Body of Lies

Over the weekend I watched Ridley Scott's Body of Lies. I didn't go into the movie knowing much but since it was the legendary Ridley Scott, I already knew it would be good.

This gritty movie follows Roger Ferris, played by Leonardo Decaprio, and Ed Hoffman, played by Russel Crowe. Ferris is a CIA operative in the Middle East and Hoffman is his eye in the sky, the man trying to run the show. They both are on the pursuit of a terrorist leader who is bombing several locations all over Europe and Ferris is joining forces with the Jordan head of security Hani Salaam, played by Mark Strong, in order to use their resources for this extremely dangerous task.

This film was very intelligent and the plot is filled with so much content. I love the tension that is created bewteen Dicaprio and everyone around him. The performances of Dicaprio, Crowe, and Strong are absolutely incredible, the casting is awesome. Dicaprio and Crowe play especially well off each other, theres even a little tension developed in some of their conversations.

One of the reasons all of the relationships have that tense factor is the lack of trust everyone has towards each other, even in the worst of times. Every character has their secrets and it makes the viewer stay on their toes. The circumstances reveal more and more but its very hard to know if the facts really are the facts.

One of my favorite things about this film was the different view Agent Ferris and Hoffman had on warfare. Sure they are fighting for the same thing but Ferris is all by himself in a game that is constantly changing and Hoffman is sitting at home, only involved in conflict through a cell phone and a helicopter feeding him footage while he also plays family man in good ol' America. Hoffman can give Ferris all the orders he wants but he will never understand those orders the same way Ferris does, and vice versa.

If you ever find yourself in the mood for a great spy thriller, consider Body of Lies. This film is a great addition to the genre and it contains quite a few thought-provoking ideas. Ridley Scott has directed yet another great movie.

Trailer Project

The DM105 class many of us are in did the trailer quite a while back but I thought I would share my trailer (which I forgot to blog about).

The trailer project was a little annoying for me because I was having terrible luck with converting my movie to a quicktime file. The movie I started with was Underworld, which I tried to convert several times. After three or four attempts, I got it working and got about thirty seconds into editing my trailer. After that, it suddenly stopped working and I was back at square one. I finally decided to switch movies when I had made it no where after a few days of work. I had just bought an awesome DVD pack that included Predator so I decided to go with that. I didn't have as much time as I wanted to work on my trailer but I finished it in time and I was able to add in some important elements of the film.

Here it is if you would like to see it:



Predator is very much of an action movie turned sci-fi horror and I wanted that to be viualized in the trailer. So it starts with the set up of the plot which leads directly into the team of operatives on their mission. Then I thought I would show the characters discovering that something was wrong and then the mysterious Predator after them, leaving the audience without seeing the Predator or understanding his motives.

Kees van Dijkhuizen and heresjohnny1991

I just discovered the two youtube accounts I named this blog about and I am really impressed. Among other videos, both of these guys make montages of the works from great directors like Ridley Scott, Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, the Coen brothers, Danny Boyle, Stanely Kubrick, David Fincher, Darren Aronofsky, and many more. Kees van Dijkhuizen does a series titled "[the films of]" and heresjohnny1991 has a series called "the works". There are several things that make these monatges awesome. One would be the high quality they are in. It keeps its viewers engaged and you never think: 'they just took this footage from some website'. Instead, it looks very professional. Another thing that makes these reels awesome is their portrayal of the reasons these directors are so amazing. The style and specific skills of each director shine through these three minute videos. I know many people are probably thinking its extremely difficult to show someone's ability in the film industry in such little time. To those thinking it, the account holder of Kees van Dijkhuizen says:

"Yes, I see your point. The most important cause for these 'problems' are that this is YouTube. People need that hook, they want to see stuff get done in quick succession. I'm not a big fan of it either, but it does fit my wish to do one every month and I don't have all that much time for a big, epic 7-minute montage. The series is more about showing the minds that shape film today, both individually as well as collectively."

