My Own Private Idaho is probably one of my favorite movies in Sir Ty’s list. It tackles such a sensitive topic, which is homosexuality which was a taboo during the time period the movie released. The movie was directed by Gus Van Sant, a director whose movies always would consist of marginalized young teens. The screenplay was originally based form a novel of John Reechy, City of Night, and Shakespeare’s Henry IV, which was why Bob the Pigeon has a monologue that seemed to be from the Shakespearean era and a real life narrative from a real street hustler.

Here were are introduced to Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves) and Mike Waters (River Pheonix), both are homosexual hustlers. Scott is a privileged young man, son of the mayor, but chooses to escape the life destined for him as an act of rebellion to his dad. Mike, on the other hand, is a teen who suffers narcolepsy, which causes him to pass out or fall asleep in times of stress. Every time he gets unconscious, the are weird scene that happen, like a house falling out of the sky and shattering when it it hits the pavement, or salmon swimming on a river. Though being so different from each other, both are often paired up in the movie. Throughout the movie, both protagonists, are always travelling because of Mike’s mother whom he wishes to meet. During their travels, a very iconic scene was shown, a scene where Mike and Scott admit to each other that they love each other. It was different for Mike because it was the first time he did something sexually stressful, without suffering narcolepsy. Apparently, this whole scene was written by River Pheonix, the actor behind Mike. Eventually, they ended up in Italy because they heard that Mike’s mom flew there. In Italy, Scott falls in love with Carmela, the girl who lived in the past house of Mike’s mom. Everyone felt what Mike felt, cheated, when Scott told Mike that both were gonna get married. Again, we see Mike suffer from narcolepsy, but this that it was different. Scott was not around to be there for Mike.

During the funeral of Bob the Pigeon and Scott’s dad, this scene was a powerful scene. We see the two groups, the rich and the poor and we see Scott, all dressed well acting like he does not know those people who he spent most of his life with and not mourning for the person who was his father growing up, Bob Pigeon. All of a sudden, Mike and his group start acting crazy and kissing each other. This shows the huge difference between Scott and Mike, who in beginning of the film was seen so similar. Lastly, we see Mike in the same road as the beginning scene of the movie, passed out in the middle. Then we see people stopping for him getting his stuff and eventually getting him. We could say that it was quite unfair because, Scott if he failed in life, no matter happens, he has is riches to fall unto, but for Mike, all he had was Scott, but now Scott’s gone, Mike is gone as well.

Overall, I liked the movie but it was a sad one for me. I liked it cos seeing Keanu Reeves play a part that is so different in what roles we see him in, like Matrix and John Wick, makes him a really good actor. It was a great way for Gus Van Sant, to use his talent to be able to make this movie at the same time being a voice of taboo topics.

Futureless Things is a movie that was simply too unusual for my liking. The movie starts off with the simple setting of a convenience store and a character having ordinary problems with his life. it already had enough elements for a stable flow, but the movie simply had no plans for story stability. Right when I started to understand the identity of a particular character it ends abruptly and switches to a different character with an absolutely different storyline. The sudden changes made it difficult for me to empathize with any of the characters no matter how relatable they were. I simply didn’t have the usual obligation as a viewer to invest myself to the movie. Although, I can’t deny that the movie was still able to present certain themes and concepts that were striking enough for me to take away. Considering that the only constant in the movie is the convenience store setting. I realized how the convenience store workers encounter the diversity of people every day. I think the movie emphasizes the portrayal of diversity through fantasy by making certain people or situation contain fictional elements. Though it may be powerful for some, I think this portrayal was slightly forced and not executed well. I feel like a realistic portrayal would have had a stronger impact because with the limited time per worker, people are practically forced to take the narrative and integrate it to their own experiences just to get an idea of what is happening at that particular moment. In my honest opinion, the lack of connection I had with the movie was mainly due to the quick intervals of characters change. I did gain a bit of the perspective of a convenience store worker and what they have to deal with every day, but I would not say that I was moved enough to actually remember the movie the next time I go to a convenience store.

