A Trip to the Moon and The Extraordinary Journey

Being myself an fan of silent film, one cannot speak of cinema and refuse to acknowledge the genius of Georges Melies. With gratitude beyond compare I thank my friend Joe Kowalski for lending me his copy of the restored A Trip to the Moon  in its original 1902 colors.  I feel as if my film reviewing technique is sub-par to measure the greatness of the most ionic and recognized silent film.  (Who hasn't at least see the rocket crashing into the eye of the moon?)  The copy also has a documentary about the restoration of the film that is very interesting, but we won't be talking about it.







Mirrors Society........................................5/5
Moral.......................................................3/5
Plot and Script..........................................4/5
Director....................................................5/5
Casting and Characters.............................5/5
Costume and Design.................................5/5
Cinematography........................................2/5
Good use of Special Effects.......................5/5
Musical Score............................................5/5
                                                                             Editing.......................................................5/5
                                                                             Total.........................................................44/50
                                                   44/50= 88%  This is an Outrageously Awesome Film.

Mirrors Society
How does a film made over a hundred years ago still mirror society you ask?  First, it was made in a time of great change (that still continues a hundred one years later).  When this film was made, everyone dreamed of doing the impossible, of flying to the moon.  We still dream of doing the impossible and in a society that says the sky's the limit, leaves a trip to the moon in our dreams.  5/5

Moral
While this film can be said to be a dream, and is relatively good in nature, it does commit the sin of sociology, ethnocentricity. And can be viewed as a victory for the wizards, bit a loss for the lobsters.  But the dream is still there. 3/5

Plot and Script
While very simple, the plot of this adventure is very powerful.  Even with the lack of words.  In fact, I think that the lack of words actually increase the appeal of the plot.  4/5

Director
If you know anything about Melies, I bet you'd give him six point just because it's Melies.  This man worked so hard.  Being the director, actor, screenwriter, costume and set designer, and editor.  This guy did a lot.  One might say he was Hitchcock and Welles combined when it came to perfectionism.  5/5

Casting and Characters
Who doesn't like little old men with white beards, bashing things with umbrellas?  It's just pure fun.  5/5

Costume and Design
Hand made sets and costumes, with such detail and creativity.  Who could ask to see anything better.  This is what it's all about.  Simply beautiful. 5/5

Cinematography
The only reason that this category scores so low for me is because the camera stays in one place.  While that was the style at the time, this film would be awesome twice over if the camera had different angles and such. 2/5

Good Use of Special Effects
Melies being a magician by trade knew how to wow a crowd.  He never never gave too much, just enough to keep you on the edge of your seat wanting more.  5/5

Musical Score
While Melies had no power here, I really like the modern score that is accompanied to this restored version. It makes the movements of the actors look like a complicated dance.  It is very surreal. 5/5

Editing
I mentioned before that Melies did his own editing.  This in part serves to the spectacular special effects that he created.  His magician's instinct allowed him to realize when to cut film start again and such.  He was a master of editing.  5/5

Overall
This film will always be a special film for me.  It captures one's innermost desire, to dream the impossible dream.  For that it is a Masterpiece.

IMDb rates this film at a 8.2
Rotten Tomatoes rates this film at 100% Fresh

Luckily for you, because this film is 102 years old it is in the public domain.  So you can comfortably enjoy 15 spectacular minutes enjoying this wonderful masterpiece.

Lincoln

Today I decided that I should go see Lincoln for two reasons.  First, it has been out for a while now and I really wanted to see it because, Second, I really admire Abraham Lincoln.  So to the Cinema I went.


Mirrors Society...........................5/5
Moral..........................................5/5
Plot and Script.............................5/5
Director.......................................5/5
Casting and Characters................5/5
Costume and Design....................5/5
Cinematography...........................4/5
Good Use of Special Effects.........3/5
Musical Score..............................5/5
Editing..........................................5/5
Total .........................................47/50
47/50=94% This is an Outrageously Awesome movie




Mirrors Society
While the plot of the film takes place a hundred fifty years ago, many of the problems Lincoln faced still occur today.  The way Lincoln had to frantically convince the House to get stuff done and win the war is all too reminiscent of how Obama is trying to reach a deal in the upcoming fiscal cliff.  Not much has really changed.  5/5

Moral
There is much truth and much to learn in the words that fall in this film.  It is very inspiring to see.  There is also a lot of witty comebacks if you're looking to expand your comeback library.  It is just uplifting 5/5

Plot and Script
This is an exhilarating film chock full exciting political litigation, funny stories and witty comebacks.  It really made these politicians look like humans.  5/5

Director
I have seen multiple Steven Spielberg films over the years, yet this one was a little different.  Having never done an extensive historically based film, this was a great way to bring his style to a historical period piece.  5/5

