Bicycle Thief

De Sicas' "Bicycle Thief" is a really great movie in my opinion. It was made in 1949, and is about Ricci and his family in post war Italy, which was suffering from Depression at the time. When Ricci gets a job which relies on a bicycle, he is overwhelmed with relief and dreams of finally being able to get his family back on its feet. He and his wife sell some of their belongings so Ricci is able to afford to get his bicycle out of the repair shop. Life seems like it is about to change, but Ricci’s only hope of a new and improved future for his family is taken from him - by a bicycle thief. We then see Ricci spiral downward on his day long journey with his young son to find the bike, until he resorts to trying to steal someone else's bike, lowering himself down to the level of the man who stole away his last chance.

I thought that this movie was really good. It doesn't suprise me that it is constantly voted one of the greatest movies of all time. The themes and desparation of the movie are things that most people (except for the wealthy) can relate to, as most of us have been desperate for something at some stage in our lives. It is very tragic watching Ricci and his boy on their seemingly hopeless quest, and you do feel happier at the points in the film Ricci and his son are happy, like in the restaurant scene, but ultimately it is a tradgedy. I was very interested to hear that the actors in the film weren't really actors at all, they were people in the situations that their characters were in for the film.

I think that this is a masterpiece of cinema.

Double Indemnity

'Double Indemnity' is a film by Billy Wilder. The plot is about a successful insurance salesman, Walter, who finds himself being talked into murder by a beautiful woman, Phyllis. They commit the murder hoping to profit from an ingeniously set up double indemnity insurance policy on the life of Phyllis' husband. The plan works perfectly until Walter and Phyllis lose their cool and everything falls apart.

I thought this film was great, it was really well thought out, it got me thinking.... hmmm that plan could work. I thought it was a really clever film, and I loved the 'Shut-up baby' lines. It was nice to see a film from that era so I could see why people make parodies of them in the way they do. I thought the film had some really good tense, anxious moments, and I loved the voice over narration. The film had me captivated for its entirety, and I really enjoyed it.

An old movie, but still one I wouldn't mind watching again.

The Grand Illusion

A french masterpiece of film by Jean Renoir. The films story takes place in World War One, where french soldiers are captured by the Germans. The film follows De Boldieu, Marechal, and Rosenthal as they try to escape from numerous German camps and prisons, before eventually escaping and taking refuge in a cottage.

I liked the fact that this was a war movie but had little violence, and it was nice to see the light hearted and witty humour that has been lost over the years. That being said, I do think that the film was a little long, and the story could either have been trimmed down, or ended at different points throughout the film.

The acting is great by all of the actors, I liked the relationship between Stroheim and De Boldieu, and how Marechal felt distant from the people so close to him because they had a higher social standing. It was nice to see some real issues. The scenery, being filmed in Europe, is really beautiful, and this beauty compliments the fact that the characters in the film are trying to find beauty in their situation and their lives, against the odds.

A nice film, but I did lose interest a couple of times.

Fantasmagorie

If you haven't seen this - WATCH IT!

It is the first animation film, made in 1908 by Emile Cohl. It contains a number of sequences of things metamorphisising into other things, and is very funny and entertaining. Just like Melies', 'A trip to the moon', I think anyone should be able to watch it and be entertained, and if not entertained, I would hope that they can at least appreciated it for what it is. The founding of animation as we know it today. An animation 100 years old should be enough to entice any viewer. It really is a wonderful experience to see this film.

A trip to the Moon

'A trip to the Moon' by Georges Melies is amazing. I still love this film purely because it is from 1902, which I think is absolutely amazing! I also love it because it is a series of short comedy sketches, all following a main storyline - a bunch of scientists build a way of getting to the moon, land in the moons eye, see some amazing moon sights, are attacked and taken hostage by some selenites, before fighting their way out and escaping back to Earth where they are greeted as heroes.

Made in 1902!!! Genius!!!

I think that this movie should be seen by anyone with any interest whatsoever in film, because it really is amazing that we have a film from such a long time ago, and it is entertaining as a bonus.

The Great Train Robbery

'The Great Train Robbery' is a film from 1903 by Edwin S. Porter, who was an 'Edison cameraman'. The film is the first narrative film in history, and could also be called the first ever action film (and boy, does it have some action)!

The film follows a group of highwaymen as they stop a train, take over the train, throw some people off the train, steal the loot from the train, and ride off to what they thought was a safe wood. However, the local village police have been alerted and a fast paced shoot-out and chase scene shoot-out ensues.

I thought that this was wonderful because of how old it was, and I thought it was really cool to see action sequences and stunts, as well as trick photography done so long ago. I found this film immensely entertaining and it should be seen by people with an interest in film.

P.S. The bandit at the end firing the pistol was a really nice touch! I can see how it would have shocked audiences back in its day.

Spiderman 3

The most expensive movie ever made. Embarrasing. I really enjoyed the first 2 movies in the Spiderman series, and I have always been a fan of the Marvel comics and cartoons, but I really feel that this one wasn't up to scratch.

The storyline of this one involves Harry/Green Goblin losing his memory and becoming the friend he once was, then regaining his memory and becoming evil again, then going back to good, the love triangle and abusive love between Harry, Peter and MJ, the black goo/venom taking over Peter, and then Eddie Brock, and the newly emerged 'Sandman'. With so much going on you'd assume the movie was very exciting, and don't get me wrong, the fight scenes had some exciting moments, and the special effects WERE amazing, but it goes to show that your audience doesn't always get what you pay for - money doesn't buy happiness - money isn't everything etc etc....

The acting was irritating. People laughed when characters cried, and cried when actors tried to act. The storyline was really dissapointing on the whole, sadly I think the thing that most people remember most about this movie was the 'emo' haircut and dodgy dance scene, sorry, dodgy dancing scenes.

Really disappointing, sorry Sam Raimi (director).

The Valet

'The Valet' is a french comedy by Francois Veber. The basic plot is that Pierre, a successful businessman is photographed with his lover Elena, a supermodel, and in order to save his marriage he tells his wife that the woman isn't his lover, but the lover of the main character Francois Pignon. This in turn is a problem because all Francois wants to do is marry his sweetheart Emilie.

Being a comedy, it did have a lot of jokes, some which I found funny, some I didn't, this may have something to do with the fact that I'm not French, or perhaps they just weren't that funny. I did like the storyline and I think it was very well acted and on the whole it was quite an enjoyable film. I understand that the movie is a sequel, and I would be interested to see the first film. I liked this movie, but I wouldn't buy it and I probably wouldn't see it again.

Bobby

'Bobby' by Emilio Estevez has some big names attached to it, Anthony Hopkins, Sharon Stone, Demi Moore and Lawrence Fishburne to name a few (unfortunately Lindsay Lohan is one of them).

I think that this is an extremely important film, a reminder of a terrible decade that saw America lose all of their last hopes, and their hopes ended with Robert F. Kennedys' murder.

I enjoy that Estevez shows us something different on the subject, whilst the film is about Bobby, its main view is that on the lives of people in the hotel that night, and how Bobby and his death affected them. The film makes you feel as if you are in the excitement of the night, and my own emotions swayed with those of the characters in the film. It was great to see archive footage in the film and this helped the overall emotions and feel of the film. The scene towards end of the film created a lot of confusion and anxiety, and this was excellent, as it captured what the atmosphere would have been like at the actual event.

I thought this was a great movie, generally I do love movies of this type (eg- movies about the tragedies of the Martin Luther King, Malcom X and JFK murders), and I feel that this is one of the greats in the genre.