I apologize for the title of the post but I was trying to sound intelligent and academic but it just sounds ridiculous so I apologize but if anyone has another title for my award show, please let me know. It needs a new name. But here are my awards. There will be 5 nominees in each category and then I will put the winner directly below it although I think that will be pretty easy to follow. (In films with less than 5 nominees possible, I will put the maximum, i.e. the Actress categories)
Best Picture Nominees:
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Seventh Seal
Runaway Train
Unforgiven
Dr. Strangelove
Winner: All Quiet on the Western Front
Best Director Nominees:
Lewis Milestone - All Quiet
Orson Welles - Citizen Kane
Alex Proyas - Dark City
Christopher Nolan - Memento
Stanley Kubrick - Dr. Strangelove
Winner: Orson Welles
Best Actor Nominees:
Jon Voight - Runaway Train
Guy Pearce - Memento
Peter Sellers - Dr. Strangelove
William H. Macy - Fargo
Rufus Sewell - Dark City
Winner: Peter Sellers
Best Supporting Actor Nominees:
Dustin Hoffman - Midnight Cowboy
Gene Hackman - Unforgiven
Morgan Freeman - Unforgiven
Kiefer Sutherland - Dark City
Eric Roberts - Runaway Train
(William Hurt - Dark City)
Winner: Gene Hackman
Best Actress Nominees:
Ginger Rogers - Top Hat
Frances McDormand - Fargo
Winner: Frances McDormand
Best Supporting Actress Nominees:
Rebecca DeMornay - Runaway Train
Dorothy Comingore - Citizen Kane
Bridget Fonda - A Simple Plan
Jennifer Connelly - Dark City
Helen Broderick - Top Hat
Winner: Jennifer Connelly
Best Screenplay Nominees: (Original or Adapted -- it's too much work to see which are which)
Runaway Train
Dark City
Dr. Strangelove
Unforgiven
Fargo
Winner: Dr. Strangelove
I hope these picks are suitable and acceptable although probably slightly unorthodox. I couldn't pick just 5 supporting actors because #3-6 were too close for me to just pick 3 of them. Also, it was very close between Jennifer Connelly and Bridget Fonda. Let me know how wrong I am with my picks and look for my next post where I list my favorite movies, from the top 15. Believe me, it will be a very unorthodox list probably. Enjoy!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
I Am Shocked
When Mr. Bennett announced at the end of the class today that he was leaving, I was literally shell-shocked, amazed and saddened at the same time. After finishing watching the Atomic Cafe and the effect of dropping the Atom Bomb, Mr. Bennett dropped an atomic bomb on our class with the revelation.
Let me just say, and Rob Marotta also said this, but the school will not be the same without you Mr. Bennett. I don't want to speak for the whole class but I will anyway, I know we all loved the film class and were so happy that we were able to take it. Same goes for myself in AP American and I'm sure for all those who had you in Global. (I hope I'm not stealing Nick's role as mayor). But without your presence Mr. Bennett, the school will be lacking an essential element that we all enjoyed, and I'm saddened that I won't be able to come back and visit you at Tech next year. But I am happy for you that you are leaving and also it is pretty cool to say that we get to be the last class to have Mr. Bennett as a teacher. I guess when the statue is built in honor of you at Tech in a few years, we can all say that we were there the last time you taught.
I don't want to keep going on but I want to thank you for everything you have taught myself (and the class) about American History, Film, and most importantly in Life. You will be missed and I hope you enjoy the next chapter of your life. Getting to know you has been an honor, privilege, and a blessing. (I don't want to get too melodramatic here though like Requiem for a Dream.)
I will continue posting on this blog over the months and years to come, including a few more this year on a summary of the class and my favorite movies of the year.
Thank you again for everything Mr. Bennett!
Let me just say, and Rob Marotta also said this, but the school will not be the same without you Mr. Bennett. I don't want to speak for the whole class but I will anyway, I know we all loved the film class and were so happy that we were able to take it. Same goes for myself in AP American and I'm sure for all those who had you in Global. (I hope I'm not stealing Nick's role as mayor). But without your presence Mr. Bennett, the school will be lacking an essential element that we all enjoyed, and I'm saddened that I won't be able to come back and visit you at Tech next year. But I am happy for you that you are leaving and also it is pretty cool to say that we get to be the last class to have Mr. Bennett as a teacher. I guess when the statue is built in honor of you at Tech in a few years, we can all say that we were there the last time you taught.
