Doctor Zhivago and Grave of the Fireflies by Crystal Nehler

Title/Year: Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Director/Birth Country/Year Born: David Lean/England/1908

Budget: $11 Million

Gross: $111,721,910

Synopsis:  Doctor Zhivago follows the character of the same name in Russia during World War I.  The Bolshevik Revolution is changing everything and Yuri Zhivago enters into an affair with a political activist.  Both the revolution and this affair turn his life upside down.

Narrative and Visual Keywords: War, Love, Russia, Revolution, Affair.

Character Arc:  Zhivago's life is torn apart when war takes him away from his family and delivers him into the arms of another woman, Lara, who is also married.  He attempts to balance love with fidelity during a revolution.  

Camera/lighting/editing technique:  Lots of dialogue, Contrast, Lingering Musical Score, Epic Locations

Political/ Social Commentary:  Revolution and how it affects people of privilege and those without.  Morals vs. Actions

Historical Relevance/ Recognition: 5 Oscars.  Box Office Hit.  Huge influence on culture and fashion.

Notable Collaboration: Omar Sharif also starred in Lawrence of Arabia.

Random fact, Etc.:  Peter O'Toole, star of Lawrence of Arabia was offered the role of Zhivago but he turned it down.

Sources Cites:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=doctorzhivago.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Zhivago_(film)

Response Questions:

1)  Doctor Zhivago is built on class differences.  The revolution is meant to overthrow a decadent upperclass and then when the tables turn, power corrupts the revolutionaries and a new oppressive class emerges.  The scene that illustrates power differences the best is (pretty obviously) the scene where troops charge on demonstrating students.

2)  The most obvious example of a victim in Doctor Zhivago would have to be Zhivago himself.  Circumstances completely outside of his control took him away from his family.  Away from everything he knew he meets a new love and whatever part he had to play in his affair, you can't deny when he ended the relationship he attempted to uphold a moral code.  Of course this is when he was taken from his family (and pregnant wife) yet again.  He ends up going from a young promising doctor with a family and his whole life ahead of him to a man dead of a heart attack, from chasing after lost love.

3)  This film is built on the pleasures of cinema - Epic battles spatter a movie which is more about people, revolution and love more than those battles.  The tragedy of being drug away again and again from the things you value and into a landscape of death and oppression.  The melodrama hits a fever pitch near the end, when a dying Zhivago attempts to catch up with Lara.

4)  The enemies in Doctor Zhivago are pretty fluid and therefore portrayed and neutral.  Whether the people were being oppressed by the upper-class or the revolutionaries, people were still constantly being oppressed in often times a violent way.

Title/Year : Grave of the Fireflies/1988

Director/Birth Country/Year Born: Isao Takahata/Japan/1935

Budget: Approximately 3.7 million (USD)

Gross: Approximately 5 million (USD)

Synopsis:  Based on the novel of the same name, Grave of the Fireflies is about a boy attempts to care for himself as well as younger sister in World War 2 Japan.

Political/ Social Commentary:  It depicts the horrifying hardships of a war torn country through the eyes of children.

Narrative and Visual Keywords:  Family, Siblings, Death, Innocence Lost

Main Character/Arc:  Young Seita becomes the soul caretaker of his younger sister four year old Setsuko.  He starts as a naive young fourteen year old, but both of them end up dead due to the apathy of many.

Notable Collaboration: 

Historical relevance/recognition:  Based on a semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, much of the story of Seita and Setsuko stems from that of the author Akiyuki Nosaka.   Has had live action adaptations done.

Etc.: Roger Ebert Considers it one of the most moving War Movies of all time.

Site Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_of_the_Fireflies 

Response Questions:

1)  This film is definitely NOT about group integration.  Time and again Seita and his sister do not receive the help that they need in order to survive.  For instance from their Aunt and then again while Setsuko is dying of malnutrition from the doctor.  

2)  Obviously Seita sacrifices a ton keeping Setsuko alive and happy.  These were unthinkable times and while many were only thinking of themselves (their Aunt for instance) Seita was a constant for Setsuko.   He does anything he can to provide for them.

3)  I think that Seita and Setsuko have very strong and realistic characterizations.  They really read as children.  Even when things are going horribly for them Seita still attempts to give Setsuko some childlike experiences with the Fruit Drops and Fireflies.