The movie presents two contrasting ways of living or “dealing” with the basic human condition. It can be seen in the beginning of the movie; Renton gives a brief overview of the movie by making a case against “choosing life”. He defines “life” with the basic context of a man living in the British Society, such as getting a job, buying a house, and starting a family. To him, living in such conditions would be an absolute pain. He described it to be some sort of monotonous routine of wanting thing after thing and firmly believes that people are basically trapped in this cycle. Renton simply didn’t want to be enslaved by the system so instead he chose “Trainspotting”. I understood the act of “Trainspotting” was Renton’s carefree yet ignorant way of living. His drug addiction did give him pleasure but at what cost? He definitely didn’t have a right mind and it also made him sort of detached from reality. The film was able to present a perspective of someone with a drug addiction in such a way that we had an idea of how they saw the world. The instances that the movie would stray away from reality and give us scenes full of fictional abnormalities. Although, Renton getting off drugs was a prevalent idea all throughout the film. Similar to any other addiction, it was definitely difficult to stop, and the constant limbo was no help either. It was also seen that Renton was not necessarily living in an ideal environment, in such a way that there were various factors clouding his judgement. He had negligent parents who didn’t really give him boundaries and his friends were all junkies like him. I was particularly intrigued by the inclusion of Tommy as one of Renton’s friends. He was the single sane character in the group, a model for contrast. However, the refreshing energy Tommy brought to the table was lost, taken even, by nobody else than Renton. It can be argued that Renton wasn’t the only reason why Tommy ended up using drugs, but his inability to comprehend his mistake did stop him from preventing Tommy’s downfall. Another interesting concept was Renton quoting “But he’s a mate, you know, so what can you do?” For this part of the movie, Begbie constantly abused the generosity of Renton and somehow pulled him back down when he was already slightly thriving in life when he was living alone. It really highlighted the reality of unconditional love and true friendship. Later on, we know Renton does put his foot down, but this is because of his realization that Begbie isn’t really his friend and not because he lost his sense of unconditional love for a mate. I think it was a good inclusion of morality in the movie especially with the twisted relationship the group of friends have with each other. For the ending of the movie, all I can say is that I did not like it. I hate how Renton gets the chance to fix his life again. I guess even after all that I still didn’t see that he deserved more of the chance to get his life together than his other friends, especially over Spud. In Renton’s defense, he did give a fraction of the money to Spud but it was still unfair in my opinion. Setting aside all the hate I have on Renton’s decision, I see that it was a good touch having an open ending because we are left with so much interpretations of what exactly Renton could do with the money. The movie was complicated, and that single word alone sums up the life of a person stuck with a life dependent on drugs.

I expected shin Godzilla to be the typical action film filled with destruction, explosion and everything else. It did provide me with most if not all of the elements of an action film but in my opinion, it simply lacked excitement. First of all, I found Godzilla’s mobility very limited. In the beginning of the movie he was this creature that was blindly running around which was fantastic, but he transitioned into this semi-stationary monster that had lasers destroying everything within a 100-mile radius. I understand that he was practically invincible at that point, but it would have been amazing to see him jumping over skyscrapers if extremes were being put on the table. The impending doom his nuclear elements proposed gave a bit of thrill, but I expected to see Godzilla go on a rampage and showcase his physical prowess. My personal assumptions and preference may have affected my viewing experience but in a sense, I saw that the movie focused more on finding the algorithm needed to beat Godzilla than the actual beating of Godzilla. Although, this did play a vital role in another element of the film which was the Japanese way of executing operations. The movie gave us glimpse of the intricate procedure the Japanese officials needed to follow in order to make something happen. It was fascinating to view a perspective of the government that was realistic to a certain extent. Like most movies, the constraint of time did affect the actions of the people as well. the Japanese government followed every single step required by their constitution to a point that there were some instances that a certain crisis could have been averted if they had simply acted faster. In my opinion, this element gave the movie the most character. The values of the Japanese are unlike any other and this film vividly exemplifies it. We were given glimpses of success and failure that brought out the most of each character. I saw it as a movie that focused on humanity despite having this iconic and spectacular monster right by the corner but somehow, it wasn’t a bad thing. All in all, the movie immersed me with Japanese culture and at the end of the day, reminded me to always have an open-mind with any movie.

F for fake was a fascinating movie that was difficult to watch. Considering that the movie was made in 1973 watching the movie now definitely gives it a good old vintage feel. I think watching it now adds to the artistic essence that surrounds the movie. Not to mention, the constant narration being done by Orson Welles himself which practically lulls you to sleep. It was an old documentary but it was artistic and full of unique information, so what more could you ask for. One particular scene that I found quite striking was when Picasso was shown to obsess over the beautiful Oja Kodar. The famous artist would find himself mesmerized as she routinely walks past his window on her way to and from the beach. The shot made use of Picasso’s picture in black and white, instead of his actual self, which was surprisingly amazing. The photos of Picasso would differ in facial expressions to portray his different reactions. Along with the narration, it was already enough to not require any dialogue from the artist. Having a window blinds layer the photo made it really feel like he was actually peering out the window. I feel like the context of the movie fueled its plot. The ways and methods of verification was limited to its time which showed how exactly the fakers went around them. the entire movie did want to highlight how even experts were fooled by the craftsmanship done by the fakers. It was a process that had an intricate design and a well-thought out plan, exactly the same way the movie was made. we realize in the end, after Orson Welles proclamation, that even we were fooled by an act of fakery. The realism that was attached with the fake portion of the movie was simply made it difficult for us to realize that it was in fact a lie. the first hour and the 17 minutes of fakery were simply indistinguishable, a perfect analogy to the fakes and the actual works presented in the movie. A great ending that left me thinking about what is actually real, what is fake, and if we are simply fooling ourselves by being blind viewers that do not look deeper into things.