I don't want to keep going on but I want to thank you for everything you have taught myself (and the class) about American History, Film, and most importantly in Life. You will be missed and I hope you enjoy the next chapter of your life. Getting to know you has been an honor, privilege, and a blessing. (I don't want to get too melodramatic here though like Requiem for a Dream.)
I will continue posting on this blog over the months and years to come, including a few more this year on a summary of the class and my favorite movies of the year.
Thank you again for everything Mr. Bennett!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Dr. Strangelove - Late Thoughts
I know that Dr. Strangelove is nearly out of us teenagers, short attention-spans but I have been unable to post anything the last couple of days because I was doing stuff for college, and then last night I didn't get home from my track meet until after 10:30 PM so I didn't have time but there was one thought that I wanted to make about something that Mr. Bennett mentioned during the film. (Almost all of my other ideas were covered during our 1.5 day long discussion on the film.)
When Major Kong was speaking on the plane and he says "Shoot, a fella' could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff." Now, as Mr. Bennett said, the original screenplay said the city Dallas, but because it was released the month after Kennedy's assassination they didn't want to bring back memories of the city where he was killed. However, throughout the film, at least twice, as Mr. Bennett also stated, the movie referenced a Gap, like the mine-shaft gap and a doomsday gap. Now, I felt that if they were trying to avoid breaching the topic of Kennedy then why did they include these two references to Kennedy.
It just seemed odd personally that they would include some references to Kennedy that would be fresh on people's minds since his Presidency had just ended, but remove the line about Dallas, unless they felt that was too close to home. I don't know, maybe someone could enlighten me on the quasi and selective censorship of the Kennedy dialogue. It was just something I had thought about since we finished the film.
When Major Kong was speaking on the plane and he says "Shoot, a fella' could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff." Now, as Mr. Bennett said, the original screenplay said the city Dallas, but because it was released the month after Kennedy's assassination they didn't want to bring back memories of the city where he was killed. However, throughout the film, at least twice, as Mr. Bennett also stated, the movie referenced a Gap, like the mine-shaft gap and a doomsday gap. Now, I felt that if they were trying to avoid breaching the topic of Kennedy then why did they include these two references to Kennedy.
It just seemed odd personally that they would include some references to Kennedy that would be fresh on people's minds since his Presidency had just ended, but remove the line about Dallas, unless they felt that was too close to home. I don't know, maybe someone could enlighten me on the quasi and selective censorship of the Kennedy dialogue. It was just something I had thought about since we finished the film.
Friday, May 29, 2009
The 2005 Academy Award Nominated Short Films
I was going to make a post last night about the next 36 minutes of Dr. Strangelove, but I got distracted when my brother and his friend began watching a DVD of the 2005 Academy Award Nominated Short Films. Although a Dr. Strangelove post may happen, I must much more interested in understanding what constitutes a short film, how they were done, and how impressed I was by them.
I only saw four out of the five nominated films, but they were each terrific in their own way. The films were:
Cashback (United Kingdom, 19 minutes) directed by Sean Ellis
Sidasti Baerinn (The Last Farm), (Iceland, 15 minutes)directed by Runar Runarsson
Our Time is Up (USA, 14 minutes) directed by Rob Pearlstein
Six Shooter (Ireland, 27 minutes) directed by Martin McDonagh, director of In Bruges
Each of these films were absolutely incredibly, in their own way, and although I don't know much about short films, they seemed to be the best of the best. I believe that my brothers' friend got the DVD of all 5 from Blockbuster so I'm sure it might be available through Netflix or something.
I must say, it was very interesting, how each movie how its own technique of brilliance, but none of them had all of the perfect characteristics. In terms of the filmmaking, the most original and ambitious film in terms of story was Cashback which told the story of a night shift supermarket worker who survives the boredom of the day through his daydreams, but I won't give away what those are.
