Sunday, July 18, 2010
Animal House (1978)
Animal House is about a loser fraternity house much more concerned with having a great time in college rather than actually learning anything. The president of the college is determined to have the fraternity disbanded and their charter revoked. The guys go through recruiting new members from the upcoming class. They have numerous loud and obnoxious parties (the most notable being the Toga party). One of the members actually ends up getting a little frisky with the mayor's underage daughter. They also (mistakenly) kill one of the horses used by the college ROTC, which they led into the president's office and literally scared the animal the death with blank gun shots. In general this movie is a classic funny movie, filled with misunderstanding, and general rowdiness. All the guys in the fraternity are good guys are heart, with their priorities on partying rather than anything serious. This was a funny movie. I'm glad I finally know where "Toga! Toga! Toga! Toga!" came from! I liked it!
The Hangover (2009)
The Hangover is super funny! Four best guy friends are out celebrating one of the guy's pending nuptials with a bachelor weekend in Las Vegas. The bride's brother is a few screws loose and he decides is would be a great idea to "spike" their drinks to make the night a bit better. The guys wake up to discover a lion in the bathroom, a baby in the closet, the groom missing and all of them have complete memory loss. They try to desperately reconstruct the evening's events in order to find their missing friend. They apparently have a crazy night consisting of gambling (with a creepy Chinese man as their good luck charm), steeling a lion, one of the guys marrying a prostitute, loosing teeth, etc. etc. They eventually realize that they carried the groom out onto the roof of the hotel while he was sleeping but then forgot he was up there. The poor groom spends about 24 hours on the roof... why he couldn't scream down and try to get someone's attention we don't really understand, apparently he tried to get people's attention by throwing his mattress off the roof. Regardless, they all make it back just in time for the wedding. This is quite funny and surprisingly less slap-happy stupid than you might think. I liked it!
Star Wars Episode 5 (1980)
In episode 5, the resistance against the empire (led by princess Leia) has set up a secret hideout on a remote and icy planet. The empire forces (led by Darth Vader) are trying to stop the resistance (revenge for them destroying the Death Star). The empire invades the resistance's hideout and eventually captures Han Solo, R2D2, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO. Luke Skywalker escapes the initial attack and finds the jedi master Yoda to finish his training a become a Jedi fighter. He aborts his training to go rescue his friends (a trap set by Darth Vader). Skywalker fights against Darth Vader and finds out that Vader didn't kill his father but in fact IS his father! Skywalker and his team manage to escape from Darth Vader's clutches in the end. I liked this movie much better than episode 4. Still pretty corny, but one of my favorite lines was something about how being dead is really hard to live with... classic!
Star Wars Episode 4 (1977)
Episode 4 is about a young man Luke Skywalker who obtains two robots (R2D2 and C-3PO). R2D2 is being pursued by the evil empire and is in pretty bad shape, but has a partial message from the princess Leia that she desperately needs the help of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Skywalker tries to help R2D2 find Obi-Wan Kenobi in order to save princess Leia. Skywalker learns the basics of becoming a jedi fighter from Obi-Wan and units with Han Solo to save the princess Leia and destroy the evil empire battleship the Deathstar. Well, I thought this movie was creative but pretty silly... the way C-3PO walks is hilarious!! For 30 or so years ago I actually thought the "special effects" weren't too bad. I'm not so sure how I feel about having to watch 5 more Star Wars movies!!
Groundhog Day (1993)
This movie was about a Pittsburgh TV weatherman who was a conceited jerk. He's asked to do a news report on Punxsutawney Phil on Groundhog's Day (a task he deemed below him). The day goes really poorly and he gets stuck in Punxsutawney for an extra night because of a terrible snow storm. When he wakes up the "next day", he repeats exactly the events of the day before, a perpetual Groundhog Day. He tries all types of things to escape the endless Groundhog Day, such as killing himself, but nothing works. He eventually turns a new leaf and becomes a generous, conceintious citizen and fallens in love with his TV producer. Only then is he released from the endless Groundhog day. I liked this movie, it was lighthearted and funny. I'd definitely watch it again!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
American Beauty (1999)
This movie is about an American suburban family, the Burnhams. Lester (Kevin Spacey), the dad, is a writer who quit his job and is going through a mid-life crisis. Lester's wife Carolyn, is a real estate agent and is competing against Buddy Kane the King of Real Estate. Lester and Carolyn's teenage daughter Jane is a quiet, awkward, and somewhat disturbed teenager. Lester and Carolyn seem to basically hate each other, barely speak to each other, and never have sex. Jane hangs out with the most popular girl in school, Angela Hayes, both of whom are on the high school cheerleading squad. A new set of neighbors, Colonel Frank Fitts, his demented wife, and his super creepy son Ricky Fitts, have moved in next door to the Burnhams.
