Journalo Numbero Uno

Finding a movie quickly became a daunting task when I began my search. How would I pick just one movie? I decided to go with the most visually pleasing movie i could think of; because isn't that really what today's audience is all about? After mauling through my DVD collection I came across Sin City. It seemed like the perfect fit. Action packed and so visually involved that no critic could disagree with my satisfaction of the film. I then swiftly clicked to Rottentomatoes.com and chose the "top critics" tab expecting to see all positive reviews. I noticed a negative review by a gentleman named Kirk Honeycutt. Struck with confusion on how anyone could think poorly of one of Robert Rodriguez's work, I began to indulge myself in Honeycutt's thoughts.

I began by agreeing with Honeycutt's opinions. He began the article as one would expect-"absurd caricatures and stylized violence" (Honeycutt). Some may find this as a shot toward the film but I believe this is what Rodgriguez was trying to capture in the making. Taking a comic book to the silver screen isn't the easiest thing to do.

Then the critic began to ramble about the film's lack of imagination past the first ten minutes of the movie. "The major problem is that after about 10 minutes, you've seen all the movie's tricks. The look is hypnotic yet never changes. Repetition is the order of the day. And the cartoon savagery grows tiresome" (Honeycutt) Honeycutt states as he begins to sink jabs into Rodriguez for his lack of variety.

But then i began to wonder-what other angle could the director have taken to avoid this? It's not an easy thing to do-switch the style of cinematography halfway through a movie. Then i began to remember the choices Rodriguez made later in the film. There was a scene where the only color in the shot was the red of a rose being held by the main character. This reminded me of the rose in Schindler's List which is always a good movie to draw from.

Overall, I began in Honeycutt's boat but then quickly bailed out. Contradictory to the critic, I believed that Rodriguez used both variation and imagination in his film Sin City.

Elements of Film Assingment

Another movie i really enjoy is Blood Diamond. It's about diamond smuggling in Africa. In this particular clip the director's emphasis is on the character's faces. Using this close-up, the director captures emotion from the characters as well as allowing the audience's sympathy to be with them. This was unusual in the movie because throughout the film, we are more or less emotionally detached from Archer. Also, at the end of the clip, Zwick uses a long shot when the main character is dying. He uses it almost as if hes saying that the Danny Archer (DiCaprio) is almost meaningless compared to the rest of the given situation and, also, the world.

Best. Moive. Ever.

One of the best action movies ever made is the recently produced movie by Martin Scorsese titled The Departed. You know it has to be a big production when even Jack Nicholson doesn't appear most frequently. In a nut shell, the entire movie's premise is about having inside information, or "a mole" in different organizations. One "mole" in this film is played by Leonardo DiCaprio. DicCaprio is an undercover cop who works his way into a crime family for his assignment. The other insider, ironically, is an informant for that same crime family who has landed a job in the police force played by Matt Damon.

I was first attracted to this movie by not only the array of stars featured in it, but the cynical humor throughout the movie. It's almost a game of cat and mouse. Although neither party knows who the undercover informant is, they both suspect foul play. Scorsese first shows the audience who both characters are, which seems almost seems like to much information to be given at the beginning but the ending makes up for it.

Making $132,310,442 in the box office, you know that it must have some merit as a film. Generally the critics agree. They are first drawn by the Scorsese name, and then become fully engrossed by the film. It is rated as an 8/10 by "top critics" at rottentomatoes.com.