The 2nd film, The Last Farm, was honestly the most beautifully shot movie that I have ever seen. The cinematography was simply outstanding and although it was a slow, also silent film, it worked better that way because the actors' emotions and the way the story was told, through the filming, was far more effective and truly beautiful. It was very interesting however, and I wonder if it was conscious but one of the first shots of this film reminded me almost exactly of the first shot of The Seventh Seal when Antonius Block is on the rocks of the beach. Here, once again, the shot begins in the ocean and slowly pans to a rocky beach, just like in the Seventh Seal. Immediately, when I saw the shot, I said, "It's the Seventh Seal in color" and the shot was done just as effectively although the character of Death specifically was not standing there. This film also had a very good story, in which it told the story of an older man, who had the last remaining farm, the rest were abandoned, and how he spent his time. It was a vivid, emotional story.
The 3rd movie, was an American comedy, called Our Time Is Up. This movie was brilliantly hilarious and just cleverly written. The entire film, almost a satire but with more obvious humor, had me laughing nearly the entire film. The cast of characters were absolutely terrific actors and the editing of the film was its other great strong point. The way the movie was shot and how scenes were edited together, and repeated with variations, was impressively done, and the comedy was first-rate. This film, tells the story of a psycharitrist who treats his patients much like a normal, detached psycharitrist, and the events that ensue. The length of it and the comic timing just worked perfectly, and I thought that its acting stole the movie.
The final film, Six Shooter, as I mentioned, was directed By Martin McDonagh, director of In Bruges. (Ok, so now I have forced Benny to go out and see this movie, and make him watch all of them in the process.) Interestingly enough, it also started Brandon Gleeson, the fat Irish friend of Colin Farrell (He also plays Mad-Eye Moody in Harry Potter) and who had the main role in In Bruges. This film had the most compelling story, as it told the story of a man dealing with the loss of his wife and his trip back home, dealing with the grief. The strongest point of this film was the deep, complex story as well as the vivid interaction between the different characters. It was filmed much like In Bruges, and because McDonagh also wrote the film, it of course, had incredibly witty and hilarious dialogue, and the writing was clever as always. This was the longest film, and certainly had the most substance, because of its length. The way McDonagh filmed many of the scenes, the character interaction, mimicked or even mirrored much of the action in In Bruges, which isn't a bad thing necessarily. As well, much of the morally ambiguous points of In Bruges are present in this film.
All of these films were terrific, told compelling stories, were beautifully shot, and I enjoyed each of them immensely for their own reasons, except Cashback which was my least favorite, but it was certainly creative. I would suggest each of you, or at least anyone interested, should try to get a copy of it, because it opened my eyes to the world of shorts, and showed me four terrific films. Although I want tell you which movie won the Oscar, I'm going to make you try to figure it out or watch for yourself. (Of course, you could just go to IMDB and search it very simply, but that ruins all the fun now doesn't it.) So, if you get the chance, try to take a look at them, or at least find them online.
I only saw four out of the five nominated films, but they were each terrific in their own way. The films were:
Cashback (United Kingdom, 19 minutes) directed by Sean Ellis
Sidasti Baerinn (The Last Farm), (Iceland, 15 minutes)directed by Runar Runarsson
Our Time is Up (USA, 14 minutes) directed by Rob Pearlstein
Six Shooter (Ireland, 27 minutes) directed by Martin McDonagh, director of In Bruges
Each of these films were absolutely incredibly, in their own way, and although I don't know much about short films, they seemed to be the best of the best. I believe that my brothers' friend got the DVD of all 5 from Blockbuster so I'm sure it might be available through Netflix or something.
I must say, it was very interesting, how each movie how its own technique of brilliance, but none of them had all of the perfect characteristics. In terms of the filmmaking, the most original and ambitious film in terms of story was Cashback which told the story of a night shift supermarket worker who survives the boredom of the day through his daydreams, but I won't give away what those are.
