Friday, December 19, 2008
Film Performance Review 2nd Quarter
You are required to watch at least ( 2 ) film acting performances from my list of Best Acting Performances. Below write ( 2 ) well-thought out, detailed reviews of each film acting performance. Make sure to discuss character, commitment to the role, acting techniques, overall actor's approach (emotional, physical, psychological).
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So i dont know if these are on the list becuase i left it at school so if they arent i guess i will redo them or something. I recently watched dreamgirls for about the millionth time ahah and this time i watched the acting more thoroughly then ever. Obviously the performance i'm going to review is Jeniffer Hudson. I think she did a wonderful job. Knowing how she acts in real life, i did not see even one trace of her true personality showing through, she was effie throughout every moment. The way she moved, the way she talked, the way she used her face, it was all Effie (or her take on Effie i guess). Something i noticed that i really liked was the way she moved her lips. Its not the way she does in real life and it was obviously a character choice and i liked it. Overall i think she was amazing, during her big song i was literally in tears, not becuase of what the moment was about, but becuase i was so moved by what she was doing. She without a doubt deserves the oscar.
antoher movie watched recently was Gypsy. I had never seen the musical and i absolutely adored this movie! Mama Rose, Bette Midler, was obviously my favorite part. I think if you looked up mama rose in the dictionary, her performance would be next to it. She did it so well, every move she made was how that woman would move. I loved the way she said her lines. I almost loved watching her act more than watching her sing. She has a monologue at the end of the show and it is without a doubt the best part of the movie in my opinion. She has so much emotion behind every word. and then she sings her final song on the stage alone. Of course i was in tears at the end of this as well.
Haha well so yeah these two performances are fantastic even if the arent on the list!
I just saw Phantom last week-ish, and it was soooooooo goooood! The voices in it were so powerful, and the scenery was really cool. While I was watching the first act, i thought it was okay, but not amazing. But I thought that Phantom was going to be one of those things where you would need to watch it, and then let it sink in, and then all of a sudden you'd be like "omg! that was awesome!" but I was wrong. The second act like made the show.
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With Love,
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so the First movie i saw is Who's afraid of Virgina Wolf? I happened to be looking threw the movies on IO and new that sarah and Ray's scene was from it, and i knew that it was one of the movies on the list so i decided to watch it. Oh My Goodness! it was insane. First of all Elizabeth Taylor is insane! Her character is a drunk who's husband works as a professor at a school were her father is the dean. She is plain and simply crazy and Her husband just goes a lot with it. The entire time they keep making hints about there son who's birthday is supposed to be the following day, we'll get back to that in a minute. A new professor and his wife comes over to their house for drinks after a party and they all get insanely drunk, Elizabeth Taylor and the new professor end up almost sleeping together while the husband is right out side and knows about it but then they don't. In the end the young couple ends up staying till dawn the next day and leave when Richard Burton (Elizabeth Taylor's husband..i just remember his name)says that a phone call came while the others were upset, there son had died. At the very end you find out they never had a son it was just something they pretended because she made it up and like always he went along with it. Basically it was insane and i loved it.
The other thing i shall talk about is phantom of the Opera since Sunny said we could talk about it.I loved it a lot. I think the best character was Raoul which is awesome since he was an understudy. In all i thought the show was amazing, i would have sang along at some parts but i was sitting next to Mr.H and i didn't want to get yelled at. I thought Christine could have been a little more sweeter i didn't get a very delicate feeling from her, which i think the character should be like but i still liked her.Also i didn't think the Phantom himself was that amazing and i heard a couple cracks in the first act but he did great in the second act so i was happy.
Okay, so my first film I am going to review is The Devil Wears Prada. I am absolutely in love with this movie and the performances given by both Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway. I would review Anne's performance, but Mrs. Sundberg said I'm not allowed, so I am going to review Meryl Streep. Meryl Streep, in anything I have ever seen her in, is such a chamelion and is able to create this larger than life characters that are so true and so real and is able to do it so smoothly. The character she played in this movie was the stero-typical editor of a high fashion magazine. Her character came with the glitz and the glam of the fashion world as well as the demanding and harsh personalities of typical editors. Although, nothing like this, Streep was able to fully commit herself to this role and was without a doubt a major success. You could see the harsh exterior she was showing to the world, and were able to see those glimpses of heart and warmth from within. I think something that I enjoyed most about her performance was her pacing and the moments she took, that sometimes said more to me than when she spoke. There was something really special about those quiet moments where you could see in her eyes what she was thinking and feeling and could feel those things as well. She committed herself mind body and soul to this character and allowed us to see the emotional, physical, and psychological aspects of this character that was so far from what she really is in real life.
