"Inside Out" Documentary Treatment

     For my next film project I've been assigned to do a documentary over any topic of my choice. I've decided to analyze the topic of teen depression and through this documentary I want to explain and bring to light that people suffering from this affliction aren't alone. The reason why I chose the title to be called "Inside Out" is because I want people to grab their thoughts and emotions from inside and express them outward. For the interviews Ive gathered a group of students who are brave enough to testify to their own experiences with depression and anxiety and what their friends have gone through. I'm also going to interview my dad who is a family practitioner doctor who deals with many patients who suffer from anxiety and depression as well.

   Im going to conduct my interviews in a certain way when its just the person talking and the question appears onscreen before-hand. I want the documentary itself to be in black and white because the feeling and idea of colorlessness is what I associate with depression. At the end of the documentary I would like to put a telephone number for mental help.

"Beyond The Valley of the Dolls" Movie review.

 
    Within the past half year or so I've had this freakishly outlandish movie called Beyond the Valley of the Dolls grow on me. The film was made back in the 1970s back in the golden era of hippies, rock'n roll, sexual revolution, experimentation, and exploitation. Directed by the great Russ Meyer, commonly known for his fem-sploitation flicks has crafted a psychedelic mess of a soap opera combining the genres of Rock musical, comedy, blaxploitation, art house, and horror. What really stuck out at me is that the screenplay of this movie was written by one of my favorite movie critics Roger Ebert which makes the movie even more investing. The plot basically revolves around the characters Kelly, Casey, Petronella, and the manager Harris who are apart of "rock group" The Kelly Affair accompanied by numerous subplots and other campy characters they get involved with upon their arrival to Los Angeles to find fame and fortune. John Lazar's performance of Ronnie "Z-man" Barzell's character is a major part of the reason why this movie sells to me as true 70s camp entertainment. This character is an eccentric record producer who instantly attracts and persuades the main protagonist Kelly MacNamara to sign a deal with him to be their new manager leaving Harris out which spawns a major conflict in the movie. The course of this movie plays out as a story with interwoven plots and stereotypically different characters. The film's dramatic and violent final act is what makes this a memorable and distortingly surreal experience.

  Overall this movie is purely enjoyable schlock that is by no means supposed to be taken seriously, people will miss the point. All you should do while watching this is to suspend your disbelief and embrace the cheese. At the same time this movie is in its own way quite heartfelt and concludes with a nice philosophical message which is partly what makes this film so memorable. The color palate used in this movie is bright and gorgeous, I personally dig vintage technicolor. This movie is meant to be seen more than once for it's highly rich in its story. I give this movie Grade: A.

Blackfish Documentary review

     
     Blackfish is a very sad, disturbing, and at the same time effective documentary. The documentary focuses on the lives of killer whales who are held in captivity away from their natural environment to perform in front of crowds their whole lives. The documentary featured several interviews from trainers and employees from Sea World that have decided to come forth by telling their side of the story. One killer whale, Tilikum was the films main focus due to the reason of his history of aggression towards his trainers. There were several incidents in the past not only involving Tilikum but several killer whales at Sea World and throughout the globe lashing out at their trainers even brutally killing them due to high stress being accumulated while in captivity. This documentary showed the abuse that was being afflicted on these intelligent and naturally harmless creatures. Many of these large animals are locked in dark cages barely large enough to accomodate their size often leaving scars and abrasions. These animals are caught in the wild when they are young and barely premature to look after themselves, their mothers are separated from them and killed in some cases. This list of abuse goes on and on...

   Overall I was quite impressed with the way this documentary was presented and really affected my emotions leaving me feel really sorry for what these intelligent creatures have to go through. It really does make me wonder how these animals are being held captive being exposed to high levels of stress leaving their trainers at risk of these animals lashing out. It leaves me to question if what they are doing at Sea World, exploiting these animals for entertainment purposes is really humane or not. In either case  I will never go again or look at it the same way, I find the whole act barbaric in a way. I highly recommend anyone who is a film maker or animal lover to watch this movie. The only question that remains is how this will affect the audience attendance at Sea World in the future. Grade: A-.