4)  Seita's strength of character (but maybe not his sound decision making) is revealed by when he leaves with Setsuko from their Aunts house to live in a bomb shelter.  There wasn't much to be done though and they were in a desperate situation.  I do doubt that their Aunt would have straight up let them starve though.

Michael Mann's Collateral (2004) by Bryan Tosh and Mark Zuiderveld

Dargis, Manohla. "Killer in a Cab, Doing His Job." Rev. of Collateral, dir. Michael Mann. The New York Times. 6 Aug. 2004

Ebert, Roger. Rev. of Collateral, dir. Michael Mann. The Chicago Sun-Times. 6 Aug. 2004

Hunter, Stephen. "'Collateral': The Meter Keeps Running." Rev. of Collateral, dir. Michael Mann. The Washington Post. 6 Aug. 2004

Theme and director's intention:

"The new film takes place against a backdrop that pits a drug cartel against law enforcement agencies presumably intent on shutting it down, and to that end features big, beefy men wielding big, scary guns and the jolting image of Vincent hitting his marks, specifically with two bullets to the chest and one through the head. But because Mr. Mann makes thrillers the way that John Ford made westerns, using genre as a way into meaning rather than as an escape, ''Collateral'' bears little relation to the usual Hollywood blowout." -Dargis

"Mann allows dialogue into the kind of movie that many directors now approach as wall-to-wall action.  Action gains a lot when it happens to convincing individuals, instead of to off-the-shelf action figures." -Ebert

Separate elements and their relation to the whole:

''Collateral'' is very much the product of a distinct vision, one as eager to push technological limits (the film was shot with the most advanced video cameras) as to upend the usual studio white-hero/black-villain formula." -Dargis

"...observe the way Jada Pinkett Smith sidesteps the conventions of the Meet Cute and brings everyday plausibility to every moment of Annie's first meeting with Max. This is a rare thriller that's as much character study as sound and fury." -Ebert

Objective evaluation of the film:

"Set in Los Angeles mostly after dark, after the city's sunshine has given way to cool noir, the story centers on a taxi driver, Max (Jamie Foxx), and the assassin Vincent (Tom Cruise), who hops a ride with him deep into the night. As the pair cover the city, looping over interchanges and down wide open boulevards, they travel a landscape alive with wild animals and wilder men, noisy with unfamiliar music and chatter, and punctured by the hard pop of occasional gunfire." -Dargis



"Collateral is essentially a long conversation between a killer and a man who fears for his life." -Ebert


"The not-so-funny thing is that Tom Cruise is a better samurai in "Collateral" than he was in his last movie, in which he actually played a samurai. Cruise is the gray-hued symbol of the universe's mayhem in the new Michael Mann film, a killer with an ironic sense of self, a knowledge of jazz, clothes cool enough to get him into GQ and a remorseless will." -Hunter

Subjective evaluation of the film:

''Collateral'' is finally about men and work, and about how being a man is itself a kind of job. (It's no wonder the director gives the Sears ''Craftsman'' logo a loving nod.) Whether chasing fictionalized serial killers or those serial killers who run tobacco companies, Mr. Mann's men risk everything -- happiness, women, life itself -- to get the job done, which explains why these fastidiously executed commercial films are not just entertainments, but statements of personal faith." -Dargis

"So now we know more about Vincent. The movie is structured to make his occupation a surprise, but how much of a surprise can it be when the movie's Web site cheerfully blurts out: "Vincent is a contract killer." Never mind. The surprise about Vincent's occupation is the least of the movie's pleasures."
-Ebert

"The movie goes a little wobbly when Mann leaves the intensity of the Max-Vincent pas de deux. For storytelling purposes -- Mann needs a chase structure -- he cuts away frequently to a team of cops who begin to piece together (the corpses are helpful) the nature of Vincent's mission and thereby work out ways to intercept him." -Hunter

The film's level of ambition:

"It is also good on its own terms, like a self-contained short film. It allows us to learn things about Max we could not possibly learn in the scenes to follow, and adds a subtext after the next customer into his cab is Tom Cruise." -Ebert

"Collateral" is the best kind of genre filmmaking: It plays by the rules, obeys the traditions and is both familiar and fresh at once." -Hunter

Words you found interesting:

"Mr. Foxx can't have had an easy time playing foil to the world's biggest movie star, but he holds his own gracefully. For his part, Mr. Cruise, whose famous self-discipline has helped turn him into a bankable personality and a less-than-believable regular guy, makes Vincent scarily convincing." -Dargis

