The Blog
This blog will be all about film reviews. I'm going to be watching a lot of movies, writing reviews, and hopefully not spoiling any movies you plan to watch.
Director: Nick Cassavetes
Verdict: Thumbs Up You know a movie is really good when it makes you cry tears that aren’t the “I’m about to slit my wrists this movie is so bad” tears. The Notebook, inspired by a book of the same name, uses a beautiful plot with well placed narration and symbolism to create a truly moving film. The plot is a story within a story. It begins with an old man telling a story to a woman with dementia. The story is of a young man, Noah, in South Carolina in 1940. He sees a beautiful young girl, Allie, who comes from a wealthy family. The two fall in love and spend the summer together, becoming more and more romantically involved. While Noah’s father likes Allie, Allie’s parents do not accept Noah as he does not come from a wealthy family. This comes to a head when Allie and Noah attempt to make love before being told the police are looking for her. After a fight instigated by Allie’s mother, the two break up and Allie moves to New York. However, Noah writes to her every day for a full year before believing that Allie is over him. In reality, Allie’s mother had intercepted all the letters and kept them from her. During the war, Allie falls in love with a soldier from a rich southern family and the two become engaged. Noah buys the house he had promised Allie and fixes it up just as she requested. When Allie learns of this, she visits Noah and the two fall in love again. Allie’s mother explains why she kept the letters from Allie and gives her blessing if the two wish to be together. The story cuts back to Noah reading to Allie, trying to get her to remember him. She suddenly remembers but only briefly. Noah has a heart attack, but when he comes back to the old people’s home, Allie remembers him and the two fall asleep together and are found dead together. During the story, the scene would cut back to Noah reading to Allie in her old age and occasionally you would hear Noah narrating the story. The use of Noah as a narrator adds a great deal to the story, as simply telling the story as it is loses a majority of the emotion. The backstory of Noah and Allie is touching but it lacks that emotional punch, that moment that puts your emotions up against a wall. Seeing how torn Noah is over Allie in her deteriorating state makes the audience feel real pain. When Noah’s children confront him and ask him to leave, it’s a painful moment knowing that he is still fighting for this woman who doesn’t even remember him. That he cares that much physically hurts because you know that know matter how hard he tries, little will come out of it. That love touches the soul so deep down. When finally Allie remembers in her room and they dance, that moment is touching, but what is more emotional is when he calls her darling and she steps back and says “Why did you call me darling?” In that moment you know that the beautiful thing that had just occurred is over and that all his hard work is gone. Seeing her screaming at him and for help is genuinely painful and if it doesn’t bring tears to your eyes then you have no heart! After that moment, that emotionally shattering moment, the tone changes. The movie comes quiet and subdued. Even when Noah returns from the hospital, there is still a very gentle feel, like the world is now made of glass. When Noah and Allie lie down in the bed together, it feels like a very nice, quiet goodnight. It is the ending the movie needed, as anything else would be to harsh in that delicate land that Cassavetes created. The Notebook is filled with symbolism that helps to make emotional connections that make the events even more rooted in the viewer's mind. When Allie and Noah sleep together following her return to Noah, there is a scene when the two are lying down talking, and Allie puts her hand on his shoulder. While out of focus, the engagement ring is clear to see on her ring finger. It shows how her love for her fiance is becoming blurred and shows how she must choose between Noah and her fiance. Another instance is the rainstorm that hits while the two are out on the water. Like the rain releasing from the sky, suddenly all the pent up emotion that the two had been holding back to that point are let loose as first they fight, then make love. Moments like this are all reminders of what is happening, adding emphasis to the moment. While not a show stopper, without these little moments, the movie would just feel somewhat forced, the plot would be pushed along instead of flowing at its own rate. Undeniably one of the most well crafted and beautiful love stories of all time, The Notebook stuns and engages the audience in a way that can only result in emotional reactions as the viewer watches love begin, flourish, and end.
