I have seen Vertigo multiple times, and every time I grow to like it more. It is very slow paced and compared to today's standards can seem to drag. However to me the pace helps the narrative and keeps everything suspenseful and engaging. The use of the famous Vertigo effect was used in this film multiple times and is really a prime example of this type of shot.
My favorite aspect is the characters however. They are despicable and dirty people, yet we connect with them. I mean he tries desperately to turn her into the girl he once loved. That is very sick and even offensive. Yet at the same time she allows him too because she is as confused and deranged as him. Also she is part of the whole set-up against him which also shines negatively on her character. Its a real achievement of the filmmaker to make the audience connect with these types of people. Alfred Hitchcock still remains my favorite director. His films play out to me as perfectly constructed plays. The dialogue, shots, everything follows a certain form for each film. This film is excellent.


Scottie: What's this doohickey?
Midge: It's a brassiere! You know about those things, you're a big boy now.
Scottie: I've never run across one like that.
Midge: It's brand new. Revolutionary up-lift: No shoulder straps, no back straps, but it does everything a brassiere should do. Works on the principle of the cantilevered bridge.
Scottie: It does?
Midge: An aircraft engineer down the peninsula designed it; he worked it out in his spare time.
Scottie: Kind of a hobby, a do-it-yourself kind of thing!
5 out of 5

Annie Hall is a romantic comedy through and through. It is the story of comedian Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) and a women , Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). Annie Hall is my favorite Woody Allen film. This is the first film of his where I feel the main agenda isn't comedy. it is based in real emotions and feelings, a roller coaster if you will. I love you, I don't love you, oh wait I do love you, that kind of thing. The flashbacks and almost jumpy narrative give it a different feel than most romantic comedies. For example Annie gets to look at Alvy as a child and he sees her past as well. There are allot of little gems in technique worth observing. My favorite is when Woody Allen's character talks to the camera about the man in front of him. The man then comes to defend himself, it exits the world of the story and enters our, the viewers, world. Finally Alvy brings the man, that the debate is about, into the situation to settle it all. It is funny and different, and does an excellent job of keeping out attention. In the same light there is an animate scene with Snow White, and Alvy breaks the fourth wall to discuss love with the audience. the film is very cleaver and easily watchable and memorable. I enjoyed every minute of it. The film has almost no musical score and very little background tones, it is said this is to pay homage to Woody's favorite director Ingmar Bergman.

Allen has said that Annie Hall was "a major turning point" both thematically and technically. "I had the courage to abandon... just clowning around and the safety of complete broad comedy. I said to myself, 'I think I will try and make some deeper film and not be as funny in the same way. And maybe there will be other values that will emerge, that will be interesting or nourishing for the audience.' And it worked out very very well." -Taken from Stig Bjorkman's book Woody Allen on Woody Allen.

Annie Hall: It's so clean out here.
Alvy Singer: That's because they don't throw their garbage away, they turn it into television shows.

5 out of 5

I really really enjoy this film. It shows us and gives us a view of an urban block centered in Brooklyn. The cinematography serves to give us this feeling of oppressive heat. Add this to the constant conflict with arguments, Sals, etc. and you get a very uncomfortable atmosphere. Not only does it put us in this spot with the action and cinematography but with camera angles and lenses as well. Most confrontations are filmed in standard coverage, however the angles are dutch with wide angle lenses. We get sucked into the character and what he is saying, its basically impossible to ignore. Also the telephoto lenses in the medium shots and outside scenes really contributed to this idea of oppressive heat that really just makes everyone uneasy. Since its a hot day, everyone is fed-up, its to hot, its just all too much. So when we are hit with this message of "do the right thing," we don't know what the right thing is. It's easy to choose sides for a minute, then something happens and your on the other side. It's all over the place, and hard to read. I feel this is perfect because this is exactly how people are when its hot and they are couped up and almost trapped, they get very short fused and almost unpredictable. I can certainly see why it was found to be controversial at the time or before its release. However the story and characters are so memorable, and really easy to get wrapped up in, that the controversial aspects seem to just float away. Its honestly to good to miss.

Mookie: Pino, fuck you, fuck your fuckin' pizza, and fuck Frank Sinatra.

Pino: Yeah? Well fuck you, too, and fuck Michael Jackson.

