My Cousin Vinny (1992) Jonathan Lynn WK

The Last of the Mohicans (1992) Michael Mann WK

William Klingbeil

The Last of the Mohicans (1992) Review

The Last of the Mohicans (1992) directed by Michael Mann, is an epic film that has an adventurous soundtrack, a lot of long pan shots and epic battle sense. The soundtrack has an immediately catching tone to it. It reminds me of Gladiator (1992) or The Lord of the Rings(2003) soundtrack. Both of which are extremely heroic. The main theme comes one at times when Daniel Day-Lewis saves someone or a major event occurs. This helps to put the viewer in the mood.

The long shots accompanied by panning of the camera gave me the feeling that the characters were out in the wilderness. For example the opening scene was an extremely long shot of the forest from a high angle, followed by long shots of Daniel Day Lewis running through the forest. This scene set the tone for the film, which, showed that the film would take place on the frontier. This also gave me the feeling that the character was alone and far from civilization.

I loved how they gave a brief description of the time and setting of the film at the very beginning. This is a technique that Riddley Scott often uses to give the viewer a sense of the setting. This technique seems to be used a lot in historical films such as Gladiator(2000) and Blackhawk Down(2001) as an affective way to focus the viewer’s attention. For me personally the description at the beginning tells me that the film is going to be an epic adventure.

Like almost all heroic stories there is a love between the hero and a women who is often linked to royalty. For example in the film Aladdin (1992) the hero Aladdin loves Jasmine who is a princess. In The Last of the Mohicans Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis) falls in love with Cora who is the daughter of Col. Munro the leader of the British regimen. Also like many war love stories the hero is captured and charged for criminal actions. For example when Hawkeye is charged for helping his friends desert the regimen. This is a common reoccurrence in many hero stories and it is clear that there is a trend in cinematic storytelling.

Overall I found the film to be action packed and everything that a heroic story should have. I believe that the director is trying to portray a historical event with a love story tied into it, like the Jack and Rose in the Titanic (1998). By doing this the audience immediately becomes more interested in the event because the fate of two lovers depends on the out come of history. During one scene Hawkeye is tied up and Indians attack his regimen, this scene was extremely suspenseful because I wasn’t sure if Hakeye was going to be able to free himself and save Cora in time. In my mind I always rooted for the two lovers, which is exactly what the director expects the audience to do. It is by using this kind of suspense that kept my eyes glued to the screen.

Love Potion No. 9 (1992) Dale Launer WK

William Klingbeil

Love Potion Number Nine (1992) Review

Love Potion Number Nine (1992) directed by Dale Launer, is a romantic comedy that relates to me in a few ways and uses many filming techniques that enable me to infer certain things about the film before they occur.

The parallel editing in the beginning of the movie gave me the sense that both Diane and Paul were meant for each other. Each shot is composed similarly during the scene where the two characters go home. First both of them have Einstein posters behind their front door. Second they both arrive to an empty house with no new messages on the answering machine. This gives the audience the sense that they are both losers. The similarity between both characters gave me the sense that they were both meant for each other and that the whole movie would revolve around the twos relationship.

I find it interesting how in every movie there is a point at which the story dips and there is doubt that the film will have a happy ending. This point always occurs about three quarters of the way through the film. In Love Potion Number Nine (1992) Diane falls in love with Paul and all is going well until one day Paul can’t find her. She ends up falling in love with Gary. I was able to predict this moment because every thing was going too perfectly to be true. This is a common reoccurrence in almost all films and is the reason why it was so predictable

The fact that both characters were scientists enabled me to relate to them and a few of the jokes that occurred in the film. There is a common stereotype that is portrayed in the film, which is the assumption that most scientists are nerdy, and antisocial people. Many times this stereotype is true. Mostly because those who have majors in the sciences spend a lot more time to studying and less time socializing.

I believe that the overall thematic message of the film is that no matter what kinds of forces try to keep love at bay, true love will always find a way. Even though the love potion tricked Diane into thinking that she loved Gary, in the end the Diane and Paul find each other. The love potion number nine helped to bring the two lovers back together.

