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Emma Hersh

Though the title might suggest some movement of characters throughout the film that makes them stronger, there isn't much of that in Closer. The lighting is generally dark or gloomy, there is never much light let in even in a well lit room. Each character is so set in his or her way that there is not much room for movement, room for love but not movement. The film begins with two main characters Dan (played by Jude Law) who is very ordinary looking and Alice (played by Natalie Portman) who has bright red hair, walking down a street in slow motion looking only at each other with a song playing saying basically over and over "I can't take my eyes off of you" (which is also the only piece of the score in the whole film with words). From the beginning there was no question that these two would be attracted to each other. 

Shot through a steady camera and a series of slow pans, medium, close, and over-the-shoulder shots this film is very slow moving and has no solid character trajectory. With that said, each character is very moved by every other in the film, particularly when they aren't yet acquainted and are merely strangers to each other. Very early on in the film we find that Dan is not only in love with Alice, but also with Anna (played by Julia Roberts) who is an emotionless photographer who hides behind her work to get closer to other people, but will never open up because she is too nervous about actually getting something (or someone) that she wants. Then she meets Larry (played by Clive Owen) who she supposedly loves but there is never evidence of their love except for them saying to each other "I love you." This makes for an interesting dynamic between characters who were supposedly moving closer towards each other. Instead it appears that each of them are moving closer to who they truly are. 

When asked the question "What do you do," Alice answers "I'm a stripper" and while the audience makes assumptions about her character to be sleazy or a failure, it turns out that when she is hiding underneath almost no clothes and a wig she is the most honest. Alice's natural hair is only seen when she already knows someone, something or some place, if she is somewhere familiar. When she sees Dan for the first time and when she is stripping she has altered the appearance of her hair in some way and she finds that confronting because she is already hiding, this is when she is most honest and vulnerable. She speaks very blatantly throughout the film because she wants to be more honest and open with people, but she is so tied to herself that there isn't much room for growth. 

Then there is Larry who is obviously horny most of the time because that influences where he goes and who he meets. He is the only character who is always himself and never lies. He is a dermatologist with an attitude and many opinions who seems so kind at first, but as the film progresses it becomes clear that he has a relatively short fuse. He is violent, aggressive, and crude in the way he talks to Dan, Alice and Anna, yet he is very sterile. In one of the last scenes he is descriptively telling Dan that he slept with Alice, much like Anna told him she was sleeping with Dan, and while there was a sense of his burning on the inside of his body, the room they were in was completely white and very sterile. Throughout the film, most colors followed a very basic color scheme, they were mostly whites and blues, only Alice was ever in more colors. Anna took photos through a black and white film camera which represented the way she viewed her life and the world, in a neutral and gray way. Throughout the whole film she was unhappy with her life and her relationships. 

The idea of who is a stranger plays out in many ways in this film because none of the relationships were established beforehand. The viewer makes discoveries along with each character about the others in the film. As each person begins as a stranger, they also end as a stranger. The film is almost entirely confrontation as each person cheats on their partner with another main character. They all want to be honest and good people so they tell their partners about it at some point and each character turns out to be basically images of the same person. In the end no one is completely happy because they all feel cheated and it is clear as a viewer that none of them will go back to normal. There was never a sense of normal in this film, though, because each relationship twists, turns, backtracks and mirrors the other relationships. One of the ending scenes is Dan and Alice fighting, she makes him so mad that he threatens to hit her, so she challenges that and he hits her. A slap across the face in slow motion with the song from the beginning playing. As they met in slow motion they also separated in slow motion. 

 

Where The Wild Things Are (2009)

Movie Review by Anwar Abdul-Qawi

1/26/2012

It is really easy for some to pass over this movie because of its childish cover, and title. But when you take time to sit down, and watch this film, you come to realize that it probably wasn’t want you were expecting, at least that’s how I felt about it. In this film directed by Spike Jonze, based off of the book, “Where The Wild Things Are,” it revolves an interesting, but at times scary character himself named Max. Within the first few minutes of the movie the viewer is hit with this character, and doesn’t waste anytime expressing how wild he is. We learn soon that Max is a very lonely character, and is becoming of age at which he starts understanding events that happen around him. Even though the movie may have pushed the character’s craziness a bit, you still can’t help but feel sorry for him, which is a very great start, if a movie can get you in that feeling within only a few minutes.

The character is given a wolf costume that stays with him throughout the film, and becomes almost apart of him. Without saying too much, because of a chain of events, Max is torn, and hurt, and runs away from home, resulting in the movies amazing change into a new world.

The transition into this new setting was surprisingly very smooth, and believable, and watching Max’s interaction with these mysterious “wild things” is very both amazing, and chilling to watch. There is a lot of content in this film, dealing with Max’s struggle for acceptance in the real world, his views and difficulty of being a leader, and the “wild thing’s” characters themselves. There is a certain feeling you get when you watch Max, a young boy trying to tame, and control beast, that have surprisingly not made in a childish fashion. It was really amazing watching the interaction between Max, and the beast. I am still shocked at how even though this film could be for young audiences, at times the film can get dark, and really depressing. So when Max first meets these monsters, their first reaction is to kill and eat him, which is pretty hard, and scary for a child’s movie. These monsters, even though friendly at times, are given sharp teeth, claws, and when they are first introduced they may even frighten young audiences. Since the plot revolves around Max trying to show this beast that he can be a good king, and keep them happy, you can already tell that there will be many flaws in his plan.

Being a movie that parents would take their children to, a lot of the time Max is shown making these creatures perform violent acts for fun. The movie does a great job of making his ruling believable, and then quickly bring us back to reality that he is just a boy, in a costume, whenever his plans fail. The only thing that is more interesting than watching these wild things on film is the interaction between Max, and the monsters. A lot of the shots, and visuals are once again very believable, and a lot of the times you will actually fear for Max’s safety throughout the film, because even though they are just having fun, this movie has done a great job of keeping you happy in this fantasy world, but at the same time on cringing that Max won’t get smashed, or killed.