I found this answer in the comments when someone told him the reels are too short. I agree with him; this is youtube and if you want someone to watch your edit, you definitely don't make it seven minutes long. The last thing that made these reels incredible was the talent both of the youtubers brought to the table. Both of these guys do such a service to these films through their projects and all I can say is wow and thank you.

Watch these videos!

Here are three that Kees van Dijkhuizen has made:

Here are four that heresjohnny1991 has made:

All of the montages were great but these were the ones that stuck with me as the best.

The Fellowship of the Ring vs. Amélie

I spent last night watching Amélie, a fabulous french film I have heard so much about for many years. I finally sat down and watched it after a little persuasion and I am extremely glad I did. Amélie is the story a young woman in Paris, France who is trying to give everyone a little happiness in their life. The film is charming, funny, romantic (what did you expect...its french), and absolutely gorgeous. I mean, this film was so beautiful that I was constantly straying from the subtitles to look at the images. I might not know what some of the scenes were about but I know they looked good!

When it was over, I saw the many awards it won and was nominated for. One was an Academy Award nomination for best cinematography. After I saw that, I wondered 'what film beat Amélie out for best cinematography?!' My curiosity grew more and I just had to know. By the way, if anyone is ever looking for a list of nominated and winning films for every year at the Academy Awards, wikipedia is a helpful resource. For example, heres the list for the best cinematography:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Cinematography

So, I'm scrolling down the list to 2001 and I see The Fellowship of the Ring. At first I go 'ohhh, that makes sense' but then I start thinking a little more. I am a huge fan of The Lord of the Rings but when I think about the cinematopgraphy from the first one and then the cinematography from Amélie, I would say Amelie wowed me more. Its a big switch in opinion for me because now I'm thinking Amélie should have won the award. I feel like The Fellowship of the Ring did not match the creativity, color, and style of Amélie's cinematography.

Has anyone else been glad a film won an academy award until you watched the other nominations?

Donnie Darko!

Saturday night, my friends and I worked through a list of movies we had been wanting to watch, trying to find one we could all agree on. We finally got it down to V for Vendetta, The Matrix, The Hunt for Red October, and Donnie Darko. Only my roommate Luke had seen Donnie Darko and none of us knew much about it. Luke told us it was definitely worth watching so we trusted him and put it on. We put in the brand new blu-ray, got some drinks and pillows, and hit the lights.

Two hours later, MY MIND WAS BLOWN. I could not believe what I had watched! When the credits started rolling my mouth dropped and for the longest time after watching the film, all I could say was wow. Once I sort of came to, I started asking my roommate tons of questions but he suggested I look the movie up online, so I did. The more I read, the more my mind exploded. I had a ridiculous headache but it was worth it. And this was only the theatrical version, I'm already stoked to watch the director's cut. The last time I felt this way was when I watched Memento (amazing movie), which I also dwelt on for days and looked up online.

Donnie Darko is perfectly crafted. The plot is incredible, the cinematography was fun and interesting, and the acting was awesome. I believe it was this film that shot Jake Gyllenhaal into stardom and for good reason. Jake gives such a great performance as troubled teenager Donnie Darko that I was nearly convinced he was one. Donnie is a boy who has been having serious troubles lately. He keeps seeing srange visions and he can't help but sleep walk every night, ending up in the strangest of places. The movie is not only a journey for Donnie to figure out whats going on, its also a journey for the audience. Just when you think you know whats going on, you are shown how off you were. And this happens two or three times.

Once when talking to Leeper, he brought up the point that if you truly experience a film, meaning you've become fascinated with it and you can help but think about it forever, it has succeeded (not exact words). I spent hours looking up this movie on the Internet, I lost some sleep over it, and I am still contemplating the film. I have truly experienced Donnie Darko and I highly encourage everyone in the class to watch this movie if you ever get the chance.

R. Crumb's Illustrated Book of Genesis

When Leeper suggested looking into R. Crumb's graphic novel of Genesis, I decided to go to our library and read it. Other than a few chapters about Abraham and Joseph, I read the entire thing. All in all, I thought it was very interesting and an amazing feat.

