Avatar

James Cameron's Avatar is a groundbreaking film. Utilizing incredible special effects, this film is a visual masterpiece. Some people say that the plot of the film is a rip-off of other stories, yet I feel that the film is a unique viewing experience. Unlike most movies with impressive special effects, Avatar has a grasping story and interesting characters. It has a perfect blend of story, romance, character development, and action to satisfy most film viewers. Avatar brings back thoughts of how American settlers displaced the Native Americans who lived in this country. Overall, this film is a must-see for everyone. This film appeals to all audiences, and every person should have the opportunity to watch it.

Gone With the Wind

Gone With the Wind is based on the novel Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.

The most memorable scene for me is when Scarlett runs into the city and sees the thousands of injured soldiers laying on the ground by the railroad tracks.

Scarlett's favorite drink is corn whiskey.

The dress that Scarlett wears when she visits Rhett in jail is green.

It is made of her mother's drapes from her house.

The film takes place during the Civil War in Georgia. It begins before the war started, around 1861. It ends shortly after the war ends, around 1865.

My favorite quote of the movie is "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." This was said by Rhett Butler as he left Scarlett at the end of the movie. This shows that after all of the manipulating that Scarlett has done, Rhett doesn't care about her anymore.

When telling another person about Gone With the Wind, I would tell them to be prepared for the great length ofthe movie. Although, this movie will be very boring for many people who are not greatly interested in watching it, I believe that it is an important film to watch for anyone who is interested in film.

Mob Movies

While the three mob films we watched have many similarities, they are also unique in their own way. In "Goodfellas" and "A Bronx Tale" the main character is repeatedly told not to affiliate with the mob by their parents, while "The Godfather" depicts an entire family that runs a crime empire. In The Godfather, Don Corleone refuses to go into the drug business, while the latter half of Goodfellas revolves around the illegal cocaine trade. Goodfellas is also the only of the films to feature a mobster who is not a full-blooded Italian. The Godfather takes place in the 1940's and 1950's, when the mafia dominated the streets of major American cities, most notably New York. Goodfellas takes place in the mid 1950's to 1980. A Bronx Tale is set in the 1960's. Interestingly, Goodfellas and A Bronx Tale feature prominent roles by Robert De Niro. He would also star in the Godfather Part 2. Joe Pesci has a cameo in A Bronx Tale and a leading role in Goodfellas.

Stereotyping plays an important role in all three films. In A Bronx Tale, the neighborhoods are divided along racial and ethnical lines, and anyone who strays out of their neighborhood is subject to torment. C is looked down upon by his peers and even his own father for being romantically interested in Jane, who is black. These tensions lead to many important conflicts in the film. The Godfather conatins mostly Italian characters, as it mostly deals with members of the mafia families. Those who aren't Italian however are often very prejudiced against the Italians. Most of these men end up paying for disrespecting the family. While not necessarliy stereotyping, in Goodfellas, Jimmy and Henry are prevented from becoming "made" men because they are not full Italians.

Goodfellas is a based on a true story. It depicts the life of Henry Hill, who was a notorious mobster is the 70s and 80s. The film is very true to his life story, although it does not contain anything about his military service and some of the names of characters are changed slightly. Also, the movies only shows his dealing of cocaine, while in real life he sold many different drugs. Hill's testimony against the mob convicted more than 50 members of the crime family. Hill also played a huge role in the Boston College basketball point shaving controversy in 1978 and 1979. Throughout the rest of his life, Hill has had numerous drug and alcohol problems that continue to the present

Vertigo

Vertigo is crazy. That is the best way that I can put it. James Stewart's acting definitely helps to make the film as great as it is. Bernard Herrman's film score is simply amazing as usual, possibly second only to his work on Psycho. This film employs the now classic "Vertigo" shot whenever Stewart is affected by his fear of heights. Stewart's obsession makes this film truly creepy, in a way that no film I have seen ever has. This film is Hitchcock's masterpiece, and features every aspect that makes his films so great from beginning to end. The cliffhanger at the end is the perfect ending to such a wild movie.

Notorious

Notorious is one of Hitchcock's more star-studded films, featuring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. Bergman plays a daughter of a Nazi spy, who is recruited to spy on the Nazis by Grant. What follows is the beginning of a bizarre love triangle involving one of the Nazis. This film is regarded as one of Hitchcock's best, and a film classic. However, compared to the other films that I have seen, this was one of my least favorites. As a teenage male, films involving romance do not typically appeal to me. I felt that this film lacked Hitchcock's classic suspense, as you got the feeling of how the film was going to end very early in the film. While not one of the greatest films in his library, Notorious is still a good view for those interested in film.

Shadow of a Doubt

Shadow of a Doubt, an Alfred Hitchcock film, stays true to the distinc style of its director. The plot revolves around a young girl who knows that her uncle is a dangerous serial killer. True to Hitchcock's style, the viewer finds this out early in the story, but does not know what will happen to the characters; utilizing his common use of suspense instead of surprise. As with most of Hitchcock's works, you get much more scared and creeped out than you anticipated. Until the climax of the film, the villain is never scene clearly seen doing any explicit "villainous" things. This shows how Hitch is so effective at making clean-cut, well-dressed young men into some of the most iconic film antagonists. While not one of Hitchcock's more celebrated films this is still a good watch if you are a fan of his work. This film seems to me that it is years ahead of its time, due to is use of mystery, horror, suspense, and thrill, all wrapped into a new genre all its own.