"I would have preferred for the movie to end in something other than a chase scene, particularly one involving a subway train, since I've seen about six of those already this summer, but Mann directs it well. And he sets it up with a cat-and-mouse situation in a darkened office, which is very effective; it opens with a touch of "Rear Window" as Max watches what's happening on different floors of an office building." -Ebert

"the frosty Vincent is serving as a mentor to Max. He forces him to do and be things the laid-back underachiever could never have done or been. In the end, Max becomes that which seemed utterly impossible in the early going: a hero." -Hunter

Relationship to the film movements/genres/relation to other filmmakers' work:

"Wired for action, ''Collateral,'' which opens nationwide today, initially seems like a return to basics for Mr. Mann, as exemplified by ostensibly straight early films like ''Thief,'' about a safecracker in love, and a retreat from the more self-consciously serious films like ''Ali,'' his underrated movie about the legendary boxer." -Dargis

"Cruise and the filmmakers bring a great deal more to his character than we expect in a thriller. What he reveals about Vincent, deliberately and unintentionally, leads up to a final line that is worthy of one of those nihilistic French crime movies from the 1950s." -Ebert

"If this sounds not so much dicey as vicey -- that is, "Miami Vicey" -- it should; the director, Mann, brought this form of jazz cool to crime stories many years ago on "Miami Vice" and other television work. He expanded it with "Heat," that great bank-job epic, then gave it up with two dim misfires ("The Insider" and "Ali")." -Hunter

Bradley Davis & Ben Hilton

TED the movie

Theme and director’s intention-
"MacFarlane's debut as a feature director hits all the sweet spots that irritate prudes. Is it dirty? Yes. Does it take full advantage of the R rating? Oh my yes. Is it funny? It's hysterically, gut-bustingly funny"c.
Traver Peter Rolling stone June 28, 2012
"In the modern, meta manner he (that is, Mr. MacFarlane) wants both to indulge and to deny the offensiveness of this material, to wallow in ugliness and make fun of it too".
Scott A.O. The New York Times June28,2012
"MacFarlane seems unwilling to stop after the first payoff of a scene. He keeps embellishing. In Ted, he has an inexhaustible source of socially obnoxious behavior and language, and it's uncanny the way a teddy bear can get away with doing and saying things that we wouldn't necessarily accept from a human character".
Ebert Roger rogerebert.com June 27, 2012

Separate elements and their relationship to the whole-
John and Ted lead an "Animal House"-like existence, inhaling wholesale quantities of weed and recalling their early years as "Flash Gordon" fans
 Ebert Roger rogerebert.com June 27, 2012
 "The show shares with “Ted” a devotion to laughter based on incongruity: the baby who sounds like an English aristocrat; the dog who talks like a bored intellectual; the teddy bear with the voice of the guy who spilled beer down the back of your shirt at the Bruins game".
 Scott A.O. The New York Times June28,2012
" Mark Wahlberg is just terrific as John Bennett, a good-natured Boston dude who wonders if he'll ever be responsible enough to marry his girlfriend Lori"
Traver Peter Rolling stone June 28, 2012

Objective evaluation of the film-
With an edgy Beantown accent and a potty mouth, Ted insults and offends everyone he comes into contact with, and sees Lori as a threat to his friendship with John
  Ebert Roger rogerebert.com June 27, 2012
The problem is Ted, a toy bear John has been living with since childhood. Back then, he wished for a walking, talking bear who'd love him as a friend and comfort him when thunder comes.
Traver Peter Rolling stone June 28, 2012
A cute opening sequence chronicles the granting of John’s childhood wish that his beloved bear come to life and the flurry of media attention that followed. In the present John is 35, employed at a Boston car-rental office and romantically attached to Lori.
 Scott A.O. The New York Times June28,2012

Subjective evaluation of the film-
There is really only one joke in “Ted” — a toy bear comes to life and turns out to have a filthy mouth and a taste for weed — but the movie’s attempts at humor can nonetheless be sorted into a few distinct categories.
 Scott A.O. The New York Times June28,2012
The funniest movie character so far this year is a stuffed teddy bear. And the best comedy screenplay so far is "Ted," the saga of the bear's friendship with a 35-year-old manchild. I know; this also was hard for me to believe. 