As soon as I made it through a few chapters, I noticed that it was very precise and left very little to interpretation. I think that the biggest influence Crumb himself had in this graphic novel was the image of God as an old man. Alot of people would find it wrong, but then again, how else could God have been shown in the comic panels? The second thing I noticed was the amount of detail Crumb had incoporated into the content.

The artistic style works well and none of the content has been watered down so everyone is okay with it. Its a very incredible story and Crumb does it justice. One thing that might stick out for many is how God is presented. God's anger is certainly strong in portions of the text and drawings it is actually frightening. As it should be. Even though R. Crumb is quite the conflicted man, I cannot think of anyone who could have been able to work with the great material in a faithful and powerful way.

The Parking Lot Movie

I know that we just finished the section on documentaries in class but I really wanted to blog about one I watched this summer. The Parking Lot Movie is a documentary about a small parking lot in Charlottesville, Virginia and the attendants that run it. I had no idea what to expect when I started it, the title jumped out at me while I was searching the many movies stream enabled from Netflix.

It turned out to be a really awesome documentary. It was well done and had a story worth sharing, as simple as it was. The documentary isn't much like the ones we have been watching in class and thats another reason why I wanted to tell everyone about it.

What really "makes" the film is the characters. A small group of guys going against the grain in our society.

The audience is introduced to the many men that work the parking lot and some others that used to do it. They are somewhat peculiar but very entertaining. Plus, so many great moments of the movie are based on spontanious actions from the attendants. I really like how intellegent each guy is, they are completely different from what you would expect of someone with a job like this. Most of them were taking a break from working on a Ph. D or a Masters degree while this film was shot. I think theres alot to learn about judging people in this film because of how the characters show their true selves to the audience. You are actually standing by and supporting the attendants almost the entire film after the first time you witness an interaction between an attendant and a costumer.

I found this to be an awesome documentary for multiple reasons and I suggest, if you ever get the chance, watch it!

Check out the trailer below.

Saints and Soldiers

Friday night, I watched a movie with some friends called Saints and Soldiers. Maybe some of you have seen it. Its from the director of Forever Strong if you have ever seen that. I haven't, but I heard its good. It follows five soldiers in the middle of World War II, four Amercians and one Brit, as they attempt to escape enemy lines after the malmedy massacre. The audience watches as the soldiers fight off the enemy, the weather, and the hopelessness constantly staring them in the face.

When a friend told me about this movie, I became intrigued that it is an independent war drama. That was the driving force that made me watch it. I knew it wasn't going to be the same as other war films and this was definitely true. There weren't ginormous action scenes through out the entire movie or a lame plot that was under-developed. It had a budget of $780,000 but it accomplishes just as much as a movie like Saving Private Ryan which had a budget of $70,000,000. This movie is a really good example of how much can be achieved in a production, even if that production is small.

Theres some great shots, good dialogue, several great characters, and great performances. The film really keeps the audience involved because it has some entertaining characters as well as some complex characters that one slowly learns more about. The movie also brings in different views on faith, fighting for country, and what it means to be the enemy. For these reasons, I would suggest this movie if you are really into war films or if you are not. If you do like war films, this is a way of doing one that is not as common and for that reason worth watching. If you don't care for war films, this is not much like other war movies and it may be worth the stretch out of your usual choices of films.

Filmmakers In Residence

I think it was two weeks ago that we watched material from the Filmmakers In Residence organization. I really thought that the whole system was really awesome but what really stuck with me was what Leeper talked about that day after the videos had finished. It was something along the lines of how different a situation becomes once the camera sees it.