 

Along the amazing visuals, there is a very beautiful soundtrack added to the film. I would give the music a 10/10. The music has a little kid hipster vibe to it, which really gets you in the mood. A lot of child films tend to abuse, or over use popular media songs just for a laugh, or just to put it in their because it is popular, without it matching the feel of the movie. I am glad to say that, “Where The Wild Things Are,” successfully was able to stay away from that. A lot of the music just contains children just screaming words, like “Yeah!” consecutively, but it is good that the music is just as wild as the movie itself. This was one of the first times I was actually able to take “monsters” in a kid’s movie seriously. These wild things were not dancing to pop songs, or making silly jokes, or references to the real world, they were believable in their own way. Also with making believable a lot of sounds really were done pretty well. Whether it’s the sound of a tree be smashed, or just the sound of footsteps, everything seemed natural, and it fit perfectly in the movie.

The movie’s dialogue was very well done. Each character had their own way of presenting themselves, and speaking to each other, but the real character that shines the most is Max, not because he is the main character, but because he is pretty much the only living person on set, most of the time. His acting was very well done, and believable, and it was interesting to see his character change throughout the movie.  

As I mentioned before this films visuals are on point. It is cool to point out that a lot of the beautiful different locations, such as deserts and forests were actually real locations. With that the lighting, and color aspect of the film are really enjoyable to look at, reasons being that a lot of shots, and angles mixed with the lighting look make Max, and the wild things seem real, and achieving that in a movie is a good thing. It is always a let down to watch a movie and to be like, “oh that monster is so fake, and cheesy.” Feelings like that ruin films, and detaches you from the experience, but in this film, you are made to believe that these creatures are just as real, just as real as they are to Max. One of my favorite scenes is when Max first gives out his first order, as being king, and he decides for everyone to run around, and yell. This scene was very well filmed because the angle was a nice wide shot, and it showed Max running downhill, and the minsters behind him running, and it all looked smooth and real. It was a really great shot.

So throughout the film, Max becomes leader, of these beasts, and gets caught up in the feeling, loved, accepted, and noticed. Since back in the real world, he is ignored by his single mom, who wants to be happy, and find someone new, and by his teenage sister, who of course finds a boyfriend, and leaves him. Here it is where Max develops, as he attempts to rule over these wild things. Not spoiling too much, but Max meets a special monster, who serves as one of the main characters, and some can say that this beast represents Max, or even surpasses Max in wildness. Of course Max finds himself, having to be the tamer in this world opposed to the one being tamed, and it is really chilling seeing Max’s character mature, and finally being able to see himself.

Again without saying so much, it is clear that Max will eventually have to go back home some point in the story. It would be odd, if he were to leave his real mother, and have his story end happily ever after with him in this new world. So knowing that he makes a return foreshadows the fact that Max fails at king. This is not a spoiler, this is clear. I won’t mention how he fails, but it is very sad to see his break down as king and his reconstruction as a boy.

“Where The Wild Things Are,” is a very spectacular film to watch if you are into films that will open your mind. This isn’t an average kid’s film, full of senseless jokes; this is a film that parents, adults, teens, and almost everyone can get something out of. Yes at times the really young audience may not be fully interested in the film, because it mainly focusses on the drama of Max. But it makes you look back at your childhood, and opens your mind to remember that all kids have to grow up at one point in their life. It teaches you that even though you may think the world is all about you when you are young; it shows you that it really isn’t. It shows a heart breaking real scenario of someone who just wants to feel loved, or have a purpose, and at the end of the day, you learn that life is just a lesson. “Happiness is not always the best way to be happy,” is a quote from one of the characters in the movie, meaning that even though you may feel as though that making someone happy is the best thing to do, in the long run, it may not be good for the person, or good for yourself, which opens questions, like, “is Max really needed for these wild things to live?”,” would they be better off her he left?, “or, “would he be better off leaving?” The only thing Max wants is to feel loved, and being king is his way of getting that. In order to be loved, he has to do things to keep the wild things happy, and even though it is a nice thing for him to try to do so it is clear that it is an impossible task to do so, meaning that it would only result in pain, than good. 

 

You will be taken back to the times when you were a child, and at the end you will have a feeling of happiness, and sadness. A feeling that will make you want to be a part of the fantasy world, and return to being a child again. A feeling that will make you look back when you let go of certain things, and realized that there was a point in time where you had to grow up, and never return to a land called childhood. I give “Where The Wild Things Are” a 4.5 out of 5 stars, this film will remind you that inside all us, at one point in time, was a wild thing, soon to be tamed, and left behind.

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"The Debt" was a wonderful film. The movie kept me very interested the entire time. It is one of the better drama-thriller movies that I've seen throughout my movie ventures. Though a little lengthy, "The Debt" was a very well paced film and it made those 2 hours go by relatively fast. I thought that the movie's plot was a very interesting one. The main plot of "The Debt" was based on a screen play written Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman and Peter Straughan. It is also a remake of a 2007 Israeli film also named "The Debt" by Assaf Bernstein. The movie is set up so that events from the past are retold that are directly related to the characters present day situation.

The film is about three spies that went on a mission in 1965 in East Berlin. The three spies were Rachel Singer played by Jessica Chastain,  David Peretz  played by Sam Worthington and Stefan Gold played by Marton Csokas. Their mission was to capture the nazi surgeon known as "The Surgeon of Birkenau", for his horrific experiments done on Jews during WWII, and bring him back to Israel to be put on trial for his crimes against humanity. Rachel and David posed as a married couple that have been struggling for the past 2 years to conceive a child but have failed, in order to get close to the doctor who now works in a clinic. Once the "ok" is given by the Israeli government to proceed with the mission the team makes their move on him.

The doctor is kidnapped by the three spies and they attempt to flee the country with his body via train but Rachel's face is seen and they miss the train so they are forced to seek refuge back at their hideout with the doctor. From their the movie has come fantastic dialogue pieces given by the doctor and the rest of the spies. One day the doctor is being fed by David and the former says something to piss him off, David then proceeds to break a ceramic plate across the doctors face and to beat him. After david is restrained by his teammates, piece of the ceramic plate is left behind and the doctor cuts himself loose. The house that they stay in is very old, it was raining and Rachel was putting out pots to catch water from leaks in the room. When Rachel goes to get more pots to catch the water from the leaks, the doctors sneaks up on her and injures her face and then escapes. The spies then agree to tell the rest of the world that while the doctor was trying to escape Rachel crawled and shot him in the back. The movie it basically all of the ramifications from them lying about the mission to the world.

