The Maltese Falcon is considered one of the most popular and best classic detective mysteries ever made. Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) is a partner in a private-eye firm who finds himself hounded by police when his partner is killed while tailing a man. The two accept the assignment because the money is good, but Spade also implies that the woman looks like trouble, though she seems innocent. The girl who asked him to follow the man turns out not to be who she says she is, and is really involved in something to do with the 'Maltese Falcon', a gold-encrusted life-sized statue of a falcon, the only one of its kind.
The Maltese Falcon is a widely recognized movie that has received many prestigious titles since its creation. This movie received three Oscars: Best Picture, Best Writing/Screenplay credited to the director John Huston, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role. It is also highly ranked amongst several movie associations: #85 on the IMDb 250 Best Movie List, #23 on AFI top 100 movies, and #26 on the AMC top 100 movies. If you have read my previous blogs you have probably concluded my taste in movies is extremely shallow, meaning that classic movies usually cause me to fall asleep. Surprisingly, this movie was able to hold my attention. I think it was because it was fairly unpredictable and the acting was superb. Humphrey Bogart did a great job, although the chemistry with Brigid O'Shaughnessy was lacking. When they kissed it looked like he was killing her not loving her- but whatever! My favorite character was Joel Cairo because he had a funny accent and he was very unpredictable.
I would definitely recommend watching this classic mystery movie mainly because it is widely spoofed. This way you can actually pick up on the spoofs when you see them. However, it would not be ranked as one of my favorite movies of all time and I probably wouldn't watch it again in the near future.
Gary Cooper plays the main role as Will Kane, a popular small-town sheriff whose wedding to a beautiful young gal (Grace Kelly) on the day of his retirement. But then Kane learns that an old enemy, Frank Miller, who has sworn revenge has been released from prison, and that his old gang members are awaiting him on the noon train.
High Noon generates suspense in many ways. Kane’s increasingly tense, pained expression makes the viewer question how dangerous Frank Miller is. Everyone in the town believes that Kane stands no chance against the fearless Miller which makes the audience question Kane's safety and future. The villainous Frank Miller was known only through dialogue but he did not actually appear until the end of the film. Not seeing what the villain, Miller, actually looked like made him seem more dangerous and added to the suspense. Even when Miller finally arrived on the noon train, we didn't actually see his face for a full two or three minutes, showing him strapping on his guns from behind and talking to his gang.
There are continual shots of Miller's three gang mates sitting maliciously by the empty train track awaiting the noon train. This created a great amount of intense suspense because it was a constant reminder that Kane's archenemy, Miller, would be arriving soon. There was no violent action between Kane and the gang members until the end of the film which built to a suspenseful finale.
The use of music was unique but still contributed to the amount of suspense throughout the movie. Rather than having heart pounding adventure music, there was a simple ballad featuring the calm voice of the country singer, Tex Ritter. This haunting tune contains the plot outline within its lyrics and emphasizes the danger of the daunting task Kane has accepted. The method that I feel was the most successful in creating suspense was the ticking clocks counting down the minutes toward noon. In the beginning of the film, they were small clocks in the background that had short pendulums that swung quickly. The movie is shot in "real time" which means that the duration of the movie is equal the actual time that the events in the movie occur. This is suspenseful because the audience knows the train will arrives at noon with Miller on it. As the clock approached noon, they got bigger and the pendulums swung more slowly making them more menacing. At noon, the clock took up the entire screen as we waited for the last tick and the train's whistle.
Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) is a high school senior who is adored by "sportoes, motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wasteoids, dweebies and dickheads, they all love him- they think he's a righteous dude." He decides to skip school, and convinces his best friend, Cameron, to help him and with Ferris' girlfriend Sloane they head off to Chicago for a day of fun. To make their way into the city, they borrow Cameron's father's one love, a 1961 Ferrari. Unfortunately, they have a problem with the car and this threatens to expose them all.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off has been one of my favorite movies for quite some time now, but I never picked up on the fact that it actually has a suicide prevention theme in its contents. My Media Studies 20 teacher pointed it out to me (I guess teachers actually do pick up on useful information) and after thinking about it I realized he is most definitely right. After discovering this, I think that Ferris took the day off not for personal benefit but to help his friend Cameron gain some measure of self worth. Cameron is very uptight and is over controlled by his parents and Ferris wants to show Cameron that the world is passing by him and he needs to wake up and embrace it. In a way it might be a bad message for teenagers because it probably is not the best idea to disobey your parents, skip school, and ruin your dad's Ferrari. But I think it does teach teenagers that it is important to live life to the fullest and have fun in your youth. As Ferris would say, "life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once and awhile, you could miss it."
