The Ratings Conflict

          For one of my classes, we had to write an essay about some form of conflict.  I chose to write it about R-rated movies.  For those of you unfamiliar with Mormon culture, it is a common practice to avoid rated R movies because of their content.

What are my favorite movies?  Well, they are Robocop, Pan’s Labyrinth, Leon: the Professional, and Let The Right One In.  What do these movies all have in common (besides being awesome)?  They are all rated “R”.  Now, in the Mormon community, that is a pretty controversial subject (if I do say so myself).

I don’t know how it started, but there is a fairly strong belief that R-rated movies should be avoided.  I have heard quite a few people say:  That looks good, too bad it’s rated R.  However, in my whole life as as a member of the LDS Church, never have I heard a person in a high position of the church counsel us against R-rated films.  But, what they do say is to avoid movies that are “vulgar, immoral, inappropriate, suggestive, or pornographic in any way.” And what is considered inappropriate or vulgar will be different from person to person.

Movie ratings are assigned by the MPAA, which is a group of people.  Who are these people?  I don’t know.  But, what I do know is that their ratings are subjective and are not consistent.  I have read about how some movies got a specific rating but were later changed because of an appeal by the filmmakers (even though no content was changed).

I’m not saying that we should go and watch every movie made, regardless of rating.  But what I am saying is not to let some random group of people decide what you watch.  You look at the content and decide for yourself whether you should watch it or not.  There are a lot of good R-rated movies.  Example:  I watched The Road about a year ago and the whole time I was watching it, I was thinking about how grateful I was for the Plan of Salvation.  I put myself in their position and thought about what I would do.  It help me realize the hope that comes from knowing the Plan of Salvation.

Basically, what I’m trying to get at is don’t let some arbitrary rating deter you from watching a movie.  Yes, ratings do give you an idea of the content, but not of the context, which can change things.  But, use your head, look at the content and judge for yourself whether or not you should see a specific movie.

But that's just my opinion...

Valentín (2002)

          Essential plot rundown:  Valentín is a cute 8 year old boy.  As soon as the credits started rolling, I tried to sum of the plot of this movie in one sentence, but I couldn't pinpoint the plot.  Valentín does not have a clear story or forward progression.  Instead, it focuses on Valentín's relationship with those around him and his dreams.  And the lack of story is really the only downside to this film.

          I'll be honest.  When I saw this, I was super tired and dozed off a couple of times.  So, I may have missed something important; but I may have not.  Like I said, there is no real plot.  Instead it revolves around characters, mainly Valentín, played by Rodrigo Noya.  He does an amazing job.  Noya felt really natural and I instantly sympathized with him.

          But, while the characters were good, they were not a constant in the film.  One character would come in and do stuff with Valentín and then leave for a while.  There were a few times where I asked myself What happened to so-and-so?  It was almost like they just rotated them into the film.

          I also liked the cinematography.  There were a few scenes where the camera started far away from the characters, but slowly moved in.  I didn't even noticed most of the time until the camera was up to a medium shot.  It added a little dynamic to the film.  However, there were a few times where the camera would just move in, then move back out and then move back in, making it feel redundant.

          Overall, I throughly enjoyed it.  While the lack of story does weight it down a little, the characters do their part to make up for it.  They are all interesting and Noya does an outstanding job.  I would recommend it to anyone.

     But that's just my opinion...

Bryan Lefler (dir. of Unicorn City)

In our Media Arts program, we regularly have forums. In these forums, we talk about things happening in the school or we have professionals come and talk with us. Today's forum, Bryan Lefler was invited to come and talk about us about his experience making Unicorn City. And in one of my classes, we have to write a one page paper about the forum. So, down below is the paper I wrote. It's an academic paper so the tone is different than normal.

Bryan Lefler, director of Unicorn City, told about his experience getting this movie made.  I found it really interesting to see the kind of problems and obstacles he had to overcome.  Sometimes we romanticize the industry, thinking about being rich and famous or whatever.  But, listening to him helped me to remember life’s not all peaches and cream.  It takes a lot of hard work, persistence and can be detrimental to your personal and family life.

There were a few things that he said that stood out to me.  He pointed out the importance of learning on somebody else’s dollar.  This I have heard before.  However, I never had considered editing to fall under this category.  While editing somebody else’s footage, you notice shots they miss or whatever.  This can help you improve your own projects you shoot.  He also talked about  the advantages of being script supervisor.  Be being script supervisor, you are right there next to the director, seeing what he does and hearing what he says.  It sounded like a great way to be next to and learn from the director.

