Breakfast Club- Jonah Nazier Galan

Breakfast Club. Dir. John Hughes
Feat. Judd Nelson (John Bender), Molly Ringwald (Claire Standish), Emilio Estevez (Andrew Clark), Anthony Hall (Brian Johnson), and Ally Sheedy (Allison Reynolds)
Universal Pictures, 1985.

Released on  February 15, 1985, five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a stern and arrogant assistant principal (Paul Gleason). The group features rebel John (Judd Nelson), princess Claire (Molly Ringwald), outcast Allison (Ally Sheedy), brainy Brian (Anthony Michael Hall) and Andrew (Emilio Estevez), the jock. Each member of the club shares aspects of their life, making the others see them in a different light leaving them to question whether school will ever be the same.
Initially, in the film, we see five students present for detention, not knowing their reason. However, when we begin to uncover their reasoning, it uncovers deeper knowledge into the inner conflict they each face individually.

Claire Standish is in detention for skipping school to go shopping. Her rich dad didn't care, but her poor, drunk mom got mad at her. Her lack of attention and love from her parents causes her to feel lonely, having to live a false portrait.

Andrew Clark is in detention for taping Larry’s butt together, which his father made him do. Andrew reflects on this tragic moment, becoming very conscious of the damage he not only caused the kid he bullied but himself as well. Feeling as if he must prove himself to his father that he is just like him, victorious, dominant, wild, a false conception. Andrew as well living a false portrait.
Brian Johnson is in detention for attempting suicide due to being ignored by everyone in his life. Brian living under constant pressure to be the best in every class because it’s his “only” way of feeling victorious and grab attention from others around him for being a super nerd. This is why throughout the film he constantly praises himself, sharing all of his accolades and lies of have a bad household and banging Claire.

Allison Reynolds is in detention because she volunteered to go due to being bored with her life. Allison who is viewed as the “basket case” seems to be the sanest out of the group if you ask me. She only volunteering attends attention due to her loneliness, in hopes to find a potential friend to speak and socialize with.

Lastly, we have John Bender is in detention for pulling a fire alarm and fighting with the school’s teachers and students. John constantly lives a violent and relentless life due to his environment at home. Haunted by his tragic experiences of fighting, screaming, getting burned with a cigar, has led him to take his pain out on others as a coping mechanism. As he is led to explain his household environment, you can see the pain arise through his elevated tone, exaggerated emotion, and his concluding act of storming off to cool off and reflect.

I would highly recommend this film to every high school student and their parents if they have not already watched this film, but with a keen eye. This film acknowledges a lot of the troubles teen faced during that time period and currently in my generation as well.

The Breakfast Club- Stephen Collins

The Breakfast Club, arguably the best movie John Hughes ever made and yeah, I get that and I think so too. It's great and the quintessential teen movie.


The Breakfast Club has one of the most simple premises ever: five kids get detention and over the course of nine hours, they learned more about each other and learned there more than their respective stereotypes. That's what work so well about the film. The kids start out as stereotypes, but they become fully realized characters by the end. I'm so tired of characters who are just stereotypes and don't become characters.


I was thinking what character is the most defined in the film.  I think Bender is. He's the only to stick up to Vernon and I think he the one with most screentime. All the characters are great, but Bender I think has is the most defined. All the characters are great, played well and you do care for them and their problems.

Vernon is a great character. John Hughes did a great job writing teachers. The one from Ferris Buller is great as well. He write teachers as people and not evil, the just humans with faults.

I was watching this and Ferris Buller and thought they would never make these movies again. The Breakfast Club would never work if it came out today with all the technology of today. I just don't see it working.

The Breakfast Club is the teen movie. Teen movies would so good and now they feel extinct. Well, no they don't, we just having one of the level of The Breakfast Club and I just hope that The Edge of Seventeen become the cult teen movie. We got Mean Girls, and I love it, but it not on the level that The Breakfast Club is.

The Breakfast Club is great. It has great characters, a great simple plot and a great message about trying not stereotype. Plus, it so entertaining. I going to watch it multiple times in the future.

"The Breakfast Club" By: Anthony Ruggiero

The Breakfast Club is a 1985 Drama/Comedy-drama film starring Molly Ringwald (Claire Standish), Judd Nelson (John Bender), Ally Sheedy (Allison Reynolds), Emilio Estevez (Andrew Clark), Anthony Michael Hall (Brian Johnson) and Paul Gleason (Richard Vernon). 

