I hate him.

The Big Lebowski

From the directors studied in class the one's that I wanted to continue study on, was the Coen Brothers. I enjoyed their unit a lot during class and couldn't wait to see more. So I rented The Big Lebowski. The Big Lebowski was a very interesting, sometimes confusing, tale of a man with the same last name.  "The Dude" as he likes to be called, finds himself being forced to dunk his head into a toilet and trying to stop another man from urination on his rug. When he asks the men to stop they just say "Where's the money Lebowski?". Extremely confused, "The Dude" decides to do some investigating so he can have his now dirty rug replaced. This is where the story really begins to get interesting. 

Before watching this film, I already knew that it had a very big following from my generation and a few years above, but I had no idea that even critics enjoyed it so much. I agree with critic James Berardinelli from ReelViews when he says "The Big Lebowski is a mess. But what a glorious, wonderfully-entertaining mess it is." 

After watching The Big Lebowski and thinking about the Coen Brothers as a whole, I realized how much more their movies have in common than I thought. I think their casting is great, although Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski have strengthened my dislike for John Goodman. I think Raising Arizona is the best performance I've ever seen out of Nicholas Cage, which I can also say for Steve Buscemi in Fargo and Jeff Bridges as "The Dude". 

I heard that the Coen's are in process of making a movie in St. Louis Park about a Jewish family. I think it sounds interesting, and I'm hoping that after making the masterpeice of "No Country for Old Men" they will still have something left in em'!

Wes Anderson

I also really liked the Wes Anderson unit. I really like how you can tell that he puts so much thought into every single camera shot. Even though we didn't get to finish it, I think I liked The Royal Tenenbaums the most. Rushmore and Bottle Rocket were both solid films as well. I had never scene the entire Rushmore or Bottle Rocket before so it was nice to get the chance to do that during school. One similarity that I saw throughout all of the films was the slow-motion montage scene flavored with loud recognizable music. Wes Anderson really has this technique down. The only thing that I can think of that I dislike about him is how sometimes the films seem to drag on. A few times during Rushmore I caught myself thinking about other things which left me completely lost from the plot, but I always seemed to get myself back on track after some witty banter.

The Coen Bro's

I loved this unit. We saw many sides of the Coen's with the three movies that we watched. Raising Arizona gave us a comedic look at the American Dream, Fargo gave us a northern Minnesota greed crime, and No Country for Old Men gave us a suspenseful and 'think what you want' masterpiece. I had never seen Raising Arizona or Fargo before this unit and No Country only once which is certainly not enough. I'm really glad that we decided to study the Coen's this year I think they really made a staple in what i've learned this year about film direction. I think it's great the way that they have the talent of keeping the audience engaged with the movie the entire way through. There was never a dull moment with the perfect blend of suspense, comedy, and cinematography in each film. Every time I think about each of the films I feel tempted to revisit them again for further analyzation, and I'm sure it won't belong until I finally give in.

Robert Altman

Out of all of the directors we've watched this semester, I've been most impressed by Altman. I had never heard of him before this year and I was very pleasantly surprised when I first saw The Long Goodbye. It was my favorite out of the three we watched (The Long Goodbye, Nashville, The Player). I also enjoyed The Player a lot, but Nashville was one of my least favorite of the semester. I liked how Altman really made you feel like you were as much as a part of the movie as the characters were. The audience wasn't only watching the events unfold, but experiencing them. He wasn't afraid to let his audience be exposed to all things as if they were there themselves. With camera movement, script, and what seemed like actor-improvisation, I felt like I was along for the ride. I think the reason why I didn't like Nashville so much is probably because I wasn't allowed to do that as much. With so many characters and such a long plot, I became detached and even dosed off a time or two. Overall I think I would really enjoy seeing more of Altman's work, hoping for more jems like The Long Goodbye.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

I don't know one person who hasn't dreamt of a day off like the one shown in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. With the help of his best friends Cameron and Sloan, lead actor, Matthew Broderick, really gets us involved in his antics by breaking the forth wall, teaching us how to fool parents and teachers, and showing us all the things a day off should include. 

