An Unmarried Woman was made in 1978 and directed by Paul Mazursky. Erica who is married 17 wonderful years in her life and finds out after lunch with her husband that has been cheated on for over a year with a women her husband met at Bloomingdales while buying a shirt. She learns on how to move on with her life and keep looking forward.
I feel this movie was very well played with the different events that happened to her within the movie. I feel it would be hard to be in love with your husband for so long and then find out of a enjoyable lunch that you have been cheated on for almost a year. That must be a sick feeling to feel and experience something so shocking. For the example while she throws up after realizing that situation just happened with her husband. I feel during the whole movie, the steps she went through to get passed her ex husband was realistic as can be. I like how she becomes independent for herself and does things she never would have still being married. I think she made the right decision on not going to Vermont with her new b.f and stay in Manhattan and buying a new place for herself and her daughter. I think it was a new life for her to get passed the old one once and for all.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Dog Day Afternoon
Dog Day Afternoon was made in 1975 and was directed by Sidney Lumet . The main characters in this movie were played by Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning and Chris Sarandon. This movie starts off with a robbery at a bank that was suppose to take less than 20 minutes but then later turned into day frenzy. The reason for the robbery was to pay for Sonny Wortzik’s wife for an operation that would make him happy. Sonny and Sal who were the two robbers of the bank that were sick of what was going on in the world and had enough of it. Suddenly they find themselves surrounded by the police with nowhere to go. Negotiations are set in place and the movie is then taken from there.
Dog Day Afternoon was a movie that put the cops on edge of going through a bank robbery. I feel that this movie did a great job of recapping of how it happened in real life. The scene where Sonny screams, “ATTICA!,” was a big part of this movie since it was around the time of massacre at Attica Prison. This put the cops on an uneasy side and Sonny then had the crowd of the people behind him since the cops always had their guns out aiming at Sonny. Another part of the movie that really caught my attention was when Sonny came out for the second or third time with a bag full of money and threw it to crowd for them to start collecting was another important tactic done for Sonny to give me more support against the police. I also think at this point in the movie he really didn’t care about the money except enough for the surgery but I think that’s all that mattered.
You can definitely tell how much Sonny did care about Leon. All he wanted to do was just to make her happy by getting the surgery and how content his voice was with Leon than his real wife with the kids. I feel he is more in love with Leon and cares more about him then his actual wife. For example, the phone call between Sonny and Leon was something Sonny enjoyed more than the phone conversation with his real wife who he yelled at multiple times.
The only part I didn’t like about this movie was the way they show everyone be friendly with the robbers. For example in the scene where Sonny lets one of the bankers play with the rifle gun and flip it around like a toy was something that confused me. Even though that everyone was a hostage in this situation, if I was handed a rifle gun to fling around I would use to not only my advantage but also end the robbery. Sal was sitting in the other room doing his own quiet thing while Sonny wasn’t fazed giving a hostage his own gun. I think there could have been a couple scenarios where the situation could have been different. Over all, the movie was very interesting with giving different perspective on a bank robbery that lasted an entire evening with shifted feelings of the crowd and went from a bank to the airport to have it all end is something that you don’t really see in movies today. I’m glad I got to see a 70’s movie that made me think after the movie was over with.
Dog Day Afternoon was a movie that put the cops on edge of going through a bank robbery. I feel that this movie did a great job of recapping of how it happened in real life. The scene where Sonny screams, “ATTICA!,” was a big part of this movie since it was around the time of massacre at Attica Prison. This put the cops on an uneasy side and Sonny then had the crowd of the people behind him since the cops always had their guns out aiming at Sonny. Another part of the movie that really caught my attention was when Sonny came out for the second or third time with a bag full of money and threw it to crowd for them to start collecting was another important tactic done for Sonny to give me more support against the police. I also think at this point in the movie he really didn’t care about the money except enough for the surgery but I think that’s all that mattered.
