Monday, September 30, 2013

The Thing

Similar to a lot of the other films we've watched, this was also slow and kind of boring until the end. Just like Godzilla, they barely showed the monster until the end of the film! This is where the movie reached it's climax, then suddenly ended. However, this builds the suspense and drama for the audience which made it bearable. The humor in the film is what made it fun to watch, since it was mostly talking anyway.

The characters in the movie made the film, of course. They were all funny and the main woman in the film was also a lead, who helped some of the problems in the story. Although the woman is still a love interest to the main character, she was powerful and smart, unlike a lot of other films we've watched. Other characters like the lead and the photographer, were funny and entertaining throughout the film.

This was another film that had symbolized the atomic era and really pushed the idea of others taking over our world or how we are at risk of losing our lives by acts of stupidity! I am pretty sure that if the crew decided not to go after the ship, not to blow up the ice, not to take back the alien, all would've been okay. But then again, we wouldn't have a terribly boring movie.

Personally, I disliked the film very much. I was pretty bored throughout AND the monster was not scary at all. It just looked liked Frankenstein's monster, except worse. I might be a little bias, though, since I though the 1981 version was so amazing and I was also really into the 2010. I think the major difference was the fact that the 81 version was so frightening and the creatures they created for the film were terrifying, unlike this old version where it was mostly a comedy and terrible acting. The 2010 version was mainly CGI, which was not awesome, but it was still scary and more entertaining than this one.

Them

Giant ants attacking us?? At least they weren't giant spiders... that would have been way worse. This movie really took it to the next level with visuals and creating giant monsters for the film. Sadly, we do not see that now-a-days since everything we create is made on computers. This was a creepy film and I think it was successful, unlike some of the other films we've watched.

The scene that caught my attention was during the board meeting the scientist guy and other men were having showing clips of ants and what they do. What was funny is how the scientist talks about the species and how the female is dominant and the male ants are puny, workers, etc. While explaining all of the female empowerment in this species, you don't see one woman in that room full of men, which I found pretty sad.

Like mentioned in class, I watched a video about the Wilhelm screams used throughout the film and I found this interesting because I caught every one throughout and I didn't know that it was a type of scream until I came across a video. This was probably one of the most interesting aspects of the film since I havent heard anything like it from the other films and the use is so important to this film.

This was one of my favorite films by far, mainly because it was so weird and actually kept my attention. Like the other movies, it also quickly ended just like in The Thing. One of my favorite scenes was when they were down in the sewers looking for the giant Ants and the female character tells the two guys to burn down the eggs. It completely reminded me of Alien when Ripley just burns up all the ends in the nest and eventually runs into the mama! So dang awesome.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Unlike many of the other movies weve watched throughout the semester, this one had one of those awesome twist endings, which we rarely see in sci fi movies. I have only really seen twists at the end of horror type films.
I really enjoyed the suspense during the film and the really great lines throughout. For example, when the man runs up to the main character in the car and screams, "They're coming!" and eventually runs for it, we get to see all the body snatchers chase after him. Besides the ending, I would probably choose this as my favorite scene in the film.The main character throughout was hard to focus on because he was so weird and weird looking, which I didn't really care for. I also appreciated the female characters throughout, even if they didn't do too much.

This was one of those freaky movies where, instead of seeing aliens, we see people behaving differently. The screams in the film also remind me of the 1980s The Thing remake, WHICH WAS THE BEST, so I enjoyed that comparison.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Star Wars Episode 4



Personally, I have always been attracted to these movies because they keep me interested, the plot never slows down and I would never know what would come next. Like many movies of this time, including Alien, I always wanted to know what it would have been like to see the movie in theaters during this time. For star wars, I am pretty sure it was visually amazing, and for me it still is. Even though the female lead isn't all it could be, I am glad they gave her some kick-ass shooting skills. Better than nothing. Oh, and the only thing that bugs me about Star Wars is the long written intro. Not a fan, never was.

A Trip to the Moon

I've seen this short film a few times before class, and it was always so interesting to watch each time. The way they make things appear and disappear (the alien things) was so great, because using an effect like that during its time seems really shocking to me.
I loved all the male characters in this because they were all charming and so giggly. I really like the upbeat and positive feel of the film, even though it seems a bit frightening for the characters. I saw it as a comedy and a beautifully made one as well.