After Lester quits his job, he realizes how much his daughter hates him and how absent he's been in her life. He tries to make amends by going to watch her cheerlead at the high school boys basketball game. This is when Lester sees Angela Hayes for the first time and is absolutely obsessed with her. Every time Angela comes over he makes a fool of himself. He overhears her say that she would sleep with him if he was in better shape. Lester decides it's definitely time to get in shape.
Jane develops a crush on super creepy Ricky next door and they end up sleeping together. They seem to understand each other. Ricky is a drug dealer, something that he has to hide from father, who beats him when he suspects Ricky's been dealing again. Ricky gets Lester hooked on drugs, and Lester pays him a ton of money for the "good stuff". Frank Fitts is a real tough army guy who punishes his son with a heavy hand.
Carolyn is trying her best to compete with Buddy Kane for her share of the real estate market in the neighborhood. When she meets up with Buddy at a work social event, she is in awe of him. They end up becoming lovers. She despises her husband even more so now that she has a lover.
The key moment in the movie comes when a number of events are occurring around the same time. 1) Jane invites Angela to spend the night, 2) Carolyn has had enough of Lester and contemplates killing him, she has a gun, and she listens to "inspirational" tapes, telling her she shouldn't be a victim anymore, 3) Lester calls Ricky for some drugs, and Frank sees Ricky giving Lester the drugs, only it looks to Frank like Ricky is actually giving Lester a blow job and getting paid for it, 4) Frank beats Ricky for selling sex... , 5) Ricky runs over to Jane's house and they decide to run away together 6) Jane and Angela get in a fight because Jane wants to run away with Ricky, 7) Lester tries to seduce Angela, but he stops from having sex with her when he finds out she's a virgin, 8) Frank comes over to Lester's house, and tries to kiss him... ?? What, Frank is gay???, 9) Carolyn decides to kill Lester, 10) Frank comes back over to Lester's and actually does kill him, 11) Carolyn comes home, with gun in hand, and finds Lester is already murdered.
This was a strange and really terrible movie. It's like everything that could possibly be wrong with the typical American family amplified. I have to say I thought it was pretty awful. The only good point in the movie was that Lester was probably an ok guy. At least we knew he loved his wife and daughter, and he didn't end up sleeping with Angela. Everybody just wanted to kill him. The material, selfish, do-what-ever-you-feel-like attitudes of all the characters in the movie is really depressing. I get that the movie is calling attention to how screwed up American families can be and that is probably much more prevalent than we imagine, but I have to say I didn't enjoy the movie at all.
After Lester quits his job, he realizes how much his daughter hates him and how absent he's been in her life. He tries to make amends by going to watch her cheerlead at the high school boys basketball game. This is when Lester sees Angela Hayes for the first time and is absolutely obsessed with her. Every time Angela comes over he makes a fool of himself. He overhears her say that she would sleep with him if he was in better shape. Lester decides it's definitely time to get in shape.
Jane develops a crush on super creepy Ricky next door and they end up sleeping together. They seem to understand each other. Ricky is a drug dealer, something that he has to hide from father, who beats him when he suspects Ricky's been dealing again. Ricky gets Lester hooked on drugs, and Lester pays him a ton of money for the "good stuff". Frank Fitts is a real tough army guy who punishes his son with a heavy hand.
Carolyn is trying her best to compete with Buddy Kane for her share of the real estate market in the neighborhood. When she meets up with Buddy at a work social event, she is in awe of him. They end up becoming lovers. She despises her husband even more so now that she has a lover.