In the movie there is a piano that is played Stefan all the time and this plays a very good role in reflecting on everyone's current mood. When Rachel does not know what to do and is crying Stefan gets on the piano and he plays music that one would usually associate with the emotion "sadness". A book of the spies' mission was written by Rachel's daughter, excerpts of the book have gotten read by both Rachel and her daughter both times it would lead back to a flashback of the 1965 mission, which worked very well because that first time they did it, it showed Rachel successfully killing the doctor as it was written in the book. Later in the movie though a flashback is had from Rachel's own mind and the truth is revealed. This was an excellent plot twist. I think the organization of the film itself was a very good one, and by having that story told through two different mediums that allowed for even more room for them to do that.

The set up for the movie can be seen as the first couple of scenes where it is made known that there was a mission and what had happened during. The first scene is one of the three spies coming home after the mission and being greeted by their countries officials. The first plot point is when the character David his modern day older self was about to go meet someone but instead jumps in front of a moving truck killing himself. This immediately should raise many questions. Act 2 begins when Stefan informs Rachel that David has now killed himself. From there a flashback of how the mission actually happened begins, during that time plot point 2 happens which would be the spies failing to escape the country with the doctor. Act 3 begins back is actual time when Stefan tells Rachel that David he found the doctor and he couldn't live with this life long lie which is why he killed himself. David is in a wheelchair so he tells Rachel that she needs to deal with the problem, meaning kill the doctor. Reluctant to do so at first she then leaves to go find the doctor in a nursing home. He finds her while she's there and she is stabbed two times by him but she was able to inject him with something that kills him. The aftermath of the film from the characters is that Rachel and David eventually realize that they cannot continue to lie to the world and that right thing to be done, is to tell the truth. Stefan however still has his world views from 30 years ago and still believes that they should continue to lie.

The film, "The Professional," is a action flick, with the main characters Léon (Jean Reno) and Mathilda (Natalie Portman) becoming an unlikely combo. Léon is a expert hitman, who takes care of Mathilda, whose parents are murdered in a drug conflict. She proceeds to learn how to "clean."

The musical score accompanied the movie excellently, with deep bass and undertones along with some frantic higher-pitched noises, it helps make each scene more dramatic. The background music was okay, it didn't help set any scenes up or make the movie better, but it also didn't take anything away. Most of this movie is set up through dialogue, although in some scenes less verbal and more facial dialogue. Most scenes, had very good background noise, except for the final scenes, because they choose not to put background noisen.

Actors: 

Jean Reno-8/10; He did a good job playing the stupid, but loving and serious hitman. He has a sly, cunning side that allows him to do his job better than everyone else can. Some scenes are too far-fetched, but overall badass.

Natalie Portman- 8.5/10; Pesky, persistent, and lonely twelve year old, after seeing her family murdered, certain parts are a little complex for someone her age.

Gary Oldman- 7/10; He plays a good bad guy, but after seeing the Dark Knight he just reminds me of lesser version of the Joker. He does do a good crazy scream, however his whole pill chewing scenes still makes no sense to me.

Visual Element

The camera angles are crazy, they switch between wides, mediums, and close ups, my favorite scene (Spoiler Alert)  had to have been when he is escaping and as he gets to the cop car, the camera makes it seem first person, by opening the aperture a little bit, so everything is slightly brighter and then the camera shakes, a few to the right and some to the left, next it drops half way down to the ground. Finally, the camera hit the ground, then rotates like 40º to seem like a limp head. There were no special effects, besides gun fire and explosions, which were both so seamless, that they aren't even thought about 'til you think about them being fake guns and bombs. Mis-en-Scene, is in 1994, New York City, and a few apartment buildings. The film is so seamless between telling everyones story, it just flashes back and forth spending time on each topic when it is appropriate, there were no bad cuts. 

Act 1(set-up) - Mathilda's family dies, Léon watches most of the issues and lets Mathilda in his house after she finds out about her family. Her motivation is to get revenge and kill Stansfield. 

-Plot Point 1- Mathilda needs to learn how to kill.

Act 2 (Confrontation)- Mathilda wants Léon to kill Stansfield and his crew.

-Plot Point 2-  Mathilda however lacks the money to pay Léon.

Act 3 (Resolution)- Léon ends up killing most of them, after they come to kill him and Mathilda, alo he kills a bunch of the navy and cops.

-Plot Point 3- Mathilda gets what she wants, but loses her best friend and guardian. 

Aftermath- The protagonist is now open about who she is. Before she was oppressed by her parents, but after this and revenging her parents death, she seems much more social.

Plot point 4- Mathilda goes to school at the end and tells her full story, and it fades out as if she has hope to be a normal kid.

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“The Disappearance of Alice Creed” was written and directed by J. Blakeson. The movie was released in 2009, which is a crime and thriller film about two British men who set up an apartment so that it can be presented as a prison for a woman that they kidnap. This thriller film is a three-character film that takes place in one location, which never fails to set a very tense atmosphere.

Two men who conduct a plan to receive 2 million dollars kidnap Alice (Gemma Arterton), the daughter of a very wealthy businessman. Vic (Eddie Marsan) mainly thought of the plan the older male kidnapper; he planned the entire process while he was in prison.

The environment was very calm and stable it seemed to me like a perfect mood setter especially with the music, (by Marc Canham) to me it felt like drama was about to happen because although the music was low it was still tense and had that vibe where something was about to happen. 

