The Shining: Revolutionizing the Horror/Thriller Genre

 This week's blog post will be analyzing the movie The Shining (1980).  The Shining (1980) is a drama/horror film that was released in 1980 and is directed by Stanley Kubrick.  This is somewhat based on Stephen King's original novel of The Shining, but the movie takes a different approach to the story, and this was a great decision.  From start to finish, the movie had me on my toes and engaged, trying to anticipate what is going to happen.  And then when you get to the end of the film, it leaves you with a sense of wonder and gives you an unsettling feeling, like you didn't know what you just watched.  The ending leaves it up to the audience to interpret what the film means, and what its ending means.  

Now, there are many things in this film that elevate the film to a high level.  The acting in this film is just one of these excellent pieces.  Jack Nicholson's performance in the lead role is outstanding, and as his character is slowly deteriorating mentally due to the haunted presence in the hotel, you can believe that he is truly losing his mind, because with how Kubrick has written and directed the film, he keeps what is happening in the movie realistic, and without going over the top in key scenes and character interactions.  Danny Lloyd's performance as the child of the Torrance family is surprisingly great, and is impressive for child acting.  In the film, Lloyd's character has a psychic ability that he can use to communicate with people, and this is displayed in a way where, once again, the audience can believe this is happening because it is realistic to what psychic communication could look like.  The tone in this film, for a horror/thriller, is not only very good, but also consistent.  Throughout the whole film, it makes the audience feel on edge and uneasy, especially in key scenes in the movie where Kubrick wants the audience to have this feeling of uneasiness.  Speaking of key scenes, there are a lot of excellent scenes in this film.  There's the obvious "Here's Johnny" scene that is terrifying, but also a little funny at the same time.  There are also many scenes of Nicholson's character interacting with the spirits that are present in the hotel, and these scenes also show his slow spiral into madness.  All in all, this film encapsulates what a horror/thriller film should be, keeping the audience on edge and at the edge of their seats the whole way through, and this film has inspired many other horror films to come about and innovate off of what The Shining (1980) was doing right.

Pulp Fiction: Molding a Movie through Dialogue

 This week's post will be a review of the movie Pulp Fiction (1994).  Pulp Fiction (1994) is a indie/drama film directed by Quentin Tarantino, one of the more revered movie directors of the 90s and 2000s, and is still making films today.  Going into this film, I expected a lot of mafia/crime action within the film, but to my surprise I did not get that.  However, that didn't make the movie less enjoyable at all.  The dialogue in this film, especially the dialogue between characters, is what elevates this film the most.  Within most of the character interactions/conversations in the film, they talk about a lot of obscure topics which I won't get into to avoid any spoilers.  But that's what makes this movie more entertaining, is that the dialogue isn't boring and cliche, and brings life into the film.  However, there is a lot of strong language in this movie, which I didn't mind, but if you don't like a lot of that then this isn't the movie for you.

The characters and acting by the actors in the film is another bright spot in this film.  Every character of importance in this movie seems to get their chance to shine, whether it be through certain scenarios in the film, or through dialogue or character interactions.  There are also a lot of A-list actors like Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, etc, and they all do a great job with characterizing their characters in this film through their acting.  And like stated before, this is especially apparent through the dialogue usage in the film, whether it just be a normal conversation between characters, or if the actors are putting some emotion into their dialogue.  The music choices in the film are also very good, and the music is timed very well in a lot of the scenes where music is used.  A good example of this is when there are action scenes, the music starts when the action starts, and ends where the action seems to end for the most part.  The film, overall, was an enjoyable film, but this film is also not for everyone.  If you're someone who likes a lot of action in a film, or doesn't like heavy dialogue, then this film probably isn't for you.  However, I would still recommend it to anyone who would be interested in it or is on the fence of wanting to watch it.