  Ebert Roger rogerebert.com June 27, 2012

The film’s level of ambition-
MacFarlane seems unwilling to stop after the first payoff of a scene. He keeps embellishing. In Ted, he has an inexhaustible source of socially obnoxious behavior and language, and it's uncanny the way a teddy bear can get away with doing and saying things that we wouldn't necessarily accept from a human character.

  Ebert Roger rogerebert.com June 27, 2012

 MacFarlane's debut as a feature director hits all the sweet spots that irritate prudes. Is it dirty? Yes. Does it take full advantage of the R rating? Oh my yes. Is it funny?
Traver Peter Rolling stone June 28, 2012
but the feature film is not a hospitable form for Mr. MacFarlane. He has no particular visual knack, little interest in storytelling and nothing better to do with his naughty bear besides stuff him into a soft, sentimental comedy that seems almost proud of its lack of wit or conviction.
  Scott A.O. The New York Times June28,2012

Words you found interesting-
Manchild, treacly, sexual athlete, misogyny, bawdy

Relationship to film movements/genres/ relation to other filmmakers’ work-
If you watch the animated hijinks on TV's Family Guy, The Cleveland Show and American Dad.
Traver Peter Rolling stone June 28, 2012
The opening scenes find the right tone. A treacly narrator (Patrick Stewart) describes a Christmas that reminds us of a "A Christmas Story," except for the jolts of four-letter words and anti-PC one-liners

  Ebert Roger rogerebert.com June 27, 2012

- Mr. MacFarlane is best known as the creator of “Family Guy,” an animated television series that has hung around in the company of “The Simpsons” and “South Park” like an annoying younger cousin, bullying and whining its way into a measure of public acceptance.
  Scott A.O. The New York Times June28,2012

Jurassic Park- by Carol and Mike

Theme and director’s intention

"Jurassic Park," his new thriller set in a remote island theme park where real dinosaurs have been grown from long-dormant DNA molecules.- Roger Ebert

“The more spectacular of these involve the fierce, lifelike dinosaurs that stalk through the film with astounding ease…”- Janet Maslin

“Ever since director Steven Spielberg began to work on Michael Crichton's futuristic novel of catastrophe in a theme park stocked with flesh-and-blood dinosaurs from the Jurassic Period, the anticipation about what the beasts would look like has been intense.”-Kenneth Turan

Separate elements and their relationship to the whole

As the film opens, two dinosaur experts (Sam Neill and Laura Dern) arrive at the park, along with a mathematician played by Jeff Goldblum whose function in the story is to lounge about uttering vague philosophical imprecations. Also along are Attenborough's grandchildren, and a lawyer, who is the first to be eaten by a dinosaur.- Roger Ebert

“   The savviest character in Mr. Crichton's book, a glamorous mathematician (yes) named Ian Malcolm, is among several scientists taken to Jurassic Park to inspect the place before it opens. ”- Janet Maslin

“Brought to life by a consortium of four separate effects units, including live-action expert Stan Winston, who created the original "Terminator," and Industrial Light & Magic wizard Dennis Muren, responsible for "Terminator 2's" computer-generated morphing effects, the dinosaurs are wondrously realistic.”- Kenneth Turan

Objective evaluation of the film

Attenborough wants the visitors to have a preview of his new park, where actual living prehistoric animals live in enclosures behind tall steel fences….- Roger Ebert

 “Jurassic Park's main attractions are real live dinosaurs, which have been created through the reconstruction of dinosaur DNA. The DNA has been obtained through blood found in prehistoric mosquitoes preserved in amber. (The film, being much more mainstream, explains this process with the help of an animated "Mr. D.N.A.")”-Janet Maslin

“First stop is Isla Nublar, a speck off the coast of Costa Rica and the soon-to-be-opened park's locale, where we (and an unlucky worker) get a first-hand glimpse of how ornery those dinos can be. We also get to visit with a nervous attorney, a secretly traitorous park employee and, on a dig in Montana, two of the world's preeminent dinosaur experts, handsome paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and his attractive colleague, paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern).”-Kenneth Turan

Subjective evaluation of the film

The plot to steal the embryos is handled on the level of a TV sitcom. The Knight character, an overwritten and overplayed blubbering fool….-Roger Ebert