This film starts out with five teenagers heading into a Saturday detention. They all meet with the man running the detention Mr. Vernon. He tells them all that they would have to be in detention for 8 hours and that they would have to write an 1,000 word essay on who they think that they are. Mr. Vernon leaves after informing them they are not to talk to each other. Bender starts to try to get people all wound up so that they all could cause a commotion. At first the characters don't like each other because they all come from different backgrounds and school groups. Claire is the princess, Allison is the basket case, Bender is the criminal, Andrew is the jock and Brian is the brains. Bender starts plotting on how to be able to get away from the library. At first he tells one of the characters to un-screw the bolt from the door so the Mr. Vernon can't keep the door open. Mr. Vernon gets mad and blames it on Bender without knowing if it's really him or not. Bender tries to put a chair in front of the door but the door is to heavy to be held by a chair so Vernon gives up and leaves the door closed. Soon after the gang leaves the library to go to Benders locker where he pulls out weed and stuffs it in Brian's pants. The gang hears Vernon coming so they all take off. Bender agrees to stay behind so that the rest of the gang can get back to the library without having an trouble. Vernon finds Bender in the gym where Bender starts talking about how he is gonna try out for a basketball scholarship. Bender soon gets thrown into a closet where Vernon tells him to hit him. The rest of the gang stays in the Library and waits until Bender comes back. They all soon bond where they learn more about each other and they smoke the weed that Bender has. Towards the end it is reveled that Claire likes Bender and the Allison and Andrew have a thing for each other. At the end Brian writes one essay for all five of the people in detention and everyone leaves with their parents. Then it cuts to Vernon holding the essay and Brian narrating it. 

Overall the movie was a good one. I wouldn't say it is a great film like most people say it is but that is just my own opinion. I did like how the characters developed and grew to like each other after a while and the story telling was good.

"Rebel without a cause" by: Anthony Ruggiero

Rebel Wwithout a Cause is a 1955 drama/teen film starring James Dean (Jim Stark), Natalie Wood (Judy), Sal Mineo (John "Plato" Crawford), Dennis Hopper (Goon), and Corey Allen (Buzz Gunderson). 

The film starts off with the main character Jim walking around town [more precisely lying on the pavement playing with a toy monkey holding cymbals] being drunk. He ends up in the police station where his parents are called and argue with him at the police station. The police chief pulls Jim into his office and tells him to hit him. Jim instead starts hitting the desk. At the police station Jim also see's Judy and Plato. Judy gets beat at home [is this accurate?] because her dad doesn't like that she is becoming a women and Plato is only cared for by his family's housekeeper. 

Soon Jim and Plato become friends and try to help each other out. On a school field trip Jim is harassed by the school "cool kids" because Jim offered Judy a ride to school. Jim and Buzz Gunderson get into a knife fight where Jim wins but doesn't leave the fight without a few cuts. Buzz challenges Jim to a race and Jim accepts the challenge. At the race Jim wins because Buzz got stuck on the door and eventually drives off of the cliff to his death. Everyone at the scene of the death leaves as quick as they can. 

Jim ends up getting with Judy after the death of Buzz. Jim gets into a fight with both of his parents while trying to leave the house. Jim also soon finds out that Plato is planning to do something very terrible. Jim tries to stop Plato along with Plato's housemaid. Buzz's friends go looking for Jim but kidnap and torment Plato instead. Once Plato wakes up he shoots one of the boys. Jim and the police arrive to the scene shortly after. Jim and Plato walk out of the building. Jim tells the police that Plato has an empty gun but they shoot and kill Plato anyways. The movie then ends. 

This movie was bad in my opinion but it is one of the better late 1900's movies. It has some goods things but I think it doesn't have a good story.  

Bonnie & Clyde By Siramad Gonzalez

Siramad Gonzalez
April 27, 2018
B3

This [the film's setting] began in 1934. They [the main characters/star-crossed lovers] were both very young; Bonnie Parker was a waitress, and Clyde Barrow a criminal just released from prison. They meet by chance in West Dallas, and Bonnie becomes fascinated by Clyde's criminal past. Clyde and Bonnie become very attracted.

