The Holy Girl

                This movie had very minimalistic camera movement. About halfway through this movie I noticed that I could count the times the camera moved from its initial shot angle or direction on one hand. This allows the viewer to feel almost as if they are watching through a security camera of sorts. This makes the story feel more real to the audience. This movie addresses the side of a story that is rarely seen or talked about. Here we have a young girl who is approached and inappropriately touched by an older man. The girl, instead of seeing this as a scarring moment in her life, sees it as an opportunity to save this man. The girl is currently in catholic lessons in which they are addressing the topic of vocations and how and when someone is called to their vocation. This girl sees the man who molested her as someone who is broken and needs fixing. Also, being a young teenager she is just learning about her own sexuality which makes her curious. But her idea of saving him is not right. She attempts to make more advances on this man, encouraging him to take further steps with her. She is curious about sexuality and thinks it is her calling to become involved with this man. Fortunately, Dr. Jano sees his wrong doing and does not give into her advances towards him. He removes himself from temptation. Amelia goes from being the victim, to being the victimizer. This is a story that is rarely seen in film. Young Amelia takes pity upon the man who attempted to molest her. She confides in her friend, but assures her that she does not want Dr. Jano to get in trouble. She must take it upon herself to save him from himself. In most stories and even in life, the molested wants to seek revenge upon their molester so that they can know the pain they were put through. Instead Amelia wants to help the very man who victimized her.

Babadook

I felt like there was definitely a strong correlation between horror and gender in the first half of this movie. I felt that once the mother became possessed by Babadook the movie lost the correlation between gender and horror and became almost funny to me at times. But I felt the beginning of the movie was very effective for multiple reasons. Because the mother is a single mother of a young boy there is a feeling of helplessness that makes the future terrors in the movie seem inevitable. When a father passes away, the role of "man of the family" usually falls to the eldest son. This person takes on the responsibility of provider and protector of the family. Unfortunately for the mother, her eldest and only son is a young helpless boy. Instead of providing comfort and safety, the boy seems as more of a burden for the mother. Also, women are stereotypically seen as the weaker sex, and therefore in need of protection from the stronger sex, males. So here is this single mother, defenseless, unable to protect herself. This provides the viewer with a feeling off helplessness and an inability to control and or change the undesirable path that you are headed down. The young boy attempts to help protect the mother through his own inventions, a crossbow that shoots a dart, firecrackers (not his own invention), and a catapult that launches a softball. All these "weapons" prove to merely be a hindrance to the danger he is faced with later in the film, once again proving that a young little boy is unable to protect his mother or even himself for that matter. The mother is essentially presented as a "damsel in distress" who has no prince charming coming to save her on his big white horse in his shiny silver armor. She is up shit creek without a paddle.

Dogtooth

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Proof

     This movie takes a visual approach to building each of its characters. Information about each character is given through visual cues rather than being stated outright. For example, when we first see Martin he is walking down the street wearing sunglasses and has a walking stick designed for blind people. This tells us that Martin is either actually blind, or for some reason is pretending to be blind. As the movie progresses, you find that he isn't pretending and that he has in fact been blind his entire life. Another thing that is focused on when we first see Martin is that he is carrying a camera. Why would someone who is blind need a Camera? Actually this has been bothering me. Why did he start taking pictures? Before Andy showed up he didn't have a damn person to describe the pictures to him. I guess he had Celia, but as you see the throughout the movie, Martin never wants Celia to see, touch, or even pick up his pictures. So before Andy, he was just a blind man taking a bunch of pictures that he wouldn't let anyone he currently knew see. What the actual fuck. But i digress. This movie challenges the viewer to watch the movie as Martin sees the world. become more observant about everything that is going on. After Andy and Martin take the cat named Ugly to the vet, Martin tells Andy about all the things he noticed in the room without actually seeing. Martin notices all the subtle details. When we first meet Celia we see a slight smirk cross he face as she witnesses Martin bump into the coffee table. Why did she smile? Does she enjoy tormenting the blind? What's wrong with this person?  Clearly something is not 100% right with this woman but we don't know why yet. The third character introduced in this movie is the guy who would be come to known as the worst part of Les Miserables. When Andy is first introduced he is seen carrying trash bags out of building. He is clearly low on the totem pole wherever he works to be getting yelled out to do something like this. But even in those circumstances, he takes the time to feed the cat that lives in the alley that he so lovingly calls "ugly". I smell foreshadowing. Here is a cat that nobody wants and Andy is seen taking care of it. Then when Martin shows up in the restaurant and everyone ignores him who comes to the rescue? Javert... I mean Andy. Martin, Celia, and Andy are all introduced in the beginning of the film and throughout the film the audience fills in there back stories through visual cues and the storyline. Some of the cues are obvious, while others are more subtle. But in the end I truly feel that Celia is definitely a creepy stalker who is fucked up in the head, Andy is a dick for lying to Martin, and Martin is really just an asshole.

