SIX SHOOOOTERS

Ha! Dark comedy. What a weird film this was. I mean I really can't say I enjoyed it. I felt like a bit of a sadist laughing at all the completely obscure things happening. I feel like this film sort of broke conventions in the way that all these rather somber things happened - such as death and suicide and murder - most people cringe at the sight of any of this. I think people typically watch movies to escape their lives and so to a degree I feel as if most would not want to be watching other peoples lives fall apart. But maybe that's because I'm more of a happy ending kind of girl. I thought the implementation of the serial killer cursing repetitively was quite fitting. It enhanced his air of "I don't give a shit." I sort of felt obligated to laugh at certain elements of this film, certain things that I feel a bit uncomfortable about but ended up laughing anyway because of the way it was introduced as a comedy. I thought the ending was particularly awful in nature, but from a philosophical stand point the ending was powerful. The main character in this film is Donnelly, he is also the only character in this movie with an actual name. After all the death that goes on around him he attempts suicide. First he kills his rabbit, then himself, but the gun fails him. I think this pretty much indicates that he was destined to live, despite what he wanted. The end is left for much open interpretation. All in all I didn't enjoy this film, but it was sort of interesting.

Spirited Away

I'd say that I never thought it possible for me to really enjoy an animated film and gain significant moral insight from it. I really tend to detest films that don't appear utterly serious or intentionally stupid, and this film appeared neither. While watching this film I became more engrossed in Chihiro's quest for her parents initially but then so much more in the end. It was so interesting the way her quest evolved and how deep it became. She created such a mess with the No Face, but she also solved that mess. Haku saved her once from being expelled and then she deemed it her duty to save his life after getting attacked by the paper birds. She even travels by train to return the witches seal that Haku stole. Her determination and desire for justice becomes more and more evident through out this film, and also more admirable. At first Chihiro appeared as this little whinny annoying thing but as the film progressed I actually started to admire her little animated self. I really enjoy foreign films. I've seen many films in French and Italian, but I've always kept away from those in Chinese and Japanese because they weren't as pleasant to listen to. With Spirited Away I much prefer hearing it in the language it was intended, it sounds far more natural. All in all I've enjoyed this film, learning much more than I thought possible.

LOOK.

North by Northwest is an exquisite Alfred Hitchcock film. Thus far I have learned one very relevant fundamental aspect of cinematography. I am positive that this holds true in any film, but in this specific one it has been pointed out numerous times. This "element" is that there are so many small aspects of a movie that often get overlooked but are added by the director for an element of fun I suppose. There is no real need for these additional surprises that most people don't notice but they are sort of a surprise for those who do care to look. In this film the element of foreshadowing is used many times, a few particular times that I remember well are when in The Oak Bar at The Plaza Hotel there is a picture in the background that shows a man being taken away and that is what is about to happen to Roger Thronhill. Again foreshadowing is used when Roger Thronhill is talking to the CIA agent at the airport and there is an airplane propeller that looks like it's shooting Roger in the head, something to come a bit later in the film. Another part of this movie that foreshadows what's to come is the intersecting lines of a building when the beginning credits are rolling. The bodies on the streets of Manhattan also move in such a way where they look like intersecting lines. These intersecting lines, I believe, are showing what's to come in Roger Thornhill's life, they are showing all the people he will interact with that comes as a surprise to him. There are many elements of this movie that are small and not noticed by many but are very interesting when they are picked up.