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Director: Akira Kurosawa
Verdict: Thumbs Up The 1958 classic The Hidden Fortress is a movie that is basically the template for Star Wars and is a great Kurosawa film. The plot is beautifully developed and the characters are well played. Two peasants are seen running across a plain before a group of armed men appear, chasing a samurai. The samurai is cut down and the peasants are left alone. Having just left a local conflict, the two split after an argument, only to be captured separately and sent to work in labor camps. However, during a prisoner uprising, the two reunite and escape. However, the two have heard of a hidden fortune of gold from the defeated clan. As the two are looking for firewood, they discover gold hidden in a stick. They also meet a mysterious man who reveals himself to be a legendary samurai general of the defeated clan. He enrolls them as manual labor as he needs people to help transport all the gold from the defeated clan, along with the princess who survived. The samurai informs the princess that she will have to remain silent or she could give herself away. This upsets the princess, who is very stubborn and headstrong. However, she agrees and the four travel off to the safety of a nearby realm. On the way, they are discovered and are chased through the opposing territory. The samurai, while chasing enemy soldiers, comes into an enemy camp where he fights a great enemy general and wins. However, contrary to practice, he spares the general's life and rides away. After many days on the run, the princess and samurai are captured while the peasants run away. Before the princess is about to be executed, the defeated general arrives and rescues the two. They ride off to safety and begin rebuilding the clan. Back to the peasants, they find the gold that they lost trying to escape, only to be immediately captured. However, they are captured by the princesses troops, who releases them with a piece of gold. The plot is the strongest part of the film, with it being carefully throttled and guided. The plot was not especially quick, but more meandering. There were no sudden turn of events during the first part of the film, just a very subtle steer towards the main points of the plot. The existence of the princess was teased before fully revealed, as was the identity of the samurai and the existence of the gold. However, as the film progressed, the tempo gradually increased with the mounting tension of the fugitives being hunted down by the other clan. The pace was kept up for much of the remainder of the film, with only slight slumps when appropriate. It is not until the very end of the film when the tempo finally dropped in order for the audience to fully reflect on what had just happened through the film. The characters of The Hidden Fortress were what pulled together the film. The two peasants, Tahei and Matashichi, were the highlight of the cast. The chemistry between the two and the comedic relief that they provided was able to keep the film in a very good balance. They were a constant through the film and were the only characters who you could predict. Without them, the film would have been a bit far on the serious side. While Tahei and Matashichi are a perfect balance for the film as a whole, the samurai, Rokurôta, and the princess, Yuki are a perfect balance for each other. Rokurôta is a very calm, cool, and collected individual who is very much a father figure. Yuki is a headstrong and stubborn woman who was mistreated by her father. While she is implosive and ready to go, Rokurôta is more level headed and keeps her in line. This chemistry is very warming to the audience as it strengthens the emotional connections the viewer makes with characters. While not a very challenging movie or a cinematic masterpiece, The Hidden Fortress is a highly entertaining movie that captivates the audience and is thoroughly enjoyable. Director: Bill Condon
Verdict: Meh The 2017 remake of Beauty and the Beast is a live action version of the animated classic. With a revised plot and a different focus, the film has made its own special spot in the disney princess world. The plot is largely the same as that of the original. However, there are some new additional pieces that help make the story feel more complete in some aspects but are a bit redundant in others. The main change is to characters. Belle’s dad, Maurice, is portrayed as a crazy yet genius inventor in the original version. However, he is now shown as a very sensible old man how is a master clock maker and accomplished painter. This change was largely for the better, as it helped keep the tone of the movie more uniform instead of being silly. Another major character change is the portrayal of LeFou, Gaston’s sidekick. In the animated movie, he is a flamboyant and silly character much like an excited dog. In the new version, he is slightly less flamboyant, but the real change is that he is overtly homosexual. While this is a lovely change of pace from most movies, it is slightly overplayed at times. However, as a whole, I did enjoy this change, it just helped keep the tone more uniform. In terms of the story, there are some minor additions that help tie up some loose plot ends but are not entirely necessary. Chief amongst these is that we learn what happened to Belle’s mother. This is seen in the movie as the moment that Belle and the Beast seem to solidify their relationship. The story would be completely fine without this detail, but it works. The movie seemed to be in an odd superposition between ultimate artist beauty and the plot and story. There were times when the movie seemed so focused on making the images so beautiful that other aspects suffered. A major issue for the whole of the film was the singing. Emma Watson’s voice was obviously auto tuned and synced, as was the case with many of the characters, it just doesn’t feel right. In comparison to a movie such as Singin in the Rain or La La Land, it feels crude. Whether it has to do with the casts singing abilities or just how they decided to film, they should have made greater consideration to the fact that the movie is a musical. I’m very glad that the Bill Condon did decide to not make a carbon copy of the animated version and decided to make their own variant. To have made an identical movie with people would have felt more like a gimmick than a different movie, a collectors item. However, by changing characters, modifying the plot, and playing with the artist side of the film, Condon was able to create a movie that has it’s own special place in the disney universe. |
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June 2018
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