Classic Keanu

This film was awesome, filled with action, bad acting and a whole lotta crime. I believe that I watched this film for the first time back in 1991 when it was first released with my older brother. If I remember right, we were both on the edge of our seat. During the beach fight, or the big chase, we were hooked with excitement. These are the types of movie that I enjoy.
Two thumbs up to director Katherine Bigleow for putting this great film into my large DVD collection at home. Now that I own this film, I can continue to feel like a kid while watching it over and over. I personally own this movie, and never thought to check out who was behind it. I would have never thought that it would have been a female director. This amazed me as I felt that only female directors worked on chick flicks or musicals. Not action packed excitement like Point Break.
I guess it goes to show that you never know till you know. It is good to see that female directors branched out away from chick flicks, and made an amazing film such as Point Break. As far as the action goes in this film, there was also some pretty corny jokes, which always gets a laugh out of someone. Anyways, long story short, this was a great movie that generations will enjoy for centuries to come.

"CLUELESS"

Let me begin by stating how I felt about this movie, "Clueless". I am very ashamed to say it, but this is not the first time that I sat through this movie, and in a way, both times I was forced into watching it. Whether it was my fiancee, or a CSUS course, I felt force in some way. Yeah I know, no one stuck a gun to my head and made me watch it, but when your fiancee complains all the time about how much sports you make her sit through, with a heart, you begin to feel bad. Anyways, I really can' stand this movie, and if I never had to watch it again, I would be filled with joy and happiness.
To many people in todays society, Amy Heckerling did a great job on this film. To me, and most of my fellow colleagues, this film shouldn't have hit the streets. Amy did make a few other noteables that seemed ok such as; Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Johnny Dangerously and Look Who's Talking. Why or how this film was produced is besides me. During the film, I was unable to pick out a plot, so if someone can help me out, that would be great. This film has chick flick written all over it, hence the reason that I found absolutely no enjoyment in it whatsoever.
The only plot that I noticed was based on the ever so huge, "DUMB BLONDE PHENOMENON", which showed the actress Cher transform from an airhead, to a somewhat smart blond. I will give it to her, the moments that I actually had my eyes open and wasn't nodding off to sleep, she did a good job with the role. Overall, this film stunk, but thats just my poor old opinion.

Women Directors

This week I felt like doing something a bit different, therefore I am going out on a limb. I wanted to Blog all about my first three weeks in this course. At first when I signed up, I wasn't sure of what to expect, was it going to be easy or hard? Thats what most students tend to think when signing up for courses, or am I the only one?
I am not a huge movie buff, so I thought that this course could help broaden my horizons. Now that we are in the fourth week, I can truly say that is what it did. Before taking this course, I have not even thought of, nor heard of any of these films, let alone thought about a women directing them. I find it to be pretty interesting that at the age of twenty-six, I have missed out on a few good flicks, maybe more. Now I know that you can't see them all, and a few that we have seen have been a bit weird, but I can honestly say that I have learned a bit. After all, that is what we are all here for?
Before taking this course, I would use films as a social exercise, or as something entertaining. I have now learned to look deeper into films, and what it is that the director or characters are trying to portray. What message are they trying to send to us, and how are they communicating it through film? As I watch movies of today, I tend to notice myself searching for meaning, and understanding why the director did the things that he did. In the end, I have found film to be a bit more interesting, as well as having women direct them.

"The Wild Party"

I think that I am getting the hang of this whole blog thing, but I'm not jumping to any conclusions. For this week, I have decided to give response to one of the quiz questions that we were assigned. I picked this particular one because it caught my attention, and the more I thought about it, I wasn't the only persons attention that it caught. I am referring to the question about the film, "Wild Party" and how important it became to development and history of sound technology.

As I sat down and really thought about this, and what it must of meant to the film industry, I was amazed. I'm sure that all of you reading this know the answer to this question being the fine, young and intelligent students that you are, but I thought that I would restate it. In 1929 the film, "Wild Party" was directed by Dorothy Arzner and in the film, she placed the microphone on some sort of fish pole. This allowed for actresses such as Clara Bow to move around on the set more freely. What a breakthrough for sound technology, and to think that it was all done by a simple fish pole.

This brings me to my next thought about sound technology. Just by using a simple fish pole, Dorothy Arzner opened the door wide open to tons of sound technology breakthoughs. If you ever go to Universal Studios and catch one of the set doors open, you will notice what their fish pole looks like in todays sets. It is a motorized camera stand, that is operated by remote control. Without good ol' Dorothy, where would we have been. Till next time, enjoy, I'm out!