There's something about the presentation of something that can change its tone entirely. Movie trailers have been trying ever since their conception to create previews of their movies that are an accurate portrayal of not only the plot, but the subject matter and feel of the movie. The reason they do this is to appeal to the different camps of moviegoers out there, such as the horror addicts, the war enthusiasts, and the comedy faithfuls.
But what if you take clips from the very same movie that was initially being advertised and cut it a bit differently? What if you used different scenes from the movie and changed the background music and transitions? With a professional enough touch, you could convince a big Disney fan who's never seen Mary Poppins to never want to see it in their life.
There is a whole slew of such videos on YouTube, and they are highly entertaining whether you've actually seen the movie being parodied or not. Some that I've seen that are worth honorable mention would be the recut trailers for The Shining, Toy Story 2, and even The Office. There are so many more I would recommend, but I think you may find the ones that suit your needs best by just searching for trailer recuts on YouTube. And look! I've made it easier for you!
Before I begin my review, I think you should see this:
Alright, glad that's out of the way. That should provide a pretty good idea of what I was up against seeing this movie. Having heard that A Clockwork Orange was a very bizarre movie, I couldn't help but want to see it, seeing how it aligned pretty well with my personality. I started off by reading the book by Anthony Burgess, which I can say is amazing and extremely fun to read. As if the book wasn't already a cult classic in and of itself with its perplexing use of a new language called Nadsat (which was pretty frustrating to get through at first) and a very off-the-wall science-fiction plot, the movie came by as one that you will absolutely never forget for a few reasons.
The thing that probably stands out the most in A Clockwork Orange is its incredible shock value. It was one of the first movies to be originally rated X upon its release, and for good reason considering the fact that it was only the beginning of the seventies when this movie was released. Although it may not be grossly more explicit than many R-rated movies of today, there are still some scenes that will make you sick to your stomach. Really. If you're a squeamish person, this probably isn't the movie for you.
Another thing that makes this movie stand out like it does is just how quirky it really is. From the aforementioned Nadsat slang to the way Alex (the main character) dresses, and just to the musical score and cinematography, this movie will certainly leave you wondering what it is you're really watching. Stanley Kubrick (also the director of The Shining) balances almost a zany and colorful aspect with the very dark and frightening one that hangs over the movie. Even when the movie ends, you aren't sure quite how to feel.
If I had a list of the top five movies that stuck with me since I finished them, this would definitely be on it. Ask anyone if they've seen A Clockwork Orange, and it's very unlikely that they'll say, "Yeah, I may have. I honestly don't remember." If someone's seen this movie, they'll never forget it. So if you're into more of the cult classics and darker storylines and can stomach the more graphic stuff, I would recommend you try this out, just to say you've seen it if nothing else.
I was positively shocked to go to Best Buy in the early weeks of January this year and see a Blu-Ray player for $149.99. And just today, I was looking around at bestbuy.com and found this little bundle of joy for even cheaper...and it outputs 1080p (which is very high-definition, just in case you don't know).
So, if you're not up to speed on Blu-Ray "technology," here's a quick synopsis: Blu-Ray players play Blu-Ray discs which are supposed to be in the highest definition possible. In the past, they've costed several hundreds to thousands of dollars, but nowadays they're selling for much less, depending on the player, of course.
So for prices that low, why not take the Blu-Ray player if you're interested in "maximizing your viewing experience?" Well, many new DVD players offer something new called "upconversion," which boosts up the definition of the DVD to what's supposed to be 1080p, but from personal experience, this doesn't do much.
As another plus, Blu-Ray players still play your old DVDs and even upscale those. If you do not have an HDTV, however, there really is no big point in getting a Blu-Ray player. If you do, it would seem like there's much sense in it. I have a PlayStation 3 with Blu-Ray capability, and I love it. So, in case you were wondering, there you are.
For more information, here's a Consumer Report video that kinda backs up what I said:
Winning an Academy Award for Best Picture is a big deal, and when it comes to me, that's when I'm at my most skeptical. No Country is one such movie. I had heard all sorts of stuff about it from various different people and quite honestly wasn't impressed by the premise: a movie set in the 1980's boonies of Texas, which probably aren't much different nowadays anyway. As much as I wanted to run against the wind, I was unashamedly impressed by this movie.
