(1941, Dir. Preston Sturges)
In Short: A Hollywood director known for his lowbrow comedies decides that he wants to make a film that depicts the real human troubles and suffering present in the world. For research, he tries living as a hobo and hits the road with just ten cents in his pocket. (Spoilers) The big idea of this film is that comedy is valuable, not only despite real-life hardship, but especially because of real-life hardship. The scene where the churchgoers and the inmates all watch the Disney cartoon is absolutely delightful to see, especially because of what Sullivan realizes in that moment. He finally sees the value of the art he's been creating and how it makes people's lives better. (End spoilers zone) I liked this movie a lot! It got surprisingly intense towards the end, but that was a welcome twist. I just love a good twist! Veronica Lake was hilarious and smart in her role as The Girl, Joel McCrea played Sullivan with a lot of depth. I really like movies that tell how important movies are, and this is a really great one of those. If I weren't so sick of assigning numbers to these movies it would be out of 10 plates of ham and eggs.
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(2016, Dir. Damien Chazelle)
In Short: Mia (Emma Stone) is a struggling actress trying to get her big break. Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is a jazz pianist trying to do the same. Romance! Crying! Music! (Spoilers) The big takeaway here is that sometimes you have to give stuff up to get what you really want. And it's a major bummer. And in the end (oh God, the END) Mia and Sebastian got everything they wanted but each other (this movie makes me so uncharacteristically sappy?). And even if it was a little predictable (that dream sequence redeemed the heck out of that predictability though) it was all very tragic and beautiful and lovely. Art does that. And that's another big takeaway--the value of art and how it changes people. I sure was inspired by this film! I want to go make art! Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling made me do it! (Spoilers over) This movie was made for me. I loved pretty much everything about it, especially how classic it was, taking its cues from the Hollywood Musical of Old. The music was amazing, even if the singing was just okay (except for you, John Legend, you were fantastic), and the costumes were gorgeous, actually, everything was gorgeous, and I'm in love with this movie. It might be my favorite movie that's not You've Got Mail? Maybe. Anyway, I totally loved it. I'm listening to the soundtrack for the third time today as I write this. 10/10 Rebels without Causes. (1998, Dir. Wes Anderson)
In Short: Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) is the king of extracurricular activities at his prep school, Rushmore, but he is decidedly not the king of getting good grades. He befriends local steel tycoon Herman Blume (Bill Murray) and falls for first grade teacher Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). Their lives become entangled and increasingly complicated by a series of miscommunications. A lot happens. Max, Miss Cross, and Mr. Blume are three very different people, but they all go through similar struggles over the course of the movie's plot. It just goes to show that there are some problems that are sort of universal and plague all people indiscriminately, problems like love and loss and desperation. Anderson really allows this to shine through by showing each character's side of the story. This is Wes Anderson. Do I have to tell you I loved it? Let me just say, I loved it. Like I said in my Bottle Rocket review, each Anderson movie is my favorite for a different reason, and this one was my favorite plot-wise. So much happened for it being a relatively short movie, but none of it was superfluous. I love that all the pieces were important. I thought I was going to hate this one, but I ended up loving it a lot. 9/10 signatures on the Latin petition (numbers are meaningless at this point but I like my rating system). (1986, Dir. John Hughes)
In Short: High school senior Ferris Bueller fakes an illness to skip school with his best friend and his girlfriend so they can explore the city of Chicago. The main idea here is that it's necessary to take a break once in a while and not to take everything so seriously. Every character kind of has their own lesson to teach, from best friend Cameron to sister Jeannie to the principal to Ferris himself. The montage-y aspect of this film really lends itself to making it feel fun and adventurous and gives it a nice wide scope. The scene in the police station between Jeannie and The Guy Sitting in the Police Station is oddly poignant though still funny. I guess my sister and I were the last people on the planet to have not seen this movie, but better late than never, right? I loved this! It's clearly a classic for a reason. It was a lot of fun but not devoid of any sort of emotional resonance. I appreciate that. 8/10 sound effect keyboards. (1996, Dir. Wes Anderson)
In Short: After a stay at a mental hostpital, Anthony (Luke Wilson) reunites with his buddy Dignan (Owen Wilson) who has big plans for them to become masters of the heist--all written down with an orange Crayola marker. Things go about as well as you'd expect. This film felt a little plotless, but that was really welcome. The characters still experienced changes and went through arcs, especially Anthony. Dignan's arc is that he doesn't go through one at all--he still remains his shoot-for-the-stars self. This movie isn't so much about the actual story as it is about the people, and the feeling you get from just interacting with other human beings. This was Wes Anderson's first feature, and that's easy to see. But there's something so endearing about it that it's impossible not to love it. I've seen all but two of Anderson's films now (Rushmore review coming soon) and they're all my favorites for different reasons, and Bottle Rocket is my favorite for how it made me feel. It's a pleasant movie with a good vibe but it's not sappy. Owen and Luke Wilson give fantastic performances as complex individuals and I really loved that. 8.5/10 atlas-or-dictionary-sized bags. (2016, Dir. John Carney)