“Amazingly graceful and convincing, they set a sky-high new standard for computer-generated special effects.”- Janet Maslin

”And in that area "Jurassic Park" (citywide) does not disappoint.”- Kenneth Turan

 The film’s level of ambition

We see them early and often, and they are indeed a triumph of special effects artistry, but the movie is lacking other qualities that it needs even more, such as a sense of awe and wonderment, and strong human story values.-Roger Ebert

“Even while capturing the imagination of its audience, this film lays the groundwork for the theme-park rides, sequels and souvenirs that insure the "Jurassic Park" experience will live on. And on. And on.”-Janet Maslin

“Everything that money can buy has been bought, and what an estimated $60 million can purchase is awfully impressive.”-Kenneth Turan

Words you found interesting.

beast mauls a car –Roger Ebert

Plotting the dinosaurs' escapades is Mr. Spielberg's strongest suit, and the director's glee is clear.-Janet Maslin

verisimilitude –Kenneth Turan

Relationship to film movements/genres/ relation to other filmmakers’ work.

Think back to another ambitious special effects picture from Spielberg, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977). That was a movie about the "idea" of visitors from outer space.- Roger Ebert

“To give the velociraptors a suitable introduction, he opens the film with a character whose upper body remains visible while the rest of him is being attacked off camera, a la "Jaws.” “-Janet Maslin

“Not that anyone was expecting "Jurassic Park" to be the dinosaur version of "Howards End." In fact, it was Spielberg himself who created the model for this kind of picture 18 summers ago when he directed the enormously popular "Jaws," a film in which strong acting and concern for character added considerably to its creature-on-the-loose suspense.”-Kenneth Turan 

The Wrestler by Jake Lyon & Chris Moretti

Theme and director’s intention:

"Mr. Aronofsky, whose earlier movies include the brain-teasing “Pi” and the swooning, fantastical, unwatchable “Fountain,” here makes a convincing show of brute realism". -Scott

Darren Aronofsky alchemises Rourke's conceit into a terrifically engaging, likable and even vulnerable performance. Bradshaw - The Guardian

Separate elements and their relationship to the whole:
"The supermarkets, trailer parks, V.F.W. halls and run-down amphitheaters of New Jersey are convincingly drab, and the grain of the celluloid carries a sour and salty aura of weariness and defeat".- Scott

He is Randy "Ram" Robinson, the washed-up star of the 80s professional wrestling scene, still roaring and crashing around the circuit to a diminishing crowd of nerdy male fans and dead-eyed blonde women keen to "party" after the show.   Bradshaw -The Gaurdian

Objective evaluation of the film:
 "When the designated bad guy lands a blow, the crowd boos; when he’s on the receiving end, it cheers. The basic rule is laid out succinctly by an old nemesis of Randy’s: “I’m the heel, and you’re the face.”- Scott
The Wrestler has the intimacy of a fly-on-the-wall documentary. No stunt men were harmed -- or used -- in the fight sequences. But the drama makes for vibrant art - Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post

Despite the low-tech feel, The Wrestler is very tight and disciplined. The score is spare but effective, nothing is wasted in dialogue or action, and the fight choreography and stunts are incredible. Rourke is phenomenal. - Karina Montgomery
Cinerina

Extras on the disc include a featurette bringing together filmmakers and wrestlers to talk about the movie, and a Bruce Springsteen music video. - Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

Subjective evaluation of the film:
"He is estranged from his daughter, Stephanie, (Evan Rachel Wood), whose anger when he tries to reconcile suggests some major mess-ups in the past. " - Scott

 

Rourke wears his scars (both physical and emotional) with such naked humanity that his performance becomes a kind of on-screen outpouring of his own grief and waylaid potential - James Kendrick

Q Network Film Desk

Whatever mistakes and indignities and turmoil led Mickey Rourke to where he is now, whatever demons have plagued him -- they all lead to the 1 hour and 55 minutes of magnificence that is his performance in' The Wrestler.' - Matt Soergel

Florida Times-Union

[Rourke's] performance here is so good and unshowy that you wind up almost happy to keep watching that mangled mug struggle for redemption. - Dave White

Movies.com

The film’s level of ambition:
"While the fights are choreographed, the pain and the blood are frequently real. We are privy to tricks of the trade, like the tiny bit of razor blade that Randy uses to open a cut on his face in the middle of a bout. And we witness a horrifying match involving broken glass, barbed wire and a staple gun, all of it agreed upon by the combatants."-Scott