In the beginning of the film two of main characters Vic and Danny (Martin Compston) focus on setting up the environment in which they will keep the prisoner. There are a lot of close-up and extreme close up shots that really show the very descriptive and detailed scenes of the preparations of creating the environment and setting the mood of tense and drama. To me I felt as though the shots were positioned very well and the lighting of the area showed and expressed a very dramatic shot and scene. Most of the shots were focused on Vic or Danny preparing the room. The lighting of the shots showed and dramatized very simple basic scenes such as placing a cover over the window or nailing in nails to the ground to keep the bed I place, which Alice will be tied to. A lot of the shots change into mid shots, wide shots and many other shots throughout the film. I think that many of the shots in the beginning of the film show and set the environment and the entire setting of the movie. The very first scenes show and produce the Mis-en-Scene. Where many props and costumes were used throughout for the two kidnappers they both used different costumes throughout to show how professional they are they knew what they were doing and they understood the entire process well because Vic had been planning for this for years while he was in prison. The different outfits that were used were so that no evidence would come up if Alice escaped from them, no proof would be valid. I think that this process and this strategy in particular shows how much effort the characters put into this plan how much time they thought about it.

I believe that Vic’s character in particular shows how strong and confident he is because his character shows how determined and driven he is to get what he wants and in this case he wants 2 million dollars. Danny’s character is a bit more weak and scared of Vic because he is older and seems more powerful Danny enjoys being pushed around by him but at times is a little on edge and doesn’t enjoy being told what to do. There are several scenes in the film where he snaps and can’t really handle the pushing the around. One scene being where Danny says that he isn’t hungry and Vic forces him to eat something. Vic shoves food into Danny’s mouth and Danny gets upset but still feels at a weak state. One other scene where Danny feels like he should be controlled is towards the end after Alice and Vic have a conversation about how Danny really his, he’s playing for both teams. Danny’s character knows Alice because she is his girlfriend and she starts to play along with the kidnapping game in order to get money out of it, she made a deal with Danny. Alice ends up turning on Danny and tries to escape but fails when Danny knocks her out. Later on Vic and Danny have sexual encounter that shows that they are both homosexuals. Danny’s character is hard to figure out he is hard to read and at times you will never know what he is going to do. Alice’s character shows weaknesses and strengths, she is weak in the beginning when she is first kidnapped because she has no idea who the men are that kidnapped her but gets used to them and becomes stronger about herself. She breaks down when Danny puts a knife to her throat to force her to say some words to her father in a video and then is tied up again. Alice’s character then changes when Danny reveals himself to her after she has him at gunpoint. She becomes strong because now she’s confident on who one of the kidnappers is. She is actually smarter and more focused on her life rather then the deal she made with Danny to get her father’s money. She can’t really trust anyone but herself she is focused on her life and is determined to do whatever it takes to get free even if it means to betray Danny.

The dialogue in the film tells a lot about characters it gives the right amount of information that is needed in order to create the scene and to create the mood. Each character form the movie expressed themselves and proved how they really are rather it was scared yet strong like Alice or strong and confident like Vic or weak and crazy like Danny. The dialogues expressed all of their attitudes. They all presented themselves in a certain way that showed how they truly are. Several scenes had dialogue and music playing in the background to the point where they tried to make the scene more believable. One scene that expressed this was when Vic and Alice were talking about Danny and how he betrayed both of them. The music sets the scene and makes it dramatic and very tense.

There were several scenes with narration in it from one character to another between Vic and Danny you seen this a lot because Danny was always hiding something from Vic and Vic was getting curious so he checked in on him. I think that it would have been more interesting if there were some narration with Alice getting the mouth gaud off her mouth and speaking through the door to Danny and Vic it would of made the film more intense.

Throughout the movie there were many scenes where the lighting, the color of the environment was dull to set the mood of two crazy men getting what they want by taking a girl. I think that the editing was well done but I do want to recommend one scene in the beginning where the first kidnap Alice, maybe there could have been more to it. The director could have showed how she was kidnapped rather then having a fade in and fade out black. I think that the entire process of the storyline would click a little better if this one scene were to be put in the film.

I would rate this movie about 7/10 because throughout the film I saw various things I felt could have been improved or added in. One scene in the beginning, with Alice getting kidnapped could have been improved. Possibly could have added in more about Vic and how he went out to set different hints on the plan at hand. Maybe we could have seen the process through his eyes outside the doors of the apartment.

 

Act I- Set Up

The environment is set-up and provides close ups on the preparations on the area where the prisoner will be.

Plot Point 1:

In need of a hero Alice is in desperate need of help because she is taken hostage by two men and no one hears her plea.

Act II- Confrontation

Alice figures out one of her kidnappers, is her boyfriend Danny.

Plot Point 2:

Alice has him at gunpoint.

Act III- Resolution

Alice tells Vic about Danny and her Vic gets upset and comes up with a plan of his own to try and kill Danny but it doesn’t work because Danny escapes.

Plot Point 3:

After Danny escapes Vic escapes to the new area where they placed Alice and takes the money and tries to leave in a get away car. It doesn’t work because Danny shows up and kills Vic and leaves Alice there handcuffed and alone.

Aftermath

Alice is left in the new environment alone with Vic’s dead body next to her. Before Vic dies he passes Alice the keys so she can escape.

Plot Point 4:

Alice escapes with the money because she later walks down the road after she escapes and finds Danny dead in the car with a bag of money next to him. She is relieved she is safe, alive and free.

The movie for the most part held a great story line. The set up of the first scene had a good way of capturing the audience, by starting with the affair head first. For the first scene where the affair is acknowledged the director did a good job in not only focusing on the couple but filmed different parts of the room. You can tell that the couple were very comfortable with each other as a whole. This clearly wasn't the first time that they had messed around. The chemistry that had showed not only by the way that they carried themselves around each other, but by their dialect. When the husband called and the manstress answered the phone, once finding out that her husband had knowledge of her affair, Lisa showed no signs of her being worried. She in fact continued seeing this guy throughout the movie.

The twists and turns at first had me confused because i thought that Ray was two different people because i didn't quite process the fact that he thought Lisa had killed Marty at first, and that that was the reason he was getting rid of the body. So the ending for me wasn't really expected but it came together amazingly.

Act I- Set Up (establishes Mis-en-Scene)

The lady,Lisa, is talking to Ray, a guy whom she is having an affair with, about her husband/marriage

Plot Point 1- (establishes Dramatic Need of protagonist)

The husband of the wife, Marty, finds out about Lisa’s affair. He then hired a hit man to off his wife and her boy toy.