Benny and Joon(1993) #3

Director:Jeremiah Chechik

I thought that the film Benny and Joon had a very playful and fun feel to it. I'm a big fan of pop culture so the references to Buster Keaton and Boo Radley were awesome. I think that the film wasn't so much of a love story as it may seem to some, but rather the story of the love between a brother and sister. I don't think the director wanted to tell you what Joon's illness exactly is because that wasn't the focus and I think it would have caused viewer's to see her in a different way then was intended. We are supposed to notice a girl whose brother has a difficult time of letting his sister take responsibility of her life and also it's the fact that he cannot let go of her, Joon is the only thing familiar and constant in Benny's life. The minute their parents died he kicked into this mode of taking care of her and it has always been that way. The character of Benny is slightly more complex then Sam and Joon. I feel like he was the one going through things more emotionally then Joon did with her illness. I thought Johnny Depp's acting in the film was fantastic with the little words he spoke he made up for in his comedic performances. I liked the way his costumes were and the chemistry that he and Mary Stewart Masterson shared on screen. My favorite scene was when Sam told Benny, "you're scared, I used to look up to you but now I can't even look at you." It says so much about both Benny and Sam's character. The metaphor of Benny's fish dying reflected his life really great visually. It was the idea that Benny can't even manage to keep a fish alive, how is he going to keep being able to take care of his sister. The entire time that you see Joon you don't fully understand that she is really sick you just see the odd things she does and then the things that you see Sam do are just as odd. It is when she has her breakdown that you stop and realize she really is sick and this whole time you been on her side against Benny's character because you don't fully understand his need to be so protective. The music throughout the film matches the theme very nicely, it has this innocent and magical feel to it, especially during Depp's unique display of talents. A lot of the shots throughout the film are wide shots and not to many close ups. But, I really enjoy that because the exterior and interior shots of the locations they use are visually appealing and really play along with the feel and overall look of the film.

Video Drome. 1983. Dir. Jim McBride

Video Drome
Year: 1983
Director: Jim McBride
Videodrome is a very
good movie that addresses the possibility of mind manipulation or control
through the media. I think this movie is not too far from reality. In the
western world we experience a heavy amount of media advertising that is focused
in trying to manipulate or behavior in their advantage. Some wants us to use a
product or service. But ultimately they want our money through the trade of
goods and services. What makes this situation more concerning is that the media
is just the vehicle to do this. The people behind this manipulation are the
people that own the market. These are the same people that control the country.
I think the problem has gone beyond just economic factor. The way the country
runs is manipulated by those people. They control everything. The food you eat,
the education you get, the media you are exposed to, and the world you live in.
The food products you
eat are manipulated to grow faster and bigger. We do not know or understand how
this is going to physically affect us in the coming decades still it makes the
owners of food products millions of dollars a year so they sell it for public consumption.
The education is also
being control by government. Educational cuts are news in the regular basis. It
is out of my comprehension that the government spends more money in military that
it does in education. What is a country without education? Most of the basic
education is public. That is not going to change. It is a perfect way to start
brain-washing people from an early age. All the kids graduate from high school
of course, no kid is left behind. Most kids have no intellectual ambitions. They
are not personally or intellectually challenged to engage in life changing projects.
Projects that are more about community, standards of life, and not about making
money. The people in power want to keep the number of people that advance intellectually
in some field to stay low. They do not want them to grow and become a problem
for their money-making machine.
The media is the
perfect vehicle to diffuse their mind-controlling messages. People spends most
of the time watching tv, internet, movies, magazines, newspapers that anything
else.

