Today's film is a documentary called Night and Fog. It shows the history and aftermath of the Holocaust. This film manages to deliver in 30 minutes what other documentaries take 9 hours to achieve.
The film alternates between the color film of the present, and black and white film of the past. It shows how the camps were built, and what happened in those camps. The man providing the voiceover commentary actually was a prisoner inside one of those camps.
One interesting thing is that this documentary doesn't provide any personal sob stories. Over 9 million people died and we can't hear all of their stories. The film shows the gas chambers, ovens, and piles of bodies. When the Allies came in to liberate the camps, they didn't know anyone's story. All they saw were the piles and piles of dead bodies and that was enough. With this film we see exactly what they saw. So it's like going back in time with them.
The film says that the prisoners were distinguished by their uniform, but doesn't go much further into it. That's because the filmmakers wanted us to know that it was more than just Jews that were killed. The filmmakers also said that this was an allegory for the French invasion of Algeria and they didn't want to favor any particular race. That's why some of the camps they filmed were in France. I remember that we watched Schindler's List in school, and I wish they would make students watch this film too. It was very informative and emotional. I will give it a 9/10.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Thursday, August 13, 2015
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Today's film is L.A. Confidential, which takes a look at police brutality and corruption in the 1950's. The movie was filmed in 1997, and the 90's were not a good time for L.A. cops, what with the beatings of people and all. This movie shows that this sort of problem has existed for ages. Trust me I know from experience.
This film could be classified as a neo-noir, which is a noir film not made in the 1940's and 1950's. During this time, no building in the city could be taller than City Hall, and they achieved this through really well-aimed cameras. A lot of the scenes were actually based in real life. The "Bloody Christmas" scene where cops beat up Mexican prisoners occurred in 1951. The arrest of gangster leader Mickey Cohen did lead to a war to replace him. Well, that would happen anytime a leader is arrested, because there is always someone to take their place.
I think that it is funny that a film about American cops would star two Australian guys. Another thing to note is that not a single person in this film is "good". There are actually three main characters. Bud White (Russell Crowe) is temperamental and violent, and the corrupt chief uses this knowledge for his own gain often. Exley (Guy Pearce) steps on everyone to get to where he wants to be. Jack Vicennes (Kevin Spacey) is another detective, who is famous and gets paid off by a sleazy tabloid writer, played by Danny Devito. They investigate a shooting in a diner which ultimately involves the chief of police. They decide to work together to do the right thing, but by then it might be too late for them.
Of course with a noir there has to be a femme fatale. She is Lynn, played by Kim Basinger. She did not age well. Anyway, her character works at a place where hookers look like movie stars. Places like that did exist back then just like they do today. Lynn looks just like Veronica Lake, who is most famous for Sullivan's Travels, but actually did play a femme fatale in some films. So the cycle goes on and on! Unfortunately, the romantic boat sinking movie also came out this year, so this film was denied the Best Picture award. That is too bad, because there were a lot of great performances in this film. I will give this film a 9/10.
This film could be classified as a neo-noir, which is a noir film not made in the 1940's and 1950's. During this time, no building in the city could be taller than City Hall, and they achieved this through really well-aimed cameras. A lot of the scenes were actually based in real life. The "Bloody Christmas" scene where cops beat up Mexican prisoners occurred in 1951. The arrest of gangster leader Mickey Cohen did lead to a war to replace him. Well, that would happen anytime a leader is arrested, because there is always someone to take their place.
I think that it is funny that a film about American cops would star two Australian guys. Another thing to note is that not a single person in this film is "good". There are actually three main characters. Bud White (Russell Crowe) is temperamental and violent, and the corrupt chief uses this knowledge for his own gain often. Exley (Guy Pearce) steps on everyone to get to where he wants to be. Jack Vicennes (Kevin Spacey) is another detective, who is famous and gets paid off by a sleazy tabloid writer, played by Danny Devito. They investigate a shooting in a diner which ultimately involves the chief of police. They decide to work together to do the right thing, but by then it might be too late for them.
Of course with a noir there has to be a femme fatale. She is Lynn, played by Kim Basinger. She did not age well. Anyway, her character works at a place where hookers look like movie stars. Places like that did exist back then just like they do today. Lynn looks just like Veronica Lake, who is most famous for Sullivan's Travels, but actually did play a femme fatale in some films. So the cycle goes on and on! Unfortunately, the romantic boat sinking movie also came out this year, so this film was denied the Best Picture award. That is too bad, because there were a lot of great performances in this film. I will give this film a 9/10.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
A Star is Born (1954)
Today's film is A Star is Born. There is a lot of singing. But it's all done by one person, Judy Garland. Like she has to sing every song. There's too much singing.
