The Godfather #aysiastarr

"The Godfather." Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando)
Michael Corleone (Al Pacino)
Santino "Sonny" Corleone (James Caan)
Kay Adams-Corleone (Diane Keaton)
Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall)
Connie Coreleone (Talia Shire)

“I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.”It’s hard to say anything about “The Godfather” that hasn’t already been said. With a length of almost three hours, there’s a lot to process.

The film is about an organized crime family in New York called the Corleones. Marlon Brando performs as Don (boss) Vito Corleone, who is the head of the business and family.  He is all about respect, family, and loyalty. That is how he runs his business and that is why he is the godfather.

The movie opens on the day of Don Corleone’s daughter’s wedding, this brings the family together, including the youngest son, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), who is not interested in working in his father’s business.  The movie follows the progression of the life of Michael Corleone and his eventual rise to Don Corleone. A series of events leads to a bloody war with some of the other well-known crime families in the city.

The acting is really what helps drive everything. Marlon Brando’s performance always gets the spotlight whenever there’s a mention of “The Godfather.” Although he rightfully deserves the praise, it’s Al Pacino’s subdued performance that works best for me. He upholds a quiet confidence that many other actors can’t pull off, for he’s sinister while still being somewhat likable. It’s interesting how you can find yourself rooting for such immoral characters TRUE. That’s a testament to the way these characters are meticulously developed and used within the story.

The cultural impact of “The Godfather” is enormous. From the use of its incredible score to the execution of some of the most unforgettable scenes in movie history, its influence can be seen in hundreds of movies and television shows. Even if you haven’t seen the “The Godfather” yet, you are probably familiar with some of its scenes and notable dialogue. “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse,” has been parodied countless times in pop culture. Don’t be fooled by the violent, gritty reputation that often gets attached to mob movies such as this one. Character development is prominent. In the film, you see the characters develop through the situations that surround them, and how they are affected by those situations.  

The eldest brother, Sonny, is shown as reactionary and passionate when his father is shot, and he wants action against the perpetrators, but he develops as caring, especially for his family, when he gets revenge for his sister, who was beaten by her husband.

Michael has the most development in the film, going from a wantful exclusion to the family business, to controlling the family business. The film does this by slowly pushing Michael into the life of his father. He encroaches the life slowly, doing one job to protect his father out of the kindness of his heart, to discussing plans, to killing rivals. It is an excellent development of all the characters that make them feel real to the viewer.

Subtlety is something the film masters, allowing the viewer to piece together parts of the history or story for themselves without having exposition shoved in their faces.  They don’t give you any explanation as to what the family does for income, instead, they let you find out for yourself as you are watching. “The Godfather” is an intelligent character study that chronicles the transformation of man as he slowly descends into villainy.

The Breakfast Club - Benjamin Rutherford

.

Directed by	John Hughes
Produced by	Ned Tanen John Hughes
Written by	John Hughes
Starring	Emilio Estevez Paul Gleason Anthony Michael Hall Judd Nelson Molly Ringwald Ally Sheedy

The Breakfast Club is a 1985 American coming of age comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. The story line follows five teenagers who endure a Saturday detention at Shermer High School outside Chicago. Claire Standish is the popular girl that everyone and even in her eyes think she belongs to upper division of the high school hierarchy. Allison Reynolds is stereotyped as a "basket case" because she does not talk, she's silent unlike the other students, she participated in the Saturday detention by choice. "I have nothing better to do," she says. Allison is constantly ignored at home and has no friends at school which may be why she decided to join the other students in detention. Brian Johnson portrays as the high school nerd, he strives for perfection in anything he does and to others Brian seems like the happiest kid but deep down, Brian isn't happy with himself. At home he is constantly pressured by his parents to do well in school, but Brian's constant pressure backfires on him after he receives a bad grade and his self confidence is shattered. Brian was put in detention after bringing a gun to school with suicidal intent. John Bender is the stereotypical "Bad Boy," he presents himself as wild and thrives on his rebellious attitude/actions. He doesn't care much about school and is on the urge to becoming a drop out. Andrew Clark is the jock of the clique, where he is also the #1 athlete in their school and he ends up getting detention after taping someone. As time went on these five teenagers came to a realization that they have much in common, and can be great friends, but they never would of knew this because they never guessed to get to know one another, they stereotyped each other, and once that was put aside after attending detention they become great friends.