Don Jon review

 

   This weekend I saw a movie directed by and starring Joseph-Gordon Levitt called "Don Jon". Upon seeing this movie from the very beginning it grabbed my interest with the editing and vibrant energy of this story being told. This movie is a bit exploitive to the female audience so if you are easily offended by things that objectify women there are things in this movie you will not like, but that is entirely besides the point of the story. Don Jon is an old-fashioned New Jersey type of guy in his sexual prime. He is in the constant mood to get it on with women, but what truly does it for him like nothing else is watching porn. He has become a slave to his own computer and is excessive with his habit. Everything is going so well and he finds the real girl that he thinks he wants to be with forever. Their relationship goes fine until Don is caught with massive amounts of porn on his laptop by his girlfriend Scarlett Johanson. From then on his addiction really gets in the way of his personal life and even gets the better of him at times. He's the kind of guy who thinks he has love all figured out but really he has never found true love.

   The cinematography and editing in this movie grabbed my attention from beginning to end. This movie had its own cartoonish style and beauty. It was edgy, confident, emotional, hip, prevalent, and heartwarming. Don Jon is like a caricature of a guy on Jersey Shore. This movie is more relateable to a guy audience of course but it shouldnt prevent someone from seeing it. Overall its a very watchable and fun outing to the theatres. Grade: B+.

Lars and the Real Girl review

 
   This weekend I decided to check out the movie Lars and the Real Girl starring Ryan Gosling. This movie was done a bit far into his career but the role he played was quite atypical compared to the dashing roles he usually gets. He is a very sensitive, child-like, awkward, quirky, and complicated man. But this character isn't unlikeable, in fact I sympathize for him because deep down he is a kind person. The story begins when he moves into a new town where his brother lives with his wife. He has a new job and fails to find any meaningful social connections with people he works with. Six weeks after he moves in he orders a friend on the internet named Bianca who he reveals to his brother and sister as a plastic sex doll! At first they are apprehensive and shocked about this and do not know how to handle Lars' delusion. Lars has casual conversations with Bianca in front of people as if she were real. This movie is very charming yet very odd. Very soon his brother and wife get used to this and are told by his psychiatrist to play along with this until he gets over this odd affair he is having.

   There was nothing too visually spectacular or special as far as cinematography, the movie has a very raw and depressive feel to it yet it never fails at its humor. It was very well directed and Ryan Gosling did a great job with his performance. I would recommend this to anyone who is into offbeat comedies or wants to hear a heartfelt story. Overall I give this movie a grade: B.

Star Trek Into Darkness review

 

 
                                                 Above is one of my favorite scenes!

Star Trek into Darkness,  directed by the talented J.J. Abrams. This movie takes place a year after the first Star Trek when Jim Kirk is the new captain of the enterprise. An ominous man code-named John Harrison later revealed as Khan is responsible for a terrorist attack of the of a Federation facility in London. As the story continues Kirk is faced with a very formidable foe losing all that is closest to him. Khan then retreats to the Klingon planet Chronos which is considered restricted territory to the federation due to their history of past conflicts with Earth and their ongoing rivalry. Nearly starting a war with the Klingons in the process of attempting to capture Khan, Kirk finds that he is dealing with way more than what seems to be at hand.

  The Cinematography in this movie is spectacular, studded with J.J. Abrams lens-flares and a very fluid and adventurous way of storytelling. The action is intense and even brutal at times which gives a gritty and more realistic take on the Star Trek universe. Everything in this movie is so polished and vibrant yet straying away from the coldness of a hollywood movie simply showcasing the latest special effects. Each and every role is well casted in this movie from Spock to Scotty. At times this movie is very emotional and dark. The emotions you feel from these characters are genuine and very effective, you connect with the Star Trek crew as if they were close friends. Each time I watch this movie I am brought to tears. J.J. Abrams truly is a talented film-maker and never forgets that the story and characters come first. This is entertainment at its best! Grade rating: A.

