Fourth and Final Film

For my fourth film I watched American Beauty by Sam Mendes. Although the film was somewhat disturbing the plot was very unpredictable, original, and the cinematic techniques Mendes uses are incredible. The shots, lighting, and music all help create the perfect mood to drive the story forward. One example of great artistry is when Carolyn is walking nervously into her house while crying, tightly gripping her purse, and taking slow, laborious breaths. It is implied that she is planning on killing her husband at this point. This scene is very dark and takes place during a thunderstorm. Carolyn’s figure is a rather dark silhouette against the soft gray light in the background. The music is also very sad and helps create the mood of this scene, which is depressing and angry. Also, the dream and fantasy scenes with Lester obsessing about Angela fit in very nicely with the theme of the entire movie. Being very attractive, Angela is a symbol of beauty in general. The deep red roses do a great job of abstractly communicating these scenes. The viewer sees these roses coming from Angela’s body, her mouth, and her bath water. Which symbolizes her beauty. The movie also uses a lot of foreshadowing, for example, when Buddy gets out of Carolyn’s car after they realize what a mistake the affair was. Carolyn screams at the top of her lungs, the camera rises in the air above her car while spinning quickly. This is a foreshadowing of things to come..since everything goes wrong after this point. Another example is when Carolyn is walking nervously into her house while crying, tightly gripping her purse, and taking slow breaths. It is implied that she is planning on killing someone at this point. This scene is very dark and takes place during a thunderstorm. The music is also very sad and helps create the mood of this scene, which is depressing and angry.

Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction was a movie filled with every genre. At times we had romance, others violence, lines with comedy, and then tragedy strikes here and there. During the first few scenes I was confused by the movie and had no idea where it was going to go. The movie incorporates four different stories that connect through violence and redemption.

This movie received a ton of praise because of its unique and powerful dialogue. One critic showed an example of this; the conversation between Butch and Fabienne right after Butch kills another man in the fighting match. The conversation is;

Fabienne: says she has been looking in the mirror and wants a pot belly.

Butch: You have one?

Fabienne: If I had one, I would wear a t-shirt two sizes too small, to accentuate it.

Afterwards she says, “Its unfortunate what we find pleasing to the touch and pleasing to the eye are seldom the same.”

During this dialogue, he introduces a new character and immediately we understand her personality. He creates lines for his characters, not to waste or pass time, but to further the plot. Behind every line, there is a meaning and these lines contribute to his overall success in his movies.

Memento

Memento is a movie that you may have to watch two or three times to fully appreciate the effort that was put into the making of that movie. The reason being, the movie is in reverse; meaning the last part is presented first and the first part is presented last and everything in between repeats itself. The movie is about memory; a man who is determined to find the person who murdered his wife and ultimately left him with this brain problem. Leonard can only remember certain things for a minute or two, then forgets what happened. He reminds himself with tattoos all over his body and pictures with little writings. This always helps him to identify the people around him and try to help him find the man who killed his wife.

 

This movie made me realize how important memory really is. I almost got frustrated when watching this movie cause all I wanted him to do was to remember the little things, but it wasn’t his fault. Memory is what we live off of essentially. Without it we wouldn’t know how to live. Crimes would be ok, because no one would remember. You would die, but no one would know. You would forget who your family is. I thought about a world where everyone functioned the same way Leonard did and I ultimately came to the conclusion; disaster.

Sharknado

If you were to watch one movie to describe and show what bad techniques of filmmaking are; sharknado would be perfect. Throughout the movie, you sit there and watch as the next terrible technique appears on the screen.

To start off  the characters names were; Fin, Baz, Nova, and George. It was like the director chose four random people off the street and made them act in a horrific movie together. Fin’s ex-wife, Tara and him have a daughter and son, who almost look the same age as Tara, if not older.

From the beginning scene on the boat, where the waves look like they are painted on the screen and the sharks are almost the same size of the boat, you start to wonder what you got yourself into. It gets better…

One day when everyone is enjoying a day at the beach, two major things happen. A mob of almost 20,000 sharks appear on shore and start to eat the surfers, and out of the blue, a hurricane takes over the town, and before you know it sharks are swimming on the streets.

As the story continues the sequence of events get weirder and weirder, but in the end the two main characters get eaten by a shark with a chainsaw in hand, but ultimately cut the shark and survive by climbing out of the stomach. Did not mean to spoil, but couldn’t help the fact that that happened.

 

Sharknado was one hour and thirty minutes of unending random events and terrible film techniques (voiceovers, green screen, sharks, etc.)

But then you raise the question, was this horrific filmmaking on purpose? To get attention and some laughs? That’s for you to answer.

The Fault in Our Stars

When you read a book, you are really putting together a visual story in your head of what the characters look like, the scenery around them, and the interactions between one another. The past books that I have read, what I envisioned was different from what the movie presented. However, the Fault in Our Stars book and movie were almost verbatim. What I envisioned Hazel Grace to look like was very similar to the way she was presented in the movie. Augustus too. The only character my mind was thrown off by was Peter Van Houten. When he turned around for the first time in Amsterdam, I almost jumped. I was picturing an old cute man, but he looked more like a young, wrinkled, monkey-looking man.

 

When reading this book, I also connected to Hazel Grace. Although I am not struggling with cancer, as a teenager, we all struggle with teenager things. One critic wrote, It gets everything right about being young and in love for the first time.” The first emotional connection that you feel when you’re a teenager, mainly everyone can connect to, which was heartwarming. For example, the word, “okay” meant everything to Hazel and Grace, and I know we all have had a little symbol that reminds us of the one we truly love.

In the book and in the movie, you were able to feel that connection that Josh Boone and John Greene gave to you. I applaud both of them on putting together a  movie and book, that the emotional connection with the viewer was strong enough to make it so well known and liked.