Coen Brothers

Sheriff Bell's dreams at the end of No Country for Old Men sum up his feeling about what has happened. The first dream is about how his father gave him something and he lost it. This can be interpreted in many ways. In psychology we learned that dreams of losing something usually mean thoughts of failure so it is possible that he feels that he has failed his father in not being able to stop Chigur from continuing his rampage after the money. At the beginning of the film he talks of how he believes that his father was proud of him when he became a sheriff at the same time, but his father died before he retired and now retiring is in his mind sort of him quiting before his job is done. The second dream where his father rides past him going on ahead to start a fire in the middle of a storm. This can mean that his father has passed on before him and left him alone to find his own way through this madness but when he gets there he will be able to find shelter again with his father having set up a fire ahead. And the last words "Then I woke up" can be taken to mean that he never gets there to meet back with his father. Also the use of those words as the last of the movie makes you think that this whole disaster has been like a nightmare for him and now it is over, he is through it and now he has to move on.

"Pessimystic" River

Eastwood outdoes himself in this film. He weaves many complicated story lines together into this masterpiece. With the use of flashbacks and low key lighting he sets the mood for the sadness that progressively builds as the story unfolds. The plot is centered around three childhood friends, Jimmy Sean and Dave, who have grown apart in recent years due to one traumatic event in their past when Dave was abducted by pedophiles. Now their lives once again are intertwined as the the circumstances of the death of Jimmy's daughter lead them to look to each other in search of answers.
Both Jimmy and Sean play classic Eastwood characters in that they will do what ever it takes to fix things. Jimmy who was a main man in the Savage Brothers gang and since cleaned up his life reverts back to his old ways in order to solve his daughter's murder. Much like Eastwood's character in Unforgiven reverts back to his old ways at the end for one last killing. And the character of Sean is a cop who does what must be done to bring to the surface the real truth about the events. Though Eastwood would usually be playing one of the more bad ass roles in his movies he is far to old to play these characters so he only directs this movie.
Another trend that i have noticed in Eastwood's movies are characters who come from broken families. In Million Dollar Baby the the main character grows up without a father. In Grand Turino the Asian kid also has no father to look after him. And in this movie we find that the dead girl's boyfriend grows up without a father. All these characters who play pivotal roles in the plot come from broken pasts.
Once again the ending of the movie leaves me depressed andwondering why we picked Eastwood as our director. But then again the movie was well made and sends a powerful message and that can't be overlooked so it wasn't bad. I'm going to watch some happy movies before I watch another Eastwood movie that's for sure.

Ouch!!

This movie was one of the best movies that I have seen in along time. It was worth surviving Kiss Me Deadly to watch this. It made me want to find out what was going on through every scene in the movie. And the end though not optimistic was a twist that i didn't see from the rest of the movie even though all the clues were given to us through out the movie.

With all that also it has the image that will haunt my dreams for a while. the scene when his nose gets cut open. i didn't know what was going to happen and when it showed his nose getting cut i admit that i flinched. it was over the top and i liked it.

I like movies that make me think and figure out what is happening in the movie and this movie is the best thing I've seen since i saw the ending of "The Game" (if you haven't seen it you should). the way everything fell into place was amazing and at the same time awful ad i cant wait to see it again.

Eternal Sunshine

though I didn't exactly like this movie it did have many good sides to it. It had a complicated and interesting plot filled with twists that neither I nor any one else could have seen coming but that isn't all. the most notable thing that was amazing was the low budget special effects. the face fade aways the change in size in past memories.

This movie had many great special effects but the one that i found most amazing was the one where Joel is in his memory of Clementine leaving him and in his head he tries to follow her but he keeps getting turned around and ending up at his house, because he can't follow her. it just was really interesting how as this is going on every ting in the background is fading away and he just refuses to notice that he is continually getting turned around.

I didn't like the movie because it was told in such a strange way, but because of the way it was put together allowed for such strange and amazing scenes i guess i have to give it some respect because the effects though low budget were as good even better than some high budget effects that i have seen.

Unforgiven

One scene that is most noteworthy in this movie is the last scene in Which Clint Eastwood's character, William Munny, finds himself, now as he was long ago, getting revenge on those who killed his friend. Before he went in we see him riding into town he throws a empty bottle of whiskey to the ground, so we know that he has completely reverted back to before his wife. He first kills the owner for leaving his friend outside the store as a warning.

