Tin Man

Tin Man was interesting to me because of the magical aspect of it. I thought the casting was excellent, every actor from Tin Man (Cain), Raw, D.G, Glitch, and Azkadellia gave each of the well written character such life.Cinematically it was a beautiful film, even the dark sections of the O.Z. were brought to life, with the use of color, lighting, music, and even camera direction. I enjoyed the really unique way they incorporated the old with the new but still had a completely different story.

This film is about a classic tale that follows a young girl named D.G. (Zooey Deschanel) who ventures on the Old fabled Road of O.Z., prepared to fulfill her destiny, when she discovers that the evil Azkadellia (Kathleen Robertson) who is later revealed as D.G.'s older sister, has cast an oppressive spell over the Outer Zone. I have to say Azkadellia was my favorite character in this film, because she played her evil role so marvelously well, from her costume, to her voice, facial expression, body language, and to the way she displays her power of anguish, screamed out the perfect villain. D.G. enlists the aid of half-brained eccentric Glitch (Alan Cumming), kindly-but-cowardly beast Raw (Raoul Trujillo), and heartbroken former lawman Cain (Neil McDonough) in seeking out the wisdom of the fabled Mystic Man (Richard Dreyfuss) who lives at the end of the Old Road. With the future of the Outer Zone hanging in the balance, D.G. had to make some decisions, and let her heart led her to the right direction, she had an awkwardness and a such positive outlook on things, that made the audience like and relate to her.

As this adventurous group ventures down the perilous road they find themselves having a battle with Azkadellia's hideous nightmarish flying monkey bats and Azkadellia's malevolent henchmen, as they attempt to break a spell with the power to destroy them all. But before their journey was over, D.G. and her new friends discover a few things that they never even knew about themselves. The setting of this film was something I have never seen in any film I have ever watched. It was a magical and unusual plot but it was absolutely brilliant, the thought of two suns hanging out in the clear blue sky was amazing. The use of computer generated effects used to show the extent of Azkadellia power was exciting to watch, the way she literally sucked the lives out of humans was extraordinary.

I just loved color in this film, everything just popped even the dark sections of the film. Everything from lighting, camera direction, and even music moved the plot along. The shots and camera directions was always precise, always extenuating every little details in a scene, from rocks, to grass, leaves, the sky, tress, and even the direction of the wind. The sound or mood of the music always let the viewer know if there was a moment of triumph or anguish coming. So the music was always like a clue to what was going to happen in the next scene or minute. What was so surprising to me was, during the flashbacks, the pictures or scenes weren't gritty, black and white, dark, or rough, like what other films would do to show the the extent of how much time had past but this film was different, the scenes were sharp, clean, colorful, and beautiful.

The Seven Samurai

The film opens with shadows of a mixture of lights and darks as men race in a rugged stampede on their stallions. The story begins with master samurai Kambei posing as a monk to save a kidnapped farmer's child. Impressed by his selflessness and bravery, a group of farmers begs him to defend their terrorized village from bandits. Kambei agrees, although there is no material gain or honor to be had in the endeavor. Soon he attracts a pair of followers: a young samurai named Katsushiro , who quickly becomes Kambei's disciple, and boisterous Kikuchiyo, who poses as a samurai but is later revealed to be the son of a farmer. Kambei assembles four other samurais, including Kyuzo , a master swordsman, to round out the group. Together they consolidate the village's defenses and shape the villagers into a militia, while the bandits loom menacingly nearby. Soon raids and counter-raids build to a final bloody heart-wrenching battle.

I see why my teacher said Akira Karasowa was one of the greatest directors ever, because the direction in this film was absolutely brilliant and well thought out. For example, there was a scene in this film when villagers were in the marketplace trying to look for the village thief, as the characters' eyes moved the camera moved in the same pace as their eyes, this method was used again when Kambei the master samurai and the youngest samurai Katsushiro went to go see the master swordsman fight in a fair-trial-combat, and the same thing happened the camera followed the characters' eyes. I'll have to say the shots in this film were also unique, and they came in different varieties, there was one I really liked because I have never seen any shot like that in any movie or film I have ever seen. There were three different things going on in one shot, on one side of the room there was the guy with the over-top facial expression crying his eyes out, at the opposite side of him there as an old guy playing his wooden banjo softly, and on the other side of the room, were the two look alike cavemen arguing, joking, laughing, and playing a board game.