I watched the restored version, which is longer than the theatrical version. The film itself had been lost, but the soundtrack was found, so they put still images where the film would be. It made a lot more sense with the extra stuff put in.
This was one of Judy Garland's last films. That's probably why she put such effort into singing everything. Her character, Esther/Vicki's husband, Norman, is an alcoholic. Judy in real life suffered from addiction and eventually passed away from an overdose. There is a deeper theme of addiction and depression in this film that is slightly hidden by all the happy singing. So I feel that this was very personal project for her. It is pretty dark that way. The film dragged on a bit, but it was okay. I will give it a 5/10.
I watched the restored version, which is longer than the theatrical version. The film itself had been lost, but the soundtrack was found, so they put still images where the film would be. It made a lot more sense with the extra stuff put in.
This was one of Judy Garland's last films. That's probably why she put such effort into singing everything. Her character, Esther/Vicki's husband, Norman, is an alcoholic. Judy in real life suffered from addiction and eventually passed away from an overdose. There is a deeper theme of addiction and depression in this film that is slightly hidden by all the happy singing. So I feel that this was very personal project for her. It is pretty dark that way. The film dragged on a bit, but it was okay. I will give it a 5/10.
Monday, August 10, 2015
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
Today's film is Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. I didn't realize it was this old! I reviewed the first movie, Mad Max, back in 2013, and the review can be found here. If you missed the first film, the entire plot is summed up in the first three minutes of the second movie. Max was a state trooper who lost his family. Also, the world has been dealing with the aftermath of nuclear war, especially the need for gasoline.
If they needed gasoline so badly, why didn't they focus on alternative fuels? Well, remember that the 70's people were facing a manufactured "oil shortage" and were desperate for gas. This is just the extreme of that. Also, it shows their logic. Max is like, "gas is a scarce resource, better drive a V8". People weren't as environmentally minded as they are now, and we have much better technology (like hybrid and electric cars).
This movie is an awesome punk rock movie. It was composed by Brian May!! Also, all the bad guys dress like Oakland Raiders fans. The good guys dress in lighter colors. This movie is all punk rock and cars and danger and it's such a fun movie to watch. I love how the characters are so unique and we don't know much of their back story. They're all about the now, because the past, the world before the apocalypse, is gone. I also like the feral child, who is unnamed. He reminds me of my daughter, who doesn't talk but always gets done what needs to be done. I will give this film a 8/10.
If they needed gasoline so badly, why didn't they focus on alternative fuels? Well, remember that the 70's people were facing a manufactured "oil shortage" and were desperate for gas. This is just the extreme of that. Also, it shows their logic. Max is like, "gas is a scarce resource, better drive a V8". People weren't as environmentally minded as they are now, and we have much better technology (like hybrid and electric cars).
This movie is an awesome punk rock movie. It was composed by Brian May!! Also, all the bad guys dress like Oakland Raiders fans. The good guys dress in lighter colors. This movie is all punk rock and cars and danger and it's such a fun movie to watch. I love how the characters are so unique and we don't know much of their back story. They're all about the now, because the past, the world before the apocalypse, is gone. I also like the feral child, who is unnamed. He reminds me of my daughter, who doesn't talk but always gets done what needs to be done. I will give this film a 8/10.
Friday, August 7, 2015
À bout de soufflé (Breathless) (1960)
Today's film is À bout de soufflé (Breathless). I honestly did not like this film. It begins with a car thief (Michel) shooting a cop and fleeing to Paris. He visits his sort-of girlfriend, an American named Patricia who sells newspapers on the street.
Patricia starts off with "boo hoo I think I might be pregnant but I'm not going to make sure or even mention it again for the rest of the film". Wasn't she supposed to go to the doctor? You can't just announce something like that and not follow up later in the story. What a cheap way to invoke drama! This was obviously written by a man.
Besides, Michel is a really nasty awful person. He keeps blowing smoke in her face and he never takes that nasty cigarette out of his mouth. For someone who is supposedly his girlfriend, he tells her that she makes him want to puke and she's a scumbag. He spends all his time on her phone in her house but doesn't show her any respect.
Patricia finally tells the police where Michel can be found. When they catch up to him, they shoot him on the spot and he dies. This doesn't shock me because police shoot people all the time, just watch the news.
I know many people must have liked all the random jump cuts, but I did not. It was distracting and at times irritating. Even the editor himself said it wasn't intentional during the film's shooting. There's no deeper meaning to the jump cuts. So many people look for a deep meaning for everything when there's really not. The film itself was written on the spot by Godard (both writer and director) and it definitely shows. I will give it a 3/10.
