Both of these movies contain the coolest actors of their time robbing a casino in Vegas. The original was basically the Rat Pack messing around on camera while looking smooth as they attempted to rob famous Vegas casinos. The newer one was more complex, with a bad guy that Ocean's eleven were looking to screw over and a more detailed plan because of newer technology guarding the money and more money hidden in the safes.
The movies greatly differed in their presentation of the eleven men that would help Danny Ocean rob the casinos. Ocean's 11 focuses on the backstories of the characters so much that the middle of the movie is where the plot is first hatched to rob the casinos. Ocean's Eleven introduces each character's back story in about ten minutes and is centered more on the actual heist of the casino instead of character development.
The ends in both movies were also different. In Ocean's 11, the men end up with no money at the end because they kept it in a coffin and that coffin was cremated. However, in Ocean's Eleven, the good guys beat the bad guys and end up with the money, and the main character even ends up with his former wife.
Ocean's Eleven was more realistic to me, but Ocean's 11 was a lot more realistic. I enjoyed both movies though.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Blackfish 5 paragraph Movie Review
Blackfish movie review
The movie Blackfish focuses on the captivity of killer whales, specifically Tilikum, and the repercussions of capturing orca whales for human entertainment. The movie is a documentary set in SeaWorld over a twenty year time period. The movie is compiled of multiple interviewees - either former trainers at SeaWorld, researchers, or witnesses to attacks - all who at first expressed their amazement of the killer whales before they realized how corrupt the captured whales are. Blackfish opens with the interviewees speaking of their initial attraction to SeaWorld and the connections they forged with the orcas. The film takes a darker turn when the 911 call regarding Dawn Brancheau, SeaWorld’s top trainer slaughtered by Tiikum. The interviewees sadly remember Dawn as an energetic woman who loved animals. The movie raises the question of: Why did Dawn die if she was so skilled in training whales?
After mentioning Dawn’s death, Blackfish jumps to footage of Tilikum being captured from his pod and explains the brutal process of kidnapping young whales from their families. Researchers speak of orca’s larger brains and their superior intelligence and emotional capacity to man as the cruel capturing of Tilikum, the largest orca whale in captivity, is shown. An important fact the movie mentions is there is no recorded incident of an orca ever harming a human in the wild. The movie introduces SeaLand, a small park in Canada. Tilikum is sent to SeaLand and his training is brutal; whenever he doesn’t do a trick, the other two female whales gang up on him and beat him up. Tilikum kills his first victim: a young swimmer named Kelty. SeaLand closes and Tilikum is sold to Sea World. The former trainers of SeaWorld recall being amazed at the size of Tilikum and how surprisingly easy Tilikum was to train. They also admit that SeaWorld never told the trainers of Tilikum’s past as an aggressive whale - it is later revealed that SeaWorld conveniently forgets to mention all injuries and deaths that happen to their trainers to their own employees. After Tilikum has been at SeaWorld for a few years, one morning trainers enter the park to find a man dead in Tilikum’s pool. SeaWorld blames the accident on the man, even though all evidence points to Tilikum. The climax of the movie is the death of Dawn Branchaeu, a talented trainer. Interviewees are outraged that SeaWorld blamed Dawn for her own death, and again, all of the evidence points to Tilikum as the killer. The movie ends with protestors crowding SeaWorld and charities being set up in Dawn’s memory, but the viewer is still troubled by the disturbing footage and questions even after the movie ends.
Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the director of Blackfish, has received a lot of praise from her skillfully constructed film. Gabriela was not initially interested in animal rights - after Dawn Brancheau’s death in 2010, the documentary director felt compelled to investigate the case. I thought that the interviewees Gabriela picked out were very diverse and added a lot to the film. I especially liked how many of the people being interviews were former employees or owners of SeaWorld-like parks. Some of the footage, such as trainers being injured or whales being captured, was very graphic but it brought the main message of the movie across. The interviewees told an emotional, gripping tale of the problem of keeping whales in captivity. Overall, Gabriela did a great job in directing Blackfish.
The background music of Blackfish was subtle, but in my opinion it affected the emotions of the audience. Without the dramatic buildup up the orchestra in the background as Tilikum approached a swimming trainer, the audience would not have been as suspenseful and apprehensive. Although there is not one specific sound director, the main people involved in the sound department of Blackfish include Shawn Coffman, Jonathan Ingalls and Vince Tennant. Without the dramatic orchestra in Blackfish, the film would probably not be as dramatic and suspenseful.
Although Blackfish was very hard to watch, I thought the movie was very interesting. I have only gone to SeaWorld once, but after watching Blackfish I will definitely not be going to SeaWorld ever again. Blackfish is really sad and dramatic, so I would not recommend it to people who are very emotional. I have never really been an animal activist, and I still won’t be even after watching this movie, but Blackfish made me realize the cruelty and corruption orca whales are enduring for the purpose of human entertainment. Overall, Blackfish was kind of a slap in the face, but a very good movie regardless.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Professional Film Review Compare and Contrast
Catching Fire trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH-n39PCXp8
Catching Fire review
http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/movies/20131121__Hunger_Games__Catching_Fire__is_bigger__better__broodier.html
In the above review, the review raves about the film and the difference in the first Hunger Games to the second due to the change of directors. The review prefers the second director, Francis Lawrence, to the first director, Gary Ross, because the costumes are less tacky and the actors fit better into their roles. I agree with the reviewer, but I think that the first film contained more dramatic camera angles. Although the second film was a little more realistic, the shaky camera that was often used in the first movie highlighted the characters' confusion while the shaky camera was not used as often in the second movie. However, the improved acting in the second movie made up for the more traditional camera angles that were used in Catching Fire. As the reviewer says, the amazing cast that were playing the characters helped create a dramatic and thrilling movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH-n39PCXp8
Catching Fire review
http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/movies/20131121__Hunger_Games__Catching_Fire__is_bigger__better__broodier.html
In the above review, the review raves about the film and the difference in the first Hunger Games to the second due to the change of directors. The review prefers the second director, Francis Lawrence, to the first director, Gary Ross, because the costumes are less tacky and the actors fit better into their roles. I agree with the reviewer, but I think that the first film contained more dramatic camera angles. Although the second film was a little more realistic, the shaky camera that was often used in the first movie highlighted the characters' confusion while the shaky camera was not used as often in the second movie. However, the improved acting in the second movie made up for the more traditional camera angles that were used in Catching Fire. As the reviewer says, the amazing cast that were playing the characters helped create a dramatic and thrilling movie.