Savour one of cinema's rawest talents finally powerslamming his way to glory and be grateful that Aronofsky dragged himself off the ropes on countless occasions to convince the money men to finance the movie with such a seemingly unbankable lead actor. - Ben Rawson-Jones

Digital Spy

There was no character to root for more strongly in spite of himself in 2008 than Randy the Ram, and "The Wrestler" spat and bled his physical poetry - an elegy of emasculation and exhaustion building, in its final shot, to all the exhilaration he needed. - Nick Rogers

Suite101.com

The movie presses too hard and too often, but the performances are strong enough to withstand the melodramatic impulses, and the themes of isolation and self-destructiveness are too sharply realized to be trivialized. - Tom Maurstad

Dallas Morning News

Words you found interesting:
"But Randy is also, outside the ring, something of a heel"-Scott

Relationship to film movements/genres/ relation to other filmmakers’ work:
"About that face. Mr. Aronofsky takes his time showing it, trailing behind Mr. Rourke and allowing us sidelong glances for the first few minutes of the film, before disclosing the battered, lumpy yet still strangely beautiful wreck of what we remember from “Diner” or “The Pope of Greenwich Village.”   -Scott

Perhaps Aronofsky was also playfully hinting at Roland Barthes's ruminations in his 1957 essay The World of Wrestling: "I have heard it said of a wrestler stretched on the ground: 'He is dead, little Jesus there, on the cross ...'" There is, however, nothing little about Mickey Rourke. -Bradshaw - The Guadian.

References:

Scott, A.O. " Hard Knocks both given and taken". Rev of The Wrestler, Director Aaron Aronofsky.

The New York Times   16 Dec 2008

Clueless by Crystal Nehler and Noelle Henderson

Theme and director’s intention - 

"The movie is aimed at teenagers, but like all good comedies, it will appeal to anyone who has a sense of humor and an ear for the ironic."  -Ebert

"Like an episode of "Beverly Hills, 90210" on helium, "Clueless" is a fresh, disarmingly bright and at times explosively funny comedy well worth a trip to the mall, even if it eventually runs out of gas. "  -Lowry

“The setting is Bronson Alcott High School, which is not this film's only nod to the classics. Some of "Clueless" is actually lifted from Jane Austen's "Emma," with Cher a mind-bendingly up-to-date version of the novel's matchmaking minx. Ms. Heckerling (who also wrote the film) deserves extra credit for doing that homework, but some of the modified Austen situations become a little improbable here.”  

- Maslin

Separate elements and their relationship to the whole -

"So, OK, you're probably like - what is this, a Noxzema commercial? First words of "Clueless" That's exactly what I was like. The hand-held camera was tilting crazily, showing the sun-blessed teenagers of Southern California, and I'm like - what is this, an MTV video?"  - Ebert

"Heckerling gets the most out of her youthful cast, beginning with Silverstone , who's not only adorable but possesses a real comic flair. Though her choice as the MTV Movie Awards' newcomer of the year seemed like something of a joke in 1993 ("The Crush" was a rather reprehensible movie), she certainly lives up to that promise here."  -Lowry

"Tech credits are also superb, down to the outlandish costumes, carefully chosen song score and opulent Beverly Hills estates -- gaudy enough to make even the Clampetts and the brats on "90210" eat their collective hearts out."  -Lowry

"Clueless" is best enjoyed as an extended fashion show (kudos to the costume designer, Mona May) peppered with amusing one-liners, most of which Ms. Silverstone gets to deliver. On television violence: "There's no point in taking it out of shows that need it for entertainment value!" - Maslin

Objective evaluation of the film -

"Not Cher who won the Oscar. Cher, the heroine of this movie. A little later, she explains that she and her friend Dionne "were both named after great singers of the past that now do infomercials." (She adds, "She's my friend because we both know what it is to have people be jealous of us.") "Clueless" is a smart and funny movie, and the characters are in on the joke. Cher (Alicia Silverstone), who lives in a mansion and looks like Cybill Shepherd, is capable of lines like, "Why learn to park when everry place you go has a valet?" But she puts a little satirical spin on them."  -Ebert

"The only child of a widowed corporate lawyer (played with gruff charm by Dan Hedaya), Cher finds there are few situations she can't talk her way out of, down to manipulating her teachers into a romance to mellow them out enough to get better grades.

