Red State Movie Review

Red State was one of the creepiest and most messed up movies I've seen. It has to do with this church like Fred Phelps but times 100. They protest against gays and dispis them its very controversial. In the end you find out they have been killing the homosexuals in the community. I found the movie to be very deep and dark and it painted an image of a very twisted and distorted version of our society. The shots were very good and the movie always kept my intest. I found it really odd though how some of it played out it seemed unrealistic when you would step back but while watching the movie they did an amazing job of making it seem possible. Over all I would say its a movie that really gets you thinking and its kind of an eye opener on how good things can turn horribly wrong and about how some people just have something that jus doesn't click right.

North By Northwest (Max Woodard)

When most people hear the name Hitchcock, they think of 4 classic movies. Rear Window, Vertico, Psyco and North by Northwest. North by Northwest was the last of these 4 to be made and is a commonly known film from household to household. In the movie New York advertising executive Roger Thornhill is taken by spies who believe he is a CIA agent by the name of George Kaplan. He escapes the spies but must find Kaplan in order to clear himself of being a suspect for a murder. The movie is full of adventure and double cross as Thornhill finds himself being chased by a crop-dusting plane in a cornfield running for his life. The film is a great and a personal favorite. I recommend it to anybody over the age of 13.

Jaws (Max Woodard)

Based on Peter Benchley's book, Steven Spielberg started a saga with this new compelling story that left audiences on the edge of their seats. The movie begins on an summer night when "Chrissie" decides to go skinny dipping while her friends party on the beach. When she disappears under water she never returns leaving only pieces of her body left washed up on shore. The police force refuse to believe the worst and they dont shut down the beach until a few more victims fall to the great white shark. The mayor orders a fisherman to kill the beast. They find a shark, kill it and reopen the beach thinking that the attacks are over. It turns out that the shark they killed is not the cause of the death and the fisherman teams up with two other men and go take on the killer shark known as jaws.

Forrest Gump (Max Woodard)

Forrest Gump is a masterpiece. Forrest Gump, who is played by Tom Hanks, has lived his life being completely oblivious to the amazing and historical things that happen to him. He has met Elvis, met the president, become a pro football star, gone to the Vietnam war, and much more, but all his life all he could think about was the love of his life Jenny. Jenny is sweet girl but has lived her life trying to cover it up with sex and drugs. However, she has always been best friends with Forrest and never stopped believing hes a great person. Forrest Gump may not be a smart man, but you don't have to be smart to be a great man. One of the greatest movies ever.

The Wizard Of Oz - Max Woodard

The Wizard of Oz is a definite classic. Dorothy lives on a farm in Kansas until a tornado arrives. It picks her, her house, and her dog up and deposits them in the land of Oz. Things in Oz are strange and beautiful, but Dorothy just wants to get back home. She's helped by the Good Witch of the North, but she's also in trouble with the Wicked Witch of the West, who seeks revenge for the death of her sister; the Wicked Witch of the East, for which she blames Dorothy. Great film, Classic.

Jaws Movie Review by Mark Livingston

In Steven Spielberg's classic thriller, a ferocious shark terrorizes the citizens of Amity Island. After a series of attacks, a local police chief, marine biologist and sketchy fisherman go out for the ultimate fight of human versus animal. Spielberg is able to capture both sides of thrill and fun in order to portray the growing sense of paranoia which is riddled within these ordinary men who are way over their heads.
The acting portrayed by Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss is exemplary in the note that each of them is able to show to the audience the stress of being stranded in open waters with a monstrous beast that could strike at any moment.

Jaws was not only a revolutionary film because of its storyline and acting, but with the complex animatronics involved to bring the character Jaws to life. Imagine even just being an actor having to come face to face with a realistic white shark. Acting afraid was not too much of a struggle for these men. 

The music score composed by John Williams is a timeless soundtrack that is repeated time and time again for comedic and serious parodies. Jaws is a classic tale of isolation, paranoia, and the unknown. The way it captivates the audience with jump scares and suspense brings views to watch the film again and again. Jaws deserves the praise it has received over the year, although perhaps not the sequels that followed in its wake. 