The key moment in the movie comes when a number of events are occurring around the same time. 1) Jane invites Angela to spend the night, 2) Carolyn has had enough of Lester and contemplates killing him, she has a gun, and she listens to "inspirational" tapes, telling her she shouldn't be a victim anymore, 3) Lester calls Ricky for some drugs, and Frank sees Ricky giving Lester the drugs, only it looks to Frank like Ricky is actually giving Lester a blow job and getting paid for it, 4) Frank beats Ricky for selling sex... , 5) Ricky runs over to Jane's house and they decide to run away together 6) Jane and Angela get in a fight because Jane wants to run away with Ricky, 7) Lester tries to seduce Angela, but he stops from having sex with her when he finds out she's a virgin, 8) Frank comes over to Lester's house, and tries to kiss him... ?? What, Frank is gay???, 9) Carolyn decides to kill Lester, 10) Frank comes back over to Lester's and actually does kill him, 11) Carolyn comes home, with gun in hand, and finds Lester is already murdered.
This was a strange and really terrible movie. It's like everything that could possibly be wrong with the typical American family amplified. I have to say I thought it was pretty awful. The only good point in the movie was that Lester was probably an ok guy. At least we knew he loved his wife and daughter, and he didn't end up sleeping with Angela. Everybody just wanted to kill him. The material, selfish, do-what-ever-you-feel-like attitudes of all the characters in the movie is really depressing. I get that the movie is calling attention to how screwed up American families can be and that is probably much more prevalent than we imagine, but I have to say I didn't enjoy the movie at all.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Schindler's List (1993)
Schindler's List is about the German entrepreneur Oscar Schindler (Liam Neeson) who was a member of Nazi party. Schindler was living in Czechoslovakia but moved to Poland to try to make a fortune by exploiting Jewish prisoners during World War II. Schindler enlists the help of Itzhak Stern (a Jewish accountant and one of the select members of the Jewish council) to help him run a business making pots and pans to sell during the war. Itzhak takes care of hiring highly skilled laborers deemed "essential" for the war effort. In reality, Itzhak was trying to save as many Polish Jews as possible by giving them jobs at Schindler's factory.
Schindler's workers lived in the forced housing of the Krakow Ghetto. At one point there is a huge massacre in the Krakow Ghetto by the German army. Jews who were not murdered were sent to the Plaszow concentration camp. The Plaszow camp was overseen by Amon Goeth, a German officer. Schindler was really upset when all of his workers were either killed or sent to the camp. While working with the Jews in his factory, Schindler develops a regard for the prisoners. At first you believe he's mostly upset about losing his cheap labor, but we find out that he really has the best interest of the people at heart. Schindler gets to be good buddies with Goeth and pays him off in order to save 1100 Jewish prisoners on his famous list from going to the Auschwitz concentration camp where they would definitely be murdered. He takes them back to his home town of Zwittau-Brinnlitz in Czechoslovakia to open a weapons factory.
Schindler decides to make faulty weapons in order to thwart the German/Nazi war effort. In the end, when the war is over and the Germans surrender, Schindler is riddled with guilt that he wasn't able to save more prisoners. His former slaves grant him pardon due to his efforts to save as many Jews as he was able.
I thought this movie was really well done but it was really difficult to watch. It makes you wonder how people could have so little regard for the lives of other human beings. A few points in the movie were especially disturbing: 1) When Amon Goeth shoots the prisoners in the Plaszow camp from his balcony like it was a sport, 2) Goeth hires a pretty Jewish maid to work in his mansion, he's very attracted to her, but he can't understand his attraction because as he states, she's barely human, little more than a rat, 3) At both Plaszow and Auschwitz, when they burned the bodies of the murdered Jews, the ashes fell like snow in the cities, children played in the ashes like it was a holiday. Overall, this movie makes you pretty disgusted with human nature. How could it be possible that over 6 million people were slaughtered simply because they were Jewish or of Jewish decent? It really doesn't make any sense to me. Again, I thought the movie was great, quite realistic, and very disturbing.
Schindler's workers lived in the forced housing of the Krakow Ghetto. At one point there is a huge massacre in the Krakow Ghetto by the German army. Jews who were not murdered were sent to the Plaszow concentration camp. The Plaszow camp was overseen by Amon Goeth, a German officer. Schindler was really upset when all of his workers were either killed or sent to the camp. While working with the Jews in his factory, Schindler develops a regard for the prisoners. At first you believe he's mostly upset about losing his cheap labor, but we find out that he really has the best interest of the people at heart. Schindler gets to be good buddies with Goeth and pays him off in order to save 1100 Jewish prisoners on his famous list from going to the Auschwitz concentration camp where they would definitely be murdered. He takes them back to his home town of Zwittau-Brinnlitz in Czechoslovakia to open a weapons factory.
