Unforgiven vs. Stagecoach

Looking back on the two Western movies that we watched in class they are both similar and different. Again, I wasn't a huge fan of Westerns to beging with but I enjoyed these two films.

Going back to the double bubble map that we did in class analysing the similarities and differences between teh Classic and Revisionist Western, I would have to say that I liked Unforgiven better and no it's not because it was in color. One characteristic of a revisionist western in the film that I really liked was the idea the Will Munny (Clint Eastwood) was asked by the women to do a job that he hasn't done it a really long time. He has moved on from what he was in the past and this was forcing him to go back to his old ways. You could tell throughtout the movie that he kind of lost his touch like not knowing how to mount a horse properly or being able to shoot a gun. I found it interesting watching Munny going through his growing of a character and the things that he had to relearn that he knew in the past. He also went through emotional times that you could tell when he was thinking about his past. The ending to me was really awesome. Not only did he dominate Little Bill, but he finished was he was set out to do. So i would say that I liked Unforgiven better than Stagecoach because of the plot and the character developement troughtout the movie.

It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life by Frank Capra is a film about a man George Bailey who attempts to commit suicide on Christmas Eve because of a life he thinks is terrible. The movie is about a guardian angel who is sent to save Bailey from his misery. Throughout the movie there are many flashbacks that show the viewer how Bailey impacted peoples lives. After all his self-doubting, Bailey recognizes his life as wonderful and truly rich one.

At the box office, It's a Wonderful Life didn't do as hot as planned.It actually was a flop. It was first showed in New York on December 20, 1946. It got mixed reviews and it had a major competitor at the time: The Best Years of Our Live. Although it wasn't the hit movie of the time, it has gotten recognition throughout the years.

"... Director Capra's inventiveness, humor and affection for human beings keep it glowing with life and excitement." Bosley Crowther "The New York Times".

I think one thing that made people like this movie was that it was something that they could relate too. It was released right after WWII and a time where people were sad and depressed so people saw the movie as dark, but now it as seen as a sentimental Christmas movie. The character of Bailey was easy to connect to with people watching at the present time and helped shape Stewart's film persona.

The film went into general release on January 7, 1947 and placed 26th in box office revenues for the year out of more than 400 features released. It also received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor.
I think that James Stewart, who played Bailey, was a perfect man for the job. He really portrayed the character that Capra was trying to show the audience.

Although when the movie was first released didn't get good reviews, it did get the recognition of a top movie.

Stagecoach by John Ford is a Western about an outlaw, Ringo Kid played by John Wayne who is seeking revenge. I was very unsure about this movie going into it because I have never been a huge fan of Westerns. I have always thought they were boring an outdated. To say the least, this one wasn't that bad which makes me even more excited about watching Unforgiven.

One of the themes that come up in the movie is civilization vs. wilderness. I liked how Ford sort of separated the two during the movie. One scene that pops out to me was when the stagecoach was riding down the trail and there is some slow non-diegetic sound playing and all of a sudden the camera pans up to the top of a cliff and you see the Indians(wilderness)above them and the music starts to go a lot faster and jumpy.

So ya, it was a good movie.

"Citizen Cane", by Orson Wells has many good things and some bad things about the movie. Two aspects that I think really contributed to this famous movie is the mise-en-scene and the cinematography used by Wells. One particular shot that has stuck in my head since we finished waching the movie, was when Kane is standing over Susan like he owns her. The lighting could have told the story by itself. It was low key lighting when had Kane in the light and Susan in a shadow making the viewer think that Kane has all the power and Susan is hopeless. Another big shot I liked was at the end when Wells uses tracking to go over all of Kane's posessions. It shows the reader how materialistic Kane was and wanted everything even though it did nothing for him in the end. It shows the viewer all the things he has from his life, some valuable and some not. The tracking ends on the picture of his sled as a child that he misses. It raps up the whole story and it brings the movie to an end. It's at the end of the tracking shot, and it tightens up all the loose ends. Those are two major contributions to why I enjoyed this movie and still think about it now.

You'll shoot your eye out kid

"A Christmas Story" is one of my favorite comedies of all time. Directed by Bob Clark, "A Christmas Story" is about a young boy named Ralphie who all he wants for Christmas is a Red Ryder, carbine action, 200 shot BB gun. It's a conflict throughout the whole story as Ralphie quickly understands that no one thinks he should get one. A great saying and something that is said the whole movie is, "you'll shoot your eye out kid". Ralphie will do anything to get his hands on this BB gun, whether it's to go tothe mall and ask Santa for it, or to write a school paper about why he wants one.