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

This is the second adventure of te legendary Indiana Jones, in it he is n India where a village needs his help to get sacred stones and free the children from the evil temple of doom. The action in it is great and makes you feel like your in the movie. The scenery in it is amazing with the jungle and the temple where the villains are at actually looks real. The lighting in it is amazing and really shows the mood of the shot like when Indiana is turning evil the room is very dark and only lit by candles. Out of all the Indiana Jones Movies I say this one is the best one and highly suggest it.

Rocky Movie Review

Rocky Balboa is a boxer who fights in small venues and is not famous at all. He lives in a small dinky apartment with his girlfriend Adrian. One day Rocky finds out that the heavyweight champion of the world, Apollo Creed, has challenged him to a bout because he wants to try and give a hometown boy a chance at the title, in order to gain publicity. Rocky is able to find a trainer by the name of Mick. Mick helps Rocky get into shape, and helps him hone his boxing skills. During the fight, Rocky is able to make through all the rounds, even though everyone said he wouldn't even make it through three. Unfortunately Rocky loses in the judges decision, but is considered a hero, because he never gave up. I enjoyed the movie very much. I thought the beginning was sort of slow and boring when they were trying to set up the storyline, but when he started training and fighting, it was very action-packed and exciting. I would definitely recommend this movie to someone, especially if they love sports like i do.

Apocalypse Now by Tony Phillips

During the on-going Vietnam War, Captain Willard is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade Green Beret who has set himself up as a God among a local tribe.This film is a twisted story of a man trying to find and high priority target in the vast jungle of Vietnam during the Vietnam conflict.

 The film does a fantastic job in explaining the hypocrisy that infested the Vietnam conflict. The picture that Apocalypse Now paints is a down-to-earth portrayal on war. The cinematography is gorgeous, you feel sad when you see such beautiful scenery being blown up but that is what makes this a great film. The connection you draw with the characters is incredibly deep, if they’re in a bad situation, you feel like you are with them. Coppola always does a great job with characterization; in ways this film reminded me of some of his other work like The Godfather. I learned a lot about the Vietnam Conflict by watching this film, such as how the US wasn’t always the good guys. This film teaches a lot about war but also about the human psyche in a foreign environment. Overall I would highly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys a rich story and who can sit still for three hours.

A Clockwork Orange by Tony Phillips

In future Britain, charismatic delinquent Alex DeLarge is jailed and volunteers for an experimental aversion therapy developed by the government in an effort to solve society's crime problem... but not all goes to plan.

Sticking to his out-of-the-box filmmaking style, Stanley Kubrick portrays a story that is a rollercoaster of emotion in this 1970’s classic. A Clockwork Orange has some amazing visual effects. Kubrick uses a mixture of vibrant colors in the beginning but really dull colors towards the end. This color scheme goes along with the story really nicely, especially since the beginning is where he is perfectly in control of his life and in the end he doesn’t know who he is anymore. The entire soundtrack is made up of various works of Beethoven; the contrast of futuristic visuals and old music puts you in a mindset that you can’t get in any other film. Using Beethoven as the soundtrack helps you get into the head of the main character, Alex, who in the film, was forced to listen to Beethoven (his favorite composer) while watching gruesome videos. Choosing Beethoven as the soundtrack for the film was an interesting choice, that follows well with the plot of the film.

The film sends a message that society cant function without freewill, even if someone choses to be evil, that choice is what keeps us from becoming a robotic society. Overall, I love this film with a passion. The cinematography is some of the best I’ve seen and the story is phenomenal. I actually feel like a better human after watching A Clockwork Orange.

Movie Review for Forrest Gump

When I first saw Forrest Gump the thing that impressed me the most about this film was the fact that the the acting was so convincing that the audience was actually emotionally swayed by the end of the film. That is a rare thing in the movie business this day, to acquire actors who can fully get in character and carry out a convincing script, one which fully hooks the audience as they watch the film.

Movie review

Star Wars Movie Review-

I recently have been contemplating what made Star Wars such a memorable movie, and believable to all who witnessed it back when it was originally released. Costuming and set design played a large role in this; the fact that they could create the interior of a large spaceship, or that the costuming department could create thousands of molded costumes for the armies in this film. For future films I will strive to accomplish the same detailing that this movie has.