Patricia starts off with "boo hoo I think I might be pregnant but I'm not going to make sure or even mention it again for the rest of the film". Wasn't she supposed to go to the doctor? You can't just announce something like that and not follow up later in the story. What a cheap way to invoke drama! This was obviously written by a man.
Besides, Michel is a really nasty awful person. He keeps blowing smoke in her face and he never takes that nasty cigarette out of his mouth. For someone who is supposedly his girlfriend, he tells her that she makes him want to puke and she's a scumbag. He spends all his time on her phone in her house but doesn't show her any respect.
Patricia finally tells the police where Michel can be found. When they catch up to him, they shoot him on the spot and he dies. This doesn't shock me because police shoot people all the time, just watch the news.
I know many people must have liked all the random jump cuts, but I did not. It was distracting and at times irritating. Even the editor himself said it wasn't intentional during the film's shooting. There's no deeper meaning to the jump cuts. So many people look for a deep meaning for everything when there's really not. The film itself was written on the spot by Godard (both writer and director) and it definitely shows. I will give it a 3/10.
Monday, August 3, 2015
Inside Out (2015)
Today's film is Inside Out! I actually watched this a while ago, but am posting it now. Mainly because every time I hear the term Inside out, I think of the song by Diana Ross. "Upside down, boy you turn me, inside out, and round and round". So I figured posting would get the song out of my head. The movie is a look at what goes on inside people's heads and personifies everything. We specifically are looking at the mind of 11-year-old Riley.
I really enjoyed this movie, because a lot of times I watch a Disney (or Pixar) film and I think, I really wish there was more Lewis Black in this. And now I finally get my wish! He plays Anger, and doesn't need to act because he's just himself and he's awesome. The "leader" emotion is Joy, who is played by Amy Poehler. There are so many celebrities voicing characters in this movie. One of my favorites is Disgust! She's played by Mindy Kaling and her job is to protect Riley from disgusting things, like broccoli.
Riley is an only child growing up in Minnesota. She has lots of friends, and is a natural at playing hockey. Her parents start a new business venture and they all move to San Francisco. This is a huge culture shock for Riley, and she tries to handle it the best she can. The emotion Sadness starts to touch her core memories, making her sad. Joy, the leader, does not ever want to upset Riley and tries her hardest to silence Sadness. Through a series of events, Joy begins to realize that Riley needs Sadness. She needs to be able to miss her friends and old way of life so she can grow and begin a new chapter in a new place.
There's a lot of gags and adult jokes that are fun to look for. Also, they show other people's minds too, and that's pretty funny. As the emotions learn to work better together, they see that Riley's thoughts and memories become more mature. As she turns 12, they build new control panel to handle all these changes including a switch for "puberty". Joy doesn't worry about this because she helped Riley get through the whole "moving to a new state" crisis; what could possibly happen to her in the next few years? This is one of the best Pixar films in a long time. I think it's an even better family film than The Incredibles. I will give it a 9/10.
I really enjoyed this movie, because a lot of times I watch a Disney (or Pixar) film and I think, I really wish there was more Lewis Black in this. And now I finally get my wish! He plays Anger, and doesn't need to act because he's just himself and he's awesome. The "leader" emotion is Joy, who is played by Amy Poehler. There are so many celebrities voicing characters in this movie. One of my favorites is Disgust! She's played by Mindy Kaling and her job is to protect Riley from disgusting things, like broccoli.
Riley is an only child growing up in Minnesota. She has lots of friends, and is a natural at playing hockey. Her parents start a new business venture and they all move to San Francisco. This is a huge culture shock for Riley, and she tries to handle it the best she can. The emotion Sadness starts to touch her core memories, making her sad. Joy, the leader, does not ever want to upset Riley and tries her hardest to silence Sadness. Through a series of events, Joy begins to realize that Riley needs Sadness. She needs to be able to miss her friends and old way of life so she can grow and begin a new chapter in a new place.
There's a lot of gags and adult jokes that are fun to look for. Also, they show other people's minds too, and that's pretty funny. As the emotions learn to work better together, they see that Riley's thoughts and memories become more mature. As she turns 12, they build new control panel to handle all these changes including a switch for "puberty". Joy doesn't worry about this because she helped Riley get through the whole "moving to a new state" crisis; what could possibly happen to her in the next few years? This is one of the best Pixar films in a long time. I think it's an even better family film than The Incredibles. I will give it a 9/10.
Friday, July 31, 2015
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Today's film is All Quiet on the Western Front. What? Two war films in a row? Well, yesterday's film was from the French point of view, and today's film is from the German point of view.
The movie focuses on a class of high school boys, who are egged on by their teacher to join the war effort as soldiers to defend the Fatherland, Germany. The boys all join and look forward to being soldiers. One of their leaders also happened to be their mailman so no one takes him seriously.
