Solaris: Andrei Tarkovsky’s Conventional Artistry

After the death of a doctor and continuing mental problems with the cosmonauts (Russian astronauts), psychologist Kris Kelvin is sent to investigate at the space station orbiting the planet Solaris. Kris Kelvin soon discovers that the water on the planet Solaris brings out repressed obsessions and memories. Solaris, by Andrei Tarkovsky, is politically and socially…

Review of Voyage to Italy

This week, I watched the film, Voyage to Italy, also known as Journey to Italy. The movie, I believe, is an unconventional film. I consider this movie as a documentary in which the director, Roberto Rossellini, wants to convey his passion for making films and Italy. The movie tells a story about a couple, Alex and Katherine Joyce….

Big or Too Big?

  When I was a kid I loved this movie because the star of the movie, Tom Hanks, lives the life I believed anybody could only dream of – a job that forces you to play with free toys and provides a seemingly endless bank account. Tom Hanks plays a 13-year old Josh Baskin, who…

My Cinematic History Essay

I watched the movie The Shawshank Redemption when I was a primary school student. My brother is a cinephile, and I often watch films with him. I couldn’t understand the movie very well when I first watch this movie. The only thing I can clearly remember is that a clever senior man whose nickname is…

“Journey to Italy”

Things that critics debate about the film is how iconic it is and how  the plot didn’t have to make sense for it to be a masterpiece.  The whole story does not have a point to it until they very end when you have to take all the pieces from the movie and  put them together….

ROCKY- The Fight to Success

It sounded like the well known Rags to Riches story that has been told countless times. It was bound to be a cliché , but despite all that stacked up against it, Rocky, along with its main actor , Sylvester Stallone, proved to be a Hollywood sensation. It is the story about a small-time boxer…

Blazing Saddles

Critics debate the style of film as well as the comedy. In a scholarly article written by Philip Autor and Donald Davis, they describe the science of breaking the fourth wall. This means talking directly to the camera or audience, and the effect it has on the viewer. They titled their article: “When Characters Speak Directly…

Alien: The Mothership

The first few minutes of Ridley Scott’s Alien set the tone for the rest of the film seamlessly. Ominous music echoes in the background, the title appears line by line as they connect to make the letters, and the scene pans slowly through space. There’s no doubt in my mind that Scott’s intentional leisured pace…

Alien- The Power of Fear

The screen opens to an unsettling black background when lines slowly appear before your eyes. The title is just as unsettling as the lack of sound, and it sets the mood for the rest of the film. In an interview with Richard Greenberg, the one who created the title, says, “I think Steve Frankfurt once…