You can definitely tell how much Sonny did care about Leon. All he wanted to do was just to make her happy by getting the surgery and how content his voice was with Leon than his real wife with the kids. I feel he is more in love with Leon and cares more about him then his actual wife. For example, the phone call between Sonny and Leon was something Sonny enjoyed more than the phone conversation with his real wife who he yelled at multiple times.
The only part I didn’t like about this movie was the way they show everyone be friendly with the robbers. For example in the scene where Sonny lets one of the bankers play with the rifle gun and flip it around like a toy was something that confused me. Even though that everyone was a hostage in this situation, if I was handed a rifle gun to fling around I would use to not only my advantage but also end the robbery. Sal was sitting in the other room doing his own quiet thing while Sonny wasn’t fazed giving a hostage his own gun. I think there could have been a couple scenarios where the situation could have been different. Over all, the movie was very interesting with giving different perspective on a bank robbery that lasted an entire evening with shifted feelings of the crowd and went from a bank to the airport to have it all end is something that you don’t really see in movies today. I’m glad I got to see a 70’s movie that made me think after the movie was over with.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever was based on a 19 year old Brooklyn teenager named Tony Manero who is all about the disco life and dancing to the music. He is at an age where it’s all about blowing your money on the weekend and getting drunk and having a good time. On the other hand his relationship between his family is somewhat disappointing because they compare him to his older brother who is a priest. He soon see’s a girl named Stephanie and starts to realize that he needs to change his life, grow up and be more mature and have a life outside of Brooklyn.
I feel this movie showed main importance of teenage life as someone who is interested in disco music in the 1970’s. The moves they do then are so much different now and show the difference in today’s society. I feel that Tony did come to a realization of how his friends will never change their maturity as much as he did. They showed him as a kid who is just living the teenage life and not grasping about the reality of what he wanted to do with his life. When he met Stephanie, his life started becoming clearer to him on how much he kept doing the same thing over and over again every weekend. I feel if he didn’t come to realization on how much of a kid he was acting if he didn’t meet Stephanie, he wouldn’t have changed at all. Especially the death of one of his friends that fell off the bridge, he knew right then and there that he needed change in his life. Also when Tony and Stephanie where sitting down at the bridge scene, it seemed like he was telling Stephanie the serious side of himself and realizing that there is something out there for him besides dancing. Also the scene with getting his job back at the paint store and his boss saying you will make a career out of what you’re doing now and telling him how the other guys did the same. He knew right then and there that he didn’t want to end up like them and to go out and get a job that he really wants. He even had support from his brother who quit the priesthood and told him to find a job that he really wants to do and to just go out there and do it. I felt Tony had the support to do something with his life but just had to come down to reality to see it. Overall, very good movie and the ending were strong in my opinion on how much he can depend on Stephanie after the incident in the car to get a straight head. I feel the ending showed tony make his choice on and facing reality and grow out of the teenage era.
I feel this movie showed main importance of teenage life as someone who is interested in disco music in the 1970’s. The moves they do then are so much different now and show the difference in today’s society. I feel that Tony did come to a realization of how his friends will never change their maturity as much as he did. They showed him as a kid who is just living the teenage life and not grasping about the reality of what he wanted to do with his life. When he met Stephanie, his life started becoming clearer to him on how much he kept doing the same thing over and over again every weekend. I feel if he didn’t come to realization on how much of a kid he was acting if he didn’t meet Stephanie, he wouldn’t have changed at all. Especially the death of one of his friends that fell off the bridge, he knew right then and there that he needed change in his life. Also when Tony and Stephanie where sitting down at the bridge scene, it seemed like he was telling Stephanie the serious side of himself and realizing that there is something out there for him besides dancing. Also the scene with getting his job back at the paint store and his boss saying you will make a career out of what you’re doing now and telling him how the other guys did the same. He knew right then and there that he didn’t want to end up like them and to go out and get a job that he really wants. He even had support from his brother who quit the priesthood and told him to find a job that he really wants to do and to just go out there and do it. I felt Tony had the support to do something with his life but just had to come down to reality to see it. Overall, very good movie and the ending were strong in my opinion on how much he can depend on Stephanie after the incident in the car to get a straight head. I feel the ending showed tony make his choice on and facing reality and grow out of the teenage era.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Shaft
This is a guy that takes the law in his own hands and also has the community and his fellow cops for backup. He is a man that puts his respect for the badge to the innocent and cleans up the streets from the bad citizens of the city.
