The Coen Brothers

Well I must say that I didn't love this unit. The Coen Brothers have a sense of love for violence and crime. Each of the movies I viewed in this unit was bloody, there were lots of murders and the plot was a very violent one. My parents hate the Coen Brothers and I can see why. Me on the other hand don't care as much but the movies did somewhat gross me out. The only movie I really enjoyed from them was O Brother Where Art thou? It was very comical and not that serious. You could say it was like a comedy. It was different from what the brothers usually make. At least that's my opinion.
One of the most noticeable aspects of their films was that there was one character that did an illegal thing to get hold of something that wasn't theirs in the first place but then in the end it somehow rights it self out with the exception of No Country for Old Men. In Raising Arizona, H.I. and Ed wanted a baby so bad that they ended up with the crazy idea of stealing a child from a rich family. They realized that it was a mistake and that they couldn't handle a baby if they couldn't even work situations out between them so they returned the baby. In Fargo, there was the two men who wanted the money and got their hands on it but both were killed for what they deemed right but truthfully was wrong.

Okay so I chose to do a important scene from The Long Goodbye. It was the end when Marlow shoots his very good friend. At first I wondered why he would do such a thing but thinking back to our discussions it was because his friend used him. Apparently Marlow figured it out and so he set out to find him because he was the only person who believed he was not dead. They kept playing the same song over and over but once his friend was dead they played a much more upbeat and happy tune. It signified that he was "free" and that he didn't have to do deal with anything else bad that might have come his way if the friend kept on living in secret. It takes a lot of courage to do something like that but he did it.
I forgot what the line was that he said before the shooting but he even talked about his cat. Somehow the cat, who was fed and water, and then running away was related to his friend having him drive him somewhere. As I said before he used him and so did the cat. Also once he shot him there then was the close-up on Marlow's face. His expression was of he was sorry he did it but there was no other way or he didn't have a choice. He didn't want all of what did happen to him just because his friend was going into hiding because he killed his wife. He probably would've taken it if it was for a justifiable reason but it wasn't so he had to do what he felt was right and fair to him.

Big Fish
Okay so the director we chose to follow was Tim Burton. Here is the first movie we decided to watch. I think Tim Burton has a way with choosing only the most beautiful of colors to go with the vibrant scenes of the father's, Edward Bloom, younger days. Basically what he puts into each scene. The present day he uses regular colors but in the past it looks more like a dream with many different and not dull colors.One scene I especially liked was when Edward discovered a little town in the middle of the woods. All the houses are different colors and the grass is as green as green can get.
Another thing I noticed in Burton's work was that he chose a main character that needed to find out who he was or where he came from. A young foolish or helpless character who learns hard lessons in life. In this film there was the father, Edward who told his story from when he grew up and his adventures that made who he was in the present day. The movies that I have seen that Tim Burton has directed have always had a character that needed to find themselves and has some kind of adventure along the way or is accepted by someone they want to be accepted by and loved. In the end they usually turn out to be happy in where they end up.


Here's a link to how Tim Burton's Big Fish:
Tim Burton Reels in Big Fish

Old Times

For the past couple of days I have been watching the TV miniseries, Band of Brothers (Spielberg & Hanks). I've seen it before. Its just that it's really good so I felt like watching it again. It has ten parts to it about World War II and how the Americans battled against the Germans but more specifically it focuses on the experiences named Easy Company. This miniseries is very sad and depressing but still very good in a sense. It shows all the hardships the soldiers went through to achieve victory. Their victories in battles and their losses of good friends and pals. The music especially adds a great deal into how Band of Brothers makes you feel. At certain points it kind of made me cry because what happened was so sad. I think one of the many great components that make up this miniseries is the color. It's somewhat faded or like it has some oldness to it. If I recall way back that we talked about Saving Private Ryan and that it too had similar colors. The colors went as vibrant. You could say that it's in between having full color and balck and white. I think it adds a lot to it. There is also a lot of close-ups of different soldiers' faces, when they're fighting, showing the struggles they have or are going through. In conclusion it shows deep emotions, excellent show of a faded color and the whole deal of how this men fought through the war with many victories and losses along the way.

Blood, Gore and.....Singing?

This past weekend I watched the movie Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Tim Burton 2007) and I must say that I liked it. All Tim Burton movies are good. Yeah sure it was bloody and dark but the part I liked best was the music and singing. Maybe it's just because I like music and so that's why it was so appealing to me. Benjamin Barker a.k.a Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp) is a dark and mysterious man. In the beginning it seems that Sweeney is doing the right thing and that his revenge is justified but towards the end he kind of gets out of control. Depp did a fabulous job and I thought it was very interesting how he could pull off such a part like Sweeney Todd. It's weird how many actors and sctresses today have such good singing voices. I was blown away and stunned the first time I heard Depp's voice and that it was amazing. The setting took place in London but instead of the bright and sunny London, we all know, we get the dark, shadowy, cloudy and dirty London. What adds to it is the lighting which is low key. Mostly all the scenes are dark and the main character's faces are so pale and ghastly-looking that you would think they were the undead or something like that.

Singing this song is Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) and its called the "Worst Pies in London."Their faces are pale and white and the darkness of the setting adds to it so the result is high contrast. I think it's cool that they add that in but that's just me. Here's a clip of Depp singing just so you can hear what his voice sounds like.

So in all it makes an excellent and I would definitely recommend it. It may be dark and bloody but overall its good especially the music portion of it.

Last night i re-watched the movie Drumline ( Charles Stone III 2002) and I had forgotten how good it really was. The plot is about this guy, Devin Miles (Nick Cannon), who got a full ride to A&T University because of his musical talent with the snare drum. You could characterize him as a lone ranger who likes to do stuff his own way and alone. Throughout the first year of his experience there he learns the importance of playing with a band and working together. The director of the marching band, Dr. Lee (Orlando Jones), says, "One band one sound." That phrase is what gets Devin through the hardships and difficulties before he learns the true meaning of being part of a marching band. His friends turn into his best friends and his enemy turns into his friend. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly states,

"Drumline does more then capture the excitement of marching bands; it gets their clockwork beauty as well."

I would definitely agree with this statement. Each marching band has its own unique style and sound. Its what makes up that band that makes that band who they are. What gets my attention is all the movement, flashing lights and enormous green fields. It catches the eye very easily. Its amazing how muh color they put in this film

Well as you can see this is the movie The Patriot (Roland Emmerich 2000). This film has a lot of blood and fighting and some would say it's a bad movie because of it. I would somewhat disagree because some of the bloodiest battles have good scenes in them. In one of the fighting scenes there is a particular moment that I like the best. It was one of the battles between the Americans and the British right before the British lost. Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) is the leader of the malitia and is on the front line encouraging his fellow peers to go forward and overrun the British once and for all. It seems that at first they have confidence but slowly each man begins to retreat.
Benjamin Martin takes the American flag and yells for them to follow him and eventually they do. There are some ruins in the middle of the battlefield so once Martin gets to the top of the steps he beckons for the soldiers to follow and overcome this point by waving the flag back and forth in the air. That scene is very important and effective because of all the components it is made up of. There is a low angle shot of him waving the flag showing and meaning that they now are the ones who should take charge and they will win. The sun shines through the ruins meaning that the day of victory is coming. The music is that of triumph, courage and success and that they can and will finally beat their enemies down. It's just that scene that always gets me and has a lot of meaning in it.