The Godfather

The Godfather is a movie every person on earth should see. It’s cinematic gold! I love the concept behind it, the filming style, the actors, and the themes. Everything just flows so well together. Just looking at Michael, there are many things that can be seen with him. He is a normal boy in the family who doesn’t want to participate in anything, but someway gets roped into the life he tried so hard to stay away from. Essentially though, Michael has the brains, bronze, and communication skills to run the family business. It’s seen a lot when he wittily comes up with solutions to problems instead of becoming hot headed like Sonny, who only thinks violence is the answer.  

Sonny comes off as a brother who is very passionate about the family, but maybe too passionate. He doesn’t understand the limits or what the Godfather actually stands for. He just thinks it’s a business he will be heading and it’s all about bringing in lots of revenue. What Sonny doesn’t understand is the Godfather is all about family, respect, and connections one can make with others.

The Godfather (their father) understands that Michael would be the best choice for the family business, but he respects the fact that Michael didn’t in the beginning want to be part of the family business. He would never force anyone to do anything that they don’t like, but he is willing to give the chance to anyone who proves worthy.

The opening scene is amazing! The lighting and the way that certain people are shaded while others are illuminated. It showed that The Godfather is a strict, loyal, but fair man with the things he offers to people. Similarly in the scene with the horse and later on the horse head in the bed, it shows that when he owns someone a favor, or is helping a friend out, he makes sure it happens. He will follow through with the things he promises.

Michael and Kay are essential to the movie and plot because we associate Kay with things that are normal and not part of the family. So when Michael breaks up with her it’s known that he is removing himself from the “normal” world and becoming part of the family. Later though when he marries her it’s seen as an act to keep part of his old, normal life amongst the bad and terror in his new life. Kay kinda of keeps the reality and fanatsy together in a sense. She is the bridge between the two worlds Michael is and wants to live.

The best part in the Godfather, though, is the scene where the director wakes up with his horses head severed and placed under his covers. It really captures what The Godfather is all about. His ability to make things happen, his loyalty to the ones he considers family, and no one can mess with the Corleone family.

The Social Network

I had already seen the social network before, and I was glad we watched it in class because I think the movie is really good. One thing I really like about it is the main character is in college, so it's relatable because we're about to go to college. He was one of the guys who became a billionaire from an idea he got in college. It's weird to think that someone I know could do this in the next couple of years. Everyone hopes they will be that person, but my generation is extremely lazy, so it we want to do something kind of like this then that person has to be really determined and hard working.

         Another thing I liked about it was the humor. It's not laugh out loud humor that makes you fall off your chair, but it's all ironic humor. Personally, that's my favorite type of humor, so it was good. He dry humor from the main character was good for his character because it made it seem like he didn't really care about anything but in all actuality, he cared a lot, but he chose not to express it. He was very sarcastic, which I am, and even though he takes things too far sometimes it really adds to the humor of the whole situation.

         I also liked how all of the sets were messy. Nothing was really organized which was weird since it's a billion dollar company. They really portrayed how young he was because where he lived, and everything was all over the place and disorganized. And when he moved to LA it was basically a shit show. They would party, drink, do drugs, have girls over, and run an extremely successful company. I don't diner stand how they didn't have any structure, but still did really well.

The Social Network really hits how money and friendship go hand in hand. It shows that majority of people would throw their friends under the bus to have just a tiny bit of fame and fortune. At the same time I don’t think people realize that their friends aren’t necessarily their friends within a business setting. People make business decisions to better their company and improve their profit, not make decisions in order to make friends.  

In a way it changed my how I thought Facebook was suppose to be used. He built the company and website to connect college students from around the states. Then it was a way for people to meet and “get together” in different ways. Where as kids our age use it as a way to show all their friends what they are up to.

Wall-E

Wall-E is one of the most entertaining disney cartoons. It is super simple, yet very intriguing because although the noises Wall-E makes are few they really get through what he is feeling and what he is experiencing. I love Wall-E because it’s a childs movie but hold the focus of many adults. One thing I love especially about Wall-E is how the role of sexes are reversed. For example EVE is a the female robot but seen as the robot that is strong and protects Wall-E she has the job and the authority in the relationship, whereas Wall-E is seen as helpless and for lack of better words a damsel in distress. I think that it’s such a small concept that is overlooked, yet its very important to see the gender roles switched in a modern day film.

Wall-E in some ways is a coming of age movie. He is this little robot all alone and he has to grow up and become an adult in order to save the people of planet earth. He has a daily routine like many young children do, but the minute he gets put into the real world he realizes he has to grow up in order to be the robot society and EVE need him to be.

I love the scene where Wall-E and EVE are dancing out in space. The “filming” down in that seen is so dynamic yet elegant at the same time. It’s a great scene especially because as we go from looking at EVE and Wall-E outside being harmless and dancing, inside they are seen as rogue robots thats are causing an uprise and lots of trouble within the society on the ship.

It’s a cool comparison how they use the computer as controller of the ship, and it’s sort of the same as 2001: A Space Odyssey. In that the computer has a program it is suppose to follow and the minute that one person or something makes it seem as if the program isn’t going to be followed through with it overrides all other controls to itself. Same thing happens in Wall-E with the captain and computer.

I love the fact that we got to watch an animated movie because it is such a big part of the movie corporation. Many people associate animated movies with just childrens movies, and it’s true that Wall-E is a childrens movie, but it also has a lot of concepts that only adults or more mature audiences would understand. Animated movies present real problems in a friendly way. Instead of showing hard hitting rough graphics of a real world issue, it brings it up in a simple yet creative way.