MYST #6: Drive

Ryan Gosling has been playing a number of different roles lately and I would argue that his character in Drive is his best. Drive is not your average Hollywood film. The film has many of the characteristics of a Hollywood film, while maintaing that independent film feeling. Just one reason why Drive is an awesome film. 

The story starts as an unnamed driver, played by Ryan Gosling, prepares to be the driver of a robbery. After a couple misfortunes, Gosling and the two robbers he’s driving are found in the middle of a police chase, but thanks to Gosling’s expert driving and creativity, the car gets lost in a flood of fans leaving the Clippers game. The creativity of Goslings’s character proves key to many scenes throughout this film. Later,  he meets his new neighbor Irene, played by Carey Mulligan. Gosling’s character has an attachment to Irene’s young son, whose father, named Standard, is in prison. Once he gets released from prison, Standard finds himself indebted to people who protected him in prison. After seeing Standard get beat up in a parking lot, Gosling’s character gets himself involved in the conflict. To pay the debt off, Standard must rob a pawn shop in the valley. The robbery ends up going terribly wrong and the driver finds himself alone with one million dollars in cash. Throughout the rest of the film the driver tries to get rid of the money and ensure Irene and her son’s health. The driver ends up coming face to face with the main antagonist, named Bernie. There they come to agreement that the driver will hand over the money and Irene will be safe, but in the parking lot they end up getting in a fight. The driver comes out victorious leaving Bernie and one million in cash on the ground of a parking lot.

The cinematography in this film was outstanding. After research I found out that this movie was filmed digitally, attributing the overall brightness and color to this film. Some of the chase scenes in this film left me mesmerized and wondering how they got some of the shots. Newton Thomas Sigel took full advantage of the setting in Los Angeles to capture shots of the city that I thought were cool. For a relatively low budget film, I was impressed that they got some of the shots that they did. I guess that is a positive of independent film, the attention to detail in every scene.

Overall, I thought this film was outstanding. The plot was very entertaining, cinematography great, and had many great acting performances. I give Drive 4 out of 4 stars and would recommend it to anyone.  

MYST #5: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

After watching The Tree of Life, I was interested what other work Brad Pitt had out there. Having already seen Fight Club and the Ocean’s Eleven movies, I decided to check out The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. 

The main plot for this film is about a man named Benjamin Button(Brad Pitt) that ages backwards. Abandoned by his family, he is raised by a servant named Queenie. After learning how to walk and hanging out with all the old people that live in the same nursery home, he moves out at the age of 17 and becomes a part of a tugboat crew. After experiencing many ‘firsts,’ including having his first drink and going to his first brothel, Mike, the captain of his boat, volunteers the boat for the Navy following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Following a battle that resulted in both the tugboat and an enemy submarine to sink, Benjamin is rescued and released from the war. When he gets home, he meets his biological father whom he is angry at. His father reveals his is sick and is going to give Benjamin everything in his will. A number of years go by and Benjamin links up with his childhood friend, Daisy(Cate Blanchett), and they fall in love. They return to New Orleans and have a child, but are faced with the dilemma of what they should do when Benjamin is too young to be a father. Benjamin decides to leave and the rest of the film are scene of Daisy and Benjamin seeing each other every 10 or so years. Benjamin ends up dying in Daisy’s arms and Daisy dies two years later. The film is narrated by the child the two have as she reads the story of Benjamin. 

The visuals in this film were very impressive. Without the visuals of this film, it would be very hard to believe. The early scenes especially when Benjamin was ‘young’ were masterfully crafted to make the film credible. The time periods were also captured very interestingly that it made you feel like you were in that time period. The film ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Visuals in 2009.

Another thing about this film that stood out to be was the incredible similarity to the 1994 film Forrest Gump. For example, both are fatherless, have difficulty walking at a young age, go to war, get rich very fast, travel the world, and end up having a child with a childhood friend. Both screenplays are actually written by Eric Roth, so i’m sure that’s why. I thought that was interesting.

Overall, I thought this film was average. Director David Fincher and Brad Pitt have a solid chemistry between each other, but I feel the film is just too long. Running at 2 and a half hours, scenes just seem to drag on. This film had an interesting concept, but just was missing something. I give the film 2 and a half stars out of four.

