Good Will Hunting

Do you like apples?

Yea.

Well, I got her number. How do you like them apples?

A non black and white flick, now that's what I'm talking about!

So where do I start?

Well main character Will Hunting, has a gift that a very, very limited group of people have in this crazy world. He has the gift of being highly intelligent, way above average. With a photographic memory he can basically figure out any and every formula, theory, book, art, you name it, he knows it.

Growing up on the south side of Boston, living a rough life, foster home to foster home he never was able to take advantage of this talent, nor did he want to. He just wanted to be normal, have a brewski with the guys, go out chasing women, and work a blue collar job.

Simple YET Complex.

Perfect example for this movie. Good Will Hunting is pretty gol dang simple when it comes to the way it is presented. Lets look at what we have: smart kid, Boston, beer, cigarettes, friends, girls. Pretty simple if you ask me, just like everyday life, well if I lived in Boston not Bismarck. Now comes the complex part of the movie. We have ol' Will here having constant conflicts with himself. He has a hard time letting people into his life because of his history of people walking out on him. He also has a hard time excepting who he is and who he wants to be.

As far as the characterization through appearance, you would be way off by looking at Will. We got a poor 20 year old kid, who is drinking and smoking for over half of the movie, working as a janitor. Nobody would come to the conclusion that he is a super genius by looking at him.

Then we have the privilege to hear Will talk, and the characterization through dialogue comes into play. We now know that will is highly intelligent. It especially comes into effect during the bar scene when he confronts the weird looking MIT grad who is blowing smoke about something to try to impress some girls.

The reason this film is a good movie is because of the credibility that this is very possible to happen. It gives off a good feeling to the viewers. I know I enjoyed it because the thought of something like that happening is very interesting and makes for a great story.

Overall I loved this movie, humor, seriousness, real life situations. Couldn't have spent my Wednesday night any better.

On The Waterfront

Conscience? That stuff can drive you nuts!

Close your eyes for a second.

Picture yourself knowing information that in no way, shape or form is gonna turn out good for you if you open your lips. But can you sit back and not do or say anything while that little thing called your conscience is eating away at your insides? And to add to it all your either gonna lose the girl that you've fallen for, or possibly lose your own life because you snitched on the mob.

Not such an easy decision now is it.

That's that situation Terry Malloy is put in after he helps set up Joey to be killed by Johnny Friendly's goons. He thinks there just going to rough Joey up a little bit, but they actually end up pushing him off the roof for talking to the Crime Bureau. At first Terry cared a little bit that he set Joey up for his death, but keeps it inside because he believes its for the best.

Then things get a little tricky when Eide shows up. Eide happens to be Joey's sister and just wants to know what happened to Joey that night. So that's where things start to change and Terry's conscience is running wild and some big changes are going to happened down on the waterfront.

As far as the focus goes for this film, I would have to say they put most of it on the character and ma bye a little bit on the emotional effect. They make you feel all the emotions that Terry feels himself as he goes through the movie and grabs your attention that way.

Going into the possible theme of this movie, I would have to say its trying to make a comparison between whats morally right and wrong and whats more important, material things or peoples lives. The director is criticizing the society and social institutions and increasing the viewer's awareness of a social problem and need for reform. I think he does a great job of showing that.

The thing that I really thought about after this movie is how one little detail can change the way your life turns out dramatically. If Terry doesn't throw his last fight because of the bet, he had a good chance of living his dream, but because he did he is totally on the opposite end of the spectrum living a life he doesn't believe in.

Overall I really enjoyed this movie, it reminded me of one of my favorite movies, "Four Brothers", which kind of runs along the same story line. Even though it was in black and white and it can be kind of hard to understand for our generation the director really caught me with the story line and kept me in it the whole way.

Casablanca

Here's looking at you kid.



I cant say I really know what that means, and as for the rest of the movie I'm in the same boat.



It probably is because I'm used to the fast paced, action packed, sex, drugs, and alcohol films that fill our cinemas today. I admit it was a little hard to get myself in the right setting to watch and understand Casablanca. Since I wasn't around back in 1942 it was tough to grasp what was really going on exactly, I didn't really know how things worked back then for civilians during the war.


So basically here's what I understood from the movie.



Richard, Rick, whatever you want to call him, was kind of the big shot in Casablanca. He had his night club/diner and everyone seemed to look up to him. As you go into the movie you find out he used to be some freedom fighter of some sort but now has settled into Casablanca because he cant obtain his exit visa for the U.S.



Its obvious that Rick has shut down his heart when it comes to opposite sex because of something that happened in his past. That past happens to show up coincidentally at his night club and makes everything a little more complicated for him. They show flashbacks of what happens and clears some things up for me.


Rick also seems to be hiding something deep inside him, something he really wants to be, but is afraid to release it. By Ilsa coming back into his life, he comes upon a conflict of opening himself to her again. And when he finally does open back up, he realizes what he has to do and that he has to fight for what he believes in. Even if its not the best for him.


So after analyzing this film, my final conclusion is that it is a very good movie and has a good story. In order into enjoy it you really have to pay attention, and get into the right state of mind. Overall I would reccomend this movie for everyone, it gives you a little history on the ways movies used to be made and viewed.

BH