Reviews

"Bonnie and Clyde" is a classic film directed by Arthur Penn starring Faye Dunaway, Warren Beatty, and Michael J. Pollard. This movie takes a love story, and combines it with intense action to tell the story of Bonnie and Clyde. The chemistry between Warren Beatty as Clyde, and Faye Dunaway as Bonnie was obvious from the very first scenes of the movie. There was lots of car chases and shootouts that kept you on the edge of your seat, as well as some heartfelt scenes that showed that Bonnie and Clyde also had compassion. Even though the story of Bonnie and Clyde is well known, throughout the movie you kept wondering if they were going to get caught, or get away from the law. What I think made this film so good is the use of great shooting locations, set props, and authentic cars from the 1920s. It really made it believable that this was shot in the 20s and not the 60s. The all-star cast made this a believable and entertaining movie that gave an overview of Bonnie and Clyde's story.

"Mean Streets" is one of the early Martin Scorsese films starring a young Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel. This movie is set in Little Italy Manhattan and goes into what street life was like back then. This film is full of energetic chaos as criminals and hoodlums fight it out for who owes who money. In all honesty this film isn't any sort of a masterpiece but with the help of the terrific acting by Robert De Niro as Johnny Boy and Harvey Keitel as Charlie, this film packs a punch and gives you an insight on the street life in Little Italy.

"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is a film directed by Mike Nichols starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, and Sandy Dennis. This story, originally by Edward Albee, is a very strange and chaotic, almost horror like of a story. From the dialogue to the plot, the whole film was an emotional roller coaster. I think Elizabeth Taylor did a fantastic job portraying someone to get under your skin as much as Martha did in this movie. In fact, all the actors in this film I think did a great job portraying each of their characters. I honestly felt that the lighting and camera work was pretty basic throughout the movie, but I think this was done on purpose so the main focus of the audience was on the acting and the story. I thought this was a strange but unique film, and it's definitely worth a watch.

"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" is a fantastic movie directed by Stanley Kramer. This film tackles interracial marriage in the heat of the civil rights movement. Kramer draws you into the emotion of the characters almost immediately with the abrupt news of John and Joey to her parents that they are getting married after only knowing each other for ten days. The amazing acting of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn and the expert direction of Kramer helped the audience share in the bewilderment of two parents that just found out their daughter is marrying someone she just met. Add into that the dilemma created by the racial situation in 1960s America and the film poses very interesting social questions. There are many points of view from the lovers who want to get married, the mothers who accept that they are in love, fathers who understand its going to be hard and could cause trouble, and the social statements that the writers used to explain the complexities of the situation. One thing I thought was interesting was how they used the character of the maid, who was an older black lady, to convey how older black people felt about the civil rights movement. They were unsure, and worried about all the noise the young people were making. This is a great movie from the time when civil liberty was just beginning for people of color.

Another one of the great Hitchcock classics, "North by Northwest" is a thrilling experience all the way to the end. Like most Hitchcock films, this one is loaded with suspense and is credited as one of his best plots. It starts out seeming like a typical man wrongly accused where you think you're going to have to wait until the end for him to prove his innocence. Then the story takes multiple twists and turns including weaving in a love story that has its own unexpected surprises. Some great aspects of this film are the fantastic shots with incredible camera angles, the suspenseful soundtrack, and using some awesome locations to shoot. I think this was a great Hitchcock picture definitely worth checking out.

"Psycho" is an outstanding film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, and John Gavin. This Hitchcock classic doesn't disappoint, from the artistic camera angles to the great use of lighting, it gave the movie a unique texture that made it just more unsettling. Hitchcock did a terrific job directing the suspense throughout the movie which was aided by the strategic placement of the soundtrack. Another great aspect of this film was how good of a job each of the actors did. Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, was painfully awkward and it made certain scenes so much more uncomfortable to watch. All in all, Psycho is a psychological thrill ride with a great plot twist.

"Singin' In The Rain" is one of the most popular and recognized musicals of all time. In this film you feel like the incredible talent of the actors really carried most of this movie. The dialogue was pretty standard but the story had a very interesting take on the characterization of Hollywood stars. It additionally gave an inside look into the transition of silent films into talkies and a behind the scenes view for audiences on how pictures were made and produced.

