Elephant

This movie is different from all others. It is a story about an thing you can not ignore, the so called elephant in the back of the room that needs to be talked about. It is school shootings. The movie takes this idea from the Columbine school shootings. The director Gus Van Sant who did "Good Will Hunting" takes a sad and eye opening approach. The story first of all is sad and he takes a cast of all high school students, making the movie seem more real and life like.

The tag line for the movie is, an ordinary high school day. Except that it's not. This is completely true. It is the story of two boys named Alex and Eric who after years of school bulling and little love from home want their revenge and decide to shoot up the school. This idea in and of itself is depressing and is hard to show but Gus Van Sant does this in a good way, opening our eyes and making it known that they exist and can happen, so try to prevent them.

How the film is shoot is very good. For periods of time the camera follows a certain character around the school and their day in school. Also there is one scene where he follows these group of girls into the cafeteria and in one continuous scene that lasts about 6-7 minutes showing everyone conversations and their day. This camera work is great and adds to the movie. The movie also does not follow just one character you see everyone the days before and the day of. Including the victims and the killers. This makes the movie more personal and makes it really hit home for people. Usually in movies action is mad to be cool and you want to see it because that is what makes the movie cool and exciting but Gus Van Sant shows the true nature of violence and how that it is really not that cool, it is just cold and destroys everything, family and friends.

Overall the movie is good but it is a depressing topic because it is hard to believe something like this happened and will continue to happen unless things do change. That is the message of the movie and should be followed through, the "elephant" in the back of the room should not be ignored it is there and real, it should be talked about and brought to people's attention. I would give a 8.5/10. I would recommend it because it is a good movie but due to the topic of the movie it is your call.

Groundhog Day

Let me start off by saying that "Groundhog Day" is a great film. It was made in 1993 and is still a great film. The idea of a movie going through the same day over and over again seems boring but Bill Murray cares the movie well. It is the story of weather man Phil Connors who is covering the Groundhog Day festival in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania but he is stuck in the same day, it keeps repeating day after day.

Even though there might be very little story in the movie it is still funny and clever. Phil is a cold hearted jerk in the beginning of the film but as the film progresses you see a change in Phil's character. When Phil first starts the day he does not want to be covering the Groundhog fair because it was boring and he feels that he is better than this. When the day finally ends he wakes up in the same day and does not believe it. He does every day differently and every time it is funny. I will not tell you what he does because it is funny and good.

One of the funniest times is when Phil robs an armored car because he knows when everything will happen, it shows how long he has really been there and how Bill Murray says everthing is funny. When he is watching he says everthing that will happen like a dog bark and a gust of wind, it is done in such a clever way that it is funny. That is all I will say about the scenes because they are done so well that you should see it on your own.

I would give it a 8.5/10, so if you have not seen it yet go and see it but if you have seen it go and watch it again because it is a good movie.

American Gangster

In a previous blog from September I talked about a movie I could not wait for, it was "American Gangster" it finally came out and did not disappoint. Denzel Washington gave one of his best performances as drug kingpin Frank Lucas and definitely deserves an Oscar nomination minimum. Russell Crowe also played great as lawman Ritchie Roberts. The director Ridley Scott brings out the best in both actors and makes a great movie.

The movie is based on the true-story of Frank Lucas played by Denzel Washington who becomes a drug-kingpin in Harlem by selling heroin and imposing his violent will on people who got in his way. He would import heroin in coffins of dead soldiers from Vietnam and sell it in America. He made millions from these heroin trades. This heroin he was selling called Blue Magic was the most pure heroin on the market and was the cheapest. So he made big bucks. He was a big, powerful man who everyone feared but wanted to be like. By now everyone knows that he was arrested and sent to jail but co operated with the police and brought other people down with him. In all he spent 15 years in jail.

Frank took over the streets of Harlem after his boss Bumpy Johnson died. He established himself as a ruthless man who everyone feared but wanted to be like. Even though he was destroying Harlem with his heroin he would still give back by giving away turkeys during Thanksgiving. He claimed to been making $1 million a day from heroin trades. This heroin was coming straight from Vietnam and he was cutting out the middle man causing a lot of hate between him and rival gangs and mafias. Frank would only use his family members in his gang to help protect himself but even that did not help him.

Frank would do whatever it took to make sure he had control. In the movie another drug dealer owed him money and did not pay so he shot him at point blank range in daylight infront of everyone. He wanted people in Harlem who ruled the streets. Also when a group of corrupt cops from NYC tried to extort him he would not let them and sent them a message. He was a true gangster and ruthless one as well.

Even though the movie might have been 2 hours and 40 minutes it does not fell like that at all. The movie moves at a good speed and is definitely worth seeing if you have not already. I would give it a 9/10.

