The Film Chronicles

Dial M for Murder

Dial M for Murder, 1954, Thriller
Plot: A man attempts to have his wife murdered, but his plan fails and he is forced to try and cover up his tracks.

Thoughts: Another great by Alfred Hitchcock, this film followed his famous II Act formula of having the act comitted in the first part and then the attempt to get away with it in second. It amazed me how instantly you can get trapped (in a good way) into watching one of these films. The story and character development are what Hitchcock keeps key and knows that that is what makes him so successful.

I also like the simplicity of the movie, like Rope, the film takes place in almost one setting which simplifies it and doesn’t cause for overusing different stages or sets that hold up production. This movie was suspenseful and really holds your attention for the entire time.

4.1

The Good, the Bad, the Weird

The Good, the Bad, the Weird, 2008, Action
Plot: A petty thief steals a treasure map that Manchuria’s deadliest killer is after and a bounty hunter is after the both of them.

Thoughts: When I saw the trailer for this Asian Western movie, I had to find the movie as fast I as I could. I found it weeks ago but only just now had time to watch it. It was a really fun film with a really deep understated message. I love when directors and writers have the ability to intertwine ideas within their work to make films not only entertaining, but also intellectually stimulating.

Ji-woon Kim was very creative in both his shot decisions and the layout of the settings. The cinematographer was stupendous and captured some really good shots of Manchuria (if that was it anyway). The gun fight sequences were a good mix of American action and East Asian kung-fu films. The movie also has some good plot twists (some predictable and others not).

A good movie, but a little long.

3.9/5

Smokey and the Bandit

Smokey and the Bandit, 1977, Comedy
Plot: A driver is given the task to pick up hundreds of cases of beer from Texas and bring it back to Georgia within a day. Throughout the trip he has to avoid being stopped by law officers and a particularly enthusiastic Sheriff from Texarkana called Smokey.

Thoughts: This movie was really fun to watch. Burt Reynolds played Bandit, the “smoothe, tough guy who was cool under any situation. There were many car chases and they were all very well done and original, they never seemed to get old eventhough there were about 10 of them in the entire movie. Sally Field was a good supporting actress in her role as a runaway bride. The actor that really stole the show, however, was Jackie Gleason. His role as Smokey the Sheriff was hilarious!

This is a good movie to watch with a lot of people because it has that laughing with a bunch of people quality (if that makes any sense). The plot is simple but gives a lot of leeway for the comedy. Really entertaining movie.

4.0/5

Salt

Salt, 2010, Thriller
Plot: A CIA agent is accused of being a Russian spy so she runs away.

Thoughts: This movie was an unoriginal 90 minute commercial with a Michael Bay sized budget. It was too cliche and it amazes me how it passed as some sort of blockbuster hit. I was very disappointed while watching the movie. The writing was awful, the action sequences (which were well choreographed) were all cliche: Highway chase? Check. Room full of enemies? Check. White House? Check. The acting wasn’t even that well done (I’m disappointed in you Liev!).

Whoever was responsible for this debacle should be demoted to producing Harlequin movies. The story was just like if you made a 15 year old watch the Bourne Identity and a recent James Bond film simultaneously and then told them to write a movie.

0.9/5

PS: I don’t normally hate this hard…but film was wack, yo.

The King’s Speech

The King’s Speech, 2010, Drama
Plot: This biographical film follows the rise of King George VI from stammering Prince to the voice of England and her people with the help of a speech therapist.

Thoughts: This movie was decent. The story was okay, the direction was alright, but where it really stood out was with the acting. Everyone was stupendous, believable, and honest with their roles and allowed the audience to become engrossed in their lives.

The climax of the film was very grandiose and it was nerve racking seeing how George would do when speaking to the entire country. The one thing that really bugged me was that the “low part of the movie”, which only lasted a few minutes and then everything was better. I normally hate this part of the movie, but now I see why it’s necessary.

This makes back-to-back Best Picture winners that I haven’t been super pleased with…get it together, Oscar.

3.9/5

Rocky

Rocky, 1976, Drama
Plot: An underachieving boxer gets a chance to fight for the heavyweight title.

Thoughts: This movie won an Oscar, but I have no clue why. It was a good film and had some good acting, but the story was awful. Everything was cheesy and at times I couldn’t see anyone’s motivation for doing anything. The way that the “Italian Stallion” got selected was also a tad convenient (Columbus was Italian so Apollo Creed should fight “one of his descendants”) and very unbelievable.

I wish this movie hadn’t have been made so that it could be better when written by someone other than the vain Sly Stallone. The directing was good and the supporting actors were written solely to support, which is how they were written.

2.6/5

Marwencol

Marwencol, 2010, Documentary
Plot: A man who is beaten by 5 young men into a week-long coma, builds a fictional town out of Barbies and action figures to cope with the stress and brain damage.

Thoughts: A genuinely done look at how a man deals with his demons. The town is as real as he makes it and the film brings you into his world. What may be strange to you at first slowly makes it way into the realm of the normal.

The photographs that he takes of his town and characters are displayed as art. The pictures are amazing in terms of pure composition and lighting (although he really only uses the sun as his source). It comes so flawlessly to him, too, which makes it that more impressive. One day I’ll find something that I can do so effortlessly.

3.9/5

Black Swan

Black Swan, 2010, Thriller
Plot: A Ballerina gets her dream role as Swan Queen in the ballet “Swan Lake”, but her nervousness and anxiety drive her into insanity.

Thoughts: After watching this movie, I can see how The King’s Speech beat it out. It really wasn’t that great of a film. There was too much that the viewer had to assume because of huge lapses in time. At times Aronofsky’s picture was just too confusing for me to even care. Everyone acted well but I believe that the writing could have been improved and that the crappy CGI could have been lost. I think the film would have been much more successful had it not dumbed down to it’s audience so much.

I liked the feel of the movie, many scenes and shots felt like a documentary (akin to The Wrestler). Someone said it already but I share a similar sentiment, this was just The Wrestler without the charm and audience-character connection. It was still beautiful to watch, even with every scene background being black and white except for her house.

3.4/5

Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now, 1979, Drama
Plot: During the Vietnam War a US Soldier is sent to kill a US officer who has gone rogue and resides in Cambodia with hundreds of native followers.

Thoughts: I thought I was watching the regular version but accidently watched the redux (which is 3 hours long). At some points the film was very engaging but for the most part it was tedious and a little boring. There is only one plot and we follow only one main character through the entire film. This wouldn’t have been so bad had the movie not been as long as it was; I got tired of looking at Martin Sheen at about hour one.

The story was good and there was an All-Star Cast of then current and future stars, which surprised me. I really liked how real the movie felt and how they chose to focus on the soldiers alone. I hate when war movies get too political. Not much more to say that Coppola hasn’t said in this movie.

3.3/5

SN: Marlon Brando was a BEAST.

Network

Network, 1976, Comedy (Satire)
Plot: An anchor for a national news network rants with much foul language, the network executives notice this and capitalize on it by creating a network of untraditional characters.

Thoughts: An extremely satirical film, it did the same thing that Anchor Man tried to do but better. Instead of being an outright comedy, the actors performed as if they were attempting to win Oscars (which writer Paddy Chayefsky won for the film). It was ridiculous, but makes you think about exactly what we watch on TV. I really enjoyed the long speeches that one of the characters broke into in every scene.

The cinematography was well done, capturing the darkness of the boob tube’s shadow of ignornace. A really funny movie about the TV business.

3.7/5