The Godfather 1972

1. The Godfather is an incredible American epic crime film, released in 1972. This motion picture was directed by an Italian American gentleman of the name Francis Ford Coppola.  The Godfather was known as being the highest grossing film of its time. Coppola collaborated with a famous writer named Mario Puzo. The amazing writer, Puzo, was well known for writing a best-selling novel that was named after a mafia dynasty. The novel was based on one of the mafia family (The Corleone). The all-time American gangster film earned itself ten Academy Awards Nominations and won three Oscars:  Best picture, Best Actor by Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone, and Best Adapted screenplay. Unfortunately, Brando refused to accept the award.  The Godfather was also the $134 million box-office hit.  The other seven nominations included: for Best Supporting actor by James Caan, Robert Duvail, and Al Pacino. Also, Best Director, Best sound, Best film editing, and Best costume design.

2.  www.filmsite.org/godf.html

The article named “The godfather” 1972, written by film site. The movie review starts off by acknowledging this film as one of the greatest American gangster films of all time. The epic film is one of the oldest but greatest films during its era and continued to carry on its positive reputation till today. This partial gangster film re-invented the typical gangster genre, by elevating the classic Hollywood gangster film to a much greater level by portraying the criminal/ gangster theme as a tragic hero. The article continues on by mentioning the film’s wonderful photography, choreography and its excellent story plot.  The Godfather is an insightful illustration of violence, power, honor, obligation, corruption, and crimes in American.

 3.  The  article by film site relates to the screening by the first honoring the film for its incredible work in portraying the famous mafia family ( The Corleone) as America’s best gangster  film. In class we discuss how this partial film influenced the auditions to naturally take (The Corleone family) side rather than any other mafia affiliated families. The audience grew a sense of loyalty towards the Corleone because we as the audience got the opportunity to better know and understand the family. Even though the audience knew what the Corleone family men did as a business was wrong, we defended them and view the mafia family as good. The article describes how the film impacted the audience and how this gangster criminal figured film was portrayed as a tragic hero.

4. I must say this was the first time I saw the Godfather and I truly loved the film. My favorite character is Michael Corleone played by Al Pacino. What I found interesting was how he first started out in the film.  Michael did want to be involved with the family business. But after his Father (Don Vito Corleone) was shot, he took upon the best role as a loyal family member and made it his duty to protect his family and become involved. The transition from the boy we thought wouldn’t be part of the killing, violence, and crime turned out to be the next Godfather. I loved every moment of this film. I also enjoyed how director Coppola decided to use several different types of lighting to build a stronger effect to each scene. I found this film to be very creative and scripts writing very daring.  This film was very bold and illustrated what it takes to film a prefect gangster movie.

The Graduate

.

1. The Graduate was an incredible motion picture that was released in 1967. The film was directed by a formal aspiring actor named Mike Nichols. Nichols earliest achievements began as a New York Broadway director, than after he moved on to directing movies. The Graduate was a very popular film during this specific era. In fact Nichols won an Academy award for “Best Director”. The wonderful, exciting, and youthful film successfully earned top ratings on the box office. The textbook Flashback describes The Graduate “a Box office champion of the decade”. The younger demographic audience truly enjoyed watching this partial film because they could relate to the starring role as a college graduate Benjamin Braddock.

2.  http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19671226/REVIEWS/712260301/1023

The article I have chosen was titled “The Graduate” by author Roger Ebert. He described the all time favorite American movie has being the greatest film for that partial decade. Ebert said The Graduate was also “the funniest American comedy of the year”. The young British director had an amazing way to illustrate the free spirited era through the characters of the film like “Mrs. Robinson”. Ebert goes on by saying the storyline of the film was also wonderful and entertaining. The film was so fresh, youthful, and creative; the comedy in this film came so natural as well. The youthful audience could not resist from laughing. The Music also plays a tremendous deal in the film as well. The Director used popular tunes to simulate the audience as well. The film was a great combination of comedy and creativity.