I feel race shows a positive point of view and a negative point of view in this film. Reason behind that is because he has leverage on the Sergeant Tom Hannon with knowing information about certain situations. The Sergeant on other hand gets Shaft out of sticky situations with the incident of a man falling out of his office building's window. To me, it's a "I'll help you out, you help me out "relationship". An example of the scene where the Sergeant puts the pen to Shafts face and said your not that black enough while Shaft put the coffee mug to the Sergeant's face and said your to white either. That shows a positive side of having different racial sides but in a joking matter. A negative side of this is the mobster in the coffee shop asking Shaft himself, if he seen some "nigger" named Shaft while Shaft quickly replied, " Your looking at him Whop!". In this movie, the director Gordon Parks shows the different cultures of people and the way they present themselves to others.
The beginning of the movie for me was surprisingly good. To me its been something that was show just then and now when Shaft started walking up from the subway stairs. It felt the director just portrayed Shaft as a normal human being just walking down in the city. Even with the music playing, they just showed Shaft being polite and greeting people as he was walking by. Also another reason why the intro was unique to me is because it was real time. My meaning ( on a side note is I don't know much about film.) that Gordon Parks just rolled the camera while the city of New York was just doing what New York does on a daily basis. The crowds, the cabs, everything was taken on camera with regular people just going to work, cabs transporting people and shops open for business. It's like the scene was already set and all you needed was the actors and the camera to start shooting!
I feel race shows a positive point of view and a negative point of view in this film. Reason behind that is because he has leverage on the Sergeant Tom Hannon with knowing information about certain situations. The Sergeant on other hand gets Shaft out of sticky situations with the incident of a man falling out of his office building's window. To me, it's a "I'll help you out, you help me out "relationship". An example of the scene where the Sergeant puts the pen to Shafts face and said your not that black enough while Shaft put the coffee mug to the Sergeant's face and said your to white either. That shows a positive side of having different racial sides but in a joking matter. A negative side of this is the mobster in the coffee shop asking Shaft himself, if he seen some "nigger" named Shaft while Shaft quickly replied, " Your looking at him Whop!". In this movie, the director Gordon Parks shows the different cultures of people and the way they present themselves to others.
The beginning of the movie for me was surprisingly good. To me its been something that was show just then and now when Shaft started walking up from the subway stairs. It felt the director just portrayed Shaft as a normal human being just walking down in the city. Even with the music playing, they just showed Shaft being polite and greeting people as he was walking by. Also another reason why the intro was unique to me is because it was real time. My meaning ( on a side note is I don't know much about film.) that Gordon Parks just rolled the camera while the city of New York was just doing what New York does on a daily basis. The crowds, the cabs, everything was taken on camera with regular people just going to work, cabs transporting people and shops open for business. It's like the scene was already set and all you needed was the actors and the camera to start shooting!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Taxi Driver
To me this was the best movie we saw up to this point. The way this movie was made truly gave you the real life society of the 70’s in the New York area. The environment of this movie really gave me the feeling of vigilantes across the city. Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro) played such a great role of being this character that was out of the loop of a regular society.
In the beginning of the movie, when he applies for the taxi service job, he had very little educational experience with absolutely no work experience. The only experience he had was something with the military. You can tell that Travis was little crazy by the way he talked and the way he presented himself in the movie. Also just on a side note, they never showed Travis actually going to bed or getting any sleep even though he did have sleep apnea.
He was definitely a key observer because he said that he didn’t care where he went in the city, as long as he was driving, he just explored the city. With this being made, he also noticed how shitty the streets and city really got especially during the night. As he said to himself through the writing in his diary that when night did come, all the creatures and filth would come out and fill the streets. He mentioned on cleaning up cum spots in the back of his cab and also cleaning out the blood from people getting into fights. The conversation he had with Senator Palatine about how bad the streets are along with the smell was something that really pissed off Travis. Later on during the movie, Travis Bickle knew that he had to take the law in his own hands.
