Week 1 Blog Post

Movies are something I've been fascinated with since I was a young child.  I remember loving movies all of my life because they have always transported me to a different time and place no matter where I was.  There are a few characteristics that I feel are essential to creating a memorable film.  First off, I think a movie needs to be visually interesting.  Whether this is achieved through clever camera shots like in a Quentin Tarantino movie, or if it's memorable visual effects like in Star Wars, I think this is important.  Secondly, I believe a film needs to have interesting characters.  Characters like The Terminator, or Steve Zissou in the Life Aquatic, stick with you long after you've finished watching the movie.  Lastly, but certainly not least, a movie has to have a great plot.  At the heart of every great movie is a memorable story, whether it's about an intergalactic war or a romance between two lost lovers, it has to grip us and get us invested in the story.

When applying my requirements of a good movie to Le voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon), I saw all three of my requirements met,.  First of all, I viewed the movie with no volume as it was originally screened.  I was very surprised at how it entertained without any dialogue or music.  The special effects (for the time) in the movie were really cool to see.  The space ship, as well as the moon set definitely were visually interesting.  As for an interesting character, the leader of the expedition group would qualify seeing as how there was no dialogue.  Despite that, you could tell he was a feisty leader and was determined to get to the moon and back.  Lastly, the story was very easy to understand.  The group was trying to make it to the moon, and once they ran into trouble they had to get home.  These are all really great traits the movie had and I can see why it is considered a classic.  To think this film was made over 100 years ago is mind blowing.  

Moving on to the Great Train Robbery, I have to be honest and say I didn't feel as strongly about it as I did Le voyage dans la lune.  It definitely had a compelling story about a group of bandits stealing the train and the passengers belongings, but I felt it lacked a compelling character and wasn't as visually interesting.  However, I can see for the time that it may have been extremely visually interesting.  The heist on the moving train, as well as the horses running through the forest at the end with the shootout was pretty good for a movie so old. 

Now, moving on to two of my favorite movies.  This exercise for me was extremely hard because I love so many different genres, not to mention individual films themselves.  I decided to pick two very different movies, but for very much the same reasons.  First, I am a guy, so I love action movies.  One of my favorite movies of all time, if not my favorite, is Terminator 2: Judgment Day.  The reasons I love it so much can fill a whole blog on their own, but I will stick to the criteria I have for a great movie.  It is an extremely visually interesting movie.  From the opening sequence with the robots fighting in the future, you know this movie is going to be pretty crazy. 
Aside from the amazing visual effects throughout the movie, it also has memorable characters.  From the iconic performance of Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator, to Linda Hamilton as the hard as nails Sarah Conner, you get the feeling that the actors really became their roles for this movie.  I feel all of the performances are amazing, whether it is an action movie or not.  Finally, the story.  The story was great from start to finish.  The mind bending plot of the Terminator coming back in time to PROTECT this time around, coupled with the T-1000 being almost indestructible, left many tense moments throughout the movie.  The ending with John Conner becoming attached to the Terminator, and the Terminator finally understanding while people cry, had emotional resonance after the thrill ride of a movie is over.  An all time classic in my opinion.

My second favorite movie is a huge departure from my first, but shares all of the same traits.  My second favorite movie is Lost in Translation.  Lost in Translation is a beautiful film and is basically the opposite of T2.  The plot is very minimal, but really touched me when I saw it in the theatre.  It's basically the story of Billy Murray and Scarlett Johansson's characters meeting in Japan.  Bill is there for work and feels isolated and alone, and Scarlett's there because her husband is also working in Japan but is gone most of the time.  The isolation both characters portray is something anyone can relate to when they're lonely, but once they meet and become friends you feel the genuine happiness both of them have. 

As for the setting, it shows many different places in Japan.  From the standard boring hotel room that can be anywhere in the world

to a very foreign and beautiful Japanese flower garden

the film is able to transport you to that time and place.  Lastly, the performances of Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson are amazing.  I believe Bill Murray should have won the Academy Award for best actor for his performance, which I think is timeless.  The gamut of emotions Bill makes one feel when watching this movie is incredible. 

In conclusion, I feel films are one of the greatest artistic mediums of our time.  They can transport us to the future, the past, foreign lands, space, or anywhere someone can imagine.  They can evoke emotions out of us or dazzle us with action and suspense.  There is no other artistic medium that can achieve all of these things the same way. It is for this reason I am looking forward to this class and studying new films I've never seen and learning how to analyze them in a way I've never thought of before.