This week, I will be reviewing Glengarry Glen Ross. My first impression after watching this movie is "this was great writing and dialogue." But the plot is the weakness of the movie. Here is the trailer.
Glengarry Glen Ross is about realty salesmen and leads. That's pretty much it. There are great actors in the cast who do an excellent job. I really enjoyed their performances as they delivered their dialogue with convincing ease though vulgarity was quite prominent throughout the film.
Alec Baldwin's speech at the beginning was my favorite scene in the movie as he delivered it in such a cocky manner that it was very comical. My favorite character in the movie though was Al Pacino as he knew how to control himself and when and who needed to talk to vulgar and when to be patient with a client. The scene I speak of is when a client of his comes in with buyer's remorse and then he chews out Kevin Spacey.
Now to the plot. It was hard to follow. The performances outweighed the plot. It was just basically leads and yelling profanities. So I didn't like that aspect of the film.
Would I recommend this film? Sure, if you don't mind the swearing and lack of plot.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
The Asphalt Jungle Review
This time around, the movie was available on streaming through Netflix and I didn't need to wait for the DVD through snail mail. So I added it on my queue and hit play. Check out the trailer and movie review below.
The Asphalt Jungle is a film directed by John Huston and was released in 1950. After watching The Treasure of Sierra Madre, I was looking forward to this film after reading the synopsis of the film. I am going to be honest with you, though. I tried two times to watch the film and 20 minutes into the film, I fell asleep. My wife came in to wake me up and the movie was still playing. The first time, I stopped it with the intention to start where I remembered (which was the scene where the police captain was chewing out someone) and tried the second attempt from there. I watched a bit further more and fell asleep again. I did not try again to watch it completely.
So I can tell you the only thing I remembered and liked was the cinematography and the lighting as a gritty city in all the scenes I watched. That is pretty much the only thing I enjoyed.
If this movie made me fall asleep in the first 20-30 minutes of the film, then the story was too slow to capture my attention. However, it may capture your attention and you will be hooked and wondering what was going to happen next. However, it did not for me.
The Asphalt Jungle is a film directed by John Huston and was released in 1950. After watching The Treasure of Sierra Madre, I was looking forward to this film after reading the synopsis of the film. I am going to be honest with you, though. I tried two times to watch the film and 20 minutes into the film, I fell asleep. My wife came in to wake me up and the movie was still playing. The first time, I stopped it with the intention to start where I remembered (which was the scene where the police captain was chewing out someone) and tried the second attempt from there. I watched a bit further more and fell asleep again. I did not try again to watch it completely.
So I can tell you the only thing I remembered and liked was the cinematography and the lighting as a gritty city in all the scenes I watched. That is pretty much the only thing I enjoyed.
If this movie made me fall asleep in the first 20-30 minutes of the film, then the story was too slow to capture my attention. However, it may capture your attention and you will be hooked and wondering what was going to happen next. However, it did not for me.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
The Treasure of Sierra Madre Review
Our instructor, Mark Davis, was highlighting the director John Huston last week and assigned this film. I went ahead and ordered it through Netflix via DVD as it wasn't available via streaming. After receiving the disc, I popped it in and selected the option for subtitles (which I always turn on for any movie if available. Check out the trailer below. My review follows. Enjoy!
The Treasure of Sierra Madre takes place in Mexico with 3 characters, Dobbs, Howard, and Curtin deciding to go find gold while down in their luck. As the movie progresses, Dobbs becomes very greedy and paranoid. The group also encounters bandits, weather conditions, and other obstacles along the way that hinders their dream of becoming rich.
Director John Huston did a great job in pulling the performance of the actors in representing the characters superb, especially Dobbs. Dobbs is a middle aged fellow who is down in his luck and begs people for money, but splashes a cup of water on a little kid selling cheap lottery tickets. Once he meets Howard and finds out about searching for gold and decided to put his money towards it without any hesitation. However, throughout the film, he dug a hole of greed and paranoia by himself. He began talking to himself. He made false accusations and never apologized, only kept his paranoia going. He went as far as shooting Curtin because of the greed and paranoia. His final scene is one of sadness as he himself is killed by robbers not even looking for his gold.
The wardrobe of Dobbs throughout the progression of the film is a good image of how his inner self deteriorated. Although he was poor, he got enough money to clean himself up in the beginning of the film and then as his gold digging continued, he clothes got dirty and ripped, he grew a beard, and looked like crap when he died. Excellent way of showing by physical means his mental state.
I enjoyed this film as it kept me wanted to know what was gonna happen next.
Next film for next week is The Asphalt Jungle. Check back then!
The Treasure of Sierra Madre takes place in Mexico with 3 characters, Dobbs, Howard, and Curtin deciding to go find gold while down in their luck. As the movie progresses, Dobbs becomes very greedy and paranoid. The group also encounters bandits, weather conditions, and other obstacles along the way that hinders their dream of becoming rich.
Director John Huston did a great job in pulling the performance of the actors in representing the characters superb, especially Dobbs. Dobbs is a middle aged fellow who is down in his luck and begs people for money, but splashes a cup of water on a little kid selling cheap lottery tickets. Once he meets Howard and finds out about searching for gold and decided to put his money towards it without any hesitation. However, throughout the film, he dug a hole of greed and paranoia by himself. He began talking to himself. He made false accusations and never apologized, only kept his paranoia going. He went as far as shooting Curtin because of the greed and paranoia. His final scene is one of sadness as he himself is killed by robbers not even looking for his gold.
The wardrobe of Dobbs throughout the progression of the film is a good image of how his inner self deteriorated. Although he was poor, he got enough money to clean himself up in the beginning of the film and then as his gold digging continued, he clothes got dirty and ripped, he grew a beard, and looked like crap when he died. Excellent way of showing by physical means his mental state.
I enjoyed this film as it kept me wanted to know what was gonna happen next.
Next film for next week is The Asphalt Jungle. Check back then!
Understanding Directing - Film Class at SLCC
I am taking this class this fall semester with instructor Mark Davis and I will be posting blogs about movies that have been assigned to watch. The first film that I will write about is The Treasure of Sierra Madre.
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