Bryan also talked about dreams.  Nobody cares about this (except for your parents) unless you are an investment.  If you want to get your dream made, you have to show that you will be an investment.  Also, making a movie doesn’t mean anything unless people know about it.  He was asked if he had any roads paved for him now.  He answered “no” because nobody knows about his movie.  He said that he’s in our very position right now.  And he’s not going to go anywhere until more people know about his movie.

He was also asked concerning his audience.  He is a “Mormon Filmmaker” and was asked why he didn’t have any references to Mormon culture.  He answered:  “Why on earth would you market to just LDS?  It makes no fiscal sense to do it.  I want the Baptists’ money.  I want the Catholics’ money.”  He made a very good point.  By making a movie aimed to a Mormon audience, you dramatically reduce its reach to a very small group.  By just making a family friendly movie, without any LDS references, you have a movie with a lot wider audience.  Mormons will see it regardless.  And others won’t be turned off by the subject.  So, by not excluding various groups, more people will see your movie which results in more money being made.

In regards to the audience, he talked about the importance of knowing who you’re aiming towards.  He wanted a PG rated, family film.  That way it will reach a broader audience.  However, he had a few problems with some of the actors and producers.  They wanted to add some vulgarity to it, so it would sound more “natural”, and make it PG-13.  But, Bryan knew who he wanted his audience to be and kept the dialogue clean.

Normally I’m not a fan of stories like these.  I’ve had too many experiences where people tell their success story and that’s it.  But Bryan talked about his predicaments and explained how to avoid or overcome them.  It was a very informative and helpful forum.

If you want to watch the official trailer, click HERE.

But that's just my opinion...

(Well, not really. It's more like Bryan's as interpreted by me)

Movies: How I Watch Them*

          Ok, I love movies.  They are the greatest thing ever invented.  And as such, they should be treated with the respect they deserved when being viewed.  There are so many different ways to watch movies now a days.  You can watch them on screens as big as the IMAX or as small as an iPOD.  You can watch them in a movie theater or from the backseat of a minivan.  You can watch them in a box; you can watch them with a fox.  There are so many ways to enjoy movies.

          However, for me, there are a few ways that are inherently superior to others.  Obviously, the best place to watch a movie is in a movie theater.  Yes, ticket prices are going up; but there's nothing we can do about it.  I have a lot of friends who don't like to go to the theater because it's too expensive.  However, I feel that any movie worth watching is worth seeing on the silver screen.  And, subsequently, is worth whatever admission is for that theater.  Needless to say, I go to movies by myself a lot.  When Inception first came out, I thought the trailers looked awesome.  So I wanted to go see the midnight showing at the IMAX.  But, my friends didn't want to spend $15 dollars on a movie they weren't too familiar with.  They told me to go and report; if it's good, they will see it and I won't mind seeing it again.  They did have a point.  So I went by myself to the IMAX...and it was awesome!!  So, a few days later we all went to go see it.  So, what I'm trying to say is that the place to see a movie is in the theater, regardless of price.

          I personally like 'going to the movies' as much as 'watching the movie'.  I love waiting in line to get my ticket, the smell of popcorn as I walk through the doors, the giant cardboard cutouts in the halls.  What do they do with those?  Do they just throw them away?  If so, they should give them to me. Cuz that would be awesome.  I never buy popcorn because I'm cheap, even though I always think I should to support the theater (cuz we don't want them going out of business).  Once in the theater, I have to sit in the middle of the aisle.  I always count the seats as I walk past.  If I'm off to the side, it drives me crazy.  I always like to sit about 2/4 of the way back from the screen.

          Also, the movie starts with the previews.  If I miss any of the trailers, I am late for the movie.  (Hell, I even like the crap they show before the trailers.) Once the previews start, I always wish I had a pen to write down the ones that look good, because by the end of the movie I can't remember what other ones are coming out.  And if the movie starts with the previews, it ends after the credits.  I like to stay for the credits for 3 main reason.  Numero Uno: Sometimes there are extra scenes either during or after the credits.  Numero Dos: I like to reflect about the movie.  I just want to sit there and soak it all in.  It's like waking up from a nap: you just don't immediately get up and going; you lie there for a second until you are fully awake.  Similar thing.  And Numero Tres: I actually read the credits.  I like to see what kind of positions there are and imagine my name up there.  Plus, sometime there are funny names scrolling by.  It drives me crazy when people are all up'n'ready to leave as soon as the credits start rolling.  Relax.  Sit down.  You might as well wait for everyone else to leave instead of being pushed out by the herd.  The movie starts from the time the lights dim and ends when they come back on.