I immediately agreed. The first thing that came to my mind was the Vietnam War. To this day, many people don't like the fact that we were involved. It was during this war that media took a turning point and showed America what our young men were doing overseas. Cameras brought our citizens closer to the frontlines than ever before. The heroism and partiotism were outshined by the suffering and despair Americans saw when they turned on their televisions-- they were not seeing war as they had before. People knew what was happening during war, but it seems like once it came down to the specifics, ignorance was bliss. L. B. Johnson, the president at the time, actually lost alot of supporters once they caught sight of warfare. When people saw footage and photographs, many began to point fingers at Johnson, claiming he was killing the young men of our nation. Its even more unfortunate that so many soldiers who fought in Vietnam are not thanked for their duty. Last Sunday in a church I visited, the Pastor was talking about an older man he knew that had fought in Vietnam. The old man told the Pastor that no one had ever thank him for fighting. How terrible is it that someone who sacrificed his life for our country was never shown appreciation? If one serves in a war, they don't deserve that. It just isn't right.

In the case of the Vietnam War, a camera can make the jaws of tons of Americans drop. The views so many have of this war have been made by cameras. Its just crazy how much of a difference it made.

Examples of the Solution to the Fool's Errand

After I did the reading guide on Keith Lango's blog, The Fool's Errand, I started to think about his solution. Lango preposes animators focus on their idea and getting through it rather than copying the brand Hollywood delivers. Animators working on their own don't have anywhere near the amount of resources, people, or funds. It appears to be impossible to reach the level of detail and craftsmanship that companies like Dreamworks and Pixar work at.

Even though individuals and small studios can't compete on the level of animation that giant studios have in their hands, storytelling is the ultimate tool. Two of my favorite computer animated movies are considered to have extremely low budgets.

The first one is Hoodwinked!, from directors Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards, and Tony Leech. The story is very good and the dialogue is great. On top of that, there are awesome voices. The animation is very vague at certain points and the characters are a little funny looking but it doesn't take away from the experience. And the budget is only $15 million, half of the first Toy Story's budget. The average budget now is between $150- $200 million.

The second is my absolute favorite motion capture film. Gil Kenan's Monster House. This movie has a strange but very good story as well as some awesome concepts throughout the film. The voice acting, like in Hoodwinked!, is entertaining and the dialogue is filled with one liners. I think they actually handled the motion capture well because they didn't try to match the appearnace of real humans. Instead, they used our movements alone. This was a good business move as well because it would have been unsuccessful to make them look more realistic with their budget of $75 million. To compare the cost of this motion capture film with another, look at the Polar Express budget of $165 million. Monster House is less than half the budget of Polar Express.

For me, these two movies prove the ability to get past the obstacle of a smaller budget and make a film on par with bigger productions, story-wise. Does anyone else enjoy animated films that have a smaller budget than the heavy hitters in the film industry?

Don't Lose Yourself

So last night was the forester lecture by Nicole Dreiske. It was very interesting, engaging, and easy to follow. Dreiske threw around alot of great subjects, and I would say the idea thats kicking the most in my head is not losing yourself.

Although she didn't say this directly, it seemed like a theme consistent with alot that she said. By lose yourself, I mean getting caught up in what you've done, how great you are, or what you are willing to do for certain goals. Like Dreiske said in the lecture, we can lose sight of who we are. But she had several guidelines that keep you from getting to this point of losing yourself. Like using your gifts to benefit others. If we do this it helps us stay true to the purpose behind our work. Another guideline was acknowledging the origins of your skills. As long as we are always doing this, it reminds us that what we are given is only temporary and should be used for God. Another huge guideline was doing a self check. We need to look at ourselves and question our actions and our intentions, comparing them to our beliefs and standards. The last thing that really stuck out from Dreiske's talk that runs with this idea of not losing yourself was: how does one measure success? Beyond fame, power, and money, what is our victory?

Although what I wrote about was very specific, I thought the entire lecture was very good. Just for kicks, heres the trailer for winner of the Best Film By An Emerging Director award from the Chicago International Children's Film Festival. Its called The Stubborn Mule and the Remote Control.

Other Mediums are Awesome too

I wanted to do this post because I have had stop motion movies on my mind lately. I know I'm a live-action major but I still have a very high appreciation of films like Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. In fact,this week I'm planning on watching Fantastic Mr. Fox. I haven't seen it yet but I am stoked! I am really looking forward to it. I have only heard good things and after watching the trailer I was very intrigued by the style.

