As soon as the movie began, I was hooked. The gorgeous shots of the buildings of Buenos Aires had my eyes glued to screen. As the story began, I was welcomed into the lives of Martin and Mariana, two people living in isolation from the big crowded world just outside their door. With the comforting mood of the movie, I felt as though I was there with them, living a peaceful and quiet existence, completely cut off from the busy and fast paced world surrounding me. It was nice. I felt relaxed and at ease as I watched the two characters struggle with relationships, phobias, and just life in general. If I were to use one word to describe this movie, it would be beautiful, but not just because of the gorgeous cinematography. I thought the movie was beautiful because it was real. It told a story about two imperfect characters living imperfect lives in their imperfect homes because that's what life is, imperfectly beautiful.
Reviews
4 Reviews
Napoleon Dynamite
(2004)
You think anybody wants a roundhouse kick to the face while I'm wearing these bad boys? Forget about it.
15 June 2016
I have loved this movie ever since I first came across it one sunny afternoon while I was channel surfing and procrastinating my homework. I didn't know what I was getting myself into, but I'm sure glad I got into it because by the end of the movie I was killing myself with laughter. This movie isn't like mainstream Hollywood films, and it definitely isn't like any of those independent movies that get your mind spinning with inspiration. It's just a simple story about a high school kid living in Middle America with his older brother, his grandma, and his llama. After watching the movie, I fell instantly in love and it became one of my all time favourites. It's one of those movies you watch at the end of a bad day, or the end of a great one, or while you're cleaning your room or doing the dishes; It's really just one of those movies where when the name pops up on your TV guide, you can't help but smile and press the OK button on your remote. With all that being said, I was quite disappointed to hear that a rather large number of people don't share the same feelings as me. A lot of people find the movie to be pointless and boring; they say that the movie has no direction and that they don't get it. What they don't understand is that there's nothing to get. The movie isn't meant to have a hidden message that answers one of life's greatest dilemmas. It wasn't made to get people thinking, it was made to stop people from thinking. Napoleon Dynamite was made to entertain people, to get them laughing, and every time I watch it it does just that.
Almost Famous
(2000)
Almost Famous; Always a Favourite
10 March 2016
No car chases, no explosions, no thought provoking plot lines to make you question your entire existence. This isn't the kind of movie that has you on the edge of your seat, it's the kind that makes you sit back and smile as you appreciate the simple story that takes you back in time to one of the best decades of Rock and Roll.
Almost Famous is a movie that follows the life of a young 15 year old boy, William Miller. We watch as he is introduced to the world of Rock and Roll and we fall in love with him as he falls in love with the music. When William meets music journalist, critic, and author, Lester Bangs, he is sent on a journey way out of his comfort zone. He embarks on a quest to interview the rock band Stillwater with the hopes of getting them on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. He gets the chance of a lifetime where he is able to experience firsthand the lives of rock stars behind the scenes.
I've found that a lot of people find the movie to be rather boring because of its "dull" and "uncomplicated" main character. What I don't think they realize is that the movie is about so much more than just one person. It's about the culture and the music of the time period. It's about the relationship of the band members and their love of music. It's about Penny Lane, the girl with the astonishing goddess like looks that never fail to attract anyone and everyone that dare step into her path. William Miller is merely the eyes through which we are able to gaze into past and the lives of the characters as they thrive in the vibrant environment they call home.
What I love so much about the movie is its simplicity. While the uncomplicated and straightforward story pushes some people away, it draws people like me in. The music is great, the characters are lovable, and the humour is relatable and level headed, but I think the biggest reason why this movie is one of my all-time favourites is the fact that it's so laid back, easy, and just plain fun to watch.
Almost Famous is a movie that follows the life of a young 15 year old boy, William Miller. We watch as he is introduced to the world of Rock and Roll and we fall in love with him as he falls in love with the music. When William meets music journalist, critic, and author, Lester Bangs, he is sent on a journey way out of his comfort zone. He embarks on a quest to interview the rock band Stillwater with the hopes of getting them on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. He gets the chance of a lifetime where he is able to experience firsthand the lives of rock stars behind the scenes.
I've found that a lot of people find the movie to be rather boring because of its "dull" and "uncomplicated" main character. What I don't think they realize is that the movie is about so much more than just one person. It's about the culture and the music of the time period. It's about the relationship of the band members and their love of music. It's about Penny Lane, the girl with the astonishing goddess like looks that never fail to attract anyone and everyone that dare step into her path. William Miller is merely the eyes through which we are able to gaze into past and the lives of the characters as they thrive in the vibrant environment they call home.
What I love so much about the movie is its simplicity. While the uncomplicated and straightforward story pushes some people away, it draws people like me in. The music is great, the characters are lovable, and the humour is relatable and level headed, but I think the biggest reason why this movie is one of my all-time favourites is the fact that it's so laid back, easy, and just plain fun to watch.
The Breakfast Club
(1985)
The Breakfast Club, a film that proves we are more than what we appear to be
12 November 2015
"You see us as you want to see us...in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct?"
'The Breakfast club,' a wonderful film that perfectly depicts the five main social groups. The brainiacs, the sporty kids, the weird outsiders, the popular kids, and the troublemakers. In the 80's, this was all there was. You were part of one of these groups and that was it. The year is now 2015, 30 years since the release of the film, and yet it is still regarded as a film that accurately depicts what high school is like. But how can that be? Can high school really be the same now as it was in 1985? The answer is yes. School cliques and social statuses do still exists, they're just not exactly the same as they used to be. But although these cliques may have changed and people may belong to more than one of them, they're still around and that's why the breakfast club is still regarded as a realistic portrayal of high school.