Grumpy Old Men(1993) #2

Director:Howard Deutch

Grumpy Old Men was a perfect title for this movie. I really appreciated the performances by Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, their ability to capture the humor in old age was, in my opinion spot on. The whole movie represents that epitome of what kind of person you become when you start getting up there in your years. It's a very simple plot revolving around the everyday lives of two old men, but the director still manages to make it so much more than that. It's slapstick humor is very light-hearted. I absolutely loved the sly comments they made towards one another, "Eat my shorts", some of us haven't heard that since middle school. The movie makes me feel that your never to old for immaturity. We never really grow up, there forever remains a kid inside of us. The two men fight over a woman and compare who has gone through the worst illnesses as an achievement. The stereotypes in the movie made it seem more realistic as well. The whole thing about tv dinners, lottery tickets and poor driving are thrown into the mix that we assume of the older generation. The woman in the movie becomes the object of their affection because she makes them feel young again. She shows the kid in her on the outside which in turn she brings out in the two old men. There were some really great shots in this movie, I loved the shot outside through the window of Jack Lemmon playing chess. I felt like it really captured how alone and bored he is with is life. Also, the shot when the two old men are outside by their car, they are both facing the camera and you can see one of them over the other's shoulder, I just thought it was a very cool angle. My second favorite thing was the set designs. I loved that old fisherman feel that they brought to the film. The set design in the little shop owned by Chuck was my absolute favorite. It was very homey and appealing. And finally, I I loved the character of Burgess Meredith who played Jack Lemmon's he had such vulgar opinions about things and coming from an 93-year old man was hilarious. Overall, the movie has its very bittersweet moments all the way to the ending.

Brittany Garcia- Silence of the Lambs 1991

Title: Silence of the Lambs
Director: Jonathan Demme
Year: 1991

When looking for movies from 1991, I came across several horror/drama films that seemed interesting. One particular movie, The Silence of the Lambs, was very chilling to me. As a quick overview, the movie is based on the famous Hannibal Lector. It  goes into a little background about him, where he was currently being held, and how he finally escaped prison. I definitely underestimated this movie. Little did I know how detailed it would actually be. I loved the film. Throughout the movie, we saw different scenes where Lector would kill people by biting them to pieces. For example, in one scene, he traps two prison guards in the cell with him and tears the one guards face completely apart using his mouth. Although I enjoyed this movie, parts like that totally creeped me out. While watching the movie, I tried to pay attention to some different techniques used.
After reviewing the power point last week in class, I noticed a few things that we talked about that were utilized throughout different scenes. During multiple different interviews between Jodie Foster ( the detective) and Lector, depending on the subject, the cameras would use medium close-up shots and close up shots. They also used extreme close-ups when emphasizing certain aspects of the conversation. I thought this was interesting because it is not something I ever really paid any attention too until taking this class. In a different scene, where the girl who had been kidnapped was being held captive in a hole almost like a well inside the mans house. The film used a low angle shot. In this case, the man was superior to the girl, just as the angle indicated. Another technique I had never been too familiar with. You being to understand movies so differently when you begin to understand the little things like the ones mentioned above. 

Breathless. 1983. Dir. Jim McBride

Breathless
Year: 1983
Director: Jim McBride
Breathless is one of
those movies where you also want to be the bad guy that has fun breaking the
law and gets the most beautiful girl. I think breathless is one of those movies
that depict crime as a glamorous thing. The main character starts the movie the
same way he ended it. With no fear for anything and somehow no respect either. As
this guy that just kill a cop intentionally or not (we do not see the moment
when he shots) goes in search of a girl that he meet in Las Vegas, we wonder
what kind of person would steal a car shot a cop and break in to a woman house.
This is a love story where a beautiful architecture student girl that has
everything including the support of her parents, support of her professors,
money and a bright future. She still falls in love with a guy that seems to
have an adventurous life. When she found out all he has done she goes on the
run with him. For her being on the run is the most exciting thing she can think
of. When she goes to the store to get some food she realized her face and his
face are in the newspaper. At the end she comes in reason the calls the police.
He never gives up and even when he is totally surrounded be cops with guns he
decides to tell her that he loves her by singing and dancing a song while the
cops look confused. He reaches down to pick up a gun and turns around facing
the cops. The movie end and we do not hear the sound of gun shots, but we do
not need to. We know what happens when you shot at a cop. The movie is an
example of a person that lives to the extreme. Unfortunately he seems to hurt
indirectly the lives of other that way. I believe the central point of the
movie is to show how wild and crazy society can tolerate and a close company
can be brain-washed into doing it to. The end is tragic. He dies for nothing
when he was only 28. She ruined her own life by making that mistake of going
with him. Now she is alone and has no support from anybody.

