I must say this has quickly become one of my favorite movies of all time. It is one of those traditional epic films made during the 50’s and 60’s. Bounty stars Marlon Brando as 1st Lt. Fletcher Christian and Trevor Howard as the heartless Captain William Bligh. From the time they set sail Christian and Bligh at each other’s throats. Bligh fashions himself an old school, tough captain while Christian is more of an aristocrat sailor who doesn’t seem like he’s had to actually work that hard in his life. This eventually escalates to Christian’s mutiny against Bligh.
There were three things that really impressed me with this movie. The first was the spectacle event which was obviously something the director, Lewis Milestone, was aiming for. You don’t notice it at first as much but by the time they are done getting pushed around by the seas and they reach Tahiti it is everywhere. Upon reaching Tahiti you see hundreds of ships and thousands of extras running around on the island. MGM spared no expense in making this film. There were even elaborate dance sequences in which the people of Tahiti demonstrated their culture for the sailors. The older spectacles remind me of modern action films. The huge number of people and events seems similar to the modern explosions and CGI that blockbusters have nowadays. Even after it’s incredible running time of 178 minutes (not including the overture to being the film or the intermission in the middle of it) I was still enthralled.
The second thing that impressed me was the development of tension between Bligh and Christian. As I said from the beginning the two do not get along. Also the viewer knows there will be a mutiny given the title. So then the question becomes “exactly how much of this will Christian tolerate before he mutinies? “ It begins when one sailor says something that is fairly unpleasant of the captain and the man is whipped for his intolerance. Later in the film the captain has men put in chains for trying to escape while on Tahiti. Throughout the journey we see Bligh time and time again do things that put the lives of the men in danger. After Bligh makes it nearly impossible for the men to reach drinking water it comes to a head. Christian assists one of the dying men against Bligh’s orders and it results in a mutiny. From there we see the Christian and his men return to Tahiti before settling on an uninhabited island.
The final thing that I found impressive was the acting and character development of Marlon Brando. There’s a reason he is considered one of the best actors of all time. In the beginning you’re wondering who this guy is and what type of person is he. He then shows that he seems to be on the side of the sailors but then later follows an order of Bligh which seems to go against his character. Later on we see him fall in love so we see his soft side, something Bligh never shows. Finally after he can take no more of Bligh’s rules, which end up killing three men, he mutinies. He does this because he knew it was the right thing to do and something that needed to be done. However, after it he locks himself in his captain’s chamber while the rest of the men return to Tahiti. It seems he has become the evil figure Bligh was the last time they visited the island. It takes his lover, Miamiti, to get him back into shape. She does not put up with his loathing and gets him, along with the rest of the men, moving in the right direction. During this transformation of character the viewer at first is on his side then later fears that he has become Bligh. Later on in the film (remember it is near three hours so there is a lot to talk about!) Christian shows his true character which is more than him. He is willing to return to Britain and face the gallows just to clear his name. His personal honor is more important to him than his life.
Mutiny on the Bounty, really the first epic style film I’ve watched from beginning to end in one sitting, was amazing. I was enthralled from the beginning all the way to the end. It was truly an amazing film and I have since recommended it to everyone. The film had great acting, an incredible story, and an impressive spectacle to boot. A+ film for sure.
Monday, April 26, 2010
101. Bronson (2008)
Bronson was a bit of a different film. It chronicles the prison life of Britain’s most violent criminal Charlie Bronson. Throughout the film we see him beat up guards, get put in solitary confinement, then beat up more guards, go back to solitary and then try and become a sort of artist somewhere in between.
The story was ok. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t overly captivating. The director, Nicolas Winding Refn, was a big fan of color, shooting some scenes entirely in red or blue for dramatic effect. That was about the exent of the directorial contribution that caught my eye. Bronson’s character didn’t appear to grow all that much either. We see him delve into art later on but that’s about it. His most intriguing line is in the beginning of the film when he says, “All my life I’ve wanted to be famous,” then explains how he’s not good at anything so fighting was the only to get there. That sets up the remaining two hours of him beating up guards. There is one break in the film in which he is locked up in a mental institution. While watching the film this part seemed to be a change in gears and I expected the rest of the movie to be in the institution. Rather it is just a small break before he goes back to beating up officers in a prison. The intrigue to the viewer comes from wondering if Bronson will ever calm down, if he’ll ever give up his life of violence.