Saw IV

Well where do I begin. The first "Saw" movie was quite good and I would definitely recommend that one but from the next movie on it starts to decline. I had no expectation for this movie so it could have only gone up but this movie is better then Saw III. The story is the same the jigsaw killer who we now learn is finally dead still left some traps before he died so there is still more bloodshed.

Let me start by saying that even though the story is done well you do not go to Saw for the story plot, it is the bloodshed and the torture devices that jigsaw created. And if you can not handle bloodshed or violence this movie is not for you at all. The traps are new and different but overall still the same idea, someone is being tested because they do not cherish their life and blood will be shed. The story unfolds a lot more and you learn about how jigsaw first started to kill and tie everything together. One thing they do well besides the bloodshed is the tie story of all the movies together nicely.

The story is about SWAT commander Rigg who is trying to save two detectives who have been missing. Jigsaw tests him throughout the whole way with different people and you start to learn about jigsaw's past. I will not ruin the movie for you because there are some good twists and turns and some crazy devices that where created. Unless you are a die hard Saw fan or want to see it with friends, don't spend your money, it is no that great of a movie and overall I would give it a 6/10.

Goldfinger

One of the first James Bond movies made was "Goldfinger". It was made in 1964 and was not that bad. It starts Sean Connery as James Bond, who in my opinion is the best Bond ever. The story is James bond is on other one of his missions but this time he is after gold tycoon Auric Goldfinger who is planning on taking over Fort Knox and destroying all the gold. It is up to James Bond to stop the bad guy and save the world, which is like every other bond film.

James Bond is a secret agent for the British and goes on missions to save the world if you did not know. James Bond starts following Goldfinger and his henchmen Oddjob. Oddjob is unlike any other henchmen, a he is strong and what appears to be, indestructible, also he has a hat that he can throw that can kill you. This hat is quite unique and cool. Goldfinger has a plan called Grand Slam which I stated before will destroy all the gold in Fort Knox and making his gold very expensive and worth a lot.

Bond meets a few women on the way Jill and Tilly Masterson. Tilly Bond met in Florida and while he was getting friendly with her she gets killed by being painted gold all over her body. So her sister Jill wants revenge against Goldfinger and the two meet while Bond is staking out Goldfinger at his base. The two watch him until an alarm is tripped and the two are chased by Goldfinger's henchmen. While on the run Oddjob kills Jill with his hat and captures Bond. One of the more famous Bond movies scene is how Goldfinger is going to kill Bond. He has Bond tied down to a table and will use a laser to kill him. But using his wit Bond gets out and lives for another day.


Goldfinger brings Bond to Kentucky so he can see his plan work out perfectly. While there Bond meets, get this Pussy Galore, quite the name. She is working with Goldfinger in operation grand slam. I will tell you what happens at the end but it is really not ruining the movie because you know what will happen anyways because it is a Bond movie. Bond converts Pussy into not helping Goldfinger and she calls the FBI and has Goldfinger's plans stopped. There is a final fight scene between Oddjob and Bond. Oddjob is completely beating Bond but Bond uses his wits and kills Oddjob by electrocuting him. But Goldfinger gets away. While Bond is flying to meet the President Goldfinger shows up and the two have a final duel on the plane. While fighting a bullet is shot and Goldfinger gets sucked out of the plane through the window. It is probably one of the funniest scene you can ever seen.

Another thing that makes this Bond movie good is the Aston Martin he drives, it is a thing of beauty. The car itself is amazing but the gadgets such as a machine gun in the front of the car, oil slick that shoots out, but the best is a ejector seat in the front of the car. Bond movies are fantasy movies and that is what makes them good but they still have an element of truth. Overall it is a decent movie and one of the better Bond movies. I would give it a 7.5/10.

Spirited Away

When I first heard about this movie, it had just the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2002. It is an anime film but do not let that discourage you. It is directed by Hayao Miyazaki who is regarded as a great film maker in the animated world. That is definitely true, he is a visionary in every sense of the word. The world he created is weird but amazing. The story is of a girl named Chihiro who is moving to a new town and on the way her family and Chihiro get stuck in a mysterious world and she has to find her way out.

While on the way to their new house Chihiro and her parents stumble across what appears to be an abandoned amusement park but it is taken over at night by spirits and Chihiro and her family get stuck in this world. Her parents eat all of the food meant for the spirits and get tunred into pigs. The ironic part is while her parents are eating the food Chihiro is telling her parents that they should not do this that it is bad and not right. But the parents say it is alright and come join. The positions have been reversed, the child is acting like the parent and the parent like a child.

So Chihiro has to help save her parents. She gets help from Haku, a boy who is the henchmen for Yubaba who runs the bath house in the spirit world. Haku tells Chichiro to get a job at the bath house so she can stay in the spirit world. So Chihiro visits Yubaba, but she is a mean women who wants Chihiro to fell but gives her a hard job just to make sure. Chihrio gets a job at the bath house as a working girl who has to clean up and help customers in the bath house. She works with Lin who does the same job. Lin during the film helps out Chihiro in her quest to help out her parents.