They soon decide to join forces to embark on a life crime holding up whatever establishments, banks, etc. to make money and to have fun [good]. They don't plan on hurting anyone physically or killing anyone despite wielding loaded guns. They soon amass a small gang of willing accomplices including a mechanic to fix whatever cars they steal which is very important for their getaways.

They continue to do this and begin to start going from state to state. At this point they don't care what anybody has to say about them. They soon end up meeting one of the friends uncle who lets them stay at his house for a couple of days. Eventually, the uncle sets them up and the police ends up killing both of them.

Saturday Detention

Breakfast Club. Dir. John Hughes

Feat. Judd Nelson (John Bender), Molly Ringwald (Claire Standish), Emilio Estevez (Andrew Clark), Anthony Hall (Brian Johnson), and Ally Sheedy (Allison Reynolds)

Universal Pictures, 1985.

John Hughes’s 1985 film The Breakfast Club takes place at Shermer High School, in a suburb of Chicago. Five students are currently at the school for a Saturday detention that lasts for nine hours. They are being closely monitored by the stubborn Vice Principal Vernon. The students in detention are not really close at all, but they learn alot about each other. Once they leave, some of them walk out holding hands, and kissing each other goodbye.

The movies overarching theme is identity; how others may be quick to identify one, and how one identifies themself. For example, John Bender. It is clear that Bender is a troubled child; Mr. Vernon goes as far as telling the students to look and see where Bender is in five years. I am assuming that he is hinting that he definitely thinks Bender will end up in some sort of trouble. The other students do see Bender as a troublemaker or even a pervert as well. I think anyone would call someone who stares at a female's vaginal region while hiding under a table a pervert. As the movie would go on, it started to unravel and we learned that Bender was the product of an abusive household. Bender has been punched by his father, and also burned by cigars while at home.  Perhaps this is why he has turned out to be a “delinquent.”

This film prescribes a life lesson: do not judge someone, until you know their true character. Everyone had their own personal stereotype in the film; Brian was a “nerd”, Allison was a “basketcase”, Claire a “bitch”, Andrew a “jock” and as mentioned before, Bender a “troublemaker”.Yes, these people did so happen to fulfill their stereotypes, but at the same time there were things hidden that others did not know. This is why you should not judge someone until you know the “real” them.

Rebel Without A Cause

Rebel Without a Cause Dir. Nicholas Ray

Feat. James Dean (James Stark), Natalie Wood (Judy), Sal Mineo (Plato)

Warner Bros, 1955.

As we continue along our journey watching older films we recognized Nicholas Ray’s 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause. This movie had an overarching themes; reversed stereotypical gender roles. For example, James Starks father was more of a “housewife” than his mother was. Some would say that this led James to have to revert to showing his “masculinity.” He did this by participating in some good ole’ knife fights and “chickie” games.

James is all sorts of messed up in the head. He is oftenly battling inner anger, and betrayal; mostly because his mother is always picking on his father. Once James met his love (Natalie) and new friend (Plato) all of the tension he had built up started to show. After his parents would not let him go to the police, when he was involved in a crime that resulted in the death of a fellow teenager, he rebelled. Once he left the police station him, Natalie, and Plato went on the run. They ended up in a house that was supposedly owned by a friend of theirs. It turned out to be a crime, because they broke in and stayed there. They used it as a hideout from another gang. It turned deadly when Plato used his adopted mothers gun and shot another kid. In the end, Plato was shot by the police after he came out of the observatory.

The observatory wasn’t the only thing he came out of. Throughout the film, Plato dealt with a feeling of inner homosexuality, but he never showed it. This was another theme of a movie that included a few characters with some interpersonal conflicts. This movie was not bad, but I would probably divert my viewing to something else. One thing I can say is that if high school nowadays was like how it was back then, or at least if MBA was like it, I would not be happy nor would I feel safe.

Chicago Blog

Director: Bill London

Starring: Renee Zellweger (Roxie Hart), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Velma Kelly), Queen Latifah (Matron Mama Morton) , and Richard Gere (Billy Flynn)

Producer Circle co., 2002

Winner of Best Picture at the 2002 Academy Awards, Chicago is a delightfully artistic, musical based upon the stage musical of the same name. Featuring star performances by Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, chipmunk-cheeks herself Rene Zellweger, and a truly exceptional John C Reilly, Chicago is a fast paced, well made version of the famous story. Set in the titular city in the early 20’s, young starlet Roxy Hart visits a club to watch a performance by Zeta-Jones, while her lover is (apparently) seeking to get Roxy a gig at the place. When Roxy discovers here lover is only interested in her for sex, and has no intention of getting her into a show, Roxy kills him in a fit of pique, her dreams being shattered before her eyes. However, killing the man makes her more famous than she could have dreamed, as her story makes the front pages of the local papers. Roxy’s husband, Amos (Reilly) tries to take the rap, but when he discovers that his wife is cheating on him, sends her down the river.