5 out of 5

A Clockwork Orange

I really enjoy this film, and its always entertaining to watch. I really love the idea of one of the most beautiful becoming a symbol of violence, in this case music is used. The beginning with the slow motion fight after the rape all set to classical music, is very stunning to behold. The whole aesthetic of the film is very stunning. A world of degeneration, violence, bright colors, modern sculpture and architecture filled with sex. The world is a melting pot of languages and backgrounds.
One of the most memorable scenes to me is when he is signed into the prison. I know that it is supposed to be the future but I feel in this scene everything is very dull and urban. It's almost like the prison systems in the future have been downgraded or made to be more grey and dreary. This fits well with the film because before this point everything was colorful and bright. Then from this point everything becomes darker and grayer for the 2nd half of the film.
This is one of the films that everyone has seen or at least heard about. I found this on IMDB,
"Something that I don't think anyone else commented on was the Russian motif. The names of the droogs (Alexander, George, Peter, and Dim...short for Dimitri) are decidedly Russian. The singer referenced in the record store, Johnny Zhivago, has obvious Russian overtones. The statement made by the Minister of the Interior about the "peace-loving citizens" is a direct reference to the name that Soviet government representatives applied to their people when talking about the Cold War. Red seems to stand out from other colors. And, of course, who could forget Nadsat, the Russian slang language? I wonder what Burgess and Kubrick were trying to suggest about the future of Ingsoc (those familiar with "1984" will understand)?" This to me really plays into the aesthetic of the film. Without this made up language, the film would certainly be lacking something. Defiantly one of Kubrick's best films.

Fargo

I really enjoy watching this film. Its dark and moves slower and slower into this darker space. I love the film and the soundtrack really stood out to me. I really have nothing negative to say about this film. It is a great film and a must see.

From IMDB "With all the sorry films these days it is good to see a movie as funny, wicked, dramatic, and utterly demented as "Fargo". "Fargo" was ranked on the 100 Greatest Films list in 1996 and it was well-deserved. In this age of by-the-numbers film making, this film was a refreshing flashback to the risk-taking style that made the 1970s such a great decade for movies."

Wiliam H. Macy gives a stellar performance and this is what i found to be funny. Researching on IMDB I discovered William originally pleaded for the role of Jerry Lunndegard. Its a good thing the Coen brothers ignored his pleas. Another grewat thing to look for is Bruce Cambell's appearance. He isn't physically in the film but he appears on a TV screen in the background. Its funny because Sam Raimi, who uses Bruce in some of his films, is a friend of the Coen brothers. there is a bunch of cool trivia about this film, one of my favorite being none of the film was shot in Fargo.

"What'd this guy look like anyway?"

"Oh, he was a little guy, kinda funny lookin'."

"Uh-huh. In what way?"

"Just a general way."

Great. 5 out of 5 for me.

Rebel Without A Cause

I really enjoy this movie especially the second time through. I agree with what William said in class. James Deans performance seems genuine and it still holds today. Using Semiotics it has become a huge myth in the culture of are society, James Deans character and attitude that is. But the other two actors Sal Mineo and Natalie Wood's performances seem over the top at points and outdated. However if you can get past this, which I believe is an easy step, it is an excellent movie. I really think it plays into the mind set a lot of young people have felt. I think this is why it is so succesful. Some scenes still make me laugh, like the cliff scene or the fact that chicken gets to Dean's character so badly. It all seems a little over the top but I accept it for the time period portrayed. The red coat and attitude is one of the most memorable things in cinema carrying over to culture. Smoking cigarettes, nice bad ass coat, boots, a screw you attitude, you can find it in any high school in America and I think they says something strong for this film. Also this film is very powerful in terms of Family, at least to me. The fact that all these dysfuctional kids with messed up families, (I mean one kills puppies) can come together and become their own family and be happy for the brief period there together. It's a powerful message and image to see. this is another reason its so popular with me and other's.

Coming Home

I absolutely hated this film. I don't know why it just didn't do anything for me. it didn't feel real or maybe it was too real, just something about it. I couldn't keep up and didn't want to. I gave up on the film in the first twenty minutes. However it taught me an important lesson about screenwriting which Rob shared with us. You wanna find your own piss bags for each scene. What I mean is if you look at the scene when they first meet in the hospital he spills piss on her. This gives the scene a unique quality and makes it its own. These are the things as a screenwriter we must look for. Little gems that make your piece stand out. Besides that I have no use for the film.