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There Will Be Blood

There Will Be Blood      There Will Be Blood was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and released in 2007. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano. The film focuses on Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) and the lengths that he’ll go to for money and power. Opposite him is Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), a ‘pastor’ in charge of the local ‘church,’ which really appears to be more of a cult. Both Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano did a great job at playing two very unsettling characters.     One of the scenes I found most unsettling was when the oil well caught on fire. It was dark, and Daniel Plainview was covered in oil from head to toe. At first, he’s relatively easy to see, but as the lighting gradually gets darker, all but his face disappears. This in itself is enough to be off-putting, but his expression really sold it. Daniel Plainview was grinning— not just smiling, or smirking, but legitimately grinning. He almost seemed delighted by the fire. And although I can’t quit...
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Batman (1989)

Batman (1989)      Batman , starring Michael Keaton , Jack Nicholson , and Kim Basinger , directed by Tim Burton , was released in 1989. It focuses on  the stories of Bruce Wayne, just starting out as the vigilante known as Batman, Jack Napier, who becomes the villain known as the Joker during the course of the film, and photographer Vicki Vale, who gets caught in the crossfire. Batman ’s color pallet is largely dark and gloomy, with an occasional pop of color, whether in Batman’s costume, or the Joker’s various outfits. There’s one color in particular I would like to focus on. In Batman , the color red appears to be linked with death.     I can’t say the color red is exclusive to death, because the opening of the film features a lot of red, though the family in danger survives. However, from the moment we meet Jack Napier, he is associated with the color red. It starts small, at first. His suit is a navy blue with creme and gray accents, yet his pocket squ...
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Jurassic Park

 Jurassic Park     Jurassic Park , starring Sam Neill , Laura Dern , and Jeff Goldblum , was directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 1993. In Jurassic Park , a large part of the film consists of the main characters running for their lives from several different species of dinosaurs— most notably, the t-rex and the velociraptors. In order to accomplish this, Jurassic Park used CGI combined with stop-motion, and animatronics. The CGI is really impressive for its time, but there are a few things I noticed that pulled me out of the action. Using the scene with the velociraptors in the kitchen as an example, I want to focus on how the team behind the film made the velociraptors appear to be interacting with their environment.     This one is just an observation, not an actual criticism, but I thought it was interesting that when the velociraptor was opening the door, the door handle’s movement stopped and started in weird places. It reminded me a lot of the c...
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Whiplash (2014)

Whiplash      Whiplash was written and directed by Damien Chazelle , and released in 2014. The film is about Andrew (played by Miles Teller ), a drummer at a conservatory, and his emotionally and physically abusive teacher, Fletcher ( J.K. Simmons ). The film can be considered unique for how the drumbeats played by Andrew correspond to the editing of the film and the music. A few things I would like to talk about are the compression montage during the competition between drummers, the timing of the cuts and the focus on specific instruments, and the choice to not cut during a portion of the final standoff between Andrew and Fletcher.     Towards the middle of the film, Andrew finds himself in competition with two other drummers for the part of being the main drummer in the upcoming competition. Whiplash chooses to use a very brief montage to show how much time has passed, rather than have us sit through the entire process. It cuts between the drummers and Fletc...
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1917

1917       1917 , a war film directed and written by Sam Mendes , with Krysty Wilson-Cairns as a co-writer, was released in 2019. It stars Dean-Charles Chapman and George MacKay , who play two British soldiers— Lance Corporal Blake and Lance Corporal Schofield, respectively— tasked with delivering a message to Colonel Mackenzie ( Benedict Cumberbatch ). If they fail, thousands of lives will be lost, including Lance Corporal Blake’s brother. 1917 is particularly notable for its unique cinematography, such as the film appearing to have been done in only two takes. I would like to highlight a few things that really stood out to me about the specific choices made concerning the camera and what it showed, and the effect they have on the viewer’s experience. Specifically, the way the cinematography confuses the viewer about the true protagonist, the waterfall sequence, and the mirroring of the first and final scenes.     1917 opens on a meadow, and the first p...
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Blackfish

 Blackfish           Blackfish , directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, is an exposé documentary about the capture and mistreatment of orcas, as well as orca trainer deaths at SeaWorld. The documentary features Tilikum, an orca who lived at SeaWorld for twenty-five years and is tied to three separate deaths: Keltie Lee Byrne, which he shares responsibility for with two other orcas, Daniel P. Dukes, who was found dead and mutilated in Tilikum’s tank, and Dawn Brancheau, whom Tilikum is directly responsible for killing. SeaWorld’s official stance on Blackfish was to label it propaganda and run a smear campaign against the film, the cast, and the writers. Though I don’t agree with the rest of their strategy, I do agree with SeaWorld that Blackfish is propaganda, due to the nature of its sources, the emotionally-charged imagery used, and the personal biases of the writers.     In Blackfish , the majority of the sources are ex-employees of SeaWorld...
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