Casting and Characters
The casting of this film was spectacular.  The characters seemed to have popped right out of a history textbook.  They looked so much like the real people that one could say that he was actually there. 5/5

Costume and Design
Again, this film is like a popup history book.  Everything was just so real.  I did have a moment when I was absolutely certain that they tripped up.  When they showed the Capitol the dome was already completed.  I was thinking "Well, they tripped up on their facts there!"  But it appears I was wrong the dome was officially completed in 1866 so factually the dome would look complete in 1865.  5/5

Cinematography
There were several interesting shots in this film, but nothing absolutely amazing.  They were shots that made you think "that's cool" and move on with your life.  4/5

Good Use of Special Effects
There really weren't any special effects in this film.  I do have to say it is refreshing to see a film without anything fancy and computer generated.   3/5

Musical Score
This film utilizes a beautiful score played by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  The beauty of Mozart and traditional war songs were brought to the screen.  5/5

Editing
I cannot say much about the editing.  It was very well done.  5/5

Overall
This was a spectacular film that I would definately enjoy to see again.
Rotten Tomatoes gives this film a 91% Fresh rating
IMDb rates this film as a 8.2

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

It is important to note that I am not a fan of series films.  I have never seen a Lord of the Rings film before today.  Interestingly enough, my grandparents were the ones that wanted to go see it, much to my surprise.  One does not say no to their grandparents.  Anyhow, I had never cared for 3D before either, that changed today.  If you go to see this film I recommend seeing it in 3D (and I thought I'd never say that ever).


Mirrors Society...........................3/5
Moral..........................................5/5
Plot and Script.............................5/5
Director.......................................5/5
Casting and Characters................5/5
Costume and Design....................5/5
Cinematography...........................5/5
Good Use of Special Effects.........5/5
Musical Score..............................5/5
Editing..........................................5/5
Total .........................................47/50
47/50=94% This is an Outrageously Awesome movie

Mirrors Society
While it may be sacrilege for me to say this, there are no goblins, wizards, hobbits, and dwarfs prowling around the world.  (Well there may be, but I'll leave that for you to decide).  Anyhow, while focusing strongly on amazing fictional characters, this film does strongly display societies uneasiness yet strong desire for adventure. 3/5

Moral
There are many strong lessons to be learned in this film.  How to be one's self, how to be courageous, etc.  The list goes on and on.  Even while my grandmother felt the film was too violent, I believe that the moral of this film is far more reaching than any violence it portrays.  5/5

Plot and Script
I found this film quite entertaining.  However, toward the end I was like its going to end now...but there was more.  In other words, this film exceeded my expectations on length and detail of the script.  And that, I must say is very good.  5/5

Director
While I am not familiar with Peter Jackson or his work, I must say this was quite an impressionable first film. I must say I was so impressed that I would put Peter Jackson on par with James Cameron. (that's just my opinion) Either way, this was a great film by a very capable director.  5/5

Casting and Characters
If I am not mistaken many of the actors in this film were also in the trilogy that I haven't seen.  Nevertheless, I did enjoy their performances and they were all quite convincing in their roles. 5/5

Costume and Design
The costumes were as spectacular as one can get with imaginary characters.  The design was even more creative.  Just a spectacular film for the sense of sight.  5/5

Cinematography
There were many shots in this film that made me go "oh that was awesome!" So unlike many film where I feel the cinematography is just okay, in this film it was amazing. 5/5

Good Use of Special Effects
Stone giants fist fighting, enough said. 5/5

Musical score
I must say that this score was quite amazing and, witty.  There were moments i was laughing because of things in the score.  It is incredible for music to make me laugh.  5/5

Editing
The editing in this film was nonexistent, which is a good thing. Because the movie felt so real, the editing was not even noticeable.  It was as if I was really there. 5/5

Overall
Being that this was my first experience with a Lord of the Rings film, I feel real inspired to read the books and see the other films.  This was a film on par with Avatar.

Rotten Tomatoes gives this film a 65% fresh score
IMDB rates it at 8.4

Magical Mystery Tour

A month ago today, I viewed Magical Mystery Tour at the Cedar Lee in Cleveland Heights.  I am an ardent Beatles fan.  So when I heard they were going to be showing the remastered Magical Mystery Tour in theaters, I recruited my Beatles loving buddies and we took a trip of a lifetime.

Mirror of Society...............................3/5
Moral................................................2/5
Plot and Script...................................1/5
Director.............................................2/5
Casting and Characters......................3/5
Costume and Design...........................4/5
Cinematography.................................1/5
Good Use of Special Effects...............3/5
Musical Score....................................5/5
Editing................................................1/5
Total..................................................25/50
25/50=50%
This is an Optimistic Film.  It missed being outstanding by one point.