Cher's big project, however, is Tai (Brittany Murphy), a fashion victim who clearly needs a clue. Taking it upon herself to elevate the new kid into the popular elite, she begins a wholesale makeover that eventually leads her in a small way to examine her own persona, including her relationship with Josh (Paul Rudd), the son of her father's ex-wife by a former marriage. (That means the two aren't related at all, though the distinction was clearly lost on some members of the preview audience.)"  -Lowry

“While Miss Silverstone guides Cher through the witty costume changes that serve as character development, she's backed up by a solid supporting cast. Ms. Dash is especially appealing as Dionne, Cher's true soul mate, who upon finding someone else's hair extension in her boyfriend's car is most offended because the hair is polyester and looks cheap. Dan Hedaya is enjoyably gruff as the father whose litigation practice subsidizes Cher's expensive habit, and who has even bought her a car that she hasn't learned to park. "What's the point?" she reasons. "Everywhere you go, you've got valet."  - Maslin

Subjective evaluation of the film

"Heckerling walks a fine line between satire and put-on, but she finds it, and her dialogue could be anthologized. You have to like a movie with lines such as: "Searching for high grades in high school is like searching for meaning in a Pauly Shore movie." Or this excuse in P.E. class: "My plastic surgeon doesn't want me doing any activity where balls fly at my nose." The answer to that, which cannot be printed here, may be worth at least a third of the price of admission, all by itself."  -Ebert

""Clueless" does stumble a bit toward the end. It's hard to maintain such manic energy, and the story seems to have little idea where it's going before settling on a rather pat conclusion."  -Lowry

“Despite its literary quasi-pedigree, "Clueless" doesn't have much more than these scattered gags to keep it going.”  - Maslin

The film’s level of ambition
"The movie is aimed at teenagers, but like all good comedies, it will appeal to anyone who has a sense of humor and an ear for the ironic."  -Ebert

"Even so, the movie emerges as a breath of fresh air in a summer where most of the comedy has been formulaic."  -Lowry

“Some of "Clueless" is actually lifted from Jane Austen's "Emma," with Cher a mind-bendingly up-to-date version of the novel's matchmaking minx. Ms. Heckerling (who also wrote the film) deserves extra credit for doing that homework, but some of the modified Austen situations become a little improbable here.”  - Maslin

Words you found interesting.

"Satirical."  -Ebert

"Flair."  - Lowry

"Delectable."  -Maslin

Relationship to film movements/genres/ relation to other filmmakers’ work.

"She is one of the most totally self-absorbed characters in a movie since the heroes of "Wayne's World," and yet she isn't a victim, and we get the idea she willl grow up tough and clever, like her dad (Dan Hedaya)."  -Ebert

"Clueless" carries on the tradition of movies "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "Dazed and Confused" in skewering the social strata of teen life, here taking advantage as well of the exaggerated rich-kid setting, where spoiled teens call each other on cellular phones as they parade down the halls."  -Lowry

"Taking her (uncredited) inspiration from Jane Austen's novel "Emma," writer-director Amy Heckerling (who also directed "Fast Times") has a dead-on ear for the updated "Valley Girl" dialogue with a Beverly Hills-Westside twist."  -Lowry

“But it's true that the tirelessly helpful instincts of Austen's Emma have been nicely translated into a contemporary idiom. "God, this woman is screaming for a makeover!" Cher decides about a dowdy teacher. "I'm her only hope."  - Maslin

Ebert, Roger “Clueless” Rev. of Clueless, dir. Amy Heckerling Refn. Chicago Sun Times 19 July 1995

Lowry, Brian. “Drive” Rev. of Clueless, dir. Amy Heckerling Refn. Vaiety16 July. 1995

Maslin, Janet. “Clueless (1995) FILM REVIEW; A Teen-Ager Who's Clear on Her Priorities” Rev. of Clueless, dir. Amy Heckerling. The New York Times  19 July 1995

The Raven by, Aaron Charny & Jordan Kulm

Scott, A.O “A Murderer Tapping at His Chamber Door” Rev. of The Raven, Directed by James McTeigue. The New York Times  April 26, 2012

Sharkey, Betsy "'The Raven' has Cusack's Poe swinging like a pendulum" Rev. of The Raven, dir.James McTeigue The Los Angeles Times 27 April 2012

