Gone With the wind (1939)

This movie set on my shelf still wrapped in its shiny red Netflix envelope, I am embarrassed to say, for several months. I was not looking forward to the prospect of watching a four hour movie that had once been described to me as a "love epic." It was only after the final credits rolled that I was delighted to find that this claim was completely erroneous. 

In fact, I had enjoyed it, a lot. But when faced with the prospect of having to watch it yet again in a span of less than a year, I was equally unexcited. Much the my amazement though, I liked it even better on the second viewing. 

Apart from the fact that I appreciated all of the antebellum, civil war, the south will rise again references (being from the south and having been dragged to my share of hilarious civil war museums), I was consistently entertained for four hours. They managed to create one of the best movie heroes of all time in Rhett Butler. He is wonderful because he is flawed and his flaws are happily flaunted for the audience. They also managed to create one of the biggest bitches of all time, Scarlet of course. They managed to transform her character over time from just a simple spoiled brat to a truly malicious woman but yet you still manage to sympathize with her at points. 

Overall, I loved this film and surprisingly, I love it more every time I see it. I am so often confronted by films that are "classics" but end up being just total shit. Thankfully, there are exceptions to every rule. 

9/10

2001 A Space Odyssey (1968)

I first saw this movie on cable TV when I was fifteen. Despite the hours of ultra-repetitive commercials that I was subjected to and the fact that it aired pretty late, I was hooked. I'll never forget the utterances of sheer agony and bewilderment that came from my mouth when the credits rolled as my Dad laughed knowingly behind me.

 

This film can only be described as a psychedelic sci-fi ballet. Every moment is beautifully choreographed and painstakingly wrought. Stanley Kubrick's use of music is, of course, the things that legends are made of. It is a study in the beauty of contrast and an explanation of how to represent themes without even saying a word. 

 

I love that the film starts out as any good film should, at the beginning...the very beginning. We then get to see where millions of years of evolution has left our species. The acting was subtle and understated and provided a great foil upon which the viewer can truly appreciate the world created for them. 

 

HAL 9000 is one of the greatest characters ever written, hands down. Who knew that a single red light bulb could be so intimidating and interesting. The other characters were all fairly stereotypical, the shady politician, the all-American astronaut, and uh, monkeys. They were there to show that even though we have evolved so much, even though technologies have increased beyond any one's wildest dreams, we still fit the basic human molds.

 

Honestly, I have no idea what happened in the end or what the hell was up with those obelisks. Really though, I don't care to know. My only complant is the utter contempt in this film for any kind of pacing. I know that often times, yes, that was the point, but it did get tedious after a while. In the end though, the movie is a wonderful trip and even though I don't quite understand it, I think that it is just fine that way. 

 

9/10 

Seven (1995)

Unfortunately, I didn't have the time this week to re-watch this film. I've seen it quite a few times though so I'm just going to have to work on memory. The good thing about it is that this film is in fact so incredibly memorable. 

The concept, as with most serial killer movies, is an interesting one but could have very easily turned out poorly. While there are shocking things in the film, the shock value is never the sole thing that the film makers are trying to achieve. The fact that the movie has a mystery feel with a twist ending is generally another red flag in my mind that makes me wary of something. Again, they pulled it off brilliantly though and it wan't contrived or campy. 

Of course, the acting was mind-blowingly good which is to be expected with the cast that they assembled for the film. The actors have amazing chemistry and you are never taken out of the story by anything they do.

Aside from all of this, the film is just pretty. I mean, as pretty as a dark, dirty, horror/serial killer film can be. The design was flawless even down to the last detail (and if you read about the dedication that the design crew had you will understand what I mean).

Seven is one hell of a film and while I don't think that I could recommend it to everyone, if you have the stomach for it, you should seriously see it. 

9/10

8/12 (1963)

I loved this movie even more on a second viewing. It is funny, and poignant and you could petty much write a twenty page thesis on every scene in the film. But as was pointed out, "This life is so full of confusion already, that there's no need to add chaos to chaos." As I have always been a fan of brevity and with the central themes of this film in mind, I present you with my 8 and 1/2 word movie review:

So much symbolism, my head is really going to splode!

9/10

Requiem for a Dream 2000

"Juice by Sarah, juice by Sarah, juice by Sarah oh, Sarah's got juice."

"Requiem for a Dream" is an electrically charged hour and a half full of stunning visuals, captivating story, and innovative film making techniques. The film attempts to make the viewers feel that they too are experiencing these drugs along with the characters. At times it works wonderfully, at times it fails, but it is always interesting and unique.

The entire world of the film is distorted. The colors are off or sometimes just plain wrong. The noises are not quite right, at times too loud, at times too quiet, and at times just the wrong sound. And the relationships suffer from a certain disconnect felt not only through the characters themselves but through the filming techniques as well. At times, two characters having a conversation next to each other are split into two seperate screens to visually represent the gap between them. All of these factors add up to make the viewer feel an underlying sense of discomfort the entire time. This sense of discomfort becomes heightened as the film goes on and the word begins to shift into the blatantly surreal.

This film has one of the best arc's I have ever seen. It begins with a simple domestic dispute and ends with lives being absolutely ripped apart and shattered and the viewer feels every second of it. Apart from the film making techniques, the music helps to fuel this on tremendously. The main theme is immediately recognizable and has been used in everything from commercials to sports videos over the years which proves its staying power. It too is a mix of the familiar with the string instruments and the bizarre with the added vocal tracks and odd sound effects. This tells the viewer from the beginning that noting in this world is right and it will probably not change over the course of the film.

All of the acting was really spot on and produced some of the biggest snubs in Academy award history. The actors really bought into their roles and while many of them went through a great physical transformation throughout the film, you could see the internal changes that happened almost etched into the lines of their face.

If there were to be a top ten list of movies that did not end well, "Requiem for a Dream" would probably be pretty high up. The film makers had a very clear message and they made sure that the audience was told over and over again. Overall, I think that this film worked and I always enjoy when people take a risk and try something new even if I don't enjoy every little technique they use.

9/10