Gaylord fruitvale station

                This drama [director Ryan Coogler's tour de force and first feature length] film is filled with very significant scenes has its viewers attention from the beginning. Being that it is based off of a true story it makes the viewers feel more connected to the film. Starring Michael B. Jordan who played Oscar Grant did a wonderful job; he played the role of the caring father and somewhat of what many would call "Gangster."

                There were many dramatic scenes such as when his mother, played by Octavia Spencer, visited Oscar in jail and talked about his daughter missing him. If the viewer is unfamiliar with the story, the ending is still no secret because it is revealed at the beginning of the film after an interesting dialogue between Oscar and his girlfriend Sophina. Seeing that throughout the film Oscar is trying to change himself around seems somewhat of a New Year's resolution. He wants to give up selling weed and proceed the life of getting his money more legitimately. As a viewer seeing these slight changes in  Oscar attacks my heart to see him die before really getting to change himself and show his loved ones the "new" him. The one most affected by this sad event to me would be his daughter Tatiana, but the director seems to leave that part out and lets the viewer try to assume how her emotions were as they go to a black screen before the mother tells the daughter that her father died/was murdered.
             
                Throughout the film I almost felt as if I was growing with Oscar because there were scenes that seemed like they were eye-opening, and he was somewhat learning or realizing new things. The filming style felt like a point of view to me, I almost forgot I was watching a movie and felt like I was there, especially in scenes like when Oscar was on the phone with his mother on the way to the store to pick up the crab legs. I did not pay attention to any music. What I do know though, is in this scene [SPOILER ALERT!!! the scene where Oscar befriends a stray pit bull before it is struck and killed by a car?], the sounds were strictly diegetic, which made it seem more realistic and that made me feel closer to the film.

                To me  the film seemed like it was throwing hidden signs that meant something deeper than what was perceived, leading up to Oscar's death. Oscar is perceived as very caring and many would agree just after seeing the scene with the dog that was hit by an car. when the dog was was hit it suddenly made Oscar seemed vulnerable, the small time he had with the dog before he was hit made them seem as if they had a connection [good].

                 I personally give this film a thumbs up and rate it for my top two films my class has watched this year. What really drew my attention was when he was on the train, and I knew what scene was coming up. The film was based off of a historic event so being that the ending was no surprise there was still was sense a suspense. I personally was revealed to something new about that specific event after watching the film. I thought that Oscar was killed instantly after the gunshot, the film though showed me otherwise and I found out that he had passed away in the hospital.