Schindler decides to make faulty weapons in order to thwart the German/Nazi war effort. In the end, when the war is over and the Germans surrender, Schindler is riddled with guilt that he wasn't able to save more prisoners. His former slaves grant him pardon due to his efforts to save as many Jews as he was able.
I thought this movie was really well done but it was really difficult to watch. It makes you wonder how people could have so little regard for the lives of other human beings. A few points in the movie were especially disturbing: 1) When Amon Goeth shoots the prisoners in the Plaszow camp from his balcony like it was a sport, 2) Goeth hires a pretty Jewish maid to work in his mansion, he's very attracted to her, but he can't understand his attraction because as he states, she's barely human, little more than a rat, 3) At both Plaszow and Auschwitz, when they burned the bodies of the murdered Jews, the ashes fell like snow in the cities, children played in the ashes like it was a holiday. Overall, this movie makes you pretty disgusted with human nature. How could it be possible that over 6 million people were slaughtered simply because they were Jewish or of Jewish decent? It really doesn't make any sense to me. Again, I thought the movie was great, quite realistic, and very disturbing.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Will Hunting (Matt Damon) is an average guy living in South Boston. He has a long train commute every day, working as a janitor at MIT. He lives in a pretty run down neighborhood in a small apartment. He has three buddies that he hangs out with, his best friend Chuckie Sullivan (Ben Affleck), Billy McBride, and Morgan O'Mally. They go out and get drunk regularly, often getting into trouble and picking fights. One particular night, they get into a fight with a group of guys Will went to school with. Will really beats his kindergarten rival "Carmine" to a pulp and he is arrested for the violence and faces jail time.
We're next introduced to professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard), a highly skilled mathematician (he's won the Fields medal) teaching advanced mathematical theory at MIT. He poses a very difficult theoretical proof to his students which he writes on the blackboard in the hall and asks his students to try to solve the proof by the end of the semester. Within a day or two a flawless answer to the proof is written on the blackboard (done by Will the janitor, who happens to be a mathematical genius). Everyone is very anxious to discover who solved the proof, including professor Lambeau himself. When Lambeau asks the class who did it, no one steps forward. Lambeau and the rest of the math department pose a new theory to the class, again written on the blackboard in the hall, stating that this question is significantly more difficult than the first.
Will and his buddies decide to go to a "Harvard bar". Chuckie starts hitting on a pretty girl, Skylar (Minnie Driver), saying that his thinks he remembers her from a Harvard history class. A snobbish Harvard prep boy calls out Chuckie and makes him look like a fool in front of Skylar. Will comes to the rescue and puts the Harvard boy's history knowledge to shame. In the end Will gets Skylar's phone number.
When the second theory is posted, Will is writing down the answer on the blackboard in the hall as professor Lambeau comes around the corner. Lambeau yells at Will for scribbling graffiti on the blackboard and chases him off. Meanwhile, Lambeau's assistant stares dumbfounded at the perfect answer. Lambeau is amazed at Will's gifted mind and seeks him out during his jail trial. Lambeau arranges for Will to be released under his guardianship providing that Will meets with him every week, does public service, and sees a psychologist. Lambeau and Will have a great time doing theory together and Lambeau compares Will to the greatest mathematicians of all time.
Will calls Skylar and she agrees to go out with him. She can also see that he's a genius and they hit it off immediately. Skylar falls in love with Will and tries to become a part of his life (she wants to know why they can't go over to his apartment or why she can't meet the 12 bothers he supposedly has). Will tries to hide the fact that he was abused as a child and leads a pretty miserable life. Skylar is about to graduate and is moving to California for medical school, she asks Will to come with her. Will says he doesn't love her (even though he obviously does) and they break up because he won't let her into his trust/won't allow himself to be vulnerable to her.
Unfortunately, Will does not want to see a psychologist (part of his jail release agreement). Lambeau runs through all of his psychologist friends and no one is able to outsmart Will. As a last resort, Lambeau turns to his old college roommate and psychologist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams). It's a rough start, but Sean finally cracks Will's shell and they end up helping each other. Sean helps Will overcome his guilt/fear of being abused as a child and orphaned, Will helps Sean move on with life after the death of his beloved wife.
