Come play with us, Danny

     The Shining is  one of those few horror films that works on every level, this is mostly because of everything on screen but we must give credit to the crazy man directing the film Stanley Kubrick. This man is the kind of guy who not only wanted perfection but needed it. In order to make the 3000 or so pages of Jack's transcript look real he made his assistant type the who thing on typewriter. This movie has the world record for most reshot scenes in film history. And it is often rumored that he made the leading lady cry everyday because she wasn't to his liking. No matter what way you look at it he has made many great flicks and most of them are on this list.

     I think my favorite part about this movie is the actual setting this hotel is way to perfect and way to native American for all the actors to be wearing red,white, and blue. Its almost halfway into the movie when one of the character changes her wardrobe to a less Pro-American dress. This movie always raises a question I have whenever someone says we built this building over an Indian burial ground. WHY WOULD YOU EVEN ENTER THE PREMISE!!! Oh well I'm super glad they went in because if they didn't we wouldn't have had this almost perfect movie. The setting a wonderful and almost everything looks symmetrical.

      The acting is spot on Jack Nicholson was amazingly creepy and just plain wrong as Jack Torrance . But my favorite character in this movie is Lloyd (who may or may not be Satan I haven't figured that out yet) played by Joe Turkel. This is one of those movies that get better every time I see it. If you haven't seen this movie and are in the mood for a freaky horror movie look at The Shining

Eberts's score 4 stars
Tyer's score 4 stars

Next time we cheer up a bit with Superman.

You still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you?

     Alien is a movie that couldn't exist in the modern world and by modern I mean anytime after Slasher films became the movie of the week. The reason why this movie couldn't work is the thirty minute rule. The thirty minute rule states that you have thirty minutes before people give up on a film so you better scare them by minute ten. The perfect example of this in action would be the opening of  Scream. Alien takes the opposite approach you don't see the alien until thirty minutes and nothing happens till about an hour into the film. This is a good thing because it gives you time to set up the plot and introduce that characters of your story. The problem I had with this picture is that it wasted its first hour by  not introducing the people in the story. By the end of the picture I honestly didn't care if anyone lived. the sequel to this movie titled Aliens  does a much better job at introducing us and setting up the play.
    
     
     The setting and lighting are really important to this movie. The spaces feel cramped and dark as night.This is key because its not a monster movie its a haunted house movie. The setting is top notch because you cant just leave the ship because your in space. I know its a stupid question because it would ruin the suspense but hasn't anyone heard of nightveiw goggles. I mean every movie in space is pitch black almost. I'm not complaining because I understand why it needs to be dark and all of that jazz. 

     Lets talk about the characters the alien is very cool and very fun to watch hunt off the crew. The crew itself is a bit of a mystery I don't really like any of them. I know that I should but their acting was so bland that I couldn't help myself. This movie just felt like it was missing something. I understand the importance that this film has had and I'm not denying it so I shall give it some credit but other than that I just felt kind of disappointed because this film was on a list of great movies and I was just thinking on my couch how is this on the list but the Aliens wasn't. But maybe I'm jaded from all the modern horror films I have seen.

Ebert's score 4 stars

Tyler's score 3 stars

Next time we continue to ride the horror train with the Shinning

You want to live in this lousy world you play it cool

      I remember to this day when I was told I was doing West Side Story. The only thing that came to my mind was a long play about dancing so I turned down the choreographer and said no way! Then the director came to me and told me it wasn't a show about dance or even a show about Romeo and Juliet she told me it was a show about gangsters. The director was indeed partially correct, its not about Romeo and Juliet. The story is about how kids handle the cruel world around them and the deaths that follow them like a ghost. One of my favorite lines happens between an old man named Doc and a young hot head named Action who is the character i played while it was being preformed in Havasu. Doc says to Action almost in tears "You kids make this world lousy" to which Action retorts coldly "We didn't make it". Yes this movie has a lot of Dancing in it( my personal favorite number http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy6wo2wpT2k ) and yes it is basically a retelling the most famous tragedy of all time but its so much more.


