Hello Claris...

I am such a sucker for serial killer movies and these crime thrillers... I don't know if it necessarily means I have an alter psycho personality, but just the image of Jodie Foster's black and white face with the orange butterfly covering her mouth gives me the bumps :)


In the movie, young FBI agent Clarice Starling is assigned to help find a missing woman to save her from a psychopathic serial killer who skins his victims. Clarice attempts to gain a better insight into the twisted mind of the killer by talking to another psychopath Hannibal Lecter, who used to be a respected psychiatrist. 


The amazing talent of Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster is what makes this movie.


The movie won Oscars for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Picture and Best Screenplay in 1992.

Pulp Fiction

Oh where to start with this one...Pulp Fiction, is probably my second-favorite movie of all times after Forrest Gump, and with good reason... I don't even wanna get into what a mastermind Quentin Tarantino is because that's a rant that will go on for days... But this movie specifically is a great piece of work, because it has such a unprecedented plot and the distorted chronology of the narrative. The dialogue is true to the vernacular  culture.

Each of the characters are so different than each other and cause a great comparison of the different types of people we might be faced to deal with in life, even if our life is not so wild. 

For years though, I wondered what "pulp fiction" is and I have recently found the perfect explanation. According to vintagelibrary.com, the term refers to the huge amount of creative writing available to the American public in the early nineteen-hundreds. Termed "pulp magazines" because of the low quality paper used between the covers, these publications proliferated in the nineteen-thirties and nineteen-forties to the point where they blanketed newsstands in just about every popular fiction genre of the time.

So there you go, another reason to appreciate the awesomeness of this movie, as if the music the realness, the characters and the dialogue isn't enough.

The movie was nominated for eight Oscars in 1995 and won the award for Best Screenplay.

The Kiss that Got Us Talking

One of the most memorable moments at the Oscar's was when Adrian Brody french-kissed the gorgeous Hale Berry in front of millions, before his acceptance speech of Best Actor in the year 2003 for the movie The Pianist. The kiss was so natural and made us all "awwww..." with awe because his passion came directly from his excitement, and well-deserved I must add.


The Pianist told the story of Polish composer, Wladyslaw Szpilman and his struggle to stay alive during the events of the Holocaust and World War II, while being cast away from his loved ones. The movie was an absolute must-see for anyone who cares about history and what the cinema can do to document it. Brody's performance, along with Roman Polanski's directing joined together to create a work of art.


With out a doubt in my mind, I think it was one of the best Holocaust movies ever made, because of the focus on the specific character.


The picture won Oscars for Best Director, Best Actor and Best Screenplay in 2002.

Jack?!?

If you ask any girl who grew-up in the nineties, they will tell you the role Titanic played in their psycho-social development in forming an idea of what love truly is...

This 1920s classic portrays a deep romance between a naive unhappy bachelorette of the day's high-class society who is about to be wed to an ideal bachelor in order to fulfill expectations when she meets a spontaneous, low-class artist on one the first cruise ship built to last any natural or mechanical endeavor. The relationship they form turns out to be everything they both need but naturally looked down upon by the rest of the characters therefore, they are to be punished. While the ship is built to last, the irony comes in when we see that it can not outlast the overwhelming burden of this dyad's love. The sinking of the ship was one of the most moving scenes of all times with the great visual effects included.

But to me, the most effective scene was that when Jack and Rose are in the freezing water, waiting to be rescued and when Rose finally realizes that the rescue teams are arriving and tries to wake Jack up, only to discover he has frozen. She calls out "Jack?! Jack?!" as we see him sink deeper and deeper into the dark water and eventually disappear. I have personally seen grown men cry to this scene, which must mean it's that good :)

The film was awarded with eleven Oscars in 1998 including; Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography. It was calculated to have the greatest cost in production of any movie ever made, until James Cameron's other movie Avatar last year.

In-TER-ception

One film I watched this year, that just made me want to scream "What the F*******?!?" as I walked out the theater, was Inception, starring Leo DiCaprio and Ellen Page. It was one of those movies that made you think about it in the shower, while walking to you car, as you are about to fall asleep (definitely with this one) for at least a couple of days after you've seen it. I have to admit I was kind of pissed off by this effect it had on me, but not enough to cloud my judgement and eventually appreciate this movie for the multiple levels of understanding it provided for us.