I enjoyed the film because it showed how people of many different backgrounds can come together and work as one. It reminds me of how choirs work because everyone comes together from whatever background, ethnicity, nationality, or whatever and make one sound as one group and just build a bond that grows hard to break.

Breakfast Club By: Angel Ramos

The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club , written by John Hughes , contains a group of troubled students. These students live different school lifestyles but still connect with each other due to the fact that they have some type of personal issues at home. For example, Andrew and Claire are considered as one of the popular kids in their school but what nobody really knows is that they have issues at home. Claire's parents constantly use her as a weapon against each other. Andrew was a good kid who always obeyed everything that his parents said to do. Allison in this movie is known as a basketcase and nobody really socializes with her often, but they never really knew much about her personal life and how her parents ignore her at home. John was considered the criminal in this movie but was never really known as the sincere person he can really be. His parents never really cared much about him and that had turned him into the person he is today. Lastly there is Brian who is the straight A student who was always known as the brain. He is very intelligent but not a hands on type of student.

What I like about this movie is that it can still be compared to people in schools today. Each one of these students come from different cliques but still represent the same school even though they had never even socialized. Even in metro you can pick out 5 people in 5 different cliques and I bet they really do not know anything about each other at a personal level. Overall this is a great movie that portrays real life school scenarios and how issues at home can effect what type of person you can become and how you can be surprised about how much you have in common with another person who you would think lives a completely different lifestyle.

We have a problem Houston.   ???

Monday, December 14, 2015

Jonathan Newton:The Breakfast Club

The breakfast club , written by John Hughes , contains a group of troubled students. These students live different school lifestyles but still connect due to the fact that they have some type of personal issue at home. For example, Andrew and Claire are considered as one of the popular kids in their school but what nobody really knew was the issues they had at home. Claire's parents constantly used her as a weapon against each other. Andrew was a good kid who always obeyed everything that his parents said to do.Allison in this movie is known as a basketcase and nobody really socializes with her often, but they never really knew much about her personal life and how her parents ignore her at home. John was considered the criminal in this movie but was never really known as the sincere person he can really be. His parents never really cared much about him and that had turned him into the person he is today. Lastly there is Brian who is the straight A student who was always known as the brain. He is very intelligent but not a hands on type of student.

What I like about this movie is that it can still be compared to people in schools today. Each one of these students come from different cliques but still represent the same school even though they had never even socialized. Even in metro you can pick out 5 people in 5 different cliques and I bet they really do not know anything about each other at a personal level. Overall this is a great movie that portrays real life school scenarios and how issues at home can effect what type of person you can become and how you can be surprised about how much you have in common with another person who you would think lives a completely different lifestyle.

Chicago -Benjamin Rutherford

Directed by Rob Marshall
Produced by Martin Richards
Screenplay by Bill Condon
Based on Chicago by Bob Fosse Fred Ebb
Chicago by Maurine Dallas Watkins
Starring Renée Zellweger (Roxie Hart), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Velma Kelly) , Richard Gere (Billy Flynn),

Queen Latifah (Mama Morton), John C. Reilly (Amos Hart)

"Chicago" focuses on the lives of Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) and Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta Jones),two women who are both on trial for murder. Velma Kelly had murder her husband while Roxie had murdered her lover. They both are represented by the same lawyer, Billy Flynn (Richard Gere). He first trying to get Velma free of her charges when Roxie comes on the scene and he accepts her case as it comes with fame and exposure. As the film goes on we learn that he cares less and less about the two lives women and more about him securing his high exposure for a huge boost in clientele.
I enjoyed this film because i enjoy musicals and i feel like it had a really good storyline and the musical numbers were also well executed

Chicago| Aleesa Martins

Director: Bill London
Starring: Renee Zellweger (Roxie Hart), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Velma Kelly), Queen Latifa (Matron Mama Morton) , and Richard Gere (Billy Flynn)
Producer Circle co., 2002


Throughout the film which was a musical there were times were I was confused especially with her lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) because I didn't know if they had something between them or if he was just helping her to get money or both  [this is understandable as Roxie unsuccessfully attempts to seduce him in lieu of his $5000 retainer and the fact that his introductory musical number is "All I Need is Love." 