A lot of things go wrong with the family during the movie. The dad is kind of on his own. He makes this huge deal about this lamp in a shape of a leg. When he gets it, he makes the whole family help him set it up. Once it was ready, he turns off all the lights and goes outside for him to gaze at it. The shot that is used at that moment really shows the viewer how mesmerized the old man was. It shows how he sort of looks up to how unbelievable this prize is, which to the viewer doesn't seem like a prize at all. The father also has a battle with the house furnace and the nieghbors dogs who interupt their family dinner.

One of my favoirte scene's in the whole movie is when Ralphie walks down the stairs in his pink bunny suit that he got from his grandmother for Christmas. Clark does an excellent job her of making ralphie look like he is not having any fun and that he feels powerless with the rest of the family laughing at him. There is a long shot from the christmas tree looking at Ralphie head to toe in his bunny costume.

The movie is also about a lot of other things. The school bully, who picks on Ralphie everyday. The little brother who has outgrown his little red snowsuit that when he puts it on, he can't put his arms down.

Since the movie was released in 1983, It's interesting to see the similarities and differenced between the movie then and the real world today. No one puts soap in their kids' mouth when they get in trouble, the BB gun has change to a paintball or air soft gun and no prize would be a lamp of a women's leg. I think all of this adds to the humor of the story.

It's a typical family story of all the bumps and bruises they come along during the holidays. It's a great family movie and anyone can relate to it. Ralphie finally gets his Red Ryder BB gun and does in fact shoot his eye and it makes his glasses fall off. From the bully and the old man's prize, "The Christmas Story" is a classic.

I recently saw the movie Perfect Stranger starring Bruce Willis and Halle Berry. I enjoyed the movie overall because it kept me guessing. Halle Berry plays a character who has this ongoing story that she needs to get rid of by killing the people who have evidence against her. You don't know that she has to kill these people until the very end when something happens(I won't spoil it). I would recommend anyone to see it because it kept me on my toes and it keeps the viewer involved.

Another Stuart Little?

Going into this assignment, I decided I wanted to read a review that would sway my opinion one way or the other to finally go see a movie or not. I found this review that was written by David Ansen from Newsweek. He wrote this article on the new pixar animated film Ratatouille. I have always been a little hesitant on the animated movies ever since I watched Stuart Little. Don't ask me why I saw that because it is something I still ask myself today. Animated films to me are boring in a sense and kind of predictable. I wanted to see if Ansen agreed with the rave of how good Ratatouille is.
D. Ansen starts out his critique by stating some of the obstacles that Ratatouille had to overcome like the title being in French and others. He tells us that Brad Bird, the creator of the furry rat, was excited to take on the challeges to change people perception of the film.
Ansen says:

It would seem that Pixar's newest animated movie, "Ratatouille,"
has a few
obstacles to overcome. The title isn't in English, and a good
percentage of
the audience has probably never tasted it, let alone heard of
it.

Seeing that I speak French , it also caught my eye in the sense that the setting was taking place in France and that the title was French. I know some things about French culture and the language that it might help me understand the film better.

Ansen does a good job of telling a brief description of what the movie is. The main character Remy, is a rat that is chasing his dream to become a chef; something he has always like. While all odds are against him, he finds a way to do something that he really likes.

Ansen goes on to compare the movie to the pixar film "Cars". He states that Ratatouille is a much better film just simply on the main character. It's a little cheesy in my opinion to have a movie about talking cars. The audience will perceive and understand the movie a lot better if it's a simple character like a friendly rat. Ansen states:

If Pixar's last movie, "Cars," was hampered by the unavoidable fact that
automobile hoods just aren't all that expressive, "Ratatouille”'s lovingly
detailed computer animation is a marvel of subtle shrugs and sly facial
gestures.

Ansen goes on to later describe how this movie could relate to both children and adults in the sense that the children enjoy the animated characters and the adults can relate to his drive and not settling for anything but what he wants. He compares it the "The Incredibles" in the sense that it's a family movie and something that everyone can enjoy.

Ansen points out:

Ratatouille" may prove more fascinating to grown-ups than little kids, whose
interest in food (other than candy) tends to be functional at best. But surely
they'll relate to Remy's cockeyed quest. Like the extraordinary family in Bird's
"Incredibles," who refuse to hide their superhuman gifts under a bushel of
conformity, Remy won't settle for anything less than the best.

After reading this critique and seeing what Ansen had to say about Ratatouille, I think i'm going to have to see it. He assures that it's not like "Cars" with talking front hoods. He has given me enough reasons to go see it with the family based story, the French background and the funny little rat character. I'm glad that I feel confident that it's not going to be a repeat of "Stuart Little". I think this was a sucessful first blog post...