The fame Roxy seeks, which has come to her now she’s a killer, is hard to maintain in prison, where she’s leaned on by the head matron, “Mama”, played by Queen Latifah. Using bribery and sex to achieve their ends, the women of this prison engage in a cat-and-mouse fame game with the paparazzi of the city, each striving to become more “infamous” than the other and thus secure their release at the mercy of the court. Roxy, believing herself to be up for the death penalty, acquires the services of Billy Flynn, local super-lawyer who promises to get her out of the clink and back to making money as a famous ex-inmate, and murderess. Roxy becomes a little full of herself, thinking she’s all that, when in fact, the power to grant her fame rests squarely with those on the outside, and her haughty demeanour soon comes crashing down when others become more famous then her. Faking a pregnancy buys her a little time, but it’s fast running out. Together with Flynn, Roxy fanagles a way to get out of prison, however, she soon finds that her fame wanes quite quickly.

Chicago is a great film, period. It was only a matter of time before Hollywood got it’s claws into the famed musical. Honestly, I’d never seen or heard to much about the original musical, prior to seeing this film. I hadn’t actually had any experience with the story as such, and so, when viewing Chicago for the first time, was pleasantly amazed at just how cool the thing was.

Chicago is an unadulterated good time. It plays on the fixations of fame that never seem to wane, and what lengths people will go to, and how much of their soul they’ll sell, to achieve it. Stylish, brash and enthusiastic, this is a grab-you-by-the-collar musical that, unlike a few other films of recent times, actually deserves its Best Picture Oscar status.

Chicago by Siramad Gonzalez

Siramad Gonzalez
April 27,2018
A3

Chicago (2002)

The film Chicago is about a woman who murdered her husband and Chicago slickest lawyer Billy is set to defend her in anyway possible. But when Roxy ends up in jail billy the lawyer ends up taking her case as well to defend her turning her into an media circus of headlines. Neither of the woman will be out shined from their fight against each other and the public for fame and celebrity. 

Rebel Without A Cause- Stephen Collins

Rebel Without A Cause, the 1955 classic and one of the three staring for James Dean and the first film marketed for teens. I'm surprise by that. This movie does feel a teen movie and somewhat a heist movie.


James Dean does give a iconic performance as Jim Stark and is the best character is the movie. You care for him the most and he is the most well written character in the film. All the other characters are fine, but not as much as Dean, but maybe Dennis Hopper as Goon.


The writing is well done. The script is great and the character feel are all three dimensional. I'm surprise this was the first film marketed for teens. It does feel like a teen movie, mostly the scenes at the observatory and stuff. I also said that it feel like a heist movie but it  more of a teen drama about identity and parent relationship.

I like Rebel Without A Cause. I don't have a lot of thoughts about it. It's good and has a great performances from James Dean. The acting is good, the script is pretty great and it does feel like a teen movie. It's a classic and I'm watch it again.

Bonnie & Clyde/Badlands- Stephen Collins

and Clyde and Badlands are kinda kind of the same [similar films]. Both explores the world of criminality and the effects the media has on criminals in America. Both came out in the later half of the twentieth century  -  Bonnie and Clyde 1967 and Badlands 1974  -70s and both have strong performances and intriguing plots.

IMHO (in my humble opinion) Bonnie and Clyde is the better movie. The film has the better performances of the two from Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. Beatty has the best performance in the film. Gene Wilder as Eugene the undertaker is good in the movie for the short time he is in it. The film is director [directed?] pretty well by Arthur Penn.



Badlands is a good movie. It has good performances from Steve Martin Sheen who does a great job at playing Kit Carruthers, a twenty-something former garbage collector loosely based upon the 1950s spree killer Charles Starkweather. Sissy Spacek in an early turn plays Holly who is 15 in the movie even though the actress was 24 when the film came out. The actress is pretty good ast playing Holly, the baton twirling apple of Kit's eye. Badlands is a character piece more than Bonnie and Clyde as the film is mostly about Kit and the performance of Martin Sheen while Bonnie and Clyde is about both Bonnie and Clyde and their performances and struggles.