Godzilla

Another film that is relating back to the Atomic era. The general idea relating to the atomic era is a giant monster, taller phone lines, that comes from the water is created by atomic waste.
This is a sci-fi masterpiece and a genius fiction to frighten people. The whole movie really leads up to the ending, which of course is the most frightening part. When the audience sees the monster in the middle of the movie, it was like a tease. They were able to see a little bit of the monster, but barely any. The audience has to wait until the end to see the monster, and they get to watch him destroy everything in front of him. I think this technique is super effective since it really puts the audiences on edge and causes great suspense.

The characters in the film reminded me of the star wars film, because you had the one female role throughout the whole movie, the two male roles that were connected to the female somehow and the villain aka Godzilla. Obviously the story was largely based on the characters and their movements, although we did not really know their back stories. Like the audience, they were outsiders to what the monster and they didn't know what was happening. So, the audience were on the ride with them trying to figure out what was going on and what they had to do to fix it.

Like mentioned earlier, the film was relating to atomic bombs, waste, etc. I think other symbols in the movie were about how American's were a threat and could potentially start all of these wars and issues. I think that realistically they were scared of us and assumed that something bad would happen, killing many of their people. I am curious to know if the new 2014 movie will be relating this era to its new plot, or will they keep with the times and create something completely different and unrelated to the atomic waste.

What I liked most about this movie were the effects and how there was a man dressed up in the godzilla suit. We never see any of that anymore, which is why I was so attracted to this movie. For example, The Thing (1981) also used real alien props, unlike the 2010 remake where it was mostly all CGI. It was disappoint and not scary at all, but the real props just gave it more depth and it felt so real. It's upsetting that it's not like that anymore. I wasn't a fan of the female role in this movie, because like almost every movie during this time, the female is the most emotional, distressed and used as the main character's love interest. I wish she had a more interesting, stronger lead. Hopefully the 2014 version will give her a better lead. 

The Day the Earth Stood Still

We see this new form of life end up on earth, and humans treat them like they are evil and are only here to hurt us. So, what do we do? We try and kill them. Of course, this shows the aliens that they are not guests on planet Earth and will have to threaten earth to obey them or to live with the consequences of not following their orders, since they are a danger to all of the other planets. This really relates to the wars and atomic threats going on during this specific time (1951, so it's interesting to put it into a different perspective, one with an awesome Sci-Fi theme. If people live peacefully, then all should be okay. No atomic wars, no problems!

The characters in the movie were all equally different and interesting. It was nice to finally see a woman play kind of a lead role in the film, even though she didn't do a whole lot of action pack things, but like the other characters in the film, she was put in equally if not more. The boyfriend was kind of the bad guy, along with the public (the army, the police, etc). The child was the curious character and Klaatu, with his super awesome giant robo accomplice, was the protagonist, I assume.
They all played roles that fit perfectly with the plot, which is how it should always play out. 

Unlike many of the previous movies we watched, this one kept my attention the whole way through. Although some scenes were slow at times, the plot was consistent and interesting, which is why I was so engaged the whole time. For an older movie, the graphics, costumes and props were pretty good, especially for what they had back then. What I didn't like about the movie, besides how slowly it moved along, was the child actor in the movie. He was the most annoying human I have ever seen played on film since I use to watch I Love Lucy. That boy was equally annoying. I think this has a huge impact on the movie, because if there is bad acting, then there is no way I can take the movie seriously.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Things to come

There are fears of the future, but this movie really put that into society's mind. The idea that we will have to live this incredibly upsetting future with little to no food, water and our technology is frightening. Of course, there is a sense of relief that maybe there will be a future for us; a future that has a lot more than we had before the disaster. Things to Come was frightening to the point where we would live in a world without technology and of course, still live in a patriarchal society... OF COURSE. I'm pretty sure that's the scariest thing out of all the fears the movie had depicted.  

The characters in this movie were sassy men with little to no knowledge about the world and what it has become. The characters did make themselves a world to live in and were given an opportunity to live in a new, better world with the help of a stranger from 'space,' Cabal. He was someone that was coming to give them freedom and hope for the future. Sadly, it took half of the movie to get to that point, but eventually it worked.

Near the end of the movie, one points out where our technology ends and when we stop moving forward. It was said that the end is death and if we live and continue to build, then we are not living. This was interesting to me, because truthfully society will always keep building and moving no matter what. If we came to a halt, there would be no more progress and no more things we need to survive, especially technology.

