In German-occupied France, Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa. Shosanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema. Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine organizes a group ... (read more) In German-occupied France, Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa. Shosanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema. Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine organizes a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution. Known to their enemy as "The Basterds," Raine's squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich. Fates converge under a cinema marquee, where Shosanna is poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own...
Dude, everybody including film students like me admires Quentin Tarantino. As much as his works are examples of technical and filmmaking brilliance, he is not my favorite director. Pulp Fiction is his masterpiece and always will be, but his recent films, as different it turns out, are becoming slip-ups and deals with the same techniques and methods. It is no doubt that Tarantino's way with scriptwriting is astounding.There is something about his dialogues and writing that is so delicious. And it is great to listen to upon the first half. However, it becomes multiple displays of Tarantino's marvelous writing than it is of an actual narrative film. For such a simple plot, it takes a 20-30mins conversation scene dealing with whatever references Tarantino puts in to move one inch of a plot. And it doesn't become much of an enjoyment than rather of an endurance. For the people who doesn't know anything of Tarantino's, you'll be fooled if you come in thinking its an action film. It is 90% of talking while 10% of violence. And sure the violence is very top-notch, horrific and even funny, but there isn't enough. Even though the title is about the band of Nazi-bashing Jews, the film doesn't entirely focus on them as it glides over several key characters such as the cinema-owning Jew girl and the despicable deliciously-evil, Hans Landa aka The Jew Hunter. And you'll love hating the guts out of him. If you like action movies, avoid this. If you love movies with historical-accuracies, avoid this. Want a film with Tarantino back in the game, go ahead and see this.
Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) has made a habit of running from what scares him. Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) doesn’t have fears. If he did, he’d kick their ever-living ass. In a world overrun by zombies, these two are perfectly evolved survivors. But now, they’re about to stare down the most terrifyin... (read more) Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) has made a habit of running from what scares him. Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) doesn't have fears. If he did, he'd kick their ever-living ass. In a world overrun by zombies, these two are perfectly evolved survivors. But now, they're about to stare down the most terrifying prospect of all: each other.
This would be been SO FREAKIN awesome if it had been a little bit longer and had alot more in it. 80 mins is still short. That is my opinion, but I'm glad for I have just got. The great thing about this zombie movie is that they inserted the right and unique brand of humor to experiment something new to this zombie genre. Each of the characters had a simple, but effective character development and the plotline is kind of loose, but quirky. I mean I didn't expect them to ride up to Bill Murray's house and the man himself stole the movie. But the kickassery of this film are the funny, but inventive zombie bashing with Woody whooping major zombie ass. Although the motive and idea of the amusement park chapter is gonna be questionable to other people. But hey, I had a great ride.
Timmy Robinson's best friend in the whole wide world is a six-foot tall rotting zombie named Fido. But when FIDO eats the next-door neighbor, Mom and Dad hit the roof, and Timmy has to go to the ends of the earth to keep Fido a part of the family. A boy-and-his-dog movie for grown ups, "FIDO" will r... (read more) Timmy Robinson's best friend in the whole wide world is a six-foot tall rotting zombie named Fido. But when FIDO eats the next-door neighbor, Mom and Dad hit the roof, and Timmy has to go to the ends of the earth to keep Fido a part of the family
This gets extra points for having a unique concept: a 50s family sitcom with zombie. And it really is the most safest and brightest zombie movie I have seen despite its less amount of violence and gore. The humor is depended on its deadpan and dry 50s setting and some time it is a hit and miss. Scots Funnyman Connolly did a good job being the lead zombie while others were on average. The plot does mimic 50s family sitcom, so expect some predictability and safeness. If you're a zombie fan, this is worth checking out.