3.Roger Ebert article related to the screening very well. He first starts off by appreciating the film’s creativity and entertaining story plot and comical scenes as being “The funniest American comedy of the year”. Ebert article points out how truly popular this film was because of its generation. In class we learned that many of the younger demographic loved this film so much because most of them well college graduates themselves and could relate to the characters. The film was released during the late 1960’s, where the American Culture was becoming more youth oriented. So you can see where the theme of this film came to play.

4. This film was absolutely amazing to watch. I can truly agree with Roger Ebert, when he mentioned the screening being the funniest movie of it time. The film had a unique way of surprising the audience, including myself. The characters in the film was incredible. My personal Favorite was Mr. Robinson, i truly loved the woman she played. Also what i really enjoyed about this film's use of music. The music also added a sense of  funny and laughter to the scenes. The movie was so great and  i would watch it again.

Casablanca 1942

1.    

  Casablanca was released by Warner Brothers studio in 1942. The Motion picture was directed by Micheal Curtiz. The movie was filmed during the early 1940’s and it considered one of the many classical films. In fact, the American Film Institute voted Casablanca the #3 film of all time. The film starred Humphrey and Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Casablanca was very popular because how much it related to the audience during that time. It was mentioned in the Flashback textbook, the film was “released during the darkest days of World War 11, and Bogart’s ultimate romantic gesture-giving up the woman he loves and always will for the greater good- struck a responsive chord among Americans.”Casablanca earned three academy awards which included; “best picture,” “best director” and “best Screenplay.”

 

                              

2.      http://www.filmsite.org/casa.html

The article named Casablanca 1942, from Film site Movie Review discussed the wonderful aspects of the film. The article starts off by explaining the classical film being the much-love romantic melodrama, which found itself on the top-ten lists of great American films. The article then continues by saying Casablanca incredible rich and smoky atmosphere created a certain mood to the film. The specific dark shadows and lighting also enhanced the strength of several powerful romantic and political scenes. The article named Casablanca “one of the most popular, magical, and flawless films of all times”. The incredible film featured themes which included lost love, honor, and duty. The film also illustrated the wonderful connection among each character. The review then gives a detailed summary of the film.  

 

3.      The Film Site Movie review article relates to the film by first appreciating its classical love-melodramatic style, but by recognizing the many significant aspects of the film as well. For example, the article mentioned the great emotional connection between the characters, which made the film so interesting to watch during this era.  The audience had the opportunity to relate the film from what they were going through in their own personal life.  A great example in the film which goes back to what the article mentioned was the relationship between character Rick and Lisa. Their conversation had so much depth and meaningful responses.  The connection between the two truly had a strong impact to the film dramatic scenes. For example, when Rick selflessly sends Lisa on to the plane out of Casablanca, the film emotionally impacted the audiences.

                    

4.      I really didn’t find Casablanca that interesting what so ever. But I can appreciate the storyline and where it was coming from. I like how the director used what was currently happening to the nation to create a good theme to the film. The melodramatic scenes were extremely predictable and I knew Rick and Lisa would never stay together. But overall I did like the dark shadows in the film because it did add a sense of urgency to see what is going to happen next. 

Citizen Kane

 

1.

Named “The Best American Film of all Time” by American Film Institute, the film Citizen Kane was released in 1941. The Film was based on a very wealthy and powerful man named William Randolph Hearst. Hearst ran his own newspaper company. Charles Foster Kane portrayed Hearst’s Personality and life tails through this film. This interested film was directed by Oscar Welles and after released it went on to receive nine Oscar Nominations. One of the infamous nominations included “Best Original Screenplay.” Director Oscar Welles also was nominated for four Oscars, which was incredible during this Era. Welles won the Oscars for “Best Original Screenplay.” In class we discussed many significant facts about Oscar Welles.  Citizen Kane was the Director Welles first motion picture.  Welles directed this film at a very early age of 24. While directing, Welles had complete control in producing and collaborated with Herman Mankiewicz on the scripts.

2.

The Article I have chosen from Film site written by Tim Dirks, discuss how the Film engendered controversy in the early 1941, because the film appeared to illustrate fictional and false accusations about the life of William Randolph Hearst. Hearst was a powerful newspaper writer and publisher. His life was based on the character Charles Kane in the film Citizen Kane. The film was accused for drawing remarkable, unflattering, and uncomplimentary parallel to the actually life of Hearst. In fact the article mentioned that Hearst ordered his publications to completely ignore the popular film and to not release any comments about the film and its portrayed character. The Article also illustrated a detail similarity chart of the character Charles Foster Kane and Hearst, to represent how the film was strongly influenced by Hearst.

