Winter's Bone

Winter's Bone (2010) stars Jennifer Lawrence as the main character, 17 year-old Ree, who takes care of her sick mother and two siblings. Her father is involved in drug dealing and hasn't been around for a while. A local sheriff shows up one day telling her that her father put up their house and property for his bail and must show up for a trial date or they lose everything. She is determined to find her father, dead or alive and asks people associated with her father about his whereabouts. They warn her to mind her own business or risk getting hurt. She doesn't listen and ends up getting hurt by three women from the clan but they eventually take her to see her dead father's body.

The start of the film seemed a little dull and slow but I was still interested in what was going to happen. When they brought her to find her father's body is when the film became a little gruesome. Ree had to help cut off her father's hands. I think Jennifer Lawrence's performance was great in this scene. It was disturbing to watch. I felt bad for how many hardships her character had to go through at such a young age. However, her traumatizing experience saved the house which meant she didn't have to separate from her siblings. I'm glad it was at least a good ending and I wasn't disappointed with it. Overall, I liked the movie but I'm not sure if I would re watch it.

Crooklyn

Crooklyn (1994) was a very fast-paced, entertaining, and interesting movie. There was never really a dull moment in the film. There was always something happening which made it entertaining. It kept my attention throughout the film.

The film stars Troy (Zelda Harris) a nine year-old living in Brooklyn with her parents and four brothers. It takes place around the early 1970's. Throughout the movie, Troy's family struggles with different problems such as money issues and even her parents struggle with relationship issues. However, her parents issue is quickly resolved later on in the film. Troy is also facing her own problems like getting caught stealing, bickering with her brothers, and ending up having to live with her aunt, uncle and cousin in the summer. She ends up getting along well with her cousin but ends up going home after receiving and reading a letter from her mother. When she arrives back we find out that Troy's mother is very sick with cancer.

The ending of the film was very surprising to me. I wasn't expecting for Troy's mother to pass away. However, I noticed that it caused a change in Troy. I saw she started to grow up and mature by taking over her mother's role by helping her brother by combing his hair. It was sad but Troy was able to accept her mother's death and be able to live on with more responsibilities. The film may have ended sad but I think it was a good film to view in class.

The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club (1985) is the only movie that I have watched before seeing it in class, so far. It's one of my favorite movies and I'm glad we watched it in class.

In The Breakfast Club five very different teens are forced to spend a whole Saturday together for detention. At the beginning everybody mostly hated each other. Everyone was from a different click which meant that it was taboo to associate with anyone other than their friends. Each character is presented as a certain stereotype: Claire (the princess), Bender (the criminal), Brian (the brain), Andrew (the athlete) and Allison (the basket-case). They may have all seemed different at first however, throughout the movie they realized how similar they really are. They all had problems they were facing at home that others, such as Mr. Vernon, didn't really understand. They were able to open up to each other by the end of the film and understand each other and even become friends.

One of the reasons I love this movie is because it could be hilarious in some scenes and dramatic in others. During some scenes I would be laughing so hard and while other scenes could make me cry. An example of this would be having the scene where they were smoking pot which was pretty hilarious turn dramatic and sad when Brian and Andrew started talking about why the got detention in the first place. Andrew revealed that was tired of the pressure from his father to be the best at wrestling. Brian revealed that he was going to commit suicide because he had gotten an F in shop which would ruin his A average and is pressured by his parents to get good grades.

Overall, it's a great movie and I'll probably watch it again.

Dejah Tinney: Jaws

Jaws, a 1975 Thriller/ Drama film directed by Steven Spielberg. This film is about a large great white shark beginning to raise havoc in the small island community of Amity. It first began when a young woman named Chrissie Watkins (Susan Backlinie) leaves a beach party to go skinny dipping, only to be pulled under water by an unseen force. When Amity's police chief, Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), is notified that Chrissie is missing, and Deputy Hendricks (Jeffrey Kramer) found her remains on the beach, the medical examiner informs Brody that she was killed by a shark. Then Brody plans to close the beaches but is overruled by Mayor Larry Vaughan (Murray Hamilton), who fears that reports of a shark attack will ruin the summer tourist season. A short time later, a boy named Alex Kintner (Jeffrey Voorhees) is killed by a shark at the beach as well.