One thing that I enjoyed from this film was that I knew one or two songs that they sang, those were the only couple of times that I enjoyed the movie, but I'm not much of a fan musical. If I were to recommend this to someone it would definitely be someone who likes musicals and drama.

I have to wonder Aleesa if the transitions between the narrative storyworld and interior/explicative musical numbers weren't a source of confusion for you.  I also think it is interesting that you recommend it to fans of the genre  -  musical.  You state that you were excited by a couple of familiar tunes but never declare yourself as either a fan or someone who doen't care for musicals.  You could include other experiences you have had with musicals and your feelings about them.

The Breakfast Club

Five teenagers who don't' know each other spend a Saturday in detention at the suburban school library. At first they squirm, fret and pick on each other. Then after sampling some marijuana, a real encounter session gets underway. The stresses and strains of adolescence have turned their inner lives into a minefield of disappointment, anger and despair.

The catalyst of the group is Bender (Judd Nelson), a rebellious working-class punk who seethes with rage and attacks his peers with sarcasm. A cigar burn on his arm is a sign of the abuse he receives at home.

Andrew (Emilio Estevez) is a Varsity letterman in wrestling. He's spent most of his youth trying to measure up to his father's machismo image of him. This entails winning in athletic competition and preying upon weaker peers. He and Bender clash.

Brian (Anthony Michael Hall) is an unhappy honors student who wishes he could be accepted as a person and not valued just as a brain. Upset over a poor grade in shop, Brian has contemplated suicide rather than live with the ire of his disappointed parents.

Allison (Ally Sheedy) is the eccentric of the group. "My home life is unsatisfactory," she confides. Living in her own fantasy world, Allison can't really tell the difference between the truth and the lies she fabricates.

These teenagers don't like or respect their parents very much. One asks: "My God, are we gonna be like our parents?" Another in the group replies: "When you grow up, your heart dies." But the storm clouds over their lives are really the result of rigid high school caste systems.

Despite an inappropriate music-video sequence and a phony up-tempo finale, The Breakfast Club offers a breakthrough portrait of the pain and misunderstanding which result from the social hierarchy created by youth themselves. The lookers and the jocks are popular and can do whatever they want — except relate to those outside their social circle of winners. Eggheads, rebels and eccentrics have no choice but to create their own piddling worlds on the periphery. In this closed society, everyone knows his or her place and accepts it. No wonder so many kids look baffled when adults babble on about the sunny side of adolescence as a blooming season. The youth in The Breakfast Club are serving more time than just a Saturday.

Bonnie & Clyde By: Angel Ramos

-The film, Bonnie and Clyde is a 1967 American biographical crime film that was directed by Arthur Penn. The film stars Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty as the two leads: Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.

-This film presents an interesting portrayal of the real life criminals. While watching this film, I couldn’t help but get drawn into the historical facts surrounding the two.

-While researching Bonnie and Clyde on my own I came across my details that were not at all mentioned in the film, while the film does have an accurate portrayal and real historical pieces, it’s not entirely accurate in all things.

-For one, Bonnie Parker was married and it wasn’t to Clyde Barrow. She was married at a young age of just 15 just before her 16th birthday and it seems she may have had a type as her husband was shortly arrested afterwards for armed robbery. Her and her husband never divorced and she died wearing her wedding ring.

-Another thing they left out of the film was that while Clyde was in prison he was sexually assaulted, repeatedly. This may have been why he had trouble being intimate with Bonnie.

-Bonnie and Clyde in similar fashion to Chicago brings up the themes of fame and criminal activity. Bonnie and Clyde by robbing banks became famous for being in the papers and eluding the police. Also during this time (the depression) people were angry with the banks for foreclosing on their homes and taking their money. As a result, they were seen as “Robin Hood” type figures because even though they didn’t give to the poor, they still stole from the rich.

-I believe that Bonnie and Clyde, and the movie Chicago, focus on the crime and fame of that era.

-All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this film and would recommend it to other people who are interested in the crime and fame era in time. This movie was very entertaining and would actually love to watch this movie again.