"Build my gallows high, baby."

The time it took to watch Out of the Past, Kiss Me Deadly and Chinatown, I actually grew an appreciation for something I probably would have never seen on my own. Film noir truely had

characteristics that without them, wouldn't be real noirs. The detective who usually has a dark past, a femme fetale, dark streets, and venetian blinds all play huge roles in noirs.

Even though I enjoyed all three films, I would have to say Chinatown was my favorite whereas Kiss Me Deadly was my least favorite.

Watching Chinatown last gave me a different perspective on an original film noir. One reason was that it was in color. It gave a different contrast between shadows and darkness compared to black and white films. Also I really liked the dark humor in this film. Jack Nicholson plays the role of private investigator Jake Gittes. He is plunged into a spiral of murder and darkness and he manages to escape from it all but only having the memories haunt him.

Kiss Me Deadly is a film that I don't really want to see again. Yes all three of these noirs are movies, but the other two films were actually believably. In Kiss Me Deadly there were a lot of parts that I really didn't understand or believe. Also the dialouge seemed slow and corny. So unfortunately Kiss Me Deadly really didn't do it for me!

"I'm Clementine... No jokes about my name."

Watching both His Girl Friday and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind it was evident that the movies fit perfectly in the categories of a screwball comedy or romantic comedy. In His Girl Friday, Hildy, a sassy reporter, was recently divorced from her husband Walter who is the editor for The Morning Post. Working for the same newspaper they fell in love only to eventually get divorced. This movie is a great example of a screwball comedy not only because of the love story, but the dark humor and laughter behind it. Hildy is a very dominant character in this movie. She knows all the guys in the newspaper and is very comfortable with them. She also has no problem talking back to Walter. They both play dominance off each other which shows the screwball comedy because you don't usually see that in a love story. Also the dark humor that in is His Girl Friday is obvious too. An example of this is when Molly jumps off the building and gets everyones attention, but once they heard she survived they turned their attention to something else! Another example is how the people who write for the newspaper makes up lies or exaggerates the story just to get a print. Overall, I actually enjoyed watching this film. It was different where the female was dominant and the males were a little more inferior.

In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Clemintine and Joel are lovers who go through a procedure that would erase their memories of each other because of the post break up pain. This is definetly a romantic comedy because it focuses on the love rather then the humor. During the process of erasing Joel's memory of Clemintine, he realizes he wants to keep them rather then erase them. So most of the film consist of what's going on in Joel's head during the erasing. The audience gets to wait and see what would happen to them at the end making this another reason why this movie is a romantic comedy. After you see both Clemintine and Joel's memory erased, they meet again unaware of what they did and what they erased. They are instantly connected and feels something for one another. So the love of Clemintine and Joel surrounds the whole film. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind isn't a typical chick flick, romantic comedy but it gave a different take on how romantic comedies can be portrayed so I enjoyed this movie very much!

"Deserves got nothin to do with it."

Roger Ebert quotes,

"That implacable moral balance, in which good eventually silences evil, is at
the heart of the Western, and Eastwood is not shy about saying so."

I believe that Ebert really defined what a Classic western theme really is. The thought of something Western we automatically picture the heroic cowboy, a group of bandits that are ruthless and corrupt, and some tumbleweed here and there. Also one of the main theme, I think, that is in Unforgiven is to fight for what you truely stand for no matter what. Will Munny, played by Clint Eastwood, is a retired gunfighter who in the past murdered many people. Still haunted by his past he greatly appreciates his former wife's help from preventing him to spiral more out of control with his alcoholic behavior. After his wife past away, he was devoted to follow his new behavior and protect his two children. Munny then gets a proposal to help get two men that brutalized a women.

This is where Munny has to face a huge obstacle. He wants to fight for what he believes in which is to bring these people to justice and bring back the reward money for his family, but at the same time, he realizes this is what he did in the past; hunting people down and killing them. This is what Munny tried to stay away from because of the guilt he felt. Still he had to consider his two children and the money that they need. With this I felt that Munny had a different perspective going in to this journey. I felt that he had a bigger heart and isn't as ruthless as he was before. One example of this is when Munny shots the first guy in the leg. The man calls for water and help and Munny allowed his friend to help him without getting shot. Munny realizes this is what he did in the past but tried to make it better by trying to help. Another example of Will trying to fight for what he stands for is the last scene with Will in the saloon along with Little Bill, the local sheriff. Will is angered that Little Bill killed his best friend and "partner in crime" Ned Logan. Little Bill beat Logan up for trying to stand up for what he even believed in which was not to give up names. When Munny kills Little Bill I felt that this was his last battle with evil. Will Munny throughout the film showed his beliefs and he took it to the extra mile to really fight for what he stood for.