I think Bonnie and Clyde  has more importance  in film in general. Bonnie and Clyde will and still is culturally important for films and that fact that is what based on true events unlike Badlands [both films were inspired by true events while it may be true that the real-life Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow reached folk hero status in their short lives, and the film about them forever changed the threshold on what onscreen violence was acceptable.  That will still be remember but not as much as Bonnie and Clyde for films in general. I say watch both, but Bonnie and Clyde you should definitely watch because of how important it is for filmmaking in general.

Fruitvale Station| Aleesa Martins

Dir. Ryan Coogler
Starring: Michael B. Jordan (Oscar Grant), Melonie Diaz (Sophina), Octavia Spencer (Wanda)
Prod: OG Project, Forest Whitaker's Significant Productions
Distributor: The Weinstein Company, 2009

It starts off with one of the last things you see in the movie, a recording of how the police officers were treating the people pulled off the train. The entire movie is based on a true story and it all happened in one day. Oscar Grant was selling weed, lost his job, and was trying to fix the trust in his relationship. His relationship wan't the only thing he was try to fix, he tried getting his job back so that he could have a safe and secure source of income since he was low on money, but that didn't work out. He was suppose to meet up with someone to sell, but then realizes he can't do that anymore so he dumps it out. Later on him, his girl, and a couple of friends went to go and celebrate the New Year, he ran into a issue on the train which almost lead to a fight. The police ended up getting involved and the night continued to get worse for Oscar and he ended up getting shot.
This is definitely would recommend this movie, Michael B. Jordan played his role well. It still relates to what happens in today's world.

Rebel Without a Cause- Jonah Nazier Galan

Director: Nicholas Ray

Starring: James Dean (Jim Stark), Natalie Wood (Judy), Sal Mineo (John 'Plato' Crawford), Jim Backus (Frank Stark)

Distributor: Warner Bros.

Rebel Without a Cause, a 1955 drama film revolves around a teenager named Jim Stark, who had a troubled past due to emotional confusion. This has led his family to have moved to a new town in Los Angeles, California. Here he hopes to find the love he doesn't receive from his middle-class family. Although he acquires love through his relation with Judy, and a form of it in both Plato's adulation and Ray's real concern for him, Jim feels he must prove his masculinity in switchblade knife fights and "chickie" games.
Jim Stark has an inner conflict, battling anger and betrayal throughout the film because of his father's milquetoast attitude and failure to stand up to his mother Carol. This is key in the film as it explains his reasoning for why he feels he should participate in meaningless acts such as switchblade knife fights and "chickie" games to prove he’s not chicken. This brings comparison to Martin Seamus McFly (Michael J. Fox) and James Dean (Jim Stark). They both share exaggeration in their acting style, participate in courageous activities, and have a common trigger word, chicken.
 The film did a very good job at attacking the social norms in a lowkey manner such as male and female roles during the 50’s and homosexuality. In one of the scenes, you will see Jim Stark’s father wearing a kitchen apron cleaning and performing household chores. This is an obvious gender switch as it was seen as women been in the household, doing chores and ensuring everything was completed for their tired man when he arrived home. Emotions, in the film the mother is viewed as more aggressive while the father is emotional and soft. This is why Jim Stark battles with his inner conflict because he lacks a sense of masculinity and is angry at the fact that his father will not stand up against his mother in times of need.
Plato in the film is portrayed as a lonely child whose father abandoned him and mother is never home. So when he encounters Jim he views him as a “father figure,” however homosexuality is subliminal in the film. Plato is homosexual, it’s framed somewhat as a search for a replacement father figure, which was one psychological understanding of homosexuality at the time.
Honestly, the film has a lot of great content and subliminal messages that cannot be uncovered through one seeing. I would put this movie as a top three for me through all the films we’ve watched throughout the year. Although many may have seen a decent film I feel that it does take an analytical mind to truly enjoy the film and the choices the director has chosen to make.