One of the big dogs of directing Christopher Nolan, once again managed to daze audiences around the world with the portrayal of this "a-dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream" plot and the stupendous special effects that made the movie so entertaining.

I was not particularly over-the-top about any specific actor's work as much as I was astonished with the story and the effects. Big ups to Nolan on this one. The movie won Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing and Best Cinematography Oscars this year.

Survival of the Fittest

Darwin was soo right-on with this idea of survival of the fittest. The funny thing is although he observed this theory with evolution and animals, it is so much better applicable for the social context of the human race.

I happened to record a genius film on my DVR this weekend and enjoyed it dearly  viewing for the first time. I even felt somewhat inadequate of a movie-lover because I had never seen it before. 

Starring Morgan Freeman, Tim Robbins and Bob Gunton, Shawshank Redemption was the story of two incarcerated members of the Shawshank Prison, uncovering comfort and eventual redemption through acts of common decency. 

I was particularly impressed with how every single subplot was given a great deal of respect and attention from the director. The acting was world-class. And last but not least, the twists were unexpected even though the film had a warm and tingly feeling; the events unraveled without the slightest feeling of  pretentiousness or cliches.

The picture was awarded the Oscars for Best Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Music in an Original Score, Best Picture, Best Sound and Best Screenplay based on another medium in 1995.

The Prettiest "Ugly-Duckling"

Director and writer Darren Aronofsky without a doubt caught the attention of movie critics around the world this year, with his incredible piece of art: a little film we came to know as Black Swan. The unorthodox filming and camera techniques, the deeply psychological plot-twists as well as Natalie Portman's incredible depiction of the main character Nina-the ballerina were among the many features of this film that made it worth-seeing.

Although, us hollywood-suckers are used to seeing Portman as a space-bound princess or the girl-next-door in other movies, I came to find that she was the perfect casting call for this character. 

The movie itself was a satirical and darker version of Chaykovsky's "Swan Lake" which was situated at the heart of the plot. I thought it was a clever undertaking of twisting the "ugly-duckling" themes on Aronofsky's part.

Make-up, special effects a, costumes and the soundtrack were all among the things that made this film extra-ordinary in my opinion. Although without a doubt, Portman's acting as well as the incredible training was the talk of town as proved by her winning an Oscar for Best Actress at the age of 29.

Box of Chocolates...

This week, I ran into a PBS rerun of one of my favorite movies of all time Oscar-winning pictures; Forrest Gump. Sure this one is a little cheesy and senseless in some parts but isn't it one of those movies we all cherish? It is also one of the last works of Zemeckis before he started making non-sense disasters like the House of Wax and Ghost Ship.

Obviously, there are many themes in the movie but the most important aspect of this movie is the depiction of the main character Forrest through his own, honest narration and the simple plot that somehow moves the audience and even bring a little tear down the cheek by the time the credits start rolling. Forrest's hopeless love for Jenny, his genuine bravery, his naive yet brilliant discoveries ("some kind of a fruit company," "Shit Happens,"  Watergate, the Smiley Face) and the way he conducts his whole life based on his mama's ideologies and quotes tells us the heart-warming story of a not-so-smart southern boy, who becomes a man of honor, gratitude and affection through out his incredible journey. Many elements of the plot of his life story can be amplified to the ups and downs of human life. The heartbreaks and yearnings, the service and the awards, the wanting-to-run-for-miles feeling we might have when we get depressed  are all things we can relate to so well and maybe thats why my heart skips a beat no matter how many times I watch it this movie.

Maybe it is the love story, maybe the amazing friendships and family relations , maybe the brave service in the army, the unstoppable football success, or  the journey from one cost to the other on foot, or just the white feather flying aimlessly accompanied by the beautiful piano, that made me fall in love with this movie. Whatever it is, I'm glad it did.

I don't know anybody who hasn't yet seen this movie but if you haven't please do, I guarantee you that your first time will NOT be your last time. For me its probably been about 20 or so viewings throughout my lifetime and never do I get bored. Forrest Gump, won six Oscars in 1994 including Best Actor for Tom Hanks(who is amazing!!!,) Best director, Best picture, Best effects (perhaps because of the whole feather thing_) and best screenwriting based on a book.