The seond thing I am going to review is The Phantom of the Opera. I want to specifically focus on Christine's performance. I have never seen this show before and didn't know much about it, but from what I have heard the character of Christine is supposed to be very light and delicate. I felt like I wasn't completely getting that feeling from her, which could have been a chracter choice, or just could have been her inability to express those character traits to the audience. She had a wonderful voice, and she was able to potray her feelings of saddness as well as scaredness very efficiently. Through the help of costumes, lights, and sets, her character was able to really come alive and you were able to see this confused and scared girl that was being sucked into this trap the Phantom has laid out. I felt like she was fully commited to the role and was doing the best she could onstage. I want to quickly talk about the Phantom. Although an understudy, I thought he was pretty decent. There were some musical glitches and some acting choices that were questionable, but overall I thought he did a nice job. You could really see the anger and embarressment of himself and how much he wanted Christine to join him and be with him. You could see his desires and his internal and psychological weaknesses very clearly, and even still with one side of his face covered with a mask. Overall I though Phantom was a spectacular show, and I am sad that I have waited this long to see it!
Soo, thanks to Blockie's great monologue, I wanted to see Agnes of God to see what it was really about. I'm going to do a review of Meg Tilly, the actress that played Agnes, a troubled young nun that supposedly had a child and stangled it the day it was born. Really it was a study to see whether she was crazy or not, and if she should be charged for her actions. Meg Tilyl did a great job of being very innocent and ignorant, though the baby obviously had to come from somewhere. As the film went on, it was apparent that she did know more than she initially let on, and it was really nice to see ethe bond that was being created between her and JAne Fonda's character, the psychiatrist. Though she was a young woman, this actress did a great job of acting like a young girl, who was being abused, and needed love and guidance. It was crazy how Agnes was speaking of how she didn't have any idea how the baby came about, and it was hard to figure out what really happened. It was a mystery, gradually unravelling as time went on. It was also nice to see how the connection between Agnes and Marty grew stronger, and they became friends. I felt like it was genuine when MAtry (the doctor) told Agnes that she loved her, and actually wanted to help her. In general, it was a good movie, but it still leaves you thinking and wondering, because a lot of loose ends remain untied.
The second performance I saw was Phantom, like everyone else, I had high hopes because I've heard it was very very good. My favorite character was probably Raoul, becasue even thoug he was only a chorus member and an understudy, he was really good and played the part really well! His emotion and love felt for Christine was great, and he really showed devotion to protecting her. He risked getting hung to save her, so you know? And even though that Phantom cracked sometimes, and even though he was really Raoul, he was good at showing his sadness, anger and depression after he saw Christine with Raoul. At the end, I felt really REALLY bad, after he had let them go and was left alone by himself. I knw a bunch of people cried, and I was on hte verge of tears, too. All in all, it was great, but I'd like to go again just to see if it will be any different without the understudies.
Well, here goes. I left my list at the school so I don't have it with me so I'm going to review a movie that, in my opinion, should definitely be on the list because it is one of the most amazing movies I know. It is called Dead Poet's Society. It is a depressing story about an all boys college prep school and a teacher who made a huge difference in all of the student's lives. He taught them to think openly and independently and to always view things in a different way because nothing is so simple that it can only be looked at in one way. He was the hope of many of the boys at the school and his character choices really made him a man to look up to. He is played by Robin Williams. Robin Williams was dedicated to his role and that is what I think made him so enjoyable to watch. When he spoke, he was calm and touching. His voice alone really showed me the heart of his character. His eyes were also very gripping. He didn't need to say anything because you could tell by the look in his eyes what he was thinking. It was truly magnificent. In one scene, Robin Williams was speaking to one of his students who was having a hard time with his father. Williams eyes were tearing and no words could have the same effect. Overall, the acting by Robin Williams and all of the other characters was amazing and you really have to see this movie if you haven't. It's sooooooo good!