Lambeau pushes Will to excel. He sets him up for interviews at very prestigious institutions. Sean thinks Will just needs to get his life straight and doesn't think he's ready for the stress of a high-powered job. In the end, Will decides against taking the jobs and goes off to California to win Skylar back. Sean sets off for a trip around the world and the start to his life without his wife.
I really liked the movie. Of course I'm pretty jealous of Will's amazing mind... I often feel limited by my own brain power. I think the movie points out that we're all given a special set of gifts/talents, but we have to overcome our own fears/reservations in order to excel. I really liked the ending of the movie because you just knew that Will was going to win Skylar back and become a famous mathematician while he's at it.
We're next introduced to professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard), a highly skilled mathematician (he's won the Fields medal) teaching advanced mathematical theory at MIT. He poses a very difficult theoretical proof to his students which he writes on the blackboard in the hall and asks his students to try to solve the proof by the end of the semester. Within a day or two a flawless answer to the proof is written on the blackboard (done by Will the janitor, who happens to be a mathematical genius). Everyone is very anxious to discover who solved the proof, including professor Lambeau himself. When Lambeau asks the class who did it, no one steps forward. Lambeau and the rest of the math department pose a new theory to the class, again written on the blackboard in the hall, stating that this question is significantly more difficult than the first.
Will and his buddies decide to go to a "Harvard bar". Chuckie starts hitting on a pretty girl, Skylar (Minnie Driver), saying that his thinks he remembers her from a Harvard history class. A snobbish Harvard prep boy calls out Chuckie and makes him look like a fool in front of Skylar. Will comes to the rescue and puts the Harvard boy's history knowledge to shame. In the end Will gets Skylar's phone number.
When the second theory is posted, Will is writing down the answer on the blackboard in the hall as professor Lambeau comes around the corner. Lambeau yells at Will for scribbling graffiti on the blackboard and chases him off. Meanwhile, Lambeau's assistant stares dumbfounded at the perfect answer. Lambeau is amazed at Will's gifted mind and seeks him out during his jail trial. Lambeau arranges for Will to be released under his guardianship providing that Will meets with him every week, does public service, and sees a psychologist. Lambeau and Will have a great time doing theory together and Lambeau compares Will to the greatest mathematicians of all time.
Will calls Skylar and she agrees to go out with him. She can also see that he's a genius and they hit it off immediately. Skylar falls in love with Will and tries to become a part of his life (she wants to know why they can't go over to his apartment or why she can't meet the 12 bothers he supposedly has). Will tries to hide the fact that he was abused as a child and leads a pretty miserable life. Skylar is about to graduate and is moving to California for medical school, she asks Will to come with her. Will says he doesn't love her (even though he obviously does) and they break up because he won't let her into his trust/won't allow himself to be vulnerable to her.
Unfortunately, Will does not want to see a psychologist (part of his jail release agreement). Lambeau runs through all of his psychologist friends and no one is able to outsmart Will. As a last resort, Lambeau turns to his old college roommate and psychologist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams). It's a rough start, but Sean finally cracks Will's shell and they end up helping each other. Sean helps Will overcome his guilt/fear of being abused as a child and orphaned, Will helps Sean move on with life after the death of his beloved wife.
Lambeau pushes Will to excel. He sets him up for interviews at very prestigious institutions. Sean thinks Will just needs to get his life straight and doesn't think he's ready for the stress of a high-powered job. In the end, Will decides against taking the jobs and goes off to California to win Skylar back. Sean sets off for a trip around the world and the start to his life without his wife.
I really liked the movie. Of course I'm pretty jealous of Will's amazing mind... I often feel limited by my own brain power. I think the movie points out that we're all given a special set of gifts/talents, but we have to overcome our own fears/reservations in order to excel. I really liked the ending of the movie because you just knew that Will was going to win Skylar back and become a famous mathematician while he's at it.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Braveheart (1995)
Well, I'm not so sure what to say about this except "EPIC". If you haven't seen it you should! Braveheart is about the first war of Scottish independence to win their freedom from England. Mel Gibson's character William Wallace is a young boy when the movie starts, living as a farmer in rural Scotland. William's father and brother are murdered when they stand up to oppose English rule. So, William has to go live with an uncle where he is educated (he seems to speak a number of languages). He returns to his boyhood home when he has come of age and falls in love with Murron.
