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"The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One
cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates
the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the
marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if
one tries merely to comprehend a little of this
mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity."
- Einstein
The first film I ever remember watching was ET.
Some people I know don't know if it was the
first movie I've ever seen, but it's the first
that ever really had a true impact on me and my
life, and it’s the first I remember watching. I
think ET also had a hand in my love of Steven
Spielberg's movies and his works, and my
admiration towards him and his career.
ET was magical when I was young; it was a
beautiful film about friendship and I loved that
little alien. Many of the themes in ET were
resonant because it reflected Spielberg’s
feelings of abandonment, alienation, divorce and
friendship he never really had. Spielberg has
reflected many of his views through his films
and for that; I just communicate more with his
movies. Of course I’ve seen plenty of other
films, some magical, some not, but there came
also horror films. I have a great fondness and
admiration for all types of filmmaking and thus
a curiosity for basically everything that draws
my attention.
I love people who stimulate my mind and
creativity, and the right director can do that,
but very few today do so, except for M. Night
Shyamalan. Back then every stimulated me because
I was new to movies, but Spielberg was the first
to stimulate my mind, and movies do so. The best
movies have sparked my imagination, and for me,
Spielberg's films have managed to do that. The
best filmmakers take us into a world, a land
whether real or fantasy. Hitchcock said, “If
it's a good movie, the sound could go off and
the audience would still have a perfectly clear
idea of what was going on.” And there are very
few movies that can do that, but I can name a
few off the top of my head: Donnie Darko, 28
Days Later, Signs, ET, Saving Private Ryan, and
Citizen Kane. Yeah, some are new, but these are
films that tell a story in paper and in imagery
and no director can do that in modern times.
I particularly love animation in all its forms
and adore Fantasia as one of my favorite
animated films of all time. That is a film that
should be shown to kids at a very young age,
because it has it all: the beautiful melodies of
thunderous classic music, stories that are told
without dialogue thus leaving the kid to
decipher the events for themselves, beautiful
simply incredible animation, funny characters,
and magical colors and scenery to stimulate the
brain. However, my all time favorite animated
film of all is “The Iron Giant”. Why do I pick
the “Iron Giant” a modern film instead of
something more obvious like “Cinderella” or
“Heavy Metal”? It’s actually very simple,
because of its themes. While the films in the
aforementioned sentence were good, this is such
a masterpiece, and an under-appreciated one at
that. The film about a robot crash landing on
Earth, coming across a young lonely boy and
befriending him is a universal theme because of
its themes of friendship, feelings of being an
outsider, and love.
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Both the robot and Hogarth are
aliens in their own right, but
director Brad Bird stimulates the
imagination with a robot that looks
damn cool, hilarious characters and
a script that is just great.
Obviously, it is great, coming from
a man who worked on “The Simpsons”,
but it is such a marvelous and funny
story that I couldn’t help but love
it. It’s hard to find fault in that
film, and I’m serious in saying it’s
a masterpiece. Bird mixes computer
animation and hand drawn animation
flawlessly, and it’s sad this movie
didn’t succeed as a commercial
property because anyone who has not
seen it is missing out. What
instantly made the movie a piece of
art is the middle where Hogarth and
the robot are playing in the woods
and hanging out, and they hear a
gunshot, and they look through trees
and see a dead deer, and then
Hogarth explains the concept of
death for the robot. |
That one sequence should have been marked as a
moment in cinema to be remembered, because it’s
so beautiful watching a child explain to a
child-like entity the concept of death and thus
that one moment begins his corruption. The robot
is a weapon of a sorts, but Bird implies that
it’s not his nature to be a weapon, but it’s
humanity that turns him aggressive, and that
says a lot about the true purpose of the story
as we watch a robot with a child-like innocence
corrupted by human violence and the assumed
death of his best friend which sets him off.
I was then introduced to horror by my mother. I
know you’re saying, “Dear lord”, but actually I
chose this lifestyle as a horror fanatic. My mom
is a horror buff and watches everything
horror-oriented, and I became engrossed in the
genre, and she gladly indulged me. Comedy has
become a true liking for me in the movie era; as
one who takes pride in being witty and funny and
perfecting impressions of celebrities (What an
ego, eh?), I love comedy of all kind, and I
gladly watch anything that has the possibility
to make me laugh. My favorite though, my
favorite comedy team of all time are “The Marx
Brothers”.
