Touch of Evil

When we first started watching my first thoughts on Touch of Evil were that the movie didn't really seem that interesting and I was a little confused on what was going on. I didn't really get it and wasn't really following the story but the plot became clearer as we kept watching. I noticed the movie started out with a tracking shot and then showed the two main characters, Susan and Vargas who are in Mexico where they witness a car explode and kill two people. Vargas is a detective and wants to investigate the case. I also noticed a few themes throughout the film such as racism between Americans and Mexicans and police corruption/corruption of power.

When we continued watching the film in class, it started getting more interesting with the framing of Susan and the murder of Grandi by Quinlan. I wasn't expecting something like this to happen. Quinlan was able to frame someone else, which supports the theme of corruption of power. As a detective who frames others for things he is responsible for it shows how his character is somewhat evil. I'm interested in seeing how the film ends and what Vargas will do to prove that Quinlan is behind the murder and other crimes that he framed people of.

Myles Snider, Man On Wire: My Thoughts

MAN ON WIRE: MY THOUGHTS

When I first seen Man On Wire, I actually wasn't too into it, only because I just couldn't get the gist of it. I thought "What is this even about?" But as I started to watch more and more of it, I started to realize that this documentary is all about taking risks & chances, no matter what & under no circumstances, do not give up ! I usually can't take away from movies that I can't grasp at first, but Man On Wire was different and I'm glad that I got the opportunity to watch it because I completely got to understand that Phillpe is a brave man by him walking on the wire without even falling, and doing such tricks, and that completely caught my attention, I've never heard of anything like that! One thing I noticed about Phillpe in the movie is his bravery and the fact that he preserves and I feel like I can connect to that on a personal level because I am someone who likes to take chances, and persevere and by watching Phillpe doing so, and accomplishing, it only makes me wanna push harder.

The Touch... of EVIL!!

When Shawn Duplessie hit the "play" button, the beginning of Touch Of Evil appeared. Immediately, I was taken aback by the fact that it was in black and white, because I have never watched a black and white movie or tv show, for that matter. But it didn't take long for me to sort of forget that it was in black and white, because I was focusing on the storyline. It started out with Vargas, a detective, and his wife on their honeymoon, enjoying their time in Mexico. All of a sudden, a nearby car explodes. Someone had planted a bomb in it, and it is Vargas's job to figure out who. But Quinlan, a sloppy, overweight police officer who is always pictured smoking a cigar, stands in his way. Clearly there is hostility between the two, because Quinlan is plotting to destroy Vargas's career. He is trying to frame Susan, Vargas's American wife of making the car explode. He planted evidence, including a box full of explosives, to make it seem as though she was the culprit. But Vargas wasn't buying it, which angered Quinlan.

I am interested in seeing how this movie will turn out, and who will get convicted of the crime, if anyone. It annoys me that Quinlan is abusing his job, since he knows how to manipulate evidence due to his many years of experience. But I appreciate how Orson Wells, the actor who played Quinlan, and the movie's director, had such a strong character. As I said before, he always had a cigar either in his mouth or in his hand, along with a candy bar. In the scene at the bar, it was clear that he was also a heavy drinker. He also used a cane, and there were plenty of moments when he appeared out of breath and exhausted. He spoke rather unclearly, slurring his words (maybe he had a little too much to drink...). All of this contributes to his sloppy character, one that sticks out to me more than anyone else's. He was also racist and ignorant, and thought that Mexicans were inferior to him. He even said the notable line "I don't speak Mexican" despite the fact that Mexican is not even a language. I'm surprised he didn't make a comment about tacos.

Aside from the characters, I took some time to notice the cinematography and special effects used. It's so weird, in this day and age, to think that cameras actually existed back in 1958, when Touch of Evil was made. And to be honest, the camerwork was not all that bad. Sure, there were some instances of a shaky camera in instances that would never occur in today's films, but overall I had no issue with the way the camera was used. It's also interesting to think about how the movie production team was able to display the exploding car. Compared to modern films, which use top-notch animation programs, this effect was poor, and extremely unrealistic. But I still wonder how it was created before this computer software was years away from being created.

At first, I wondered why you are showing us this film Mr. Monahan, immediately disappointed that it was in black and white. I wondered, "Why couldn't he show us something much newer?" But now, I'm glad that I've gotten the chance to watch it, and look forward to finishing the film on Tuesday.

Shawn Luzzi Touch of Evil First Impressions

Touch of Evil First Impressions

Oh my...the format of "Touch of Evil" is definitely way different than what I am use to now-a-days. I'm use to special effects being top-notch (at least in my opinion) due to computer programs to really help amp up the action. But here, in a movie that was created in 1958, you can definitely tell it's age. For one, the movie is in black and white, no color at all. This was a part of films back half a century ago as films were only starting to get popular. Plus, the first scene where the car explodes was very simple as it was simply a simple shot of a random car exploding with a exploding sound effect that seems more goofy today. (Either that, or that same explosion sound originated from Touch of Evil.)