Murron and William are married in secret to avoid the right of "first night" (The English Lords were given the right to sleep with the newly married virgin Scottish women on the night of their wedding with the hope of impregnating them. The idea being that the English could breed the Scots out of Scotland). Unfortunately, one of the English soldiers tries to rape Murron, hoping to instigate William into fighting. Both Murron and William fight against the soldiers however, Murron is captured and murdered. At this point William is completely fed up, losing his father, brother, and wife to the English invaders. He first kills the majority of the soldiers occupying his village and then captures the English lord in charge and has him killed in the same manner as Murron. He then proceeds to burn the English fort to the ground.
William is determined to fight the English and raises an army of Scottish commoners. The rebel army is quite successful and it soon comes to the attention of the king (Edward I, ie., Longshanks). Unfortunately, the Scottish nobility, including heir apparent of the Scottish throne Robert the Bruce, would prefer not to fight the English in order to preserve their lands and inheritance. King Edward decides to put a stop to William Wallace and his army, and the two sides meet in the battle of Falkirk. William had negotiated for the Scottish lords to bring troops and unite against the English along with William's commoner's army. However, the Scottish lords sell out to the English and leave William and his army drastically outnumbered. William and his army are defeated and William is injured.
However, William persists in his fight against the English. He is helped by Isabelle of France (the wife of the prince of England) who is sent to negotiate for peace. William and Isabelle become lovers and she apparently conceives a child by William. William decides to again try to enlist the help of the Scottish lords in the fight against England. They trap him and hand him over to the English where he refuses to accept King Edward's rule and is tortured and beheaded. Just before being beheaded he cries out the most famous line in the movie: "FREEDOM"! After William is killed Robert the Bruce (who despite having betrayed William once was actually a great admirer of William) leads the Scots in the fight for freedom which they eventually win.
Again, EPIC! This movie won five academy awards! A definite must-see. My view of the movie was that William was just trying to live a normal peaceful life, he wanted to farm the land his father farmed and spend his life with Murron. Unfortunately his plans are completely destroyed. He's just a regular guy who becomes one of the most extraordinary leaders. He is fighting for the basic right of freedom and is driven by the memory of the brutal murders of his father, brother, and wife. This movie makes you appreciate the price of freedom... which I think we sometimes take for granted.
Murron and William are married in secret to avoid the right of "first night" (The English Lords were given the right to sleep with the newly married virgin Scottish women on the night of their wedding with the hope of impregnating them. The idea being that the English could breed the Scots out of Scotland). Unfortunately, one of the English soldiers tries to rape Murron, hoping to instigate William into fighting. Both Murron and William fight against the soldiers however, Murron is captured and murdered. At this point William is completely fed up, losing his father, brother, and wife to the English invaders. He first kills the majority of the soldiers occupying his village and then captures the English lord in charge and has him killed in the same manner as Murron. He then proceeds to burn the English fort to the ground.
William is determined to fight the English and raises an army of Scottish commoners. The rebel army is quite successful and it soon comes to the attention of the king (Edward I, ie., Longshanks). Unfortunately, the Scottish nobility, including heir apparent of the Scottish throne Robert the Bruce, would prefer not to fight the English in order to preserve their lands and inheritance. King Edward decides to put a stop to William Wallace and his army, and the two sides meet in the battle of Falkirk. William had negotiated for the Scottish lords to bring troops and unite against the English along with William's commoner's army. However, the Scottish lords sell out to the English and leave William and his army drastically outnumbered. William and his army are defeated and William is injured.
However, William persists in his fight against the English. He is helped by Isabelle of France (the wife of the prince of England) who is sent to negotiate for peace. William and Isabelle become lovers and she apparently conceives a child by William. William decides to again try to enlist the help of the Scottish lords in the fight against England. They trap him and hand him over to the English where he refuses to accept King Edward's rule and is tortured and beheaded. Just before being beheaded he cries out the most famous line in the movie: "FREEDOM"! After William is killed Robert the Bruce (who despite having betrayed William once was actually a great admirer of William) leads the Scots in the fight for freedom which they eventually win.
