Reviews

1950's Gun Crazy was a low budget film made outside of the studio system. The low budget meant a small cast with no real superstars of the time. The cinematography was lacking something. There is a shallow depth of field which suggest that the photographer made have had a limited choice of lenses. The camera-work itself was free and kinetic adding to the excitement of the film. The film appeared to mostly be filmed on location helping with the believability. Gun Crazy contains some nice fast tempo editing which helped carry the complex plot. The most impressive scene was probably the bank heist scene. Shot entirely in one long take, following the heist from the start to the getaway.

Tod Browning's 1931 classic, Dracula was Bela Lugosi's most famous role. Bases on a Broadway play by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston which that Bela Lugosi was the title character. The play itself is based on Bram Stroker's 1897 novel Dracula. Film itself its visually stunning. There is great use of silence and dramatic close ups that add to the creepiness of the main character. Todd Browning and many of the actors were trained in the silent film era. This comes across in the acting style and a lot of the special effects. The use of fog and rubber bats give the film a distinct style of the silents. Overall I would recommend this film to any fan of classic horror films.

John Schlesinger's 1969 film Midnight Cowboy was a huge milestone in the film industry. At the time of it release it was seen as very controversial because of its themes of prostitution and homosexuality.It was the first and only mainstream film with an X rating to receive and Oscar for best picture. The Story follows a Texan named Joe Buck, played by John Voight who moves to New York City and begins a life of prostitution. Dustin Hoffman is brilliant as a homeless con artist named Ratso Rizzo who befriends Buck and they begin an unspoken homosexual relationship. The two begin an outrageous adventure together bickering the entire way.

Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho is often considered to be the first slasher film in that it follows the actions of a psychopathic killer as he stalks and murders his prey in graphic scenes. Hitchcock is a master at making the audience feel what he wants them to feel. He knows when to when to hold back for suspense and when to let it all out for shocks. Hitchcock created one of the most chilling characters in cinema with the schizophrenic Norman Bates, played by Anthony Perkins. Bates is a quite motel clerk at the Bates Motel who is seemingly dominated by his "mother", who is actually his homicidal altar ego. Bates is deeply disturbed because he killed his mother and preserved her body in hopes of sharing his mind with her.

On The Waterfront was a very powerful movie about the importance of solidarity and standing up for what is right. Marlin Brando's method acting is brilliant in his role at Terry Malloy. He comes across as every man, a hardworking self-reliant dockworker who is faced with curruption and caught up in the criminal life that his brother forces on him. The editing in the film is very well done. There are clever match cuts for example the scene where K.O. Dugan is killed "Pops" says "he doesn't need a doctor he needs a priest" and then it cuts to Father Barry giving him his last rights. Another great example of editing is when Terry confesses his involvement in the murder to Eddie there is a cut to a steam boat and his voice is overpowered by the sound creating a heightened feeling of anxiety.

Frankenstein is a very visual and a very stylistic film. The mise-en-scene was very well thought out and executed with great detail. The scenery was decked out with Gothic architecture and costume and the laboratory of Dr. Frankenstein contained many elaborate props and scientific equipment. The special effects used with the laboratory equipment was very impressive for the time and added to the suspense of the experiment scenes. At least one actual Tesla Coil built by Nikola Tesla himself was used in the film. The timing of the thunder claps enhanced the fear and suspense of the reanimation scenes. The makeup was also very impressive for the time.

I found this film to be very entertaining mainly because of William Powell's leading man acting style. The scenery and costumes were very stylized and elaborate to emphasize the wealth of the Bullock family. The scenes at the dump were very well done, I could not tell weather it was a set or a location shot in Brooklyn but it was very believable. The dialogue was witty and charming. and the storyline was well written and executed overall this is a great example of a Studio Era Comedy. There were great performances by all the leading actors, in fact My Man Godfrey was the first film to be nominated in all four categories for acting at the Oscars.

The lighting and photography in The Grapes of Wrath was the most memorable part. The photography was very open and spacious and the lighting was very contrasty and low key. This was appropriate because the subject of the film was The Great Depression and its effects on rural farmers and its setting was the Dust Bowl of the southwest. The story seemed to drag on forever, with each character contributing little to the entertainment factor of the film. I know that the subject matter of the film is very serious and important to the history of the United States but the film could have used some more editing and a lot more comedic relief.