"The Wizard of Oz", directed by Victor Fleming, is a classic and all time favorite film for many people. What made this such a great film is the use of imagination and the friendships between the characters. Another amazing thing about this movie was the cinematography. There were lots of great shots with special effects used to highlight the magical moments in the scenes. A lot of the characters had very enthusiastic and vibrant personalities to them which I think makes them more enjoyable and relatable. I also think the way the characters were written had a huge influence on future stories and movies. In most films and television shows, the evil/villain character always has the same type of high pitched evil sounding cackle, and I think this came from the Wicked Witch of The West. Another great aspect of this movie is the way Fleming weaved all the musical numbers throughout the story. I think each song came into place at the right time and nothing seemed out of place.

"Out Of The Past" was a true Noir style film directed by Jacques Tourneur. There was an excellent blend of dark lighting, and highly defined shadowing effects on the actors in certain scenes. This story has lots of twists and turns and keeps you wondering what happens next. There is one double-cross after another and it leaves the viewer knowing something is coming but not sure where it is coming from. In the midst of this, there was also a complicated love story. The main character played by Robert Mitchum was in love with two very different women. The first was from his life that he was trying to break away from, and the second lived in the life he wanted to live. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't shake his past and it kept leading him back to the first women which he couldn't shake her either.

"D.O.A" puts a clever and different spin on the "who done it" mystery. In this story Frank Bigelow, the murder victim, has to race against the little bit of time he has left to find out who killed him and why. It was an interesting twist to have the victim solve their own murder before they die, rather than a detective investigating after they were killed. The film takes the viewer on a journey of possible culprits only to arrive at dead ends until the very end. A classic mystery in the Agatha Christie tradition.

"Saboteur" was an interesting WWII era film directed by Alfred Hitchcock that takes us on the journey of wrongly accused Barry Kane, played by Robert Cummings. Although there has been many movies about people wrongly accused of crimes, Hitchcock managed to spin this one into a clever story of espionage and suspense. It was interesting that this film highlighted groups that were working against the American cause in the war. Usually everything in that period is pro America and about American patriotism. In the midst of a thriller, Hitchcock weaved a love story into the plot. Patricia Martin, played by Priscilla Lane, was at first trying to turn Barry Kane into the police, became his captive and slowly realized his innocence. I've heard Hitchcock was known for his cutting edge cinematography and there was lots of that in this movie. I think what made this film so good was the big stunts and the artistic use of the camera.

"Casablanca" is a movie everyone has heard of. Many people consider it legendary, as it has won three Oscars including Best Picture. It was set in set in the present day of 1942 with WWII as the backdrop to this romantic but quirky drama. Humphrey Bogart who plays Rick, a club owner, finds himself in Casablanca due to mysterious reasons which were never really told. Ingrid Bergman plays an old girlfriend named Ilsa that accidentally stumbles back into Rick's life in Casablanca. This film does a great job in slowly developing the backstory that explains why Rick and Ilsa were no longer together. The story written by Julius Epstein, and directed by Michael Curtiz, weaves its way through multiple scenarios and possibilities for the characters to take. It is not until the very end that you truly know how Rick is going to handle the tricky situation he finds himself in. I thought this was a great film for the early 40s and it still holds up today.

I thought this film had some great cinematography and excellent use of camera angles. There were also some really good stunts. I think this film brought a good mix of drama, and action, and put it into one movie that keeps the audience intrigued. This is another John Ford classic which brought back the interest of western films.

"Young Mr. Lincoln" was a fantastic film that portrayed an early day President Lincoln and his struggles as a new lawyer. Directed by John Ford, this movie followed key moments in Lincoln's early life prior to his marriage to Marry Todd. The wardrobe and dialogue was very true and realistic to the period and a very young Henry Fonda did a terrific job playing Lincoln. Henry Fonda's acting and use of posture, as well as clever camera angles, made Lincoln appear much taller than everyone around him. Some of the climatic scenes had the intrigue and drama of modern tv or movies. This was a historically accurate, very entertaining film, that keeps the audience hooked all the way to the end.

