The film takes place in Harlem, New York from 1928 to 1931 and combines song and dance with drama. The director, Francis Ford Coppola, looks back at the peak of the legendary Harlem nightclub where blacks performed to a white audience. Most of the gangster scheming, normal for that era, were staged in public places, like the Cotton Club.
Lone Star, by John Sayles, is a feature film that blends drama, mystery, romance and social issues. The film deals with a murder and a love story but is mostly about how people from different cultures and generations try to live together. The narrative of the film is about borders. While jumping about in time, the story unveils different borders that often separate, instead of promote a crossing point for peaceful exchange - between countries, between past and present, and between cultures. The director's editing technique where the camera “pans” to the past without fade-outs, cutting, or breaking the action, suggest that the present and past are tied intimately together, and both live within us. Every individual is free to choose whether to bury their past, merge it into the present, or just live for today without looking back: “The blood only means what you let it.” The final scene shows Pilar and Sam sitting at a blank screen and discussing their future. Pilar, who is a history teacher says: “Forget the Alamo.” This shows that both of them decide that the knowledge of their blood relation doesn’t change the feelings they have for each other. They choose to forget the past, the history, and destroy the border that stands between them. The border that exists only in their minds. 3.5 / 5 Director: John Sayles Staring: Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Pena The cinematic theme that Godard uses in his film, Tout va b!en, is estrangement. None of his characters inspire an emotional investment nor empathy from the audience. On the contrary – we have multiple individuals: the boss, the correspondent for the ABS, her husband, and the factory workers, who speak their mind directly to the audience through the camera. Their commentaries are direct observations on the political system and political situation in France in 1972. Tout va b!en is also about provocation. It provokes us through camera techniques, the long and repetitious tracking shots (like the one in the supermarket), and with direct references to the actual making of the film. The subject matter and the commentary are all aimed to dissatisfy us, to make us think and to possibly change us. 3 /5 Director: Jean-Luc Godard Staring: Yves Montand, Jane Fonda This year there isn't much to see on the big screen. Do yourself a favor and go and see "Rust and Bone." You won't forget it just as you won't forget the characters played by Marion Cotillard (Stephanie) and Matthias Schoenaerts (Ali). It's a strange love story told with bold editing and daring staged scenes. It's a film unlike any other this year. Both, Ali and Stephanie, bring back each other's spirit in such an audacious way that both of them deserve an Oscar nomination. 4 / 5 Director: Jacques Audiard Starring: Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts Citizen Kane is an assembly of beautifully arranged scenes, and one of these days I might write about every single one of them. Here is the second entry in my blog from that film – The Declaration of Principles. It starts with a medium shot on Kane and Jed Leland standing by the window. They appear locked in the window frame in the office of the “Inquirer”. Kane writes the Declaration of Principles facing the window, indicating how important it is to the readers and the people outside. Often labeled as a genius, Orson Wells arrived in Hollywood in the late 1930’s to pursue a film career. Hollywood’s society of filmmakers was expecting him, counting on his talents, and hoping he'd create a production like nothing before. He didn't disappoint. In 1941, Citizen Kane was released, ushering in a new era of filmmaking. I will talk about one scene – The release of Jed Lealand – even though the entire film is an assembly of beautifully arranged scenes from start to end. The moment I heard "Killing Them Softly" was more of a talking thriller than an action-packed movie, I knew that I had to see it. It left me with mixed feelings. I liked it and I didn't. I liked seeing the various crimes portrayed in the movie. I liked the parallel between the incorporated mentality of the crime world juxtaposed with the incorporated lies of politicians. There are two other aspects that I liked a great deal. The sound is so engaging it pulls you into the world of the movie. It forces you to experience it, to really feel the anxiety, which is very unsettling. The sound in the robbery sequence is outstanding and reminds me of the sound in the opening shot of "Touch of Evil." On top of that, you have James Gandolfini, who is so mesmerizing that I couldn't stop thinking about his portrayal of this pathetic and sad character. He is definitely an Oscar winner for supporting role, in my book. I like Brad Pitt and applaud him for stepping out of the usual roles that he plays by taking on a riskier role. On the other hand, it felt like the movie was a collection of scenes instead of one coherent piece. 3 / 5 Director: Andrew Dominik Starring: Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins What can I say - when Hollywood makes a good movie they make a film. The film captures you right away with its exposition - the editing, the writing and the meaning behind it. The cinematography adds the final touches completing the filmic experience. Everything matches the main idea - we are living in a prison blinded by the government. We know the plot, or we think that we do. It takes unexpected turns while it reveals more evidence of the coup-de-tat that took place on November 22, 1963. The editing is frantic at times but always engaging. The overhead hot lighting creates the claustrophobic environment of a prison cell, while the weird conspiracy characters take over. If you want to find the real meaning of the word "patriot' watch it and pay attention. 4 /5 Director: Oliver Stone Starring: Kevin Costner, Sissy Spacek, Gary Oldman, Jack Lemmon |
People who critique moving pictures fall into 3 general classes:
1. Reviewers - are generally journalists who describe the contents and general tone of a movie, with only incidental emphasis on aesthetic evaluation. 2. Critics - are also journalists for the most part, but their emphasis is more on evaluation than on mere content description. 3. Theorists - are usually professional academics, often the authors of books on how movies can be studied on a more philosophical level. AuthorI'm a film critic and I like to write about films that are exceptional and stand above the rest. Categories
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"The role of the critic is to help people see what is in the work, what is in it that shouldn't be, what is not in it that could be. He is a good critic if he helps people understand more about the work that they could see for themselves; he is a great critic, if by his understandings and feeling for the work, by his passion, he can excite people so that they want to experience more of the art that is there, waiting to be seized. He is not necessarily bad critic if he makes errors in judgement. He is a bad critic if he does not awaken the curiosity, enlarge the interests and understanding of his audience. The art of the critic is to transmit his knowledge of and enthusiasm for art to others." ( Pauline Kael )
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