However, even with it's age showing well, I have to say I'm enjoying Touch of Evil because of those reasons of it's age. I like seeing how the movies of yesterday were compared to today with all of it's action and camera shots. (That, and color ) Plus, the story is intriguing, especially with racism playing a key card into this mystery as the American Detective seem to simply frame or blame other simply for their ethnicity. (For this case, It'd be Hispanics getting the sudden blame.) 

Rocky : The Italian Dare Devil...

    "Destiny has a strange way of manifesting itself, the movie Rocky is a golden example of this."

        The movie Rocky starts punching..literally. We find our protagonist in the ring beginning to fight his next contender. This approach to starting a film always intrigues me and don't expect anything less from Rocky. The crowd, the sweat, the flashes from the various cameras in the audience all seem to fully immerse you into a world that is both dynamic and mysterious. Even though this is the first scene I already get a sense of whats to come, and I became thrilled for every minute of it.

         As the story progresses we learn a ton of facts about our protagonist that, despite what you may have felt in the first scene, forces you to criticize both his character and his decisions. Rocky, a "leg breaker" for a loan shark", reveals himself to be a determined and misunderstood individual. After meeting Adrian, who later on becomes his girlfriend, we began to see a new side of rocky. He soon is challenged by Apollo Creed, which proves itself to be a test of both his physical and mental stability. As Rocky prepares for this challenge his pushed to the limit to the point where, through introspection, he realizes that his destiny is not to defeat Apollo Creed, but simply to go the distance.

          The fight begins and as the camera angles sway along with our hero walking towards the arena, a new feeling emerges in the air. The sound of the crowd and feeling of anticipation creates a thin layer of tension within the viewer as you, hopefully by now, are rooting for our protagonist to accomplish his goal. As the fight occurs you gain an enormous amount of reverence for our hero as he endures punch after brutal punch. As the fight ends, we see that Rocky's faith and spirit have been pushed to its limits as even though he loses the match, he goes the distance. Ultimately Rocky claims his own personal victory and gives both himself and the viewer the satisfaction by persevering through unseen obstacles to accomplish his goal. Destiny has a strange way of manifesting itself, the movie Rocky is a golden example of this.   

Walking on the Wire of Life

After finishing, "Man On Wire," in class on Tuesday, I realized how profound, inspiring, and well-put together the documentary is. Looking at the documentary from a trite perspective, one might question its purpose. A crazy Frenchman tightropes across the Twin Towers... What else do we need to know? That was my attitude towards the documentary in the beginning. It's seems like today, we are always watching some person performing a daring stunt on the news, internet, television, etc. Modern technology and mass communication has desensitized us in a way to awe-inspiring events like Philippe Petit's walk across the Twin Towers.

For Philippe, tightroping across the Twin Towers was not just a stunt or an act for publicity, it was his dream. It was a dream that constantly haunted him; a dream that he would stop at nothing to fulfill. It was interesting to watch Philippe and his team formulate their plan, as well as all of the tension and arguments between the members. It is a testament to the challenge of working on a dangerous stunt like this, and the substantial effort it takes.

The documentary did a phenomenal job of showing the process of Philippe and his team sneaking into the Twin Towers until the moment that Philippe walked across the wire. As everything unfolded, I was at the edge of my seat, waiting and waiting for the big moment. I thought it was powerful how the documentary used pictures of Philippe walking across the tightrope between the Twin Towers as the climax. In my opinion, the use of pictures really conveyed a feeling that this was a once in a lifetime event. These pictures captured a moment in a time, that could never be and never will be replicated.

At the end of the movie, we see an older Philippe walking across a tightrope. Philippe's quote inspired me: "Life should be lived on the edge of life. You have to exercise rebellion: to refuse to tape yourself to rules, to refuse your own success, to refuse to repeat yourself, to see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge - and then you are going to live your life on a tightrope"

As a person who is often very reluctant to take challenges and embark on daring adventures, Philippe's quote really hit me. No matter how scary your dream may seem, you should still reach for it because the possibilities are endless. Anything is possible when you set your mind to it.

Shawn Luzzi: Man on Wire Last Impressions

Man on Wire: Last Impressions! 

My thoughts that Philippe Petit was a very brave man has sky-rocketed as I watched the last half-hour of Man on Wire as on August 7th, 1974, he was able to successful move between the two tower roofs about eight times before being nabbed by police forces waiting for him on both roofs. Plus, all of Philippe's helpers that were helping him pull off the roof stunt became anxious and scared as they've never really done a wire stunt like this. However, once they seen that Petit became comfortable with the wire through his facial expression, everything went into plan and the wire walk between the towers was a success! 

I have to admit, I was never really the one to watch Documentaries, but when you learn something from a movie you never thought you'd really watch, then I'd think the whole situation was worth it.