Hancock 2008

Hancock is a weird film. The film seems to have an identity crisis. The first half of the film enjoys being a postmodern parody of the superhero genre, while the second half takes itself deathly serious. I really enjoy the first half with how it re-contextualizes the superhero as celebrities and jerks like what comics from Image Comics in the nineties did such as Youngblood ( a lousy comic) as well as more recent comics like The Authority (fantastic) and Kick-Ass (your milage will vary) as at the time there really was not a film like that. The second half however, I did not enjoy. There is such a tonal whiplash that it is like you are watching an entirely different film. Instead of subverting superhero tropes it instead falls into them thus losing the cleverness the first half had. There are so many superhero films that play it straight far better than Hancock, so it would have been nice to have something different. The climax of the film is also pretty violent compared to most other superhero films. Handcock gets the s-word beat out of him. It is quite gruesome. Handcock is played by Will Smith who pretty much acts like all the action heroes Will Smith plays. Granted, there is something likable about the way he plays those characters. I just do not understand this film. It could have been much more if it just tried. I give Hancock a five out of ten just for the first half.

Cowboy Bebop

I am going to do something a little different with this blog post. Instead of reviewing a movie, I am instead going to review a television show. If you [my teacher] do not like it too bad. Now then let us begin the review.

Cowboy Bebop is a twenty-six episode anime series about four bounty hunters and their misadventures that come with their jobs. The world they live in is that after Earth becomes uninhabitable due to meteors constantly bombarding the planet humanity heads to the other planets. Because of the vastness of space it has become necessary to have bounty hunters to catch criminals that the police can got get to just like in the old west hence the title Cowboy Bebop. The series is a mixture of noir, western, and science fiction. Throughout the series we learn about each character pasts and how each one deals with it either by running away from it or trying to find it. Most of the episodes of the series are one and done stories focusing on the characters going on missions, with the exception of some episodes a the beginning, the very middle, and the very end, which ends up amounting up to have only 5 episodes that deal with the actual story line. Each of the main characters gets episodes that deal with them personally with the episodes dealing with the character of Spike facing his nemesis Vicious acting as the main story line. Every important character in the show is incredibly interesting and shows a different aspect of humanity (Except Edward). As the title suggests, the show has an emphasis on music. The soundtrack of the show is amazing ranging from jazz to blues to heavy metal. This series is fantastic and I highly recommend it to anybody including people who hate anime. There is also a film spinoff that is like an extra long episode of the series that is also good. I give the series a ten out of ten.

Up (2009)

Up, like all Pixar movie except Cars 2, is a masterpiece. As with Pixar films, Up knows how to bring humanity to their characters no matter what they are. Carl, the main character, is a sympathetic character despite being a grouchy old man due to us knowing why he is. His backstory is sympathetic as everybody can relate to feeling regret over life-long ambitions that are never accomplished. At the beginning of the story Carl has pretty much retreated into himself after being disillusioned by the death of his wife. During the story, Carl learns to enjoy the small moments that he did have with his wife and to enjoy the time he has left instead of chasing after his lost dreams. Like all great villains, Charles Muntz presents a reflection of the protagonist. He wastes his entire life trying to attain his life long ambition that he loses his sense of morality, which leads to his downfall. Like all Pixar films, the animation is top of the line and state of the art with expressive characters and beautiful scenery. This movie has to be Pixar's most colorful film with its lush color palette with its purple mountains and its tropical colored forests. Another noticeable thing about this film is that this film I believe has the second and third minority character in a Pixar film, which I applaud the effort and is a good first step to increase the representation of minorities in media. The film has an African American nurse as a minor character and an Asian American boy as the other main character. The story is full of emotion and imagination, and I highly recommend the film to anybody young or old. I give the film a 10/10

My Place in the World of My Blog Topic

I am just a nobody on the blogosphere. I make really short reviews that nobody actually reads except for my teacher. I do not really care for this position. I cannot really do anything to improve my status as there is no real way for me to advertise my blog. I have no idea on how to create connections with other people that are interested in what I am producing. In addition, my reviews are not that special for they are way too short for a general audience. Even if I could drastically improve, I doubt that it would make much difference in raising my status. I should try to do my best as I am being graded on these entries, but I am just not that great of a writer without having some sort of inspiration. Maybe if I inject some humor into my reviews, my readership will increase. That seems to work for a lot of reviewers especially ones that do video reviews. It does not matter if I get big by blogging, since I never set out to become big. I honestly doubt that I will even use this blog after I am done with this course. I have never been that great at expressing myself, and blogging is a lot harder than it looks, so even if I could raise a large audience before this course ends, I do not think I would be able to maintain this blog for much longer. I just do not see me gaining status from writing this blog.