Easy rider tells the story of two outlaw bikers who travel the southwest towards New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Their trip is symbolic of their search for true freedom and what that may mean. Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper play the two ill fated "longhairs" who travel the country side and discover what and who makes up this country of ours. Along the way they pickup a hippie hitchhiker who brings them to his failing hippie commune where they discover that living free may be harder than they think. Eventually they get arrested in a small town for parading without a permit. In the small town jail they meet an alcoholic lawyer character played by Jack Nicholson who decides to join them on their quest. Nicholson's character brings an important element to the group and explains to them that its not their long hair and carfree appearance that scares the people of these small towns but it's the freedom that they represent.

The Graduate is a great movie for many reasons, one reason that may commonly be overlooked is its clever use of sound. The opening dialogue between Dustin Hoffman's character Ben and his father is accompanied by the diagetic ambient sound of the fish tank suggesting that Ben's thoughts are in another place. A similar effect is achieved during the scene where Ben must try on his Scuba suit for his parents party. While he is underwater the sound of his parents and friends fades away and all you hear is the bubbling mask and his breath. The soundtrack is mostly Simon and Garfunkel songs played during crucial scenes and transitions. There is a lot of nicely done match cuts including one memorable one where Ben is jumping up out of his pool and then it cuts to him diving into bed with his older mistress Mrs. Robinson.

William Friedkin's 1973 sensation The Exorcist really pushed the boundaries as far as what was deemed appropriate in film. Friedkin's masterpiece is often considered one of the most shocking, frightening and disturbing films ever made. The Exorcist was the story of a demon possessed preteen played by Linda Blair and contained very controversial content including nauseating special effects like 360 head rotations, masturbation and self-mutilation with a crucifix and absurdly powerful projectile vomiting. The film was a blockbuster in 1973 despite reports of movie goers fleeing the theaters in fear and disgust, mass hysteria was even reported at some theaters requiring paramedics to be called in.

Scarface is the gritty and dark story if a gangsters rise and fall. Tony Camonte, played by Paul Muni and Johnny Lovo, played by Osgood Perkins take over the south side crime ring after the boss, Big Louis Costillo is killed. Lovo and Camonte sell illegal alcohol to speakeasies and bars and when they start to attract the attention of rival gangs and the police, they find themselves in a bit of trouble. Eventually an all out gangster war breaks out between the rival gangs. Meanwhile Camonte begins to pursue Lovo's girlfriend Poppy played by Karen Morley. Scarface is a story of greed revenge and crime, where a lot of bad things happen to a lot of bad people. This film epitomizes the gangster genre.

This is film is an honest look at the treatment of criminals in a southern prison system after World War I. It depicts the effects of the Great Depression on the common man. The basic theme is that every person deserves their basic civil rights despite their background and that anyone can come from nothing to become a prominent figure in society. The lighting of this film is remarkable. Many scenes are dramatically bathed in darkness letting the viewer see only what is important. Sound also played a big role in setting the film, the constant sound of sledge hammers reoccurs to emphasis the constant struggle of the prisoners. The film also makes clever use of off screen action like in the scene where James is taken to another room to be flogged, the camera does not follow him into the room but remains stationary allowing the viewer to hear the hits of the whip and the cries of pain.

The Birth of a Nation was the highest grossing production of the silent film era. It was revered for its groundbreaking camera techniques and narrative achievements but also explicitly racist and controversial. It was based on a play by Reverend Thomas Dixon Jr. called The Clansman. Although there were many black characters in the film only the minor roles were actually played by blacks, all of the major roles were played by whites in blackface. It was also very controversial because of its glorification of the activities of the Ku Klux Klan and its portrayal of the African American people as stereotypical and animalistic. It was voted as one of the top 100 American films by the The American Film Institute in 1998 a decision that was immediate criticized by the NAACP. Two scenes were subsequently cut from the film. Riots broke out in major cities including Chicago and Philadelphia after its screening and it was banned from being shown in eight states. For years after its release, screenings of the film were picketed and many lawsuits were filed. The most chilling result of the release of this film was an increase in Ku Klux Klan membership in the decades following its release and it is still used today as a recruitment tool for the racist organization.

