My Journal

Trip to the Moon 27/02
I thought this was excellent because of the visuals in the time it was made. Its not the most insightful story but it does show probably the earliest science fiction story in film. It has a really unique look to it that has been copied like the face on the moon. The acting was a bit over the top like most silent films but I thought this was an entertaining movie.

The Great Train Robbery 27/02
Since this was made in the early 1900’s, the techniques used seemed pretty straight forward. There wasn’t much camera movement during each scene. It was sort of like a stage play where the actors stayed in the boundaries of the camera view. It wasn’t the most entertaining movie but I thought it was worth watching.

Birth of a Nation 06/03
This movie to me was a bit slow and confusing at times. I was not used to silent films before watching this and found it a bit difficult to follow the story line. With sound you can put faces to voices or hear the different tones the people are using when speaking to know what they are going on about. With silent films its very much reliant on visual storytelling. As far as the storyline goes I thought it was very weird how the portrayed black people as evil and the KKK as heroes but it was different times back then. One thing I did like was they way Griffith used colour for different scenes to set a certain mood such as red for when there was a fire and people were panicking. Apart from those things I didn’t like the movie personally. I thought it was a bit too long and dragged out in some places but I do like the way it shows how films were made in the early 1900’s.

Bobby 11/03
Probably my favourite sort of movies are the ones with multiple, intertwining storylines and Bobby is a pretty good example of one. The movie is named after Robert Kennedy but its not really about him. Its about the people effected by his life and his assassination. The movie was well acted with a big ensemble cast along with archive footage and radio broadcasts of Kennedy to support the emotions of the characters. One thing that annoys me with multiple story lines is if there is a storyline that isn’t very interesting. You want to watch one of the more interesting ones but you have to wait. An example is the storyline with Helen Hunt and Martin Sheen and they’re talking about shoes and things. That storyline didn’t interest me. One shot I loved was when Emilio Estevez was standing in a yard and all of a sudden a chair falls from the sky along with broken glass. Then the cameras on the chair and it moves all the way back from the ground into the room it came from with the two guys on acid. This was entertaining in some parts and a bit slow and boring in others but I enjoyed it.

The Battleship Potemkin 13/03
This movie, like birth of a nation, was long and a bit confusing at times. The storyline seemed to chop and change from a mutiny on a boat to a revolution of some sort on land. Another thing that probably added to my slight confusion was that it was a foreign silent film. I liked when the crew overthrew their cruel commanders but the movie just seemed to keep going for a bit too long for a silent film in my opinion. I went on the internet to find the running time and found out it goes for only 75 minutes. So it is actually a short film that seemed a lot longer. One thing I did like about it was the massacre that took place on the steps. A very powerful scene that inspired future film makers (the baby going down the stairs is a lot like a scene from the untouchables). Again I didn’t really like this film, I’m not a big fan of silent movies, it really didn’t capture my interest but some scenes were nicely directed which I did like.

Unfolding Florence 16/03
The way this movie was made was very good in my opinion. The only thing that lacked was the story. The movie tells the true story of Florence Broadhurst, her life and her untimely murder. The movie is a mixed documentary. The director uses archive footage, re-enactment, cartoons, interviews of people who knew her and a voice over of Florence (obviously not her) talking about her life. Even using all these different narratives I thought the movie wasn’t very interesting. She lived a fairly glamorous life but the only sort of interesting thing I thought was her unsolved murder which they only talked about for about ten minutes at the end of the movie. My final thoughts are that it was well made but lacked story.

Special Animations Program 17/03
- Leisure- this was an fascinating little cartoon about balancing work and leisure. Since it was and old animation the drawing weren’t to astounding but I like the message it had and the way that it looked.
- Harvie Krumpet- this was the second time I watched Harvie Krumpet and I still laughed and still liked it. it’s a touching story about a mentally challenged immigrant that make fun at his expense. I love the story and I love the claymation. A very good short film.
- Birthday Boy- this short I didn’t like so much. Visually it was excellent but it was very short. I did like the end with the boy plating with his dads army gear, not knowing he’s dead. A dark little twist but other than that it was alright.
- The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello- this short was a lot darker than I thought it would be. Its like a shadow puppet show made for adults. I liked the look of it and the story was great. It was a real thought provoking short that I thought was great.