Although, I've heard about the movie Jaws, my first time watching it was in this class. Overral the movie was okay, if it was remade with the new technology today I believe it would be way better. This is kind've random but while I was in Disney years ago they had a Jaws ride where you got in a little boat and you had to try to kill "Jaws" every time he jumped out of the water. I thought I'd just make that connection since I didn't have any other connections to this film.

Dejah Tinney: Winter's Bone

Winter's Bone, a 2010 Thriller/ Indie film directed by Debra Granik. The film is about a seventeen year old named Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) who looks after her mentally ill mother, twelve year old brother Sonny (Isaiah Stone), and six year old sister Ashlee (Ashlee Thompson) in the rural Ozarks of the central United States. Ree takes care of her siblings and makes sure they eat everyday while teaching them basic survival skills like hunting and cooking. The family is very poor. Ree's father and the family's main provider, Jessup, has not been home for a long time. 

This movie reminded me a lot of Beasts of the Southern Wild. I say that not because in both movies the leading roles are female but because the families are poor and live in remote areas and also in both movies they are taught or teach survival skills. They are both independent movies that have significant meanings.

Dejah Tinney: Beasts of the Southern Wild

Beasts of the Southern Wild, a 2012 Fantasy/ Drama film directed by Benh Zeitlin. The film is about a father, Wink (Dwight Henry) and his six year old daughter Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) living in a Delta community. Wink, Hushpuppy's father is very stern & strict but he is preparing his daughter for the end of the world, teaching her survival skills and how to be independent and do things on her own. One day, Hushpuppy wished her father died and when Wink falls ill, nature falls ill with him. The rising waters threaten to flood their community, sending Hushpuppy to search for her mother.

At first I did not understand this movie, I was confused. I didn't know what was going on or why it was going on. Beasts of the Southern Wild is the kind of movie that you would have to watch a second time to understand it. But overall, it was an okay movie.

Crooklyn- Michelle Ford

Crookyln was established in 1994, a film directed by Spike Lee. Troy had four brothers that she really didn't get along with to good because they used to always exclude her from things that they did. I think Lee made this movie because it shows how people used to live/ still live in Crooklyn,Brooklyn and the struggle people have to do just to pay bills or get something to eat.I can relate to Troy because I'm the only girl and my brothers thinks just because I'm a girl, I can't do certain things. Troy hold her own and didn't let nobody run over her just because she was the only girl and little. They struggled with bills and once got their UI got turned off.
Troy and her friend decided to go to the store but they didn't have no money. They went into the store while the clerk was talking. Troy friend stole a Popsicle while try was trying to steal some chips but she got caught and got kicked out the store. Another time Troy got sent to the store, she got her mother's EBT card stole and blamed it on her mother because she didn't want go to to the grocery store by herself and she knew something was going to happen.
There was this annoying neighbor that didn't want to be bothered by Troy brothers and their friends. They used to always throw their trash in his yard or mess with his cats and when they got caught, they'll argue back. The neighbor brought it to their parents attention but they didn't believe him. I would of been mad too because I wouldn't want people putting trash in my yard either, especially if their doing it on purpose and getting away with it.
Troy parents sent her to her aunt's southern home to visit during the summer. When Troy arrived, she immediately wanted to leave because it didn't feel like home to her. I didn't like the aunt because she was talking about Troy's hair and her ear piercing. The cousin seem like she didn't like the aunt either. Troy and her cousin started playing very well with each other until it was time to leave. They didn't want to be apart. When Troy arrived back at home, she heard her mother was sick and in the hospital. She went to see her mother and knew by her looks that she wasn't feeling well. Her mother passed.