Mirror of Society
Even thou it was made in the sixties, I feel that this film reflects that time for us very well. After all, the Beatles did a lot of things that effected society (some good and bad).  Overall it is just as weird as they say the sixties were. 3/5

Moral
In reality this film has no moral at all.  There isn't a message that they are trying to express (if you find one let me know).  But it really is enjoyable.  2/5

Plot and Script
The only plot in this is... they're going on a bus tour.  And that's really it. 1/5

Director
Even though I feel that the Beatles were a bit confused I (and probably High) in their directors role; this film and their effort to do something that was never done before. 2/5

Casting and Characters
Surprisingly, the characters in this film are quite real and believable.  Besides the Beatles, there are a delightful array of creative characters that one learns to love. 4/5

Costume and Design
The costumes are just great.  They are quite fashion forward and add to the aesthetic appeal of the film. 4/5

Cinematography
While there are creative camera angles and such, there are several rookie problems, like seeing the camera reflected in the window and then they limit themselves a lot.  1/5

Good Use of Special Effects
There are some really cool things that they use in this film. The double exposures are great. 3/5

Musical Score
Beatles songs in 5.1 surround sound....priceless. 5/5

Editing
The editing is very sloppy at times.  I think if they took a lot more time to actually edit the film it would look great, but we see what happens when you rush editing in this film. 1/5

Overall
Even though this film isn't all that great, it shows the imagination of the Beatles at their height, and they are quote vivid.  Everyone should see this film just out of curiosity at some time.

Rotten Tomatoes rates this film 58% rotten.
IMDb rates this film 6.0

If you care to see, below is a vlog that my friend PogieJoe made about the experience.  Check out his channel its pretty nifty.

Zelig

I am slowly developing a deep love for Woody Allen's films.  I may assure you that this will cause my bias on my part.  However, when I heard that Zelig has Allen conversing with people in news reels from the twenties I just had to see it.  And I loved the concept of a mockumentary

Mirrors Society...........................5/5
Moral..........................................4/5
Plot and Script.............................5/5
Director.......................................5/5
Casting and Characters................4/5
Costume and Design....................5/5
Cinematography...........................4/5
Good Use of Special Effects.........5/5
Musical Score..............................5/5
Editing..........................................4/5
Total ..........................................45/50
 45/50=90%
 An Outrageously Awesome Film


Mirrors Society
There was one line that one of the interviewed individuals said that sums up my entire opinion for this category.  And I loosely quote, "He was liked, then he was hated, and then we liked him again.  Has America really changed?"  Yep, that says it all. 5/5

Moral
The moral here was very simple and straightforward.  You have to be yourself and have your own opinions.  However, there were some things that I thing detracted from this.  4/5

Plot and Script
The plot was a clean paved road just needing to be driven.  This film is serious, funny, romantic (in a way) and just outright outrageous.  5/5

Director
Well, don't ask me why, but I feel that I really connect with Allen in his movies.  I understand what he is trying to tell me.  That may not be the case for you.  To direct and star in a film can be a tedious task.  You have to give him a lot of creative credit. After all he did write, direct and star in the film.  5/5

Casting and Characters
The characters in this film have quite distinct (and indistinct one might say) personalities.  I bet Allen was singing "Act Naturally" in his head while filming this.  I feel that if Allen wasn't staring in this, I wouldn't cast Mia Farrow in her role.  However, considering that Allen was the star, casting her makes Zelig's relationship with Dr. Fletcher all the more realistic.  4/5

Costume and Design
The styles of the twenties and thirties are so real in this film you actually find it hard to believe that any of this actually was recorded in the eighties.  The mixture of color and black and white and much to its reality.  It really watches like an actually documentary that isn't one at all. 5/5

Cinematography
Gordon Willis of The Godfather fame is quite sufficient in this film as well.  Using rough film stock throughout the film provides an authentic documentary feel.  Later, the scratching of the Black and white sequences make the news reels all the more authentic.  4/5

Good Use of Special Effects
This film relies on special effects to make Woody Allen the celebrity of the twenties and thirties.  They could have green screened the whole film if they really wanted to but actually filming the sequences and making them look and feel old fulfills the job to an extent I didn't believe could be attainable. 5/5

Musical Score
The combination of actual period pieces and original compositions made to sound like period pieces is superb.  Let's do the Chameleon... 5/5

Editing
This film flows very well.  The only thing I must complain about is that there is one part where the action goes so quickly you just get lost for a moment but then it sinks in and your set.  4/5

Overall
I find this film very creative with its mockumentary style and news reel imaging.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did if you view it.
Rotten Tomatoes gives this film a 100% fresh score
IMDb gives it a 7.7 score

Kapò

I spend a lot of time at the library browsing through the movies.  This film from 1959 caught my eye.


