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.

Chinatown

Chinatown has easily been my favorite movie that we have watched this year. It kept my attention they entire way through and I was really interested in the story. I loved the character of JJ Gittes and I really liked the way that Jack Nicholson portrayed him. I really want to watch it again so I can catch more of what I may have missed. I thought that the film did a lot for film noir. It wasn't the typical film noir setting with the typical lighting and venetian blind effect, but it has the same sort of story (mystery) and the big rememberable ending. I thought that it was really interesting the way that the plot had so many twists and turns, and everytime that I thought I knew the answer to the question of who killed Hollis, I was suprised again by another key piece of evidence.
Overall this was an excelent film and again, I plan on renting it so I can review it at least once more.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I loved the movie Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind. I had seen the movie before seeing it in class but I had never analyzed it as closely. I really love the cinematography and editing that it has. Michel Gondre is easily one of my favorite directors and I cannot wait to see more of his films. If you liked Eternal Sunshine, I recommend The Science of Sleep which has a lot of the same elements, but is still a completely different movie.
I thought the acting in Eternal Sunshine was great too! I really liked seeing Jim Carrey in a film that asked him for a little more dramatic role rather than just the physical comedy of Liar Liar and Dumb and Dumber (even though those films will also always have a place in my heart).

His Girl Friday

I liked His Girl Friday a lot. It kept my attention and I was excited to go back to class the next day to continue it. The two main characters were both equally funny and entertaining, and given the limited amount of camera tricks in the 40's, I thought it was pretty good cinimatically as well. A lot of the camera shots were long and steady, but that just showed the audience how great the actors were. At parts, it became a little frantic and frusterating because of all the confusion dealing with Hildy's new husband and the entire Earl Williams case, but that added to the comedy. It was probably my favorite movie that we have watched this year, but I think Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind might pass it by. I guess we'll have to see though!

Unforgiven

Unforgiven was the second western that we watched in my art of film class. I liked the movie for some reasons, and strongly disliked it for others. It was more entertaining to me than stagtecoach, but still not the kind of movie that I would pick off of the shelf. There were a lot of cinimatic elements to Unforgiven that made it interesting to watch such as the lighting that casted a lot of shadows, and the character development (which I felt was absent in stagecoach), but I also wasn't very interested by the plot and the somewhat predictable ending. I don't think that the unneccesary killing of people is that entertaining, but then again im not much of a hardcore action fan. I like action that shows some skill within the fighting like martial arts. Shooting ten people in a row with a gun is just not that interesting to me.
Overall, Unforgiven was alright. I liked it better than stagecoach (since more that half of the characters actually seemed to have a purpose), and the camera shots and lighting were interesting, but as far as plot and entertainment go, it wasn't for me.