          

Badlands 

 Badlands is set in 1959 and is narrated by the impressionable 15-year-old Holly Sargis (Spacek), a teenage girl living in a dead-end South Dakota town called Fort Duper. She lives with her sign painter father, although their relationship has been strained since her mother died of pneumonia some years earlier. One day Holly meets the 25-year-old garbage collector Kit Carruthers (Sheen). Kit is a young, troubled greaser,

Holly and the 25 year old Kit Carruthers were going out until a few months until Holly father knew about them. then Holly father made Holly  stay in school even more hr until he picks her up everyday for Kit cant see her. then kit had enough and sneak in to his house and started packing Holly cloths because he was Ghana take her. then Holly came and his father to the house and saw him. long story short Kit shot the father because he was Ghana call the police and from there Kit and Holly was on the run.

"Badlands" By: Anthony Ruggiero

Badlands is a 1973 Drama/Action film starring Martin Sheen (Kit), Sissy Spacek (Holly), Warren Oates (Father), Ramon Bieri (Cato) and Alan Vint (Deputy).

The movie starts with Kit doing his job as a garbage man. On his way home from work he see's Holly who is a young attractive teenager [explain]. He walks up to her and asks her if she wanted to go for a walk. She agrees but soon has to go home when her strict father tells her to come back in the house. Kit and Holly develop a relationship and soon have sex, but Holly's father makes them split when he finds out that she was dating behind his back and Kit was way older than his daughter [and from the otherside of the tracks]. 

Eventually Kit visits Holly and asks her if they can still date and just keep it a secret. Holly says she can't so Kit pays her dad a visit to tell him that he loves Holly. Holly's father brushes off Kit's comments and Kit leaves [what does father do when he learns of Holly's deception?  Does this affect your opinion of him?  What, if any, evidence is there that Kit is mentally unstable?]. 

Kit then breaks into Holly's home where he eventually kills her father. The couple leave the house soon after and take an adventure for the ages. They take shelter in the woods by building a treehouse. Kit starts by killing mostly everyone he encounters that can identify them as being Kit and Holly. The pair eventually stop at a rich man's house for a few hours to rest, and they rob his house of groceries and his car  -  a Cadillac no less  -  the American Dream baby. Kit murders more people to protect Holly. Holly wants to support him, but she doesn't think she can do it anymore. The couple eventually stop at a farm where they meet Cato and end up killing him plus two other people after locking them in a shelter [not sure if it matters but this happens before the episode at the rich man's house]. Kit and Holly try to catch a train but end up falling short of their goal. They soon find themselves in trouble when the cops catch up to them. They end up getting caught and both taken to jail. 

The movie to me was really bad and boring but it is based off of a true story which is very interesting. In real life the couple were Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate. Charles was sentenced to death and Caril Ann was sentenced to 17 years in prison. The only good aspect of the movie was that it was based on a true story and had good storytelling. 

"Bonnie and Clyde" By: Anthony Ruggiero

Bonnie and Clyde is a 1967 drama/crime film starring Faye Dunaway (Bonnie Parker), Warren Beatty (Clyde Barrow), Gene Hackman (Buck Barrow), Gene Wilder (Eugene Grizzard) and Michael J. Pollard (C.W. Moss) [what about Evans Evans as Velma Davis]. 

Bonnie and Clyde is about a series of robberies that take place starring the main characters who are also the title names [isn't it more about the realtionship between the titualr characters and others including the media and law enforcement than the robberies themselves?]. The movie takes place during the Great Depression. 

Bonnie and Clyde meet when she [Bonnie] finds [catches] Clyde trying to steal her mother's car. She decides that she is done being a waitress and goes on a crime spree with Clyde because she likes his wild behavior. They start off with small jobs that earn them a small payday -  convenience and grocery store type jobs - before they find their getaway driver in C.W. Moss who is a garbage truck driver [I thought he was an attendant at a filling station]. They are soon joined by Buck; Clyde's older brother recently released from the penitentiary and his wife Blanche (here portrayed by Academy Award-winner Estelle Parsons after he is released from prison. 

Collectively known as "The Barrow Gang," they soon become part of interstatewide "manhunts" because of their bank robberies and murders. When they find out that they are being searched for they exploit their famous platform to take pictures, brag about their crimes and take a picture with a Texas Ranger Frank Hamer (Denver Pyle)  [good]. 