          One more thing.  Midnight showings are the way to go.  They are fun.  Just the fact that you watched it before anyone else is sweet.  I've only been to one where people dressed up.  That was Star Wars Episode 3:  Revenge of the Sith.  I dressed up as a jedi; my friend as Leia.  We all had lightsabers.  I like to go to midnight showings as often as I can.  (I also dressed up for Green Lantern, but it wasn't the midnight showing nor opening night; it was the next day).  If there is no midnight showing, then opening night is the next best thing.  I always watch the weekend box office and whenever they talk about a movie that just opened up that I saw, I always think Yes!  $8 of those $22 million came from my pocket.  I helped contribute to this movie's success.

          Movie theater:  number 1 place to watch a movie.  But, watching them at home is good too.  The one advantage of watching a movie in DVD is all the special features!  I use to watch these all the time back in high school; but now that I'm 'all grown up,' I don't have a lot of time for them.  It's sad, I know.

          Do people actually watch movies on their phones and iPODs?  I understand YouTube videos and what not.  But actual movies?  That seems like a waste of time to me; I'd rather read a book.

     But that's just my opinion...

*author's note:  I did not have a clear idea of what I wanted to say as I began writing this; I just started rambling.  So, let's hope it makes sense cuz I'm too lazy to change it.

New Year's Eve (2011)

          Essential plot rundown:  Actors hardup for work celebrate New Years.  This review is probably going to be fairly short.  Why? you ask.  Because it was an ok, average movie.  There wasn't anything awesome to talk about; nor was there anything stupid to rant about (as in my previous blog).

          Let's start with the characters.  They were all likable.  However, none of them got enough screen time to be developed.  Therefore, I cared for none of them.  Ashton Kutcher gets stuck in an elevator?  That's unfortunate.  Little girl can't go to Times Square?  Good.  Robert De Niro is dying?  Why is he in this movie?  I didn't get attached to any of these characters.  As a matter of fact, it would be so long in between each character's appearance, that I actually forgot they were in the movie.  It would cut back to the married couple literally after 15 minutes.  Oh yea, they are in this thing too.

          In addition to minimal screen time, I didn't like any of the situations they were in.  None of the individual plot lines were interesting.  Except for, however, the one between Zac Efron and Michelle Pfeiffer.  Pfeiffer plays a meek office worker who regrets not accomplishing last year's resolutions.  She then offers Efron tickets to some fancy party if he helps her do them before midnight.  I found that idea intriguing:  doing a year's worth of resolutions on the last day.  Needless to say, there was a lot of improvising.  I thought this individual storyline had enough potential to be it's own movie.  (Maybe they have already made it.  I don't know.)  All the others were bland.

          So overall, it's not a bad movie.  I wouldn't rush out to see it.  However, if you do see it, it's not a waste of time.  It had a couple good laughs.

     But that's just my opinion...

Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 (or Pt. 2, I don't even know)(2011)

          Essential plot rundown:  Two people get married, get pregnant, and can't decide if they want the baby or not.  Yes, I went and saw Breaking Dawn.  Why, I do not know.  I should've saw Real Steal or something.  But, too late now.  So, I went in only having seen the first one 3 years ago and my preconceived notions that it sucked.  However, to my surprise, it sucked so bad it was fun.  The whole time I just laughed at all the stupid stuff that happened.  So, it was fun watching the movie, but the movie itself sucked.