The basic premise for the movie is as follows: Guy 1 finds Guy 2's money, Guy 2 wants to kill Guy 1 for his money, and Guy 1 tries to escape, all in the setting of the desolate West Texas and Mexico. One of the things I noticed as I was watching is the lack of a soundtrack in the film. There are very few moments where music can be heard, and when it can be heard, it's only very faintly in the background. This, however, helps capture the silence and loneliness of the West Texas setting very well, along with a cast of pretty colorful minor characters that certainly seem to have been born and raised in Texas. The villain in this movie, played by Javier Bardem, is a pretty ugly guy and is certainly one of the more unlikeable movie villains I've ever seen with his relentless brutality and propensity to escape. If you've never seen a Coen Brothers movie (this is one of them), you should know that they are known for their quirkiness, off-the-wall and dark humor, and even shock value in many cases. If you've ever seen Fargoor Burn After Reading, you know what I'm talking about (WARNING: links contain violence!). As a thriller, this movie functions very well, and the ending is certainly very different and one that might even leave you frustrated, but not in a bad way, necessarily.
So, as a freshman college student, even I enjoyed watching this. It's right at about two hours and it's pretty simple to follow, already setting it apart from many other Academy Award winners. I would highly recommend this if you like thrillers or are a fan of the Coen Brothers.
I have never been much a fan of horror. I grew up a jumpy little kid on the edge about just about everything. Every time I would go to Abilene, Texas, where my grandparents live, I would be scared to death because it seems like I always get shocked every time I went up there and I just had this foreboding sense that it was going to happen this time too.
The Shining was my bold step forward from that, being the first horror movie I had ever seen. I figured that if I was going to make myself watch a horror movie, I may as well go for a critically-acclaimed one.
Here's the deal with horror movies. They basically are split up into two different camps: movies that try and grab you and movies that try and grab you...and hold on. The former group is full of all of these teen scream movies like Sorority Row, Jennifer's Body, the new Halloween movie, or any other movies that rely on cheap scares to make you jump or scream or whatever, but only really get you for a second or two. The latter group is characterized by more psychological movies that don't rely so much on making you jump out of your seat so much as haunt you for a while after the credits roll. The Shining is one of these movies.
The plot of this movie is based loosely off the book by Stephen King of the same title, where a struggling, alcoholic man and his wife and son move in to a secluded hotel for the winter to keep watch and tidy up the place while the hotel is closed. As would happen with any horror movie, it turns out that there was a murder in the hotel in years past and that the hotel is haunted. As a typical result, the family is visited by these evil spirits, especially the boy Danny who has a gift called "the shining," which allows him to communicate with the dead and with other people with "the shining." So yeah, it's kinda weird. Anyway, all sorts of crazy stuff ensues and it won't take you long watching this movie to discover that the wife is one of the dumbest movie characters ever. I won't give anything away, but she seems to make all sorts of mistakes along the way in trying to keep herself and her son alive.
In conclusion, this is a pretty effective horror movie. Sure, it's got that campiness typical of the late 70's-early 80's horror movies, but it still manages to stay with me even today and I have watched it multiple times. I would certainly recommend this to any mature person, whether or not they have ever seen a horror movie.
Going to see a movie at your local movie theater can, when you get past the ridiculous matinee prices ($9.25 at my theater back home!!), be a rather rewarding and enjoyable experience. It's a crying shame, however, that all it takes is one person to ruin your movie-going experience. As far as I've experienced things, there are five groups of people that are destined to suck most or all of the fun out of what should otherwise be an enjoyable time.
1. The Loud Laugher
Yeah, you've sat next to one of these before, and boy, can they be annoying. Because when you're going to see a comedy (or any movie, for that matter), this person just can't contain themselves. Or maybe they can, but they choose to draw all the attention to themselves. When that first funny or even mildly funny moment comes along and you hear that hyena laughter, you think, "Oh, please tell me they were laughing at something unrelated to the movie." But you find out after two or three more "funny" moments that you get a whole ninety more minutes with this little bundle of joy.