Another movie that I feel is worthy of the list is Amadeus. It is about a man named Antonio Salieri who was extremely jealous and envious of Mozart for his pure talent and devotion to music, that he ended up, in a sense, murdering the musician. Although the story is mainly about Salieri, it focuses on Mozart. The character that I am going to review is Mozart played by Tom Hulce. Mozart is a lighthearted, carefree child and really just wants to have a good time. But then he has this other side to him, this deep, intriguing side of Mozart that is shown by his passion for music. Tom Hulce has this amazing smile that really tells a lot about the character he plays. The best part about his performance was his extremely animated facial expressions and the very specific laugh that he gave to his character. Mozart's laugh brought a lot to the story and was a key idea in the portrayal of the character. Tom was definitely committed to this role. You can tell by the way he acts when he is Mozart. Out of all of the movies I have ever seen, Mozart stands out to me as being the most exciting character to watch. Every time Mozart was on the screen, even if he was just writing music on a sheet of paper, I was endlessly entertained, and that is impressive. I think that, not only was Mozart as a character very entertaining, but the way Tom Hulce brought life to Mozart is what made the character feel so real.
I saw Phantom of the Opera (duh?) and I feel like the entire performance was kind of really off. It didn't help that most of the actors were played by understudies. I think, however, that the person who played Christine this time around (since this is the second I've seen it) did a lot better than the other Christine. I just could feel her character a whole lot better. They all had voices that carried but hers carried way out, to the point of almost making me deaf. She had this way that she moved around the stage that was just so fitting, as if she always knew where her place was. Save for a few moments where she laid on the emotion a little too thickly, I think she did an overall good job.
Uhm for the second review, I saw Mamma Mia! And Meryl Streep was in this movie. Now, I absolutely ADORE Meryl Streep. In this movie though, I could hardly tell it was her! She had this way of walking and strutting around that was just kind of hmphy and bored with just everything! Just watching her reactions to everything was a real boost to the movie. Now, I know that Streep was in a ton of other things but never have I seen her look quite like this. I'm used to something totally different than this and she just busted out with this huge persona that was entirely captivating and I felt like it really enhanced the effect of the movie (which I loved.)
The first performance was Phantom of the Opera. Where it seems to show that all in all the phantom is evil but needs to get more credit i feel because he is confused malformed at birth so it's not his fault the way he was born.I don't even think he wanted to love cristie she just seemed to be like him with their voices and that's the only reason he loved her.
Then in pulp fiction you can see samuel jackson as a cold blooded killer to realizing he needs a different. He commits to killing someone as his character but still needs to show something of it so
he reads a bible passage and interpits it one way but after he has a near death experience he sees it differently. Where he almost got shot by a magnum but every bullet went around him not at him. Which he realizes he's passage has been showing him the way and he hasn't gone that way till that time. So he saves another man by his own troubles being solved and his character walks the earth as Travolta says a bum.