I think one of the most important scenes in Ferris Bueller's Day Off was probably the one where Cameron, (the friend whose so uptight that 'if you stuck a coal up his ass, in two weeks you'd have a diamond') expresses his real feelings for the way that his father treats him. After borrowing the limited edition Ferrari of his fathers and finding out that putting it into reverse won't hide it, he goes crazy. He starts kicking, denting, and yelling at the car in rage about the lack of love his father provides in the home. After cooling down for awhile Cameron decides that he will confront his father with the issues and leans forward on the car in exhaustion. This was not a good idea. The car, still being in reverse, swings backwards and out of the glass garage's rear wall. During this scene John Hughes really takes a moment in the film to recognize that the life of a teenager is not always as enjoyable as the rest of the movie makes it look. There are a few close-ups matched with some panning and one great long-shot as the Ferrari shoots out of the house and lands on a forest-y and steep hill.

My favorite part in the movie is definitely the parade scene, and I think a lot of people could agree. At this part, we see Ferris' at his craziest as he climbs aboard a parade float and sings Wayne Newton's Danke Schoen and The Beatles' Twist and Shout. It's a very high energy moment and makes me wish that I was cool enough to do the same. 

This pretty much goes without saying, but I love John Hughes. If I had to choose a time to live in, the 80's is probably it and I can thank John Hughes for that. All of the movies that we watched are classics in my heart and I know that I will be revisiting them many more times in the future.

Sixteen Candles

When I found out that my group would have John Hughes as our director for this project, I knew that Sixteen Candles would be in our lineup. The things that come to mind when I think of John Hughes are all included in Sixteen Candles. Beginning with a young girls plea for attention on her sixteen birthday, we are introduced to yet another 80's flick starring Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall. It was a delight to revisit this movie for the one-hundredth time.

One of the best scenes in the film is of course during the big school dance. Nothing is going right on Sam (Molly Ringwald)'s sixteenth birthday. Everyone has forgotten about it, she has been forced to bring a foreign exchange student as her date, her secret crush found out how she feels, and on top of it all, she is being chased around then entire time by the school's biggest loser- played by Anthony Michael Hall. In this scene, we see John Hughes at his best. It masters all of the characters he strives to create in his films, breaking of the fourth wall, and low lighting. With the mixture of comedy and teen-angst love, he always keeps you watching.

Pretty In Pink

If you are looking for a straight forward high school comedy/ drama, most John Hughes movies would be perfect, and Pretty in Pink (1986) is no exception. Starring Molly Ringwald, an original brat pack member, we see the love story between rich and poor unfold. I don't even have to explain anything else and you can probably guess what happens and a few of the jokes along the way. But despite the predictable plot lines I still love watching the common themes in John Hughes movies.

One of the most memorable scenes in Pretty in Pink is towards the end. Andie (poor girl played by Molly Ringwald), has been asked to the prom by Blane (rich and popular douche bag played by Andrew McCarthy) but right before the dance he ditches her because his friends have a problem with her lack of money and style. To get back at Blane, Andie decides to show up to the dance anyway in her own creation of a prom dress. Right after walking in the door she almost loses her courage, but just then, her old and adorable friend Duckie steps in to rescue her. We see a lot of slow camera movement and a few close-ups in this scene. It helps you feel close to the character of Andie so that you are almost cheering for her when she sees Duckie. The music in this scene also helps out a bit by aiding in the mood of the situation and comes to a climax just as the "happy-ever-after" comes up to match it.

Apparently, our high school years are either our best or our worst. I predict that John Hughes either had a wonderful high school life and wants to relive it, or he had a terrible high school life and wants to try to imagine what it could have been. Either way, he sticks to what he's good at, and he's good at high school comedy/drama's.