The 2nd film, The Last Farm, was honestly the most beautifully shot movie that I have ever seen. The cinematography was simply outstanding and although it was a slow, also silent film, it worked better that way because the actors' emotions and the way the story was told, through the filming, was far more effective and truly beautiful. It was very interesting however, and I wonder if it was conscious but one of the first shots of this film reminded me almost exactly of the first shot of The Seventh Seal when Antonius Block is on the rocks of the beach. Here, once again, the shot begins in the ocean and slowly pans to a rocky beach, just like in the Seventh Seal. Immediately, when I saw the shot, I said, "It's the Seventh Seal in color" and the shot was done just as effectively although the character of Death specifically was not standing there. This film also had a very good story, in which it told the story of an older man, who had the last remaining farm, the rest were abandoned, and how he spent his time. It was a vivid, emotional story.
The 3rd movie, was an American comedy, called Our Time Is Up. This movie was brilliantly hilarious and just cleverly written. The entire film, almost a satire but with more obvious humor, had me laughing nearly the entire film. The cast of characters were absolutely terrific actors and the editing of the film was its other great strong point. The way the movie was shot and how scenes were edited together, and repeated with variations, was impressively done, and the comedy was first-rate. This film, tells the story of a psycharitrist who treats his patients much like a normal, detached psycharitrist, and the events that ensue. The length of it and the comic timing just worked perfectly, and I thought that its acting stole the movie.
The final film, Six Shooter, as I mentioned, was directed By Martin McDonagh, director of In Bruges. (Ok, so now I have forced Benny to go out and see this movie, and make him watch all of them in the process.) Interestingly enough, it also started Brandon Gleeson, the fat Irish friend of Colin Farrell (He also plays Mad-Eye Moody in Harry Potter) and who had the main role in In Bruges. This film had the most compelling story, as it told the story of a man dealing with the loss of his wife and his trip back home, dealing with the grief. The strongest point of this film was the deep, complex story as well as the vivid interaction between the different characters. It was filmed much like In Bruges, and because McDonagh also wrote the film, it of course, had incredibly witty and hilarious dialogue, and the writing was clever as always. This was the longest film, and certainly had the most substance, because of its length. The way McDonagh filmed many of the scenes, the character interaction, mimicked or even mirrored much of the action in In Bruges, which isn't a bad thing necessarily. As well, much of the morally ambiguous points of In Bruges are present in this film.
All of these films were terrific, told compelling stories, were beautifully shot, and I enjoyed each of them immensely for their own reasons, except Cashback which was my least favorite, but it was certainly creative. I would suggest each of you, or at least anyone interested, should try to get a copy of it, because it opened my eyes to the world of shorts, and showed me four terrific films. Although I want tell you which movie won the Oscar, I'm going to make you try to figure it out or watch for yourself. (Of course, you could just go to IMDB and search it very simply, but that ruins all the fun now doesn't it.) So, if you get the chance, try to take a look at them, or at least find them online.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
The First 12 Minutes of Dr. Strangelove
It is probably abnormal and inappropriate for me to be posting about a film that we have seen so little of, and therefore it is impossible for me to make any actual informed comments on the film because we have seen less than 15% of it, but there were a couple of things that I noticed and I figure I should post them before I forget them, and before they become irrelevant and fade into oblivion.
The first thing, I noticed most about the movie so far were the opening credits. First, the statement by the Air Force which set the tone of the movie because of its seriousness but also ridiculousness at the same time. But the thing that was most pressing about the opening credits, was the title sequence, first that it said that it was a fictional story not based on true events at least 3 or 4 times. Also, the way the title sequence was arranged was very interesting and inventive and I know that it has received notice in the past. The way that certain things were very large, like last names, the letters DR., and a few other random things were thrown in there and it was quite interesting how certain things were very small, like the subtitle of the movie: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, was very small.
The reason this title sequence struck me was two fold, one was because of its original nature and it is something that you rarely take note of to this extent, and second, because I know that this title sequence is famous. The graphic title designer is Pablo Ferro, and although he is famous for doing some of the greatest title sequences of all time, you may not have heard his name. I probably would not have either, but last year I just happened to be watching ReelzChannel and they had a short piece on Pablo Ferro because two men have created a quasi-animated documentary that uses interviews, animation, and other things to tell about the life of Pablo Ferro, as a animator, director, and actor. Having seen this, and in the clip, Dr. Strangelove was mentioned, I paid careful attention to the sequence.