If you want to stay healthy in America, don't get sick. Following on the heels of his award winning hit "Fahrenheit 9/11" and his Oscar® winning film "Bowling for Columbine," acclaimed filmmaker Michael Moore's new documentary sets out to investigate the American healthcare system. Sticking to his t... (read more) If you want to stay healthy in America, don't get sick. Following on the heels of his award winning hit "Fahrenheit 9/11" and his Oscar® winning film "Bowling for Columbine," acclaimed filmmaker Michael Moore's new documentary sets out to investigate the American healthcare system. Sticking to his tried-and-true one-man approach, Moore sheds light on the complicated medical affairs of individuals and local communities.
It is questionable whether Michael Moore's films are a handful insight onto a topic or a biased propaganda. All that matters is that he gets people thinking. Touching on the important subject of the very broken heath care system in America, Moore chronicles the state of different types of peoples of different backgrounds and different countries dealing with their health insurance their country offers. As universal health care considered unfavorable by America as a socialist act, it really shows that is nothing more than profit and greed when comparing to other countries with universal health care that have their people living happy lives. And you'll say to yourself "why are they calling this an evil thing when it is the one thing making people live a better life?". Like what the film state from the beginning, its not about the people who don't have health insurance. Its about the people who have insurance but they are screwed anyway. And the sad stories of these people felt a little more authentic, but not staged. It'll raise your eyebrows when you'll find that the America hospitals are alot about money than saving lives.
I finally manage to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on DVD because I never had a chance to see it in theaters and I chose Drag Me To Hell (which is a good choice). Yet as a Harry Potter fan (for 8 years and counting), I was still happy with the adaptation of the sixth book. Knowing that there won't be a total faithful Potter book, at least the producers and filmmakers made the film series with great respect and dignity. It had me thinking about what is currently popular in both the literature and movie world, that is the Twilight series. I haven't heard about the book series until the first movie came out and by the looks of it, there is nothing really special about it. Yet it sparks a great amount of popularity and garnered many "teen choice" awards. Does the Twilight deserves all the praise and popularity it received? Some think so, but in returns it receives a huge amount of backlash and criticism. Right now even now there are debates and comparisons between the two juggernaut series. So for this article, I'm gonna put my honest insight and analysis in the two series, meaning I'm gonna type how I really feel and no-holds-barred. I'll be looking forward to your opinions and comments about this topic.
You know what? I'll start right now! Harry Potter is better and Twilight is shit. Its obvious. No competition. If I want to write an interesting article, I would compare between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Harry Potter has the right to be compared with Lord of the Rings as both series offers not only few, but many topics and factors to debate on. It can bring a long and fair debate of which deems to be better, but not superior. For the Twilight series, it doesn't offer alot to compare with. And thats how sucky Twilight is. Twilight is just a one-way harlequin fan-service, written like a 14-year-old. So why compare Harry Potter with Twilight? Upon seeing Twilight, it was a sh*t movie. And it baffles me that of how its fan would enjoy this series. Friends who are fans of Twilight who tells me how great this series, but none of them gave me a real good reason why it so, other than the book is better than the movie. So I'm gonna show you, Twilight fans and non fans, what makes the Harry Potter a better series than Twilight. Between good and bad. Distinguishable in any form. Here to tell you what makes a good series and a bad series. If you think differ, give me good reasons. Though there isn't any.
*SPOILER ALERT*
Story
I remember that when me and my family went to see the first Harry Potter movie, my dad said it looks like a Star Wars ripoff with wizards. True, it already has the standard archetypes of good-vs-evil, calling-of-the-hero, the wise old mentor, the one dark force that threatens the entire world and the special mysterious power inhabiting within the hero. Considered the first book and movie as a beginner's entry level to the story, its all safe, harmless and kiddy while you get to know the main character, his friends, his bullies, his adult supervisors and the villains. But like the series Lost, you're first introduced to the series' main mysteries: what is the source of his scar and why did the greatest dark wizard fail to kill the hero when he was an infant. And as the series goes along, pieces of the answers surfaces from each book and it doesn't give you a typical and recycled answer. It is very much interesting and new. And as the series goes along, characters who we thought had no part suddenly becomes important to the story, the environment, even what they thought was safe, becomes far dangerous and the battle between good and evil becomes more intense where absolutely no one is safe. Many mythos and religious beliefs are also introduced with subtlety and cleverness, adding some zazz to the story. But what I praised most of the Harry Potter's series is while it has that good-vs-evil story, it is also about growing up, responsibility and trying to be like a normal kid in school.