First movie I saw was PSYCHO. Not sure which version we were supposed to watch, but the only one I could get my hands on was the newer one with Vince Vaughn. Anyway, I had really high hopes for the movie since the 1930's film had such a legendary reputation behind it. Although I felt pretty let down. This was basically due to what felt like way too many unnecessary scenes to me. The first 30 – 40 minutes was simply about that woman on the run from the cops. So we don't even get introduced to the main character until about a little over a quarter of the way into the movie. Then she finally stops at that motel where we meet Vince Vaughn's character, who we end up learning a lot about him and his mother. As the movie goes on I can tell it's slowly getting to the famous shower kill scene, which has become very classic scene in the world of horror films. Finally it happens, and I felt like it was one of the most poorly shot death scenes I've ever seen in any horror movie. It looked like she was basically spinning around in circles, with the occasional shot of her feet with blood falling around them. If this was still the 1930's I could understand, but with how far horror movies have come I feel like they could have at least spiced up one of the most classic kills in any horror movie. Whatever though, I just decided to forget about that and keep watching. Then Vince Vaughn comes and it felt like the next 10 minutes of the movie was just him cleaning up the room, and dumping her body. So much suspense was building up, and I was waiting for it to go somewhere but it just didn't! Did they really need to spend 10 minutes on him cleaning up the mess, and dumping the body? I really felt like they could have sped that up into about a minute and a half montage, instead of a suspenseful 10 minute scene that didn't build up to anything. I honestly can't remember much more of the movie from there, except for the ending when *SPOILER ALERT* we find out that Vince Vaughn is his mother, AND the killer. Alright, in this day and age I would consider that a pretty generic twist for a movie, but I could see how it would have blown peoples minds back in the 1930's, so I'll give it that. Overall it was shot poorly, and there was way too many unneeded scenes. But the one thing I did like about it was Vince Vaughn's acting. Every time he was on screen he managed to play a pretty convincing crazy man, and I always remained suspicious of him throughout the whole movie, and I think that might have been what he was going for. All in all if you like horror movies, have good patience, or are a big fan of Vince Vaughn, then go see it. Then if not skip it, and check out the original instead because it's probably better. Better yet, check out American Psycho! All American movie right there, and how can you go wrong with Christian Bale? I recommend that movie to anyone, and everyone. So good.
Second movie I'm going to review here is none other then BENJAMIN BUTTON. Alright, on this particular night I was originally out to go see Slumdog Millionaire. Unfortunately, that was sold out, so my friends convinced me to go see Benjamin Button instead with them. I knew nothing about this movie except that it was about some guy who has an aging disease where as he gets older, his body gets younger and he goes on crazy adventures because of that. During the opening previews I hear that this movie is three hours long, and normally I'm not a fan of long movies unless it's something BIG that can keep me interested. But whatever, I had only seen about one teaser for it so I was willing to give it a shot. So the movie starts, and it opens up with this old woman on her death bed telling her daughter some story about a clock in a train station. 15 minutes in she's still telling this story, and Benjamin hasn't even been born yet. What the heck? At this point I debated using the next 3 hours to catch up on a lot of sleep I've been missing. But when it comes to movies I always try to give them lots of chances, so it gave it 10 more minutes. 5 minutes later Benjamin is born. Hooray, it took a full 20 minutes into the movie to even get to the birth of the main character, which was filled by a very boring, and what felt unneeded, story. Okay so Benjamin's born, and the next hour of the movie was pretty interesting. The scene with the preacher was very comical, and Benjamin's adventures with the sailor were all really fun to watch. At this point I actually started getting into the movie. Next came the war scene, which was basically the best scene in the whole movie. The way it was shot was so awesome, just the way you see it as if though you're being shot at was awesome. I was really digging the movie at the moment. That is until Benjamin came home and we get reintroduced to Daisy. At this point it just became nothing but a cheesy love story for the next hour and a half, and man was I bored. Once Benjamin came home and the love story ensued it just felt like the whole plot of the movie being about this man with a weird aging disease took a backseat role to the story, and rather then the Curious Case of Benjamin Button it felt like the movie became the Curious Case of Benjamin Button's Long Lost Childhood Sweetheart. When I managed to finally stay awake for the hour and a half love story Benjamin's body is now 13, and I guess inside he's about 80 something. So I woke up a little thinking it would get interesting again, just like his childhood stuff was now that the love story was over. And yes, this all could have been very interesting if they had not rushed it into about a little less then 10 minutes. Basically it felt like they just rushed past what could have been some pretty good material by simply going “Here's him when he's 13 forgetting things. Here's him when he's 8 trying to fly. Here's him when he's 4 forgetting how to talk. Here's him as a new born, and he dies. THE END!!” To me it just felt like they sped past some good stuff that could have helped kick the movie back into shape, but nope! Now I'd like to go back to the love story here for a minute and say as boring as I found it there seemed to be so many times where they could have thrown a twist on it to keep me interested, but they decided not to. For example when he was having an affair with that woman at the hotel it started to make me wonder how it would affect his relationship with Daisy, or if maybe that woman's husband would find out about it later in the movie and confront Benjamin about it. But I was really bummed with them simply leaving it at "She left me a letter saying 'It was nice meeting you', and I never saw her again", I just felt like they could have played so much more on that. If they were going to do that then they might as well just scrapped that whole part with that woman all together. Another good example would be when we find out Daisy is pregnant, and Benjamin's worried about the baby having the same condition he has. It made me anticipate where that would take the rest of the movie, and what kind of problems it would cause for Benjamin and Daisy trying to raise her. But when they said "OH WAIT THE BABY'S FINE YAY!!!!!NEVERMIND", I just went back to being uninterested. That felt like such a lame cop out. Also, what was with the symbolism in this movie? This is the first time in any book or movie that I haven't been able to figure out a certain piece of symbolism three weeks after the fact. Especially the humming bird, what the EFF did that have to do with anything? Anyway, guess I'll wrap this little review up by saying that first 20 minutes were boring, next hour was awesome, and the next two hours was trash. There was a lot of interesting stuff in the movie, but just not enough to say I enjoyed it as a whole. Whatever, it's apparently getting amazing reviews all around the country. Maybe I just have a screw loose when it comes to knowing what makes a good movie. Oh well.