I know alot of people think stop motion movies are annoying and outdated but I really really like them (which is one of the reasons I thought The Stain was so good). Many would say we have moved on from this form of animation into "greater" mediums like CG but, like Leeper said in class, so many 3D animation films have been made and we have seen so many that it might be time to return to older forms while we are exploring this new technology. Just because its the newest style available, doesn't mean its better than all other choices. This is why Disney released the 2D animation feature The Princess and the Frog in 2009 and why Laika Entertainment continues to make claymations like the Corpse Bride and Coraline. Theres nothing wrong with these mediums, several people just have blinders on. Its not that I don't like 3D animation, I love it. I just think commercialism is telling us the focus is on 3D animation.

There are two stop motion films coming out next year that I am really looking forward to watching. The first is from Aardman (creators of Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run), and is titled ThePirates! Band of Misfits. The second one is from Laika (the company I mentioned above) and is called ParaNorman. Both of these films look great and I encourage you to watch the trailers. I'm also interested in seeing Tim Burton's feature length adaptation of his famous short Frankenweenie next year. I saw the short a little while back and thought it was pretty good. I would have to say I'm looking forward to ParaNorman and The Pirates! Band of Misfits more though.

Genre Mashups

Last weekend during open dorms, my friends and I got a bunch of people together in Wright Hall to watch a movie. We try to do this once every weekend because, well, movies are awesome. I had just bought I,Robot and we decided to watch that a few days before hand. Many of us had already seen it but there were many that had not. Either way, we were stoked. So, we watched it and just like I remember it was a very good movie. The story is interesting and well wrote and it had great designs for the city, vechiles, and of course, robots. But what I really loved above all else was the film's two integrated styles/genres: science fiction and crime thriller. Which is what got me thinking about doing a blog post about it.

I really like genre mash ups when they are done right. When done right, both styles compliment each other, a fantastic film experience is created, and the film leaves you with something memorable like other great movies. Some films I would say get the genre mashup right would be:

Blade Runner (sci-fi/film noir)

Alien (sci-fi/horror)

Shaun of the Dead (comedy/horror)

The Ghostbusters (comedy/sci-fi)

Nightmare Before Christmas (Christmas/Halloween special)

I,Robot (sci-fi/crime thriller)

Underworld (action/horror)

Back to the Future Part III (sci-fi/western)

My two favorites from this list are Alien and Ghostbusters. Ridley Scott's Alien is amazing, the visuals and different designs represent some of the best in sci-fi to this day. On top of that, it still holds up as horror. Rotten Tomatoes describes the Alien as a haunted house film moved into outer space, a good way to put it in my opinion. Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters is the perfect comedy, its actually funny and it has a good story. The actors play very well off each other to create such an awesome atmosphere in the movie. Heres the trailer if you've never seen this great movie.

The newest hybrid film to date is Cowboys and Aliens, as far as I know (someone correct me if theres a newer one). I haven't seen this sci-fi/western yet but I've heard mixed reviews about it. I'm probably going to end up watching it because I love genre mashups.

What kinds of genre mashups does everyone else like?

Norstein

Thus far, my favorite animated films we have watched in DM101 are from Norstein. It was amazing how the films were great when you didn't even know what was exactly happening. Yuri Norstein shows incredible talent through the mediums he chooses and the results are simply jaw dropping.

My favorite of the Norstein films we watched was The Battle of Kerzhenets. Norstein takes cut out animation to a level I found unimaginable until I watched. The world in this film is highly expanded, and as the Masters of Animation reading states, Norstien's use of shading and backgrounds with depth help accomplish it. If anyone would like to watch it again, I put it right below.

