Required Reading & Suggested Viewing - Week 13

Orson Welles is our subject this week. Please read this Wikipedia bio up through "Citizen Kane." Here is the link:

Orson Welles Biography

Here is a selection of films he directed.

Chimes at Midnight

Citizen Kane

The Lady From Shanghai

Macbeth

The Magnificent Ambersons

Othello

The Stranger

Touch of Evil

The Trial

The Sandlot

The Sandlot, directed by David Mickey Evans in 1993 is a classic movie for all ages and has been deemed one of the greatest baseball movies of all time. The movie begins with a young kid who goes by "Smalls." Smalls is a pretty shy, antisocial, and non-athletic kid who struggles to find friends. Smalls moves into a new town with his mother and step-father. His mother encourages him to go out and try to make some friends and just have a fresh start at childhood. One day while riding his bike through town, Smalls runs into a kid named Benny Rodriguez. Benny invites smalls to play baseball with a group of friends who play at a field called "The Sandlot" during the summer. At first, Smalls is terrible at baseball since he has never played before. The other kids give him a bit of a hard time, since they are all fairly good. Smalls has his chance to gain the respect of all the other kids when the catcher of the group, Ham Porter hits the last baseball over the fence and into the yard of a very old man. Smalls is quit to offer to hop the fence and retrieve the ball, but that is when the group of kids warns him of "The Beast", a very large dog that has been rumored to eat animals and even small children. 

Smalls lets the other kids know that his step-dad has a baseball in his bedroom that he would sneakily take in order for them to continue playing. Little to Smalls' knowledge, his step-dad's baseball is signed by one of the greatest baseball players of all time, Babe Ruth. The boys go on to play and Smalls starts to develop some skill and also become good friends with the group of boys. They end playing against other kids in order to determine which team would be able to call The Sandlot their own. During this game, Ham Porter says one of the most memorable lines in American cinematic history. He screams at the captain of the other team, "YOU PLAY BALL LIKE A GIRL!" The film contains scenes of hysterical mischief amongst the group of kids, including the shortstop, Squints faking his own drowning in order to make out with the pool life guard, Wendy Peffercorn. 

All is well with the group of boys until Smalls gets up to bat during a practice and launches the Babe Ruth signed baseball into the backyard of The Beast. Smalls explains that the baseball is crucial to get back, as it was his step-dad's and had a signature on it. When the group of boys asks Smalls who signed the ball, he claims it was by some guy named Ruth. The other boys go ballistic and realize just how valuable the ball really is. They come up with creative and unique ideas to try to get the ball, but they are all foiled by The Beast. Finally, after multiple failed attempts, Benny steps up and says that he feels it is his responsibility to retrieve the baseball. After putting on his brand new pair of Nike's, Benny climbs the fence and stands toe-to-toe with the beast. Benny is able to grab the ball and hop back over the fence. Right when he thinks he is in the clear, The Beast jumps over the fence and immediately starts chasing him. After about a five minute chase, Benny is able to push a large fence onto The Beast. The boys immediately feel bad and realize that this fence could potentially kill The Beast. After using all their might, the boys are able to free up The Beast, who instantly thanks the boys by licking them all over their faces. The Beast's owner comes out and thanks the boys for helping his dog, and they realize that the grumpy old neighbor, and The Beast are actually very lovable. 

50 First Dates

50 First Dates is a film with Adam Sandler playing a likable goofball, Henry Roth, a Hawaiian veterinarian that uses his free time to seduce female tourists and then never talk to them again. One day at breakfast he meets Lucy, played by Drew Barrymore, they spend the day but Lucy has to go. She agrees to meet him for breakfast. The next day, he approaches her, but she doesn’t recognize her. The owner of the dinner explains to him that Lucy was in a car accident, every night when she goes to sleep she forgets everything that happened in the day. So it begins Roth’s journey, everyday Lucy wakes up thinking is a Sunday in October of the last year. Her father and brother that enable her to have the same day every day. Henry has to introduce himself and convince her every day, he uses a diary and a video camera to help reconnect Lucy to her recent past.

