of all time, if not the most racist. Still, its premise will shock you and warrants a view. Even though it is offensive, It did innovate film making. I dislike D.W. Griffith.

93. Burn After Reading (Coen Brothers, 2008) – extremely hilarious, shocking, witty, fun, and all about nothing.

94. Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999) – Kubrick’s last film. It may not be considered as one of his bests, but it is captivating. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman are unbelievable. You’ll hate Nicole Kidman’s character and might hate every character of the film. But the world that is discovered, and the way it is all executed is worth seeing. It has an ending line that competes with “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

95. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928) - This movie will amaze even the most modern audiences. If you have ever felt passionate about something you will relate to the hero/martyr of this film. While her reaction shots get a bit redundant, her performance is powerful even in todays standards, and is more subtle and profound than any of the performances on screen in the 20s. The musical score, the cameras sense of space, and the power of European Cinema allows the audience to truly feel what is unfolding on screen in this Lyrical Documentary, which includes forms of Expressionism, Impressionism, and Montage. 

96. Requiem For A Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000) – disturbing, but cinematography is incredible and very dense with hip hop montages and a camera with two lenses that slows and speeds up time simultaneously

97. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008) – profound commentary on men’s place and society, about how fragile the body is, ambiguous enemies and missions, a cinematic achievement

98. Once (John Carney, 2006)– awesome movie with incredible music, there is nothing else like it

99. Run Lola Run (Tom Tykwer, 1998) – portrays all sense of time, and is really fun to watch, very active movie

100. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957) – simple things, comic scenes, meets intricate, heavy themes in one of Ingmar Bergman’s most classic films. A knight plays chess with death on a beach!

Blogs

The biggest characteristics of a blog are personalization, customization, and specialization. Blogs are good for following specific people and specific ideas. People write about anything, from entertainment to bird watching. Writing on a blog is good for more detailed and personal accounts on more specific subject matter that can be shared more frequently amongst other people. Not just with people in the classroom, but with anyone who may be interested in the topic at hand who is browsing the web. I have used blogs in school before and they were structured like a book club. Everyone was reading the same book, and we answered questions on it and were required to write a certain amount of posts. However, that blog seemed to separate people more than add to a nice discussion; people were more concerned for grades so the blog centered around each individual than the content as a whole. This is one of the advantages to a blog if it can be done right, with the right people, in the right kind of setting. All it takes is true interest in something for real opinions to be shared, and real discussion to begin. While I believe blogs do not come close to true personal discussions face to face, they can still be beneficial. In a class setting, each student could continually blog on one aspect form class or one theme or idea and blog as it develops through the whole semester. Sometimes students, with large amounts of materials being presented to them in classes, forget how previous material relates to the new, or how previous ideas inform new ones. Blogs would help keep the class ideas in perspective the whole way through. Although, the problem with blogs is motivation. The participants would really have to want to do it rather than feel obligated to. I believe that is key to writing in blogs. Personal passion and interest in a topic. Blogs are pretty pathetic when the people writing are only doing so because they have to. The things they write are forced, are often fake, and not critical. They write to please. The unique thing about writing on blogs is true personal experience and opinions. Part of wanting to read someone's blog is because of who is writing it, if their ideas form their material well, and if the readers can also engage in it. People want more truth and different perspectives out of blogs. To take in new points on a subject and explore them through interest and discussion. But without passion and dedication, blogs will simply not work.

In class, we discussed credibility on blogs. People may not think I have much credibility in doing film reviews on this very blog. But I have studied tons of films, so I would hope solely based on critical thinking, and the fundamentals for analysis and arguments would prove to people that I have a good take on film criticism. This goes for all blogs and all professional film reviews. I have read professional film reviews by critics who are credible, but he or she may not have good arguments about the films themselves. This is the beauty of blogs. You can argue to your hearts content. In a professional editorial, we are easy to accept them as truth. And I believe there is merit to that. We do want to have professionals who are trained and know what they are saying, we like to draw a line between the credible and complete nonsense. We all have our own opinions, but there are still critical and organized ways to argue our points against the professionals we disagree with. And against each other. Even peer reviews can be argued against in some ways. It just takes the time to try to understand what people are truly saying, if we can at least trust people a little and consider what they have to say even if it does no hold up at all. People can be surprising sometimes. While blogs may increase the amount of media being generating and changing the way we read and process information that could potentially be false, there is a greater chance to come across a interesting or different point of view on a certain subject that may change someone's mind or challenge some fundamental ideas. It just takes discipline, command of language, willingness to understand, and discussions that point us further to credibility and further to truths. Even if we never reach complete truths on some matters, the discussion and contemplation of them are worth it, and blogs can widen this discussion, when done right, and increase this worth.