Private Eye Films

This year I've been taking a course entitled "Film Genres". Basically the entire year was split up into four units:

1. Silent Comedy
2. Screwball Comedy
3. Private Eye
4. Woody Allen

The reason I took this class is because last year one of the units was gangster films. This is my most favorite genre ever. On the first day when we got the syllabus and gangster film was not on there I nearly dropped the course. But, the Woody Allen unit caught my eye and I felt it would be worth it to suck it up with the other units and enjoy the Woody Allen unit. This was a big mistake. We currently just finished the "Private Eye" unit and we need to write an essay on three films from this genre. There is a problem with this. All those movies are boring as hell!!! My goal during reading week was to finish this essay to get it over with, but I can't even get through 20 minuts of one movie let alone three! Ahhh!!!

Shine A Light

For my documentary film class I am writing a paper comparing two documentaries about The Rolling Stones: Gimme Shelter (1970) and Shine a Light (2008). Now you've heard me go on and on about Martin Scorsese, but Scorsese (director of Shine a Light) does an amazing job with this documentary. It is just so nicely put together. It has some great archival footage as well as some fun backstage stuff. For anyone that is a fan of the band I suggest you check this documentary out!

Shift of Focus

So lately I have had a hard time coming up with movie topics without sounding like just a reporter. So I've decided that there will be a slight shift of focus on my blog. Instead of it just being about movies, it will be more "A day in the life of a film student" type thing. Of course the main theme will still be movies but there will be more of an insight into my personal life instead of me just reporting movie news! Hopefully this will help me be able to post more often and post more interesting things. Any advice on particular topics or ideas you'd like to see discussed??

My Favorite Filmmakers

Being a film student and in the middle of essay crunch time, two separate essays I'm currently working on are both focused on my favorite filmmaker of all time, Martin Scorsese. All of my recent research and writing has reaffirmed my love for this man and everything he creates and made me think of the people responsible for my love of film. In three years taking film classes this is the first time I've had a chance to study Scorsese so even though it sucks to have to write essays, the usual stress isn't on since I love learning about him and his movies. So other than Scorsese, here are my five favorite filmmakers:

5. Francis Ford Coppola

Favorite Movies by Coppola:

The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather II (1974)
Apocalypse Now (1979)




4. Steven Spielberg

Favorite Movies by Spielberg:

Jaws (1975)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Jurassic Park (1993)




3. Wes Anderson

Favorite Movies by Anderson:

Rushmore (1998)
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
The Life Aquatic (2004)


2. Kevin Smith

Favorite Movies by Smith:

Clerks (1994)
Chasing Amy (1997)
Dogma (1999)






1. Martin Scorsese

Favorite Movies by Scorsese:

Raging Bull (1980)
Goodfellas (1990)
The Departed (2006)





So there it is. Anyone else have a particular filmmaker they will be sure to see anything and everything made by them?

The Web 2.0 Revoloution

This article describing the direction the “blogosphere” is heading is an incredibly interesting read. It discusses the dynamic growth blogs are experiencing and what factors contribute to it’s growth. The article cites that 1.4 new blogs are made every second. This is an astounding number and something I never really thought of before seeing this article. It is especially interesting to see the different parts of the world that have incorporated blogs as an important piece of their every day life. In the article there is a mention of the amount of blogs that are written in particular languages. What was really surprising was that Japanese was the #1 blogging language coming in at 37% of all blogs – followed by English at 33%. The whole Web 2.0 movement and the idea that the online world is becoming a place of community for collaboration and creativity is a very humbling one. To know that I am a part of this massive but yet close community is pretty mind blowing. Above just the written blogs, the idea of tags and tagging really brings everything closer together. Instead of having to type out your thoughts, you click on pictures, words, links, and more “tags” are presented to you. This really connects everything in an extremely fast and efficient way. To think that the computer learns all of my thoughts and interests to much, it knows which new ideas and interests to present to me. The Internet is expanding so rapidly every day, but because of all of these Web 2.0 technologies it is really bringing everything closer to home.

Vicky Christina Barcelona

If you haven't seen this movie (or even heard of it) now is the time to check it out. I had a couple of hours to spare today so I checked out Woddy Allen's latest and it really didn't fail to amuse. The movie stars Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz, and Javier Bardem (Oscar winner last year for No Country for Old Men) and is a great little flick. Some great acting and a very interesting story accompanied with a typically quricky Woody Allen screenplay makes this a very enjoyable watch. It shows how two friends (Johansson and Rebecca Hall) spend a summer in Spain looking to change their lives and the end we realize that some things never really change. It is a really cleaver look at coming of age and different people's perspective on life. Cruz is up for a best supporting actress award at the Oscars for her performance in the movie. Check it out if you're looking for a light but really worthwhile film!

Goodfellas Wins Out

In my American Cinema course, each term we have to choose a film to focus our writings and research on. Throughout the term we have to write a couple of essays on a particular film and the time period surrounding it. In the first term we had to choose a film that was made between 1920-1959 and in the second term pick a film from 1960-1990. In first term I did Rebel Without a Cause and over the last couple of weeks had to choose a film to study for this term. Since Martin Scorsese is one of my favorite filmmakers and I haven't had a chance to study his work yet, it was a natural decision to choose one of his films. But which one!! There were a few options but in the end went with Goodfellas because the gangster genre is my favorite one and figured I probably won't get a chance to focus on that genre ever again. So tonight I spent the night watching Goodfellas and really can't get over how amazing this movie is. From the beginning until end it had me captured and every time I see this movie I learn new things and pick up on things I haven't seen before. This was probably my fifth time seeing it and it still blows me away. What a great story.