There was also a rule of thirds scene in this film with the oldest farmer as the focus point, the camera's focus accentuated the wrinkles and the toothless mouth of the farmer to make the viewers realize how old this farmer really was, as that was going on there were two couples in the background arguing back and forth with each other. The only seen in this film that I really saw a character alone, had to be the point of view shot where the youngest samurai Katsushiro lays in the middle of a flowers bed and looks up to the trees, the scene was subtle as the wind blew the leaves of the trees back and forth, making them sway in the sky, it was the first time you realized as viewer what the character was feeling and the emotions going moving with him.

This film was really unique because of the things Karasowa added to it, like in one scene he added his own wind, the wood behind the crying farmer was made especially for that scene to show repetition, because of the markings in the wood, compositions of three's was shown in a shot when some people walked through frames. The shots of the villagers' backside showing earlier in the film was to emphasize the pain, embarrassment, poverty, shame, and heartache they were going through. There was a scene in this film that gave the viewer a feeling of isolation, when this man was sitting alone all by himself, and the other villagers' backs were turned away from him.

As a viewer character development was incredibly noticeable, but there were two characters that I thought changed or developed as the plot moved along, and it had to be the young samurai Katsushiro, and kikuchiyo. Katsushiro Katsushiro was the youngest samurai in the bunch, he was respectful, shy, compassionate, humble, and willing to learn at the beginning of the film, he didn't have enough courage to prove or stand up for himself, but towards the end of the movie he builds on strength, courage, and self esteem, the scene of Katsushiro's total transformation had to be when he killed an enemy then cried afterwards. I thought Kikuchiyo's transformation as a character was very major and important in this film, because in the beginning he was self absorbed, a joker, disrespectful, and way too boisterous, he even put other samurais' lives in danger by posing as the enemy and killing some enemies in order to prove he was the best to other samurais. But as the plot and film moves along he cares about others and he puts them in consideration, there was one scene where I actually saw kikuchiyo cry sadly and passionately about the loss of a child's parents, because he related to him, Kikuchiyo's death had to be the most memorable death in the film he died as a warrior, after getting shot by an enemy, he got up and still pierced the heart of the enemy that shot him.

This film was long but awesome, this film had composition, great shots, beautiful scenes, fantastic camera direction, great cast of characters, and one of the greatest film director composed all these things into one, and that's Akira Karasowa.

Throne of Blood

Throne of Blood is a tradegy based on the life of a lord named Taketoki Washizu, a valiant warrior whose life is transformed by an encounter with a ghostly female spirit. The spirit offers several predictions, stating that Washizu will rise to power over the current warlord. When these predictions begin to unfold, he and his ambitious wife decide to ensure his ascendancy to power by murdering the current ruler. As with Macbeth, Washizu achieves his goal, but his guilt and the suspicions of others soon bring about his downfall.

The supporting performances were outstanding, particularly Isuzu Yamada's creepily unemotional take on Lady Macbeth's face, her face was extremely solid and motionless. Isuzu Yamada's stance and undeniable presence in this film was incredibly noticeable, in every scene and shot she delivered the role she was suppose to play . There was a scene in this film that i really loved her in, when she was rambling her hands together like she was supposedly washing her hands in a waterless bowl. My point is, the emotion and facial expression she portrayed in this film was exciting because that's the first time she probably showed emotion in this film, and the look of anguish, pain, hurt, troubled, and isolation, was well played out .

While Mifune proves consistently gripping in the sheer intensity of his performance, with undeniable strong,expressionless faces. For example, i feel there were three scenes in this film that showed Mifune's greatest acting skills, the first has to be when he kills the king then runs back to his wife, then he had the most unbelievable, undeniable, troubled, and shocking look like i can't believe i just killed the king while holding the weapon (sword), and his hand buried in a pool of blood. Another has to be when the maid stops him in the middle of the room from seeing his wife, and there was so much empty space in the room, and that scene represents the feeling of loneliness and isolation he was feeling. Also during the conclusion, in which Washizu makes a memorable final stand against an advancing army, he was shot by his own archers and stumbles forward like a porcupine before being shot in the neck. He slowly descends the stairs and dies, collapsing dramatically on the ground which was filled with clouds of fog.

Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood strips away Macbeth's minor characters and long soliloquies, turns the witch scenes into a strange supernatural encounter, and transforms the landscape into a misty visage. Kurosawa masterfully employs style and composition to create a closed world in which the film's tragic outcome seems pre-ordained. Such visual motifs as fog, wind, and rain, complimented or matched with the austere interior of Washizu's castle, create an eerie, foreboding feel, while Kurosawa's use of stark blacks and whites, coupled with his persistent use of hard edits, seem to place the characters in stylistic confinement that moved the plot along. Kurosawa uses repetition, such as the image of Washizu's emerging from the fog, to suggest the futility of the characters' actions.

Impressive in every regard, Throne of Blood seems secure in the pantheon of superior film adaptations of William Shakespeare. Throne of Blood is a visually brilliant, an emotionally powerful masterpiece from one of the true masters of cinema (Akira Kurosawa).

Titus

Titus Andronicus was actually one of William Shakespeare's lesser-known theatrical plays. The begins with Roman General Titus Andronicus played by Anthony Hopkins, had returned from defeating the Goths in a bloody battle, but the victory had left him with mixed feelings, as the war took the lives of several of his sons. Titus is reminded by his first-born son Lucius that their faith demands the sacrifice of an enemy prisoner as a gift to the gods for their victory. Titus chooses the eldest son of Tamora , the queen of the Goths, who has since been taken hostage by Titus's troops. Tamora pleads for her son's life, but Titus goes ahead with the sacrifice. She then becomes the lover of the new emperor of Rome, Saturninus played by Alan Cumming, a weak-willed and corrupt man. Tamora uses her connection to the throne for her own ends: in retaliation for the death of her son, Tamora and her surviving sons, Chiron and Demetrius, brutally rape Titus's beloved daughter, Lavinia. This act sets in motion an ever-tightening spiral of revenge and retaliation that leaves few of the participants unscathed.

Titus is filled with elements of characters, plot and themes that Shakespeare would enlarged on. It includes a father betrayed by his progeny (`King Lear'), a Moorish general (`Othello'), a struggle for political power, and a theme that runs through virtually all Shakespeare's tragedies - the need for revenge to maintain filial or familial honor. Anthony Hopkins is superb as Titus, capturing the many internal contradictions that plague this man who, though a beloved national hero and military conqueror, finds himself too weary to accept the popular acclamation to make him emperor - a decision he will live to rue when his refusal ends up placing the power directly into the hands of a rival who makes it his ambition to bring ghastly ruin upon Titus' family. Titus is also a man who can, without a twinge of conscience, kill a son he feels has betrayed him and disembowel a captive despite the pleas of his desperate mother, yet, at the same time, show mercy to the latter's family, humbly refuse the power offered him, and break down in heartbroken despair at the executions of his sons and the sight of his own beloved daughter left tongueless and hand-less by those very same people he has seen fit to spare.

Visually, this wide-screen film is a stunner.The director matches the starkness of the drama with a concomitant visual design, often grouping the characters in studied compositions set in bold relief against an expansive, dominating sky. There were countless of amazing shots in this film but my favorite would have to be when Titus' daughter turned around to show her uncle who she really was, that shot was shot in slow motion as she was turning around, then I have never seen blood so beautiful than in this film, the motion of blood splurging out of her mouth was brilliantly done, her condition was so bad, that as a viewer you couldn't help but feel pity for her. The use of color was brilliant, I couldn't help myself from stop looking at this film because the color was popping and out there, you couldn't help but notice.

I loved this movie because it was a drama, it pulled me in, it kept me guessing and thinking about what was going to happen next. I think the music and lighting helped this film because it was stunning. If I had to say one word that describes the overall feel of this film it had to be madness.