Behind the Scenes: West Side Story

West Side Story is a musical directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. It is an adaptation of the broadway musical which the film came out to be a success. West Side Story won ten Academy Awards including Best Picture. This film has a list of talanted actors and actresses who play very important role. This film about two lovers who society will say don't belong with each other. Tony played by the hunky Richard Beymer is an ex gang leader for the Jets. He instantly falls in love with Maria played by the beautiful Natalie Wood who is the younger sister of the Jets rival gang leader, the Sharks. You can see both groups dislike for each other during the first scene where they battle it out for the territory. Riff who is the leader of the Jets wants to get back at the Sharks so he and his gang want to start a rumble against the Sharks where they fight to win the "turf". Tony and Maria do not meet until the dance where you can see seperation between the Jets and Shark. When their eyes finally meet they are attracted to each other and start to talk only to have Maria's older brother Bernardo or Nardo to seperate them. With totally different background, Tony and Maria must find a way to have each other with the idea that no one will ever understand that.


One thing I enjoyed most was the acting. The two hours watching this movie was totally worth it. West Side Story really deserves praise and awards that was given. All the singing and dancing throughout the movie showed some very talanted people. One character, Natalie Wood, who plays Maria really impressed me. Wood was born on July 20, 1938 in California. She started working in the film industry at the age of 5 and is also known for her role in Rebel without a Cause. Watching Rebel without a Cause last year in American Literature both her characters connected by being part of a gang. Also both characters includes the love for the one member of the opposing gang. I believe that Woods was a perfect person for the part of Maria. Her performance really shined throughout the musicl, espeically when there was danicng and singing. With that I would have to say the choreography really hit the mark and was flawless. Also the acting of Wood seem to come naturally. There was so many different emotions in this film which Wood captured. I really felt her happiness when she's with Tony and her heart broken when Tony dies in her arms.


Maria's love Tony is played by actor Richard Beymer. Beymer was born Feburary 20, 1938 in Iowa. He is also known in films inluding Diary of Anne Frank and of course, West Side Story. I also thought Beymer made great efforts to really bring out the Tony in him! Beymer was chosen for this part because of his passion throughou the film. You go on a journey with Beymer in West Side Story. I fell in love with his character because of the things he tried to do for love. Watching Tony made me realize that Tony and Maria really made the movie complete.

Other characters included Anita, friend of Maria and girlfriend of Bernado. She is played by Rita Moreno who became the first female and only Puerto Rican to win an Emmy, Oscar, Tony and Grammy!


Bernardo, played by George Chakiris, had huge success with this movie. Chakiris is a dancer won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor he also won a Grammy.


Overall I really enojyed this musical and it sets itself apart from other recent musicals like High School Musical and others like Chicago and Grease. I thought the characters did superb and applaud them for the singing and dancing!

Film Review: Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Raiders of the Lost Ark embarks on a journey where Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) tries to get ahold of the Lost Ark. Jones knows that the Lost Ark holds the original Ten Commandments. Anyone that has this in their possesion, literally means that they would be invincible to anything. He is soon to find out that the Nazis are after this treasure to gain power for their army. Now Jones must travel arcross the globe to Cairo in search for the Ark and bring it back to the States to be put in a museum and also to help the U.S government. When traveling to Cairo, he meets Marion, believed to have once been loved by Indiana Jones only to have him hurt her. All in alltThey fight till the end together, which was a lot considering all the gunfighting and the snakes!

Director Steven Spielberg and Producer George Lucas deserves an "A" for this movie. I'm not the only one that agrees. The Lost Ark was nominated for eight Academy Awards and got four of those including Best Sound and Best Film Editing. Also when the movie was released it became a huge success, earning $20 million in the U.S and $384 million worldwide.