          Judging from the trailer, I was expecting the movie to focus more on the wedding.  But, that happens real quick, at the beginning.  Well, not real quick, it felt like forever (as did the whole movie).  So, they get married right off the bat and move on.  And this is where the only good part of the movie happens.  Bella has a dream or something about her wedding.  Everyone is wearing white and it's raining rose petals (cuz that makes sense).  But then, everybody is dead and bloody!  Oh no!  But not really.  This scene was not dramatic at all.  It was bland.  However, I thought it was visually well done.  Just the contrast of red and white looked cool.  But it had no emotional impact.  As a matter of fact, the movie as a whole made no emotional impact.  Not once did I care for the characters or what they were doing.  Well, that's a lie.  I kind of did once, when Bella drops her cup-o-blood, bends over to pick it up, and her back breaks(?)  That was the only part that made me gasp/care about what was happening on screen.  But then I was like: Edward, what are you, a jerk or something?  Why didn't you use your super quick, blurry action and get that cup for her?

          Another thing that bothered me was the mood.  It seemed to switch too often from one mood to another.  When Bella and Edward first get to their honeymoon cabin, she is super nervous about what is going to be happening soon.  She goes into the bathroom to get ready and it switches to romantic-comedy mode as she tidies herself up.  Then, just as quickly, it goes back to dramatic mode.  Wait, what?  What am I suppose to be feeling here?  The pacing of the whole movie seemed off.

          Then, there was the bad acting.  Kristen Stewart can't act; neither can the guy who plays Edward (can't remember his name).  The only one I felt did an ok job, was Taylor Lautner (I'm not sure why I remembered his name).  But, he wasn't anything too special.  And the dialogue is bad too.  In one scene where they are talking about Bella's kid, they keep referring to it as "it" or "fetus".  Then some girl says "Why don't you call it what it really is?  A baby."  Then this other guy responds by saying "Probably."  Probably?  It's probably a baby?  What else would it be?  A midget?  I laughed really hard at that.  There were some other moments, but I can't remember.

          A different thing that bothered me was the music.  Most of the music was popular music (is that what it's called when it's not a score?).  I don't know what songs they were, or if they were written for the movie, or whatever.  Just the fact that they used them all the time bothered me. And for some reason, they never really seemed to fit the mood of the scene.  The SFX were bad too.  Whenever the vampires ran or moved fast, it just look weird.  Actually, it looked flat out bad.  The wolves also looked bad.  Never did I think that there was an actual wolf there.  It always looked CG.  Now, I know it is hard to animate fur and hair and what not.  But still, it was bad.

          Then comes the part that I'd been waiting for:  Jacob chews out the baby.  I was interested to see how they would show that.  But when it happened, they just used a scalpel to cut her open.  What?  That's kind of lame.  Afterwards I ask one of my friends about it and she said that he did chew her out, that was why there was blood on his face.  Then I realized my mistake.  Oh, it was Edward!  I thought it was Jacob for some reason.  It was also during that scene that I realized something.  The whole time I was watching the movie, I was thinking it was part 1.  But when Bella was in labor, I thought it was part 2.  Doesn't the series end with her giving birth?  Huh.  This must be part 2.  Sweet, no more Twilight movies.  But, when I was talking to the aforementioned friend, she pointed out my mistake.  And that in part 2, there is a vampire war or something against the Italians.  Yea, I thought Dakota Fanning was suppose to be in this.

          So, to make a long story short:  this was not a well made movie.  The acting, dialogue, SFX, etc were all bad.  I also did not really understand the plot at all.  Why is everyone freaking out about the fact that she's pregnant?  Why do they call the baby "it"?  Why do the wolves want to kill it, I mean the baby?  Why does Edward have weird looking teeth?  Why am I watching this and not Chronicle?  But, to the movie's defense, I haven't read any of the books or seen movies 2 and 3.  But, that's besides the point.  The movie sucked; but it was good for a laugh.

     But that's just my opinion...

Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Robot karate

          Essential plot rundown:  Jack Black and co. must remake popular Hollywood films to save their business.  Before I watched this, I had heard some negative reviews, so I went into it kind of cautious.  But it turned out to be one of the better comedies I've seen in a while.  Probably the biggest thing that separates this from other, modern comedies is it's lack of filth.  Most comedies are all about sex and fart jokes.  Be Kind Rewind, however, is super clean.  There is one quick conversation that revolved around sex, but it is super quick and then over.  It is a fairly clean comedy.

          The idea of remaking all of these different movies was particularly interesting to me as a filmmaker.  They remake movies such as Robocop and Ghostbusters with literally no budget.  So I found it really cool to see how they did the different SFX.  They would be shooting a movie and I would think:  Hey, that's a good idea.  I'm going to have to try that.  There are two montage-esque scenes of them making their movies.  The first one was really good; the second not so much.

