Rear Window Movie Review

Rear Window

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window is a cinematic feat that could not have been done better than the master of suspense himself. For those who are not familiar with Hitchcock or anything else that is old, a similar yet fairly off film Disturbia, is relatable for newer viewers. Rear Window is the story of a photographer who is unable to leave his apartment because of his broken leg, begins to unravel a murder from his very own window. Released in 1954, Rear Window is considered to be one of the greater films of all time.

This film has a very voyeuristic feel to it because of the perspective it comes from. The whole film is shot in one room due to the main character’s disability. Being able to see the rest of the apartment complex from his window gives the audience a feel of curiosity knowing what other tenants do on their spare time. The key aspect of this film is the “Male Gaze” it resembles toward everything that the audience is showed. The dancer is an example that would not have been shown if the main character was a female, or maybe the dance would have been portrayed a lot differently, maybe with envy.

Alfred Hitchcock flawlessly delivers an intense film using the “Male Gaze”. Though most films are considered to be seen through a “Male Gaze’ because most directors were and are male, in this case it is heavily influenced by the male’s actions. The sense of depth throughout the apartment complex and how many rooms are visible through the window of this main character is interesting because anything could happen. In this case a murder happened. 

Unknown Movie Review

Unknown

            “That he may discover the worlds inside love,” a quote displayed in Unknown, insignificant to the movie just as Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) is in this film. Directed in 2011, by Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax, Orphan), Unknown follows the story of a Botanist, who travels to Berlin with his wife (January Jones) in order to attend a convention, though the excursion gets short-lived when Dr. Harris gets into an accident, inducing him to a Coma and wakes up to find out his identity has been stolen. Filled with unpredictable yet foreseeable events, this plot twisting thriller uses technique and symbolism known as the Dutch tilt/oblique angle and foreshadowing.

Even though the movie is shot in Berlin, Germany director Jaume Collet-Serra uses the Dutch tilt thrice in this film, to enhance the psychological tension in all three scenes. The first scene expresses the confusion Dr. Harris is feeling when his wife doesn’t “know” who he is, the handling of the Dutch tilt in this scene suggests the disorientation of reality that he is facing. A subsequent scene in the film unfolds a picture  that the alleged Dr. Harris presents to Liam Neeson’s character, to show proof that he is the “real” Dr. Martin Harris. Neeson’s figure views the photograph, the Dutch tilt is slightly used to add the emotional effect of shock, and lead Neeson’s character to faint. The last use of the Dutch tilt comes in a scene when Dr. Harris (Neeson) is drugged by an unidentified man, when Harris escapes his confines he starts to make his approach out of the hospital. What I like most about this specific scene, is as Harris hurriedly stumbles his way to freedom, the Dutch tilt is used to show the drowsiness caused by the drugs inserted in him.

The technique used to emphasize psychological distortion is well used, just as exceptional as the symbolic meanings in the film. Looking carefully, most thrillers and plot twisting movies throw in a bit of symbolism to allow the audience to play around with what could happen later in the film. Whether the symbolism is the setting of season or a certain object in the film that could lead to foreshadowing. The season in Unknown is Winter, the season of death, which allows the audience to guess that a certain type of death or killing will be arising in later events. Matching the season is the white and light blue tone of color the film uses to apprehend the dull lifeless setting of the confused Dr. Harris. One aspect of foreshadowing is actually in the first ten minutes of the film, when a close-up of Dr. Harris’ briefcase is shown alone in a luggage carrier, to suggest that he left his briefcase at the airport and will go back and attempt to reclaim his belonging, in which he does.

Captivating and mind twisting in every aspect, Unknown is an eye absorbing original thriller that everyone should witness, especially if looking for a brain twister. Liam Neeson. yet again, gives a vigorous performance leeching off of his hit movie Taken. Neeson may have a hard time trying to find his daughter and identity, but in the end it won’t be hard to find this movie on DVD.