If you can think of other famous title sequences, I wouldn't be surprised if you found that he did them as well, as for example, he did A Clockwork Orange and Beetlejuice, as well as hundreds more. Now, this may not interest any of you and bore you all to death, but I just found it interesting because I had seen the story about him and heard of the forthcoming documentary. I found the link to the video and the movie website and I will post them below, hopefully they both work.
Video:
I know last time Mr. Bennett had trouble watching the video so here is the link to the ReelzChannel clip so you can watch it from their website directly. (Hint: I don't think it will play on school computers, only at home.)
ReelzChannel Clip Link: http://www.reelzchannel.com/trailer-clips/38215/whats-your-title
Movie Website: http://www.pablothemovie.com/
Also, I mentioned that their were two things that I found interesting beyond just the story of the film because the story has not been expanded enough beyond that Plan R is really bad and people can't believe that it will be used unless "Washington has already been bombed." The way that movie has started, and the way it seems to be progressing, reminds me of the book Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, which I thought was brilliant and if you haven't read I would suggest it, but the situations and the satire of the movie, seem to somewhat match Heller's style. But I could be wrong because we haven't seen enough, but in Catch-22 there were similar circumstances where the characters went along with utterly ridiculous things, in ridiculous ways.
But back to my original point, the one thing that I found of note in the movie. I'm not sure if everyone caught it but the General sitting behind the desk at the beginning of the film (the guy the played Dix in Asphalt Jungle), his name was Jack D. Ripper, not exactly the most subtle name.
Now this could have just been make a joke but when a character's name is Jack D. Ripper or Jack the Ripper, modeled after an infamous killer, you would probably assume that it was done on purpose and that it is possible that this character could be a sadist, unfeeling human being, like the killer who shares his name.
I saw the movie Red Eye which was released in 2005 starring Cillian Murphy and Rachel McAdams, before Dr. Strangelove, but in that film, a good but not great film, the main character's name, who was a killer was named Jack Rippner, again a very symbolic name. Also, much of that action took place on a place so maybe their is a correlation between a 1964 satire and a 2005 action-horror movie. (Sarcasm)
But in that film, and I assume in this, when a character is named something symbolic and obvious it probably plays into the character's personality and their ideas about life and possibly in this case about killing and dehumanization. Who knows? But I can already tell that I will like this movie despite seeing so little.
The first thing, I noticed most about the movie so far were the opening credits. First, the statement by the Air Force which set the tone of the movie because of its seriousness but also ridiculousness at the same time. But the thing that was most pressing about the opening credits, was the title sequence, first that it said that it was a fictional story not based on true events at least 3 or 4 times. Also, the way the title sequence was arranged was very interesting and inventive and I know that it has received notice in the past. The way that certain things were very large, like last names, the letters DR., and a few other random things were thrown in there and it was quite interesting how certain things were very small, like the subtitle of the movie: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, was very small.
The reason this title sequence struck me was two fold, one was because of its original nature and it is something that you rarely take note of to this extent, and second, because I know that this title sequence is famous. The graphic title designer is Pablo Ferro, and although he is famous for doing some of the greatest title sequences of all time, you may not have heard his name. I probably would not have either, but last year I just happened to be watching ReelzChannel and they had a short piece on Pablo Ferro because two men have created a quasi-animated documentary that uses interviews, animation, and other things to tell about the life of Pablo Ferro, as a animator, director, and actor. Having seen this, and in the clip, Dr. Strangelove was mentioned, I paid careful attention to the sequence.
If you can think of other famous title sequences, I wouldn't be surprised if you found that he did them as well, as for example, he did A Clockwork Orange and Beetlejuice, as well as hundreds more. Now, this may not interest any of you and bore you all to death, but I just found it interesting because I had seen the story about him and heard of the forthcoming documentary. I found the link to the video and the movie website and I will post them below, hopefully they both work.
Video:
I know last time Mr. Bennett had trouble watching the video so here is the link to the ReelzChannel clip so you can watch it from their website directly. (Hint: I don't think it will play on school computers, only at home.)
