Westerns

Unforgiven and True Grit

These films share an important element of revisionist Westerns, both have multi-dimensional females holding a prominent role.  In True Grit, Mattie starts off in what seems to be a role that is the catalyst for the action and plot, but ends up remaining a very important character.  She is generally strong and toughened, but she definitely has moments where she shows her fear and youth.  From when Mattie sees all the shooting on, she seems less tough.  After she is bit by the snake, her tough one-sidedness completely disappears. In Unforgiven, the women in the story fit the classic western idea of either “good girls” or whores.  While most of the women are the latter, the women have characters that develop enough to show another side of them.  The women themselves have a strong sense of justice, as shown by their putting together a bounty to catch the cowboys who cut up Delilah.  The remorse and confusion that all the women, but Delilah in particular, feel after seeing Will’s character change so much and his killing of so many people, points to them as complex people. 

            In addition to these, both films were very violent- perhaps more so than they needed to be to convey their points.  These violent scenes were used to bring people to justice.  In True Grit, Mattie’s father’s killer is put to justice in an overly violent scene.  In Unforgiven, many people are killed in many violent scenes.  We watch as the first cowboy lays there, mortally wounded.  We see Will shoot many men in the bar.  All these men are purposely killed by Will, it is by no means random fire.  Both these films have very violent scenes, but those hurt or killed are targeted for a reason.

Stagecoach and True Grit

            The prevalence of the law and civilization in both of these films is very important.  In Stagecoach, when the coach is traveling, everyone is trying to reach the military, at which point they feel they will be safe.  Ringo is also an outlaw, and his arrest is portrayed as the right thing to do for most of the film, as it is the law.  In True Grit, Mattie takes advantage of the legal system to get what she needs.  She threatens the banker with her lawyer and gets her money and sells the horses.  She talks to the marshall to find a bounty hunter.  The use of the legal system and civilization being viewed so positively makes these films classic westerns.

            The motivation in both these films is well known to the viewer.  Mattie is out to find and kill her father’s murderer, no matter what it takes. She is willing to go to all means to make this happen.  In Stagecoach, Ringo is out to kill the men who killed his family, again no matter what it takes.  We know this from the beginning. 

True Grit: Revisionist Western

True Grit fits more into the category of revisionist western.  I feel this way primarily because of Mattie’s huge role as a multi-dimensional female and an integral part of the plot.  Females simply don’t have such strong characters in classic westerns.  Also, there are many violent scenes in the film, but they are viewed as “deserved”.  The man who killed Mattie’s father deserves to die, thus explaining the gruesome scenes.  The film also criticizes civilization in a way, as Mattie is disgusted by the lack of effort to find her father’s killer.  She also doesn’t seem impressed by the court proceedings she sees, causing her to take matters into her own hands.  Thematically, I think the Coen brothers are trying to give a different perspective on the story.  By telling this story from a revisionist perspective, they can give extra prominence to Mattie’s roll and add to the sense of justice when Mattie’s father’s murderer is killed.

Online Film Analysis

D- Magnolia:
The most striking part about this clip is that it is one long take, and the camera tracks many different characters through many different areas.  The same nondiegetic music is played through the whole clip, with the diegetic sounds of rain and talking on top of this.  The shot is generally a medium shot, though it varies slightly as the camera follows different people.  The closeness of the shot gives a good feel of the size of the space; when the woman and the boy are in the elevator the shot is a close-up, and when people are walking down the hallway it often becomes a long shot.   The effect of the camera following so many different people is that there is a sense of busyness and urgency, and it is not clear who will become important characters.  The objective perspective is important at this point because it creates uncertainty and curiosity about each character and their relation to other characters, as well as the context for their situation.

A- Ocean's 11:
The scene starting out with all the characters sitting around a round table playing poker created a choatic feeling as the camera was constantly changing directions to feature a different person.  It reminded me of the clip we watched in class from The Fellowship of the Ring.   The short takes set the fast pace of the film and the nightlife atmosphere they were in.  The light seemed to be low-key because of the many shadows present, and the light quality seemed soft, there was light coming from many different places.  This definitely conveys a glamorous, more relaxed feeling.  There is never any nondiegetic music, so the viewer is completely immersed in the world of the film.  The costuming helps develop the character; the leading man especially.  Wearing the silver shirt and tie, he appears confident and comfortable in his surrounding.  His dress helps establish him as the important character he seems to be.

E- Amadeus:
The scene starts with an older man playing tunes on a harpsicord, giving us diegetic sound.  Suddenly, he starts to envision the full piece, with all parts being played, and then himself conducting in front of an audience.  This brings us from an objective perspective to a perceptual perspective.  This serves to show the mental state of the old man- by seeing how exciting his 'glory days' were, the viewer can better feel the disappointment he currently feels about what has become of his music.  Also, having most of the scene as a medium shot makes the music and mental state of the old man the focus of the scene.  By never seeing what this building is or what the surrounding area is like, the focus is strictly on what happens in the room.  The use of restricted narration is also effective.  When the younger man recognizes the last tune, you feel excited for the old man, then let down when you hear that Mozart actually wrote that tune.