I've always been a huge fan of the film. I'm not sure what it is about it that I love so much. Maybe it's the dynamic and relatable characters, the simplicity, or maybe it's the message. This film does more than just entertain, it gives us a glimpse into the lives teenagers and shows us what lies behind all of our conventional exteriors. It shows us that there is so much depth and meaning beneath our surfaces and that our true selves can be a lot harder to discover than we may think. The director, John Hughes, does this in such a beautifully simple and casual manner too. The entire film takes place in the one setting that revolves around all of the main characters, school. Sometimes as I watch, I feel as though I'm in the library with them, learning about their lives outside of school and the hardships they face on a day to day basis.
One constant that I've found lies within the film is the fact that all of the adults in it have something in common: they've grown up; and just like Allison said, "When you grow up your heart dies." All of the adults except for one, Carl, the school's janitor, who seems to be the saving grace of the film and living proof that not all adults have to be so clueless and cruel. Probably because being the janitor means being " the eyes and ears of this institution." He's the only one who understands what they go through and how they truly feel for he is a constant first-hand witness of what their lives are really like, unlike Vernon.
Vernon is the Principal of the school and is made out to be the antagonist of the film. He is a character who is grumpy, tired, and fed up with idle teenagers that every year seem to become more and more nettlesome and unwilling to behave and treat him with the respect that he feels he deserves. The person who knocks some sense into him is our favourite janitor, Carl. He enlightens him and tells him that the students aren't the ones who are changing, he is. But is Vernon really the bad guy he's made out to be? Well if you think about it, it's not his fault that the students did what they did to get into detention. In fact, instead of just letting the students off with a warning, he threw away an entire Saturday so that they could sit in school and think about what they had done and why they were there; and remember that essay he wanted them all to write? He told them all to write one thousand words describing who they thought they were, something that I thought sounded absolutely ridiculous when I first saw the film. But the entire story is about them discovering who they really are. So really it's because of Vernon that they were all there together on that Saturday and it's because of him that they spent the day attaining a deep understanding of who they are. If you really think about it, without principal Vernon, there would be no breakfast club.
I've yet to hear of someone who has disliked the movie. It really is a film that is enjoyable for any and all audience members. A film that reminds us all that we are so much more than our appearances and the cliques we belong to. A timeless classic that has been enjoyed by many and will be enjoyed by many more. It's fun to watch and yet also contains a deep and beautiful meaning; and it even has a catchy and memorable song to play over the final scene, which is always a nice touch.
'The Breakfast club,' a wonderful film that perfectly depicts the five main social groups. The brainiacs, the sporty kids, the weird outsiders, the popular kids, and the troublemakers. In the 80's, this was all there was. You were part of one of these groups and that was it. The year is now 2015, 30 years since the release of the film, and yet it is still regarded as a film that accurately depicts what high school is like. But how can that be? Can high school really be the same now as it was in 1985? The answer is yes. School cliques and social statuses do still exists, they're just not exactly the same as they used to be. But although these cliques may have changed and people may belong to more than one of them, they're still around and that's why the breakfast club is still regarded as a realistic portrayal of high school.
I've always been a huge fan of the film. I'm not sure what it is about it that I love so much. Maybe it's the dynamic and relatable characters, the simplicity, or maybe it's the message. This film does more than just entertain, it gives us a glimpse into the lives teenagers and shows us what lies behind all of our conventional exteriors. It shows us that there is so much depth and meaning beneath our surfaces and that our true selves can be a lot harder to discover than we may think. The director, John Hughes, does this in such a beautifully simple and casual manner too. The entire film takes place in the one setting that revolves around all of the main characters, school. Sometimes as I watch, I feel as though I'm in the library with them, learning about their lives outside of school and the hardships they face on a day to day basis.
One constant that I've found lies within the film is the fact that all of the adults in it have something in common: they've grown up; and just like Allison said, "When you grow up your heart dies." All of the adults except for one, Carl, the school's janitor, who seems to be the saving grace of the film and living proof that not all adults have to be so clueless and cruel. Probably because being the janitor means being " the eyes and ears of this institution." He's the only one who understands what they go through and how they truly feel for he is a constant first-hand witness of what their lives are really like, unlike Vernon.
Vernon is the Principal of the school and is made out to be the antagonist of the film. He is a character who is grumpy, tired, and fed up with idle teenagers that every year seem to become more and more nettlesome and unwilling to behave and treat him with the respect that he feels he deserves. The person who knocks some sense into him is our favourite janitor, Carl. He enlightens him and tells him that the students aren't the ones who are changing, he is. But is Vernon really the bad guy he's made out to be? Well if you think about it, it's not his fault that the students did what they did to get into detention. In fact, instead of just letting the students off with a warning, he threw away an entire Saturday so that they could sit in school and think about what they had done and why they were there; and remember that essay he wanted them all to write? He told them all to write one thousand words describing who they thought they were, something that I thought sounded absolutely ridiculous when I first saw the film. But the entire story is about them discovering who they really are. So really it's because of Vernon that they were all there together on that Saturday and it's because of him that they spent the day attaining a deep understanding of who they are. If you really think about it, without principal Vernon, there would be no breakfast club.
I've yet to hear of someone who has disliked the movie. It really is a film that is enjoyable for any and all audience members. A film that reminds us all that we are so much more than our appearances and the cliques we belong to. A timeless classic that has been enjoyed by many and will be enjoyed by many more. It's fun to watch and yet also contains a deep and beautiful meaning; and it even has a catchy and memorable song to play over the final scene, which is always a nice touch.
Tell Your Friends