Again, EPIC! This movie won five academy awards! A definite must-see. My view of the movie was that William was just trying to live a normal peaceful life, he wanted to farm the land his father farmed and spend his life with Murron. Unfortunately his plans are completely destroyed. He's just a regular guy who becomes one of the most extraordinary leaders. He is fighting for the basic right of freedom and is driven by the memory of the brutal murders of his father, brother, and wife. This movie makes you appreciate the price of freedom... which I think we sometimes take for granted.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Ok, first movie, the Shawshank Redemption starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. The Shawshank Redemption is about a businessman (Tim Robbins character, Andy Dufresne) who has thoughts of killing his wife and her lover after finding out she's cheating on him. He goes as far as getting a gun, loading the gun, drinking a lot, and sitting out in the car seemingly waiting to kill them. We find out later in the movie that he in fact did not kill the lovers but tossed his gun in the river and drove away. However, in a horrible twist of fate, the lovers are killed on the same night by a hired thug (hired to kill the boyfriend) and Andy is charged with a double murder and will serve two life sentences at the Shawshank prison.
Upon Andy's arrival at Shawshank prison he is singled out by the "Sisters" and is repeatedly bullied by them. However, Andy becomes good friends with Morgan Freeman's character Red, who smuggles items into the jail (like cigarettes and hygiene items). Two key items Red smuggles in for Andy are 1) a small pick (roughly 7-8 inches long) used by rock collectors and 2) large posters of show girls.
There is a key scene where Andy, Red and some of their other friends are selected for outdoor detail. Andy overhears a guard telling the other guards about receiving some inheritance but being upset about how much in taxes he'll owe on the money. Andy suggests that the guard bequeath the money to his wife, therefore avoiding the taxes. This little scenario wins Andy and his crew ice-cold beers and the attention of the prison warden. Following this, Andy is moved from laundry detail to library detail. He starts providing legal advice for the guards and doing all their taxes. Next thing we know, Andy is the prison warden's little pet. Andy is asked to "hide" money in fake bank accounts to cover up what the prison warden is making off hiring out the prisoners. Time passes and Andy appears content to build up the Shawshank prison library until a young punk shows up.
Andy takes the young man under his wing and helps him earn his GED. Interestingly, the young man happened to run into the hired thug who killed Andy's wife (unbeknownst to him ofcourse). Thus, this young man's testimony could shed light on Andy's case and provide evidence for an appeal. The prison warden catches wind of this and kills the young man, to Andy's great dismay.
At this point we fear that Andy is going to commit suicide, when in fact, he is planning his escape! Turns out Andy has dug a hole in the prison wall with his tiny pick (covered by his showgirl posters), which took him years and years. Andy escapes and sticks it to the prison warden by exposing the prison murders and illicit money funds. Andy makes off with some of the money to an island to open a hotel and restore an old fishing boat. He leaves directions and money behind for Red, so that they can meet up once Red is on parole. At the end of the movie, Red finds Andy on the beach restoring his fishing boat.
I liked this movie because of the camaraderie between the prisoners. It really made you feel for humanity. The profound sense of friendship between Andy and Red is what really makes the movie. At the end of the movie when Red sees Andy on the fishing boat and they run over to each other and give each other huge bear hugs, you feel like the sky's the limit. Hope for the future and hope for humanity is the overwhelming message. I think that's probably why this movie was a recommended must-see for my top 30 list. The power of hope against impossible odds.
Next up... Braveheart!
Upon Andy's arrival at Shawshank prison he is singled out by the "Sisters" and is repeatedly bullied by them. However, Andy becomes good friends with Morgan Freeman's character Red, who smuggles items into the jail (like cigarettes and hygiene items). Two key items Red smuggles in for Andy are 1) a small pick (roughly 7-8 inches long) used by rock collectors and 2) large posters of show girls.
There is a key scene where Andy, Red and some of their other friends are selected for outdoor detail. Andy overhears a guard telling the other guards about receiving some inheritance but being upset about how much in taxes he'll owe on the money. Andy suggests that the guard bequeath the money to his wife, therefore avoiding the taxes. This little scenario wins Andy and his crew ice-cold beers and the attention of the prison warden. Following this, Andy is moved from laundry detail to library detail. He starts providing legal advice for the guards and doing all their taxes. Next thing we know, Andy is the prison warden's little pet. Andy is asked to "hide" money in fake bank accounts to cover up what the prison warden is making off hiring out the prisoners. Time passes and Andy appears content to build up the Shawshank prison library until a young punk shows up.