I was not a fan of the film. As a feminist, I would like to see the DAMN FUTURE depict more women as leaders or people that matter. Of course, it's still funny to me that a lot of these bad decisions made, the wars and the destruction of our society was all caused by men. It would be interesting to see what the world would have been like if women ran it. Anyway, it seems as those there are two different parts to Things to Come: A realistic part and the scientific, fiction part. For instance, during the beginning of the movie, they're a normal society that gets attacked and left for dead. Their earth has crumbled, everything they built was gone and nothing was left. They had to survive off of whatever they had left and have to work together as a society to live and survive. The second half of the movie is when a stranger from a distant land gets taken as a hostage on their land but is eventually rescued. From here, they go to this society that is all futuristic and modern. When I watched the movie insidious, I always said it was like watching a movie that was split in two. The beginning of the movie was about a family waiting for their child to wake up from a coma, but the audience soon find out it's not a coma, but something to do with ghosts. Then in the second part of the movie, it just gets more unrealistic by placing the father in this limbo type of place and a devil looking creature that follows after them. I compared both these films, because to me I was lost and confused as to way they would switch up so dramatically and it was odd for me to watch. With Things to Come, it felt like I was watching another film, and I wasn't impressed. The second half was too long and plain boring. Their ideas of the future were somewhat idiotic as well. I can appreciate i-Robots ideas about the future because they're still similar as our lives now, but Things to Come seems to be way off and kind of embarrassing.

Atomic Cafe

This documentary really displayed our country at war using extreme technology to kill and basically prove to the Japs and other countries that we are not screwing around; we have the technology to kill millions. Growing up, I was not really aware of the atomic bombs and the America lived so long in fear of other countries hurting them with radioactivity and A-bombs in general. The scene where the child was dressed in an all black suit was really shocking to me, mainly because when I learned about the years from 1945 to the late 1950's, I was never taught that our country was living with the idea that they might get attacked by A-bombs and that they had to take all of these safety precautions.

I noticed that the characters depicted in the film, besides the random females in our society, were mostly just men. A lot of film clips of political leaders, including Lyndon Johnson and Truman, were showed randomly throughout and also just a lot of civilians, workers and others who were living during this time in hopes that A-bombs wouldn't kill them. I also remember watching clips of children getting prepared for any crisis that may occur and what they would have to do in order to protect themselves.

All of these images and videos throughout the film were kind of scary and really made me question what the hell the government was doing during the time. It's obvious that they didn't know little or any about atomic bombs or what to really do if there happened to be a nuclear war. The government really tried to hide their fears and lack of knowledge on the subject by covering it up and using their technology to keep the public and their military calm during this intense situation.

Personally, I enjoyed the documentary because it gave me a whole new outlook on what life was like for Americans back during that time. While watching it, I thought a lot about calling up my grandparents and asking them if they remember anything about that time and what it was actually like. I appreciated the film makers collection of all of these old newspapers, films and television/radio news stories from that era and putting it all together to make a fantastic, and beautifully made film. It's interesting to me that people are silent about that time and how we are still not told much on how to survive it now-a-days. I mean, where do we go and what do we do IF a nuclear war actually happens? I guess I would have to take cover under a desk at school.



Monday, September 9, 2013

Metropolis

This idea of technology taking over our future and controlling the people who built it, may seem like the best was to describe this film. This adapted film has slowly became reality while we are creating so much technology to our society which all of us live off us. This world that is created in the film, kind of reminds me of hell and this mythological take on our society begin controlled by technology. If everything is run by technology, then why are there workers? According to the commentary, they are just a part of the technology to help it run and no brain power is necessary, which plays a big role in the film, since the workers are this dreadful symbol throughout the film that the viewers can help but feel sorry for.

The characters in the film seem to be a little insane, especially Freder. The viewers at times are not even sure what exactly Freder is looking at, beginning with him staring at the machines and death of workers near the beginning of the film. Does he imagine many other things too, or are those things real? Maria, who was the virgin/mother, became the complete opposite when she was cloned into this machine, this complete opposite of what she really was. The father, Joh Fredersen, was the ruler of metropolis which can be seen by the big office he owned and it was implied that the city was built off of all his designs and work.