ReelzChannel Clip Link: http://www.reelzchannel.com/trailer-clips/38215/whats-your-title
Movie Website: http://www.pablothemovie.com/
Also, I mentioned that their were two things that I found interesting beyond just the story of the film because the story has not been expanded enough beyond that Plan R is really bad and people can't believe that it will be used unless "Washington has already been bombed." The way that movie has started, and the way it seems to be progressing, reminds me of the book Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, which I thought was brilliant and if you haven't read I would suggest it, but the situations and the satire of the movie, seem to somewhat match Heller's style. But I could be wrong because we haven't seen enough, but in Catch-22 there were similar circumstances where the characters went along with utterly ridiculous things, in ridiculous ways.
But back to my original point, the one thing that I found of note in the movie. I'm not sure if everyone caught it but the General sitting behind the desk at the beginning of the film (the guy the played Dix in Asphalt Jungle), his name was Jack D. Ripper, not exactly the most subtle name.
Now this could have just been make a joke but when a character's name is Jack D. Ripper or Jack the Ripper, modeled after an infamous killer, you would probably assume that it was done on purpose and that it is possible that this character could be a sadist, unfeeling human being, like the killer who shares his name.
I saw the movie Red Eye which was released in 2005 starring Cillian Murphy and Rachel McAdams, before Dr. Strangelove, but in that film, a good but not great film, the main character's name, who was a killer was named Jack Rippner, again a very symbolic name. Also, much of that action took place on a place so maybe their is a correlation between a 1964 satire and a 2005 action-horror movie. (Sarcasm)
But in that film, and I assume in this, when a character is named something symbolic and obvious it probably plays into the character's personality and their ideas about life and possibly in this case about killing and dehumanization. Who knows? But I can already tell that I will like this movie despite seeing so little.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
((Fargo vs. A Simple Plan) vs. In Bruges)
I figured I would have some fun with the title of my post and make all three of the movies that are currently debated and pit them against each other in a fight to the death, literally and figuratively, since that is an expression to see who comes out superior, and also because there was so much death in each of these movies.
To begin, let me first make some comments on our most recent film: Fargo.
My first comment is directed at Billy and his comment that there were "too many loose ends left at the end of the movie." I personally don't mind loose ends at a movie, and that often times happens at the end of most the Coen Brothers movies, in fact all that I've seen. Personally, I believe that they do this because in life, there are more loose ends, no one ever knows what happens to everyone else at the end of something, people just disappear into oblivion. I know that as much I would like what happens to all of my classmates after they graduate, I know that I will never see every single person and therefore loose ends form and you forced to imagine what happens because you can't be sure.
In this way, they introduce characters that may seem useless, but it just adds to the point that we can't know the truth about anything and we will not find out how every character lives the rest of their lives, you can only wonder.
Secondly, one of the things I definitely noticed about the film was the similarity in one of their shots in both Fargo and another one of their movies, No Country For Old Men. The scene in Fargo where Shep Proudfoot is choking Carl with the belt and the two fall to the ground and Carl's foot hit the ground and even the way he was choked was nearly identical, when at the opening of No Country, Anton is choking the police and he does so with the handcuffs and the two fall to the ground, almost the same set of shots are used. They aren't identical but definitely similar and it came to mind when I saw the scene in Fargo today.
I actually just watched the two and they aren't that similar, I guess in my "unreliable" memory that struck me as more similar but I included the videos anyway. You can decide for yourself.
Here is the video from No Country For Old Men:
And Fargo:
Now, onto the comparison of the three films. I'll simplify these with categories so this post doesn't get too long.
Best Directing: Fargo
Best Acting: In Bruges
Most Realistic: A Simple Plan
Funniest: In Bruges
Best Writing: Fargo/In Bruges
Darkest Picture of Reality: Fargo
Most Exciting Landscape: This is a tough one because one was in Bruges, and as Ray put it "Maybe that's what hell is, the entire rest of eternity spent in bleeping Bruges." Whereas the other two were stark, barren Midwestern Landscapes. So this category would have to go to Bruges because of the art, as Mr. Bennett has mentioned.
Most Insulting to Other Groups: In Bruges
Best Cinematography: Fargo (Roger Deakins is the best there is)
Best Executed: In Bruges/A Simple Plan
Most Painful to Watch: Fargo (not a good thing, because it was slow)
Bloodiest: A Tie
I split it up into those categories but that still may not matter, because if I were to rank them in which order I liked them the most, in 1st place would be In Bruges because it was the most well-executed, the funniest, and just the most enjoyable and satisfying to watch. It was also clever and memorable.