A Scanner Darkly 17/03
In my opinion, this was the best film of the travelling film festival. The movie started with a man sitting in a room scratching at himself while hundreds of bugs flow out of him. From then a story of paranoia and addiction sets in. probably the best and most notable thing in the movie was the animation. Shot in real life then animated over, this added to the themes of addiction and the drug culture. The film questions identity and the cost of human life. Based on the Phillip K Dick novel, whose other books/short stories turned into film include Total Recall and Minority Report, was an excellent story to tell. This was the best movie of the festival and probably one of my favourite movies.

The Road to Guantanamo 17/03
This was a powerful film that mixed the retelling of the Tipton three story with interviews with the Tipton three. The film shows the torture and interrogation of three British boys of Muslim descent being accused of terrorist activities. The torture scenes were pretty graphic and brutal which I think is sometimes good in a movie to make a point. The start was a little slow and as it went along it got more interesting. I did find one scene funny where a woman is not accusing but telling them they were at a rally with Osama bin Ladin when all the evidence they had was a blurry video and they all had alibis for where they were when the rally occurred. It was quite a thought provoking film that did have some dull, repetitive scenes but then again that was what happened to them.

The Caiman 17/03
I feel I couldn’t connect with this movie. I liked the story of the man struggling to make a movie but then they kept changing it to the story of the Italian prime minister whose story didn’t seem true at some moments (the bag of money falling through the ceiling). I think because I didn’t know the back story I didn’t get it as well as I should have. The man trying to make the movie and his family situation story didn’t attract me much. Some of those scenes seemed a bit dull to me. I liked the ending but I got a bit lost in the story, also not helping was reading subtitles but then again its much better than dubbing. All in all I thought it was a well made film but I got a little lost in the story.

Sketches of Frank Gehry 18/03
This documentary on the work of Frank Gehry was more interesting than I thought it’d be. I had only heard of Frank Gehry once before seeing this documentary and that was on the Simpsons where he did a guest voice playing himself. Probably the most interesting thing about this doco was the work of Frank Gehry. The building he designed and built are phenomenal, the most interesting buildings I’ve ever seen. The many shots of his buildings, inside and out really impressed me. I also liked how the doco was shot. In the interviews with Gehry, Sydney Pollack used a handheld camera to film Gehry while another camera filmed Pollack interviewing Gehry. I liked the shots that Pollack shot of Gehry, close ups that were sometimes a bit shaky, a different sort of interview shot. Another thing that I liked was how they got a negative opinion on Gehrys work. Most documentaries are one sided but they showed an opinion not in favour of Gehrys work which again was something different. Overall I thought it was an intriguing documentary I enjoyed.

Metropolis 20/03
The concept of this story was really interesting to me. Probably the thing that I liked most about the movie is its design. Not only the city landscapes but the indoor sets. Again, I’m not a fan of foreign silent films, I felt just the look of the movie was enough to keep me entertained. The futuristic look of metropolis has influenced many science fiction films such as Blade Runner and Brazil but metropolis was the original. A very well made movie.

Grand Illusion 27/03
I did enjoy this movie but there were some points in the movie where I lost interest. Another thing that I thought was good but sort of annoyed me was the many location changes. I like the changes in scenery but I felt there were too many. Going from one prison to another then on the run then shacking up with a widow then on the run again, it seemed a bit long. Especially when the were hiding at the widows house, I lost a bit of interest. don’t get me wrong, I did like it but some bits I didn’t like. I liked the prison escape plans (which seemed a bit like the great escape) and the actual escape. One thing I found weird was the language changes. I think most of it was in French and sometimes German but the all of a sudden some characters speak English for a couple of lines. I’m sure there was a reason for it but I didn’t get it. Probably the best part of the film was the end. I really enjoyed that. All together it was a worthwhile film.

The Valet 02/04
This was a surprisingly good film. I wasn’t really sure of the premise when I started watching but I got it as it went along. Visually it was nothing spectacular but it was well acted and well written. I liked all the twists and people blackmailing and covering up an affair. It was also a nice little love story along with some comedy that had a nice ending in my opinion. It was a pretty good movie.

