The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

In my opinion, I would give this film a 8 out of 10. The story starts out with The Good (also known as Blondie), and The Ugly (Tuco) scamming the system, with Blondie turning in Tuco for crimes he committed, and as Tuco was hanging, Blondie would shoot the rope and they would escape and split the money, some time along this, they find Bill Carsons, who is extremely rich, and he tells them where it is located. They then proceed to find the money.

     

Top Film Review

1) V for Vendetta
2) The Graduate
3) Shooter
4) ShawShank Redemption
5) Psycho
6) Simpson's Movie
7) Ben Hur
8) Gone With the Wind
9) Citizen Kane
10) The Great Debaters
11) Cinema Paradiso

The Great Debaters

The Great Debaters is a drama about a black debate team in the south in 1932. Shot in 2007 by Denzel Washington. Starring Denzel Washington, Denzel Whitaker and Forest Whitaker, based on a true story of a temperamental debate coach who shaped the students of a small East Texas college into a great team that gave Harvard's elite a run for their money. 

Convinced that they could make great changes if given the confidence and tools needed to do so, Tolson implores his students to take responsibility for the future while furtively attempting to protect them from his secret role as an organizer for the Southern Tenant Farmers Union. Among Tolson's promising young students is a 14-year-old prodigy named James Farmer, Jr.  James Jr. has seen the effects of racism all around him, and wants to live in a future where no one must be in fear simply because of the color of their skin. Other debaters on Tolson's team include Henry Lowe, and Samantha Brooke, the first ever female ever to join the Wiley College debate team. While most educators may not have recognized the potential of assembling such a disparate team, Tolson's unique vision truly set him apart from the pack as the team begins to experience a series of consecutive victories on their road to challenging Harvard at the National Championships.

ShawShank Redemption

The following link is a link to the Socratic discussion on the ShawShank Redemption.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIUZlBHk3ks

The Simpson's Movie

Rating: 8 out of 10

Genre: Comedy

Parody: Green Day Titanic scene at the beginning, Harry Plopper, Spider Pig

Irony: Between a Rock, and a Hard Place, Patriot Act

Quotes: "You get one chance in a marriage to say this.... Will you do this with me?" "The US Government finally found someone that they were looking for! BOO YEAH!" 

PHS Paradiso

      

My Top Ten Films

Number One: The Dark Knight
Number Two: V for Vendetta
Number Three: Public Enemies
Number Four: Billy Madison
Number Five: Team America
Number Six: Halloween
Number Seven: Mr. Deeds
Number Eight: Anger Management
Number Nine: Waterboy
Number Ten: Happy Gilmore

V for Vendetta

   
     In my personal opinion, I would give V for Vendetta a 10 out of 10. I would definitely recommend this movie for anyone, because it is truly a great movie. It is about a man who defies the government, and believes that the government should be afraid of its people, not the other way around, and he extracts his revenge, as is stated in the film name "Vendetta." The man is simply known as V, you don't see his face throughout the movie, as he wears a Guy Fawkes mask, he chooses to act like Guy Fawkes as he strikes on November the fifth, Remember, Remember, the fifth of November, the Gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason, the Gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.

    If you don't pay attention to this film, or focus on certain parts, it will be quite confusing, as things are explained throughout this film, and if you put the pieces together, everything will come together and you will understand this film, you will understand V. I will definitely say that everyone should watch this film, just because it is fantastic.Remember, remember the name of this film, V for Vendetta. I know of no reason, this film should should not be watched.

The Graduate

In my personal opinion, The Graduate get's a 10 out of 10. I really do recommend this film, it's a great movie, that has great humor. It is because of this humor, that I give this film a 10 out of 10. This film was made in 1967 and falls under the comedy genre.








The main actor of this film is Dustin Hoffman, and he plays the part of Benjamin Braddock, the socially awkward recent college graduate. I have to say that he plays the part exceptionally well, and it truly adds to the humor of the film to see a fidgety, nervous graduate deal with an affair.


The music on this film ties in great with the film, and really adds to the message and effect that the director is trying to portray, or at least what I believe him to be portraying. I believe that the director is trying to get the message that a change is coming, and sometimes, it's for the better. I think that this is the message because it deals with graduation, and Ben turns from a socially awkward person, into a more confident, laid back individual.


I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys a minor drama, with plenty of comedy, or just anyone in general really, because even though I prefer action films, I give this film a 10 out of 10.