2. The Person Who Doesn't Get Out Much
At the Cinemark theater that I frequent back home, I can't remember a movie I've seen in at least the last eighteen months that hasn't featured this wonderful little no-cell-phone ad:
As cute as it may be, there's always at least one family that apparently hasn't seen this in the year-and-a-half it's been out. And while the rest of us are rolling our eyes or trying to keep from grimacing, these people are just goin' to town. They may not be loud laughers usually, but when this comes along, they're the only ones doing it.
3. The Frequent Cell Phone User
Surely these people saw the Happy the Hedgehog ad?! Yeah, you're sitting in the back and trying to take in the climax of the movie when this little skank pulls out their BRIGHT phone and proceeds to text or do something on it, totally distracting you from the movie you paid to see. Sure, there may be emergencies, so that's why I put "frequent." If there's an emergency and they leave to check it out, that's all good. But if they sit there and unashamedly text away, shame on them.
4. The Crowder
Although I'm not necessarily one of them, there are some people that prefer to wait until a few weeks after a movie's release date to see the movie when it's less crowded. As good an idea as this may be, there's no hiding from these space invaders. You know, the people that sit right next to you or just really close to you when there is a whole freakin' theater to choose from. These people are just creeps. Or have depth perception issues.
5. The Lover(s)
Not only do these people take your footrest by sitting in front of you, but they then proceed to engage in a steamy make-out session in your plain sight, with noises and all. And gosh, some of these people just don't know when to quit. They'll just go after it throughout the whole movie and everyone behind them can't take their eyes off of this often horrible scene, much like a bad car wreck. Some of these people are so bad, they'll do this for any movie. Even Schindler's List. And for those of you who have never seen Schindler's List, there isn't one romantic thing about it....because it's a Holocaust movie.
The key to enjoying your movie is early detection. If you see any of these people, find a way to convince them that they're in the wrong movie. Sometimes, it may just work.
Those of you following my blog must by now think I have some gross fascination with foreign films. I don't. Really. The first foreign film I saw was Das Bootin my tenth grade German class, so it wasn't really even of my own volition. The movie pictured to the left, Life Is Beautiful, was essentially the first foreign movie I "subjected" myself to. I had heard that this was a must-see movie and decided consequently to give it a try, just like with all the other "must-see" movies I've reviewed in the past couple of weeks. So, here we go...
I'm pretty sure anyone that has graduated high school has seen at least one movie about the Holocaust in their lifetime, whether they just...like the Holocaust, or because it was part of their English or History class. Either way, there are so many out there I can think of that all just get muddled together. This is one of those Holocaust movies that really stands out. It really is the most inspiring and heartwarming Holocaust story out there as far as I know.
Anyway, the film tells the story of a quirky little Italian man who works as a waiter at a hotel. He's very full of life and finds a woman at the very beginning who he falls in love with. And basically, the first segment of the film is just a little funny love story of him getting the girl from this other guy and marrying her and having a son and what not and it's just so darn CUUUUTE.
Some time after this little happy bit is over, the movie starts to incorporate small bits of shockingly subtle Nazi interference in the lives of the three main characters, with most of them just disguised as funny. All this suspense builds up to the father and son being taken to a work camp (they're Jewish, by the way), and the main character's wife (not Jewish) is so distraught that she follows them there and gets on the train, which is kinda cheesy and even frustrating.
The main part of this movie are the father's various efforts to convince his son that they are all just playing a big game at the concentration camp and that the son has to obey the rules to win. It's really thought-provoking, funny, and sad all at the same time, with unfortunately kind of a sad ending to "the game." I don't want to give much away, because there is a lot to this movie that is better to watch on your own rather than hear about.
After it's all said and done, though, this movie really shines from the heap of Holocaust movies out there. It manages to still be heartwarming and even funny in the midst of all of this turmoil and a father's struggle to preserve the innocence of his son. It's a great movie and I would recommend it to anyone.
There is a whole slew of such videos on YouTube, and they are highly entertaining whether you've actually seen the movie being parodied or not. Some that I've seen that are worth honorable mention would be the recut trailers for The Shining, Toy Story 2, and even The Office. There are so many more I would recommend, but I think you may find the ones that suit your needs best by just searching for trailer recuts on YouTube. And look! I've made it easier for you!