The main leads, Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, have a natural chemistry that truly helps in the delivery. This is perhaps the most romantic movie that stars Sandler.

Inglourious Basterds

Inglorious Basterds is an action packed drama following a plethora of characters and their journey through World War II. The film is split up into five chapters. The film first introduces Colonel Hans Landa who is played by Christoph Waltz and is known as the “Jew Hunter”. He stops in a house that was suspected to be hiding Jews. He has a lengthily conversation with the homeowner and eventually gets him to admit that he was housing the missing Jews. Hans then ordered his guards to shoot the floorboards, one girl ended up getting away.

The second chapter introduces the group known as the “Basterds” lead by Aldo Raine who is played by Brad Pitt. Aldo makes it clear that their purpose is to kill Nazis and he instructs his men that he wants 100 Nazi scalps from each solider. Hitler is then shown irritated about Aldo’s group. One survivor that was let go by the Basterds showed the mark they left on his forehead which was a swastika. The Basterds are then shown in the woods surrounded by dead Nazis except for three. The Basterds try to interrogate the remaining Nazis but it doesn’t go very well because one tries to run away and is shot and another is beaten with a baseball bat because he refused to comply.

Chapter three shows the girl who got away from the Jew Hunter now in Paris owning her own movie theater. She then gets acquainted with a young Nazi war hero who suggests that she show a premier of his film at her theater. She is then pretty muted forced to show the film there. Which ends up working out for her because she comes up with a plan to burn the place down since so many prominent Nazis will be there including Hitler. 

Chapter Four is a pretty lengthly chapter because it holds a lot of information. Basically some Basterds team up with an actress to also go to the premier and kill the Nazis. They meet in an underground bar and there meeting is disrupted by a Nazi soldier who calls them out for being fake Nazis. Then everyone in the bar ends up being shot and dead except for the actress.

The last chapter shows the two different yet simultaneous sabotages going on in the theater. The woman who owns the theater ends up being killed by the solider she met and Aldo and another one of his men end up being captured by the Jew Hunter. However, the sabotage still works and the theater goes up in flames. The Jew Hunter tries to make a deal with Aldo so that they both live and the Jew Hunter gets off scot free. This ends up working out for Aldo mostly. 

All in all the film is very good and unique compared to other WWII movies. So, if you like war movies I do suggest this film.

Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko is a 2001 film that follows the story of a schizophrenic of a young high school boy named, Donnie Darko. Jake Gyllenhall stars as Donnie and the overall feeling of the movie is compelling and eerie. Donnie has stopped taking his medicine and as a result of that he starts sleepwalking. That night Donnie is greeted by a creepy person dressed up as a bunny named Frank. Frank tells Donnie that the world is ending in 28 days 6 hours 42 minuets and 12 seconds. That night a plane engine crashed through Donnie’s room but he wasn’t there because he was sleepwalking. A few days past and Frank influences Donnie to flood the school by breaking the pipes. It is then revealed that Donnie spray painted “they made me do it” on a statue in front of the school. School is ultimately canceled the next day and Donnie then meets a girl that becomes his girlfriend, Gretchen.

Later, Donnie lashes out against a speaker and a teacher because of their hypocritical teaching ways. Donnie is then suspended by the school. Time travel then becomes a part of the story when Frank mentions it to Donnie. Donnie starts to see these weird light tubes that come out of his family’s chest. His own light lead him to his parents room where he finds a gun.

Donnie goes to see a movie with Gretchen and she ends up falling asleep. Frank then appears and Donnie tells him to remove his mask reveling a nasty wound on his eye. Frank then directs Donnie to burn down the hypocritical speakers house. Donnie does. 

When their parents are away Donnie’s sister throws a party. Donnie realizes that theres not a lot of time before the world ends. Donnie and Gretchen drive out to a location where they meet the school bullies. Gretchen is thrown to the ground and then is run over and killed by an erratic drive. The driver gets out and is wearing the same bunny costume that Frank wears. Donnie then shoots frank in the eye and drives away with Gretchen’s dead body. 