"Wood?" "What?" "Wood or wire, they have both." A little snippet of a conversation between Mrs. Robinson and Ben talking about hangers. Another humorous part in the movie involved talking about Mrs. Robinson.... "Where did you do it?" "In his car." "What kind of car was it?" "Come on now." "No, I really want to know." "A Ford." "Goddamn, that's great. So old Elaine Robinson got started in a Ford." That is my person favorite part of the movie, and it's the main reason I give it a 10 out of 10, if it weren't for that part, I only would have given it a 9 out of 10. In the end, I do recommend this movie to everyone, and I believe that it is a film anyone can enjoy.

Psycho

In my opinion, this film, Psycho was a pretty good film, considering that it was made in 1960. I would give this film an 8 out of 10. This film falls under the horror category, and is the basis of where many current horror films get their sounds from.

As I stated, Psycho was made in 1960, and although technicolor was available, it was shot in black and white. I enjoy the feeling that black and white gives this film. The lighting they use for it is great, casing shadows, and giving the "creepy" feel to it. I think that if this film was shot in technicolor, it would ruin it, as it wouldn't have the feeling to it, and when I imagine it in color, it just seems that it would be worse.

This film has many different twists and turns to it, and I won't be giving them away, you'll have to watch it yourself to find that out, but I will tell the starting of it. It starts by showing an affair between Sam and Marion, Sam is poor, and Marion is a secretary. Marion is instructed by her boss to go bank and deposit the 40,000 dollars that is given to them in cash, and that is when she runs away, gets followed for awhile by a cop, and ends up at the Bates Motel, where she meets Norman, who in his spare time, stuffs things, birds in particular.....

The director of this film is Alfred Hitchcock, with Anthony Perkins starring as Norman Bates, and Janet Leigh starring as Marion Crane. Personally, I have to say that Anthony Perkins did a fantastic job playing as Norman Bates, he played the part perfectly.

The film had me second guessing the plot many, many times, and for a horror film made in 1960, I have to say that this film was pretty good, and set the basics for horror films to follow.

Thank you imdb.com for the information and pictures.

Ben Hur

The following link is a link to a Socratic Discussion about Ben Hur.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=451lw-UlCqY

Citizen Kane

I absolutely hated this film. I give it a 2/10. I couldn't follow this film at all, it was difficult to understand. Maybe, if you like puzzles, or mysteries that you can't find out... Well, then you would maybe like this film. I do have a favorite part of this movie though, the ending, it made me happy, and gave me something to look forward to for awhile, so I can thank Orson Welles for that at least.

From what I got out of this film, it follows the life of Charles Foster Kane, trying to find out what his dying words of "rosebud" meant. While the man who tries to find that out, you watch flashbacks of pointless, unneeded information, that leads you to nowhere. All in all, I don't recommend this film, in fact I'll say this outright, DON'T WATCH IT. IT IS TERRIBLE.

Gone With the Wind

imdb.com

In my opinion, I believe that the film, Gone With the Wind, which falls under the Drama category of genres is a 6 out of 10. I give it this ranking for the reason that it is just too slow for me, although I do have to say, for an older film (made in 1939) it was pretty entertaining. Another note to be known is that it was done in Technicolor, which is only two colors, red and green.

The director of this film is Victor Fleming (born in 1889 and dying in 1949), he is known for some other movies including The Wizard of Oz, Captains Courageous, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The writing credits of this film go to Margaret Mitchell who wrote the novel, and Sidney Howard for writing the screenplay. The main actors of this film include: Vivien Leigh (Scarlett), Hattie McDaniel (Mammy), Leslie Howard (Ashley), Olivia de Havilland (Melanie), and Clark Gable (Rhett Butler).

Some memorable quotes from this film would include: "As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again." which was said by Scarlett, "You're like the thief who isn't the least bit sorry he stole, but is terribly, terribly sorry he's going to jail." Rhett,and "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." Rhett Butler.
 

Without going into too much detail, I'll give you a general idea of the plot. It starts out at a Barbecue, where Scarlett tells of her love of Ashley, and meets Rhett. The civil war starts, and it's obvious that the south is losing, as you can tell from Scarlett's struggles. Scarlett is the main focus of the film and she jumps from protagonist to antagonist throughout the film.

All I have left to say is that frankly, this film had it's ups and downs, but overall, it ended up being an alright film.

Thank you imdb.com for the information.

Grading Scale

I will be using a 1-10 grading scale, with 1 being bad, and 10 being good.