If anyone was interested, I actually looked up The Battle of Kerzhenets online to better understand exactly what was going on and I thought I would share (now that you've watched it again). So, the film is loosely based on the legend of The Invisible City of Kitezh. In the story, the "Invisible City" disappears under water to escape an attack by the Mongols. The story takes place during the Middle Ages when the Mongol and Tartar people had dominion in Russia. But in the film, focus is mostly on the battle between both of these forces which many, including me, believe to symbolize the collision of the cultures. And if anyone was wondering about the female figure in the beginning, it was Virgin Mary watching over the Russians in battle. I thought it was a very great shot of the film because it visually displayed their faith in general as well as their belief in support from her.

I found this image and it perfectly shows how visually awesome the film is. I remember Prof. Leeper noting how its seems as though you are watching several amazing pieces of art, one after another on the screen. And if you read the information in the beginning of the video, it actually says most of the animation was based on art made between the 14th and 16th centuries. In my opinion, integrating these pieces of art into an animated film is magnificent and very significant in the realm of animation because it really is something we don't see alot of.

The Avengers Trailer!!!

Ethan informed me today that the Avengers teaser went up online! I almost flipped out. Thankfully, I got his text message just as I was leaving class so I was able to go back to my dorm room and watch it right away.

I really love superhero movies (like many other students in our class) and I have been looking foward to this movie for about two years. Finally, the trailer is out and the movie will be released next summer! I am so pumped... I am going to the first showing I can get my hands on. Maybe I'm freaking out a little too much but I can't help it, I love comic book heroes. The director and co writer of The Avengers is Joss Whedon, who in my opinion is a fantastic choice for the creation of this spectacle.

Dead Man Walking

Dead Man Walking, directed by Tim Robbins, is the story of a nun named Helen Prejean who is assigned to help a criminal on death row named Matthew Poncelet. Sister Helen is played by Susan Sarandon and Poncelet is played by Sean Penn. I went to see Dead Man Walking last thursday at Signs and Wonders but I had no idea what it was about.The only think anybody told was 'Its good'. And just as they had said, it was good, even great. Dead Man Walking may actually be, in my opinion, the best film Signs and Wonders has shown thus far.

As I watched the movie, I found that a tension grew in me. It was very subtle, but near the end of the film I began filling a little sick to my stomach. The tension was primarily built by the countdown to Matthew Poncelet's execution, and tension is also established by the unpredictability of the entire story. You really have no idea what will happen to Mr. Poncelet until you reach the conclusion.

I think another reason I got a sort of stressed feeling was because this film purposefully creates conflicts in its viewers; almost as if you are at war with yourself. When the film starts, the audience has very little knowledge of Poncelet. We know he has been sent to jail after being declared guilty of murder and that he considers himself innocent, but we slowly learn more. As the movie progresses, we find out more about the crime that Poncelet was present for (whether he helped or not) and we slowly realize Poncelet's humanity and how we relate to him. Both of these points are continuously supported in the plot and it kind of makes your head spin.

I decided to post this picture because it is from one of my favortie scenes in the movie. When the camera is on Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon is in the reflection of the glass and when the camrea is on Susan Sarandon Sean Penn's reflection is on the glass. What I really like about this scene is how the lighting makes Susan Sarandon brighter and Sean Penn dark and mysterious; it perfectly reflects their personalities (no pun intended).

If you didn't get a chance to see Dead Man Walking last Thursday, I suggest renting it, streaming it, borrowing it, etc. because it is an interesting film and is definitely worth watching.

Comedic Actors in Dramas

I recently watched a film titled "Its Kind of a Funny Story". Its about a teenage boy named Craig who thinks he is about to kill himself. Craig goes to the closest hospital and begs the doctor to do something. And just like that, he moves into the pysch ward of the hospital. The audience watches as Craig learns about the people who are stayinig there, and more importantly, about himself. The story was very interesting and had very good acting. The actor that really impressed me in this film was Zach Galifianakis. He plays Bobby, a man in the ward that befriends Craig. Most people recognize this actor by his performance in The Hangover as Alan. In the hangover we watch as Alan entertains us with his strange and akward behaviour. In Its Kind of a Funny Story, Zach is seen in a very different role. He is still strange but with a seriousness to him; he also has many lines in this film unlike the hangover in which he stands around and looks stupid. For the switch in acting that was required, I thought Galifianakis did a great job.