Trainspotting movie review

 Trainspotting is a movie by one of my favorite directors, Danny Boyle. Starring Ewan Mcgregor playing the role of Mark Renton. Set in the slums of Scotland, a young heroin addict living a risky life in the fast lane with his friends Tommy, Sick Boy, and Spud who also share the same addiction. I find the lifestyle and friendship between the characters somewhat reminiscent of the film A Clockwork Orange. These group of pals find themselves in risky situations stealing and shoplifting for money to fund their addiction. The opening of the movie is explosive, exploitative, and even glamourizes heroin addiction, sets a perfect tone for the rest of the movie. As Mark plunges deeper and deeper into his addiction, he finds himself being trapped living a life with unstable and dangerous people. Certain scenes in this movie were so grotesque, yet at the same time watchable and hilarious. This film really states an accurate depiction of what a heroin addict goes through. Defying death just to get a turn-on. It goes to show what a nightmare Mark got himself into and how he barely got out.

  The cinematography and the soundtrack of the film was well composed and well shot. Not a surprise by Danny Boyle standards. The editing is fast and fluid yet very entertaining. Overall I would give this movie a grade: A.

Whites of West Virginia Documentary.

    This documentary we watched in class pretty much re-affirmed my perspective on drugs... There's responsible people who take the risks, and theres dumb shits who just can't seem to stop screwing up. The documentary takes an in-depth look of an infamous family living on a strong dependency of crack/cocaine, marijuana, and pain-killers. This is a family where the cousins go out of their way to shoot their own uncles in the face, cheat on each others relatives, and would do just about anything to  thier bodies just to experience a high. There is one scene where they celebrate their grandmother's 85 birthday party by smoking crack in each others faces right as she's watching in discomfort. That same grandmother also when to the hospital for her addiction. Overall this was a very disturbing, comical, eye-opening documentary.

History of Film Odyssey

   It really was a great pleasure to watch Film Odyssey in class today. It engaged me on every level emotionally as well as intellectually although it dealt with broad topics. Pretty much everything from George Meilles and early cinema was shown in this documentary and interpreted quite well for the average film buff to watch.  It showed the art of foreign cinema as well dealing with Japanese classic films and how they are highly relevant in todays cinema. I really liked how it gave pretty much all the directors I wanted a chance to shine and be explained. I like how they gave references to movies like The Matrix and its relevance to other movies of the past. Goes to show everything is derived from something. It makes me appreciate the history of my art once more and to know where it came from.

Blue Valentine (2011) movie review

  This is another movie that I would recommend in my pre-valentines day reviews called "Blue Valentine". Movie directed by Derek Cianfrance starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. Shows how much of a bitch it is to be in a relationship sometimes. This movie got me through a tough relationship a few years ago and it taught me how to learn and enjoy this good kinda pain. Like in (500) days of summer this is the ultimate realistic relationship movie. Its got unexpected pregnancy, abortions, a husband who keeps trying so hard to do good but always screws up, and a wife who will never give her husband a chance to do the right thing. This goes to show how a relationship can really put you in a shitty place in life like dealing with someone you never even knew and somehow found you attractive enough to get pregnant. Some scenes in this movie wreak of sexual and emotional tension that can sting quite exquisitely! Also another interesting thing about it is that it switches between the building and falling of these two individuals relationship going back and forth between time. The cinematography is pretty dark and realistic, creating a somewhat depressive mood throughout the movie. Soundtrack is very great having songs that play very well into the movie like "You and Me" by Penny and the Quarters and You always hurt the ones you love by the Mills Brothers. Although this movie at times is pretty bleak and depressing to watch, it really teaches a true lesson about love. Grade: A-

Shame (2011) review

Lately since Ive been thinking its February and Valentines is around the corner I will be doing a few reviews on some of my most favorite romantic movies that I feel are important to cinema.