Andy takes the young man under his wing and helps him earn his GED. Interestingly, the young man happened to run into the hired thug who killed Andy's wife (unbeknownst to him ofcourse). Thus, this young man's testimony could shed light on Andy's case and provide evidence for an appeal. The prison warden catches wind of this and kills the young man, to Andy's great dismay.
At this point we fear that Andy is going to commit suicide, when in fact, he is planning his escape! Turns out Andy has dug a hole in the prison wall with his tiny pick (covered by his showgirl posters), which took him years and years. Andy escapes and sticks it to the prison warden by exposing the prison murders and illicit money funds. Andy makes off with some of the money to an island to open a hotel and restore an old fishing boat. He leaves directions and money behind for Red, so that they can meet up once Red is on parole. At the end of the movie, Red finds Andy on the beach restoring his fishing boat.
I liked this movie because of the camaraderie between the prisoners. It really made you feel for humanity. The profound sense of friendship between Andy and Red is what really makes the movie. At the end of the movie when Red sees Andy on the fishing boat and they run over to each other and give each other huge bear hugs, you feel like the sky's the limit. Hope for the future and hope for humanity is the overwhelming message. I think that's probably why this movie was a recommended must-see for my top 30 list. The power of hope against impossible odds.
Next up... Braveheart!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Assignment: 30 movies to watch by age 30
My name is Elaine. I'm 29 years old and will be turning 30 in November. I guess I never watched a ton of movies, but I never realized how completely inadequate my knowledge of popular movie culture was. Of course I've heard comments like "I can't believe you haven't seen that!" or "Where have you been?" or "You haven't seen anything!". However, it was recently brought to my attention by my super awesome friends Cindy and Sara that in fact my movie education is woefully incomplete. I think their precise words were something along the line of: "You've got to be kidding me, you haven't even seen Steel Magnolias?!?!? Desperate times call for desperate measures. The goal: watch 30 movies before I turn 30 that represent popular movie culture for my generation. That way when someone quotes the "new classics" I can proudly say... "I've seen that, it was a great movie!".
With the help of Cindy and Sara, close friends, and my co-workers I compiled a list of movies that I should watch. The list was about 130 movies long. I sent out the list for closer scrutiny... I asked people to vote which 30 movies they would choose as absolute must-sees. The movies with the highest number of votes made the top 30 list (of course I excluded movies that I'd already seen). The final 30 by 30 list is below! The objective was to watch 1 movie per week starting April 1st. Well, it's already the end of April and I've only just watched the first one... so I'll have to double up. In addition, apparently you can't just watch one of the Star Wars films, and seeing as there are 6, I have an additional 5 movies to squeeze in before November.
I'm excited! I've signed up for Netflix and I have all the movies on my 30 by 30 list in my queue. I've already watched the first movie! This blog will be about my opinion on each of the movies in my list and why I think they were recommended as must-see movies for my generation.
The List:
With the help of Cindy and Sara, close friends, and my co-workers I compiled a list of movies that I should watch. The list was about 130 movies long. I sent out the list for closer scrutiny... I asked people to vote which 30 movies they would choose as absolute must-sees. The movies with the highest number of votes made the top 30 list (of course I excluded movies that I'd already seen). The final 30 by 30 list is below! The objective was to watch 1 movie per week starting April 1st. Well, it's already the end of April and I've only just watched the first one... so I'll have to double up. In addition, apparently you can't just watch one of the Star Wars films, and seeing as there are 6, I have an additional 5 movies to squeeze in before November.
I'm excited! I've signed up for Netflix and I have all the movies on my 30 by 30 list in my queue. I've already watched the first movie! This blog will be about my opinion on each of the movies in my list and why I think they were recommended as must-see movies for my generation.
The List:
Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Braveheart (1995)
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Schindler's List (1993)
American Beauty (1999)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Star Wars (1977, 1980, 1983, 1999, 2002, 2005)
Breakfast Club (1985)
Sixteen Candles (1984)
The Godfather (1972)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
West Side Story (1961)
Crash (2004)
Rain Man (1988)
The Hangover (2009)
Back to the Future (1985)
St. Elmo's Fire (1985)
Pretty in Pink (1986)
Animal House (1978)
City Slickers (1991)
The Shining (1980)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Cold Mountain (2003)
Good Morning Vietnam (1987)
Napolean Dynamite (2004)
Fight Club (1999)
Terminator (1984)
Monty Python Holy Grail (1975)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
ANNIE HALL (1977)
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