The Great Dictator is often considered one of Chaplin's greatest works. The plot is very complex and cerebral with a very strong social message. It was also very different than Pay Day and The Gold Rush because it was a "talkie", meaning there was actual sound and dialog. There is an scene where Chaplin's character runs into the room to warn his comrade that the storm troopers are on there way, having gotten himself so worked up Chaplin's character is unable to speak and can only pantomime his message, this is a subtle homage to his silent comedy days. All of Chaplin's classic slapstick routines and physical humor are there but there is also satirical humor involved. Chaplin's works double duty playing a Jewish barber similar to "The Little Tramp" character and Adenoid Hynkel, who is a character making fun of Adolf Hitler.

The Great Dictator had a lot of complex shots and camera-work for example the opening scene is a long single take following the movement of soldiers through a maze of trenches. The Great Dictator was a very important film because it was dealing with a serious issue at the time. While Chaplin was playing Adenoid Hynkel, Adolf Hitler was in power in Germany and The United States was two years away from ending its neutrality and entering into World War II. In Chaplin's ending monologue he sort of breaks from the character of the Jewish barber and preaches a beautiful and personal message of hope and democracy.

This is one of the best films that I have ever seen. It delves into the seedy underworld of New York City in the 70's and follows the mental self destruction of a restless cab driver. Robert De Niro is chilling as Travis Bickle, a cab driver who finds the city and its inhabitants to be sickening and slowly begins to plot a plan to do something about it. As a director Scorsese shines. He really creates a world where the viewer can understand the violent and hateful ideas that Travis begins to have. Scorsese also makes a disturbing cameo in the middle of the movie as a troubled man who gets in Travis' cab only to have him stop in front of the apartment that his wife is having an affair in. He then describes to De Niro's character how he is going to kill her by shooting her with a 44 magnum, which is one of the many guns De Niro's character buys later in the film to carry out his ill fated plan. Scorsese ends the film in a way that could be interpreted differently by different people. To some people that last few scenes are either the dying fantasy's of Travis Bickle, yet others interpret it as the ultimate ironic ending where the man who was attempting to commit an act that would cause him to be hated by the public ends up screwing it up only to become a self-less hero who is responsible for saving a 12 year old girl from the hell of prostitution.

My favorite line is when Harvey Kietel's character Sport says "I used to have a pony, on Coney Island. It got hit by a truck."

Arguably this is Spike Lee's masterpiece film. It is raw, emotional and energetic. Do The Right Thing deals with issues of prejudice and hate and its effects on a community. It is very stylized but also very real and in your face. Lee's directorial vision is evident in the opening scene which picks up where his previous Film School Daze leaves off. The last line of School Daze is "Wake up" spoken by Laurence Fishburne's character Dap and a ringing alarm clock is heard just before the end credits roll, and the first scene in Do The Right Thing opens with Samuel L Jackson's character Mister Senor Love Daddy holding a ringing alarm clock and saying "Wake up, Wake up, up you wake." There is a lot of great directing and acting by Spike Lee in this film as well as many other recognizable faces.

This was one of the first silent movies that I have ever seen. Overall I was pretty impressed with the quality and humor of the film. At first I was a little uneasy about sitting through a full length silent film but it definitely payed off. I greatly enjoyed it, Charlie Chaplin is a genius. He has great timing and is great at physical comedy. He has the ability to make you know what he is thinking just with his expressions and actions. I was also impressed by the cleverness of the filmmakers. The cabin scene was very well done. the tipping cabin was very funny and worked very well with Chaplin's physical comedy. The sets were also very beautifully done.

The General is a great silent comedy. I would recommend this to anyone weather you enjoy silent films or have never seen one, this would be a great one to watch. There are some racial issues that you have to kind of ignore but the story is pretty exciting. Buster Keaton has some great physical comedy in this film. A lot of hilarious clumsiness and also some impressive stunts involving multiple trains. The comedy is very cartoonish with plans backfiring and a lot of happy accidents. Buster Keaton is one of the best actors of his time and he certainly proves that in the film. Again this is a great film to watch as your first silent Film or for anybody.