This classic movie was written and directed by John Hughes who was also responsible for such films as The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles. Hughes died in early August of 2009 from a heart attack at the age of 59. His memory will certainly live on through the array of high school based films he has created throughout his prosperous career. Hughes was no an athlete but he was a big fan of the Detroit Red Wings and Gordie Howe. Later, Hughes paid tribute to Howe in Ferris Bueller's Day Off when Cameron wore a Howe jersey though out the film. I thought that was awesome seeing as I am from Saskatchewan and I also like Howe!
The casting for this movie was done perfectly- I couldn't imagine any other actors doing a better job! Mathew Broderick played the role of Bueller perfectly by having a lot of charisma and spunk- he just makes you want Ferris Bueller to be your best friend, or in my case boyfriend. The actors who played Cameron, Sloan and Principal Rooney also did an excellent job but my favorite actor throughout the movie was Grace (the Secretary) played by Edie McClurg. She is just so funny and every secretary should model their life after her! I've included a film clip with my favorite quote from the entire movie said while Grace and Mr. Rooney discussed Ferris.
If you haven't seen this movie, go out and buy it. Watch it until you can quote the entire movie, then come find me and we can be friends.
Rosebud. One simple word leads to the basis of the classic, 1941 film, Citizen Kane. Newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane is one of the richest, and most powerful men in the United States. With his last breath he utters the enigmatic word: Rosebud. A newspaper reporter digs into Kane's past to find the significance of this mysterious word. The film shows his rise and eventual down fall. A man who seemed to have everything would have traded it all for something that most take for granted- love.
Citizen Kane is considered a classic movie, and any movie that is a classic is definitely worth watching. But to be honest, the most useful thing I got from it is the understanding of Family Guy's spoofs on the movie. I am not going to lie and say that I'm interested in movies with "deep" meanings just so I sound smart - because to be honest I'd way rather just relax and watch a funny movie like Billy Madison. The main lessons I learned from the film were to treasure your childhood as it is fundamental in your growth into adulthood. The second message in the film was to not choose materialism over love. Although both these themes are very strong I find them to be quite overused and cliche.
The movie is based roughly on the life of William Randolph Hearst who, like Kane, was a newspaper tycoon. Orson Welles plays the main role as Charles Foster Kane. I may be the only one in the world who feels this way, but I did not like his acting as I did not feel a connection to his character at all. Usually I care about the wellness of the protagonist but with Kane, I did not care what happened to him one way or another. Here comes my shallow side again, but I think if they had casted a more handsome actor it would have triggered greater interest from me. Dorothy Comingore played the role of Susan Alexander Kane. I didn't like the character at all as she was annoying, whinny and got her fame handed to her (much like my earlier blog on Miley Cyrus). Comingore did her job as an actor as she ignited some passion towards the character she played- even if it was the feeling of annoyance!
One thing that is undeniable is that the actual filming technique was executed superbly and helped deliver many of the themes. Unique camera angles and techniques were used to make the viewer wonder, "how on Earth did they pull that off?" A particular shot that stands out to me is when Kane is walking past a mirror and it shows reflections of him through various stages of his life. Not only is this interesting technologically but it also shows Kane's loneliness and development throughout the years.
In my opinion, is this one of the greatest films of all time? No. Is this film worth watching? Yes. If there is one thing that I've learned by reading movie reviews is that you can never fully trust them. You just have to watch it for youself and develop your opinions from there. This is a classic film which is wise to watch because it has good themes and is well-known. Who knows, you might experience a question about Citizen Kane when playing a game of Trivial Pursuit - if it helps you win the game you might be very grateful you watched it! Overall I think it is necessary to be open minded when selecting movies to watch because it is the best way to discover something great. Even though I didn't like it, you just might.