The Keep. 1983. Dir. Michael Mann

The Keep
Year: 1983
Director: Michael Mann
The keep is a movie
that mixes the horrors of the human nature and the horrors of science fiction. What
gripped my attention the first half of the movie was the social and human drama
of war and invasion. It is almost out of my imagination or to understand to
think about what it would be like to be in the place of millions of people that
lose everything they had even their dignity. I can stop thinking what I would
do and how I would react to a situation of that nature. This movie does not focus
in the atrocities of the Nazi invasion, but it shows the drama of it at some
extension. The lack of respect for private property and even life itself is absent
in extremes situation like wars and invasions. The special effects on this
movie are one of the best for the time it was made. Computer generated visual
effects in the 80’s was in its infancy. Many of the effects were done with
camera tricks. The scenography was really good. The town where the keep is at
is in this mysterious place in the middle of Romania. The keep itself is very interesting
the movie manage very well to keep the viewer interested in the mysteries of
the keep. The second half of the movie is about a supernatural force that is
killing the people at the keep. The jump from the drama of war to the drama of
a ghost or monster is drastic. The rest of the movie is about the eternal
battle of good and evil. The humans in this case have to make a wise decision that
of course we are not prepare to make. At the end everything is fine the humans
make the right decisions the good defeats the bad. They save the planet of a
great evil but the evil of human kind still destroys the lives of millions. I
thing one of the messages of the movie is that the eternal battle of good and
evil does not come from supernatural creatures but from us. We are the ones
that create horrible situations like wars, repression, hunger, intolerance,
hate.

Amy Petter- What about Bob?(1991)

What about Bob?

Director: Frank Oz

Year: 1991

            What about Bob? is a well made comedy. The beginning of the movie really gets you interested as the first few scenes are moving shots of Bob Wiley leaving his apartment and going into the city. Bob’s problems are introduced to the viewers within 5 minutes of the film. The beginning focuses of his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as he is nervous about leaving his apartment, touching doorknobs, and using public transportation. The zoom shot of his hand opening the door with a Kleenex really adds to the humor of OCD.

            One thing that was very different from the other films I watched was the split screen that was used when Dr. Marvin’s assistant Betty answered the phone. Bob Wiley was shown on the left side while Betty was on the right. I thought that this was a very good technique because we got to see both characters facial expressions while they were on the phone. One technique during the same scene that I did not like was the transition that they used from one slide to another. They used a basic transition that you would find in a very unprofessional movie.

            For a movie that was made in 1991, I was very impressed with the special effects that were used during the scene where Bob accidently blows up Dr. Marvin’s house. The special effects were much better quality than I have seen in other 1991 movies.

            Overall, I was very impressed with the film. It was much better than a few of the other ones I watched for class. Bill Murray did a great job playing Bob Wiley’s part in the movie. I would definitely watch this movie on my own time.

Amanda Valderrama Demolition Man(1993) #1

Director: Marco Brambilla

I really enjoyed the film Demolition Man because it had a perspective on the world in the 90’s that can still be said in the 21^st century. I feel that the film revolves around this whole ideaof the future and the director depicts his ideas of it very visually appealing. The film brings youinto this prediction of the future world, a place where violence is no longer a big issue. Yes, inthe world today violence is becoming more of a occurrence and problem but to say that we canbe able to rid of it in the next ten to 20 years is inaccurate.

I don’t think we can live in a perfect society where profanity and weapons do not exist because it would cause a much bigger problem. We wouldn’t understand the ways to defend ourselves, our lives would be sheltered andwe would all live very mind-numbingly. The police officers in the film are naïve to everything around them, much like today we too are naïve to important things. I feel that “the man” is always above us controlling what we do and that causes us not to know the truth about important matters. I would compare Dr. Cocteau in the film as “the man” because he was leading the city of San Angeles and all of his people praised him but was unaware that he was unleashing a criminal killing machine behind the scenes. My favorite shot was the medium close up shot of Simon Phoenix because with how director set it up and with lighting, you could tell that he was the antagonist of the film. I also thought the performances by the actors were well portrayed. My favorite scene was when Dennis Leary gave a whole speech about the things he enjoys to do that are frowned upon. The whole quote was almost an exact summary of what our civilization is today.

