Exit Through the Gift Shop

I think the message of the film was street art had a place in the world. The film showcased artist different styles of street art. There was space invader who used mosaic tiles to make the characters, Banksy who had props such as; elephants, phone booths and dummies. After watching the film I didn't feel manipulated because I didn't know very much about it. The film opened my eyes to a new world. I took it for what it was, a film a guy with a camera going around filming people and becoming what they were. The thought never entered my mind that the whole thing could have been this conspiracy where Guetta was Banksy. But now that I think about it, it does make some sense. How does a guy afford to just travel around the world putting graffiti on walls, renting 15,000 square feet NBC studios, paying workers, buying film, food, travel expenses while having a family and paying the mortgage. That doesn't add up. Unless he had private funding for this movie from a artist who is selling pieces for millions in order to tell a particular story.

When Harry met Sally

When Harry met Sally absolutely stands the test of time. Any time I told a women I had to watch that movie and they put their hand over their heart and sighed. The movie follows just about every romantic comedy cliche. From the beginning when the audience is introduced to the characters, Sally is a single women and Harry is in a relationship with her friend. I liked Harry from the beginning because he was straight forward and honest. I can see how people wouldn't like him though. Then Harry starts to like Sally during their road trip. They split apart only seeing each other two times over the next 12 years. They get back together after their relationships end at the same time. They become friends, only spending time with together. They sleep together because they both love each other yet they won't admit it. They blow the situation out of proportion causing Sally to see another man. Now Harry has to win Sally back at the end for the final kiss and they live happily ever after.

The Thin Red Line

Yes! A movie must have a plot otherwise what is the whole purpose of the movie. It's like when someone is telling a story without an ending and you're left sitting there with nothing wondering why you just wasted the last five minutes of your life for nothing. Without a plot I think Malick was unsuccessful with his vision. I think his ADD kicked in and he started having ideas pour into his brain and he tried to utilize them all with an end result that was horrible.

I think it is the responsibility of the filmmaker to create the expectations for the audience. In my experience I have seen movies that I was forced to watch that I didn't want to see and they ended up being great movies. The audience is there to be entertained and it is the directors responsibility to grab the audience's attention and entertain them.

Pan's Labyrith

The writer chose to base the film during a real historic event to set a time period and a purpose for Ofelia to escaped into a fantasy world. I think the story had to have both reality and fantasy to show the violence which was taking place around Ofelia's life. She lost her father and is now living with a fascist leader whom using violence to demand obedience from his soldiers. The drama in Ofelia's life draws her into a fairytale world. Obedience was incorporated into the story mainly through the Captain. The Captain demanded obedience throughout the entire story from his wife to Ofelia, his soldiers and his maid and any of those people disobeyed him there were consequences that would be paid. I would compare this movie to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Charlie doesn't escaped to a fantasy world however, when he wins that golden ticket and gets to go on a tour of Willy Wonka's factory; that is Charlie's fantasy world. Charlie was living in poverty and he got to escape reality into Wonka's factory. The people who disobeyed the rules suffered consequences as did the people in Pan's Labyrinth minus death.

RoboCop

This week we are discussing whether the violence in RoboCop is either realistic or "fun" violence and whether or not it can be viewed as artistic and unique or simply entertainment for the masses. The violence in RoboCop is "fun" violence; in the beginning before the guy becomes RoboCop he gets shot 20 times from 5 feet away with shotguns, gets his hand and arm shot off and then gets shot in the head...and lives? Not REAL. The violence is over exaggerated as a way to glorify the criminal activity in the city. There is nothing artistic about this movie as well. It is entertainment for the masses. A couple isn't going to pick RoboCop to go see together for the story line. A group of guys will go see this together for the action just like when the last Rambo came out. Stallone only had 4 lines in the entire movie yet I went with a coupe of buddies because it was Sly Stallone as Rambo again and we want him to go out and kill as many people as he could. Same with RoboCop; I want to see him pull up to a crime and catch the criminals by surprise so I could see that look of fear on their face. I worked at a detainee prison where probably 1 percent of the population spoke English however, they all wanted to watch action movies. RoboCop delivers in that aspect; it's full of "fun" violence produced for the masses.