Tom Hardy’s portrayal of Bronson was the high point of this film. He did an incredible job of seeming to be completely out of his mind. You never knew when he was going to snap or what was really going through his mind. Throughout the film there are these scenes of him on a stage in front of the audience as if he is telling them the story of his life while we are seeing it on screen. During one of the scenes he has half of his face painted as if he is a crazy female teacher. While speaking he flips from one side to the other portraying each character as he switches. It is a really impressive piece of acting for him to change attitude and tone in an instant. In the end the film is worth watching if it’s on because of Hardy’s performance but I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to see it.
The story was ok. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t overly captivating. The director, Nicolas Winding Refn, was a big fan of color, shooting some scenes entirely in red or blue for dramatic effect. That was about the exent of the directorial contribution that caught my eye. Bronson’s character didn’t appear to grow all that much either. We see him delve into art later on but that’s about it. His most intriguing line is in the beginning of the film when he says, “All my life I’ve wanted to be famous,” then explains how he’s not good at anything so fighting was the only to get there. That sets up the remaining two hours of him beating up guards. There is one break in the film in which he is locked up in a mental institution. While watching the film this part seemed to be a change in gears and I expected the rest of the movie to be in the institution. Rather it is just a small break before he goes back to beating up officers in a prison. The intrigue to the viewer comes from wondering if Bronson will ever calm down, if he’ll ever give up his life of violence.
Tom Hardy’s portrayal of Bronson was the high point of this film. He did an incredible job of seeming to be completely out of his mind. You never knew when he was going to snap or what was really going through his mind. Throughout the film there are these scenes of him on a stage in front of the audience as if he is telling them the story of his life while we are seeing it on screen. During one of the scenes he has half of his face painted as if he is a crazy female teacher. While speaking he flips from one side to the other portraying each character as he switches. It is a really impressive piece of acting for him to change attitude and tone in an instant. In the end the film is worth watching if it’s on because of Hardy’s performance but I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to see it.
Friday, April 9, 2010
104. THEM! (1954) and 103. Revolutionary Road (2008)
To start my list I figured I’d go with the classic 1950’s B Film THEM! Them! (1954) is about ants that have mutated, as a result of nuclear testing in the early 40’s, to 12 feet length. Not only are they now giant ants, they are also cannibalistic with an insatiable craving for humans and sugar.
The movie was far better than I thought it would be going into it. However that is the case the majority of the time you watch a film and expect it to pretty much suck. It wasn’t that bad though. I was entertained, into the story line, and was waiting to see how it would all turn out. Obviously the special effects leave a little to be desired as it was a 50’s B film but they weren’t as terrible as one might expect. The ants are very limited in their movements, which little ones they had.
One thought I had was of how the fact it was shot in the 50’s, in black and white, and with cameras that weren’t of the highest qualities helps this film. If it were in HD and in color it would look completely ridiculous. On the whole I was impressed. In the end they had the typical Aesop’s Fable-esque line. This one was something to the extent of, “We may have entered the atomic age but we still may have many surprises left ahead of us”. This was said in response to one of the soldiers asking about if there are other mutations out there as a result of the atomic testing.
It was solid cheese the whole way through and I loved it! However I now have a head ache because throughout the film whenever the ants are coming on screen there is this really loud, high pitched tone that blasts through the speakers. It reminded me of a more audible dog’s whistle cranked to a 100 on the volume scale. My ears might be bleeding. Anyway, if you’re in the mood for an entertaining, cheesy, classic sci-fi film then this is definitely one that deserves a look.
