The Godfather Review

The Godfather was a good movie but not one of my favorites of the class. The story took place in the 60's in New York and New Jersey. The movie itself was made in 1972 so It wasn't as action packed as our movies of today. The shooting seemed real though, and the blood too, so It wasn't ridiculously gory, but not unrealistic either. The family was like any other typical Italian family, but Don Corleone has got to be the gangster idol. If someone describes a gangster they basically described Corleone. His large chin, and casual soft raspy voice are recreated in many movies with other gangsters. I was disappointed when he died but then again it made me realize that the movie was not about Don Corleone, it was about Michael. Michael does not really want to be apart of the family business, and I can't Say I blame him. Its a scary life, people might kill you just because your Corleone's son. But when his father is killed he shows true Italian loyalty to family and wants to get his revenge, and soon, gain back the respect for his family like his father would have wanted. He realizes this is what his father would have wanted, and he sees that you can't hide from your family, be who you are and be proud of it. All and all a good movie, a classic that everyone needs to see, because all gangster movies made after this one took small bits and pieces and incorporated it into those films too.

The Departed Review

The Departed was a really good movie. It was the first gangster movie that we watched in the class so far and I really enjoyed it. Leonardo Dicaprio and Matt Damon were great choices for the main actors of the movie, although I got confused at times because they looked very similar. The plot of the story was very interesting, but it was confusing for me because I missed the first half of the film. The two gangsters Sullivan and Costigan were both trained to work within the mob and the Massachusetts state police. Sullivan is one of the bad guys working for the mob who snuck his way up to a reputable captain of the police. Costigan is an undercover agent who pretends to be a criminal. Both are searching for the "mole" in Costellos mob, and both are kind of moles. I liked the story but the ending was bad, everyone was shot and killed. Both the main characters were killed, and I was really upset when Costigan was killed because I wanted him to succeed. But no he was killed in the line of duty doing the right thing, and then it got exciting, just as you though Sullivan would get away, he was shot too, and that's how it ended. Overall the movie was very exciting and interesting, and was well deserving of four academy awards.

Cool Hand Luke Review

Cool Hand Luke is the best movie we have watched so far. The story was great, veteran, winner of a purple heart basically an American hero gets put into jail for twisting the heads off of parking meters. He joins the chain gang and proves himself to the other inmates. Luke's story was inspiring for those who think they are in a bad situation to keep their chin up and keep on smiling. My favorite part of the movie was probably the fight with Dragline because that is where you really got a sense of who Luke is. He got punched down so many times, got a bloody nose and couldn't stand straight but he kept getting up, his never give up mentality made the audience respect him. I also, liked how Luke created a fun atmosphere for the other inmates. He liked to make bets, like the card game when he bet all of his money for a bad hand, that is how he got his name cool Hand Luke. Also the time he bet he could eat 58 eggs, it was gross but the inmates had fun for awhile and stopped thinking about their bad living conditions. I really liked this movie and it is going on my list of favorites. I was very sad at the end when Luke was shot, but Dragline punched that officer to the ground so that made me feel better that the officer got what he deserved.

Psycho Review

I think Psycho was an interesting movie. I didn't find it scary at all, but in the end i have to say I did enjoy the kind of twisted story it had. Watching it you would have never known that the many different things in the backgrounds actually foreshadowed events to come. In the office scene, I thought the pictures on the walls were just pictures, not a sneak peek to Marians death! Also, when Marian arrived at the hotel I thought Norman Bates was just a regular guy, a little strange but I felt sympathy for him because his mother was so demanding on him. I would have never expected him to have a dual personality and really be a killer. In the end it was creepy to find out that Norman had killed Marian and really believed that his mother who was him himself did the deed. It was also creepy to find out that he had kept the body of his mother for years inside his home! What was most interesting to me in this movie though was the use of birds throughout the film. Marians last name is Crane, and when she arrives at the motel and has dinner with Norman in his parlor, the stuffed birds added a creepy effect. Especially the owl which sat above Marian, which represented Norman ready to pounce for the kill. Overall I enjoyed this movie, its blend of action, suspence, and twisted story made for a good movie.

Psycho: With Sound and Without

Seeing the shower scene in the beginning I thought it was unrealistic and corny, but it still made me jump and feel nervous. When watched without sound it became very obvious that the directors use of music and sound, is what made the scene frightening and surprising. The large sharp noises as Norman pulled the curtain back made you jump because It was a drastic change to the regular low key noise of the shower. Then as the attackor was stabbing Marian with the knife, the director used sound effects that were similar to large brush cutters, kind of a chopping noise. This made it seem as though the knife was cutting into Marian even though the picture showed clearly it didn't. Then the scene ended with Marian grabbing the shower curtain, it ripping and a loud thud of her hitting the ground. I think this part showed the audience that Marian was really dead, because before with her sitting in the shower it was difficult to see if she was truley dead or not. Then the entire scene fiineshed with just that steady shower noise, which calmed the audience and told them the action was over and the attaker was gone...for now.

Casablanca Review

Casablanca is said to be one of the greatest films of all time. Authough I wouldn't put it at the top of my list, I can certainly see why it was put there. It was produced in 1942, and at first its story wasn't anything special, just another movie made during the boom era of filmaking. The story I thought was good, a man who meets up with his past love and has to choose between hving her back again or supporting the revolution by helping her and her husband escape from a nazi controlled city. When this issue of Nazi takeover became really recognized in the states, the people were able to relate to Casablanca much better I believe. Because now I cannot relate my situation to Rick and Ilsa's maybe that is why I couldn't really get into the movie. But I do have to appreciate the use of gauze filming in this movie which gave Ingrid Bergman a soft look to her. I felt the romantic quality it gave to her and it helped me to at least relate to the movie emotionally. what also helped me relaste emotionally to this movie was the flashback scene.The flashback was a major part of the movie because it let you in on the past love between Rick and Ilsa, when you got back to the present I felt the emotion that was still between them and I wanted them to be together again. In the end when Rick told Ilsa to leave with Laszlo, I could feel Ilsas pain, torn between her want to be with Rick, and helping Laszlo fight for his cause. All in all the movie itself was good. Not my favorite but the director did a good job really bringing the viewer into the story. It was a good movie for emotion. It allowed you to feel emotion and relate to the characters, ( which helped me because I was unable to relate with the background story).

2005 King Kong Review

Authough this King Kong was a remake of the original, Peter Jackson changed the story a bit. I liked the changes though. In this remake Ann is made more sensible, she refused Carl Denhems request more than one time while in the original Ann seemed giddy and Naieve. A big difference between the two was that in the original movie Jack Driscoll was a sailor on the boat while in this movie Jack was the writer of Carls movie screenplay. I think the director changed this piece because it allowed more emotion into the story. Jack was just a regular guy, not the most handsome, but he wrote Anns favorite play, it was almost destiny that they would meet up and fall in love. Also in the new movie the natives were scary and mean, which again I think the director did this for stronger emotion, he really wanted the audience to hate the natives, to get the vibe they were savage. Which in the original you never really got that vibe. I think the most major difference between the two movies is that You really got to see how much Kong loved Ann, and how much Ann loved Kong. The emotion between them was clearly shown with the scene of Ann sleeping in Kongs arms and her tears when all those cruel men went to harpoon him and capture him. My favorite part was when Kong and Ann were on top of the Empire State building at sunset and Kong tapped his chest referring back to the scene when Ann did the same to tell Kong how beautiful the view was. All and all the movie was excellent, a good protrayl of the original in my book.