Jaws Movie Review

Jaws

Steven Spielberg may have been shocked by the popular improvised line, “We’re going to need a bigger boat,” but who knew Universal was going to need a bigger bank account. Jaws is the story about a great white shark that terrorizes the small island of Amity, and the three men that set out to kill it. Filmed in 1975 and considered to be the first Blockbuster, Jaws can be considered the film that got Director Steven Spielberg the high praise known to follow him presently. This culturally significant film reprises the many key elements Spielberg touches in his films as well as great cinematography and editing.

Similar to his 1993 film Jurassic Park, Spielberg does a phenomenal job of terrorizing the audience with the subtlety of silence and the camera. In Jaws the silence is replaced by the use of the incredible score by John Williams, while Jurassic Park relies on the sound of the dinosaurs which is terrifying. The camera work includes a scene using the Vertigo Effect, scenes shot underwater, and working around the exterior and interior of a not so ‘big” boat. A scene portraying very good editing is the scene when the main character is focusing on the beach and the camera cuts closer and closer as beach goers pass by the camera.

Spielberg used all the elements at his disposal with caution and precision. The production for this film had a couple of bumps but Spielberg took it all into his hands and made sure those bumps got flattened. The mechanical shark had more than a handful of problems. The shark is not shown until the middle of the film. Spielberg used the score in order to overcome the difficulties he had with the shark. The boat used for the third act was probably tough for shooting. Spielberg used a boat to get a lot of the longer shots while he probably used a rig built on the boat to get a lot of the tracking shot around the boat.

Like Crazy Movie Review

Like Crazy

            “Patience” is virtue. It’s a gratifying thing that I pay no mind of it, because Director Drake Doremus (Douchebag) creates a love story that doesn’t require an audience to sit back and observe the infatuating inclination of adoration, he simply gets straight to the point. Like Crazy (2011) stars the hidden yet popular Anton Yelchin (Alpha dog), and the woman who captured my attention with her luminous and flawless features Felicity Jones (The Tempest). Shot in California and England, this Drama tells the story of Anna, a British born citizen attending college in Los Angeles, whom falls in love with Jacob, an American born furniture architect major who attends the same college. From their first date and on, the story of their new found love takes a trip of distance, love, and patience. Drake Doremus does an extravagant job of inspiring his past relationships to create a story of devotional love by having his actors improvise the dialogue and edit the scenes to convey the emotion throughout the film.

Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones couldn’t have played their roles any better. Anton’s character plays a shy and understandable guy, while Felicity as ironic as her name, plays a happy and curious young woman, and the mesh between the two is phenomenal. The help of their roles comes from the films visualization of realism, from the acting to the hand-held camera shots. Making the film as realistic as it appears comes from the improvisation of both the actors. Director Drake Doremus wanted to present the dialogue as legitimate as possible by creating a screen play with actions and no dialogue. He would set the camera to record Yelchin and Jones for up to thirty minutes to have the realistic chemistry between the two “admirers”. Even when watching the movie, every scene, whether it was the passion, anger, or jealousy; I literally felt that happiness, that hatred, that envy, because the characterization is so genuine.

Just as reputable as the improvising, the editing plays a major role in the emotional encounters of Anna and Jacob. All it took was one date to lock in fate. After the first date, a collection of scenes were shown to praise the many following dates after the first. One after the other, scenes were shown to display how good of a time they were having. What I really like about the editing in this film, is the way Doremus lapses time. I will say that it threw me a curve ball and I lost track of the date within the movie, but he does a good job of mentioning months and years to remind the viewer where the film stands at that particular point of time. Parallel editing is also used to compare and contrast their lifestyles away from each other, showing how similar yet opposed each of their lives actually are.

This movie had many emotions running through my head; exhilaration, annoyance, and relief. A movie that is capable of bearing down those feelings in one sitting is definitely a must see in my book. Though an abundant amount of alcohol is consumed, I highly recommend this film for all to see, especially most people from ages sixteen and up can relate in some kind of way to this film. One message that this film sends, proves that marriage is more than a piece of paper, it’s the final piece of the puzzle that connects two people whom which are in love.