Citizen Kane 03/04
If you look at most top films of all time lists, Citizen Kane would most likely be on them. Some consider it the best movie ever made but in my opinion I think it’s a bit overrated. I did like the film but not as much as I thought I would. I thought the acting was great and the directing was great I just thought some parts of the story I thought were dull. In perspective, the movie is about a mans life so the whole thing cant be interesting because no ones life. I had seen this movie before class and didn’t like it much but after watching it again I picked up on things I missed which made me appreciate it a little more. Also I heard the ending on a TV show so that ruined the movie for me a bit but it was still entertaining.

Bicycle Thief 01/05
I did not have much expectations for this movie when I started watching it but I think that is a good attitude to have when going to see a movie because you are usually surprised how its better than your expectations. The story was, surprisingly, really interesting. How something like a bike could determine whether your family eats or not. Also, how far a man will go to support his family, even turning to crime when no one can help you. A slightly harrowing story that kept me watching just to see if this man will find his bike or not or will he lose his job. A very engaging movie.

Spiderman 3 07/05
Out of all the big budget, special effects driven comic book movies being made today, the Spiderman series is my favourite and Spiderman 3 lives up to its predecessors in some places but is let down in others. One thing that I couldn’t wait to see in this movie was the character Venom. Unfortunately he was only around for a little bit at the end but its probably the only way it would work in the storyline. Also, it builds ups the suspense of when he’ll show up. Like the first two movies, Spiderman 3 is very visual like Spiderman swinging through New York but there is also love interests, some comedy and also in 3 there was even more science fiction (black symbiote from outer space). I think one problem with this movie is that they tried to put too much into it so it seemed a little short in the sense of the individual stories like the sandman and Harry. The best part of the movie was the end, the final battle and how finally one of the villains didn’t die but at the same time he wasn’t that bad. In the end it was visually amazing but the story lacked a little.

Double Indemnity 08/05
Great story. Great cast. Great director. What more could you want. Film noir is one of my favourite genres and this is a classic example of it. One thing liked was that instead of a private eye it was and insurance salesman but it had all the makings of a good film noir movie. A murder plot, a beautiful woman and a large sum of money. As with most film noirs, the was little light used and a lot of shades which I love that sort of look. Also the story was about an average guy turned murderer just for a good looking woman who not all she’s cracked up to be. The start of the movies excellent. Its draws you in with first a man speeding down streets to him confessing to a crime while having blood coming out of his shoulder. You just know by watching that scene that some interesting has happened to that man and you need to find out. Other examples of film noir movies that I like are more contemporary like Chinatown and Sin City which both put a unique spin on the genre. In the end I really enjoyed this movie.

Persona 29/05
This is possibly the strangest film I have ever seen. Probably the thing that was most strange was the start of the movie was this like a tarantula on the camera lens, a flash of a penis and men running around in skeleton costumes. It then goes to a boy sleeping who wakes up to a giant face on a screen and he puts his hands on it. It then goes to the story of the mute singer and the nurse taking care of her. I’ve got to say I think I missed the point in this film but I think I have an idea. I think the boy at the start of the movie is the mutes son and the rest I’m not really sure. I think it is called persona because of the identity issues that are in the film. The story was all over the place but I didn’t mind the way it was shot. Very different to conventional techniques but in the end I didn’t really like it because it confused me to what was going on.

Bonnie and Clyde 05/06
A classic gangster film. I love cross country tales especially when crime is involved and it definitely is in this movie. Based on the real life story, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway are great as the crime duo Bonnie and Clyde. The film has noteworthy performances especially by Gene Hackman, a terrific storyline and a director that really captured the essence of that era. One thing that disappointed me was at the end. I knew what would happen and I had heard that it was a gruesome scene but when I watched it I found it fairly tame. I then realised I have to look at the context of when it was released and now. These days violence in films is almost everywhere but it was a bit more conservative in the 1960’s when the film was released.

Three Kings 12/06
This is one of my favourite war movies because there is not much fighting and the main characters are fighting for themselves, not their country but realise that other people need help in the process. The cast is perfect, George Clooney once TV star, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube both rappers, and Spike Jonze the Director of being John Malkovich and Adaptation and one of my favourite directors taking up a fairly major role. There’s action, humour and drama all together with the backdrop of the gulf war. My favourite scene is after the cow explodes and they play I get around by the beach boys while they storm into the town looking for Saddams gold. The use of this music creates a sense of irony to the scene. Also the scene where it shows the inside of a body for example Clooneys character talking about a bullet entering your body and what might happen. The camera zooms in then reverses which is a great effect.