Cool Hand Luke

Cool Hand Luke was not a movie that I personally enjoyed. I don’t know exactly it was about it, but it just did spark my interest. I found it to be quite boring and old-fashioned. I am not one to say that all old-fashioned movies are boring, but I did think this one was. There definitely were quite a few captivating scenes, but there were also many that I found to be drawn out, when they were not much more than dialogue. Maybe it was the way the characters spoke, or what they spoke about, but I was not entertained. It also seemed that the scenes became repetitive, for example the men working on the road. As this did kind of bore me, it gave me a good insight on how boring, and repetitive life was for the prisoners. It was not until the second half of the movie that I actually became interested in the film.

Once Luke’s mother died, I became interested in the film. All of the sudden it seemed the warden was especially harsh on Luke, and did not really have much of a reason. It made me feel bad for Luke, because he seemed to be a good guy. He did not deserve to be locked up in “the box” just because his mother died and he might run away. It made me happy when Luke started trying to escape, because he deserved a better life, and the wardens needed a run for their money. Each time he escaped I became happier, but I became sad each time he was caught and returned to the prison. As the movie went on, I really started to root for him. In the end when he was shot, I felt awful. I was not totally surprised because I had heard that it was a sad ending, but I was sad nonetheless, especially when he had just been asking God to help him.

Although I did not enjoy a majority of the film, I did appreciate the theme behind it. As hard as the prison guards tried, Luke’s spirit could not be broken. Even though the crime he committed was small, and he would not have been in prison more than two years, he was not going to give in to being treated unfairly. The prison was a poorly run system, and someone needed to expose it. He did what felt right to him, regardless of the consequences. This is a message that people follow in their everyday lives, just hopefully not to such extremes.

Psycho

Psycho was an awesome movie. I had high expectations before I watched the movie, and I was not let down. I have heard quite a few times from people that Psycho is a good movie and I have always wanted to see it. I thought the acting was amazing, the hidden symbolism and foreshadowing was clever, and the plot was intriguing and unpredictable.

Often times when I watch older movies I find the acting to be cheesy and a little too scripted. This was not the case in this film. I thought the acting was incredibly convincing. I was especially impressed by the acting because many roles are not easy roles to play. Marion and Norman both have to be crazy in some ways, especially Norman. These would be difficult roles to get into, and these actors did an astounding job. Even the smaller roles such as Sam or the car dealer I thought were great. Great acting definitely contributes to how good the movie is and the acting in Psycho was very good.

I went into watching this film was little knowledge of what it was really about. I expected it be someone going crazy and murdering people, but not much more complex than that. I was blown away by the complexity of this plot, and thought it was very interesting to watch. The plot keeps you guessing until the end because it is not clear what is going to happen to Marion and why, it is just obvious that it will be something bad. Even when Marion was murdered, I was still unsure of who did it. I really thought Norman’s mother was a real person until towards the end. The split personality of Norman is very clever, and I think the story did a great job of weaving it all together. I also thought this plot was great because it is not completely unrealistic. People with sever schizophrenia actually can have split personalities like Norman, so this film is not too far fetched. This aspect of the plot adds even more to its impressiveness.

The last thing that I especially liked about Psycho was all the subliminal, hidden messages of symbolism and foreshadowing. Although I did not notice it all myself the first time I viewed the film, I still think they are masterful. The paintings in the office of the rolling hills where Marion drives and then one of the swamp where her body is dumped is a very clever way to foreshadow her death. The scene in the parlor at the motel with Marion and Norman is especially smart. The birds of prey near Norman, song birds near innocent Marion, the low angle shots of Norman vs. the high angle shots of Marion, and the vivid shadow of Norman to symbolize his two selves are just a few of the many hidden messages of symbolism and foreshadowing in the film. There are so many and it makes me like the film even more because it just proves how much effort was put into making the film.

Psycho was a great movie and I enjoyed every aspect of it. This is one black and white movie that did not bore me in the least bit. I found this movie to me much more enjoyable, suspenseful, and complex than many modern movies that I have seen.