B- Strangers on a train:
This opening scene is very powerful and effective.  The feeling of chaos is very strong.  The combination of the quick cuts between takes and the dizzying effect of the spinning merry-go-round really leaves an impact of the viewer.  Switching between the diegetic merry-go-round music and the non-diegetic dramatic music, as well as the overlay of talking and screaming, adds to this chaotic feel.  With all the different characters and the jumping between them, there is always something else to think about; the man crawling under the ride was always at the back of my mind. The ending with confusion over who committed the crime leaves the viewer unsure of pretty much everything, but eager to see more.  The whole scene is fairly dark with light that seems more low-key.  This adds to the lack of clarity that seems to be the intention of Hitchcock

Oscar Nominated Rankings

Social Network
1. Witty, especially the language
2. Fast Paced
3. Modern, appropriate to our time
Winter's Bone
1. Depressing
2. Meaningful story
3. Slow paced
Toy Story 3
1. Good ending- for both the film and the trilogy
2. Many plot twists
3. Well developed characters
The King's Speech
1. Fits a mold
2. Strong performances by many actors, especially Bertie
3. The closing speech scene was good; not too overdone
True Grit
1. Fitting of the Western style
2. Well developed, tough characters
3. Mattie is very good, especially with the ending
Inception
1. Action
2. Futuristic
3. Fantasy

1. True Grit- I was struck by this film from the very beginning.  Mattie's voice narrating the opening set the stage perfectly for what was to come, and I like the way the scene starts so dark, then slowly zooms in and comes in to focus to reveal what becomes vital to the story, Mattie's father's body.  The way the characters all talked, not using any contractions, caught my attention every time anyone spoke.  The script was impeccable.  Mattie learns a lot about herself during her journey, so in a sense True Grit is a coming of age story.  The actress playing Mattie is really able to express a strong yet real character. We also see a different side of Rooster from what anyone would have expected in the beginning.   More importantly than this, the movie is flawlessly made.  It perfectly fits the style of the Western, the conversation is quick and well-written, and the scenery is vital for establishing the style and setting.
2. Social Network- The language and conversation in the film is what impresses me most.  Through language, we are able to better understand Mark Zuckerberg as a character.  The movie recounts the founding of Facebook, which is very relatable to most people, but it also succeeds in making computer hacking and programming interesting.  The fast pace of most every part of the movie keeps the audience interested, and also implies the fast pace of the internet and life with social networking.  The set up, with the action done as a flashback and the result as the present, ensures that the full story is told, without a fast paced beginning and then a very slow ending.  The slow slow motion that appeared in some scenes really struck me as well.  I'm also a huge fan of Jesse Eisenberg, and seeing him in this type of role really thrilled me.  He captured this idea of Zuckerberg as really confused and awkward, not a complete jerk.
3. Winter's Bone- The main reason I like this movie is because Ree was so impressive to me.  She is strong, does way more than should be expected of her, and is incredibly determined.  These traits are all good on paper, but the actress playing Ree is able to make them real.  I also think the film does a good job of creating the setting and the characters within it.  Even Ree, despite rising above most other people in her community, still has the tough exterior that is apparent in all the characters.  The story definitely moved along slowly at points, and from a literary perspective I wouldn't rank it too high.  The low-budget aspect of the film makes in more realistic in many ways, and the lack of bright colors really sets the somber mood.  If this movie had moved more quickly, I would have ranked it higher, but nonetheless it was a good film.
 4. Toy Story 3- The ending was decent (though a bit corny), but other than that I was disappointed with most every aspect of the story line.  The evil toys, the long journeys the toys must make, almost getting dumped in the garbage... it all seemed a little to weird.  I did like the way the characters have aged, Mr. and Mrs. Potato head were especially good.  All the characters have their same personalities, but they are different enough to reflect the time that has passed.  The one scene that sticks out in my mind is when Mrs. Potato head sees back into Andy's room through her other eye; the way they showed that scene was pretty cool.
5. The King's Speech- I though this movie fit way too much of a mold.  I'm sick of period movies about royalty, though the movie was my no means badly made.  Bertie is fantastic in his role, the way he dealt with his speech issue and the anger welled up inside him was very interesting to see.  The theme of the long hallways was effective in showing Bertie's isolation.  The script was well down; I especially like hearing the King say tongue twisters and screaming out in anger, as well as the way the speech therapist addressed royalty.
6. Inception was a very good movie, and I have nothing against it.  It's just not the type of movie that I enjoy.  Ellen Page was very impressive, she seemed innocent yet emotional, and she really stood out to me.  The setting of the film was very in-depth and basically perfect.  I was confused at a few points during the movie, so I think seeing it again would be helpful.

My First Movie Review

BRAINSTORMING- film: 127 hours
1. Camera angles
2. Hallucination
3. James Franco  carries the film
4. fate
5. nature
6. irony
7. family
8. confidence
9. strength
10. short movie
11. bad luck
12. corny ending
13. film effects
14. greusome but not very gory
15. true story

REVIEW OF: 127 Hours

The film 127 Hours was riveting despite the lack of action.  Even though for the majority of the movie James Franco was the only person of screen, and he was in the exact same place, I never got bored.  Franco starts to hallucinate or go into detailed imaginations to entertain imself during the 127 hours where he is stuck, with a rock pinning his arm down.  One of his vivid imaginations is of him being interviewed on a talk show, pointing out how everything went wrong to bring him to this point.  He couldn't find his good pocket knife, so he brought a cheap one that isn't sharp enough for him to amputate, despite his medical skill as part of search and rescue.  He doesn't answer the phone when his mom calls right before he leaves, so nobody knows his location.  He doesn't bring enough water or food.  These hallucinations make the movie exciting.  Also, I was very impressed with how the scene of Franco breaking the bone and cutting off his arm was made.  People think they couldn't handle watching a scene like that, but with the camera angles the scene only made you slightly squeemish, they didn't show anything that was very gross.  After Franco escapes and is rescued, they show him and his family and wife that he meets years later.  This ending is a bit corny, but it's definitely a feel-good ending and because it's accurate to what actually happened it doesn't bother me.  Overall, I was impressed that a movie like this could keep my attention, since I can't sit through movies.  I don't really have any complaints about this movie and I was very glad to see both it's Best Picture nomination and James Franco's nomination for Best Actor.