1/15/13: Director
James Cameron is a film director from Canada. His most famous works include the first installment of The Terminator, Avatar and The Titanic. His skillful directing of The Titanic enabled him to win three Academy Awards for the film. His project that took 10 years to make, Avatar, also earned him three Academy Awards. Mr. Cameron's uses his creativity to create 3d cameras, underwater filming and special types science filming. His two most successful films, Titanic and Avatar, are the two top grossing films of all time.
Oprah Winfrey did a video on James Cameron showcasing his creativity, which was really interesting to me because to direct movies such as Avatar and Titanic you have to be pretty creative.
Oprah Winfrey did a video on James Cameron showcasing his creativity, which was really interesting to me because to direct movies such as Avatar and Titanic you have to be pretty creative.
1/14/13: Cinematographer
Roger Deakins is a cinematographer who filmed for True Grit and Skyfall. He also was one of the visual consultants for Pixar's animated film Wall-E and Dreamworks's How to Train Your Dragon. He started out as working as a cinematographer for documentaries, and in the 1990's he began to work for major motion pictures. Mr. Deakins is also a photographer and is known for his photography hobbies. His skilled cinematographing has allowed him to be nominated for many Academy Awards, such as True Grit.
The video below is very very long but I skipped around it a lot and still learned a lot from Roger Deakins talking about True Grit and all of the work behind it. From the comments you can see that a lot of people really respect and look up to Mr. Deakins's work, which is pretty cool to me because I feel like cinematographers especially are sometimes overlooked compared to directors and producers.
The video below is very very long but I skipped around it a lot and still learned a lot from Roger Deakins talking about True Grit and all of the work behind it. From the comments you can see that a lot of people really respect and look up to Mr. Deakins's work, which is pretty cool to me because I feel like cinematographers especially are sometimes overlooked compared to directors and producers.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
1/13/14: producer
Steven Spielberg is a very famous director who also produced some films. He produced the classic movie ET which came out in 1982 and more recently produced War Horse in 2011. His earlier films were more sci fi and adventure themed while his more recent work addresses humanistic issues. He has won Academy Awards for not only his talent at producing films but also for his innovative directing.
I thought the fact that Steven Spielberg has dyslexia was really interesting because making and directing movies requires a lot of reading scripts and directions, so it would be difficult to do this with a reading disorder. My mother and brother both have dyslexia so I thought it was cool that someone like Steven Spielberg could accomplish so much with this reading disease. Below is a video of Mr. Spielberg discussing his disease.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N6RKHOHMJQ
I thought the fact that Steven Spielberg has dyslexia was really interesting because making and directing movies requires a lot of reading scripts and directions, so it would be difficult to do this with a reading disorder. My mother and brother both have dyslexia so I thought it was cool that someone like Steven Spielberg could accomplish so much with this reading disease. Below is a video of Mr. Spielberg discussing his disease.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N6RKHOHMJQ
Thursday, January 9, 2014
1/10/13 hw: screenwriter
Woody Allen is a famous screenwriter who wrote Midnight in Paris, which is about a screenwriter. I thought Midnight in Paris was a really good movie and I liked the screenwriting because Woody Allen recognized he had to change the screenplay a little when he wanted to cast Owen Wilson, who wasn't the east coast personality he was looking for but he was able to switch the whole script which is impressive. Hes also an actor and director. Some other movies he wrote are Blue Jasmine and Manhattan.
Unfortunately, Woody Allen struggled with family issues throughout the 90's which tarnished his name. Because of this, people have been very reluctant to see his films and appreciate him when he won awards. For example, when Allen's Blue Jasmine came out, Vanity Fair interviewed the Farrow family (he left his former wife, Mia Farrow, for her adopted daughter) which caused the public to sympathize more for the heartbroken Farrows than Woody. An article I read gives background on Mr. Allen's familial issues and explains that: "It is totally OK to celebrate Woody Allen, but that doesn't mean you have to."
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/14/golden-globes-woody-allen-lifetime-achievement-mia-ronan-farrow
Unfortunately, Woody Allen struggled with family issues throughout the 90's which tarnished his name. Because of this, people have been very reluctant to see his films and appreciate him when he won awards. For example, when Allen's Blue Jasmine came out, Vanity Fair interviewed the Farrow family (he left his former wife, Mia Farrow, for her adopted daughter) which caused the public to sympathize more for the heartbroken Farrows than Woody. An article I read gives background on Mr. Allen's familial issues and explains that: "It is totally OK to celebrate Woody Allen, but that doesn't mean you have to."
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/14/golden-globes-woody-allen-lifetime-achievement-mia-ronan-farrow
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