Lauren Potts Post-5 When Harry Met Sally 1989 Dir Rob Reiner

When Harry Met Sally 1989

Director: Rob Reiner

Lauren Potts

I finally saw it

                It was a long time coming, but I finally saw the infamous diner scene in its entirety.    When Harry Met Sally, is a romantic comedy about two people who bump into each other thought-out their lives.  From the romantic-comedy aspect this movies deals with the relationship that men and women share, but it also shows that finding your “true love” might take 12 years but it is worth the wait.

                I would say this is the college version of Say Anything, their plots are different, but the bases of the story are the same: guy meets girl, guy falls in love with girl, and they fall in love.  Harry meets sally after they graduate from college.  They carpool to New York to start their lives, and bump into each other over the next 12 years.  When Harry first meets Sally I thought he immediately liked her but was to macho to admit.     Somewhere in those twelve years they become friends and their friendship evolves into a relationship sort of…   After a big fight the two calls it quits.  In say Anything  Lloyd is on the chase to win back Diane’s heart , this is the same for Harry is on a chase well running in New York to win back Sally.I that the men are fighting to win the girls heart, chivalry is not dead after all at least back in 1989.  In an interesting way both men profess their love and the women kind of give the same speech, Sally repeats “I hate you” and Diane say “I need You” both showing their vulnerability.

                In watching the iconic diner scene there many different shots used.  It started out as an over-the-shoulder shot to a two-shot, then jumps to a close up of Sally’s face and back to an over-the-shoulder-shot, and it repeats the order until the scene ends.  There were a few cutaways too, mostly of older people talking about relationships and when they fell in love.  Showing how relationships evolve over time.     In the ending it ends with them kissing then of a voice over of them talking, then a shot of them talking about their weeding three months later after that cuts to black. 

                Yes it is a chick flick and I must say I liked it. It was a cute movie.    You can never go wrong with a simple love story.   It can teach you a thing or two.  I learned to say how I feel to people whether than holding it in, even if is sappy you can’t hide how you feel about a person.

  

Lauren Potts- Post 4 Stay Together 1989 Dir Lee Grant

Staying Together 1989

Director: Lee Grant

Lauren Potts

Warm

            Facing adversities can be hard enough, but having a family to go through them can make it easier.  Staying Together is a movie about a family trying to keep its self together after losing its family business and father.  This movie illustrates how people can overcome hardship, and satisfying yourself should always be a priority.

            Dealing with a death and loss of and business is no laughing matter, but it is a sour lesson to learn.  Being able to handle adversities allows you to mature more as a person.  In the first half of the film the three sons were young carefree men taking life day by day.  Flashed forward to the ending, they are all on their separate path, one is going to college another is running a marathon in New York, and the oldest is settling in to family life.  None of them thought the death of their father and loss of their family business would bring them to the men that they are in the end, but that is was adversity does to a person.  That made me think about my own journey and the adversities I faced.  It still shocks me today that I am in college; I didn’t even pack until 12 hours before I left for school.  2011 was a scary year for me and my family but as we are in 2012 we have grown a lot.

            Their father decides to sell the family fast food restaurant, because he doesn’t “want die a chicken man.”  For many years he has given himself to his family and restaurant, but now it is time for him to stand on his own despite his son’s anger.  I thought this was very admirable for him to do, no matter how old you are or what position you hold in your family, going against your clan is a tough pill to swallow.  It made me think of Say Anything toward the end of the fill Diane made it clear that she only wanted to be with Lloyd, despite her father’s refusal.   When you believe in something you fight for it no matter what.  

            Some shots that interested me were when the brothers were together.  It was three of them total but I mostly saw two shots of them.   When they were all on the screen the camera was in a wide shot, sometime the shot was narrow in few scenes.  A series of reaction shots I noticed was when the mayor (who had a physical relationship with the oldest brother) saw him at a weeding with his new girlfriend and her son.  It showed Brian and his new girlfriend, cut to Nancy expression her looking sad and walking away.  Overall I really enjoyed watching the film and seeing the characters grow.