Korfhage , Matthew “I gave her my heart, she gave me a pendulum.” Rev. of The Raven, dir.James McTeigue. Willamette Week. 25 April 2012

Theme and director’s intention

"The Raven"stars John Cusack in a gothic thriller pulled from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe that regrettably falls prey to its grand and grisly ambitions" -Sharkey

“The Raven,” unfortunately, does not settle on just one, preferring the usual moviemaking practice of multiplying effects until they pile up into a welter of breathless incident and preposterous exposition. Poe’s motive in seeking the killer is not just wounded literary pride, but also love, for his sensible fiancée, Emily (Alice Eve). - Scott

is a sort of wish-fulfillment fantasy for gothic-minded 12-year-olds, a Victorian Never-Never Land for the lonely and “misunderstood” in which murders based on Poe’s poems can be solved only by the lovelorn genius himself. - Korfhage

Separate elements and their relationship to the whole

There is a geeky pleasure in matching the on-screen murders to the tales they replicate, as in a Gothic version of “Jeopardy!” “What is ‘The Cask of Amontillado’?” “Who is ‘Marie Roget’?” “What is ‘The Masque of the Red Death’?” - Scoot

Cusack’s lack of likeness to Edgar Allan in either character or physicality must have been sensed by the director, and so he has Cusack’s Poe drunkenly running through a bar quoting his own poetry. - Korfhage

"What is both ambitious and grand is the film's stylish look. McTeigue, working with director of photography Danny Ruhlmann, is only getting better at creating richly textured environments for his characters. He's traded the futuristic London dystopia he mined in "V for Vendetta" for the dark cobblestone streets of Baltimore circa 1849, with Budapest and Belgrade subbing in." -Sharkey

Objective evaluation of the film

Since Poe is widely credited with inventing the detective genre, it seems only fair that he should have a chance to do a little sleuthing of his own. That seems to be the intention of a sadistic murderer whose grisly and ingenious methods are drawn directly from some of Poe’s tales. - Scott

Cusack’s lack of likeness to Edgar Allan in either character or physicality must have been sensed by the director, and so he has Cusack’s Poe drunkenly running through a bar quoting his own poetry. “A drink to any man who can complete the following line: ‘Quoth the Raven….’” A Frenchman, of course, is the one to comply; it is an in-joke about Poe’s transatlantic popularity that would have potentially been funnier if it had not been stepped on by Poe himself in his next line. - Korfhage

""The Raven" is a talky film filled with lots of rambling discourses for Cusack, which the actor handles well enough. It's the mishmash of competing issues and emotions that the character is weighed down with that trips things up. Sometimes Poe is raving mad, as the poet was said to be near the end of his short life, and sometimes he's stone-cold sober, putting his intellect to the task." -Sharkey

Subjective evaluation of the film

And “The Raven” might have worked best as the pilot for a creepy, old-style television series, featuring the writer embroiled in a different one of his own narratives each week.

- Scott

The Raven—similar to director James McTeigue’s previous film, V for Vendetta—is a sort of wish-fulfillment fantasy for gothic-minded 12-year-olds, a Victorian Never-Never Land for the lonely and “misunderstood” - Korfhage

"The film is at its best when Det. Fields is on the case. Evans brings a crispness and focus to Fields that makes the ludicrous believable rather than laughable. It's not enough to solve all of "The Raven's" problems, but it helps." -Sharkey

The film’s level of ambition

Since Poe is widely credited with inventing the detective genre, it seems only fair that he should have a chance to do a little sleuthing of his own. That seems to be the intention of a sadistic murderer whose grisly and ingenious methods are drawn directly from some of Poe’s tales. This homage is horrifying to Poe but also perversely flattering – Scott 

The most interesting thing about history is always the “what if.” What if, for example, Edgar Allan Poe were actually a dashingly romantic, goateed action hero shaped like John Cusack, who gallantly rode gun-toting on horseback to save the woman he loved (Alice Eve) from a diabolical genius? - Korfhage

 
"More pulp fiction than macabre masterpiece, it is nevertheless a nifty idea screenwriters Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare have concocted for director James McTeigue ("V for Vendetta")." -Sharkey

Words you found interesting.

There is abundant blood, feverish overacting, and an atmosphere of hysterical Victorian Americana. - Scott

doe-eyed and stilted  - Korfhage