After they visit with Bonnie's mother they get surrounded by cops and Buck gets half his face shot off in the process leaving him dead. Bucks wife Blanche gets captured by the cops. A love relationship develops between Bonnie and Clyde as they run from state to state causing chaos. The crew finds shelter at CW's dad's house where his father decides to cooperate with the cops but doesn't tell the crew that. Soon the cops show up and a shootout [is this really a shootout or is it more accurate to discribe it as an ambush in which the unarmed pair of star-crossed lovers are cut down in a hail of bullets  -  foreshadowed by Bonnie's poem "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde" especially in her use of onamatopoeia  -  "the Tommy gun's RAT-A-TAT-TAT!] begins leaving Bonnie and Clyde dead. 

I think the This movie was is good and told tells a fantastic story for its audience. I liked it even though I am not really into old movies because they just aren't my style [expand your conclusion;  additionally your post as it stands is over-reliant on recall/retell and your analysis is scant].  

Fruitvale Station by Michael Avila

Release date: July 12, 2013 (USA)
Director: Ryan Coogler
Budget: 900,000 USD
Box office: 17.4 million USD
Producers: Forest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bongiovi



Fruitvale station was based on a true story, which is why it makes this film even the more precious. From what is happening in society today it’s sad to say what was seen in this film is very true. Systematic racism and oppression still run our society, just in a subtle and discreet way. The situation that took place in the train station escalated in a way it shouldn’t have. What bothers me most was the fact that the police didn’t even try to understand the situation or put any effort in de-escalating the situation. They were trying to control Oscar and his friends by force and threats, but the only people that were scared were them. Oscar had a daughter waiting for him at home. He was just trying to please his girlfriend by going out for New Years. He didn’t ask to get jumped on the train, he really was the victim in the situation and in the end he was the one to get shot. It was a really emotional film, the director did a phenomenal job catching the exact essense of that situation. Reflecting on the way the film was in comparison to the actual situation recorded it was spot on. I would definitely recommend this film, it’s a great way to show people of real situations minorities have to go through and what can happen. These fellas were targeted and were treated justly and I commend the director for his great job of portraying the scenario without sugar coating anything.

The Original Partners in Crime

Bonnie and Clyde. Dir. Arthur Penn

Feat. Warren Beatty (Clyde Barrow), Faye Dunaway (Bonnie Parker), Gene Hackman (Buck Barrow), Estelle Parsons (Blanche Barrow), Michael Pollard (CW Moss)

Warner Bros, 1967.

When I hear the term “partner in crime” I think of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. They are described as “partners in crime” because they were partners for a drawn out robbery and murder spree, throughout the south-central United States. They were accompanied by another “partner in crime” duo: Blanche and Buck Barrow (Clyde’s brother and sister in law). Another fellow who goes by the name of CW Moss also tagged along for the journey; together they made the “Barrow Gang.”

The Barrow Gang was something. Nationwide manhunts were put in place following several robberies and murders drawn out by them. Most of the people killed by the gang were law enforcement officials. This goes to show that the Barrow Gang was not afraid. They knew what was going on; they knew that there were headshots of them that read “wanted”, and they still continued on their way.

The Barrow Gang met CW’s father one day and that came back to bite them. Once he met them he initially knew who they were, but he was very welcoming towards them. Behind closed doors he wanted to rip his son to shreds if he kept associating with them. One day he told CW to not come back in the car with them. He posted a set-up which resulted in their death. They saw him working on his truck, got out of their car, and before you know it, they were ambushed by several sherriffs. And that was the end of the infamous Barrow Gang.

This was a great movie, and one of my favorites, this year. I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good old crime thriller. The only thing that held me back from really enjoying this movie was: Blanche. Blanche was someone that I would love to punch in the face. She was just very emotional. In a way, I don’t think she belonged in the Barrow Gang, because she was not always up to their shenanigans. Oftentimes, she ticked Bonnie off to a point where they both needed a cooldown. Besides this one character, I can assure you that this was a fantastic movie.