Specifically that shot that Francine was talking about with Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) making that phone call to Betsy wanting her back then pamming the camera to the hallway with the two doorways open was confusing to me why this shot was taken in the first place. The only honest idea on what I came up with is that Travis already lost the fight in the conversation trying to get her back for another sit down or date. He kept persisting on doing anything to get her to say yes. The pamming to the door to me meant that the damage has already been done and there is no way of fixing it. In other words, Travis just needed to move on and out the door and forget about the date that he had. It was fun while it happened type of thing. This is what this scene felt to me. He was in a lose- lose situation and already lost her before he even called.
There is more I can talk about in this movie but overall to me this was an amazing film shot in the 70’s and again the last scene with the blood bath and shoot out was definitely Martin Scorsese scene. This scene was definitely something that made the movie for me. The reason why is because from when Travis got all three of his guns, they always showed you playing with them. At the end scene in the apartment, they had every shot of Travis using every single gun he bought. Even the scene in the where he shot the robber from robbing the store. Every single gun he bought was used and had a meaning to it. I appreciated the slow camera shots after the whole gun fight ended. This shot seemed like it showed everyone in New York had their attention on what happened. To me this gun fight scene was genius. Just for the fact that he used every gun he had and kept his word to help Iris (Jodi Foster). Excellent movie and just well rounded from beginning to end. Definitely a movie you need to watch from beginning to end!
In the beginning of the movie, when he applies for the taxi service job, he had very little educational experience with absolutely no work experience. The only experience he had was something with the military. You can tell that Travis was little crazy by the way he talked and the way he presented himself in the movie. Also just on a side note, they never showed Travis actually going to bed or getting any sleep even though he did have sleep apnea.
He was definitely a key observer because he said that he didn’t care where he went in the city, as long as he was driving, he just explored the city. With this being made, he also noticed how shitty the streets and city really got especially during the night. As he said to himself through the writing in his diary that when night did come, all the creatures and filth would come out and fill the streets. He mentioned on cleaning up cum spots in the back of his cab and also cleaning out the blood from people getting into fights. The conversation he had with Senator Palatine about how bad the streets are along with the smell was something that really pissed off Travis. Later on during the movie, Travis Bickle knew that he had to take the law in his own hands.
Specifically that shot that Francine was talking about with Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) making that phone call to Betsy wanting her back then pamming the camera to the hallway with the two doorways open was confusing to me why this shot was taken in the first place. The only honest idea on what I came up with is that Travis already lost the fight in the conversation trying to get her back for another sit down or date. He kept persisting on doing anything to get her to say yes. The pamming to the door to me meant that the damage has already been done and there is no way of fixing it. In other words, Travis just needed to move on and out the door and forget about the date that he had. It was fun while it happened type of thing. This is what this scene felt to me. He was in a lose- lose situation and already lost her before he even called.
There is more I can talk about in this movie but overall to me this was an amazing film shot in the 70’s and again the last scene with the blood bath and shoot out was definitely Martin Scorsese scene. This scene was definitely something that made the movie for me. The reason why is because from when Travis got all three of his guns, they always showed you playing with them. At the end scene in the apartment, they had every shot of Travis using every single gun he bought. Even the scene in the where he shot the robber from robbing the store. Every single gun he bought was used and had a meaning to it. I appreciated the slow camera shots after the whole gun fight ended. This shot seemed like it showed everyone in New York had their attention on what happened. To me this gun fight scene was genius. Just for the fact that he used every gun he had and kept his word to help Iris (Jodi Foster). Excellent movie and just well rounded from beginning to end. Definitely a movie you need to watch from beginning to end!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Jaws (1975)
The director Steven Spielberg made this 1975 thriller, Jaws one of the best movies of its time. The story takes place on Amity Island where young teens are enjoying themselves at a beach party until Chrissie Watkins (Susan Backlinie) goes off skinny dipping in the ocean and realized she comes to her death while screaming for help until pulled under the water for good. The main character Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) the Chief of Police for Amity Island is called about my a known case of a shark attack. From here is when the classic 1975 movie, Jaws begins!