I thought this film was actually pretty good considering that I don't watch a lot of action movies. Raiders of the Lost Ark stars Harrison Ford, who by the way is veryy handsome, as the man that can beat and survive everything that comes his way. Indiana Jones does not always hunt for treasure but also finds a lot of time for what he truely loves; archaeology. I believed that this part of the movie was very believable. Ford did a great job going into character and focusing on Jones. The dialogue was very easy to understand and I loved how Jones also had a funny side to him which he expressed. BUT! I do have to step back and look at the movie as a whole. Yes, it's a great adventure film! But seriously? Can Jones really escape death so easily just like that? The obstacles he had to overcome just seemed to unrealistic and almost impossible for anyone to overcome but somehow he did of course. One example of that is the very beginning of the film when he escaping a cave, a huge ball of rock hurls itself at Jones. He runs and runs and gets away. Those parts kinda threw me off but I would have to agree it gives the movie the adernaline it deserves! I did however liked the costumes and where the film took place. It was very real and I got a feel of swampy jungle and the hot desert.

During the jungle scene, I really noticed the lighting and how dark it was. Almost every character, including Jones, had this dark, shadow across their bodies. Then you would see Jones face coming out and into the light giving the audience the feel that he is very important in this film. Also I noticed that when sinister characters were first introduced, you couldn't really make out their faces giving them a dark look. This movie also gave shots of landscape and high angle where you could see the desert stretch for a while. It gave the illusion that this group of people was small and almost helpless. One thing I really enjoyed about this movie was the theme song! I could hear it throughout the film with different insturments and sound. Scenes where it was mellow the theme song would be quiet and slow but when there is something going on, the pace of the music sped up and became more dark.

Learning film in class gave me a whole new opportunity of see Raiders of the Lost Ark in a different way! I have to admit, I picked up so much just listening to the dialouge and music and just watching the characters. This is probably one of my favorite Harrison Ford films and well as the many Indiana Jones movies!

Critique The Critic.

When I first saw the movie Titanic I fell in love, same with my friends and probably everyone else who had the chance to watch it. It's the classic story of girl and boy falling in love only to have another man and social status in the way. (Oh and of course the ship is sinking!) Titanic takes the audience through a love story but also the heartbreaking event that unfolds in the movie. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet did amazingly well presenting their characters, Jack Dawson and Rose Bukater. I really enjoyed the story line and it gave me a chance to have different emotions towards the many different characters. I also really liked the music that was played. Titanic is one of the rare movies I can stand to watch over and over again without getting bored and stopping the movie. One famous critic I found, Roger Ebert, had similar ideas and thoughts about this movie.

"We see it in the opening shots of ``Titanic,'' encrusted with the silt of
85 years; a remote-controlled TV camera snakes its way inside, down corridors
and through doorways, showing us staterooms built for millionaires and inherited
by crustaceans."

Like Ebert mentions, this is the first scene the audience sees. Even if a viewer didn't know about Titanic's past they would notice how the ship is on the bottom of the ocean floor and they would probably also wonder how did happen? I really loved that about this movie because it gave Titanic a hook to catch the attention of viewers.

"These shots strike precisely the right note; the ship calls from its grave for
its story to be told."

I totally agree with Ebert when he applauds James Cameron, the director, for presenting one of Hollywood's greatest films. Even though the movie was 194 minutes long, it was definitely worth the sit and wait of the movie. Titanic earned eleven Academy Awards including Best Picture and earned over 1.8 billion dollars in the box office.

"It is flawlessly crafted, intelligently constructed, strongly acted and
spellbinding. If its story stays well within the traditional formulas for such
pictures, well, you don't choose the most expensive film ever made as your
opportunity to reinvent the wheel."

Like I said before, Titanic shows a great story and Ebert give Titanic what it deserves best! I also really like how Ebert mentions the visual effects and how well they flow throughout the movie. Yes, there were sometimes when I even say it looks fake or just computerized but Titanic shows the great visual effects it has.

"All of those elements are present in Cameron's ``Titanic,'' weighted and
balanced like ballast, so that the film always seems in proportion. The ship was
made out of models (large and small), visual effects and computer animation. You
know intellectually that you're not looking at a real ocean liner--but the
illusion is convincing and seamless. The special effects don't call
inappropriate attention to themselves but get the job done."

The scene when they first show the great beauty of the ship really represents how big Titanic was in 1912. It was named the "unsinkable" ship and nothing could bring it down. I agree with everything Ebert has to say about this movie. I also agree with what Rotten Tomatoes had to say about Titanic which gave the movie a "Fresh". Overall I agree with mostly all the critics that I came across espeically Ebert. I love this movie and I always will!