Gladiator by Tyler Moffat

Gladiator is a film about a roman commander who helps win a war and gets betrayed and then has to fight in the arena for his life.  The film is very gory and violent but the action and story line is great. The acting in it is very good and there is vey little bad parts in it. The shots in the movie are great especially the fight scenes because it looks like your actually watching the fight in the arena. Gladiator is a good movie for whoever likes fighting and adventure.

Toy Story By Austin Rhodes

"Toy Story"A cowboy toy is profoundly threatened and jealous when a fancy spaceman toy supplants him as top toy in a boy's room.

Toy story is a great movie that everyone can remember from their childhood. The great thing about animations is it never out dates. Young children will continue to watch it over and over again and when that age of children becomes too old then another group will take their place. This movie turns the world of a normal human and shows what the toys see. It is cool how they have many different kinds of toys and how each one works together with the other. It also shows the cruel nature on what a toy has to encounter in his life. It also shows the relationship Andy has towards Woody and Buzz and how they come together to conquer there differences and become friends in the end. The first Toy Story will never compare to Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3. All in all, it was a great movie to kick back and bring back childhood memories.

The Kings Speech by: Austin Stom

It is about a man who has a speech impedament. his dad just died and his brother left the thrown because he couldnt be head of the church for marring a divorced girl. The man has to make a speech anouncing entering the war with germany.


I liked the movie but it seemed a little long. I was able to pay attention to most of it and understand it. I liked the choice of shots they chose and when they dollied. I liked the ending and how his teacher was there when he was making the speech.

Hurt Locker by Nathan Mennel

"Hurt Locker" Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.

The Hurt Locker was an intense action movie with an ok story. It made up for the slow parts in the story with dramatic action scenes. There were few, if any, shots that were shot with a tripod. Everything was gritty and shaky to make you feel like you were there. For a movie that seemed shot entirely free hand, it was extremely good. Other movies that also used that effect like Cloverfield made it almost unbearable to watch. The movie had great settings. They really focused on the ghost towns and the giant deserts. The action really felt more intense than most other action flicks but when I watched it again, I saw it was because the scenes in the Hurt Locker were much longer. In normal action films, there are a lot of quick shots of shootings and other things but in the Hurt Locker, most scenes were of the main character walking slowly in his bomb suit pulling wires while trying to defuse bombs, every second you are waiting for the explosion.

12 Angry Men by Trevor Cantrel

"12 Angry Men". A dissenting juror in a murder trial slowly manages to convince the others that the case is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court.

I felt that the shot choices themselves were a bit odd considering the whole thing was basically in the one room and the tension that they could create could've delved a lot deeper had they picked more direct shots. The music choice was very well picked and thought out. I enjoyed listening to it, not for the actual quality itself, just for how well it fit into the story. The actors themselves weren't very good but the plot was phenomenal and was able to be kept along even though it was really only in one room. all in all it was phenomenal.

Casablanca by Dylan Griffin

"Casablanca." Set in unoccupied Africa during the early days of World War II: An American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications."

The shot composition is very good. Storyline was very diverse, in its number of shots, as well as the content and meaning of each individual shot in regards to as how they are set up. Lighting is fairly hard to comment about, it was in black and white so not really much to talk about. But for a story with really not a whole lot of action to speak of, it surprised me that i actually watched it the whole way through, and ended up liking it because it had a very intriguing plot, with characters that I had no problem believing, and a protagonist I really enjoyed. Watching his struggles and oppression due to the Nazi presence in Casablanca made me feel something, since it is still such a raw topic so many years after the ordeal.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom by Jaylah Jackson

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom " Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ." After arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone. He agrees, and stumbles upon a secret cult plotting a terrible plan in the catacombs of an ancient palace.

This movie was well shot.. like the monkey shot and the chase scene shot. Like when Indiana is talking to that one guy in white clothes. The camera was angled so that Indi's face was darkened and all you can see is the white guys face.. and also the shot of the monkey signaling his owner person thing.. and we get a shot of his starting up the bike thing getting ride to fallow Indiana. ( evil monkey)

2001: A Space Odyssey by Ben Rohrbaugh

2001: A Space Odyssey. Mankind finds a mysterious, obviously artificial, artifact buried on the moon and, with the intelligent computer HAL, sets off on a quest.