What I Would Change

If I had the power to change things in the movie industry, I would change many things. I would first ban remakes. You can count the number of good remakes on one hand. All Hollywood seems to be making are remakes, sequels, and adaptations. That is not to say this has not been true in other periods of time, but it is especially bad now. There are hardly any original movies being made. I would also make it so that directors have creative control over their production. producers do not know anything about the art of cinema except producers that are also directors. So why should they decide how a movie is cut? By changing these things, The quality of the output of movies will increase drastically. I would also get rid of the bias the Academy Awards have toward science fiction and animation. This bias has snubbed many great films just because they are not oscar bait films. I would also prevent Armond White from ever being allowed to publish professional reviews. He has badmouthed his fellow critics including Roger Ebert. He has been known to personally insult creators. He is known as a troll in the movie industry. He also insults the audiences of films in his reviews for the many films he dislikes. He is the only guy to give Toy Story 3 a bad review resulting in breaking the streak of having all three Toy Story movies have 100% Rotten Tomato scores. These are what I would do if I could change the film industry.

for a few dollars more

For a Few Dollars More is the sequel to A Fistful of Dollars in what is known as the Dollar trilogy. However, you can watch the movie as a standalone feature as the only thing that connects this film with Fistful of Dollars is that the main character is played by Clint Eastwood and wears the same clothing. This is due to the fact that The Man with No Name is a stock character just like most characters in the genre. Unlike the previous film, this film is not a remake to another film although Yojimbo did have its own sequel name Sanjuro, which I have not seen. The plot is essentially two bounty hunters teaming up to bring the same guy to justice. Just like the last film, The music and cinematography is fantastic.  The main villain of the film is played by the exact same person who played the villain role in the previous movie. The name of the actor is Gian Maria Volont'e. Unlike the previous film, the main villain is fleshed out with a backstory. Lee Van Cleef plays the rival bounty hunter in the role that revived his acting career and shooting him into a western star. However, I do have problems with this film. I think the film is drawn out a little longer than necessary. Unlike the next film, This film does not have enough content to justify its long length. While I do criticize the pacing, the film is still worthy of a watch. I give the film an eight out of ten.

A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

A Fistful of Dollars is considered a classic western and there are reasons for that. The film is actually an unofficial remake of the Akira Kurosawa film Yojimbo, which was inspired by westerns. In fact, Kurosawa actually sued because of the similarities between the films. I have seen the original, and the lawsuit was totally justified. Everything about the movie is well polished while still having natural grit to it. From the opening scene, the music is amazing. The music honestly tells the story, as there is little dialogue to be had in this film, which is fine as the plot is simple enough to understand that the film could honestly be a silent film and you would still understand what is going on. The music creates various themes such as isolation to resurrection to triumph. I would honestly like a copy of the soundtrack. Clint Eastwood is of course fantastic in his iconic role The Man with No Name with his trademark leer. The cinematography is amazing, capturing the vast horizon and every leer with amazing detail. Due to the film being shot on actual film, there is film grain. I personally, unlike most critics, enjoy a little grain, because I think it gives a film character. The plot is essentially a drifter coming to town and tricking to rival gangs to wipe each other out for his own profit, which as an additional bonus frees the innocent civilians from tyranny. I give the film a ten out of ten. 

Note: I am sorry about the underlining I could not fix it.

Drive (2011)

Drive is an interesting film. It is a self-aware tribute to '70s exploitation films, yet it plays itself incredibly seriously and subtly. Ryan Gosling play the nameless protagonist with a mysterious past. We never learn much of his past. We as an audience are meant to infer who he is through his actions. Ryan Gosling plays the main character as a rather quiet fellow which enhances the sense of mystery for the character. The quietness of the character throughout the film creates an intentionally jarring effect when he explodes into fits of rage and violence. Like the main character, the film itself acts the same way. The film starts out incredibly quiet and slowly, using the music to drive the story. However when the movie gets to the action, it get freaking intense. There is a ton of gore in this film when the characters commit gruesome acts on each other such as someone's head being blown to smithereens by a shotgun to the head! This film is chockfull of great actors beside Gosling including Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Albert Brooks (Finding Nemo), and Ron Perlman (Sons of Anarchy, Hellboy). Christina Hendricks is wasted on a small part unfortunately, but Albert Brooks is fantastic as the villain despite being a comedic actor. I highly recommend the film to anybody who is tired of brain dead action films and pandering romantic comedies, and people who just like great movies. However, I must warn people that this film is not for the squeamish. I give the film a 10/10. If you are able to find it in theaters, go to it now! Support a good movie for once and show studios what you really want to see.