Act II- Confrontation (Dramatic Need plays out on screen)

There is a scene where Lisa and Ray are talking in a apartment which they share together. This scene sets up the next scene where the hit man shows pictures of Lisa and Ray, whom he apparently in the apartment, to Marty.

Plot Point 2- (major obstacle to protagonist's Dramatic Need)

After being given the money for his completed job, the hit man shots Marty who appears to have died. Ray goes to the bar where Marty was shot and takes him somewhere to be buried. There he realizes that Marty is still alive but buries him anyway.

Plot Point 3- (Climax- the final answer on whether the Dramatic Need is accomplished)

Ray found the gun, which the hit man left at the bar. He initially assumes that Lisa had tried to kill him. In suspicion of Lisa and Ray knowing that it was he who murdered Marty, the hit man attempts to kill the both of them.

Act III- Resolution (Leads to whether the Dramatic Need is achieved?)

After shooting Ray, the hit man targets Lisa who gets away and ends up shooting him instead.

 

Aftermath- (What has changed for the protagonist, his/her world as a result of Act I,II, III?)

Lisa is now widowed and lost her boyfriend all because of the affair that she had. She will more than likely be trialed for the killing of the hit man, but it might be overlooked and seen as self-defense. 

Eastern Promises, made in 2007 by esteemed director David Croenberg, follows a midwife and a series of events that lead her to discover evidence contradicting members of a Russian crime family.

The film takes place in London in the dead of winter, and opens with a grisly murder of a rival mob member in a barbershop. Meanwhile, a midwife, Anna, at a local hospital delivers a baby from a 14 year old prostitute working at the headquarters of the local Russian mob. The mother dies, and Anna, hoping to trace the girl's diary back to the girl's family, goes to the address of a mob-owned russian restaurant found on the girl's person hoping to get the diary translated from Russian into English. Eventually, she learns that the diary contains evidence that Semyon, the mob boss, raped the girl.

The mob, to cut ties with Anna, intimidates her, suggesting that she return the baby to them. Anna is faced with the decision of giving the baby back to the mob and secure her own saftey, or to gain custody of the baby herself.

The majority of the interactions of Anna and the mob occur through Nikolai, the family "driver" who also disposes of bodies. He is clearly conflicted in his decisions. The Russian mafia, more than most crime organizations, are intent on absolutely desensitizing their members from any human emotion at all, and to see Nikolai in this dilemma makes him by far the most complex character.

One scene in particular stands out from the rest of the film. Nikolai, while meeting a allied mafia member in a sauna, is mistaken for another member of Semyon's family, and is attacked by two men with linoleum knives. The result is a bloody knife-fight, ending in both sides earning brutal wounds. The scene is truly gutwrenching to watch, and the vulnerability that Croenberg extracts from the character makes the viewer truly reflect on the nature of violence in the media. Nikolai is naked for the entire scene, and this somehow makes the viewer's natural response to the violence even stronger.

Perhaps Croenberg is making a statement here about our own vulnerability, as humans, and how not even something as thin and flimsy as clothing can save us from the inevitable blows of knives. Maybe the reason that at times I had to look away during this scene, is because there is something in all of us that can relate to Nikolai, as he is attacked in the nude, his thin shell of protection torn from him.

Croenberg, through filmaking techniques, superbly conveys this "shell" from the start. The language used by the characters is blunt and sterile. His choices in lighting are incredibly desaturated, reflecting the sterility of the culture of the Russians. He often plays on the viewers sensitivity to violence, bluntly showing all the murder scenes in close-ups and medium shots, leaving nothing up to the viewer's imagination. The only time Croenberg truly breaks through the shell in terms of filming is with the musical score. The orchestral score is heavily influenced by Russian folk music, often featuring a singing violin. Additionally, cheerful traditional Russian music is heard in the background of many scenes, providing profound contrast to the cruel acts happening onscreen.

This is a haunting film, not for the faint of heart. Its violent portrayals of sex, friendship, and family are sure to keep any gangster-film novice up for a few hours. But, as should always be the case with violence, Croenbergs vision is artfully executed.

Artist Statement

For this quarter we had many more assignments than we did in the last one. We had to draw a large clear object and get all the aspects of it. Get the shading, the shadow, and anything else that could make the clear object look more real. We also had to take 200 pictures and edit 5 of the pictures on an application named photo shop. Which I would have to say was my favorite part of this quarter. Doing something that I usually do but for school. I got to learn much more on photoshop while I was figuring out what every little thing did. Another assignment we had this quarter was an Internet sculpture, which was finding craft ideas online and recreating them. We also drew a bike in negative space and copied a artist art piece. 

For my internet sculpture I made a robot box. I got the idea from the wallpaper I had set on my phone and checked online if there was a specific process I was supposed to follow. It was fun to make the robot box, even after I was done and knew I didn't need it I still kept it and used it for all kinds of things. For "Copy a master" I did The Scream by Edvard Munch and when I first saw it it caught my eye. Not just the guy screaming at the center of the art piece but the colors behind it, everything that was going on that most people wouldn't notice. Though my recreation of the art piece wasn't 100% exact you still have the same situation with the color going on, which is what I was mostly concentrating on more then making the guy seem familiar to the real one in the painting. 

Inception (2010)

Blase Biello

Inception, in my opinion, is definitely on the list of top movies of all time. Almost anyone that I know loved Inception and were completely sucked in by the movie's multiple layers. Filled with action, drama, emotion, and total mind-@$%!, Inception doesn't sell viewers short in any aspect. A huge kudos to the casting directors of Inception to for the amazing ensemble that was created to make this masterpiece; Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt really make the movie the solid piece it is. 