Maybe it is because I am usually a happy person, but I found something missing in both A Simple Plan and Fargo. I always feel that sometimes the Coen Brothers try too hard to be original and go too far and miss the point and go beyond the realm of realism, but then again, A Simple Plan did that too. I found both movies to be somewhat funny because of its violence but Fargo was going for that, and A Simple Plan was not.
I found that both were depressing and missed the mark on suspense or plot turns. I expected almost all of the events in both films to happen ahead of time and I didn't feel particularly connected to any character, except maybe Marge but still she seemed foreign. I was just looking for something more from them. They each just missed the mark with me on trying to create a place and characters I could believe.
But I have to have an opinion so I will give edge to Fargo but barely just because the acting, cinematography, and story was slightly more clever and better executed in it, especially William H. Macy, Frances McCormand, and Steve Buscemi, and creepy guy were better than Bridget Fonda, Bill Paxton, and Billy Bob Thornton, and fat drunk guy. And the filming was just better in Fargo then A Simple Plan, it was filmed cleaner and more beautiful and clear, but as I said, Roger Deakins is the greatest.
So final grades in the showdown (out of 100)
7 Categories: Directing, Screenwriting, Acting, Cinematography, Story, Realism, Underlying Message (each category out of 10 x 1.4285714) For detailed results in each category you can ask me tomorrow, I can't make this any longer, it is bordering on ridiculous)
In Bruges: 86/100
Fargo: 73/100
A Simple Plan 71/100
To begin, let me first make some comments on our most recent film: Fargo.
My first comment is directed at Billy and his comment that there were "too many loose ends left at the end of the movie." I personally don't mind loose ends at a movie, and that often times happens at the end of most the Coen Brothers movies, in fact all that I've seen. Personally, I believe that they do this because in life, there are more loose ends, no one ever knows what happens to everyone else at the end of something, people just disappear into oblivion. I know that as much I would like what happens to all of my classmates after they graduate, I know that I will never see every single person and therefore loose ends form and you forced to imagine what happens because you can't be sure.
In this way, they introduce characters that may seem useless, but it just adds to the point that we can't know the truth about anything and we will not find out how every character lives the rest of their lives, you can only wonder.
Secondly, one of the things I definitely noticed about the film was the similarity in one of their shots in both Fargo and another one of their movies, No Country For Old Men. The scene in Fargo where Shep Proudfoot is choking Carl with the belt and the two fall to the ground and Carl's foot hit the ground and even the way he was choked was nearly identical, when at the opening of No Country, Anton is choking the police and he does so with the handcuffs and the two fall to the ground, almost the same set of shots are used. They aren't identical but definitely similar and it came to mind when I saw the scene in Fargo today.
I actually just watched the two and they aren't that similar, I guess in my "unreliable" memory that struck me as more similar but I included the videos anyway. You can decide for yourself.
Here is the video from No Country For Old Men:
And Fargo:
Now, onto the comparison of the three films. I'll simplify these with categories so this post doesn't get too long.
Best Directing: Fargo
Best Acting: In Bruges
Most Realistic: A Simple Plan
Funniest: In Bruges
Best Writing: Fargo/In Bruges
Darkest Picture of Reality: Fargo
Most Exciting Landscape: This is a tough one because one was in Bruges, and as Ray put it "Maybe that's what hell is, the entire rest of eternity spent in bleeping Bruges." Whereas the other two were stark, barren Midwestern Landscapes. So this category would have to go to Bruges because of the art, as Mr. Bennett has mentioned.
Most Insulting to Other Groups: In Bruges
Best Cinematography: Fargo (Roger Deakins is the best there is)
Best Executed: In Bruges/A Simple Plan
Most Painful to Watch: Fargo (not a good thing, because it was slow)
Bloodiest: A Tie
I split it up into those categories but that still may not matter, because if I were to rank them in which order I liked them the most, in 1st place would be In Bruges because it was the most well-executed, the funniest, and just the most enjoyable and satisfying to watch. It was also clever and memorable.