          There were a quite a few parts where I laughed out loud.  But there were also a couple of times where the jokes fell flat.  Jack Black and Mos Def both did good jobs in their roles.  Not also is it funny, but it is also a heart warming (is that the right description?) tale of a community coming together.  And it embodies the spirit of independent filmmaking.

          One of the things that I didn't like about the movie was how they incorporated Fats Waller into the film.  Throughout the movie, they show clips of a home movie about Waller.  I didn't understand why Mos Def was dressed up as a fat pianist until the end of the movie.  Even though it made sense at the end, the clips still felt out of place during the movie.

          There is also an implied relationship between Mos Def and Danny Glover's characters with the owner of a competing video store.  He acts like he knows them, but there is no explanation.  There is also a scene that shows him down on his luck but there is no reason given.  The filmmakers start develop him a little; enough to make you ask questions, but not enough to answer them.

          Overall, it is definitely worth watching.  The director, Michel Gondry, as remade the trailer in the same vein as those done in the film.

     HERE it is.

     But that's just my opinion...

Tanghi Argentini (2006)

          We watched this short a few weeks ago in one of my film classes.  And I absolutely loved it!  I don't even know where it start.  Andre meets this lady on the internet and convinces her that he knows how to tango (he doesn't).  So, he only has two week to get his co-worker, Franzs, to teach him how to dance before he finally meets her.  The story is pitch perfect.  It had me fooled the whole time.  The beginning perfectly sets up the whole movie, but you don't know it at the time.  And the ending conversation between Andre and Frans masterfully encapsulates the irony of the situation

          I felt the acting was great.  Andre and Frans were both super likable characters.  The look on Andre's face when she asks him to dance is priceless.  It was a little intense, watching to see if he'll be able to pull it off.  And he does, perfectly.  Andre is a great guy; the type friend we all need.  Overall, it is a charming short.  Definitely worth your time checking it out.

     Check it out HERE.

     But that's just my opinion...

Act of Valor (trailer)

          Ok, so I saw the trailer for this movie a couple of months ago.  But today, I watched a featurette about it and decided it was too awesome not to share.  So, Act of Valor is a movie about Navy Seals doing their thing.  (I'm not sure about plot details).  I am personally a sucker for this kind of stuff.  I have so much respect for our Troops and Armed Forces.  I am so thankful for them defending our freedoms and for those who came before and gave us those freedoms.  So, this type of movie is right up my alley.

     Click HERE for trailer.

          Now, the thing that makes this movie even more awesome is the fact that it uses real, active duty Navy Seals.  They were originally going to cast actors, but then decided to get the real deal.  And, it's supposedly base on real Navy Seal missions.  So, that makes me excited to see it.  But then I watched this:

     AWESOMENESS

          They use real bullets!  Yea, real bullets; not blanks.  That is so awesome.  You thought it couldn't get any more realistic with the active duty Seals, but then they throw live rounds in your face.  I'm no gun expert so I don't know how much of a difference it actually makes.  However, just the fact that they did it is awesome.  (I think that awesome is the best word to describe this movie).

          So, yea.  That's basically it.  It looks really good and I just wanted to share.  It hits theaters 24 February.

     But that's just my opinion...

Everything Is a Remix

          I found this interesting web series after my friend tweeted it.  (I guess it's a good thing I finally got Twitter.)  It is called Everything Is a Remix and it was created by Kirby Ferguson, a filmmaker.  It is a 4 part series, talking about creativity and where it comes from.  Ferguson claims that creativity is really taking old ideas and making them new.  He says that there are no real "new" ideas; just ones that have been "remixed" from others.

          In the first video he basically talks about how bands (Led Zeppelin in particular) copied those that came before them.  The second video focuses more on movies by explaining how George Lucas, while creating Star Wars, essentially did the same thing:  borrow elements from previous movies.  In the third part, He explains how Apple took an idea by Xerox, bettered it and gave rise to the modern computer.  The fourth video is about...I  don't know.  It hasn't been released at the time of me remixing previous ideas into this blog.

     Click HERE to watch the web series.

          As Ferguson says in the videos:  Creativity isn’t magic.  It happens by applying ordinary tools of thought to existing materials.


     Here is another VIDEO he made about The Matrix.  It is also on the above website.

     But that's just my opinion...