When Harry Met Sally

          In order to write this blog I realized that I was first going to have to watch a romantic comedy seeing as I can't remember the last time I actually watched one. So we turned to trusty old Netflix and searched for some romantic comedies. I ended up picking one at random. So i watched "the switch" and it's a boring piece of crap in my opinion, especially compared to "When Harry Met Sally". But i digress.
           I noticed some similarities  in two scenes in these movies. For one, they both had a scene where the two main characters meet back up after not seeing each other for a certain extended number of years. The particular scene from When Harry Met Sally is the one where they meet up for the last time before becoming friends. And the scene from "the Switch" is when the female lead character moves back to where the lead male lives. Both of the relationships of these two couples in the scenes at the current time is that of people who see each other as friends and are not involved romantically with each other. Both couples are also seen sharing a meal together and enjoying casual conversation. The difference comes in the interactions between the two couples. In When Harry Met Sally, the couple seem to be two people who are genuinely enjoying each others' company for the first time ever and starting a new bond. In "the switch" the couple has been friends for a while and so that connection has already been made between the two of them.
        The other scenes I want to talk about are both scenes where one or more of the main characters sees the other in a relationship with someone else other than each other. In "When Harry Met Sally" both Harry and Sally are with different people and in the scene both are shown longingly looking at the other at some point. Both Harry and Sally have a hint of jealousy see the other with someone else. This can also be seen when both Harry and Sally starts separate conversations talking about the others' date for the evening and how they seem odd or out of place. In "the Switch" only the female is depicted as being in a relationship in the particular scene. The lead male has the same jealous look seeing the female and her boyfriend together. but the female does not look jealous. Instead it is her boyfriend that is jealous of the relationship that the male has with not only the female, but also with the female's son. There's a whole plot about the son being the lead male's son and some stupid bullshit like that.
       While being two completely different movies, that vary greatly in plot and overall shittyness or not shittyness, both of these movies still have scenes that share similar themes.

Annie Hall

       This movie is unique compared to a lot of movies because throughout the movie the "fourth wall" is broken when the main character addresses the audience directly. This is done through both narration and when Alvy directly addresses the camera. For instance when he is in line for the movies  and the guy behind him won't stop sharing his opinions rather loudly. Personally, I felt that whenever Alvy directly addressed the camera it brought me into the movie more and made the situation funnier. I tend to enjoy movies that are like this because it makes the characters feel more realistic to me. I feel that when a character addresses the audience directly it allows the viewer to more easily relate to whatever the situation being portrayed on screen may be. When done well, it can bring characters to life, but if done poorly it can make character seem cheesy or like someone playing a stereotype.
       I also liked the use of narration throughout the movie. This narration added almost a "hindsight 20/20" view upon what was going on on the screen. I liked this because I know that, personally, if were having a movie made of my life I would want to be able to narrate the situations of my life as they are replayed on screen. Narration allows an insight into the thoughts and opinions of the characters on screen. This can make situational humor more amusing. For instance when the comedian is droning on and on about how he goes about his routines and Alvy addresses the audience commenting on how little he cares about this man's arrogant attitude.
    Overall, I felt that the comedy style used throughout the film was effective. Nothing was too over the top, and the narrations, and direct addresses from Alvy helped to give his character a more realistic feel.

Night of the Living Dead

     As I watched this film I found that tension was built up through a couple different ways. The first way thing I noticed, like in many movies, way that tension was built up through the music that was used throughout the movie. A lot of tense moments were accompanied by short repetitive themes that looped and grew with intensity after each repeat.
     The other more interesting tool, in my opinion, that I noticed was used to build tension was different types of camera angles and focal views. Many of the tense scenes had the camera at either an oblique angle, a low angle, or sometimes the shot was focused on some other stationary objects rather than the main characters in the scene. These camera angles gave a few different feels. I personally felt that any time the camera was at an oblique angle, it made it feel more like you as the viewer were a part of what was happening on screen. On the other hand I felt that the off centered shots, and low angle shots gave the feel of either someone who was spying on the scene or as a security camera observing the scene.
     Personally I felt that the low angled shots, and off centered shots were the most effective at building suspense. At times, I almost found scenes comical when the camera was up close because it was easier to see stunts that weren't performed well. Like when Ben was supposed to be punching someone in the face and you clearly saw him swing at the guy's chest and miss by a good 3 inches if not more.

Bigger Than Life

      Throughout the movie the main character's transformation into a different person can be seen through a couple different ways. For starters you watch as the main character struggles to remember if/when he last took his pills. As this happens you witness him start to up the dosages of the prescription medication that he is taking. As the main character progressively takes more and more of the pills you notice a more drastic change in the both his personality and his relationships with his family. This can be seen when he starts ranting at the parent-teacher conference about the problems with today's youths without a single care about what his audience thinks about his opinions. No matter how shocking they may be.
       A drastic change in his relationships with his family is also seen. The main character's relationship grows tense between he and his wife as he increases the dosages of Cortisone. Eventually he gets to the point where he writes her off all together stating that he sees their relationship as that of a divorced couple and the only reason he stays around is for their son.
      Throughout this film you watch as the main character starts out living a normal life up until he is diagnosed and prescribed Cortisone pills. After his start of cortisone you witness slight quirks that start popping up in his daily life and routine. Before you know it, the main character is nowhere near the same personality as the man that was introduced at the start of the film.

