Create a Movie: Lawless Rider

STUDIO:

20th Century Fox. Known for socially-conscious adventure films and “hokey cheesey ‘Americana’.” Worked with Ford and Wayne.   

CAST/CREW:

Director: John Ford

A well known Director working in the 30's, made a lot of westerns, frequently worked with John Wayne and worked with Bert Glennon on Stagecoach in 1939.

Cinematographer: Bert Glennon

Received the Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Black & White) for Stagecoach in 1939

Actors: John Wayne, Alice Faye

John Wayne is a quintessential Western movie star that works with John Ford and Fox.

Faye also worked with Fox and was considered very popular and attractive.

GENRE:

Western. Audience familiarity. Escapism from the 30's. Cultural critique against banks/wealth.

The idea of the rugged individual can comfort the poor conditions of the great depression. The themes of justice are of interest to a bank-hating public.

SYNOPSIS:

The movie begins with Charles (Wayne) and a group of five rugged bandits looking upon a fairly large mansion on a grassy knoll. As conversation begins to develop, it is learned that the group is there to ransack the mansion for all it’s worth, and it appears that Charles is the ringleader for tonight. Charles explains that the rich couple that owns the house is out for the night, and won’t be back until late in the evening. After a few more gloss overs of the plan, the band separates to get in through the three different entrances, each man at an entrance carefully picking a door open. Once the men are in the building, all is well, until Charles discovers a girl cowering in her closet in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Charles quickly notices that the girl has made a phone call and assumes that it was to the police; seconds later, law enforcement has arrived, and, not yet spotted, Wayne snatches the girl and bolts out of the building, riding off into the night on horseback. It is explained that the girl’s name is Margaret, (Faye) and Charles says the intention of the kidnapping was for some sort of ransom. He explains that he’s not going home without any money. After several escape attempts by Margaret, the two are attacked by a group of bandits looking for loot. Charles ends up fighting them off, and becomes a sort of protector to Margaret, no longer seeing her as a tool for money. As the relationship between the two grows as they continue journeying, Margaret expresses her desire to live in Sacramento. Charles agrees, and after a long and arduous journey, is met with law enforcement officials who know his face. After a solitary respite in a town shop, Margaret is alerted to the sound of gunshots. As she runs outside, she finds Charles dead on the ground, having killed two officers before being gunned down. *Note: it is never made clear whether Margaret loves Charles back or not, just that the hostility fades and she’s complacent with being with him/enjoys his company. It is possible that she loves him, but that’s up to viewer speculation.

HAYS CODE:

Considering the movie follows an anti-hero turned hero, it’s fairly hard to make judgement calls on what’s appropriate and what’s not. However, our character is initially portrayed as a morally detestable person, one that audiences will struggle to support or relate with. Until the point where Charles begins his change of character, the actions committed are frowned upon, due to the law winning in the end over the bandits.  As the relationship between Charles and Margaret develops and the audience begins to identify with Charles, his actions will have the audience rooting for good causes, like protecting someone special. However, in order to make the movie a real moral tale, Charles death informs the audience that a life of crime doesn't just fade away, no matter how much you do to wipe it clean. Charles will always be an enemy in the eyes of the law: his actions have already defined him.

TECHNOLOGY:

Black and White film. Common for 30's Westerns. Stagecoach was black and white and was made in 1939… received award for best cinematography.

IF I COULD HAVE DONE ANYTHING DIFFERENTLY:

I wouldn't have chosen the title we ended up with. I guess it's kind of cool to have the whole generic western thing turned on it's head by the end of the film, but it made me feel like I had to joke about it. It worked out though, didn't it? I'm still struggling to figure out how.

MYST: #1 Inglorious Basterds

MYST #1: Inglorious Basterds

For those of you who don't know me very well, let me start off by telling you something about me. I LOVE history, and have since a kid. So don’t be surprised to see primarily movies that take place in history.

While at a friends a few weeks ago, we were flipping through some channels and we saw that the last bit of the movie was on. It was still just as funny even seeing all the movie again. When I first heard of I thought it would be a “Saving Private Ryan” or “The Dirty Dozen” type of film. Boy was I wrong. Quentin Tarentino made this into a War and comedy movie the only like of which can match Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H*.

** Spoilers alert**

It's WWII in Nazi occupied France. The Nazis are exterminating Jews, the most prolific Jew hunter is SS Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). The U.S. Army makes a unit, led by Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) comprised of eight Jews, to kill as many Nazis as possible. Raine tells each of his men to bring him the 100 Nazi scalps. He has his own method of ensuring that those Nazis he does allow to live. In Paris, Joseph Goebbels (Hitlers Chief of propaganda)  plans to debut his latest film, "Nation's Pride". The film, based on the victorious military exploits of Private Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Bruhl), during the battle Sicily in 1943.  Because of his attraction to its pretty proprietress Emmanuelle Mimieux (Melanie Laurent), Zoller convinces Goebbels to have the premiere at Mimieux's cinema. Landa is to act as chief of security for the event. When the Americans get wind of the screening and the fact that most of the Nazi leaders will be in attendance, Raine's team is tasked with blowing up the cinema during the screening. They are assisted by renowned German actress, Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger), who has been working as a spy for the British. They believe luck is on their side when they learn that Hitler himself is scheduled to attend. Beyond being found out, Raine's team face two issues. The first is Mimieux, who is Shoshanna Dreyfus, a Jew who saw her family brutally murdered by Landa four years earlier and has her own plans for the Nazis. The second is Landa, who has another more personal mission for his life post-war.