 Mirror of Society.............................. 3/5
Moral............................................... 3/5
Plot and Script.................................. 5/5
Director........................................... 4/5
Casting and Characters...................... 5/5
Costume and Design.......................... 3/5
Cinematography.................................4/5
Good Use of Special Effects................3/5
Musical Score....................................5/5
Editing...............................................2/5

Total 37/50=74%

An Outstanding film

Mirror of Society
Kapò reflects on the issues of the Holocaust very well. It mirrors the actions people still take even today when they chose to stay alive. However, I feel it doesn't reflect society as a whole. 3/5

Moral
Obviously there has to be a moral in a film about the holocaust. It is prominent throughout the film with several little ones playing out. But the whole idea and setting of the story makes one feel terrible to be alive at times. 3/5

Plot and Script

The plot is easy to follow being similar to that of all holocaust stories.  The Script is very well written. One does not need to learn Italian or even read subtitles to deeply feel and comprehend what is happening.  This was an excellently scripted film.  5/5

Director
Gillo Pontecorvo has long been held to be one of Italy's greatest directors of his time.  Being that this was the first of his films that I have viewed, I cannot compare this with his other works to accurately point his style of storytelling.  But even so, this story was told in a heart-throbbing manner that I think could not be told in any other way than how he has done so in this film. 4/5

Casting and Characters
One can truly see and feel that the characters are sincere in their roles.  As I said in the plot section, you can understand the feeling and the situation perfectly without understanding the words. 5/5

Costume and Design
It's a concentration camp.  There is nothing interesting or even pleasing about it.  It does have some merit thou for making it appear real almost like in the old news reels.  3/5

Cinematography
I really like how they made the film appear like an old film reel.  However, that limited a lot of what he could have done to make a more interesting plot. 4/5

Good Use of Special Effects
I really thought the story was given a lot more credibility by making the end scene a copy of an old newsreel.  They then cut from the film to the newsreel and back several times.  It was quite a neat and interesting technique.  However, I feel that they could have done some other things similar to that in turn enhancing the story. 3/5

Musical Score
I don't know what it was, but it seemed to be a classical harpsichord composition that was used throughout. The drama that the score produces at times is amazing.  5/5

Editing
I don't know whether this was from the fact that the film was old or simply an editing fail.  There were times when the scene would would cut from subjective point of view to indirect and you could see like these film glitches.  It only occurred a few times but it really detracted from the moments. 2/5

Overall
I'm glad I pulled this off the shelf
Rotten tomatoes doesn't have a score but 84% of the audience liked it.
IMDb gives it a rating of 7.6

Frankenweenie

I saw Frankenweeine today at the cinema.  Here are the scores:

Mirror of Society.............................. 3/5
Moral............................................... 5/5
Plot and Script.................................. 4/5
Director........................................... 4/5
Casting and Characters...................... 5/5
Costume and Design.......................... 2/5
Cinematography.................................5/5
Good Use of Special Effects................5/5
Musical Score....................................3/5
Editing.............................................. 2/5

Total 38/50= 76%

Just barely made it into the OA.

Mirror of Society
What I think really mirrors society in this film is the way that everyone is afraid at first and then warms up to Sparky. Also, the heavy competition among the characters. Otherwise this film doesn't really mirror society 3/5

Moral
This film has a very strong moral. Both in what Victor's parents say as well as Mr. Rzykruski. It has a very touching and inspiring air throughout. 5/5

Plot and Script
The plot follows a very logical format; you won't get lost.  The Script, however, left the story slow paced at times. I personally felt bored watching for five minute.  4/5

Director
Tim Burton keeps a great reputation in my book.  As always he can tell a heartwarming story while making it both creepy and weird.  However, I felt this film lacked a little bit of his creative genius.  So he gets 4/5

Casting and Characters
The cast of this film feels great in their roles.  There is no doubt about it.  The characters are great and well developed.  You could literally taste each characters unique individual personality.  5/5

Costume and Design
The Costumes and Design were great as always with Burton.  Nevertheless,  I felt that there was a severe lack of creativity.  It felt like I was watching an alternate reality of Edward Scissorhands combined with Corpse Bride looking characters.  2/5

Cinematography
I must say Peter Sorg did a great job in this film.  I can't complain about anything. 5/5

Good Use of Special Effects
This film's special effects are great.  I love the stop-motion animation.  Also, the story is told in black and white making very good use of the medium, I don't think the film would be presented better in color. 5/5

Musical Score
Although I really enjoy Danny Elfman's music, the soundtrack on this film really didn't do anything for me.  I was just some typical creepy Elfman stuff playing to some creepy Burton images.

Editing
Okay, I know every film can't be perfect.  But I feel that you rushed and left a few glaring mistakes that could have been easily taken care of. 2/5

Overall 38/50
Another great film by Tim Burton.
Rotten Tomatoes rates this film 88% Certified Fresh
IMDb rates this film 7.6