Malcolm X Blog by Michael Avila

Release date: November 18, 1992 (USA)
Director: Spike Lee
Box office: 48.2 million USD
Awards: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture, MORE
Producers: Spike Lee, Marvin Worth, Monty Ross

     The film “Malcolm X” was an amazing film. I would recommend it to anyone that finds an interest in American history and heartbreaking inspirational stories. Before watching this movie I had only heard of Malcolm X as a famous black activists, a very passionate one at that. It was a learning experience for me, I never knew the amount of hatred and lack of empathy Malcolm X had for any individual with white skin. We all know not all white people believe or think like an old racist white man. He treated anyone who was not black as an enemy who needs to be destroyed. However, his transformation surprised me, he came back from Saudi Arabia a new person with a different perspective on life. He went from a war captain to a peacemaker fighting for equality. He came back from Saudi Arabia as understanding the true meaning of Islam after breaking out from the “honorable Iliza muhammad” Grip. Malcolm X is journey through life a hectic one. He went through as many hardships as anyone can count. He went through a dangerous gangster life to end up in jail, to later find Islam and become a very influential figure. From there he still endured more struggles that put him and his family in danger from the same people who have initially found him. His sequence of events weren’t at all what I had expected, his assassination was the most traumatizing. He was killed brutally in front of his wife and kids. This film had a good balance of action, drama. It’s sad that it was a true story but from just viewing the film, I thought it was really good the actors and the way the film was directed really deserves all the praise. You know a film was well made when you can feel the emotion and heartbreak as if your really there.

Bonnie and Clyde

The screenplay by Newman and Benton follows Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow from their meeting in Midlothian, Texas, in 1931 through three years of headline-magnifying robberies and killings, climaxing with their death under a thousand-round rain of bullets in a police ambush near Arcadia, La. Though newspapers entertained their readers with tales of their cunning and brutality, the Barrows gang is pictured as having been clumsy practitioners who succeeded in spite of internal bickering and miscalculation and seldom took enough from their poor, small-town targets to sustain them to the next heist. But during a period when a life in crime was one of the few available avenues of free enterprise, newspapers and rumor elevated them to the status of folk heroes, a distortion which would make their capture or annihilation by police seem a more awesome victory.

Clyde is pictured as a likably deranged young man for whom violence and danger are necessary means of expression. The life he assumes provides both personal satisfaction and sexual sublimation. Asked if he would change any part of his life, Clyde replies only that he would alter the means of the same operations. In the midst of their flights, he sighs, “Ain’t life grand!” Bonnie shares with Clyde the excitement of lawbreaking, a love of publicity, the symbolic attraction to guns, delight in the chases in which they escape their pursuers, but she wearies early in the game, fatalistically accepting the inevitably of their early deaths. One of the film’s most eloquent interludes involves her reunion with her mother and relatives, a moody sequence with filtered and slowed action, and protracted editing underscoring unspoken sorrows. The dialogue is spare and tuned to the ear and the region. The ingenuity of the chases is superbly timed, building to peak hilarity and fading to blackouts. While the film was made on location throughout Texas in cities which have little change since the early thirties, the film sustains the documentary evocation of period one has long associated with Warner Brothers pictures. The legend of the film’s production has become almost as famous as its heroes, and for this reason, you should need no other to watch the film.

Badlands

Badlands. Dir. Terrence Mallick.

Feat. Sissy Spacek (Holly), Martin Sheen (Kit), Warren Oates (Father).

Warner Brothers, 1973.

Based on a true-crime story, it stars a young Martin Sheen as Kit, a hoodlum who falls in love with 15-year-old Holly, played by Sissy Spacek, and kills her dad (Warren Oates) so that the two can take off together, with Holly trusting implicitly in her new protector with childlike faith and never questioning her father's murder or where their crime spree is leading. His relationship with the lonely schoolgirl is depicted as disturbing and mutually destructive, yet granted genuinely romantic interludes - including a moonlight smooch to the sound of Nat King Cole.  Such confident complexity is beyond the reach of lesser movies - the superficially similar Bonnie And Clyde feels, well, superficial in comparison. For all the heat generated by that film's blood-spattered shootouts, its stylised brutality pales next to the sudden bouts of violence which occur whenever Kit is backed into a corner. His sense of Southern good manners - calling his victims "Sir", asking humbly, "Suppose I shot you, how'd that be?" - makes the crimes all the more chilling. Both central performances are amazing, but only Spacek went on to become one of the most in-demand stars of the '70s.

The movie is brilliantly composed with a loose and directionless swing that looks easy (but isn't), and a superb and delicate voiceover from Spacek that conveys the bizarre babes-in-the-wood quality of their life together on the run. There are unforgettable sequences, especially at the very end when the captured Kit answers questions from fascinated state troopers as if at a press conference. An unmissable, beautiful classic.