The movie is very deep and contains multiple themes that the characters deal with throughout. One of the major themes that I found was the nature of reality and our perception of it. The main character, played by DiCaprio, often struggles on trying to figure out if he is in reality our if he is in a made-up world in his head. This internal struggle often explodes externally, sometimes compromising the mission at hand within the dream. Dealing with his perception, DiCaprio must balance out both worlds to ensure the safety of himself and his team. Another theme that I found extremely important was letting go of lost loved ones. DiCaprio stubbled with letting go of his deceased wife after she committed suicide. A part of him blames himself and wants to go back to that non-reality to live with her again. His own confusion also compromises the final mission, until he learns to deal with impulses and actually let go. 

The musical score/soundtrack of this movie is phenomenal. If I had to describe it with one adjective, I'd probably use Epic. The dramatic climatic score produces sounds I've never heard before which actually make you feel like your in the dream and the intensity flows through you. I really liked the ambient sounds throughout the dreams to, they were very clean sounding and you felt like you were inside a "dream-room". The dialogue between characters was also exceptional. Some of the characters acted with such passion that you felt an emotional connection. 

Visually, Inception is hands down amazing. The actors do an amazing job at filling in their characters and the special effects are so stunning. One of my favorite actors is the main character, played by Leo DiCaprio. I think DiCaprio was the perfect person for the role because of his acting capabilities. When he was upset and stressed out, I really saw it in him, it wasn't as if he was acting. When he was in an argument, you saw and felt the rage in his face. I really enjoyed the cinematography as well, the movie had a wide usage of shots ranging from wide to extreme close and panning to static. Kudos to the cinematographers for the crisp look that Inception has as well. The special effects were breath-taking to say the least! When DiCaprio and Page were sitting down and everything around them exploded- blew my mind. I had never seen anything like that before. And then as they were walking down the street; the whole street became animated and shifted itself to create a mirror of itself in the sky I was mind-blown once again. It was literally one of the coolest things I've ever seen in a movie. The special effects were amazing. The colors of the film were always so crisp throughout and I liked the slightly cool filter that seemed to be on a lot of the shots. The lighting was on point throughout but I never really saw any use of shadows or light manipulation to affect the tone, but its okay. The Mis-en-Scene was perfect, the created dream worlds were spectacular looking and the actors were dressed perfectly for their characters. The film is edited amazingly and I couldn't recommend any suggestions at all. 

I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't seen the movie so I'll leave the Act summaries short. First, The Set Up of the movie was very necessary in my opinion, for you to completely understand what going into dreams really was. This also gave the movie time to introduce its characters and close up any room for confusion. The first plot point came when DiCaprio was given the mission to do 'inception' on a CEO. Confrontation came when one of the people on the mission was shot and was at risk of death. Resolution comes when DiCaprio unlocks the secret and completes the mission and gains something he's been fighting for for almost a decade. The Aftermath leaves you wondering actually as to whether the entire movie was a dream and if the final scenes were actually reality. I liked that touch. Overall, Inception was an amazing movie and definitely one of my lifetime favorites and I recommend anyone that hasn't seen it, to watch is ASAP! 

The film The Departed follows the stories of three particular men, each of whom lead vastly different lives in a corrupt, current-era boston. The first man we’re introduced to is Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), a ruthlessly efficient mobster who has amassed a close following of loyal associates. The next man is Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) whom we’re introduced to when is only a boy being raised by his grandmother, when Costello is giving him a hefty supply of groceries, courtesy of the small deli he is extorting. After a few more interactions between Costello and Sullivan, it is clear that Costello is a bit of a father figure and mentor for Sullivan, whom we next see as a graduated police cadet. Sullivan gradually works his way up the ranks to work in the SIU (Special Investigations Unit) of the Massachusetts state police; a unit responsible for taking down mobsters much like Costello. And finally we have William Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), a police trainee who comes from bad blood. After a hostile discussion with Captain Queenen (Martin Sheen) and Sergeant Dignam (Mark Wahlberg) of SIU regarding his family of thugs and mobsters, they use his tainted family name to their advantage; using him as a mole inside of Costello’s crew to help bring him down. 

This is where the movie starts picking up. The cast is established, the setting is clear and the main task(s) are clear. For Sullivan, that means to subtlety sabotage SIU’s efforts and keep Costello informed, for Costigan it’s to keep SIU informed and build a case against Costello, while Costello (with Sullivan's help) must keep on evading the law, which with the help of Sullivan won’t be too difficult. One particular method Sullivan has for tipping off Costello that something is up is the line “Dad, I don’t think I’ll be home for dinner”. The line is used several times throughout the movie with the occasional garnish to add flavor to the dialogue, and also convey an important part of the message. This line is especially significant because Sullivan grew up with his grandmother, so while Costello was a mentor to Sullivan, he is also a bit of a father figure.

But while Sullivan is trying to keep Costello in the clear, Costigan is doing his best to gather compromising information to bring him down. Somewhere in the intertwined actions of the warring spies (referred to more commonly as rats in the movie), Costello catches wind of a member of his team being an informant. Much of the conversation on Costello’s end from here on in the movie shifts towards the rat and it even portrays itself in the visual aspects of the film. One scene in particular speaks to this with a sudden cut to a piece of paper that Costello is drawing a horde of rats on, before he and Costigan discuss the matter of finding said rat.

As the movie progresses and the action starts coming to a climax the lines between good and evil start to blur. Who is worse, the rat who works to bring down other criminals but helps the kingpin, or the rat who works with the police to bring down the kingpin, but actively perpetuates corruption and crime to earn and maintain the kingpin’s trust? It’s incredibly difficult to go more in-depth without giving away large plot spoilers so I’ll leave it at a line of dialogue that Costello says to Sullivan when Sullivan is a bright-eyed boy learning the life of crime, “They used to say we could be cops or criminals, what I’m saying is when you’re looking down the barrel of a gun, what’s the difference?”

Inky vs. Neon Glow Inky​

I took this picture of my cat, Inky, sitting in the sink again. He was very still and very serious faced. I thought I could get close up on his face without him closing his eyes if I moved the light around some. I moved the light so it was directly on his upper body and everything was lite up perfectly. I put the camera on marco and got in really close so, it would be very clear. In photoshop, I changed the color setting to Neon Glow. I thought is looked very abstract, so I kept it. 

