Lord of the Acting

When you look at movie greats, such as The Godfather and Chinatown, you can;t help but ask about what got them there. You can't resist from asking yourself the question of, "What force was it that drove them to success?" The answer: acting. Acting is the base of all great movies. It becomes the heart and soul of a film, with the capabilities to turn a "just okay film" into a "I'm speechless" remark. And this theory holds true for one of movie's best (or shall I say trilogy) Lord of the Rings.
The main actor in this film is Elijah Wood. Before landing the role of Frodo Baggins in the blockbuster hit, Elijah had a lot of former experience in the film industry. From his big screen debue as "the kid playing the gameboy" in 1989's Back to the Future, to his own leading roles in movies like Forever Young (1992) and Deep Impact (1998), Elijah has been able to capture audiences and truly display each character. Which is why it is no surprise when New Line Productions desperately seeked him out for the role of Frodo. Since the release of LOTR, Wood's career continues to flourish as he stared in 2005's Sin City and the yet to be releases 9.
Another key actor in the film was Viggo Mortensen, who played the role of Arogan, the King of Men. His supporting acting in this film not only helped the movie be as successful as it was, but also won Viggo a Oscar (Best Supporting). Before he received the call for the job, Viggo had been seen in such films as Carlito's Way (1993) and Crimson Tide (1995). New Line Productions saw his ability to portray a darker side of man, but still with emotion, which is what drove them so hard to get him for the role. Since then Mortensen has stared in such hits as The History of Violence (2005) and Eastern Promises (2007).
Yes, acting is the backbone of every great film ever created. It can ether cause a movie to flop, or rise to be proclaimed as one of the greatest movies of all time. This was the case in Lord of the Rings, as the acting from Elijah Wood and Viggo Mortensen pioneered for greatness, which the film truly achieved.

Fidning a Place in History

While screening through the prestigious list of the critics Top 100 movies of all time, it was easy to see the greatness in classics such as Citizen Kane and The Godfather, movies that have been proclaimed as modern day bibles of film making. But as I continued down the list I came across a movie absolutely nothing like the others, a movie so unique in its own class that it is the only movie in its entire genre to have ever made the critics Top 100 list. The movie: Pixar and Disnay's Finding Nemo (2003).
The film is about Nemo (Alexander Gould), a young clown fish with a big heart but a gimp fin, being taken from his home in the of coast coral reef and his protective father's, Marlin (Albert Brooks), journey to bring him back home safely. Marlin and Dori (Elen DeGeneres), a female fish with short term memory loss issues who joins him, travel all over the ocean in search of Nemo, encountering sharks, jellyfish, turtles, and even whales along the way. It is a heart filled film that viewers, both young and aged, may enjoy.
But even still, I couldn't help but ask myself, is this movie worth its prestige? I mean yes, it is evident that Finding Nemo is a great movie simply through its state-of-the-art animation and visual "eye-candy", but is it worth its historical spot on the critics Top 100 movies of all time list? I guess that answer must be left to the viewer, but I did find two main reasons why the movie surpasses not only other anime films, but most movies in the field today.
First is its under-toning humor that appeals to both kids and adults. Who can forget the shark scene, where the shark community has committed to stop eating fish because they're "friends not food". Kids laugh at this scene because a. sharks are talking and that is funny in and out of its self b. a classic play on opposites based off of the ideas that sharks are supposed to be mean and angry, and the viewer is witnessing sharks committed to making friends and being nice. And while these ideas are funny by themselves, adults tend to find the humor on a totally different tonality than is reachable by most children. For instance, in this same scene, adults may find humor in the reference to (fill in problem here) Anonymous meetings. The idea of Dori getting in front of the group and saying "Hi my name is Dori", to which the group replies, "Hello Dori." is humor only adults could pertain and find entertaining. Plus this type of humor is found throughout the film, really giving it a special touch.
The second reason, and this is the much larger of the two, is the powerful underlying message that Finding Nemo sends to its viewers. The story does much more than just win the hearts of its audience by supplying a warm ending, it also shows deep character building, which most anime's don't even try to incorporate. After dealing with the death of his wife, and the fear of losing the last of his family, Marlin has build social barriers around himself and Nemo to protect them from anything and everything. But once his worst fears come true, and Nemo is taken, Marlin is forced to grow and expand as a character within the story. He is pushed to not only tear down these social barriers and push through his fears, whether it be sharks, whales, or even the deep blue sea, but also he is pushed to relearn how to trust and put faith into the people you care about.
To me, its these powerful underlying messages and wide-humor, both of which most children may not be able to pick up on, that makes this movie up and beyond its competition. But is it good enough to earn a spot on the critics Top 100 list? Only the viewer can make that conclusion, because after all, its only a list.