1975 Film Post: Sent to Hell

             Sent to Hell is a war film set during the Vietnam War about three brothers who go off to war together. Billy, Joe, and Frankie Jones were coal miners who were born and raised in Huntington, West Virginia until the day their lives changed forever, the day they got drafted to the army. In Vietnam, the youngest brother, Joe, gets kidnapped and sets the stage for the rest of the film with his two other brothers searching for him. While searching for Joe, Frankie and Billy are faced with grim reality of war and are forced to question the cause they are fighting for. Behind enemy lines, both Frankie and Billy learn a lot about themselves and each other in their search for their younger brother. Playing the brothers we have Christopher Walken, Harrison Ford, and Kurt Russel. We believe that having these young actors and somewhat unknown actors would give the film a realism to it that would be hard to achieve with big time movie stars. We also think they are three great actors. Set to direct we have Steven Spielberg. We believe he has the vision to make a great war and he knows how to make a high budget film. In addition, we think this film can build off the hype of his other 1975 film, Jaws. Paramount Pictures will be our studio for this production because they have a very good history in this decade and they will give us the financial freedom needed to make a good war film. This film will be focusing on cinematography. There is no better man to help us to do this than Gordon Willis. Much like The Godfather, we want a darker, grittier tone to this film to help capture the intensity and pain of war. With Gordon Willis, we think we can achieve this. The characteristics of a 1970s film in this film are the difference between good and evil, the darker tone of the film, and the plot that is very relatable to the everyday American. We believe that Sent to Hell has what it takes to become both a commercial and critical success. Go see Sent to Hell!

MYST #4: The Aviator

At this point in film studies, I have come to the realization that Martin Scorsese is a incredible film maker. The most recent film I watched by him was the 2004 biographical drama The Aviator. The is the true story of Howard Hughes, aviation pioneer and film maker, and his struggle with mental illness. This film received eleven Academy Award nominations and won five. 

The film starts out with a young Howard Hughes getting washed by his mother who warms him of disease and tell him he is not safe. The viewer later finds out what an impact this moment had of his life. That scene cuts to a grown up Howard Hughes(Leonardo DiCaprio) filming his war epic Hell’s Angels. Hughes love for aviation and free spending ways is first introduced in this scene and are commonplace throughout the rest of the film. Funded with Hughes’ own money, Hell’s Angels is the most expensive film ever made at that point in time and becomes a huge hit. Hughes’ new found fame brings him attention that he does not like at all. With his fame Hughes develops a playboy lifestyle. In 1935, Hughes decides to purchase a majority stake in Transcontinental & Western Air. Hughes then designs planes and tries to make TWA the biggest airline in the country. He starts designing planes for the air force during world war II and fails very badly. While testing XF-11 recon plane, he crashes into Beverly Hills and receives major injuries. After failing to make the planes for the air force, the FBI starts searching his house and spying on him. Hughes has a major breakdown and locks himself in a screening room for months. After his girlfriend comes and sees him, Hughes goes and battles his charges of war profiteering in Washington. After successes in Washington and flying the biggest plane ever made, Hughes has another OCD fit and flashes back to the first scene of the film and repeats the phrase the way of the future and the screen cuts to black. 

One thing that I noticed in this film was the color. For most the film, especially the Hell’s Angels part,  the color is very vibrant. Everything form DiCaprio’s eyes to the massive planes have very bright color to them. After researching it, Scorsese did it to mimic the look of early bipack color movies and multicolor. I also thought the cinematography in the film was impressive, especially the plane scenes. Scorsese used full sized planes in the filming to create a very ‘real’ feel to the film. 

Overall, I would give The Aviator, a solid 3 out of 4 stars. This film had a very intriguing storyline and very good special effects, it just was a little too long at nearly 3 hours. 

MYST #3 Casablanca

 Over the past weekend, I got the chance to watch one of the greatest films ever, Casablanca. Widely considered to be one of the greatest films ever, certainly lived up to the hype for me. Led by an all star cast including Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid, this film all around has good performances from the actors and actresses. This film won three Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director in Michael Curtiz. The screenplay for this film is also considered to be the best ever by many critics. It’s one of the most memorable films in history. 