The endless excited me because of the fact that I’m a fan of horror movies, and we were told that it was a horror movie. The story is very interesting, because of the “cult” which makes most horror movies with cult scarier and even darker. Examples of these are the Paranormal Activity movies.

            The movie was a bit dragging for me, things were a little freaky when the magic trick was done and the test with the rope where it would seem an invisible giant held the rope and baseball up in the air. The movie got a whole lot interesting when the mystery man in beige cargo pants appeared and when Justin tries to follow him he disappears without a trace. One recurring theme in the movie escape. It was understood that the brothers were able to escape Camp Arcadia, who people not from the camp think is cult because of its secrecy. Unfortunately, the two brothers who were allowed to leave, had to come back because for Aaron that was everything they knew, that they felt out of place outside the camp. When they went back to the camp, nothing has changed from the day they left it and, it seemed that the members of Camp Arcadia did not age at all, which made the camp much shadier. The reason why I like horror movies is because it keeps you on your feet and the jump scares are too look forward to. I loved the scene when Justin saw the man he was following earlier in the movie, lifeless because he hung himself and suddenly see him again who is alive. Mise en scene is used in this scene as Justin and the man were talking while you can see the lifeless man hung on the background swaying. The concept of the movie is very nice how they’re all stuck in a loop and until the entity gets tired of playing with their lives and kills them and resets their loop. Basically, the members of the camp have no escape. I am convinced that Justin and Aaron, despite being able to escape the camp, are still stuck in the loop, a bigger one. I feel like their loop is escaping the camp somehow and eventually coming back, over and over again. Justin knows about the loop but Aaron doesn’t not until the end of the movie when Justin acknowledges that his brother has figured it out.

Edgar Wright is my favorite movie director of all time. I’ve loved so many of his works like Shawn of the Dead or Scott Pilgrim v.s. the World. What really sets him apart from other directors is that the way he shoots his scenes is so captivating and pleasing. His movies, though admittedly not for everyone, can still be enjoyed by a wide array of audiences while still having something bigger to digest for people who want something to think about when watching a film.

Baby Driver is Wright’s most recent filmwork and it’s a film that really accentuates everything I love about this director. It’s an action movie with some jokes sprinkled in here and there. Now, action movies usually aren’t known for their plot, and yes, this film doesn’t have an amazing revolutionary story and, admittedly, almost made me want to go to sleep at times. However, this movie tells its story in such a unique way, accentuated by Wright’s direction and writing, that it becomes much more engaging than a typical action film.

The film is about a driver nicknamed “Baby”, a young man in his late teens to early 20s, who acts as a getaway driver for heists, after being picked up by a Atlanta kingpin as a protege as a kid. Initially, Baby is a quiet and distant character. He always has earphones on because he suffers from tinnitus, which he acquired after a car accident that killed his parents. He also always wears his shades and never shows any type of emotion. Even the colors of his clothes, white hoodie with a black vest-area, make him radiate this aura of coolness. This costume is actually very important to him as a character because the shades and earphones show his tendency to drown-out the bad things he does, by distorting his vision and blocking out noise, and the black and white clothing he wears show how he has a black and white view of the world. However, over the course of the film, he evolves as a character. He starts to show emotions like remorse for the people he’s helped kill or love for the characters he’s become attached to. He starts removing his earphones and shades more often, and from black and white, his clothes start to adopt grey or become blood stained. He visually evolves throughout the course of the film, which already sets him apart from a lot of other action movie protagonists: he actually develops as a character instead of just remaining the same badass he was at the beginning of the film.

Now, what I really want to talk about is how you can tell from the very start that this movie was directed by Edgar Wright. The way he shoots his scenes is so visually stunning because of how stimulating they are. Perhaps his most well-known signature in direction is linking the music being played to the actions happening on screen. As someone who is exposed to video editing, I know that this is something that is quite challenging for most filmmakers to do for a single scene, let alone multiple action scenes so I can really appreciate just how difficult many of the clips from his movies are. This signature is shown better in Baby Driver than any of his other movies.  The synching of his scenes is done everywhere from casual car-door-closing to full-blown shootouts where the guns end up becoming the instruments. Every time these scenes are shown, I go anywhere from “That’s so cute” to giving a jaw-dropped “WOW”.

This movie is so action-packed and fun to watch, that I can recommend it to anyone who wants to watch an action movie that isn’t completely mindless.