"My Man Godfrey" is a screwball comedy set around the time of The Great Depression. This film does a good job showing the differences in wealth and social class. Director Gregory La Cava demonstrates the differences between the two social classes by using Godfrey's journey from being raised by a wealthy high class family, to living in a dump as a forgotten man. The film brought attention to the public of the misfortune that some Americans were going through. While using the backdrop of this quirky wealthy family that Godfrey was the butler for, this film shows the extravagant lifestyle of the upper class compared to the daily struggles of the homeless victims of the Great Depression.

"Imitation of Life" was a controversial film for the early 1930's. This film, directed by John M. Stahl, was a groundbreaking picture that went against many social norms. For starters Delilah was not just a typical black housemaid. Writer Fannie Hurst made Delilah the focus of the whole story which is pretty incredible considering it was a black character in 1934. I think it was courageous for the director and the studio to do that at that time. Another thing that made this film so different than other films at the time is that Bea was a strong self-confident business woman, with the men working for her. I think the most cutting edge aspect of this movie was the story of Peola and her tortured struggle as a light-skin skinned black girl living in a white society. The movie is as thought provoking and relevant today as it was back then in 1934.

Another great performance by Boris Karloff in this classic 30's film. Karloff's performance was haunting and really made the movie I felt. Although the lighting and effects weren't as prominent in "The Mummy" as in "Frankenstein", they were used in key points that grabbed your attention. Cinematographer Karl Freund, used next level techniques like the dolly shot, and hand held cameras, to capture some of the amazing aspects of this film. This is another typical 1930's film drawing on techniques from the silent film era while taking advantage of the new technology of the time.

"Frankenstein" is one of the most known films in the horror genre. This cutting edge film produced in 1931 pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable to show on screen. They actually had a warning at the beginning of the film for anyone who might be sensitive to the material. Boris Karloff as the monster did an excellent job with conveying emotion without having any actual lines. His use of body language mixed with the directors use of lighting really brought the monster to life. What's great about all these classic films is that they all use the lighting to their advantage to bring out the emotions the actors portray and to accentuate their body language. I think between the great acting, cinematography, and terrific dialogue, it is understandable why this movie is a classic. This film set the standard for future monster movies.

"Scarface" is a classic gangster film starring Paul Muni as Tony Camonte. What was interesting about this movie is that it wasn't just for public entertainment, they were using it to make a social statement about the gang problems happening in the country at the time. The director used one scene in the film in particular to speak directly to the audience about the issues with gang violence. In addition to drawing attention to real life problems to gang violence in the 30's, the movie also followed the life of Tony Camonte and how he rose through the ranks and ended up as the gang leader. The movie did a good job on blending the personal life of Tony with the gangster life he was involved in.

After watching "I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang", I have a good insight on what the world was like back in the time of this film. You can definitely learn a lot about what life was like in the early 1900's by watching this movie. It's cool to see how different movies were in the early 30's compared to today's modern films. Back then no one really saw movies based on the "bad guy" but I think this film does an awesome job depicting the life of a convict. The way this story was told has a very powerful impact on the audience and it leaves you having empathy for the main character even though he is considered the bad guy for being an escaped convict. What I also noticed while watching this film is the great dramatic camera angles and lighting that give so much more to this movie. This movie was definitely ahead of its time and I think still holds up today.

"The Circus" is a classic comedy, directed by, written by, and staring Charlie Chaplin. This film brings comedy, romance, and sorrow all into one. This picture continues to show that everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Chaplin's genius mind figured out how to make a hilarious comedy that will make you laugh out loud, and turned it into something that can make you feel for the main character. This movie was shot so smart that each scene had a great flow to it and smooth transitions.

After watching "The General", I believe I found a new liking in Silent Movies. This movie was great all around, from the way it was filmed, to the dexterous comedic stunts. What I think made this film so great is the mix between seriousness and silliness. This film has you riding right along with the main character and routing for him all the way to the end. Some of the main qualities I see in this film are skill and effort. I feel like there was a lot of time and energy put into these scenes with some of the big stunts. I can see the clever comedic genius of Buster Keaton in this movie. A very advanced and well made film for its time.