The film starts out with news reels explaining that because of the Germans occupation of France, many refugees have flooded into Casablanca looking for a way to get to Portugal to get to the US. Many refugees are stuck in Casablanca with little hope of getting out. We first meet Rick, played by Bogart, when a thief who stole two letters of transits from two German couriers, brags about how he has them. Rick ends up obtaining possession of these letters after the thief is arrested at the saloon. Shortly after renown resistance leader Victor Laszlo and wife Ilsa Lund show up at the saloon. Rick knows Ilsa from his time in Paris prior to the occupation. The rest of the film revolves around the letters and Rick’s relationship with Ilsa. The plot is very interesting and I did not see the ending coming. 

The part that stood out to me most was the screenplay. I though that the screenplay was great. The story was incredible creative and the character were so well developed. I was impressed by the fact that this film was released in 1942, right in the middle of the war. I can see why the screenplay won an Academy Award and is considered to be one of the best ever.

I really enjoyed the film Casablanca. It is defiantly by favorite older film because of its great acting and plot. Overall, great film. I give this film four out of four stars. 

MYST #2 A Few Good Men

Over the past weekend, I got the chance to watch the 1992 courtroom drama A Few Good Men. This film stars multiple big name actors and actresses including Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, Kevin Bacon, and Demi Moore. The film is directed by Rob Reiner and adapted 

by for the screen by Aaron Sorkin. This film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson), Best Film Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.

The plot of A Few Good Men revolves around the trial of two Marines who have been charged with the murder of a fellow Marine. Tom Cruise plays the role of a pretty boy Navy lawyer fresh out of Harvard. Throughout the film he has to prove his worth not only to his colleagues but also to himself because his father was one of the greatest courtroom lawyers ever. As the film progresses, we meet Colonel Nathan Jessep played by Jack Nicholson. Colonel Jessep is the most interesting character film in this film because of a standout performance by Nicholson. Colonel Jessep is an old school military officer that can’t get a grasp of the new the new ways and he ultimately payed for it. My only complaint of this film’s plot was that it is fairly predictable. 

Aaron Sorkin

Being an intensely dialogue driven film, this film needed a good screenplay. I think this film’s screenplay was great. This was the film debut for the now reputable Aaron Sorkin, and certainly set the stage for the rest of his projects. Having seen other films that he has been apart of including The Social Network, Moneyball, and The Rock, I can definitely see similarities between the films. One is the faster paced dialogue which can be seen prevalently in A Few Good Men and The Social Network. I Think that the screenplay for this film was excellent. 

Overall, I would recommend this film to almost anyone. With many big name actors, this film appeals to a lot of different film viewers and has a very good plot. I give this film 3 out of 4 stars.

Chasing Scarface (1935 Movie)

Chasing Scarface is Gangster/Crime movie made by the film studio Warner Bros. The plot is based on the well known tale of gangster Al Capone set in Chicago. We have Edward G. Robinson starring as Capone, and James Cagney as federal agent Eliot Ness. Both actors have had great success within the Warner Bros studio. We also have Glenda Farrell playing a part as Capone's girlfriend and undercover agent. This side story will provide that early 1930s sex appeal without breaking the Hay's Code. Due to the Hays Code, we had to change the focus of the movie from the glamour of the gangster lifestyle, to a pro law enforcement story of the fall of Capone and exlude any vilonce or sex in the film. The story will start in the 1920s prohibition era, continue through infamous events such as the St. Valentine's day massacre in 1929, and finish at his arrest in 1931. To direct the film we chose Mervyn LeRoy because of his history in the gangster genre and he launched the career of Edward G. Robinson in the 1931 film Little Caesar. The main focus of our film is going to be the cinematography. To make sure we had the true gangster feel, we chose Tony Gaudio to film the movie. He has a good history with Mervyn LeRoy and the gangster genre. Lastly, we chose Warner Bros. studios to produce our film because they had a great history of producing successful gangster films. I believe that this film would do well in 1935 because it has many elements in the film such as the gangster lifestyle, the love story between  Edward G. Robinson and Glenda Farrell, as well story of the good guy in James Cagney. This film has a lot of star power and a great director paired with a very good cinematographer that should be able to mesh very well together. That's Chasing Scarface.