Coen Brothers

I have seen many of the Coen Brothers films, and I would easily admit that they are my favorite directors/producers of all time. I love the fact that in nearly all their movies, I am always taken aback by some twist or loophole that I would have never expected. A prime example of this is in Burn After Reading, It involves Brad Pitt in a closet. I was never expecting that to happen, and it was very startling. Another example is Llewelyns death in No Country for Old Men. He was the supposed Protagonist, and in 90% of the movies made in hollywood, the protagonist or "good guy" doesn't die. The manner in which they let him die, offscreen by mexicans, not even Chigurh really threw me off when I first saw it. Another device of the Coen's that I like is their way of characterization. It's always done in the first 10 or 15 minutes, which allows us as the viewers time to ponder and pick over the plot while its happening, the absense of characterization from the bulk of the movie really makes the plot stand out and seem more important.

Altman Effect

After watching The Long Goodbye and The Player, my interested in Robert Altman, as a director, was piqued. His style.. the dingy pallet, the ever moving camera, the way the characters talk to one another, how many characters there are, the way they are developed. All of those things made me want to see another Altman Film, Now I haven't gotten any of his movies from Netflix yet, But i plan on seeing Gosford Park and A Prarie Home Companion, two of his most recent films.

You are not your job.

After watching Fight Club for about the hundredth time, I can still safely say it's one of my all time favorite movies.

Fight Club is more than defensible. It is an excellent film that raises some interesting questions about the nature of man and his relationship to the world he has made. It does not abandon thoughtfulness in its pursuit of the adrenaline jolt. It's a brutal, yet honest. It speaks clearly against consumerism, monologued by Edward Norton a few minutes into the movie, and later by Brad Pitt's character, Tyler Durden. Pan over Project Mayhem, dozens of men working to achieve enlightenment, and Tyler Durden is their preacher, he states: "You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. We are the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world." This is a perfect example of the main theme of the movie, anti-consumerism.

After seeing several of Fincher's other films, I can safely say that this movie is exactly in his style. Neo-noir stylized cinematography, poetic dialog, non-digetic voice overs, etc. All of his other films have employ the same style, which isn't surprising at all.

Brad Pitt also plays the same arrogant, cocky hipster that he plays in his other Fincher movies, The contrast between his character in Se7en and his character in Fight Club are almost nonexistent. They have the same mannerisms, same way of speaking, and same attitude. This isn't a bad thing, as I feel that that character has not been overused yet.
There are many cuts from storyline to emphasize different points, such as when The Narrator(Edward Norton) narrates to the audience, while the action that he is speaking about goes on in the background. This happens quite frequently and gives us a physical representation of his words.
The theme in his movies are very similar as well, encompassing character(s) that are estranged from the world, and centralizing the movie around said character(s) internal struggles, battling for their sanity.
My points are elaborated more thoroughly in this review:

Wall-E

One of the movies I recently watched was Wall-e. I saw it once before a few days after it was released in theaters. Both times, I found the movie to be a work of art; But i should expect nothing less from Pixar studios, who have constantly pumped out wonderful and captivating animated features. Anyways let me get started on the actual post. The movie follows the story of a robot named Wall-E who is designed to clean up a polluted Earth. He eventually falls in love with another robot named Eve, and follows her into outer space on an adventure. I classify this amazing movie as a sci-fi, action/adventure, romance. Even though the main characters are robots, you get extremely attached to them through the duration of the movie. Wall-e's quirky charm and Eve's compassion give extraordinary human qualities to them.
My favorite part about the movie, when it comes to cinematography has to be the extreme long shots in the beginning of the movie. It sets the scene and part of the setting for the movie(as it should) and gives the viewers an interesting pseudo-idea of what are planet could end up like.

The music is another amazing quality of the movie, every single track captures mood and tone really well, especially the songs from Hello Dolly!
In my opinion, this movie should win the Academy Award for Best Picture of 2008. If it does not, I will be very disappointed.

Film Noir

So we just started our unit on Film Noir and I have to say that the unit isn't an interesting one. I know Mr. Klobuchar said that most kids like this unit, but I'd have to say that I do not. I understand why the majority of Film Noirs were B rated movies, it's because they were mildly entertaining and suspenseful at their best. I can't really judge acting in the 40's because the styles were different, but the acting thus far in the movie we're watching is shoddy, and extremely over-dramatized. The editing, lighting, and sound impressed me however, especially for the time period, those aspects are above average. Overall I find myself seeing the characters as very see through and 1-dimensional which just doesn't get and hold my attention in a movie. The plotline is also sub-par. The mysterious protagonist revisits his past, big deal, I've seen it many times before and it is becoming very stale.

Snatch

I recently watched the movie Snatch (Directed by Guy Ritchie) . The movie contains two main plots that intertwine. The first focuses on a very valuable 86 carat diamond. It is stolen by Frankie 'Four-Fingers' (Benicio del Toro) and brought to London, (originally to be brought to a group of Jewish money launderers led by by Abraham "Cousin Avi" Denovitz) where the diamoned falls into the hands of local thieves and underworld figures, all of whom scramble to claim the diamond for themselves. The other plotline revolves around an unlicensed boxing promoter named Turkish (Jason Statham) who finds himself in debt to a psychotic local crime boss, Brick Top (Alan Ford), known for feeding those who fall out of his favour to his prized pigs. After his boxer Gorgeous George is beaten up by an Irish gyspy Mickey (Brad Pitt) over a trailer. Turkish and his partner Tommy decide to hire Mickey. As events twist and turn, the two situations blend into one with a chain reaction of events carrying on for each and every character.
The cinematic effects of the movie are astounding, implementing dramatic musical effects which connect the current lighting, creating a wonderful work of art that anyone can enjoy. The movie is narrated by Jason Statham, which is a good thing because of the several plot lines that are eventually tied together at the end.

It really helps the audience grasp the situation of the current scene. There are several moments where High- Key lighting really adds to the darkness of the plot. Coupled with songs which are amazing compliments to the cinematic effects, the movie really has a dark and corrupt feeling to it. The movie is hilariously finished up, leaving the audience satisfied immensely.

The Avengers

I recently watched The Incredible Hulk(2008) and was astonished at how well Marvel Comics did with it. Earlier in '08, Marvel also took part in Iron Man. (Spoilers); At the end of Iron Man, Tony Stark is approached by Nick Fury, the directer of S.H.I.E.L.D to talk about 'The Avenger Initiative' This is a cliffhanger of sorts, which will eventually lead to a sequel or two. Tony Stark also makes a cameo appearance in the Incredible Hulk, which leads to the idea that Bruce Banner is going to be recruited into the Avenger Initiative. This will all be leading to a new movie unto itself. The Avengers, set to be released in 2011, is supposed to be a culmination of several superheroes, including Thor and Captain America (both of which have movies coming out in the next few years). I believe that the way they have hyped it up at the ending of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk is an ingenious thing. The Incredible Hulk had amazing visual effects as well as spot on acting, you felt as if Edward Norton actually was Bruce Banner, and not just an actor portraying him.