Twilight... doesn't have much of a story, but sounds like it only to serve the millions of desperate teenage girls. We all love a love/romantic story and me being a guy, I like romance movies and shows. Like Harry Potter, Twilight brings an old concept where a girl falls in love with a vampire guy. Its fine, but the story doesn't evolve or develop anything new, sticking to the same "He loves me, he loves me not" territory. The story is just boring and badly-written with a maturity of a preteen. Fans say to me "its just fantasy/fiction" and I respond the same way: "So is Star Wars, Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, but they all have a good story. This one doesn't". And fantasy promise a story of wonder and magic, this one doesn't have any. Oh sure, it has badguys in it that come out of nowhere three-quarters into the film and suddenly declared themselves as the badguys. But then they don't give a good motive or mystery, making them such a lame and less threatening villains. There are no smooth advancement through the series and all we see are Edward being great at everything, Bella's full-on stare and admiration for Edward and Jacob standing there without a shirt. The storyline tend to be ripoff from any formula of any teen drama and do you know its filled with "how cool is.." or "that guy is hot" or "whatever!". Sorry, but who watches a 2 hour movie projecting just a vampire hunk wooing a girl with no real advancement or plotline whatsoever? Teenage girls and gay guys I reckon.
Mythos
You can tell that J.K Rowling did a lot of research of the wizard world she's basing her story on. Introducing to alot of mythical and magical creatures we heard of and never heard of like the trolls, elves, centaurs and giants. Some are completely invented, adding to the creativity of the author. And the great thing about Rowling is that she well knows what part of some mythos she should honors and have the freedom to interpret. And by doing these things, she is able to add to the series and not bring them down. She creates an entirely new and magical world with her own languages, laws and spell names, giving honor and making sense.
Twilight used the only two mythos: Vampires and Werewolves, setting in the world closer to home. Now its one thing to interpret these mythos if it makes sense. Had she honor the rules of these mythos, she would have made a dull story. Interpreting her version of these mythos and the results are either people will like it or people thinking it is the most gayest thing they have ever seen. Twilight already had an disadvantage of audience relying on the existing vampire/werewolves mythos and to see a vampire sparkle like freakin diamonds under sunlight just completely infuriates me in both character development and mythos factor. With this scene mentioned, fans mentioned its meant to portray vampires as beautiful creatures. First, I'm all for subtlety. Less is More, that's the way to go. Wanna make this character beautiful, make the character beautiful by action and personality. An image of Edward sparkling under sunlight deeming that he's a monster proves so unneeded and invokes insult to the audience's intelligence. And second as much you want to say that vampires are beautiful, they are not. They are ugly within. They can act beautiful and look beautiful, but overall they can't be beautiful. Within they are ugly and cursed. Otherwise they'll be human. And that is the thing: throughout the story, they address that vampires are cursed and led a dreadful life, but they sure don't show it. All they show about vampires that they are strong, fast, handsome and have no desire for the thrist of human blood. Hell they even have a civilized council for them. It interprets that humanity is so uncool and its cool to be vampires, proving that Meyers is just making up as she goes.
One example that was features in both series are the mythos of werewolves. Rowling takes a good amount of time to explain in great details the different classes of transformations: an animagus and a werewolves. Animagus are human wizards that can transform into any animal at their own wills with no conditions and it doesn't perceive as a curse. Werewolves doesn't have any control of its transformation and upon transformation, its mind becomes altered and goes on a murderous rampage, not knowing what it kills. Rowling includes the werewolf mythos and made it as an important part of the story while being faithful to it. Meyer's interpretation of a werewolf is not an actual werewolf. Like with vampires, it doesn't show the ugliness of the werewolf and describes itself as a cool thing to be. Its depiction shows as muscular shirtless men that just transforms into... just wolves. Not a hulking monsterous half-man/half-wolf, but just a wolf. And a lame CG animated wolf that is. If it just turned into that, then they shouldn't be called werewolves. I don't know if Meyers address this as a deception of a werewolf and if so, then she's a f*ckin moron. If not, the fans are the f*ckin morons.