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These four goofballs are just so
much fun to watch and the funniest
comedy team to ever star in films.
Groucho, Zeppo, Chico, and Harpo are
the funniest men in cinema history
because they cover all facets of
comedy. Groucho with his utterly
hilarious comebacks, put downs, and
replies, Zeppo as the straight man,
Chico as the hardly comprehendible
foreigner ladies man, and Harpo with
his physical comedy and miming.
These four men are just funny, and I
dare you not to laugh while watching
“Animal Crackers”, “Duck Soup”, or
“Horse Feathers”. Then there’s
Charlie Chaplin. I admit I wasn’t a
fan upon first viewing “Gold Rush”,
but I am a fan of many of his movies
that are both very funny and very
sad. How the “little tramp” ever
committed those physical feats
during the film is baffling. Take
for example the automatic eating
machine sequence in “Modern Times”,
that is shocking to watch, because
it’s a wonder how he did it without
losing a beat. |
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"In feature films the director is God; in
documentary films God is the director." -
Alfred Hitchcock
If I'm able to find a movie these days that
stimulate my imagination then I consider
myself truly lucky, so I'm always looking
for the most unconventional movies instead
of the usual big budget pieces of shit
studios shovel out week after week. The
unconventional is where the genius lies and
I’m always looking for something difference
in films. I love independent movies because
most of the time they offer something truly
unconventional, and good or bad, it’s almost
always original in its concept. For example
“Donnie Darko”, “The Station Agent”, and
“Lost in Translation”, three of the best
examples of the unconventional meet the
genius.
Movies are magical to young kids so it's
important to take them to the right ones
instead of the ones that just exploit them.
Movies like “Yu-Gi-Oh” or “Pokemon” don’t
dazzle the kids; they’re just artificial
shallow marketing ploys to make money. Look
for movies that will stimulate your
children’s minds while giving them creative
influence. Movies that left me in awe, and
continue leaving me in awe were films like
"Wizard of Oz" a young girl’s journey into
another land with colorful scenery,
characters and great musical numbers, "Willy
Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" a young
boy’s journey into a land made of candy with
the hilarious Gene Wilder as the mad capped
Willy Wonka who teaches lessons of “greed”
and “Gluttony” with every child, "Monster
Squad" a very funny and scary movie with
kids as the heroes fighting the infamous
movie monsters of the past, "Close
Encounters of the Third Kind" a beautiful
movie about aliens, family with great music,
dazzling scenery, and aliens that will
invoke the imagination, and inevitably "Star
Wars" a fantasy adventure with great
characters, great action, and a story that
everyone will enjoy.
With "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" I
still get chills whenever the ship begins
playing the signal music with the loud
roaring bass. I want you to connect your
television to your stereo and put this up
loud and you’ll discover how magical this
movie is, and who can forget when Richard
Dreyfuss' character comes face to face with
the alien’s white face and beady black eyes?
Beautiful filmmaking and still brings tears
to my eyes.
For me movies are an escape, a doorway to
other places, and are a lot like comfort
food that never fails to satisfy. Some
people smoke to relax, some people drink,
but I prefer to watch movies; good or bad I
always hide in a movie and it helps to relax
me. Good movies can tell a story and create
a world that envelopes us into its
characters and plot. Movies these days are
just products, long commercials, never are
they works of art, or stories waiting to be
told. For me movies are an obsession, an
obsession I'm proud to be involved in; movie
buffs are some of the most intelligent
people in the world (and the most pompous)
and I enjoy nothing more than discussing
films with someone.
I created this film site in 1998 when I was
first given this computer; as I got older my
writing improved thankfully and I do my best
to bring people high quality and informative
movie reviews. I think reviewing movies is
not just watching a movie and writing about
what you thought. I think reviewing a movie
is like exposure, it has to be like an
assignment for school, it should require
research about the material. A film reviews
shows how in sync you are with a film, it
exposes your personality, and it exposes
your writing skills. I think you have to
involve yourself in a movie and research it
then you talk about it and express your own
feelings about what you thought of it which
is what I try to bring to the table when I
write a review, I drown myself in the film,
good or bad, and then I attempt to bring
some readable film reviews for people to
read; I post them not just to expose myself
as a writer but to show people how
passionate I am about films.
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