In Short: It's the 1980s in Dublin, and 15-year-old boy is sent to an oppressive Catholic school where he forms a rock band to impress a mysterious girl. This movie manages to shed the naivete that is typically shackled to the type of optimism being depicted, and that just might be the whole idea of the film. Conor, Raphina, and friends are all trying to make better lives for themselves and they dream big, but they realize that it's hard. They recognize what stands in their ways (it's a lot, and some of it is unfixable), and they resolve to move forward anyway. It's a really nice sentiment and it carries a lot of weight. This movie is an absolute delight! The music is wonderful, the writing is heartwarming, upsetting, funny, and awkward at all the right times, and visually it's stunning--from the 1980s aesthetic to the especially notable close-up shots that I really liked. The beginning drags on a bit but it really picks up when the band does their first music video. Overall, this movie is cute and a lot of fun, but it's got some real substance too. 8.5/10 inexplicable rabbits. (1960, Dir. Billy Wilder)
In Short: C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is an insurance worker who lets his bosses use his apartment to keep up their extramarital affairs. It's easy and uncomplicated for Baxter to sustain this practice--until he begins to fall for the elevator girl, Fran (Shirley MacLaine). (Mega Spoilers!) For a comedy, this film has a surprising amount of depth. Most of the women are depicted as shallow sex objects, but Fran and arguably, Mrs. Dreyfuss, are afforded some actual character. Fran especially goes through a great character arc, going from cast-aside mistress to a woman in control of her own destiny. This arc peaks with Fran's suicide attempt, which gives the whole movie a more serious tone--even though Mr. Sheldrake doesn't take it seriously. The emotional depth and investment is really increased as the story moves along, and the film is very affecting for seeming to be merely a comedy at the outset. This was great! The exposition dragged on for quite a bit, but with the introduction of Fran and Mr. Sheldrake's relationship, things picked up quickly and never stopped cooking until the very end. The characters were easy to love (or hate) without being overly simple, the writing was snappy and fun, and the plot and jokes were also moved along visually--which is always super cool. 9.5/10 spaghetti rackets. (1930, Dir. Alexander Dovzhenko)
In Short: A grandfather dies. Some communism happens. Sunflowers. A tractor that's a big deal. A guy named Basil dies? Fruit? If you couldn't tell, I was a little lost as far as the plot of this film went. But boy was it gorgeous! The imagery is amazing. The parallels between the grandfather who dies sitting on the blanket and the baby sitting on the blanket eating fruit were really affecting. The scenery is just dazzling--all the sunflower stuff was beautiful. Just the beauty and positive imagery with the pro-communist message is what makes it useful propaganda. Despite the story being totally lost on me, I did sort of enjoy this movie. The cinematography looks great and there were even some moments of real, affecting emotion from the characters. This is pretty good stuff! 6.5/10 pears. (1934, Dir. Frank Capra)
In Short: Spoiled heiress Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) runs away from her business tycoon father who disapproves of her marriage to a famous aviator. Struggling to navigate her way to New York from Florida, Ellie is reluctantly helped by journalist Peter Warne (Clark Gable) who wants to get an exclusive scoop on Ellie. This is the OG reluctant roadtrip rom-com. I can see every trope of the Triple R (as I have just christened it) stemming from this one film, from the pairing of the naive girl with a streetwise guy, to sharing a hotel room and having luggage stolen and various weird locals and pretending to be married...I could go on. This is the birth of a genre. That's not what it was originally made to be, though. Capra wasn't trying to create a category of films. Rather, he was trying to tell a story about two very different people going through bizarre circumstances together and examining what happens to them. A neat idea, no? This was cute! Like I said, I've seen this movie before time and time again (the more I think about it, the more I realize that 2010's Leap Year has exactly the same plot, and that is a Bad Movie). Capra of course does it better, because he did it first. Colbert and Gable are charming and have great chemistry, and despite the fact that I knew exactly what was going to happen, it still kept me watching, and I loved the Walls of Jericho theme. 9/10 carrots. (1994, Dir. Robert Redford)
In Short: 1t's 1958, and Herb Stempel (John Turturro), reigning champion of television quiz show 21, is asked by the producers to "take a dive" so he can be replaced by someone who will bring better ratings to the program: the charming, handsome, intellectual, young professor Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes). Everything goes swimmingly for Charles and the network until a lawyer from Washington (Rob Morrow) notices there's something fishy going on. It's based on a true story. The morality of the characters in this film is fascinating! Charles starts off as a good guy, but he caves to the fraudulent whims of the TV execs when he sees the fame and fortune that could be his. Sometimes it feels like you ought to root for Herb, but he's got his personality flaws, too. There are a lot of different, clashing motivations that make for a very interesting plot. This is an excellent film. Rob Morrow, John Turturro, and Ralph Fiennes give excellent performances as very complex characters. The cinematography is beautiful; I especially loved the opening sequence that followed the questions being transported to the set of the show. The only thing that was lacking was a little clarity as far as who all the TV bigwigs were, exactly, and how they played into the whole affair. Otherwise, this was an engrossing, entertaining movie that I really enjoyed! 9/10 slices of chocolate cake. |
AuthorEileen here, writing reviews for film class. Archives
April 2018
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