One thing that stuck out to was how innovative it was. Like I mentioned before, it a lot like M*A*S*H*, the movie has the theme of comedy in war as well as out right ridiculousness. This however takes them and makes them extreme. Like the extreme gore Tarentino is known for and for jokes about killing Nazis for example. Or when the "Bear Jew" More or less plays baseball with a Nazi's head As a person who enjoys history, I liked how accurately it was portrayed. There were a few points that weren't obviously, but that made the movie funnier to me. The war element is very present to because there are things you would see in a World War Two movie, blood,  tanks,  Hitler, Soldiers fighting and the list goes on .

Another thing that I really enjoyed was the acting for the movie. Normally, I don't care who plays who or judge people based off of their experience or skill. But this movie had a smorgasbord of variety from little known actors like Eli Roth and Til Schweiger to more well-known actors like Brad Pitt and Diane Kruger. It also has great cameos by people like Quentin Tarentino himself and Vince Vaughn just to name a couple.

I give this move 5 Basterds out of 5!

   

Review of the Reviewers

Now for those  who haven't seen Star Wars IV let me give you a brief summary. The movie starts off with two spaceships chasing after each other`and later  a ship gets boarded. after confrontation on the ship we meet young boy from Tatooine, a desert plant where he sets out on an adventure with an old Jedi named Obi-Wan Kenobi as his mentor to save Princess Leia from the ruthless Darth Vader who was on the ship. He later joins a rebel group to try and destroy the Death Star space station built by the Empire which has the power to destroy the entire galaxy.

 Jonathan Rosenbaum, of the Chicago Reader said 


"None of these characters has any depth, and they're all treated like the fanciful props and settings!"

To start of, I think that Rosenbaum is looking at this with a closed mind or even biased. Yes, there are seemingly countless props and different settings around but that is there for a reason.  The main reason for his disapproval if because of all the success it has gotten. In the full review, he mentioned it as a distraction for 10 year olds, that became a massive cult following.  He uses everything he can to prove his point to the concept and plot to more extreme things like the Gulf War and comparisons to walls. Despite the ridiculousness of those ideas he has a point. He says that the Gulf war was all about technology, much like the movie. He used George Orwell to back up his point.

 The other review is from Rodger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times

"Lucas fills his screen with loving touches."

 Now, Roger Ebert looked at the big picture and Star Wars's beginnings in his review.  He explains of depth of story telling, and how this is a great example of cinema's finest at doing so. Along with that, he tells of how so many things helped create these movies, like the Wizard of Oz helped create some of the characters or how the Nazi's inspired the Empire. Ebert seems to be passionate and up beat about this movie rather than Rosenbaum. 

If I had to pick one quote, I would pick Ebert's. He sees it for more then a movie all about technology. He also sees all of these culture references that everyone has known to grow and love. I also enjoy how he ties in both native  and why he thinks its exciting. When most people think of a narrative its a book, but a movie that is a narrative of its own are these ones. 
If I were to pick one to believe it would be Ebert again. The main reason is because there are more people that enjoy this movie than not. Another reason why is because I actually know who Roger Ebert is unlike Rosenbaum. 


If I were to write a review, I would focus more so on the Plot, culture reference, and narrative style. I enjoy reviews that talk about the plot rather than a 5 paragraph tangent on why a movie is either good or bad. I would leave most of the casting out because they are relatively unknown at the time, at least back then. 

Film Intro Survey

1. What was the first movie that had a really strong impression on you?
 Star Wars IV was the first the first movie to give me a strong impression. It introduced me into different types of gen genres, gave me different feelings, created an amazing story and love able characters. Not to mention there would later be biggest plot twist of all time.

2. What are 3-4 of my favorite genres?
    War, Documentary, Action/ Adventure, and Comedy

3. What are 3-4 of my least favorite genre?
     Romance, Musical, Foreign, and Horror

4. My five favorite films: Star Wars, Back to the Future, Forest Gump, Black Hawk Down, and The Sandlot

5. Three characteristics that make a movie good
     Enjoyable story, Good acting, Good ending

6. Least favorite movies:
    Titanic, Pearl Harbor, White Chicks,  Wind Talkers, The Spiderwick Chronicles

7. Three characteristics of a bad movie,
     Forced character connection, bad special effects, over dramatization

8. Favorite Directors:
    George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Clint Eastwood, and David Fincher

9. Favorite actors: John Wayne, Tom Hanks, Clint Eastwood, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson

10. Three important films: Star Wars IV, Saving Private Ryan, and Forest Gump

11. Oldest favorite film: The Sands of Iwo Jima

12: The best movie I have seen in 2 years: Tie between Gone Girl/ Guardians of the Galaxy

13. Next five Movies on queue: The Wolf of Wall Street, Shawshank Redemption, Aliens, The Lego Movie, American Sniper