"V for Vendetta" was a film I both enjoyed and disliked. I thought the plot line was skillfully drafted and unique, but I personally didn't like the violence and graphicness of the picture. With that said, I think showing the violence was the most successful way to display the seriousness of the situations and the corrupt, totalitarian government. Natalie Portman did a great job in this film, as well has Hugo Weaving, who had a challenging role of demonstrating his character only from his body movements and voice. The combination of action and a more broad, political theme was well balanced, and the suspenseful plot line kept me interested the entire film.

"Singin' in the Rain" was my favorite in class viewings this semester. To me it had the perfect balance of music, dialog, humor, and conflict. I thought the acting was great and the relationships between the characters Don Lockwood and Kathy Selden was fun to watch develop. The film had a great plot line, and satisfying ending. The musical pieces were very well done, as was the choreography that went along with them. Overall, I thought it was a fun, well made, entertaining movie that I would highly recommend!

I agree with Katie in her post about her favorite films that I liked Kung Fu Hustle the best out of the films we watched in class, mostly because I was pleasantly surprised by the humor, amazing choreography and movement, the suspense, and the creativity of the plot in general. Usually, Kung Fu movies would not be my first choice, but I ended up really enjoying this one.

But my favorite assigned viewing has to be Black Narcissus. Of course, the most amazing part to me was the vibrancy of the colors, unlike anything else I have seen in a film. They really caught the viewers eye and added to the enjoyment of the movie. The suspense in the scene where sister Ruth goes insane is also added to with the lighting and the colors, which I really enjoyed. As such an early film using color, I was really surprised by how well it was done and how much I really did enjoy it. Overall, I think this class has taught me the importance of keeping an open mind, because I was pleasantly surprised by so many movies we watched that I would never choose to watch on my own.

Favorite Movies

Since, it's the last class of the semester, I thought I would share my favorite in-class viewing and assigned viewing. My favorite in-class movie was "Kung-fu Hustle" because I was surprised by how funny and well made it was. When I saw the title, I instantly formed a negative judgement because Kung-fu type movies have never interested or entertained me but in the first five minutes I knew it was going to be a great movie. I laughed the entire time and there was never a boring moment in the film. I would definitely watch this movie over and over again.

My favorite assigned movie was "One Flew Over the Cockoo's Nest". I had already seen it before but the second time it was even better. Jack Nicholson is one of my favorite actors and he is amazing in this roll. Even though the ending disappointed me both times because I was rooting for R.P. and not Nurse Ratched, the movie is entertaining and well made. The characters are well described and you want each one of them to succeed.

We watched some amazing movies this semester but these two were by far my favorite.

Chapter 12- Citizen Kane

In honor of our last chapter which focuses on Citizen Kane I thought I would post this interesting review. It brings up a lot of fascinating viewpoints that aren't obvious after only one viewing. Good luck on the exam tonight!

http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/reviews.php?id=8558

Rashomon

This week we were required to watch the film Rashomon for Western Heritage. At first I thought the film was a little ridiculous, with all of the over exaggerated acting styles, but looking back now I really enjoyed the artistic aspect of the movie. The angles used to highlight certain viewpoints and the overall cinematography was beautiful. I have never seen a black and white film with such breathtaking shots and and such a complex filming technique. I really enjoyed the artistic aspect of the film and recommend that if you watch it to watch for the visuals and not the dialogue.