Symbols: There were a lot of symbols throughout. A few are: Religion, the robotic woman, the workers, the virgin/mother, light and shadow, etc. The cross/ The clock which was his father's instrument of power, and he controlled the workers non-stop. The light, which was a tool for the scientist, was used to find 'the virgin.' The light and shadows play a big role in this scene, because they are objects that really help create the mood and visuals of the scene. She is also seen wearing lighter colors, along with the runners at the beginning of the movie which show freedom and movement, while the workers wear dark clothes to express sadness and slavery. Religion/mythology play a huge role in the film, like when the workers are getting sacrificed, or when the virgin talks to the workers (the crosses are seen behind her, also when they show the robotic woman for the first time, the audience can see a pentagram which can mean 'satanic.'

This was definitely a sci-fi film with a lot of drama added to it. It's sci-fi because there are devices, ideas, characters, things, in the movie that are really fiction. This unrealistic world beyond our society, especially during the time, make this genre of film. This film scared people because of this idea of technology taking over our world and basically ruining everything we have worked for, and especially being in control by the female-type robot. The cities were so unlike things they saw back then, and there are only few differences between that city design and our city designs now.

Personally, I was a little more interested in the film this time rather than the first time I saw it a couple of years ago. This time I watched the movie with a commentary, so it was easier to really understand what was happening scene by scene. It's sad that society back so many years ago, created this idea that we would be overrun by all of this technology and realistically, we kind of are. We live and thrive off of it, which really threatens our future. Hopefully not exactly how it was depicted in this film.

Frankenstein


Curiosity was a major component in the film, Frankenstein. When Frankenstein asks the doctor if he has ever wanted to do anything dangerous, he explains how if no one was curious or brave enough to look beyond what we already know, we wouldn't know anything and wouldn't learn anything new. I think this is a general theme throughout the movie, especially with Frankenstein and his monster. Frankenstein uses his knowledge and creates something that was never attempted or accomplished before, while his monster also explores things and wants to learn what is new and what this life is.
Besides curiosity, which is a big element of human nature, there are so many other themes that were played throughout the film, such as human emotional experience, which can be felt throughout with the characters in the film and also how the audience feels while watching it.

Although the idea of Frankenstein is fictional, the characters feelings, emotions, the environment, etc., all live in our real world, but were vividly expressed in this film while adding a fictional character: the monster. Henry's curiosity led him to create a monster who was unable to cope with normal society. Unable to grasp the concept of anything around him, the monster was lost and confused, which led him to hurt and kill people. Still not understanding, the monster escaped to eventually hurt more people and get killed by the one thing he was truly scared of: Fire. Realistically, the audience would understand that they would have also acted the same as the rest of the townspeople if there was some undead monster running around hurting people, which would seem realistic in that sense of the movie.

The characters in the movie were the most important part of the film, because they all expressed emotion and their thoughts throughout the movie. Frankenstein, who was the monster's creator, was intelligent and mostly curious to see if he could create something like never before. He was the whole reason the plot even existed. Sadly, he is also the reason so many people got hurt and killed since his creation was out of his hands. His wife was someone who seemed pure and innocent, just like the little girl by the lake. The wife showed the sane side of things and also understood that what was going on was wrong and that bad things were going to happen if continued. The little girl by the lake was, like mentioned earlier, this idea of hope, purity and happiness. The monster tries to express those feelings with this little girl, and the audience hopes that she is slowly helping the monster change into this pure innocent creature. But of course, the monster doesn’t understand that he is doing wrong when he throws the little girl in the water and kills her. The monster is this sad, confused character that people are terrified of. He is put into this world which he is unable to understand and is harassed at the very beginning with fire and torture. It's sad to say that some of the other characters could have approached this situation differently and helped the poor creature possibly turn out better than he really did.

Like the themes, there were many symbols throughout the film, such as: Fire, dark/light, religion, the tower, power, etc. Fire was something that scared the monster and eventually killed it. It was the light and he was the dark, even though light is what awakened him (lightning) and light is what put him down (fire). The daisies in the film, along with the wife and her dress, represented purity and happiness which neither the monster nor Frankenstein grasped.

This film is definitely a sci-fi film, because we have this plot of a man who creates a man out of other men! It's unreal for someone to bring a human back to life and teach it how to live, breathe, eat, talk, sleep, live like a normal human. This scary monster is what children are afraid of and what we know as science fiction.  Personally, I enjoyed this film because it was so beautifully shot from beginning to end and great use of resources especially during that time. The graveyard scene, which was my favorite part, at the beginning of the movie really sets the mood for the entire movie. I also enjoyed this more than Metropolis mainly because of its use of silhouettes and having the technology that allows voice!