John Cassevetes Final Battle

What in the world do i say about this one? Definitely a Cassevetes film. I think his purpose for this film is to analyze the relationship between actor and character and see how the main character, Myrtle Gordon, changes when an autograph seeking fan is killed by a car. The only real "plot" that i was able to distinguish dealt with the issues of self expression and how a person strives to make their own expression true and meaningful. I felt like her dead groupie snapped her out of her ego and caused her to really stop and think about what she wants this life to be for her. This is present in the other two cassevetes films that we watched but the theme is much more central in this particular installment. I was a little bit dissapointed by a lack of cinematography, which can be a saving grace when you are in the thick of a radically independent Cassevetes film. However i felt like the exclusion of such cinematic quality also played into the themes of self expression and maybe reflected a contemplative side of Cassevetes himself? I really dont know what to make of it but it broadened my understanding of John Cassevetes.

Call me a plausible, but you can’t just forget about practicallity for the sake of entertaining an audience.

I don’t think Hitchcock really needs another person to praise his work, so even though I like his movies, I’m going to put him in the hot seat and focus on the negative. Hitchcock is a very talented film maker and I enjoy watching his movie’s, but the way that he neglects plausability or reality all together makes it difficult to be a true fan. I realize that his neglect is to thank for a lot of the classic Hitchcock plots but at times I think it goes to far. For example, in Rear Window I like the voyeurism aspect of the movie and it is interesting to see what you learn about the characters in Jeff’s neighborhood just by being a peeping Tom. At first it is a fun way to learn about the characters but after a while the voyeurism aspect is lost to the unlikelihood of being able to have such unlimited access to their personal lives, just by looking in their window. What im trying to say is that Jeff’s virtually unobstructed view of everything from his room causes the voyeurism aspect to lose its touch because it hardly challenges Jeff at all. I feel like what makes the film unique is that you only know what you can learn from Jeff’s window, but it becomes rapidly apparent that you can know EVERYTHING from Jeff’s window so what is the point? But really I do like the idea, I just feel like the point is lost in how much you know from the window. And then the whole flash camera to save your life ending was kind of ridiculous. Thorwald is definitely not cut out for that sort of thing which totally ruins the whole suspense thing that everybody praises Hitchcock for.
Great movies nonetheless, just felt like challenging the film God.

How can such a tiny man execute such enormous cinematic ambitions?

I was not expecting that Akira Kurosawa’s big budget epic Ran would satisfy the majority of my expectations for any movie, all in one film. The film was already off to a great start when I learned that it was based off of a Shakespeare play. I thought this blended perfectly with the context of feudal Japan. More specifically, one of my favorite parts of the movie is the Noh theatre element because it makes it easier for Kurosawa to set up the characters motives quickly, and spend more time having fun with the stark character conflicts.Hand in hand with the element of noh theatre is Kurosawa’s typical overly animated acting style of the characters in his films. Watching the characters is entertaining in itself because you don’t need to strain yourself in figuring out what the character is about.
Another great part of the film was the big budget aspect. Watching all of those extra’s running around with sweet samurai costumes and neat feudal Japanese set was reminiscent of the joy that I experienced when I played with my action figures as a youngster. It is as if Kurosawa is playing the same way, only with way way more materials at his disposal.