Casablanca

I personally did not enjoy the film Casablanca very much. The slow pace, lack of setting change, and lack of action happening just could not keep my attention. I do not think it is a bad film, but it is just not a film that I personally liked.
I felt that the film was pretty slow paced. I felt like there was a lot of talking, and not a lot of doing. The whole movie to me seemed mostly conversations between people. There really was not much action or any other types of events occuring. I had a hard time paying attention to just conversations. The majority of the film was in the same night club. After a while, it just became boring to only see one setting for most of the time. Although I did not enjoy the film for the most part, there were aspects that I did like.
On a lighter note, I enjoyed the romantic aspect of the story. I thought the film makers did well in making the love triangle and I did want to pay attention to know what choice Ilsa would make. I thought this love triangle was unique in the way that both the men were good people. Usually with love triangles in films, there is one who is the obvious right choice but that was not the case in this film as Rick and Victor were both good to Ilsa. I especially liked the ending because it took me off guard completely. I did not expect that Rick was going to tell Ilsa to go with Victor. I definitely thought Ilsa would go with Rick and leave Victor. I enjoyed that the movie wasn’t totally predictable.
Although Casablanca was not a movie I liked very much, I realize what an important movie it is when it comes to being historical. I thought this movie did a good job of portraying what life was like for a lot of people during the war who wanted to escape. I’m sure that at the time when the movie came out around the war, this movie was special to many people who had gone through similar experiences or had friends or family who had. That is a big reason why I think this movie is still so famous today.

Modern King Kong

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, as I knew I would. I had watched the 2004 King Kong before, but it was a few years ago and I did not remember much other than that I liked it. Watching it again helped me to remember what I liked so much about it. I love the characters, and of course, the special effects.
I really enjoyed the characters in the 2005 King Kong more than those of the 1933 King Kong. I felt that Anne especially had much more personality and I felt much more attached to her. I actually felt bad for her when she was scared, but I did not really feel that for Anne in the 1933 film. I feel that her character was developed much more. I felt more for Denham also, but in a negative way. This movie definitely made him seem to be more of a selfish person, and I had a lot more dislike for him in the new King Kong than the old. Above all though, I noticed the biggest difference between the two Kongs. Kong in the 2005 film had much more emotion and personality than in 1933. It also helped that he looked more realistic and had facial expressions. In the 1933 film, I really did not feel anything when he fell off the building, but in the 2004 film I got teary eyed. The only difference in characters in the 2005 film that I did not like was the lack of development of the romance between Anne and Jack. They did not really show much of that in this film as they did in the first one.
Other than the characters, I really enjoyed the updated special effects of this film. Other than the story line keeping my attention, the special effects did. With the new technology used, this film was amazing to watch. Skull Island was beautiful, and all of the creatures looked realistic. Since nothing looked fake, it was much easier to be scared at parts that should be scary. The scene was Kong fought the dinosaurs was breathtaking. Of course, I can't forget Kong. In this film, Kong looked incredibly real, and had personality and emotion. I loved when they would show a close up of his face and you could hear his heavy breathing. It definitely added to the realism of the creature.
The 2005 King Kong film is definitely a favorite of mine. The great cast of characters and special effects make it a movie that will be difficult to forget and hard to not watch again. Although some may complain it was too long, I liked the length. I think it was needed to make this movie as great as it was. I was never once bored when watching this movie.

Response to 1933 King Kong

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I did not expect to enjoy watching it as much as I did. It was old fashioned and not something I would want to watch again, but I did enjoy watching it once. For being made in the 30s, I was very impressed with the effects. King Kong is a movie that is a challenge to make even now, let alone in the 30s. I can not even imagine what a thrill it must have been to see that movie in its time. After watching the special features that explained the techniques used to make the movie, I was even more impressed.

I do not usually enjoy watching older, black and white movies, and I expected I would be bored watching this movie. It kept my attention much more than I thought, and I actually wanted to watch it once it started. Sometimes certain effects, such as the green screen, seemed a little too fake, but overall I did not notice what looked fake and what looked real. I was more interested in the story line. The actors did much better than I thought they would, which helped keep my interest. They did not seem over or under-enthusiastic or scared, nor did the lines seem scripted. Although the story line was my main focus when watching the film, I also was impressed by the special effects.

Although the effects do not seem that amazing compared to the special effects we have nowadays, for that time they were mind-blowing. The 1930s were so long ago, and it was such a different world. Movies like King Kong were unheard of, and most people had never seen entertainment like it. When watching this movie, I just kept imagining going to a theatre in the 1930s and seeing this movie and being in such awe. After watching the special features, I appreciated the effects even more. The time and work that went into making this movie is amazing. Although a modern day movie can take a very long time to make, most of the time is spent on computers. To make King Kong, this time was spent building puppets and sets, and then taking many short shots with the puppets in different positions to make them seem as if they were moving. I find this just as impressive as the movies made today, if not more. This movie was enjoyable to watch and such a milestone for the time period it was made.

Trial Post

In this course, I am most looking forward to watching different types of movies, some that I like, and some that I may not know I like. I also am excited to learn about the technology behind the scenes. I love movies, so it will be nice to know more about them. I am least looking forward to writing papers on the movies because I would much rather just enjoy them and not have to worry about writing them.

After high school I will be attending UCONN and plan to major in Medical Technology. With this major, I plan to get a career as some sort of medical technician whether it be x-ray, laboratory, or pharmaceutical.