   Movie stars Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan. Directed by Steve Mcqueen. Story is about a young and ambitious businessman named Brandon in New York who has a strong habit that is killing him inside. His lust for women is his biggest weakness yet its what drives him and makes him into another person. In person he is a reserved, shy, and somewhat awkward guy. In one scene in the movie he gives this woman in the subway cart he goes to work in a smoldering and very predatorial stare that speaks about him in words that cannot describe. The scene is so poetic with the background score and the woman appears to be very aroused by him and is squirming in her seat. She quickly gets off her train, and while Brandon persues her he catches a glimpse of her wedding ring and as she walks further away from him he starts to lose her and finds himself alone in a crowd full of people in the middle of a subway. I love movies that really show how the loneliness can catch up to a person when they live in a big and unpredictable city (Taxi Driver, Drive, Midnight Cowboy, Catcher in the Rye book ect.) I also like movies that are realistic and have a theme of intimacy and love because it can teach people so much about human relationships. In this movie however, Brandon finds that his addiction is not only hurting himself but others in his daily life. His sister played by Carey Mulligan starts to insist on moving in with him because she seems to be the kind of person who is tossed from place to place. Overall this movie is a very intensely sexual and aesthetic experience with great lighting and cinematography. Grade: A.

Between the folds documentary

The movie we watched today in algebra 2 was a documentary about the art I paper folding also known as origami. This art style has been adopted by thousands of artists around the world developing thier own style of paper folding and even making thier own origami paper. This art brings together both arithmetic and artistry in perfect union. I wouldn't be surprised I this movement lasts for centuries to come.

"Violence is Beautiful" logline

          Emulating the directorial style of Stanley Kubrick, Quentin Tarantino, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Gaspar Noe.

          Script is on computer device.

logline:
   
    A man contemplating suicide after the end of a long relationship seeks redemption in an experimental drug made by his psychiatrist that "cures" sadness and depression.

The Graduate (1967)

  "The Graduate". A movie a personally recommend to all film-lovers is an achievement to be remembered in cinema history. Highly quotable and referenced by other movies, this is a must-see for all film-makers. The story is about a college graduate Benjamin Braddock portrayed by Dustin Hoffman who is quite unsure about his future and where life will take him after high school. In the film he is notably awkward and uneasy around people. In the beginning he is seduced by Ms. Robinson who forces him to taker her home after she leaves the party. Them being alone Ms. Robinson begins to come onto Benjamin and he awkwardly squirms his way out of that situation. Their affair begins to grow when they find themselves at a hotel making love in one of the rooms. Benjamin soon pays the consequences when he is forced by his parents to go out with their daughter Elaine Robinson when Ms.  Robinson tells him not to. Benjamin begins to fall into a spiral of suffering when he begins to fall in love with the daughter.

     It has some very iconic shots like the one taken under Mrs. Robinson's leg looking upward at Benjamin Braddock and the scene when Benjamin is humiliated at his own birthday party when he is pushed into a pool wearing a scuba diving suit by his parents. Music also plays a key role in the movie with the songs "The sound of Silence" and "Here's to you Ms. Robinson" composed by Simon and Garfunkel. The thing I really like about this film is the provocative story and the seductive Ms. Robinson herself. Ms. Robinson in a way is a symbol of a young man's desires that he shouldn't have. In a way this movie may be a weird fantasy to teenage guys who have crushes on older more mature women. Its something that is rarely talked about because its frowned upon in our society for young men to pursue older married women. The thing I also like is the suffering that comes afterwards that Benjamin faces and how badly his life changes after having an inappropriate affair with this woman. His pursuit for Elaine brings more suffering at first but then leads to one of the most iconic and hilarious scenes in film history when he shows up to her wedding with another guy and they escape the attacking crowd. Overall I give this film an A-