Themes and Believability
Harry Potter has a great epic good vs. evil story, but again its biggest draw is the realistic approach on teenage/school life. Like Spiderman, Harry Potter was given at a young age such a burden of fame and danger, yet he has to deal with school, friends, bullies and girls. Reading the series during high school has it advantage because I felt I was like Harry Potter. The first installment was apologetic kiddy, but the great factor is that the story matures with each book, allowing the audience to grow with the books. Despite setting in a magical world of wizards and witches, all of the students of Hogwarts speak, think and act like regular human students. What Harry goes through and deals with relationship and teenage angst is nearly the same as we go through. It is a huge deal that a book series appeals towards a huge range of age groups from kids to adults. And the series subtlety and never shyly on a range of issues such as racial and social prejudice, wealth classes and government bureaucracy and corruption. The last book touched on some heavy and mature topics including death. Not death as a story element/device (which has been used alot in this installment), but death as an issue: as acceptance and inevitability. And it was my favorite part in the last book when Harry willingly to accept death from Voldemort. Knowing that death is a part of life and what we all will go through, he walks alone through the Forbidden Forest and stood bravely in front of Voldemort.
Twilight not only sticks to the target audience of tweens females, but most of the alternate age and gender groups passionately opposed the series, seeing the series as the cancer of literary. There are no real appeals other than which guy is hot and which girl is cool, its just so airheaded and baffling that it is what kids these days are into. The series isn't a big help for its audience especially girls as its giving the not one but many wrong messages . Not to crush on any girls dreams, but you'll never ever find a guy like Edward/Rob. For preteen girls, you'll learn when you grow up. But for girls who are much older, that is very very very very sad. From the looks of Edward, he doesn't look like a wholesome or likable guy. But it is not enough to tell the audience to look out for the wrong type of guy, but to be the wrong type of girl. Bella is the wrong female role model: weak, needy and shallow - what everyone calls her a Mary Sue. I mean why is it so hard to believe that on the first day of school Bella suddenly becomes every guy's crush? Hell I don't even understand why the Cullens would need to go to school for the next 90 years. And on top of that, the entire school doesn't suspect anything suspicious about them when they are not doing a good job blending in. Meyers, you clearly haven't thought this through.
Appeals and Audiences
Its mind-boggling that these two series recieves such popularity and star treatment, but one clearly deserves it and the other doesn't. If you think Twilight clearly deserves it, what is wrong with you. Both series still aimed toward kids. For Harry Potter, it honors the sense of childhood, of play and wonder. Remember when kids like me were into kids stuff like.. I don't know.. magic and imagination? Kids were given something new from a very old and traditional source and themes. It does the same for its adult readers, hawking back to their own childhood. For Twilight, while it also aims for kids, it force them to get into teenage stuff. Little a while ago, I checked the Disney channel and most of the cartoons and live-action shows were all teenage based. It might be the IN thing right now. But back when I was a kid, I had Ducktales and Chip N' Dale: Rescue Rangers and Darkwing Duck! Good old adventure shows that pleases the child's imagination. Kids these day are growing up too fast, especially girls. Hell I never thought of dating until I was like 17 and didn't start dating until 21. Still I rather spend my teenage years being a nerd and watch kung fu movies than to go out and be part of the IN thing like Souja Boy and Lady Gaga. I mean its fine to like a truely bad movie, but acknowledging that it is bad gives you self respect among others. I like Troll 2. I don't like it because its good. I like it because its so horrible its funny. So far I haven't found any of the Twilight fan who acknowledge it is a bad movie. It can be a guilty pleasure, but not an important film. And when kids and teens sees that as something important and dear to them, its makes me real worried.