Dakota vs. Half Pixelated Dakota

I took this picture a while back, I didn't really like any of the other pictures I had taken. Also, I liked this picture because it is focused on my face and nothing else is around and I was thinking about doing this picture for my Self Portait. 
In this picture, I used the Magnetic Loop and outlined that wasn't my face or neck. Then, I changed the setting to Pixelate > Crystallize. I wanted to blur the background at first, but I thought that was really typical. I used the Crystallize because it made a better effect on my face. It makes it look like everything is out of focus expect my face and neck. I think it is a very cool looking picture.

Here, I have:

Large Clear Object:

For my large clear object, I chose to draw a water bottle. I used only a mechanical pencil and some charcoal on a large sheet of paper. The pencil is indeed my favorite and most used choice of medium. I started out by outlining the bottle, at eye level, to get the shape just right. I’m very particular about some things, so I knew that I also had the background to really help give a sense of being able to see through it. So using perspective, I placed the bottle in front of a table and I also added a floor for even more perspective. Another thing to note is that I didn’t use a mid-tone at this time (I wasn’t very fond of it), but instead, I located my shadows, and from there, I smudged to give it that look. More specifically, to show that there was water in the bottle, I had a bit of a cloudy appear to it; it was darker where the water brimmed the edges of the bottle, and lighter towards the center. I added the same shadow effect to the top of the bottle, where I brought out my lights to show light reflection, and well as a transparency of the bottle. The most challenging part would definitely be getting the shape of the bottom part of the bottle and also capturing the shadows. It caved and erected in a pattern, meaning that I really had to find the appropriate areas to highlight. Overall, I think I was successful in capturing the bottle.

5 Photoshopped Pictures:

Link to the photos and descriptions: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2236943/PHOTO%20SHOPPED%20PICS.pages

Copy A Master:

For this “Copy A Master” assignment, I chose to copy my favorite and most inspirational artist, Masashi Kishimoto. Using one of the volumes of his world popular manga series, Naruto, I copied a page that had half of a poster of the 3 main characters. I drew Naruto    using a .5 mm mechanical pencil, and HB, 2B, 4B, and 9H shading pencils. Pencils are really my favorite medium because it is simplistic, yet definite. While it’s not impossible to be abstract using pencil, I think that it’s better to be straightforward with the image- but of course, the perception of its meaning will vary. So my basic routine involves starting with the head of the model, and I tried to guide my hands using my eyes along the already sketchy lines. Since it was a line art picture to start with, I just tried my hardest to really capture the shadows and the perspective. Indeed, the hardest part was really capturing the partial “worm’s eye” perspective; to be more specific, it was hard catching the view of someone in front, and slightly higher than you. This was one of the perspectives that I hadn’t really toyed with before. What I really enjoyed was capturing the parted lips and the eyes. I think that I really got the shadows on the lips and the above the right eye. Also, I captured the shadow around the jaw-line and nose especially. Through the wonders of a nice dark mid tone and smudging I was able to capture this image.

Unfinished Products:

Internet Sculpture:

What I did for my Internet sculpture was one of my own designs: using old shorts and turning it into a mini-tote. I used two old shorts and for the first side of the bag, I sewed the front of one to the front of another. Overall, I ended up using:

 

-A sewing machine

-2 pairs of shorts

-Several pieces of fabric

-Needles and thread

-Measuring tape

-Fabric marker

-Safety pins

 

Ultimately, the design was to have one solid back of the back and then use a different jean color for one half of the front. I then wanted to make a patchwork of jeans and fabric material for the other side. I started by measuring an inch of inseam for where I wanted to sew onto, and proceeded to make one side. Unfortunately, I did not finish this product. I wanted it to be the main piece, but even an artist gets caught up. Perhaps, I was dedicated to completing everything else.

Daisy vs. Fighting Daisy​

I took this picture of my cat, Daisy, she was laying on the couch. I wanted to take a picture of where her paw would be the center of action. I took the picture of marco, so her paw looks clearer than the rest of her body. It took me a while to think of what to do with this picture in Photoshop, but then I remember cartoon fights. Like on Fairly Oddparents, where the characters would be fighting and there would be action words and colorful scenes in the background. 
For the picture, I took the Magnetic Loop and deleted everything in the background that wasn't my cat. I made another layer that would be around the outline of my cat, it is colorful like the cartoon fighting scenes would be. I made another layer and used the text tool to write on my cat's hand, saying 'POW!' The background makes the cat stand out more with her black and white color. The word 'POW!' has one of the colors from the background, so the picture can be cohesive. 

During the Second Quarter of my Junior year, I was asked to create a list of things for my art class and accompany each of them with an artist statement. Below is exactly that. The first picture is a charcoal drawing of a large clear object. 

The pictures above are the next part of my art project. The task was to take a picture of an official artist and try to copy their work. Originally I chose to draw a picture made by Hijame Ueda who is the artist of one of my favorite animes called "Fooly Cooly". After thinking about it though, I decided that I needed to draw something that I wasn't used to drawing. I needed to draw something of different style. So I took a picture from a manga called "Me and the Devil's Blues". It was still in the category of the art i was used to drawing but it was more detailed and realistic. The artist of this manga is Akira Hiramoto. As you can see from the pictures above, I found it very difficult to do this picture because I could not get all the lines and angles completely right along with doing the shading right. There are a lot of similarities between the two pictures as you can see but their not exactly identical because of the fact that Akira has a different, more detailed drawing style than mine that I'm not familiar of comfortable with.

The fact that I'm not good with copying images and doing realistic drawings also became a problem on the last part of this project where I had to draw a bike.

​The film, The Kingdom, written by Matthew Michael Carahan and directed by Peter Berg, was a film about FBI agents Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx), Grant Sykes (Chris Cooper), Janet Mayes (Jennifer Garner), and Adam Leavitt (Jason Bateman) who travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to conduct an investigation and seek revenge after their friend/partner was killed during a terrorist attack.

I really enjoyed this movie. It was quite an eye-opener, and very visual and realistic. I liked the opening credits because it showed the history between America and Saudi Arabia throughout the years including a timeline with clips of film that were in black and white. This small part of the film really helped me to set a starting point for the movie, as well as the overall tone of the movie. I also liked how the movie began in what seemed like a random setting, which I gradually began to realize was in Saudi Arabia as the movie slowly jumped right into the action.