103. Revolutionary Road
Next on my list was Revolutionary Road. It is a fairly new movie and definitely not a classic. However it had director Sam Mendes, one of my favorites, and possibly the best actor and actress on the planet in Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. On paper this is already amazing; which is where I might have gone wrong. Whereas with Them! I was expecting a completely awful film, with Road I was expecting something pretty amazing. It was not.
In this film by Sam Mendes [American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead, Away We Go (Yeah he’s good)] Frank Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April Wheeler (Kate WInslet) are a city couple who move to the suburbs to ‘settle down.’ However from the beginning of the film we learn that these two are not happy together. The film is about them trying to find a solution to their problem. April decides the solution is for them to move to Paris, France where she will work and DiCaprio will stay at home with the kids. Outside of the location on which they move, the actual Revolutionary Road, the road which they want to leave is actually what is revolutionary.
Road deals mainly with this couple trying to be part of the norm for their time but at the same time trying to find a way to be happy and be themselves. The most interesting character in the story was John Givings (Michael Shannon), the son of the Wheeler’s realtor, Helen Givings (Kathy Bates). John was considered mentally unstable and had spent time in a mental ward. His lack of social skills seems to warrant some concern but his ideals, which were birthed as a result of the over conservativeness of his mother, are what make him intriguing. His ‘lunacy’ is far saner than the ‘normalcy’ of everyone else. John realizes what it takes to be yourself and that being yourself is what is most important. It is far saner than trying to be someone you’re not and living your life as a lie to be ‘normal.’
The rest of the movie, which unfortunately was about 95% of it, lacked what John’s character brought to it. Rather it was mainly the Wheelers screaming at one another with a little social interaction and infidelity thrown in for the better part of the film. It made me feel pretty uncomfortable and that was not for me. However if that was the goal of Mendes then it did succeed admirably. The final scene of the film in which we see the ‘normal’ family of Givings (Bates and Richard Easton) is a bit of a saving grace for the film and made me like it more than I thought I would up to that point. In it (spoiler alert) Mrs. Givings is thrilled about the new couple who had moved into the house that had been the Wheeler’s. She is thrilled about how ‘perfect’ they are. Mr. Givings comments on how he thought the Wheelers weren’t all that bad only to have Mrs. Givings go into a rant of all the ways in which they were. At this point Mr. Givings simply turns down his ear piece to tune her out. It seemed as if Mendes was trying to say as we look back on the suburbs in the 1950’s, which is usually shown as this perfect time and place, that even back then they had troubles, there wasn’t constant marital bliss, and even then people wanted to be themselves and not have to live the life predetermined for them by society. In that note I felt the film got its point across very well, it was just the majority of the film in between that didn’t seem to get me going.
The movie was far better than I thought it would be going into it. However that is the case the majority of the time you watch a film and expect it to pretty much suck. It wasn’t that bad though. I was entertained, into the story line, and was waiting to see how it would all turn out. Obviously the special effects leave a little to be desired as it was a 50’s B film but they weren’t as terrible as one might expect. The ants are very limited in their movements, which little ones they had.
One thought I had was of how the fact it was shot in the 50’s, in black and white, and with cameras that weren’t of the highest qualities helps this film. If it were in HD and in color it would look completely ridiculous. On the whole I was impressed. In the end they had the typical Aesop’s Fable-esque line. This one was something to the extent of, “We may have entered the atomic age but we still may have many surprises left ahead of us”. This was said in response to one of the soldiers asking about if there are other mutations out there as a result of the atomic testing.
It was solid cheese the whole way through and I loved it! However I now have a head ache because throughout the film whenever the ants are coming on screen there is this really loud, high pitched tone that blasts through the speakers. It reminded me of a more audible dog’s whistle cranked to a 100 on the volume scale. My ears might be bleeding. Anyway, if you’re in the mood for an entertaining, cheesy, classic sci-fi film then this is definitely one that deserves a look.