While Chihiro is working at the bath house a stink spirit comes to the bath house to get clean and Yubaba puts Chihiro in charge of helping out this customer. Chihiro puts the spirit in the biggest tube and gives him the best water to help clean him off. While she is poring the water she notices something sticking out of the spirit and tries to pull it out. She can not and everyone working in the bath house tries to pull out the object it turns out to be a bicycle and other pollution. It turns out the stink spirit is a river spirit that was covered in pollution. Chihiro helps the river spirit and is liked more by everyone in the bath house.

Chihrio starts to take a liking to Haku and wants to help him. When Haku goes on a mission to steal the golden seal of Zeniba, Yubaba's twin sister, for Yubaba he gets seriously hurt. She runs all the way to the top of the bath house to help Haku and stop the bleeding. When she finds out he stole the golden seal, she goes off to see Zeniba to remove the curse put on Haku by Zeniba. She returns the seal and helps Haku. When she leaves she remembers who Haku really is and tells him. When she tells him is breaks the spell Yubaba had on Haku and frees him.

When Haku and Chihiro return from Zeniba's house Yubaba has one more test for Chihiro before she can take her parents and go. She accomplishes that task and is set free. She leaves the spirit world and goes back to her own. When she gets back she is a different person. She is not a whinny person like she used to be, she has become a more mature person and a better person.

For anyone who likes anime movies should definetly see this movie but even if you are not an anime fan you should still see this movie because it is a pretty good film. I would give it a 9/10.

Do The Right Thing

"Do The Right Thing" is a very good movie. If you have not seen this movie you are certainly missing out. The movie is directed by Spike Lee and was made in 1989. When the movie first came out it was very controversial because it depicts racial conflicts which eventually turns into a riot. The cats consist of Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee, John Turturro, Ossie Davis, Rosie Perez, a young Martin Lawrence, and many other stars.

The story takes place in Brooklyn on a hot summers day. The story follows everyone in this neighborhood. The central character Mookie (Spike Lee) works as a pizza delivery boy for Sal's Famous Pizzeria run by Sal (Danny Aiello) and his sons Pino (John Turturro) and Vito (Richard Edson). Sal's Famous has been around for 25 years and everyone in the neighborhood grew up his pizza. But when Buggin Out (Giancarlo Esposito) wants Sal to put up black people on his wall of fame instead of all white Italian people. Conflict arises. Buggin Out wants to start a boycott of Sal's Famous and that starts trouble.

Pino one of Sal's sons does not like African American people at all and wants to move to his neighborhood where other whites are but Sal does not want. This racism by Pino adds to the conflict of race in the movie. Also when a white comes back from a bike ride he is walking back to his apartments when he accidently runs over Buggin Outs shoes and messes up his shoes. Buggin Out gets upset and gets right in his face about what he did. He brings the race card by saying what are you doing in my neighborhood anyways, this shows that everyone wants everyone to stay where they belong and that race plays a big role in everything about this neighborhood. The way Spike Lee captures the rising tension between races is incredible. Especially when the temperature rises so does the racial conflict.

The biggest example of how African American people are rebelling is Radio Raheem who plays on his huge radio "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy. For anyone who does not know the song or the group, Public Enemy is a rap group who raps about fighting the power of the white man in the song. Radio Raheem only plays this song and plays it throughout the movie. This also shows the rising conflict between races because one of the main characters wants to fight the power and is a rebel.

If you have seen the movie skip this part entirely because it contains a spoiler of the movie. In the end Buggin Out recruits Radio Raheem to boycott Sal's Famous. When Sal lets in a few people from the neighborhood to get a few slices, Radio and Buggin Out come in blasting "Fight the Power" and start demanding the Sal put black people on the wall of fame. Everyone starts yelling, cursing, and saying racial remarks until takes out his baseball bat and destroys Radio Raheem's radio. This starts a fight and eventually the police come and break it up but in the process Radio Raheem resists and gets strangled to death by New York's Finest, NYPD. When the police finally leave all the people in the neighborhood start getting together and demand answers. While this happens Mookie grabs a garbage can and throws it into the window of the pizzeria breaking the window. Causing a riot and they all burn down the pizzeria. The police and firefighters come back and fight the riot.

In the end Sal's gets burned down and Radio Raheem is dead. The racial conflict is showed in the riot. While the riot is going on the crowd is chanting "Howard Beach, Howard Beach" this was a similar event in which Spike Lee based an aspect of his movie on. When the movie first came out in 1989 people thought that when Mookie through the garbage can into the window strating the riot that it will start a real uprising in America and that it went overboard. But like Spike Lee said and I totally agree, that people over look the murder of Radio Raheem, the man was strangled to death by the police. Which in my opinion is a big deal and should not be overlooked.

Overall like I previously said this movie is good and I recommend this movie to anyone who has not seen this movie. I give it a 9/10.