Sweeney Todd

Few critics are as trustworthy and noteable as the great Roger Ebert. Whether it is well known Hollywood blockbusters, or independent forgin films, Ebert is one of the most trusted names in the business when it comes to movie reviews. Which is why it is no surpirse when I went to him for a review on the new musical-gone-movie Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
I Chose this movie because it is one of the most recent movies I saw in the theatres. I was going to do Rambo(2008), but for some odd reason it was hard to find a respectable critic review for it. So I chose the dark, sedistic, musical instead. Ebert starts the review by describing it as, "the bloodiest in film history, and it isn't a jolly romp, either, but a dark revenge tragedy with heartbreak, mayhem and bloody good meat pies." (Ebert) That's one of the two things I really like about Ebert, he's able to tell about the movie...without telling you anything about the movie! He will talk about the things that make the movie work, such as the always relyable actor Johnny Depp and the way Tim Burton filmed and captured the movie, but he will never actually give away anything about the movie. He will never give away the ending, as some critics do, or ruin the plot line by pointing out only the flaws. He does a good job capturing the possitavies that the movie was able to pull off, and really put his two cents in and get you ready to see a masterpiece, but not over-hyper it. "The acting is so good that it enlists us in the sordid story, which even contains a great deal of humor"
The other major part of his reviews I like is when he goes deeper than most people look at a film, as just a plot line and some acting, but really goes deep and looks at directing; in this case Tim Burton. Ebert talks about what has worked for Burton in the past, and how he tries to encorerpate that into Sweeney Todd. "It combines some of Tim Burton's favorite elements: The fantastic, the ghoulish, the bizarre, the unspeakable, the romantic and in Johnny Depp, he has an actor he has worked with since "Edward Scissorhands" and finds a perfect instrument." (Ebert) Ebert also goes on to look at the little things, such as lighting, sets, customes, and in this case melody (which is actually sung by Depp and Bonham Carter). He finally calls it, "... a feast for the eyes and the imagination..."
All in all, I tend to trust what Roger Ebert has to say about movies. He looks at the things that make film great, not just big names and special effects. But he takes into consideration the little things such as script play and setting. Because of these things I gladly follow through the eyes of an expert, and trust the words of a legend.

"I Just Felt Like Destroying Something Beautiful"

I chose to do the movie Fight Club. In this clip we see a great use of distributing power between the fighters. As Jack, played by Edward Nortan, starts to dominate the fight and get on top of Will, the blonde, we see this distribution through High and Low angles. As Jack is on top, the director uses low angles to try and portray power withing Edward Nortan's character. When he shows Will being beaten helplessly, he uses high angles to portray a sense of domination.
He also uses a good variety of close ups and medium shots to show emotion. Especially while the scene flows into slow motions, and the spectators start to realize the damage being done, close ups are used to express fear and concern within their characters.

Favorite Movie

One of my favorite movies is Finding Nemo. The movie is about a father and son's underwater journey starring Nemo, a young clownfish with a gimp fin. When Nemo is stolen from his coral reef home by scuba divers, his timid father, Marlin, must then travel the ocean, and search all of Sydney to find him. Along the way he runs into Dory, a blue tropical fish with slight short term memory loss. Their jounry leads them to meet sharks, battle jellyfish, and even surf with the turtles!

I personally am in love with this movie for two main reasons. First, the animation is outstanding. Walt Disney really went over and beyond with this film, truly utalizing the full effects of computer editing and animation. The secodn reason I love this film is for its suttle sense of humor that you catch everytime you watch it. Its lines like "No eating here tonight, you on a diet!" that really can really tickle the senses.

Roger Ebert, proclaimed film critic also agrees with my on the films greatness. As he stated on his website, "'Finding Nemo' has all of the usual pleasures of the Pixar animation style--the comedy and wackiness of 'Toy Story' or 'Monsters Inc.' or 'A Bug's Life.' And it adds an unexpected beauty, a use of color and form that makes it one of those rare movies where I wanted to sit in the front row and let the images wash out to the edges of my field of vision."