After I watched the film it lead me to thinking about other comedic actors who have tried to take on more serious roles. Alot of times they can pull it off well, but in other cases, the film is terrible. An example of a "funny man" in dramas is Robin Williams. We have seen him as silly characters like Popeye and Ms. Doubtfire but we have also seen him in films like What Dreams May Come and Bicentennial Man. I watched both of these dramas this summer, I had not heard of What Dreams May Come and I had not seen Bicentennial Man in quite a while. I really liked both of these films for many reasons; Robin Williams' performance is one of the reasons the two films have in common. Another actor who sometimes takes more serious roles is Jim Carrey. Although he can be very loopy, he can also successfully take roles like Joel Barish in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Truman Burbank in The Truman Show. On the flip side, The Number 23 was terrible, so it would be false to say all of his dramatic roles are good ones.

What really makes me laugh sometimes are the directors who pick actors like Galifianakis, Williams, and Carrey. Before any actor like one of these three had been in a more serious role, someone involved in casting had to think "Oh, [Insert Comedic Actor Here] would do a great performance as this character in our film!" What gave anyone that notion?!?! I laugh but when I think further, I realize that any director who has made this decision is willing to take chances and is actually very creative. I think an actor who is willing to step out of their acting comfort zone to be involved in different kinds of projects is also creative and brave.

Limitless and UCF

On Wednesday, I watch Limitless; a new-ish movie starring Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. It is the story of a writer named Eddie Morra whose having trouble writing his book. He meets up with an acquaintance by chance who offers him a very secret drug with extraordinary power. Once Eddie, played by Bradley Cooper, starts taking the drug his life is almost instantly better. He starts taking it once a day and becomes extremely reliant on it. Without it, he cannot tap into his full potential. Unfortunately, Eddie ends up trading his problems for bigger ones and his life gets very chaotic. I thought it was filmed very well and there were many great performances. It was directed by Neil Burger, who also directed The Illusionist. If you are familiar with The Illusionist and haven't seen Limitless you probably geussed that this film has great visuals (you would be right).

Then Thursday in my UCF (Understanding Christian Faith) class, we started to talk about how people unaware of Christianity, attempted to escape their despair. Many people within the Roman Empire during the very early A.D.s decided alcohol and sex could get them closest to an experience outside of this life. Simply put, they got drunk and had orgies, always trying to maintain that high. But this solution turned out to be very ineffective, and these people woke up every morning back where they started. How unsatisfactory, they thought. Then they discovered Christianity and learned about the continuous, intimate relationship with God that could be achieved. That emptiness they felt was finally filled.

During class I realized how similar Eddie Morra was to the laypeople of the Roman Empire. The drug Eddie was taking helped him ignore his despair and failures, even eliminate them. He tried to become the perfect version of himself but he could not hold on to that feeling. The way I see it, Eddie's drugs were his drunken orgy. Just like the Roman people that looked for a way to get rid of problems in this world, Eddie could only rely on this drug long enough to realize its faults.

Whether you look this far into the movie or not, Limitless is still very good.

I Saw Courageous

Its kind of funny that we talked about Courageous in DM101 because I have actually been planning on writing about it. I went to Ft. Wayne last weekend and saw the film with a few friends. I went in not knowing what to expect. I have seen Flywheel, Facing the Giants, and Fireproof, but I was really hoping for something a little different with Courageous. I do admit that I somewhat enjoyed Fireproof but the movie had many flaws I was hoping to see corrected in Courageous.