RE: Film Criticism is Dying? Not Online

In his article Film Criticism Is Dying? Not Online, Roger Ebert talks about the influence of the internet on the profession of Film Criticism. He refutes people who say film criticism is dead because newspapers are canceling their movie review column, and leaving many film critics out of the job. He praises the medium that the internet presents. He says that with the internet, film criticism is booming. He also talks about how with the internet, people from different countries are now able to weigh on movies at an international level. In addition, he praises DVD for allowing for the restoration of classic movies that would have otherwise gone completely forgotten. With the creation of digital technology film and film criticism have grown in strength. Ebert also talks about how he is using the internet to review movies ever since he stopped being able to speak. I like this article because it legitimizes movie review blogs. The newest high profile movie reviewers will be coming from such blogs if things keep going as they are. Of course, Ebert also briefly mentions that the internet has also increased the amount of bad criticism, which is an unavoidable problem. The internet is a healthy breeding ground for new writers. The internet allows for more people to express their opinions and discuss them than ever before. By using the internet, I am helping to keep film criticism alive as print is slowly fading away. The internet is the future for film criticism, so it is fine to review movies if you have the passion to do it.

Ebert, Roger. "Film Criticism Is Dying? Not Online." Wall Street Journal. 22 Jan 2011: n. page. Web. 12 Oct. 2011. <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703583404576080392163051376.html>.

cinemafunk.com

I was looking at different blogs that review movies as I wanted to learn how to develop my style. One blog I stumbled upon was cinemafunk.com. The site reviews movies both modern and classical as films ranging from mainstream blockbusters to esoteric indie flicks. The blog consists of multiple reviewers who I assume review films they are interested in. The review style used at this blog involves switching between background information on the film and critical analysis and back, which allows for information to be easily presented to the reader. The reviewers use  references to other movies to reveal what the movie is like without giving spoilers as well as compare and contrast. The reviewers also does not use a score system. I disagree with the reviewer on some films, but his criticisms are always legitimate. The reviewers also seems to have a sense of humor at times, which crops up in some of their reviews. Their reviews tend to be on the short side. The reviews usually consist of five or six small paragraphs. However, some of the reviewers will go on much longer trying to dissect the film on a symbolic level even when the reviewer say the film is not really good. The blog is updated pretty regularly in fact they updated the site yesterday as of my writing this. In addition to reviews, the site also does top ten film lists at the end of the year as well as editorials. The site is a lot more professional than mine, and it has a larger variety of tastes in film than I do.

Christmas Vacation (1989)

There is a reason that Christmas vacation is considered a christmas classic. The film still holds up to this day. Chevy Chase is at his prime in this film being funny, expressive, and likable. In fact, most of the characters are likable despite most of them being two-dimensional characters. Contrast this film with the film Deck The Halls which had a similar main character. The filmmakers of that film seemed to have been trying to go out if their way to make the characters completely unlikeable along with being completely unfunny. The film is at its best when it goes over the top such as when Chevy Chase's character uses something on his saucer sled to cut down on friction which results in him going the speed of light. As I have gotten older, it has become harder for me to laugh while watching comedies, as I have heard all the jokes before. This film however had quite a few jokes that made me laugh especially some of the more raunchy ones. I wish modern day comedies were as funny as the ones in the eighties. There is one complaint I have with this movie; the ending is a little bit of a cop out when it comes to the resolution. I recommend the film to people when winter starts. I felt kind of weird watching the film when Fall has just started. In addition, I would like to tell any of my fellow classmates that this film and the previous two are available in the school library if you are interested. I give the film a 9/10.