You get it.. Harry Potter: good. Twilight: bad. Like a real movie lover, I'm always open for debate and argument. And if you're siding with Twilight, you'll be crushed. You'll think I have wasted my time writing all this, but if you read the last section of this blog, you'll understand.
I'm a huge Harry Potter fan. I wasn't when the first book came out, but it took a long time before I finally got hooked into the series. The Harry Potter series are great for a damn good reason. Unlike some book series *cough* Twilight. In observation, this is one good example of a series appealing to every age groups that gradually matures for each installment with something new from each one. So with the production of the last Harry Potter movie underway (in two parts), here is an update reviews of the previous six Harry Potter Movies.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Take this as a beginner's entry level to the world of Harry Potter, where everything is safe and harmless. Harry's story started off when he's a kid and so the entire movie is a kids movie.
3 out of 5 stars
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Considered the weakest of the series as it was in the books, it is at this point where things get a little darker. The performance of a CG Dobby was horrendous to look at, while the action and magic sequence were amped up a bit. It is at this point the producers should abandoned its usual formula for the first two for something fresh in order to keep the movie series alive.
2 and a half out of 5 stars
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
And thats what they did. This is what it needs to keep the series alive and fresh. A change of director and a change of tone. Because as the books gets darker and more mature, so does the movies. A change means a new design and visuals for the Harry Potter world and they're both brilliant. Even if you miss the first two movies, this is definitely a must-watch for people looking to get into Harry Potter.
4 and a half out of 5 stars
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Despite its silly and corny moments, this installment still retains the darker and mature tone from the previous movie. Adding some romantic and adolescent crush elements, it is the first to show realistic and relative images of teenage love and hormones in a Harry Potter story. You'll also see Rob Pattison as Cedric before his sparkly vampire days.
3 and a half out of 5 stars
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter is slowly becoming a badass. Fighting off dark and evil spirits and making out with hot Asian chicks. Damn he's a badass. And when a film gets darker and creepier, I mean it really gets darker. The color and tone is reducing to black and grey, blood and death are introduced without shyness and we get teenage anger and angst.
4 out of 5 stars
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter fans will still be debating whether the movie series were faithful or not. But we all agree that the producers of the Harry Potter movies are doing a very good job, making the series very respectable and enjoyable to all ages. Even if this installment goes completely dark. There are more teenage romance hijinks and both plotlines sometimes do thread well together. It is a good thing the romance hijinks didn't absolutely go overboard and they were good to contrast the dark nature in the movie. We will be expecting a HUGE finale of the Harry Potter series.
A young interracial couple move into their dream home and are increasingly harassed by their next-door neighbor, a tightly wound black LAPD officer. When the couple decides to fight back the feud turns deadly.
Its a brave thing to bring up a sensitive issue, but it becomes worthless when the meaning gets lost and mixed. Whether Samuel L. Jackson was made to be a clear despicable character with no sympathy and no reasonable motive, its decision to do so made the film less than what it was in the beginning. And it turns out to be a cookie cutter sticker-labeled thriller with the whole race issue being an excuse. With no real plot layers or intelligent commentary on either of the characters, there is no reason to bring forth this issue. Most fun you'll have is watching Samuel L. Jackson being psycho and assh*lish.
Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!
NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD is the wild, untold story of "OZPLOITATION" movies - a time when Australian cinema got its gear off and showed the world a full-frontal explosion of sex, violence, horror and foot-to-the-floor, full bore action! Jam packed full of outrageous anecdotes, lessons in maverick filmmak... (read more) NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD is the wild, untold story of "OZPLOITATION" movies - a time when Australian cinema got its gear off and showed the world a full-frontal explosion of sex, violence, horror and foot-to-the-floor, full bore action! Jam packed full of outrageous anecdotes, lessons in maverick filmmaking and a genuine, infectious love of Australian movies, NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD is a fast moving journey through Aussie genre cinema of the 70s and early 80s.