Then, we get into the actual warfare, and the boys realize that with all the talk about how great it is to defend the Fatherland, no one said it was terrifying and filled with explosions. People are losing limbs left and right, and other people get blown to pieces right before their eyes. None of this was done for just shock value, it's meant to show us that this is what really happens during war. The film gives us time to get to the know each of the soldiers, so it's really sad to see each one of them die.
There's also a discussion of how WWI got started in the first place. I always get surprised when I see a motorcycle or truck in these films, but I have to remind myself that this was between 1914 and 1918, not the 19th century. But I think I know the reason why. I live in the South, and history here is taught war-by-war. We spend a great deal of time learning about the Civil War, and then immediately jump into WWI next. Civil War ended in 1865 and WWI started in 1914. That's 49 years! What happened in between those years? I don't know! They don't even discuss how it happened, they just mention a quick blurb about it before jumping into WWII, which was started in 1939, which again is 25 years we miss. Man, schools are shit. I do know that Archduke Franz Ferdinand was murdered after dropping his album "You could have it so much better" and this made all the countries in Europe mad and they started shooting each other. Now we have WWI.
The German soldiers in the movie also question why they were sent to destroy the French and English. One of them says it's because one country insults another. Also, the manufacturers get rich, and every good emperor needs at least one war. One soldier, named Albert, says "I think it's more a kind of fever. Nobody wants it in particular, and then all at once, there it is. We didn't want it. The English didn't want it. And here we are fighting".
One thing to note that even though these are German soldiers, they speak English were generic (non-regional) American accents. This is done so the audience can emphasize with the characters. Germany was seen as our enemy back then, but they're not the "bad guys". Even the French soldiers aren't the bad guys. One of the high school boys kills a Frenchmen while stuck in a hole and feels so bad about it afterwards (even though the dead guy totally blinks).
One of the boys, Paul, goes back to the high school while on leave, and the same teacher tells him to encourage the new, younger class to fight too. Paul realizes that he can't say anything positive or heroic about being there, so he wants to go back to his friends. Everybody ends up dying. Imperial Germany lost over 2 million people in real life. This is a great anti-war film because it shows an honest look at the brutality of warfare and wonders what the point of all the violence is. I will give it a 9/10.
The movie focuses on a class of high school boys, who are egged on by their teacher to join the war effort as soldiers to defend the Fatherland, Germany. The boys all join and look forward to being soldiers. One of their leaders also happened to be their mailman so no one takes him seriously.
Then, we get into the actual warfare, and the boys realize that with all the talk about how great it is to defend the Fatherland, no one said it was terrifying and filled with explosions. People are losing limbs left and right, and other people get blown to pieces right before their eyes. None of this was done for just shock value, it's meant to show us that this is what really happens during war. The film gives us time to get to the know each of the soldiers, so it's really sad to see each one of them die.
There's also a discussion of how WWI got started in the first place. I always get surprised when I see a motorcycle or truck in these films, but I have to remind myself that this was between 1914 and 1918, not the 19th century. But I think I know the reason why. I live in the South, and history here is taught war-by-war. We spend a great deal of time learning about the Civil War, and then immediately jump into WWI next. Civil War ended in 1865 and WWI started in 1914. That's 49 years! What happened in between those years? I don't know! They don't even discuss how it happened, they just mention a quick blurb about it before jumping into WWII, which was started in 1939, which again is 25 years we miss. Man, schools are shit. I do know that Archduke Franz Ferdinand was murdered after dropping his album "You could have it so much better" and this made all the countries in Europe mad and they started shooting each other. Now we have WWI.
The German soldiers in the movie also question why they were sent to destroy the French and English. One of them says it's because one country insults another. Also, the manufacturers get rich, and every good emperor needs at least one war. One soldier, named Albert, says "I think it's more a kind of fever. Nobody wants it in particular, and then all at once, there it is. We didn't want it. The English didn't want it. And here we are fighting".
One thing to note that even though these are German soldiers, they speak English were generic (non-regional) American accents. This is done so the audience can emphasize with the characters. Germany was seen as our enemy back then, but they're not the "bad guys". Even the French soldiers aren't the bad guys. One of the high school boys kills a Frenchmen while stuck in a hole and feels so bad about it afterwards (even though the dead guy totally blinks).
One of the boys, Paul, goes back to the high school while on leave, and the same teacher tells him to encourage the new, younger class to fight too. Paul realizes that he can't say anything positive or heroic about being there, so he wants to go back to his friends. Everybody ends up dying. Imperial Germany lost over 2 million people in real life. This is a great anti-war film because it shows an honest look at the brutality of warfare and wonders what the point of all the violence is. I will give it a 9/10.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)