The Fighter (2010)

The Fighter is based on a true story of Mickey Ward. The movie tells the story of two brothers. One of the brothers is a former boxer who became a crack addict while the other is an up in coming boxer. We watch these two characters try to rebuild their lives after making so many mistakes in their lives. Everybody in the film is great at their part especially Christian Bale. Bale is famous for his skill at being able to gain or drop weight incredibly quickly as shown through his many roles as an actor. He also manages to speak in a convincing Massachusetts accent despite having a british accent in real life. Melissa Leo is excellent as the mother as she channels being a complete word that I am not sure I am allowed to type on this blog. Mark Wahlberg is extremely likable as the main protagonist. The story is strongly told, as the film has no filler in the way the story is told. The film is subtle with its emotional scenes, making sure that the film does not turn into a melodrama. All of the emotions feel real. Also an interesting note, despite being a film about boxers the film does not focus on the boxing.  The Fighter is a great film worthy of the awards that have been given to it. The acting, the direction, and the writing are all great. I recommend the film to anybody except small children. I give the film a 9/10.

spirited away (2001)

Spirited Away is a masterpiece of animation and storytelling in general. Hayao Miyazaki crafted a coming of age story with more heart, soul and creativity than most films these days. Miyazaki creates a world rooted in Japanese folklore that is beautiful to look at. All of the themes that are typical in Miyazaki films are present from environmentalism to the dangers of greed and capitalism. These themes are presented subtly so as to not insult the intelligence of the viewer. The themes are presented by using symbolism such as the parents being turned into pigs after eating so much food justifying that they will pay when the owner of the stand comes back, the spirit with no face, and the unrecognizable monster who is revealed to be the river spirit covered in pollution. The main character of the story grows throughout the story from a bratty child into a mature adult through learning manners from ancient Japanese custom and hard work. The antagonists of the film in departure from most kid's films are three-dimensional with at least some redeeming qualities. The producer for the English dub was John Lasseter, CCO of Pixar Animation Studios and director of the first two Toy Story films. He does a introduction to the film on the DVD where you can see how much admiration for the film he has. This film went on to win best animated feature at the Academy Awards, and the movie deserved the honor. I give Spirited Away a ten out of ten. I recommend the film to all ages.

sherlock holmes (2009)

For my first post I will be reviewing a slightly older movie to try and figure out how my reviewing style will be.

I had always heard that the character of House was inspired by Sherlock Holmes, now I can see how. This Sherlock Holmes has returned to being the antisocial, drug addict of the original stories. Sherlock is played by Robert Downey Jr., who is perfectly cast as this iteration of Sherlock due to his personal life being pretty much the same as Sherlock's around ten years prior to the making of the film. A now competent Watson is played by Jude Law. Going with the House comparison, one of the flaws of the movie is that the plot is usually less interesting than the characters. Jr. and Law have great chemistry with each other. you believe that these two have been together for a long time and that their bromance is strong if a little strained. The story however seems a little weak in places such as the part with (spoiler) Professor Moriarty and the love interest which just seem shoe-horned into the plot for sequel bait and mandatory hollywood romance respectively. You could have taken out anything to do with Moriarty and the story would still have been the same. Also the mystery could have been strengthened by not revealing the villain until later in the movie as the villain reveals his plan to the audience long before Sherlock figures it out. However the mystery does well to give you all the evidence to figure out the main twist which is a sign of a good mystery. Despite some flaws, Sherlock Holmes is a solid movie. The mystery is smart, the character's relationships are interesting, and the actions is great despite the final sequence being a little over the top. I give the film a 7/10.

welcome

Hello, my name is Colton Barns. I am a freshman at William Jewell College in Missouri, but I did not grow in Missouri. I came from a small town in Oklahoma. My school was so small that my graduating class was only fifty-eight people. This blog was created as an assignment for my writing class although if you are reading this blog, that statement is probably true about you. I am honestly a really shy person, and I have a really hard time talking about myself. That problem has a side effect of me seeming like a jerk to people when I do not respond to people. For these reasons, I will be using this blog to talk about myself and my various interests. I am really interested in movies and comics. When I watch movies with friends or family, I have a habit of talking about the production of that film to the annoyance of the rest of the audience. My plan is to make this into a movie review blog assuming I can get my Netflix streaming subscription up and going. If I cannot get my Netflix subscription worked out, I still have the movies at my school library along with other resources. I want to make a movie review blog since they sound like fun to write and there is a huge amount of topics I can write about in detail. I have problems expressing myself when talking to people in public, so with this blog I hope to show people who I am and my opinions.