Okay so let me start off by saying that this might have been the worst movie I have ever seen (and I’ve seen “Gone With the Wind”). There was no story, no sense of urgency, and worst of all, it’s praised as a great classic! Whats up with that.
So lets start with the story, it was an okay plot but the beginning and end of the movie made no sense at all, and why was the first minute and a half of the movie a black screen with annoying music?
My second problem was with the editing, I could’ve cut it together and taken less the half the time, and still gotten the same information across. I honestly cannot see any reason this movie should be called a classic, let alone exist, it is so absolutely terrible every single copy should be destroyed so that no one in the world has to see this pile of horse crap ever again. I have absolutely no idea as to how it could be on this list, in short I hated it with every fiber of my being.

American Graffiti by Braden Anderson

"American Graffiti" A couple of high school grads spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.

This movie was definitely George Lucas' first real movie he had made out of film school. Filmed in 30 days for exactly 777,777.77 dollars, it became one of the most profitable films ever, grossing over 115 million dollars after its 1973 sleeper success and 1978 re-release. That's a considerable amount of money for a film with a simple and elementary plot; just a group of teenagers on their last night of summer in 1962 trying to figure out what to do with their lives. Lots of movies like this have been made with a similar plot, but most of them faded into obscurity or were just plain bad. So what did this movie have that others did not?

Well, to start off with, George Lucas picked a good year to set it in. (Not to mention it made for a catchy tagline). 1962 was between the innocence and conservatism of the Eisenhower years and the turmoil of the later sixties, say, after 1965, when America was escalating its fight in Vietnam, passing landmark civil rights legislation, and protesting and assassinating everything in its way. No, this was a year of promise, dubbed "Camelot" by First Lady Jackie Kennedy. Kids fought authority, but more in a playful way, and still showed respect for it, a sharp contrast with the latter half of the sixties. It seemed like all they did was cruise up and down main drag and go to sock hops at the school, listening to some of the most influential artists of all time. It was the fact that it was just simple, good, clean fun. And when George Lucas made this film in 1972, people were ready to remember that innocence they had just ten years before. Not to mention, it's just a funny movie.

Another reason why I believe that this movie was so good was because George Lucas was under the gun. He had under a million dollars, 30 days, and a full length movie to make just covering one night. He had to cut costs, so he opted to use TechniScope cameras and film, which only used half a 35 mm frame, which Lucas believed would give it a documentary feel when shown in widescreen. I think that he succeeded in this, as the film has this certain feel that it was still professional, but at the same time it wasn't. Kind of like a tuxedo t-shirt. He also used outtakes; he was so pressed for time that he needed fillers, and some of the outtakes were better than the real takes. Several of the shots with the character Toad were unplanned outtakes that just fit his character. The opening shot when Toad lost control of his scooter and ran into a trash can was in fact an outtake, but looked surprisingly planned.

Star Wars IV by Nick Reardon

"Star Wars IV". Luke Skywalker leaves his home planet, teams up with other rebels, and tries to save Princess Leia from the evil clutches of Darth Vader.

I believe the shot composition was very well executed, especially during the numerous fight scenes. It's very impressive that they were able to pull off all the special effects such as the lightsabers. The actual plot was way better executed than most films today. i would definitely recommend this movie to my friends and family.

Pulp Fiction by Tyler Moffat

"Pulp Fiction" The lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.

The shots were simple in the film but still made the film fun to watch. The story was interesting on how it would switch to different people and at the end explains how everything added up. The movie was one of the funniest movies I have ever seen and was really creative.

Rebecca by Mark Livingston

Rebecca. When a naive young woman marries a rich widower and settles in his gigantic mansion, she finds the memory of the first wife maintaining a grip on her husband and the servants.