        The musical movie is a very hard genre to pull off its like horror its either a hit or a miss. and around this time when you saw a musical movie you basically saw a movie with no plot and Gene Kelly prancing around, and today you see great films that are casted wrong. These are you two-tone Crowe and your to deep Depp kind of movies, but West Side Story is the perfect story and the perfect cast. You add this to the classic songs like America (featured above. click it again you know you want to), Cool, and Maria and you have a top notch film.


        Even with all of this West Side Story has something else up its sleeve and that's its color pallet. Yesterday I talked about how bleak the thriller Se7en was if there was an opposite it would be the red and purple world of the jets and sharks. The sky is always an odd color which really brings a lot to the movie without it being to much. Another thing that I found weird but totally fresh was the use of hash lights on the actors. Most movies don't do this because it makes people sweat and look kind of like normal unimpressive humans and that's why its glorious. This movie doesn't look like barbie and ken dancing around it looks like dirty kids killing each other and crying over it. This is the best musical movie hands down.

Ebert's score 4 stars
Tyler's score 4 stars
Next time we get scary with Alien  and as always what are your feelings of today's flick

Honestly, have youever seen anything like this?

      Se7en was one of those movies I saw on this list and thought, wow that's on it. I've seen this movie tens of times but it wasn't until this time that it really clicked for me. Se7en is the same kind of serial killer movie as Silence of the Lambs meaning its a lot more about detective work. That's why this movie is a hit or miss, and of course the ending gets mixed reviews. The thing that i never felt until now about this movie was the over all bleakness of it. All the characters look kind of off olive as do all the walls. It's always raining and the one seen that it isn't raining the sky is grey almost brown. There is almost no colors we normally see in movies like blue or yellow. The blood is cheesy red but the contrast is so powerful.


    The opening credits of Se7en flow almost like a music video, after all the director did most of Madonna's stuff. But this movie isn't sexy it pushes you as far as you can without turning away Like Oldboy  and Killer Joe.  In the opening credits you see a man shave his fingerprints off with a safety razor and that gets me every time. I don't want to talk about the death scenes to much but I will say they are sick, twisted, and sadistic. Imagine Law and Order from hell and on steroids. Not only is the movie twisted but the sets are. There's one room where the roofs and all the walls are fulled with tree air fresheners.


     The acting in this movie is top notch Morgan Freeman plays an old cop who is almost if not a Nilthist and Brad Pitt plays a rookie cop who wants to make a difference in this world. I wont tell you who plays the killer but I will say this is his best work. I want to talk a little more about the color because it is so powerful you honestly feel powerless because of how it looks. I swear if they say a blue sky they might just sacrifice a goat to god.  After this movie you'll want to hold your loved ones and say it will all be alright. This isn't the best thriller around but it is on of my favorites. If your looking for a break and hopeless movie to watch look no father then Se7en.you'll be thankful that you did.


Ebert's score 4 stars
Tyler's score 4 stars

We Were like the Roman Empire

 Let me start off by saying that The Godfather Part Two is one of the best sequels of all time, anyone who denies this fact is stupid. Moving on there are some stuff in this movie I don't understand. For instance, I can't tell when characters are lying. This is going to be new to you who haven't seen this movie because all the characters are layered. In modern movies few characters are layered and i don't understand why. This movie is just as beautiful settingwise as the first one it might even be more breathtaking. There are a few scenes that take place in 1917 New York that blow my mind. The acting is good, Robert DeNiro is perfect as a young Don Vito and anyone who wants to study acting needs to look at Al Pacino's masterpiece of a character. However, all these great things don't make up for the one thing this movie lacks and that's a heart. Now I'm not saying that this film is heartless but we don't feel as much as we did in The Godfather. Maybe this is because the story is ten times darker and more psychological. Perhaps I just didn't see anything that made my heart ache like the first movie did. This movie is a classic and is great I just have to say that number one was better. After this movie was over I asked my roommates their opinions and both sat there not knowing how to answer me they both liked it but they said something was missing. I agree but I cant say what it is so i"ll stick with the heart thing. I recommend this movie as will most people, but unlike most people i do not think this is the superior picture.