Lighting in Films: Shaping a Scene

 This week's blog post will be about lighting and how it affects scenes in films.  Lighting in a scene can affect many elements of scene and it can change how an audience views a scene.  For example, lighting can dictate the mood or tone in a scene.  Take the opening scene of The Batman as an example.  While who we presume to be Batman is monologuing, the lighting of the scene is darker, and people, things and places are only seen through street lights or lights in stores.  The lighting in this scene points to a darker toned movie, like how most other Batman movies are.  The scene also changes how the audience views the Batman himself.  The lighting is intentionally making the audience view Batman as a scary, intimidating character, but also a protector of the city.  The design of a scene is also affected by the lighting of the scene.  Specifically, it can focus on certain elements of the set of a scene, like props or characters.  A good example of this is the team up scene in The Avengers.  Here, the lighting is solely focused on the group of heroes as they get a team up shot before working together to defeat the villains.  With the use of lighting in this scene, it creates a sense of unity and wholeness for the audience, and gives the audience the confidence that the heroes will win in the end.  Lighting can affect many parts of a scene in a film, and is a key element to making good scenes and bad scenes, as well as good films and bad films.

Get Out Review: A Different Type of Horror

This week's post I will discuss my thoughts on the movie Get Out.  Get Out is a film of the horror genre that was released in 2017 and directed by Jordan Peele.  Now, the horror films that have come out the past few years, for the most part, I feel have been too "cliche", they all feel like the same film but with different characters.  Get Out, however, does not have that issue, and in fact it feels like a standout film in the horror genre.   Jordan Peele crafts a very unique story that's kind of like a mystery.  Throughout the whole film, the audience is trying to piece together what the Armitage family is doing with the black servants helping them in their house, as well as the creepy and weird things happening at their house in the film.

Another thing that the film does well is foreshadowing.  Some of the foreshadowing is very subtle, while at other times its clear that the film is foreshadowing something big.  An example of the foreshadowing being subtle is at the beginning of the film.  The main character, Chris Washington, and his girlfriend Rose, pulled over and called the police after hitting a deer.  The policemen wants to see Chris' ID, but Rose doesn't want him to see his ID.  This seems like a little thing at first, but why would she not want the policeman to know who Chris is?  Is her family doing something suspicious that would involve Chris?  The movie also tackles the topic of racism as well.  It sheds light on how black people are treated in the real world today by white people, with actions in the film, as well as through satire.  The only real bad point of the film is that the comedy used is inconsistent.  There are some jokes and comedy bits that are pretty funny, and at other times the comedy can be a bit much.  In short, I enjoyed the film, and it is a standout entry in the horror genre and blends many elements and movie themes very well to make one great movie.

 

Star Wars: A New Hope Review: Reimagining the Sci-Fi Genre

 This weeks blog post will be reviewing Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), directed by George Lucas.  This movie is also one of the first "blockbuster" films to be released, and it helped pave the way for many other blockbuster films to be made.  One thing that makes this film stand out amongst all other films is that it feels like its own unique film, with its many different themes of space empires, jedi, dog-fighting in space, the force, etc.  However, with all these themes being put into one film, it does feel like they all unify to make one big space-themed adventure, which make all the themes of this film work very well together.  The storytelling in the film is also done very well.  Most of the storytelling is done through exposition from the characters, but all of the central characters in the film are very intriguing, especially when the audience slowly learns more about the characters through exposition.  An example of this is when Ben Kenobi talks to Luke about his father and how he knew him very well.  Luke responds by asking him  lot of questions about his father, displaying intrigue for Ben Kenobi, which makes the audience intrigued to learn more about these characters.

Another element of the film that is done very well is the action.  As the film progresses from the opening scene to Tatooine to the Death Star, the film becomes more and more exciting as the action in the film becomes more thrilling.  The CGI in the film is very good for its time, granted that it seems outdated compared to today's standards, but it works for this film.  The dog fighting in space at the end of the film not only has great action and makes for a good final battle, but it was also not done in any film prior to its release, making this film more unique.  The music in this film, composed by John Williams, is also phenomenal as well.  It makes you feel as if you yourself are on a big space adventure while watching the film.

There are, however, a couple of flaws in this film.  This film has pacing issues, especially at the beginning of the film after the opening scene.  However, once the movie gets to its 2nd half, the pacing starts to pick back up as it heads into the 3rd Act.  The technology used in this film also looks dated, especially when visual effects are used in scenes where people are getting shot, or there are arms being cut off.  But all in all, this film still holds up today, and the combination of storytelling, music, action and characterization make this film a classic, and aided future Sci-Fi films to be successful in theaters.