I highly enjoyed this movie for the main reason of because it’s not only a classic film that can be watched time and time again but just the unique camera shots that are used to make such a great film. My favorite shot from the whole movie was when Brody wedged the air tank in the shark’s mouth while having the precise aim to blow up the tank and make Jaws burst into fish bait. That is a scene that was epic in the 1970’s. Just overall on how the whole movie with the cast and also the additional cast with beach scene and Jaws taking the kid on the float and how terrified everyone was just made this movie something to remember. Also in every situation of constant fear for people lives, Martin Brody always had this terrified look on his face when jaws was always approaching. Another part of the movie where the three guys are sitting in the boat (the Orca) getting drunk and singing their favorite tune waiting on the fierce jaws to show up was something that reminded me 3 older men would do while awaiting such a beast. You just never know if it your last day to live!
I highly enjoyed this movie for the main reason of because it’s not only a classic film that can be watched time and time again but just the unique camera shots that are used to make such a great film. My favorite shot from the whole movie was when Brody wedged the air tank in the shark’s mouth while having the precise aim to blow up the tank and make Jaws burst into fish bait. That is a scene that was epic in the 1970’s. Just overall on how the whole movie with the cast and also the additional cast with beach scene and Jaws taking the kid on the float and how terrified everyone was just made this movie something to remember. Also in every situation of constant fear for people lives, Martin Brody always had this terrified look on his face when jaws was always approaching. Another part of the movie where the three guys are sitting in the boat (the Orca) getting drunk and singing their favorite tune waiting on the fierce jaws to show up was something that reminded me 3 older men would do while awaiting such a beast. You just never know if it your last day to live!
The Conversation
Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) is an invader of privacy and is the best investigator anywhere to hear conversations between two people. His way of life consists of being mysterious and keeping things to himself for others not to find out. This is obviously shown in the beginning of the movie when he had to unlock three different locks to get inside of his apartment. Not only this, but also doesn’t have a social life with his partner in crime Stan (John Cazale). The movie takes place in a social place between lunch times with a crowd of business people. He is assigned to track their conversation and deliver it to a director for a big company. He is concerned that once he hands these tapes, he will jeopardize their lives and that’s when the movie begins.
For myself, I did enjoy this movie to a certain extent and believe that the ending was brilliant with the way the movie was shot. It started with him being cautious about his work and getting involved with the case that he was on, to the end of tearing every little thing out of his apartment to find the bug. It felt he was the predator hunting on the prey and at the end he became the prey being watched by the predator. Also it seems to me at the end he starts losing himself a bit and drives himself crazy. The only part I didn’t really enjoy about the movie is how he had flashbacks on when he killed people in an earlier case or was accused of stealing money of some sort. I wish they explained in more detail on why that happened and the reason behind it. For that would have made the movie more clear in my mind and tell us why Harry Caul was such a paranoid individual. Over the entire movie was a mystery to me all the way at the end. I was surprised that at the end the two that were having an affair were not the victims but the murderers along. Very well put together and enjoyed the movie more than I thought possible
For myself, I did enjoy this movie to a certain extent and believe that the ending was brilliant with the way the movie was shot. It started with him being cautious about his work and getting involved with the case that he was on, to the end of tearing every little thing out of his apartment to find the bug. It felt he was the predator hunting on the prey and at the end he became the prey being watched by the predator. Also it seems to me at the end he starts losing himself a bit and drives himself crazy. The only part I didn’t really enjoy about the movie is how he had flashbacks on when he killed people in an earlier case or was accused of stealing money of some sort. I wish they explained in more detail on why that happened and the reason behind it. For that would have made the movie more clear in my mind and tell us why Harry Caul was such a paranoid individual. Over the entire movie was a mystery to me all the way at the end. I was surprised that at the end the two that were having an affair were not the victims but the murderers along. Very well put together and enjoyed the movie more than I thought possible
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