103. Revolutionary Road
Next on my list was Revolutionary Road. It is a fairly new movie and definitely not a classic. However it had director Sam Mendes, one of my favorites, and possibly the best actor and actress on the planet in Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. On paper this is already amazing; which is where I might have gone wrong. Whereas with Them! I was expecting a completely awful film, with Road I was expecting something pretty amazing. It was not.
In this film by Sam Mendes [American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead, Away We Go (Yeah he’s good)] Frank Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April Wheeler (Kate WInslet) are a city couple who move to the suburbs to ‘settle down.’ However from the beginning of the film we learn that these two are not happy together. The film is about them trying to find a solution to their problem. April decides the solution is for them to move to Paris, France where she will work and DiCaprio will stay at home with the kids. Outside of the location on which they move, the actual Revolutionary Road, the road which they want to leave is actually what is revolutionary.
Road deals mainly with this couple trying to be part of the norm for their time but at the same time trying to find a way to be happy and be themselves. The most interesting character in the story was John Givings (Michael Shannon), the son of the Wheeler’s realtor, Helen Givings (Kathy Bates). John was considered mentally unstable and had spent time in a mental ward. His lack of social skills seems to warrant some concern but his ideals, which were birthed as a result of the over conservativeness of his mother, are what make him intriguing. His ‘lunacy’ is far saner than the ‘normalcy’ of everyone else. John realizes what it takes to be yourself and that being yourself is what is most important. It is far saner than trying to be someone you’re not and living your life as a lie to be ‘normal.’
The rest of the movie, which unfortunately was about 95% of it, lacked what John’s character brought to it. Rather it was mainly the Wheelers screaming at one another with a little social interaction and infidelity thrown in for the better part of the film. It made me feel pretty uncomfortable and that was not for me. However if that was the goal of Mendes then it did succeed admirably. The final scene of the film in which we see the ‘normal’ family of Givings (Bates and Richard Easton) is a bit of a saving grace for the film and made me like it more than I thought I would up to that point. In it (spoiler alert) Mrs. Givings is thrilled about the new couple who had moved into the house that had been the Wheeler’s. She is thrilled about how ‘perfect’ they are. Mr. Givings comments on how he thought the Wheelers weren’t all that bad only to have Mrs. Givings go into a rant of all the ways in which they were. At this point Mr. Givings simply turns down his ear piece to tune her out. It seemed as if Mendes was trying to say as we look back on the suburbs in the 1950’s, which is usually shown as this perfect time and place, that even back then they had troubles, there wasn’t constant marital bliss, and even then people wanted to be themselves and not have to live the life predetermined for them by society. In that note I felt the film got its point across very well, it was just the majority of the film in between that didn’t seem to get me going.
The List!
My name is Brandon Bjerke and I am a student and fan of all things cinema. However, friends, family, and coworkers know this and therefore feel that I have watched every movie ever made. Knowing it would be impossible for me to see every movie ever made I instead decided to make a list of certain ones I wanted to see. The list is largely gathered from the AFI’s 100 Greatest Movies list and IMDB’s top 250 list. I have decided to watch 2 movies a week for the next year so I can get a little caught up on my history of cinema. And here is the list!