Maybe it is because I am usually a happy person, but I found something missing in both A Simple Plan and Fargo. I always feel that sometimes the Coen Brothers try too hard to be original and go too far and miss the point and go beyond the realm of realism, but then again, A Simple Plan did that too. I found both movies to be somewhat funny because of its violence but Fargo was going for that, and A Simple Plan was not.
I found that both were depressing and missed the mark on suspense or plot turns. I expected almost all of the events in both films to happen ahead of time and I didn't feel particularly connected to any character, except maybe Marge but still she seemed foreign. I was just looking for something more from them. They each just missed the mark with me on trying to create a place and characters I could believe.
But I have to have an opinion so I will give edge to Fargo but barely just because the acting, cinematography, and story was slightly more clever and better executed in it, especially William H. Macy, Frances McCormand, and Steve Buscemi, and creepy guy were better than Bridget Fonda, Bill Paxton, and Billy Bob Thornton, and fat drunk guy. And the filming was just better in Fargo then A Simple Plan, it was filmed cleaner and more beautiful and clear, but as I said, Roger Deakins is the greatest.
So final grades in the showdown (out of 100)
7 Categories: Directing, Screenwriting, Acting, Cinematography, Story, Realism, Underlying Message (each category out of 10 x 1.4285714) For detailed results in each category you can ask me tomorrow, I can't make this any longer, it is bordering on ridiculous)
In Bruges: 86/100
Fargo: 73/100
A Simple Plan 71/100
Angels and Demons
I know that Mr. Bennett has stated and I have been told by many other sources that you have to judge a movie and a book seperately, because they are two seperate entities and should not be compared. However, when watching Angels and Demons recently, I could just not do this.
Because of Julia's post on the film, I figured it wasn't great, but not only was it not great, I found it annoying and I found myself distracted because I knew what was going to happen and I felt no sense of urgency or suspense despite what the characters were trying to portray.
I usually try to judge the movie and book seperately because it is not possible to make a 700 page book into a movie that isn't 8 hours long and get all the essential elements of the book. But personally, they left out the greatest part of the book, out of the entire movie, something that shocked me, because it was really the point of the book. How it was left out still dumbfounds me? (Unless of course, my memory fails me)
So in the end, I will say that if you read the book, don't bother seeing the movie, it will only dilute your thoughts. Just a couple of days after seeing the movie, I can barely remember it and instead am relying upon the memories of the book. So, I will be honest, I failed in trying to objectively judge this movie, so people that have not read the book may very much enjoy it, in fact, I have heard several people who liked the movie, and others who did not but I will say, that the movie fell flat.
I barely recommend it and that is only because I hope that Dan Brown, the author, will make money off of it and if it makes a bigger profit, he will make more money. But the movie just didn't work, and I liked the DaVinci Code, so maybe it is just a skewed view on my part, because in that instance I believe that I saw the movie first. So maybe if I had seen the movie before reading it I would have liked it more. I don't know.
Because of Julia's post on the film, I figured it wasn't great, but not only was it not great, I found it annoying and I found myself distracted because I knew what was going to happen and I felt no sense of urgency or suspense despite what the characters were trying to portray.
I usually try to judge the movie and book seperately because it is not possible to make a 700 page book into a movie that isn't 8 hours long and get all the essential elements of the book. But personally, they left out the greatest part of the book, out of the entire movie, something that shocked me, because it was really the point of the book. How it was left out still dumbfounds me? (Unless of course, my memory fails me)
So in the end, I will say that if you read the book, don't bother seeing the movie, it will only dilute your thoughts. Just a couple of days after seeing the movie, I can barely remember it and instead am relying upon the memories of the book. So, I will be honest, I failed in trying to objectively judge this movie, so people that have not read the book may very much enjoy it, in fact, I have heard several people who liked the movie, and others who did not but I will say, that the movie fell flat.
I barely recommend it and that is only because I hope that Dan Brown, the author, will make money off of it and if it makes a bigger profit, he will make more money. But the movie just didn't work, and I liked the DaVinci Code, so maybe it is just a skewed view on my part, because in that instance I believe that I saw the movie first. So maybe if I had seen the movie before reading it I would have liked it more. I don't know.
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