His Girl Friday

     Throughout this film there is a clear battle of the sexes that can be seen in the dialogue that is used between the characters. Hildy is working in a predominately male workplace where she is one of the few woman who are respected enough by the men in the company. There are multiple times throughout the movie where when try to cut Hildy off  or manipulate her with their words because of the status as a male in society. Even though they all respect Hildy as a writer they still see her as a woman that can be manipulated.
    This can also be seen the couple of times a woman other than Hildy comes into the scene and tries to make a point. When this happen the men in the room quickly shut they down and won't let them get a single word in no matter what. No matter how important the information the woman is trying to get across is, the men keep shutting her out with their words. Hildy is the only one that can get the men of the film to shut up and listen, but there are still a couple times where another man has to come to her rescue to back her up because even though she has some respect she is still a woman in their eyes.
     In this movie it is shown through the dialogue given to men and woman how each sex stood up in their role in society. The men always dominated. Even if a woman moved up enough to earn some respect she still was seen as weaker and easily manipulated and therefore "needs saving" by some male character.

Freaks

          I agree with the argument that this film is in defense of equality. Throughout the movie there are many examples of "freaks" and "normal" people having regular interactions with each other. Most of the "normal" people in the circus seem to not only tolerate the "freaks" but even see them as friends. Distinctly there is a scene where a "normal" person is complimenting one of the pin heads on how pretty her dress is and even goes on to point it out to the others around him that the dress looks nice.
          Cleo and the strongman she is with are the ones who seem to be most offended by the "freaks". Nobody notices this until it is found out that Cleo has been leading on Hans just for her own amusement. The "freaks" just want to be accepted into society and be treated with the same respect as everyone else around them. As long as the "normal" people treat the "freaks" with respect there is no problem at all. When the freaks come across someone who does not see them as equals and makes it apparent, they take it upon themselves to level the playing field and make that person a freak just like them. It is not the most civil way to go about bringing equality to their world, but that's the way they choose. Even though the "freaks" choose violent means to level the playing field, all they really want in the end is to be seen as equals.

Sherlock Jr.

          In the movie Sherlock Jr. there are multiple different types of comedy used throughout. The main types that I found that were used were situation comedy, ironic comedy, and slapstick comedy. Throughout the movie Keaton found himself in many situations that could be found comedic. For instance, when Keaton is first trying to make a move on the girl in the beginning of the movie and is awkwardly touching her hand, and then shying awake quickly. In this scene Keaton is almost acting as if he is afraid of the girl rather than actually interested in her. Another type of comedy used throughout the movie is ironic comedy. For example when the antagonist and his partner are trying to kill Keaton's character but all of there attempts keep backfiring, the axe, the poison, the exploding number 13 pool ball even backfires when it is used against them to blow up their car. The third main type of comedy seen in the movie was slapstick comedy. In the scene where Keaton's character jumps into the movie screen slapstick comedy is used multiple times as he falls off of crates, and almost falls off cliffs and other things of that nature. These three types of comedies are widely used throughout television today. The television show "the Office" is a situational comedy all about office life that uses all of the same types of comedy.
        
         Throughout the movie Sherlock Jr. there are many modern concepts and cinematographic tricks used throughout the movie. One event in the movie that encapsulates both of this concepts can be seen when Keaton's character falls asleep in the camera room of the theater. In this scene the protagonist has an "out of body experience" and the viewer watches as the spirit of the protagonist exits his physical body. The viewer watches as the protagonist's spirit goes around interacting with the world around him as the protagonist's physical body can still be seen sleeping against the camera. This is an impressive cinematographic trick, showing the protagonist's "spirit" and his physical body simultaneously on the screen. Also, the concept of an "out of body experience" is something that can be widely seen throughout modern cinema.
        The "out of body experience" isn't the only example are modern cinematographic tricks seen in this film. Many other impressive tricks can be seen throughout the film. For example when the protagonist does a quick-change, and jumps through a window coming out on the other side fully dressed as a woman. Another impressive moment is when the protagonist slams on the brakes of his car and the wheels stop but the body of the car itself continues rocketing forward straight into a lake. These are just a couple of the many impressive tricks that Keaton used throughout his film Sherlock Jr.

Intro

My name is Nate Morabito and I am a 4th year at UC. I am currently in the Advanced Medical Imaging Technology Program, and actually just applied for the second tier of the program this month. I personally enjoy a large variety of films. I've enjoyed movies as serious as Frost/Nixon to movies as comedic as Anchorman, but not all for the same reasons obviously. I would say the movies I enjoy the most are either ones that make me laugh or ones that keep you on the edge of your seat with action or suspense. I am looking forward to this semester and being exposed to different types of movies that I haven't seen before and broadening my knowledge of the film industry.