104 Movies I Must Watch
1. The Godfather
2. The Godfather II
3. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
4. Schindler’s List
5. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
6. Seven Samurai
7. Rear Window
8. Citizen Kane
9. American History X
10. Taxi Driver
11. Lawrence of Arabia
12. Paths of Glory
13. The Pianist
14. Lives of Others
15. Double Indemnity
16. M
17. L.A. Confidential
18. Raging Bull
19. Singing in the Rain
20. Maltese Falcon
21. Life is Beautiful
22. Rashomon
23. All About Eve
24. Elephant Man
25. The Sting
26. The Apartment
27. Great Escape
28. Hotel Rwanda
29. Unforgiven
30. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
31. Strangers on a Train
32. High Noon
33. The Manchurian Candidate
34. Notorious
35. Annie Hall
36. Deer Hunter
37. The Big Sleep
38. Ran
39. It Happened One Night
40. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
41. Witness for the Prosecution
42. Stand By Me
43. Gone With the Wind
44. Amores Perros
45. Dog Day Afternoon
46. Gandhi
47. 8 ½
48. Grapes of Wrath
49. La Salaire de la Peur
50. The Wild Bunch
51. The Killing
52. Judgment at Nuremburg
53. The Hustler
54. The Best Years of Our Lives
55. Ed Wood
56. Rosemary’s Baby
57. Brief Encounter
58. A Streetcar Named Desire
59. African Queen
60. Dial M For Murder
61. Magnolia
62. Mystic River
63. Manhattan
64. Patton
65. Network
66. Spartacus
67. All Quiet on the Western Front
68. Mulholland Drive
69. On the Waterfront
70. The Bridge On the River Kwai
71. Doctor Zhivago
72. Birth of a Nation
73. Amadeus
74. M.A.S.H.
75. Shane
76. The French Connection
77. An American in Paris
78. Mutiny on the Bounty
79. Easy Rider
80. The Searchers
81. Bringing Up Baby
82. Apocalypse Now
83. The Last Picture Show
84. 400 Blows
85. Breathless
86. The Thing
87. Midnight Run
88. Into the Wild
89. The Conversation
90. Network
91. Night of the Living Dead
92. Fahrenheit 451
93. Nosferatu
94. 39 Steps
95. The Visitor
96. The Reader
97. Hiroshima, Mon Amour
98. Lars and the Real Girl
99. Solaris
100. Spirited Away
101. Bronson
102. Fiddler on the Roof
103. Revolutionary Road
104. Them!
104 Movies I Must Watch
1. The Godfather
2. The Godfather II
3. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
4. Schindler’s List
5. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
6. Seven Samurai
7. Rear Window
8. Citizen Kane
9. American History X
10. Taxi Driver
11. Lawrence of Arabia
12. Paths of Glory
13. The Pianist
14. Lives of Others
15. Double Indemnity
16. M
17. L.A. Confidential
18. Raging Bull
19. Singing in the Rain
20. Maltese Falcon
21. Life is Beautiful
22. Rashomon
23. All About Eve
24. Elephant Man
25. The Sting
26. The Apartment
27. Great Escape
28. Hotel Rwanda
29. Unforgiven
30. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
31. Strangers on a Train
32. High Noon
33. The Manchurian Candidate
34. Notorious
35. Annie Hall
36. Deer Hunter
37. The Big Sleep
38. Ran
39. It Happened One Night
40. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
41. Witness for the Prosecution
42. Stand By Me
43. Gone With the Wind
44. Amores Perros
45. Dog Day Afternoon
46. Gandhi
47. 8 ½
48. Grapes of Wrath
49. La Salaire de la Peur
50. The Wild Bunch
51. The Killing
52. Judgment at Nuremburg
53. The Hustler
54. The Best Years of Our Lives
55. Ed Wood
56. Rosemary’s Baby
57. Brief Encounter
58. A Streetcar Named Desire
59. African Queen
60. Dial M For Murder
61. Magnolia
62. Mystic River
63. Manhattan
64. Patton
65. Network
66. Spartacus
67. All Quiet on the Western Front
68. Mulholland Drive
69. On the Waterfront
70. The Bridge On the River Kwai
71. Doctor Zhivago
72. Birth of a Nation
73. Amadeus
74. M.A.S.H.
75. Shane
76. The French Connection
77. An American in Paris
78. Mutiny on the Bounty
79. Easy Rider
80. The Searchers
81. Bringing Up Baby
82. Apocalypse Now
83. The Last Picture Show
84. 400 Blows
85. Breathless
86. The Thing
87. Midnight Run
88. Into the Wild
89. The Conversation
90. Network
91. Night of the Living Dead
92. Fahrenheit 451
93. Nosferatu
94. 39 Steps
95. The Visitor
96. The Reader
97. Hiroshima, Mon Amour
98. Lars and the Real Girl
99. Solaris
100. Spirited Away
101. Bronson
102. Fiddler on the Roof
103. Revolutionary Road
104. Them!
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