What's Up Tiger Lily

This film is an early work by Woody Allen, which takes a Japanese spy film, and replaces the voices with American dubs. This creates a completely different story and turns a serious film into a pure comedy. From my viewing experience, this is a film of two halves. Durng the first half of the film, I was cracking up constantly. There are so many great one-liners, along with a bunch of joks based on what the characters are doing in the actual film. However, the second half of the movie seemed to drop off a great deal in my opinion. After only seeing the film once, I cannot tell whether this because it was just less funny overall, or if I just got too used to the film to find it surprising or funny. The first half is definitely worth watching, since it packs a lot of comedy in a short period of time. However, it would be wrong to tell you not to watch the rest of the move, because in my opinion, there is nothing worse than not finishing a movie, and then wondering how the story ends.

The Birds

Anyone who has seen The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock will probably agree with some of the things that I will say in this blog. First of all, I have absolutely no idea, why the birds are attacking people. I watched this movie intently, and I know that it was not discussed even once. Next, even for the 1960's, it is hard to believe that the actors are actually being attacked by birds when there is a thick black line around the characters and their surroundings. I understand that little could be done back in the day to prevent this, but it does lessen the overall experience for me. This film was successful in being creepy when it needed to, and Hitchcock is still Hitchcock. While that in itself is enough to save this film from the garbage heap, it is far from one of his best works. And don't get me wrong, this film is still probably worth seeing, it is just hard to get over the story which never explains itself.

American Graffiti

American Graffiti is a true American classic film. Set during the early 1960's, this film depicts one of the iconic eras of this country's history. This film features all music from that time period, fun music that perfectly fits in with the story. While many future stars appear in this movie, they do not overshadow the overall story. The best word that I can find to describe this movie is fun. I know it is a broad description, but to me, with the classic music, cool cars, and coming of age storyline, this film can represent so many different things to different people. Whether it reminds one of their childhood, shows youner people what the culture was like in that era, or reminds people like me of their own friends in the present, this is a film that can be enjoyed by a great deal of people.

Psycho

Psycholfred Hitchcock's horror masterpiece, as well as his most famous film. I will not discuss due to the plot, because I don't want to ruin the plot for anyone who has not seen it yet (though I doubt too many people will read this anyway). This is a film that is driven by its music, written by Bernard Herrman. Herrman's music gives the film a completey different feel; as I saw after watching a part with and without the music. Featuring stellar acting by little known actors, this film is a masterpiece. The one thingthat proves this film's greatness is the fact that 50 years after its release, it is still as creepy as it was originally. Anyone who has ever drawn a single breath on this Earth would be doing themselves a disservice if they did not view this film at least once.

Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhands is a classic film, although it is only 20 years old. Starring Johnny Depp, this film tells the story of a young man created by a scientist that had scissors for hands. He is taken by a woman back to her home, and she attempts to adapt him to society. His talents for hedge clipping and haircutting instantly make him popular around the neighborhood. However, the woman's boyfriend makes Edward look like a criminal, turning the entire neighborhood against him. This film is fascinating in that it can be happy, sad, and funny at the same time. It is a beatiful film that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

Network

Network is a comedy about a news reporter who gains tremendous popularity after speaking about how terrible the world is on his newscasts. The film spirals after he gains his own show, and the various antics that go on behind the scenes. In my opinion, this film suffered from trying too hard to be funny. This may be due to the fact that I was not alive during the 1970's and did not recognize the many of the references that were made. If you were alive during this time period, this may be a good viewing experience, but if you are too young this film is not worth your time.

His Girl Friday

His Girl Friday is probably the fastest talking movie of all time. It takes a good ear to be able to hear everything that the characters say. The story is about a newspaper editor, who tries to ruin his ex-wifes plans of marrying another man and leaving for Albany. He does this by getting her to do one last story for him, all-the-while harassing her fiance. I did not particularly like this film. I didn't really care for much of the humor and the plot did little to satisfy me. I suppose this film would be worth watching if you were a fan of Cary Grant, but I'm sure that there are better examples of his work.

Run Lola Run

Run Lola Run is one of the most fastpaced, hectic films I have ever seen. The plot is this: Lola's boyfriend has lost money that is owed to the mob and she has to figure out how to get enough money to save him from the mob boss. The film has three stages, each one depicting a different strategy for Lola to try and get the money needed to save her boyfriend. There are 2 failures and ultimately 1 success. Run Lola Run has sme of the best, most fitting music to any film I have seen recently. The fact that it is not in English is not a detriment at all to the viewing experience. It actually adds to the feeling of the strange world that the characters seem to live in.

Memento

Memento is a unique film that is known for being backwards. The movie starts at the end of the story, and every successive scene ends where the previous scene started. The plot revolves around a man who is trying to find the man who killed his wife. Unfortunately, he has short-term memory loss, so he has to leave himself notes to help solve the mystery. I can attest that I have never even heard of a film having a similar format to Memento. I found it to be very interesting, not only for its unique style, but also for being a good movie overall. Anyone who wants to see a landmark in the history of film should see this movie, but be prepared to have to pay close attention to every detail.

The General

Ever since I first saw Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. a few months ago, I became a fan of his work. The General is one of his most famous works, and according to some, one of the greatest films of all time. The premise of the movie is that Buster has his train stolen during the Civil War by Union soldiers. He then has to catch them and bring his train back to the South. I found it to be an interesting choice that the protagonist is from the South, when most Civil War films have the hero from the North. The overall story ultimately comes full circle, as the soldiers lay traps along the way to prevent Buster from catching them. Then Buster lays traps to keep the soldiers from catching him after he regains the train. While this film may be his best overall movie, it is not devoid of Keaton's timeless physical humor. Anyone who wants to watch a classi silent movie, or anyone who just wants a good laugh can benefit from watching this film.