Art of the Cinema: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

I’ve always had a huge problem with books that are turned into movie but One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest does not fit into the category that I hate. This movie was brilliant and I like how even though it wasn’t based off the entire book, it was still an excellent movie.

Jack Nicholson, one of my favorites, did an outstanding job. He always takes on these roles that seem too natural for him to pull through. It’s like he’s not even trying, and we talked about how that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good thing, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing. This might sound terrible, but I don’t think the rest of the actors had to put in as much effort as him. Because he is so good at what he does, it doesn’t seem to have a huge effect on the fact that this movie is only from part of the book.

Art of the Cinema: Rio Bravo

Rio Bravo was definitely the definition of what a Western film is supposed to be like. Starting with the silent introduction, and the close-ups of certain things in a few scenes, it sets the bar high for the rest of the western films that were made after this one. Rio Bravo was awesome to watch, unlike some of the other movies (no judging) and I liked it a lot. John Wayne’s character was my favorite.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a western film this good. All of the action shots were perfect and the way the actors played their roles was excellent. John Wayne played an excellent cowboy and he definitely was a conventional westerner. I loved the isolated farmhouses and how they always carried their gun everywhere. Everything in this movie fit the iconography descriptions that we spoke about in class and the cowboys were awesome.

Art of the Cinema: Mon Oncle

Mon Uncle is absolutely brilliant, yet strikingly annoying to watch. It took me 2 days to watch the entire movie, and even while watching it I had some trouble focusing. The theme of this movie is definitely Hulot’s inability to adapt to new technology. The poor guy is just completely lost during the entire movie, unless he is in his home which isn’t as advanced as his sisters. Hulot doesn’t fit in but that’s what makes him so interesting.

Things that annoyed me in this movie were some of the noises, especially the women’s shoes clicking every 5 seconds. I hate the sound of repetitive noises and the clicking of the shoes had me stressed out. Aside from that, I do like how the movie is about pure perfection. Every little thing has to be spotless, the way the wife goes about cleaning and serving the child and her husband is amazing. It seems as if the child isn’t going to eat a boiled egg; he’s going in for surgery. Everything is being sterilized and set up perfectly.

You can obviously tell that Jacques Tati is a genius, and this movie proves it. His way of directing movies is unbelievable. You don’t even need the characters to speak, which they barely did, to get the message across. The sound of everything (except the shoes) is out of this world and I really enjoyed the details and art of this movie.

Art of the Cinema: When Harry Met Sally & Romantic Comedy Genre

When Harry Met Sally is one of my all-time favorite movies and it definitely set the bar very high for the rest of the romantic comedies. It does follow the clichés of the romantic comedy genre because it has all of the things we talked about in class. It shows that true love exists, someone out there is meant to be yours and it also shows that romance can overcome all obstacles. In this movie we have Meg Ryan being the uptight focused woman (wanting to be a journalist in NYC) and Harry, who is the funniest guy, but kind of mean and a huge realist (in a pessimist kind of way). My favorite thing about this movie is that it's not totally cheesy and I like how long it takes for them to become friends...then fall in love. Twelve years and three months is a heck of a long time - most people don't even up getting married after such a long time passes.

I think this movie still stands the test of time as something to be judged as artistic in the future. Now, we look back at this movie and compare it to the romantic comedies we’ve seen in the past few years because clearly, this movie will always be one of the best ones. No matter how many romantic comedies we watch, When Harry Met Sally is one of the few that we won’t forget about. We will always compare the newer romantic comedies to this movie because as I stated before, It’s one of the best romantic comedies out there!

Art of the Cinema: Exit Through the Gift Shop

Let me begin by saying that this documentary was awesome. I loved all the street art, and if I could afford one of those pieces I would definitely invest in one. I especially loved the Space Invaders work; he was awesome.

In the other hand, I can see how people could think it’s possibly fake but since I’m not too familiar with “street art” or “graffiti”, I definitely think it was real. I think that if Banksy and Mister Brainwash came to an agreement to prank viewers with this film it would have taken a long time for them to be able to catch enough footage to pull it off. Reiterating what Germain Lussier said in the article on slashfilm.com, it would take decades for them to be able to capture enough footage to pull this off. On the comments below the article there were people talking about how they had heard/seen a lot of Mister Brainwash’s art around Hollywood, so that makes me believe that the documentary is definitely real.

The film is wonderful and I loved it but once again, I can see how people could think that Banksy is just messing with us. How could they think it’s a fluke? Well, It just seemed too good to be true in some parts, like how him and Mister Brainwash met, etc. but even so, if the documentary isn’t real it never felt as if I was being deceived while watching the film.

Art of the Cinema: The Thin Red Line

I’m going to start off by saying that director Terrence Malick's work in this movie was brilliant. The movie Thin Red Line proves that there doesn’t have to be a plot in order for the film to be excellent. He takes his time and lets the film unfold in a slow pace that forces viewers to appreciate both the scenery of the movie and the narrator’s deepest thoughts and feelings. The Thin Red Line definitely challenged its audiences, because not only do you have to be extra patient for 3 hours, but you also have to deal with the fact that it’s a war, and these horrifying things actually happened to our soldiers. Although, I am not a huge fan of war movies (Saving Private Ryan) …I thought this film was great, and Wilick did a fantastic job. It was beautiful and painful to watch at the same time, but isn’t that what we want? We don’t need a specific plot so we can “guess” or “predict” the outcome – which you can do in certain movies. During many scenes, I felt like I was there and that’s when you know the director did a good job. Not only do directors want viewers to relate to movies (which in this case, I obviously couldn’t), but they also want you to feel like you’re a part of it…like you’re in those scenes. This movie did that for me, and that is why it’s a great film because I’m almost positive that everyone else would agree with me once they’ve seen it.

Art of the Cinema: Pan's Labyrinth

I believe Guillermo Del Toro chose for the base of this film to be during a real historic event so that people would have an easier time understand why Ofelia had to “get out of reality” and join the fantasy world. He wanted us to have a bit of sympathy for her, and to realize that sometimes when you’re in a tough position and having a hard time dealing with things, there are different ways certain people can escape from that. Ofelia was having a difficult time understanding why her mother had to marry this evil man, and although her mother claimed she was “lonely”, Ofelia was saddened by the fact that her mom still chose this path. Both worlds the visible reality and the invisible reality needed to be portrayed in order to tell the story effectively. While in her fantasy world, she also made the mistake of breaking a rule and was punished for it, but then given the opportunity to make up for it by finishing another task.

My favorite part of the Psycho-Analytical reaction to the film article was: As she learns in the end, it is only by facing that bleak reality that she realizes that the difference between right and wrong, fact and fiction comes from an inner place of self-transformation, a harmonization, a self-sacrifice. It is a philosophy not just for Ofelia, but also for the entire human race to learn. This is definitely a lesson to all of us, and it teaches us that by being selfless, you can be rewarded greatly.