Children of Men by Alfonso Cuarón

Children of Men by Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón, and Mexican cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, is a futuristic story unlike many of the movies we have today in the same genre. Most movies today are cut, cut, cut, with edits lasting a few frames and moving on - desperately trying to convey action, pacing, and suspense.

In Children of Men, Cuarón slows things down. We are able to see the characters come to life and transcend the frame, something very powerful when done correctly. In some instances there are shots that last minutes, although with so many wonderful aspects of film making - directing, acting, cinematography, set design, etc. - we do not feel the shot drag on, nor do we realize that there hasn't been any edits.

I very much enjoyed the look of the film, and I feel it enhanced the storytelling greatly. Here Cuarón and Lubezki use a desaturated palette, enabling the futuristic world to seem grey, hopeless, and grim. Lubezki also operates the camera handheld in many different scenes, enabling us to dive into the world with the characters.

This is an excellent adaptation focusing on the societal aspects of the hopeless future thought up in P. D. James' novel, "Children of Men."

Touch of Evil by Orson Welles

If you ever want to see one of the longest and most elaborate introduction sequences to a movie you need to watch the movie Touch of Evil by Orson Welles. It is outstanding! It is a very long tracking shot using a crane on a dolly and finally finishes hand-held, clocking in at about 3 1/2 minutes long! It's very suspenseful and interesting, and while the camera movements and technique are smooth through out most of the shot, at the end it switches to hand-held to stir up our emotions and help us feel like we're there-- amid the chaos.

Another interesting note about this movie is the fact that the studio re-edited, re-shot, and even replaced some parts of the movie with out Orson Welles permission. He later wrote and turned in a 58 page report stating the things he didn't like about the current version and what needed to be done to make the story work. The studio ignored him and released their own version instead. In the 70's they found a preview print before the final edit was done, and in 1998 another producer decided to re-edit Touch of Evil following Welles's report as closely as possible-- a task only for the legendary editor Walter Murch.

Memento by Christopher Nolan

Memento is the first movie that I saw by director Christopher Nolan. Its the story of a man who's wife has been raped and murdered and is trying to solve the mystery of who did it while he battles short term memory loss. The way he is able to cope with day to day life, and his investigation, is by taking polaroids of people and locations and jotting down notes on them. What makes this movie so incredibly memorable is the way the movie is told.

Christopher Nolan opts to tell the story in reverse. Each scene ends with the first few seconds of the beginning of the previous scene so that the audience can connect the two scenes together. This all might sound very confusing, however in the first three scenes the structure of the film is exaggerated so that the audience is familiar with the film's vocabulary and is able to follow along for the rest of the film. This ingenious way of telling the story helps us as the audience see the world through the main character's eyes of not being able to remember what happened 5 minutes ago.

To help us cope with experiencing a story backwards there is another story line that is told normally, chronologically from beginning to end, and is intercut through out the reverse story line. This story line is shot in Black and White so that we can immediately identify it. The music is also different here, its cold and repetitive, which is very different from the main score, which is sad and lonely.

This is a very unique film and is one that definitely has to be watched if you haven't done so already.

The Shining by Stanley Kubrick

The Shining by Stanley Kubrick is a great example of excellent directing!! There are many Kubrick trademarks throughout the movie and these, plus many other aspects, are what make it such a great movie. First and foremost, the directing is phenomenal- we've all heard of how he grilled and drilled the actors through hundreds of takes until he got the performance he felt was needed for each scene. I'm sure in some takes when Shelly Duval's character is completely falling apart there is some real frustration and despair taking place.

The shot choices, as well as the pacing, are excellent. He used a lot of long takes in the film, mostly to increase tension. Although the Steadicam was used in a few movies before this film, The Shining was where the Steadicam became a tool for storytelling. When you needed to move the camera you were always limited by the tracks of the dolly or the length of the crane - until the invention of the Steadicam. With a Steadicam you can mount any camera on it and it mechanically stabilizes the motion while the operator walks, or even runs with it allowing directors to move the camera whichever way they choose. The Steadicam was used extensively throughout The Shining, allowing us to move with the characters. The Steadicam work in the final scene is among film's most memorable moments.

The music and sound effects are remarkable as well. From the excellent original musical score, to the classical pieces, to even the sound effects of Danny's tricycle as it goes over hardwood floor and then soft rugs, Kubrick sets the tone of the film. Another interesting observation is the amount of shots with mirrors there are in the film, which leads us to believe not everything is alright in the mind of the characters.

Based on the novel by Stephen King, The Shining is an excellent movie which I recommend to everyone. This is one of my favorite works of director Stanley Kubrick.

Sleepy Hollow by Tim Burton

Well since it's the month of October and Halloween's around the corner, I re-watched the movie Sleepy Hollow by director Tim Burton the other day. One of the things that I really like about this movie is the combination of Mexico's Emmanuel Lubezki's cinematography and the atmospheric effects to achieve a very distinctive tone throughout the movie. I feel the cooler, unsaturated color palette, as well as Lubezki's use of light, shadows, and atmospheric effects really portray a feeling of suspense and eeriness which helps us as the audience connect with the story.

The direction, acting, art direction, sets, and music are excellent throughout in this story based on Washington Irving's American folklore tale, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," in one of my favorite works by director Tim Burton.

First Post!

Hello world! This is my very first entry in the world of blogs, so please bear with me.

Probably the thing that I enjoy the most in life is telling, or listening, to a good story. No doubt that this is the reason why I have such a passion for watching movies. As the years have passed, I have grown to love several aspects of film more and more, and have tried to come to understand it- from the audience's perspective, as well as the auteur's.

I will be selecting movies that have somehow left an impression on me, and will discuss certain key ideas on why I think they are great, or where I would have liked to have seen something different. This will be, by no means, a "Best," or "Top Movies" list. There will be old movies, recent movies, classic movies, bad movies, movies of no particular genre, and also in no particular order. Most importantly, these will be movies that have a particular style I enjoy, and some that execute ideas very well.

I hope to point out certain aspects of these movies that you haven't seen or experienced and hopefully generate some new thoughts and ideas.