School's over!

Now since school's over weeks ago, I have been watching so many movies and it's hard to pick one to write about hahahaha I know that I will post many more over this interesting summer.

Toodles! :D 

Vertigo

(Go to full size to watch the trailer)

Tay's Rating- :D :D :D :

Interesting Facts:-Uncredited second-unit cameraman Irmin Roberts invented the famous "zoom out and track in" shot (now sometimes called "contra-zoom" or "trombone shot") to convey the sense of vertigo to the audience. The view down the mission stairwell cost $19,000 for just a couple of seconds of screen time.

-There is a 25 year age difference between James Stewart and Kim Novak, who were 49 and 24 respectively when the film was shot in 1957.

-The Empire Hotel where James Stewart eventually finds Kim Novak is (as of 2009) the Hotel Vertigo (formerly the York) located at 940 Sutter St. in the heart of San Francisco. Novak's character lived in Room 501, which still retains many of its aspects captured in the film.

-Alfred Hitchcock reportedly spent a week filming a brief scene where Madeleine stares at a portrait in the Palace of the Legion of Honor just to get the lighting right.

-Kim Novak does not speak until more than a third into the movie.

- Audrey Hepburn expressed an interest in playing the dual roles of Judy and Madeleine.

- The word "vertigo" is only spoken once in the movie, towards the beginning by Scottie to Midge. After that it is never uttered again. 

My Review: For class, we picked our own choice of a Hitchcock film so I picked Vertigo. I thought the film Vertigo was interesting. It had the unique story plot in a way. It definitely had some climaxes and twists. Vertigo was a great example for some of these chapters from the book. For an example, acting, directing style, and cinematography.

            The acting for the cast was unique. I felt that Vertigo was the first classic film that was “real” or realistic out of all of these classic films back then. It was the Hitchcock style that made it realistic. Vertigo really reduced the typical classic film traits like the overdramatic acting. It was simple and real but it had its dramatic moments. I liked the cast in Vertigo with Kim Novak and James Stewart. There was about 25 years age difference but it worked out for the movie. James’ drawl voice worked for his character Scottie.

            The directing style was a big part of this film because obviously of Alfred Hitchcock. He made this film Vertigo unique and separate from other films. Vertigo was a psychological thriller film because of Scottie’s fear of heights. I thought that was interesting because it was sorta the same as Birds in a way. Hitchcock’s ways in films are the twists in the plot also known for making psychological thrillers and suspense films.

            The cinematography was the main part of Vertigo because of the filming techniques. Here’s an interesting fact that I learned filming Vertigo, the camera zoom called "contra-zoom" or "trombone shot" part when Scottie was walking up the stairs to the top of the tower cost $19,000 for only a few seconds of screen time. I thought that was interesting because that’s how madness the filming in the movie industry. It can take so much for one part or scene. I thought the color palate in the whole film was different too.

            For my opinion for Vertigo is I liked it but I didn’t love it 100%. I loved the story plot twist of the character of Madeleine Elster/Judy Barton. I am a fan of psychological thriller films and I would put Vertigo on my list of favorite psychological thriller films. The cast was well picked. I am a fan of the cinematography of Vertigo and the techniques were used to film vertigo. 

The Artist

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Tay's Rating- :D :D :D :

Interesting facts: -There is not a single 'zoom shot' in the entire movie because Zoom technology did not exist in the movie's time period.

-Jean Dujardin became the first ever French actor to win a Best Actor Academy Award when he won an Oscar for this film.

-All the dancing sequences were performed by the actors themselves through heavy rehearsals.

-This movie is considered to be the most ever awarded French Film in film history.

-The first Academy Award Best Picture winner to be presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio since Marty (1955) won this Oscar fifty-six years earlier.- Jean Dujardin said in an interview that the movie was shot in just 35 days.-The first spoken word of the film is 'Cut' whilst the final spoken word is 'Action'.

-Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) does not have an audible spoken line - despite being the talking movie star.

Review: This film The Artist was an “Americanized silent movie” I would call it. It was an interesting concept to do a modern version. If I saw this film before this class, this is what I would say. I have seen silent movies before. I noticed a few traits from the silent movies have in The Artist. Also in The Artist have a few traits of modern filmmaking. The cast and the story were interesting.

            The way it was filmed was used by a modern film camera. At the editing process, it was edited heavily because of the black and white also the slightly out of focus filter like the silent movies have. The Artist added the same lighting technique the silent films used. It was the harsh hard lighting. But some parts had soft lighting too.

            The cast was interesting because it had some American actors and some foreign actors. John Goodman was one of the American actors. Jean Dujardin is a French actor. It had the mixture which made it interesting. The story plot was a mixture of a typical silent movie and a touch of modern Hollywood story.

Fight Club

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Tay's Rating- :D :D :D :D

Summary: A nameless first person narrator Edward Norton attends support groups in attempt to subdue his emotional state and relieve his insomniac state. When he meets Marla (Helena Bonham Carter), another fake attendee of support groups, his life seems to become a little more bearable. However when he associates himself with Tyler (Brad Pitt) he is dragged into an underground fight club and soap making scheme. Together the two men spiral out of control and engage in competitive rivalry for love and power. When the narrator is exposed to the hidden agenda of Tyler's fight club, he must accept the awful truth that Tyler may not be who he says he is.

Interesting Facts: When the Narrator hits Tyler Durden in the ear, Edward Norton actually did hit Brad Pitt in the ear. He was originally going to fake hit him, but before the scene, David Fincherpulled Norton aside and told him to hit him in the ear. After Norton hit him in the scene, you can see him smiling and laughing while Pitt is in pain.

-In the short scene when Brad Pitt and Edward Norton are drunk and hitting golf balls, they really are drunk, and the golf balls are sailing directly into the side of the catering truck.

-When a Fight Club member sprays the priest with a hose, the camera briefly shakes. This happens because the cameraman couldn't keep himself from laughing.

-In the scene where the narrator is popping a mint into his mouth, a promotional video of the Bridgeworth Suites is playing on the television. You can see that one of the hotel employees in the commercial is Brad Pitt. He is the one to the left of the TV screen.

-David Fincher claimed in an interview in UK film magazine Empire, that there is a Starbucks coffee cup visible in every shot in the movie

-Brad Pitt and Edward Norton both really learned how to make soap.

-Filming lasted 138 days, with over 300 scenes shot on 200 locations and 72 sets constructed by production designer Alex McDowell

-Helena Bonham Carter wore platform shoes to help close up the disparity in height between her and Edward Norton and Brad Pitt.

My Review: This movie was amazing because of the psychological part of the film. The film showed point of view of the main character, the narrator/Tyler Durden. Most of the movie was confusing and mindf**ked at the same time but it had an interesting story. The narrator/Tyler Durden has something going on in his head that he doesn't know but the viewers do (Foreshadowing part). The cast is so well picked! The amazing cast was Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter, and the rest of the cast. I was not excepting to see Jared Leto to be in this film. It was a cameo part but he did the part well. The cinematography was well done to be honest. No spoilers over here but towards to the end, it all makes sense. So watch carefully and you won’t get confused. :D