Sheriff Little Bill calls him a coward for killing an unarmed man and he just says that the owner should have armed himself. Little Bill doesn't seem to worry that he will die. He only flinches when the gun misfires and he didn't see that coming. And only when he knows that he is about to die does he break from his tough guy routine. He says that he doesn't deserve it that all he wanted was his town to be peaceful.

Munny is the only character with the opportunity to expand his notoriety by giving the writer his story. He is the only one to refuse the writer from his story. Afterward as he leaves the town he tells them to bury his friend properly or he will come back. It goes to show that he won't be changing back to how his wife made him. He will be like this for the rest of his life.

Vertigo

The movie that I watched for this semester was Vertigo which as the poster correctly states is the masterpiece of Alfred Hitchcock. This movie is a visual work of art. This movie in the hands of a lesser director would not have nearly been as amazing. Hitchcock is the main reason that this movie is a great movie. Sure to some extent the acting in this movie (James Stewart, and Kim Novak), but behind the scenes the credit is all for Hitchcock.

Right out the gate Hitchcock shows his directing in the scene when we first see Novak and the painting. Hitchcock takes over our sight and guides our attention in a subjective shot. it shows James noticing the similarities between the painting and her. He makes sure that there is no possibility for mistake on the viewers parts, he makes sure that you know what is going on. When Scotty (Stewart) realizes finally realizes the twist, which I won't tell you what happens, but it shows his realisation in quite the same way that it shows he knows in the same way that it shows the connections between Novak's character and the painting.

Also in the movie there comes a time when the narration stops being restricted to only Scotty and becomes unrestricted to show us the twist, and we have a huge shift from the surprise before to the suspense after of when is Scotty going to find out what is happening. Hitchcock seems to know in all his movies the perfect time to break from the anticipation of surprise to the tension of suspense.

The most interesting thing that Hitchcock did for this film was to create a way to cause the plane of the scene to deepen. He had noticed that when you zoom in and pan backward the field of view deepens. so he experimented with the process and it ended up being one of the defining sequences of the movie, and it really shows you what is going through the mind of Scotty when he is put in these situations.

All in all it was an amazing movie. the only thing that could have been done without was the never ending slow car following scenes which added nothing to the film and probably should have been shortened up somewhat. Other than that the directing by Hitchcock was extraordinary, and the film was the same.

Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is one of the most strange and violent movies, but without a doubt the best movie the war genre has to offer. The movie is told through the eyes of Capt. Willard, played by Martin sheen as he travels through Vietnam on a mission hand picked for him. More than any other movie Apocalypse Now shows the darkness of war as well as "The Horror."

As well as a amazing story line Apocalypse Now has an incredible cast through out the film. Featuring big name celebrities in small roles. Harrison Ford, Robert Duvall, Denis Hopper, a very young Laurence Fishburne, and above all with Marlin Brando as Col. Kurtz, the over all target of Capt. Willard's Mission.

The movie starts with the memorable sequence that any one who watches films has either heard about, read about or seen once or twice in their lives. I myself have seen it four times and I have only seen the movie all the way through once. It starts with a long shot of the jungle and as the Door's "The End" starts to play along with the noise of helicopters fades in the tree line explodes into Flames, setting the tone for the rest of the film to follow. From there the movie unfolds as we travel up river on a small patrol boat with Capt. Willard and crew.

This movie is far and beyond what I expected when I heard it was a war movie. Starting with the plot, Capt. Willard is sent up a Vietnam river into Cambodia to kill Col. Kurtz and American Officer who has apparently gone insane. Around each turn of the river the story strays further and further from the usual plot we come to expect from the war movie, and we begin to wonder if Kurtz has actually gone crazy or if he is the only sane person out here.

The most amazing scene in this movie is the Duvall scene, where he orders his men to take over a small city on a beach for its awesome surfing conditions. When he is told that it is an especially dangerous area controlled by the Vietcong he replies "Yea well Charlie doesn't surf." They take the town and start surfing before the gorilla warriors have even been stopped, but Col. Kilgore (Duvall) will not be reasoned with, the whole time he doesn't flinch as explosions are going off all around him. He orders an air strike on the tree line giving his most famous line in the movie "I love the smell of Napalm in the morning" showing once and for all how insane his character really is.

The movie travels down this river to less and less stable conditions as it comes closer and closer to its shocking conclusion, passing through Vietnamese camps, USO shows, and even through a French plantation, on their way to Kurtz's civilization. If you haven't seen this movie I suggest watching it. though it isn't for the faint of mind it is truly worth seeing.