He remains mysterious and aloof as he refuses to drink a guests either out of professionalism or a simple lack of interest. A conversation with a drunk woman interested and familiar to Rick, gives the impression that he had once mixed business with pleasure and didn't enjoy the result, providing a possible explanation for a reluctance to indulge with guests. Despite the war going on and the countless refugees that occupy Casablanca, Rick appears apathetic. This uncaring persona is questioned at several points at the beginning of the film. These instances lead the viewer to believe there is a sentimental and political side to Rick that has yet to be seen.
Here are a couple of points to get you thinking (again, you don’t have to agree with what I say): ON THE WATERFRONT DIRECTION: ON THE WATERFRONT On The Waterfront was directed by Elia Kazan, who also directed A Streetcar Named Desire and East of Eden. Kazan won a Best Director Oscar for On The Waterfront, and it was well deserved. One of his main strengths is that he directed stage plays before moving into films, and so would be considered an "actor's director" - meaning he understood how actors, (particularly the famously intense "method" actors like Marlon Brando and James Dean) operated and was able to draw great performances out of them, like Brando’s performance in Waterfront (see the taxi scene between the two brothers in Waterfront…acting masterclass.) Actually, Kazan's largely responsible for discovering both Brando and Dean: he brought Brando over from the stage to the screen for Streetcar Named Desire, basically making him a movie star overnight, and James Dean's first big role was in Kazan's adaptation of East of Eden. THE MARLON BRANDO QUOTE BELOW IS TAKEN FROM WIKIPEDIA's PAGE ON ELIA KAZAN: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elia_Kazan Marlon Brando, in his autobiography, goes into detail about the influence Kazan had on his acting: I have worked with many movie directors – some good, some fair, some terrible.
Shawshank Redemption won an Academy award for best picture and best actor which was given to Morgan Freeman. Andy Dufrense seemingly the cold killer of his cheating wife and her lover, sits in court getting question by the court prosecutor answering them emotionless and nonchalant. The judge sentence Andy to two life terms in Shawshank Prison. When Andy reaches Shawshank he immediately catches the attention of the prison veteran “Red”. One day while in the prison yard Andy approaches Red for a small rock hammer, Red is the “Sears” of the prison, not only did Red gain a customer that day but he also gained a friend for life.
Marketing and Advertising So much to say, yet so little at all. This film is a surprise, as it should be. The title, in and of itself, causes attention and has a hint of being for a specific group of people. “Baadasssss!” (originally "How to Get the Man's Foot Outta Your Ass") stems from the son of Melvin Van Peebles, Mario on the complications of making a controversial film that needed to be made. All meta-ness aside (which could be an entire essay on this year’s syllabus), “Baadasssss!” is a well made film.
Godfather II The real importance of any movie can't be adequately appraised solely by box office success or critical response. 'The Godfather Part II” is an example of how a carefully crafted sequel to a great film can become both a box office and critical success when attention is paid to its artistic quality. The movie continues the tale of the Corleone family, and presents to the viewers a world filled with greed and betrayal, family union and loyalty. A companion piece in the truest sense of the term, “The Godfather Part II” earned as much praise as its predecessor, if not more. Earning twelve Academy Award nominations, the second installment has been rightfully hailed as the best sequel of all time.
The movie shows us 4-5 stories about several persons slowly getting woven together creating incredible, funny and bizarre incidents which you never would have expected. The 2 hitmen (Jackson and Travolta) are out to retrieve a stolen suitcase from their boss, Marsellus Wallace, when a series of unexpected events happen. In the meantime the aging boxer Butch Coolidge (Willis) gets paid by Wallace to lose his next fight, but unfortunately kills his opponent in the ring by knockout. On another side in town 2 thieves decide to hold up a restaurant. And Wallace wants Vincent Vega (Travolta) to accompany his girlfriend Mia to the local restaurant when something goes terribly wrong.
The godfather film series has its own universe, dealing with crime, drama and a story about a criminal mafia family struggling to survive from their enemies. The Godfather is widely regarded as one of the greatest films in world cinema, and as one of the most influential, especially in gangster genre. This epic series of films has to be one of the best films and considered a favorite of mine for its memorizing quotes, the actors, and the storyline. To begin, the Godfather series has so many memorizing quotes from any film I’ve ever seen. The godfather quotes are so profound and so memorizing that it touches you, you take those quotes into your heart and soul.
The old man appears to be nothing more than a frail human with wings, and so his status as an angel is endlessly debated. Angels are thought of as elegant and beautiful. However, when the old man first appears, “his huge buzzard wings, dirty and half-plucked, were forever entangled in the mud” (166). Pelayo and Elisenda, the owners of the home where the old man was found, cannot tell the difference between a natural oddity, the invasion of crabs in their home, and a supernatural one, the invasion of a decrepit angel. Even though his characteristics are humanized, “he was dressed like a ragpicker” (166), the old man is penned up with the chickens, treated “as if he weren't a supernatural creature but a circus animal” (166) and put on display for “five cents admission” (168).
Gangs in prison There are gangs in every prison and the guards have to keep a look out for them; recruiting new inmates “fresh meat” as the inmates call them. They victimise an inmate to join their gang. Gangs are viewed as a means of survival in a prison starved of any morals, and murder and violence is just normal routine. Many prisons are let off with being the worst prisons in the world due to the upkeep of the prison not through the violence decreasing. Venezuela’s prison La Sabeneta is one of the worst prisons due to that they have one guard to every 150 inmates.
(Sanders, 324) The men are forced onward by shotgun-wielding guards. This is a metaphor for the situation of most of the men the author knows growing up, as he describes several instances of men working tiring jobs their entire lives, only for their bodies to give out on them. The shotguns at their backs represent the bills to pay and the families to support. (325) The author gives the lone exception of the soldiers he knew as a boy, but acknowledges that they too suffered under burdens; those of boredom, and the very real threat of deployment and death in wars they had no say in nor part in the starting of. As the author puts it, the bleak nature of men is “killing themselves or preparing to kill others.”(Sanders, 327) The second part of the essay is mainly devoted to women.