So Firstly I am going to review Phantom of the Opera because Sam told me that we could. I loved it. I thought it was absoloutley magical, the scenery was awesome and the singing...well that was okay, but the whole story of the show is one of my favorites. I love the love story aspect, and I feel badly for the Phantom, the guy who was playing him was really trying but he seemed really...weird at some points and not in the way that the Phantom is supposed to be precieved as weird, just weird and awkward at the role. I guess that was because he was an understudy...but who knows.
Secondly, I know it wasn't on the list but it was one of the best performances I've seen in a long time. The Curious Case of Benjamim Button. Wow, Brad Pitt was amazing. Now as a person, I cannot stand him but after seeing this I have so much respect for him as an actor. I cried for the last 45 minutes. Cate Blanchett was just wonderful, I was suprised when she didn't get the Oscar nod, I thought she'd have to because she was so believeable with everything she did. However there were some parts of the movie which caused it to drag, but all in all it was heartwarming and beautiful and EVERYONE SHOULD GO AND SEE IT. that's all.
also sorry the blog is so so so so so belated...but it's here now! :]
-Victoria Betz
ok...
We went to see Phantom of the Opera about a month ago and it was absolutley awsome. All of their voices were amasing. All of the acting was as well. I thought that the Phantom played his part very well. In the begining he was seen as a villian and he really played out his evil part. But as the show went on you can see that he had problems and there was a true reason he was so mad at the world. He played his part very well and always brought out a feeling he should have felt. Bravo!
~Christie Hackett~
Okay, so i don't have the sheet but i'm going to to A Beautiful Mind, because i think that's definately a movie that should be on the list.
So, i really think this movie is so refreshing because it was based on a real life situation, and it is portrayed very believeably. I am going to talk about Russell Crowe's acting in this film. His performance showed me what it was like to act completely into his character at all times. Especially since characters in his other movies such as the Gladiator and The Insider are so different. Russell Crowe really worked to change himself for this movie, and it came out so well. He also never overacts, he is always being very real during this movie, excuse my astounding bad grammar. Also, he is very believeable as an elderly person, even though he really is not that old, he physicalizes his age very well.
So the next thing i'm going to review is Jake Gyllenhaal's performance in Donnie Darko. First of all, I really love Gyllenhall, he is so versital.(is that the word i'm looking for?) I love how he's done so well in all his movvies (i.e. October Sky, The Good Girl, Bubble Boy, and Brokeback Mountain.) But above all i think his performance as donnie stands out best. He manages to be troubled, concerned, apathetic, and quite manic all at the same time. There are parts of the movie when i just want to cry and hug donnie, but there are also parts where he becomes extremely detached and creepy. I really think the power of his performance is that you both love, pity, and fear him all at the same time. I think im repeating myself, but he did a great job, made me cry too. ^^
the performance that was displayed by the actor and actresses were off the walls amazing, i was so blown away and i truely believed they were who they said they were.
- Ian Murphy your favorite student!
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