Rating of Movies Watched This Semester

 1= Favorite, 12= Least Favorite

1.     Fruitvale Station: I like the story of this movie and the fact that the story didn't specifically point out racism. The acting in the movie was great and very realistic and I felt I could relate to the story.

2.     O, Brother Where Art Thou: This was the second time I saw this movie and the reading helped me appreciate the movie more. I enjoyed the soundtrack/score; it seemed to add more to the movie. The Odyssey is one of my favorite stories and I think the way that the Coens reinvented the story was unique.

3.     Killer of Sheep: The acting in this movie wasn't particularly good, but I liked the message of the movie and the way the movie was shot. The cinematography seemed to add more to the film and what it was about because it was imperfect. I thought it was a very realistic representation of the black ghetto. 

4.     Moonrise Kingdom: I really love the cinematography and choreography of the scenes in this movie. It was quirky and I feel that it captured the essence of the childhood in a weird quirky way.

5.     Awara: Even though this movie was black and white, when I play back scenes from this movie in my head I see the scenes in color. I think this movie sort of embodied Bollywood (for me). I felt the exaggeration of the acting combined with the dramatization of the music made this movie colorful.

6.     Freaks: The message in this movie was good and I like the way that the story took place in a circus even thought the setting could have been in a more traditional setting; the setting made the story more unique.

7.     Detour: I really liked this movie because it reminded me of Carmen Jones (one of my favorite movies). I like the story of the beaten down hero turned antihero and how Vera dies.

8.     The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: This was my third time seeing this movie and enjoyed it more than I did before, but the dubbing in the movie still prevented me from liking it 100%. I appreciated the aesthetics of the movie after watching it this time.

9.     Wendy and Lucy: I like the message of this movie and the fact that the message was delivered subtly. I found the movie very slow and felt the message/story could have been told differently.

10.  My Own Private Idaho: I feel like this would have been a great movie if I were a stoner. I wasn’t particularly fond of the acting, especially the scene when River Phoenix tells his brother that he knows who his father is.

11.  Sherlock, Jr.: I am not a big fan of slapstick comedy, and I felt that the parts that are supposed to be funny are ridiculous. I guess it is just that times have changed and what was funny then, is not funny now.

12.  Spoorloos: The sequencing of the story made it more interesting, but if it had not been for that I would have hated this movie completely. This was the only movie in the sequence I would say that I disliked, plus I felt it was kind of sappy.

Overall, I appreciated taking a look at different I wouldn't have thought to watch and the articles on the movies helped me appreciate certain aspects of the movies, even if I didn't enjoy the movie all the way.

Fruitvale Station Screen Shot Analysis

Fruitvale Station




The scene I chose to analyze is the scene in which the lost dog is hit by a car and the driver of the car just rides off like they don't care.

At first we see Oscar at the gas pump, pumping glass. It starts as a close up on his had then moves to a closes up on his face where we see something has caught his attention.

Then the camera goes to a medium close shot of a dog (a pitbull which is considered one of the most dangerous and misunderstood breed of  dogs).

At first we see that close up of Oscar interacting with the pitbull (who is very mild mannered)during which he checks the dog for a collar but doesn't find. This verifies that the dog is lost and does not necessarily have a owner.

After the screen shift back to Oscar leaving the dog to go pump his gas we hear the sound of what seems like a car and a dog whelp. This is followed by a shot of Oscar yelling at a car and chasing after it shouting epithets as the car drives away into the back ground.

Then the camera shifts to view of the dog lying in the street. The view is over the shoulder of Oscar so that neither Oscar or the dog are the main focus.

As Oscar walks over to the dog, the camera shift to a close up of the dog as we can clearly see that the dog is bleeding out. This mimics the ending where we see Oscar bleeding out after he has been shot. Also in the background we see that no one is around which could serve to be a metaphor for no one cares.

At the end of the scene we see a teary eyed Oscar and close the eyes of the nameless dog as the dog dies and lay him on the sidewalk out of the way of further cars.

I think this scene serves two purposes. The first purposes is the scene aligns the fate the dog and Oscar together. Both the dog and Oscar are misunderstood "breeds" and both have certain stereotypes about them. Both are murdered for no reason and it would seem that both Oscar and the dog are left to die (of sorts). This scene foreshadows Oscars fate (even though we see in the beginning what happens) and in aligning his fate with the dog's, it seems to say that Oscar's life is worth as much a dog (or so it insinuates that those who committed the crime and those that punished Oscar's killers seemed to think so). The second purpose of this scene is to show the humanity of Oscar. We see that Oscar did look to see if the dog belonged to anyone, and we see that he clearly had sympathy for the dogs life and sought to show it kindness. This, therefore,was meant to counterbalance the wrongful acts that we had already saw/heard Oscar commit (the lying, infidelity, drug dealing) with the fact that he was still a good person, just a good person who had made mistakes. I think this scene is thus very crucial to the plot of the movie.

Screen Shot Anaylsis: Moonrise Kingdom

Canoe Shot

In this screen shot we see the front of the canoe as Shakusky canoes downstream. I think this scene is perfect in the fact that it sort of mirrors the introvertedness and solitude that Shakusky probably experienced his whole life (he is an orphan and without his parents or without anyone who really cares for him or looks after him). We see the river winding down in the distance. As it winds it starts to disappear in the background. This can signify Sam on his journey to what we think at this time is the unknown. We don't know at this time that he is going to meet Suzy. On either side of the river we see the woods and the rocks. We don't know what is in the woods which, can mean that we don't know what is in store for Shakusky. It can also signify the two opposing sides that Shakusky faces: the side of the those who do not care about him (social services and his foster parents) and those who do care for him (Suzy and scout leader Ward). Also in the foreground we see that Sam's rifle and bags are in focus. In the middle ground we the raccoon at the front of the boat. I think this scene seeks to emphasize that Shakusky is a loner but at the same time self sufficient (emphasized by the gun).