Ebert's score 4 stars
Tyler's score 3.5 stars

Tomorrow's flick is the modern thriller Se7en

Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli

 I believe in America, this line was the perfect start to a great movie. The Godfather is perhaps the most American of all gangster movies and one of the bests. I watched this movie for the first time when I was about ten, it was on T.V. and of course I had no idea what was going on my dad was way to into the film to explain it to me. It's one of those movies that every time I see it, it gets better. My roommates watched it today and unsurprisingly they were blown away. This movie is smart, exciting, and most of all full of heart. My favorite line is the title of this post. It happens after a minor character has his brains splattered all over the place and the only thing the killer can think of is how his wife wanted cannoli. This may be a gangster movie but it's all about the struggle of a family. The lighting is stunning it is almost always dark and heavy when business is talked about but when the plans are put into action it's bright as day. The acting from Marlon Brando as the Don of this family was indeed Oscar worthy. His speech is soft and can be hard to hear but that's the point, it forces you to listen very closely so you don't miss anything. Al Pacino is riveting as the young Michael Corleone his acting is so subtle in some scenes you might miss the brilliance, I think of the restaurant scene when you see his eyes twitch for a few seconds. These seconds are so intense your eyes might just twitch. Robert Duvall (Tom Hagen) and James Caan ( Sonny Corleone) bring something to the cast that is breathtaking. The set design is wonderful as is the score. However the film is really a marvel in editing. If you ask any of my friends or fellow students of my film classes they will all say I hate crazy editing, I think it takes away from the movie that's why I hate Moulin Rouge! . The Godfather is the best example of what editing should be. There are many scenes of Parallel Editing ,showing two things that are happening at the same time, that just compel the movie forward anyone who has seen the film is  thinking of the ending right now with a feeling of awe. If you haven't seen this movie I recommend you turn off you phone, lock yourself in your room, and watch the movie. You wont regret it because this is what every gangster movie is supposed to be.

Ebert's score 4 stars
Tyler's score 4 stars

Tune in tomorrow for my review of the sequel of this classic film. The Godfather part 2

The Force is what Gives a Jedi his Power

 I don't remember much of my childhood but on of the things I recall is watching Star Wars on VHS. I remember I would have to rewind it before I started them because I could never rewind after the movie was done. VHS is now thankfully out of date and Blu-ray is in. Anyway I must have been the only kid in the world who trilogied it up once a week, and I think it's mostly for that reason alone that I love A New Hope as much as I do. For the one person in the world who doesn't know A New Hope is the first movie or the original Star Wars trilogy and while it's not my favorite of the movies, it is a beautiful film indeed. Although all the cgi in the newer version is distracting and looks terrible compared to the practical effects (not the other way around) and Han shoots first (Darth Lucas doesn't want you to know about this very important plot point). It is still a wonderful film. The plot is basic enough that even a three year old could understand it. Luke is good, Darth Vader is bad and the bad guys lose. However, it is this simplicity that makes the story so effective. This romantic tale is especially strong when paired with The Empire Strikes Back which may be the perfect tragic tale. A New Hope is timeless and a classic by any means of the word, and while it may not be as good as Empire it is still a must see movie. This is primarily for the costumes in the Catina and the great acting by Obi-Wan (Alec Guinness) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford). The main reason why it's so great is just simply the fact that the movie sticks with you, I myself feel five again every time I hear that magical opening score. This movie does have its faults namely all the changes but some minor ones such as the count down on the death star is numbered by a clock and the actors cant tell the time right, and the stormtrooper that bumps his head. These mistakes take barely anything from the movie though. In fact if you only have time enough for fifteen movies in your life I would put this on your list for sure.

Ebert's score 4 stars
Tyler's score 4 stars
Ebert grades on a four star scale for some confusing reason. Tomorrows film is the gangster classic The Godfather.