In the summer before my sophomore year, I had the summer project of reading the novel Rebecca and found the mystery/drama quite enjoyable. After discovering the novel had a movie adaptation in the top 100 list, I was intrigued to see how Alfred Hitchcock (the director) had taken the novel to the big screen.
As the movie opened with the opening monologue, I instantly remembered reading the novel and the beautiful chill it created. The reading done by Joan Fontaine (the second Mrs. de Winter) combines not only the elegant poetry of the words, but the chill of eerie reveal of Manderley.
As for how well the movie follows the plot of the book, I would have to say it does so far better than I thought it would have. Seeing the movie was like stepping back in time and rereading the pages once more.
The credit given for the plot of the movie should only be awarded to Daphne du Maurier who was the author of the original book. The plot combines a variety of genres together to create a mysterious, enchanting, romantic, and chilling story of the late Rebecca and how fluental she is of the second Mrs. de Winter even after her death. Although she is not a seen or heard from character from the book, she is one of the most lively because of her tales from those who knew her. Perhaps this is why she could candidate for being the most interesting character in the story.
What won me over however was the acting within the movie. Joan Fontaine plays the role of the awkward and shy Mrs. de Winter perfectly. Somehow she managed to portray the quiet and out of place character without going over the thin line of becoming obnoxious. Every moment you see her in the movie you have a sense of compassion for she has to compete for the love of a man with a woman who cannot even breathe.
Laurence Olivier should always be acknowledged for his role as Maxim de Winter. For almost all of the movie (besides about the last half hour), Maxim is seen as a melancholy widower who has quite the short temper when in reality his morose attitude comes from the murderer he committed so long ago. Even though he hated Rebecca, Maxim still must have felt a weight of grief on his shoulders for every second of his life and Olivier portrays this perfectly.

The woman who amazed me the most in her performance, however, was Judith Anderson who played the strange and spiteful Mrs. Danvers. Anderson is able to have the haunting sense of distaste towards Mrs. de Winters throughout the whole movie because she knows Mrs. Danvers loved Rebecca like a child and now there is another woman who she believes does not deserve the same rank as her former mistress. The tension only builds between Mrs. de Winters and Mrs. Danvers as the maid eventually makes Mrs. de Winters crack down crying after stating that she will never amount to the level of perfection Rebecca achieved. This moment of the film is perhaps my favorite purely from Anderson's performance. She lets the character of Mrs. Danvers overtake her and portrays the hatred which has built within Mrs. Danvers magnificently.
The tension rises as Rebecca comes back for one final time in trying to sentence Maxim to a life in jail and with the build up from discovering who Rebecca is, how she actually died, and what will result from Maxim's action are what make the plot of Rebecca so enticing. The acting of not only the main actors and the supporting ones makes the movie so enjoyable and entertaining for those who view it. Me personally, I found this movie just as satisfying as the novel it is based off of and give it a rating 5 stars. *****

Slumdog Millionaire by Gabe Gardi

"Slumdog Millionaire A Mumbai teen who grew up in the slums, becomes a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" He is arrested under suspicion of cheating, and while being interrogated, events from his life history are shown which explain why he knows the answers.

I thought the movie was really well composed with its great lighting and shot composition . A lot of the shots were very wide in such scenes as the part were they are sitting on a train and you get a wide shot of the indian countryside, and they used a lot of lighting to put a different mood on the moviegoer especially when you saw him in the childrens beggar camp and it was very dark and ominous lighting.  And also they mixed the video that was playing and the music really well when you see them in downtown india and the music starts to build up. You had a lot of great scenes that were made even better because of the music.

The Departed by Jordan Garlach

"The Departed"Two men from opposite sides of the law are undercover within the Massachusetts State Police and the Irish mafia, but violence and bloodshed boil when discoveries are made, and the moles are dispatched to find out their enemy's identities.

The shots were well composed and varied throughout scenes and the entire movie. It kept suspense building and portrayed the characters very well. I really liked how the main character was a bad guy with the cops, then a good guy with the bad ones. It had well lit shots and the aspects of the movie were great.

Hurt Locker by Austin Stom

"Hurt Locker" Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.

I liked how they built the suspense up and the back story how they show his wife several times. They keep showing the days he has left and were he was at. How it starts over in the end. I like the shot complexion and the lighting. The action scenes were set up good. The ending were you could feel the emotion between the two of them

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King by Justin Durkin

"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King" The former Fellowship of the Ring prepare for the final battle for Middle Earth, while Frodo & Sam approach Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring.

Shot composition was varied between each scene. But it was easily picked out what kind between characters and when the battles scenes were going on. They used the fill light multiple times during the scenes with Frodo and Smeagle. During the dark scenes of the movie they used low lighting to depict a different type of emotion. The facial shots through out the entire movie added extra emotion to the film. when the film had a battle scene there were multiple shots and they were faced past.

The film deserves its awards that it was given. It won eleven oscars 111 other awards and 68 nominations. Some of those were best director, best costume design, best makeup, best film editing and best art direction.