As he is driving, Donnie notices a time warp and drives into the tunnel. It then shows Donnie in his bed happy and smiling. Soon after he sleeps, the jet engine crashes through his room.

I recommend this movie because it has a very interesting story line and is unlike any movie that I have ever seen. The ending is very unpredictable which makes for a compelling journey.

The Notebook

 Films based on novels are commonly met with harsh criticism and though The Notebook (2004) has mixed reactions, there is no denying that the film was a success in many aspects. Though it was released in 2004 the plot is set in the 1940’s. 

The film is based on the first published novel by famous writer Nicholas Sparks. Sparks has had at least eleven of his novels adapted to the big screen, the most recent one was released in 2016 (The Choice).

The plot of The Notebook centers around the lives of two individuals at two points in their lives as they navigate the territory of young and everlasting romance and tackle Alzheimer’s disease (which eventually presents itself as the plot twist within the story). The main character’s Allison (Allie) and Noah are portrayed by Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. The storyline begins when Allie and Noah meet and fall hopelessly in love, much to the disapproval of Allie’s parents. The film is narrated by an elderly Noah as he tells the story of their lives to a fellow resident at the nursing home he lives in with a dying Allie.

The film ranked at number four at the box office and grossed $13, 464, 745 its opening weekend.  Worldwide, the film brought in a total of $115, 603, 229. It is ranked as the 15^th highest-grossing romantic drama of all time. Anyone who has seen and enjoyed The Notebook will associate Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams with it for a long time to come.

Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 52% rating and the site’s general conclusion states that “"It's hard not to admire its unabashed sentimentality, but The Notebook is too clumsily manipulative to rise above its melodramatic clichés." On the contrary, a critic from The Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert) gave the film three and a half stars out of four and praised the photography in the film. The film has been critiqued and praised based on the plot as well as the success of the actor/actress leads.

 Instead of detailing and comparing the various critiques of the film, I believe it is important to recognize that romantic films will always receive criticism regarding its cliché plot and characters. However, regardless of whether it is cliché or not, The Notebook has been and may remain for a while a household name when conversing about romantic movies.  

Walter Disney

The late Walter Disney is known for being a pioneer of cartoon films and the creator of Disneyland. He occupation included being a hugely successful entrepreneur, animator, voice actor, and a film producer. He currently holds the record for the most Academy Awards earned by a single individual. If you’re wondering what the number is: he won a total of 22 Oscar Awards, out of a whopping 59 nominations.

What warrants this level of success one might ask. Some might say it started in 1920 when a young Disney began working at an advertising company in Kansas. This is where he developed an interest in animation and decided to become an animator. He left the company and eventually set up Disney Brothers Studio (with his brother Roy) where his first major success came in 1928 when he created the character and soon-to- be household name Mickey Mouse. He first appeared in a full-synchronized sound cartoon titled Steamboat Willie (we viewed this in class). 

Mickey was originally supposed to appear first in a silent cartoon but sound was brought onto the motion picture screen at a conveniently good time for Disney.

Over the years Disney was able to introduce synchronized sound, technicolor, and feature length-cartoons (like the ones viewed in class) due to his drive and ambition for the perfect animation experience. Examples of these implementations include films such as Dumbo, Bambi, and Show White and the Seven Dwarves (his first full-length animated musical feature). In 1932 he released a film entitled Flowers and Trees, which won him his first (of 32) Academy Awards. Walt Disney continued to release animated films and he received five academy awards for the Mary Poppins film that was released in 1964. He released in total 81 featured films.

Following the success of these films Walt Disney went on to succeed in even more areas than simply animation. To sum it up, he created Walt Disney’s Disneyworld, The Mickey Mouse Club, and opened the world-famous amusement park Disneyland. Disney showed interest in improving the quality of urban life in America and sprung the idea of “building a community that will become a prototype for the future” (known today as EPCOT). Although he died in 1966 prior to the opening of Disneyworld and EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) his legacy and company lives on, still successful to this day. His imagination and self-made success definitely left a mark in American film production.