The Hangover : Part 2 - Official Teaser [HD]

The "Colossal" Network

I thought it would be appropriate to pick the Oscar-Wining film The Social Network as the subject for my first blog, as this class is about "Social Media" and all.  This movie was not only extremely interesting because of its depiction of the success story which bloomed right in front of our eyes but also because of the cinematography, the portrayal of the characters and the tiny little glimpse of pathos provided by the makers.


Unfortunately, I haven't been as up-to-date with the recent pictures as I would like to be. I actually did not get a chance to see The Social Network until a couple of weeks ago, which was just in time for the Academy Awards. At the 2011 Academy awards, The Social Network was nominated for 8 categories including Best Picture and Best Actor and got awards for Best Achievement in Editing, Best Achievement in Original Score and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published.
Like I said I haven't had a chance to see all of the movies awarded at the Oscars this year how ever I did get the sense that the awe of the movie got lost in the shadow of the rest of the nominees as the actors and actresses and the directors were bigger names in those pictures. 


As a film, I found the Social Network to be not only informative but tremendously artistic as well. The main character Mark carried the irony of the story; he was intelligent, witty yet socially awkward. It made the audience think "How weird is it that the man behind the biggest social network of the world was only this successful in a virtual environment because he lacked these skills in the real world?" And of course, the show-stealing story behind his success was one we have heard in many tales before, yet it still managed to bedazzle me. In my opinion, his best friend and the twins were both in their cases against Zuckerberg, yet somehow the audience was directed to like this guy as if he was right. 
The cinematography was also phenomenal along with the music in certain scenes such as the rowing race scene in England. 
Over all I highly recommend watching this movie to any movie lover or anyone interested in this story. I believe it to be a master-piece. 

Movies 'R' Us

...and we are movies.

We all have our favorite movies and favorite characters in those movies that we can relate to. We can ll find  ourselves in film, whether it's about the heroic efforts of soldiers during a war, or about friendly cars turning into robots and wiping out things that get in their way. Sure we all have different tastes, some of us actually dream of those robot-cars coming to life, while some of us enjoy watching the the romantic comedies with happy endings at all costs. Whatever we may choose to watch on the screen, is a part of our personality.

After giving it much thought I have finally come up with the subject of this blog: It will be about film. Now, let's take into consideration that I am a Communication major and I do have a mere sense of what director's styles are or what is being conveyed, but I am NOT a professional. I am warning you that I do not know the types of shots that can be used, or the angles or anything technical about the art of making a movie. What I reflect on this blog will only be my thoughts, feelings or personal opinions about the movies I watch.

Despite my uber-busy schedule with my 21-credit semester taking place, I will try my best to watch an Academy-Award winning picture every week and comment on it...I hope that to those reading it, it will be helpful and we can talk about what we all felt about the movie...

black and white movies

We started watching a movie in our visual rhetoric class today about the Algerian Revolution that took place in the 1950s. The movie is very old and in two other languages. And... last but not least it is Black and White...

Living and growing up in a world where everything is plastic, perfect, high-tech and  super fast, these ingredients might not look very desirable at first. But I tend to appreciate things that are retro, more artistic and in their original context. I feel that this black and white movie, captures all the elements of that time and place and has no problems underlining the facial expressions, the violence of the battle scenes and the emotion of the story as well.

At the risk of sounding like a movie trailer; In a world where everything is colorful and fast-paced is it too much of a trouble to step out of the artifice, slow down and appreciate the old days and all the glory they bring with them?...

It's weird, I had some previously set obligations I had to attend to today so I had to miss school. Back in high school this would be a good thing but ever since I started at UMD every time I miss class, i feel ridiculously guilty about it. It's not that missing a few classes is going to cause me to get bad grades or get me in trouble, because we have a pretty cool environment at shady grove where we can all ask eachother for notes or homework assignments. It's just the emotional responsibility i think. It's like going to class everyday becomes a part of who you are, so when you don't go you're cheating on yourself... let alone alll the money and sacrifices we make to sign up for these classes :))

This notion is something I find pretty scary actually, because I  always wonder what's going to happen once we get out of school, after we graduate I mean. Unless I find a 9-5 job right a way, I might be in such a weird mood or feel really empty.

But then again, there is nothing more beautiful than having a burrito, and then come home and snuggle with the blanket and fall asleep watching tv on the couch... I love being lazy!!!! :)) But I can't afford it most of the time :))
hope everyone had fun in class today:)

hi everyone!