When the movie started, I immediately took notice to how much better the Kendrick Brothers are with Cameras and other assoicated technology. Several shots from opening scenes, conversations, and action scenes were great and I was extremely surprised, even immpressed. The editing of this film is also a great improvement from Sheerwood Baptist Church's other productions. It was much easier to follow and looked very professional. Courageous was, by far, the darkest film the Kendrick brothers have done and the lighting through the darkest moments was very good. I could tell they gave a lot of care to lighting in this film to portray the tone at any selected moment. I really liked how they handled the score in the film, previously the Kendricks brothers have used a bunch of christian songs from artists like Casting Crowns, MeryMe, and Third Day for the movies' music. I like alot of songs from these artists but in a movie they create somewhat of a cheese factor. In Courageous, there is hardly in music; the rare times it does show up the audience hears piano, string intruments, or horns play a very simple part. While watching the film, I felt this was a much better choice.

Alex and Stephen Kendrick have also improved their writing. The story of this film is actually very engaging by relating to a larger amount of people and roles in society. It is actually laugh out loud funny when the humor throughout the film shows up. The action scenes are handled very well, not over the top but still realistically suspensful. An audience member isn't constantly taken out of the film by terrible dialogue either. As for the acting, I would have to say its the best yet but it still could use work. For me and one of my friends that was at the cinema, one actress really took us out of the story but she only has ten or fifteen minutes in the film so it wasn't extremely bothersome. Storytelling as a whole was done quite well in this one.

The actual plot is what I am most interested in sharing with you guys. As many of you know, the story revovles around four men in the police force and another one whose a construction worker. Basically, we see the five of them struggle with thier faith as well as learn more about a father's duties and responsibilities that have been hidden by the world. As I said before, this is definitelty their darkest film. Tragedy hits early on in the film and the main characters are thrust into many life changing decisions because of it. I know fatherhood is the main theme of the film but I believe there is a very close second that really moved me. It really surfaces in a scene between the central character, Adam Mitchell played by Alex Kendrick, and his pastor. They are in a room together and the pastor asks Adam what he is trying to achieve. Adam tells him he is trying to stop being angry at God. I was almost floored during this scene. I asked myself 'Did Sheerwoood Baptist just make the main character angry with God?!'....WOW. We see throughout the movie how Adam can become very angry. Its not like the greatest freak out ever (if any of you guys have seen those videos) but an audience member can see that even months after he decides to let go of his anger, everything does not become perfect.SPOILER**** In fact, once the movie ends, there are still many issues unsolved and there is not a happy ending. Shocking isn't it. In Facing the Giants and Fireproof, we see the characters get exactly what they wanted from God and everybody and everything is great at the end. In contrast, the characters in Courageous still have many wrongs to right and many difficulties to overcome ****SPOILER OVER.

In my opinion, Courageous was a very good movie. The Kendrick Brothers shot for a much higher goal and raised the bar. And once again, they were able to show the power of a community when it bans together for a huge project like a film. This film doesn't come off as over preachy and I'm praying that it would bring some non-believers to the theaters. Without a doubt, the film has a message worth hearing. I admit I have not included many flaws from the film. It is not because I didn't find any, I just thought we covered the only ones I can think of in class.

Blood Simple

Last Thursday, I went to see Blood Simple and might I say, what a treat. Although I did not think it while we were watching the movie, I found it very amusing once the credits began rolling. I didn't laugh at all during the movie and I actually caught myself slipping into a snooze early on (not from the movie, I was just tired), but after I left and began thinking about the movie, the plot seemed very comical.

The film is about a woman who leaves her husband to be with another man. Her husband becomes very upset and hires a "private investigator" to take care of his wife and her new guy friend. Deciet lies behind every corner, leading the characters to realize just how complex a situation becomes once blood has been spilt. It only takes about fifteen minutes before the entire story has an atmosphere of confusion and paranoia spilled over it. The best part is, not one character understands exactly what is going on. Each person only has a fragment of information. As the movie goes on, the audience watches as the characters make choices without seeing the big picture. For me, the entertaining factor of the movie was the difference between what the audience knew and what the characters in Blood Simple knew. It is common to watch a movie that keeps you guessing through out, not knowing the secrets the characters have or how it will end. But when you watch a movie that gives its viewers all of the knowledge, its a rare delight.