Its a fun and lively historical journey of mavericks and rogues setting out to make the most outrageous and iconic films that leaves the identity of Australia in the world of films. You're introduced to a healthy collection of Australian exploitative and genre films, either sending a social message or just done in the name of fun, that film geeks would need to see from Patrick to The Man From Hong Kong. The doco gets praise for getting interviews that ranged from the most famous to the recently forgotten and tells the story about the importance of film genres in that decade. You'll realize that Australia had made so many kick-ass films.
The story of Langdon's brush with a shadowy secret society, the Illuminati, and his frantic quest for the world's most powerful energy source, in the company of a beautiful Italian physicist whose father, a brilliant physicist, has been murdered.
The first adaptation of Dan Brown's complex series, The Da Vinci Code just sucked, but made enough to greenlight the next of his books. Is Angels And Demons an improvement from the last? Slightly.
There are some elements from the last movie that were removed and a few new were introduced. Tom Hanks is still dependable as the intelligent but clean symbolist, while we're introduced to new range of cast that share a time of shifty eyes. My opinion is that this mystery is much bigger and interesting than the last. Yet the main villain can be find out right in the middle of the movie and when you'll find about the motive and scheme, it becomes unbelievable and convoluted. You'll be questioning "Really? This one person thought of all of this?". It is a fun ride that will kind of make you feel smarter, but it feels like it'll insult your intelligence by the end.
Do you remember "Michael Jackson's Moonwalker"? A movie filled with spectacular music videos, corny narratives and a mixed and confusing portrayal of Michael Jackson himself. As much as it was outrageous and amazing to watch, we get to see Michael as the pop sensation/entertainer we all see - different and out-there, but we never got to see the real Michael. His personality and humanity were swarmed underneath the heavily media-created rumors, controversies and obscurity, dehumanizing him into something he's truly not even after his untimely death. Its a good thing Moonwalker is not the film that shows a lot of his true self. Michael Jackson's This Is It is the way to go out on the perspective of Michael Jackson and to witness the building of the greatest pop music concert in the world that never happened.
This Is It serves as a documentary/concert film depicting the last few months of Michael Jackson and his buildup and rehearsing of his ironically final concert as we get views from the people involved from dancers to musicians to visual artists. While the track list consist of the same, but still legendary songs, we get to witness new creative inputs into these nostalgic songs, updating to the modern times like Michael Jackson green-screened into a 1940s footage of Gilda for the song of Smooth Criminal. The songs still remains catchy and extraordinary, you'll either be reciting or dance in the theater. Although the songs are not actual final polished, but more of like outtakes or rehearsal tapes of songs yet still enjoyable to listen to.
The documentary doesn't touch on the heavily emotional aspect of Michael Jackson's personal life and his death (other than the insight of his philanthropy described during Earth Song). The sadness is already displayed from the beginning as you watch the building and anticipation of a gigantic and extraordinary concert with dancers and players dreaming to work with their idol, which will never happen. The film gets big praise for focusing on the creativity and leadership of Michael, which we rarely get to see. It is funny yet interesting to see Michael, who was known to be a soft guy, taking a commanding and professional lead on his co-workers during rehearsal. There are moments where Michael is arguing with the techs and performers, which makes him human and it is one thing we all appreciate from.
For fans of Michael Jackson including me, this is a must if you want to pay tribute to the legend himself and take a glimpse on what could have been an awesome show. It is worthy to see on the big screen and you'll have a great time watching and reminiscing the King of Pop himself.
R.I.P Michael, show the angels up there your moonwalk
Its that time of the month where I give my Top Ten on ANYTHING!
A movie's ending can give that lasting impression on the audience before they get off and walk out. It can end just simply or give the audience something more, whether it is to feel or think. This month, I'll bring you down my top ten on my most favorite movie endings yet.
You are now heading towards spoiler territory, so turn back if you're thinking of watching these movies.
Lets get on it shall we?
10. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
This film is the prime example of a globe-trotting adventure movie with a regular joe, exploring into the realms of the supernatural and mystical dimensions. The ending shot shows the holy powerful Ark of the Covernant, packed into a wooden crate and stored among the millions of identical wooden crates in a giant dark warehouse. That wide zoom-out shot creates the mystery, implies from both the government and the lost and mythical world. What secrets are they hiding inside these crates? What new artifacts will Indy Jones uncover? Many questions that boogle the mind, which makes us look forward to Indy's new adventure. Of course, the Ark was later found by accident in the fourth movie, so much for the large ominous mystery.
9. THE GODFATHER PART III
I know people had A LOT of gripes against this installment of one of the greatest movie series in history and I understand that. It had bad acting, a bit lousy direction and an average story that doesn't match the previous two movies. Though it is a solid finale to the entire Godfather trilogy as this ending illustrates exactly what this series is about. The first shows Michael Corleone turning into what he swore not to be and the second shows him even more dangerous to everyone, including his own family. The third depicts that he is truly cursed and everyone including the most innocent becomes victim because of his power. The death of his beloved daughter is, while a tad predictable, still powerful and emotional, with the song score "Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo", giving more of an impact. Perhaps the true tragedy is in the final shot, where Michael, much older, was sitting outside his villa and collapsed to the ground, dead and alone.
8. CASABLANCA
Casablanca can sum up to just one word, beautiful. And if you haven't seen this movie, I recommend you should. Everything about this movie is beautiful: the characters, the acting, the cinematography, the music, the sequences. There is a reason why this movie is truly memorable and so is the ending. Humphrey Bogart is a cool cat when it comes to helping his only love, the beautiful Ingrid Bergman, and her husband out of the country. The final exchange of words were romantic at best, warming even the coldest of hearts. The line "Here's Looking At You, Kid", magical. And the closing was just perfect as he and his new pal are walking side-by-side into the fog with that memorable line "Louis
7. WALL-E
Disney animated movies, in particular, always go for the happy endings. They are expected when it comes to adapting fairy-tales and it can be predictable and uninspired. For Pixar, while they also do happy endings mostly, their endings are also unique and ballsy. They don't shove a happy ending just for the sake of making the audience happy. It fits the story right in and adds more dimensions to it. For Pixar's most ballsy and ambitious film, its endings turned for the scarier and heart-breaking, yet at the last minute it becomes happy again. Everybody loves Wall-E and they all connected with him during the entire length of the film. So when Wall-E is at near-death and afterward lost his memory for his love for EVE, the audience does feel that nerve-wrecking emotion. You can't tell if its gonna be a nice or a bad ending. But then Wall-E got his memory back and they lived happily ever after. And I'm glad it turned out to be a happy ending, its a love story anyway. Though what made the ending extra special is the credit montage, brilliantly depicting the reinvention of the humanity's civilization through most of the art movements from Cave Paintings to French Impressionism.
6. THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
The ending of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was VERY VERY tensed! The conclusion was a tad expected, but the sequences and the mis-en-scene were so epic and masterfully done. How great is the setup of a three-way stand-off in the middle of the graveyard? The buildup of the epic score brings up such a nerve-wrecking and intense experience with the characters slowly and patiently get into positions and begin to fight. That slow and subtle direction made the whole scene so epic and powerful. And it is Clint Eastwood at his most badass!
5. REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
Talk about a real downer of an ending. Whether you already know or not that the four main characters are doomed from the start, this montage of their deciding fate will indeed pull your heart strings and leave your body very hallow. Like what the title says, you can feel all the ambitions, hope and dreams stripped away from the characters and left at the bottom of the pit, all because they succumbed to drugs or addictions. The film's main score was played at the beginning and comes in as well at the end, serving as a depressing full circle on these characters. The most heartbreaking out of all is Sara Goldfarb's, Harry's mom, seen as a warm and gentle old lady who wants nothing more than the love from her son, resorting to the obsession of a TV show to achieve that goal. This leads her in shock therapy at the hospital, shaping her as a soulless zombie and only, as presented in the last shot, replaying her happy dream in her mind. Its a downer alright....