3.

The article by Tim Dirks relates to the screening by pin pointing the many similarities that the character, Charles Foster Kane, in the film had with the infamous Newspaper writer William Randolph Hearst. The article did an excellent job explaining the complexity of the Film’s Character and how it strongly impacted Hearst and the audience. The film had Kane portray such a well known man in history of journalism to be relived through a motion picture. Charles Kane worked for the New York Inquirer as a multi-millionaire newspaper publisher, who had a distinct over-willing and in many cases misunderstood personally that was Hearst seemed to present through the eyes of many. Though the film did includes certain inaccurate facts about Hearst, is also use many significant aspects about the newspaper business and the power man behind it all. 

4.

 First, I can truly agree with the American Film Institute, when they said Citizen Kane is the greatest American film of all time. But I can say it was a film because of its great character, Charles Kane. Kane had me truly believe it was as miserable as what he portrayed in the film. The sound and lighting in this film worked to it great advantage. For example, when Kane was upset and was speaking to his second wife about singing for the opera, the sound got louder and the lighting was shining directly on him. The scene was much more intensified, not only by the content.  The lightings and sounds allowed the characters to truly come alive and define the intensities of the film. I truly enjoyed when moments between the scenes were sad or aggressive, I got those feelings in my own emotions. It was like a was feeling each character’s emotions. 

Gone With the Wind

1.    Gone With the Wind is one of the most incredible films of all time.  This film is the highest grossing box office film. Director Victor Fleming released this motion picture in 1939, during American’s greatest period of movie making. This phenomenal beloved film was based on a famous well-known novel written by Margaret Mitchell.  The novel nearly took over a decade to complete. In fact, once the film was released there was a high demand for a sequel, requested by viewers. Unfortunately there was no following sequel for Gone With the Wind.  Gone With the Wind established the record of winning the most Academy Awards in 1962. The film ‘s greatest achievements were the award given to Hattie McDaniel, for the best supporting actress. McDaniel was the first African American actress to win an Oscar.

2.    An article written in 1988, described Gone With the Wind as a spectacular melodramatic film that was based during the civil war time period. The film illustrated the significant social issues during to war era.  The article used example from the film to better explain how the characters and historical scenes provided important social events. The film also had a unique way of embodying the South’s indefatigable spirit. The article provided specific scenes, which were used to represent the civil war period.

http://grunes.wordpress.com/2008/04/14/gone-with-the-wind-victor-fleming-george-cukor-sam-wood-et-al-1939/

3.    The article relates to the film by first honoring the film for it’s spectacular work, but also mention how the time period of this film truly impact it great creditability as well. In class we learned how impressively popular Gone with the Wind was during this partial era. The article described how the film used significant storylines to represent what actually took place in history. For example the film begins by showing a plantation owned by the beautiful Scarlett, which Vivien Legin plays. Scarlett also had an African American maid, which was common during this era.  African Americans were typically servants and/or slaves ad were not well recognized as actors/actress. The character Ashley Wilkes also represented important historical segment in the film, as he played the role of a solider that returns home after fighting for the war.

4.  Gone With the Wind, blow my mind. I was immediately fascinated by the film’s story line.  Moments of the film actually surprised me because I would have never accepted an earlier film to capture so many excellent and interesting moments.  I love the lighting and the vibrant colors of all the shoots.  Also the content of every shoot and its strong impact to my emotions, that led me to cry in some point of time. For example when Scarlett’s daughter was riding her horse and pasted away for a terrible fall.