The dialogue of the film is something that I liked as well. The characters used words, such as curse words at just the right moments to represent anger, frustration, panic, etc, which really was a plus for me, as opposed to many movies that include random curse words in the dialogue which is unnecessary and adds nothing to the film. The dialogue of the film also seemed to really represent each character and define who they were, and made them unique from one another. For example, the character that Jason Bateman played often spoke in a sarcastic-like tone, and occasionally spoke in a way that seemed cocky, unlike everyone else, which really made his role stand out more than the other characters. Also, each character had a different amount of dialogue throughout the entire film, which also helped me to understand the character’s role, and their importance in the film.

Out of the entire film, the thing that stuck out to me the most, however, were the costumes that were used in the movie. Once the main characters arrived to the plot setting (Saudi Arabia) of the film, Colonel Faris (Ashraf Barhom) constantly reminded the main characters that their protection was his main concern, and that they must be careful at all times. With that said, the costumes in the film played the most important role to me because during most of the film, the main characters were surrounded by the army and police officers, who all wore the same uniforms and outfits. This created a sense of uneasiness and on-the-edge feeling for me during the whole movie because I never knew if someone was going to jump into any of the scenes and attack the main characters.

The Kingdom was a great movie that I recommend for everyone to see (however, I wouldn’t suggest it for younger kids) and was a definite eye-opener, especially the ending. The ending was completely unexpected, and really made me think. I assumed that the ending was going to be the stereotypical happy conclusion where everyone went home feeling good because they avenged their friends death and prevented future terrorist attacks, and right from there go straight to the credits. However, the ending was not that at all, and definitely did not disappoint.

Requiem for a Dream, what can I say that hasn't already been said? Well, actually probably a lot. Let me start off with my god honest opinion of this movie, it is a fantastic movie, but it is not an easy movie. I watched this movie twice, and the first time, it beat me senseless, the movie came across the room and it slugged me real good, so when I watched it a second time I thought I'd be fine, wrong, the movie beat me senseless again, completely remorselessly, and perhaps even harder than the first time. The movie is sharp, strong, and like I said, it hits you hard, not in an action movie way, but in a way that the movie beats on your psyche till all you can do is sigh and hope to feel better later.

Let's start with the title, going at it from the top, you might think, "Kinda a cheesy title." Well, let me break it down, Requiem for a Dream would mean, the song for the rest of the dead dreams, that's one hell of a title, it implies two things we see in the movie, dreams, and them being utterly and completely destroyed. The movie is divided into three segments, Summer, the beginning, Fall, the middle, and Winter, the end. Not exactly cheery, but neither is the movie.

The movie begins pretty weak, to the point where you might think that it could be (gasp) a bad movie. The first few shots are pretty cliche, and don't do anything for me, with several basic shots and possibly my least favorite, a cut down the middle shot that has two images displayed. However, the movie sets its tone so powerfully for that first part, in an opening scene where the main character, Harry steals a TV from his mother in order to pawn it for drug money, specifically money for heroin. Before we even see the title of the movie, we see most of this action, ending with the golden line from Harry's mother, Sarah, "As long it all turns out OK."

The acting in this first scene, once again, doesn't do much for me, the lines are delivered, but the movie starts so suddenly that it makes little sense to the audience. However, the acting throughout the movie is surprisingly good, even Marlon Wayans and Jared Leto manage to be very good, of course Ellen Burstyn steals the show as Harry's mother, Sarah Goldfarm.

The movie, as a whole, is about addiction, and how it ruins lives. Every character struggles with their addictions with a dream in mind tossed aside by their addiction. As the movie moves forward, these addictions become more and more extreme, culminating in frightening situations and an overall terrific ending. But let's not be too hasty.

The movie is heavy on foreshadowing, every single line seems to reek of the stuff, and all throughout the first act, characters seem to allude to their ultimate fate, whether it be something slight, or almost overwhelmingly obvious. The beginning also works hard to establish motifs, the sudden and sharp cuts that signify drug use instantly get in your head, and leave a powerful effect. It also shows the style of camera work, no shots are completely steady, and the camera shakes slightly even in pans to set an on edge move, like I said, the movie is sharp. The score settles into the movie early on as well, establishing itself in the opening sequence.

What you notice, early in the movie is that the shots are warm, not very dark, they let in a lot of warm orangey light to reflect the season the movie begins in, Summer, but as the seasons progress, every single set the movie is in gets paler and less warm, almost colder as the seasons get colder and colder. The tone also changes with the seasons, while during Summer everything is handled fairly well in a relaxed matter, by the time Winter begins, the excrement has hit the fan. The lamer shots disappear, and the movie becomes the violently sharp thing that kicked my ass both times. The dialogue gets more tense too, you can feel the effects of the seasons changing on the characters as the stakes get higher and higher, while relationships between them get more and more strained. The movie's smash cuts pick up, and the transitions are less basic, even disappearing, the effects of constant drug use become painfully obvious in a terrifying scene involving Ellen Burstyn being attacked by a refrigerator. The movie doesn't stop there, it picks up to the point where everyone's dreams are ground into nothing.

The movie is a dramatic and powerful experience sure to entertain and absolutely destroy you. I end this review with a bit of dialogue I had with my sister upon finishing the movie, having never seen it, I asked, "So spring never comes?" To which she replied without missing a beat, "No one makes it through the winter."

Sound: A+, great score and snappy noise makes the movie feel completely real and totally adds to the feel.

Visuals: A, minus the very beginning, all shots are perfect for the tone of the movie, and the seemless transitions during dialogue make the visuals a treat. Not to mention some excellent special effects and make-up.

Acting: A, you can never take Jared Leto too seriously, but that just might be my problem. Besides that, amazing acting, Ellen Burstyn of course stealing the show.

Story: A+, like I said, the first half drips foreshadowing, and the second half drips tears onto my face. A fantastic story.

Overall Grade:
A+, would watch again if I'm ever too happy.