4. OLDBOY
..... If you have seen this film, you know how f*cked up it is. The introduction and concept is interestingly sickening, but the conclusion is the REAL kicker. The ending is really divided in two part, where the first deals with the EXTREMELY shocking revelation and the second serves as an epilogue or aftermath of the ordeal. The first part gives not one, not two, but THREE mind-f*ck blows to your head. Upon confronting the mastermind who caged him in the beginning, the protagonist, Oh Dae-su found that his love interest is actually his long-lost daughter; f*ckin sliced his tongue off and as he was about to kill his captor, he activates the audio recordings of him and his daughter having sex. That scene in its entirity was completely f*cked up. Which brings on to the epilogue, where Oh Dae-su meets up with his love interest once again, unaware that he is her father. She confessed her love to him and proceeds to hug him, for him to only smile and then frown. It leaves a nerving open ending as it questions whether he would continue his romantic forbidden relationship with her and keep this horrible secret from her. It is a chilling and unsettling ending, which is the right way to send off such a f*cked up movie.
3. CITY LIGHTS
This is the one true classic ending from arguably his best work, demonstrating the genius of Charlie Chaplin. The film's notion is that love is indeed blind as a tramp's love for a blind flower girl leads him on a mission to restore the girl's eyesight while she thinks that the man who is kindly helping her is of huge wealth. The ending shows the hero, The Tramp happened to have a chance encounter with the flower girl, now with restored eyesight. With one subtle, but important action, the girl now fully realized that the man who helped her is not a wealthy man, but a poor tramp. The music is still beautiful to this day and the acting/performance is of theatrical profession, clearly conveying every important emotions and motives. It does leave a great open conclusion with the girl's new realization, it creates the question: what does she think of him now? will she stay or won't she? The last shot of Chaplin's Tramp, clutching his flower to his grin brings an ironic sense of hope for the character.
2. THE DARK KNIGHT
You should know by now HOW MUCH I love this movie. It is by far the best cinematic experience I have ever had and with very good reasons too. The film wasn't junk food like most summer films were, but a 5-star dining meal. And the ending was a nice little desert to finish off. People will argue which ending is better: Batman Begins or this? Begins had some greatness to it. but Dark Knight went far beyond being epic and emotional. Most superhero movies ended in a high note, but even for a quintessential superhero like Batman, ended on a downer, made him now a criminal in the public's eyes and still made him even more of a heroic and a badass. Everything about it builds up to epicness from the montage to the dialogues to the timing and pacing to the BEAUTIFUL music score. And Gordon's speech is just so memorable and summaries everything what Batman really is - a f*ckin dark knight!
1. FEARLESS (1993)
If a movie shows me something that is so artistically beautiful and human, its an automatic love from me. And this ending from Peter Weir's Fearless is probably the most human of them all. Protagonist Max has lost a part of his humanity after surviving a terrible plane crash and have been doing many dangerous things in order to feel what was missing from him. The ending illustrate an ironic beauty and human in something that is horrific and life-altering, as Max begins to lose his life and recounts the time of the plane crash before regaining his life back and his entire humanity. The sequence of the passengers' reaction to such danger is so powerful and emotional, it'll give you a free pass to be teary-eyed. The music score "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs - Henry Gorecki" gave the entire ending that powerhouse effect, including Jeff Bridges' astounding performance. It is both a sad and joyous ending to watch, while questioning the factors of humanity.
For Halloween, I decided to check out a cult horror classic that was made famous with a scene involving a head. Its an 80s version of Frankenstein with a decent campness and a decent amount of healthy blood and gore. The story is pretty simple and should be considering it was run in the short time of an hour and 20 mins. Of course the star of the film is Jeffrey Combs as the mad and dickish Herbert West. There are many great gore and funny moments that will satisfy both the hard and casual horror fan, making this great Halloween movie.