The Stagecoach

1.       In 1939, the film Stagecoach was released. The film was a directed by John ford. Between 1939 and 1941, the western picture was shown during the era that was considered to be “Great Period of American movie-making”.  In the text Flashback: A Brief History of film described how family values were so significant to ford and how social order depended on family. Ford, an Irish-Catholic had strong American values and truly believed in strong family tradition and faith.  When ford directed this film, he wanted to illustrate what was considered to be “Most Savage”, can be turn to be the complete opposite. The term “Most savage” was refer to when families did not practice the traditional norms. In the film, stagecoach was not the typical family picture. The film was about a group of strangers, who had nothing in common, who were able to work together as a family after a long trip together. Despite of their difference, the characters found a way to bond as a family, not as strangers.

2.  This article, by the Film site Movie Review mentioned how Stagecoach was John ford first sound western film. The picture was filmed on ford’s favorite setting, “The Majestic Monument Valley of the southwest. The film was very well known for its beautiful images and powerful characters. The article also described how during this time western genre films had fallen out of favor and popularity, but ford  regain it interest back because of it creativity.  Film site Review as stated how the film illustrated social conflicts and values, which were tied together by fate, and made Stagecoach such a unique film.

http://www.filmsite.org/stagec.html

3. This article strongly relates to the film by honoring John ford, as a great American director, who changed people minds about Western genre films losing it touch, until stagecoach. The article mentioned one of the significant attributes, which was Ford’s ability to capture beautiful settings that made the film much more unique than others. In class we learned about ford passion of western landscapes and how he was known for shooting excellent wide images. He was also best known for setting the actors behind visual western images, which made the film so interesting to watch. The Monument Valley was later known as Ford Classic working grounds.

4.  After watching Stagecoach, I gained a better knowledge of what western film genre is about. Prior to viewing this partial film, I thought that western films were all about man shooting each other, horses riding all over the place, and ladies in their best behavior. However this film changed my perspective about western film during this era. I actually enjoyed the film.  I loved how each and every character had a unique and powerful personality, which made the film exciting to watch. I also enjoyed watching the beautiful images in which Ford capture; it truly brought greatest to the film. I also found interesting how Ford was able to capture moment that would happen in our time, for example bringing strangers together, sticking them in one spot and making a family out it. This certain scenario happens often and it was interesting to see it in black and white. I was truly appreciate Ford’s strong family values and how is used his belief to create such a great film.

The Gold Rush

“The Gold Rush” is a brilliant comedic film that expresses the matters of greed and love. The film showed characters interacting with each other with many significant body language and movements. Though the film was a silent motion picture with a few subscripts, the audience had the opportunity to fully understand the mood and the important expression the film tempted to capture. The film also used classical music and great visual emotions, in which the characters portrayed during the film, to help the audience understand the conflicts and essential features of the story line.

In the film of “The Gold Rush”, the informative word “The Tramp” had so many significant values for the theme of the gold finding experience. The film illustrated a character that throughout the movie was referred to “The little tramp”. The comedic scenes were at times very sad and dramatic, but added a sense of funny for the audience to enjoy. “The Tramp” character started off by being a loan prospector that was walking along a large ice cliff. He eventually found himself in a stranger’s cabin, with the owner and another large man that currently found gold in sight named Big Jim. A terrible blizzard occurred and all three men were forced to remain in the cabin together without food. The three men then choose cards to determine who will go out to find something to eat. The loan prospector and Big Jim remained in the cabin and were left along top starve.

Eventually these two men part, where the loan prospector found his way into town and built up deep emotions for a woman named Georgia, at the Monte Carlo dance hall. He is immediately infatuated with this woman from the dance hall. Georgia approaches the man in order to spite her current boyfriend Jack Cameron. The Tramp character appeared unclean, unattractive, and senseless to everyone in the dance. He was very much looked down toward everyone in that room during this scene. The tramp tries to impress Georgia and her friends to a new year eve dinner at a cabin he found around town, but was completely ignored. The tramp was so heart-broken and distraught. Big Jim appears at the tramp loneliness moments and agrees to share his gold wealth with him as long as he shows him where the original cabin was located. They both agreed on it, and found themselves grand and fortunate.

The ironic aspect of this film was towards the very end when the tramp and Georgia appeared to be in the same ship. Once Georgia realized that the tramp was now superior, she then admired him and he foolishly immediately accepted her back, even though of what she did to him in the past. This story line truly expressed the comedic theme of this movie. The Tramp character truly highlighted what the director wanted to capture.