REVIEW: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Reviewer: Mikaela Porter
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest / 1975 / 8.8
Director/Studio: Milos Forman
                           Fantasy Films
Box Office: Budget- $4,400,000 (estimated)
                    Gross- $112,000,000 (USA)
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Running Time: 133 minutes

          Upon watching One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest for the first time, I was very appreciative of the acting from every one of the characters. Jack Nicholson played the character R.P. McMurphy who is admitted in a mental institution where he is to be evaluated for any mental illness since he had a very questionable past that involved gambling, assault, and suspected rape of another woman. Nicholson does a wonderful job in portraying the carefree criminal. His facial expressions and mannerisms hit the character spot on. According to the website IMDb, "Most of Jack Nicholson's scene with Dean R Brooks upon arriving at the hospital was improvised - including his slamming a stapler, asking about a fishing photo, and discussing his rape conviction; Brooks's reactions were authentic." This takes a lot of getting into character and knowing how the character would react to each situation. It makes the film a lot more real for the audience as well. I feel like it takes a special skill to improvise a scene based on only the character and the scene that is given to you as an actor. Nicholson used what he was given to further create the character to how he saw fit.

In the beginning of the film and Nicholson's improv scene.

          The mis-en-scene elements were fantastic in this movie. The production designer, Paul Sylbert, created this eerie hospital feel from using all the white used throughout the sets including the costumes and props. The mental patients all wore specific uniforms (of course they were white) and in the very beginning of the movie McMurphy was still in his outsider clothes; representing how he does not fit in here yet. Though, gradually we see him wearing the white until his final moments where he is wearing all white and becomes a patient of the hospital. The mental institution feel of being trapped was portrayed well because of the bars on the windows and all of the security precautions seen within each scene. From the book "Movies and Meaning" by Steven R. Prince, "As Sylbert's design suggests, each element in a well-designed film has a reason for being there, some contribution that it is making to the story, theme, or style of the production"(86). One of my favorite scenes is at the end where Chief is able to be liberated from the mental hospital and the scene where he escapes into the lush forest, all because McMurphy was no longer able to handle being there and the suicide of Billy Bibbit was what sent him over the edge. He became one of the patients and Chief set them both free. Chief was able to break through the security of the bars-windows.

Chief escaping from the mental hospital to flee to Canada.

Arriving at the hospital not yet conformed to the dress code.

McMurphy turned into one of the patients.

           In my opinion, This movie was outstanding. The sets were created with the storyline in mind, the props and costumes were dead on portraying mental patients, the use of colors were appropriate to each feeling that the cinematographer and production designer wanted, and the acting was superb; Nicholson and the cast were chosen wonderfully and the acting made it all flow. The overall story was wonderful thanks to Ken Kesey's novel, and was portrayed wonderfully through all of the crew members. I was very impressed with the mis-en-scene and tone of the film as a whole. ★★★★ Porter.

References:
http://climatecrock.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/lobotomy.jpg
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073486/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt
http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/c3Dz6FOE_Gk/maxresdefault.jpg
http://www.awardsdaily.com/oscarpodcast/files/2013/04/one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest-4.jpg
Prince, Stephen. "Movies and Meaning: an introduction to film". New Jersey. Pearson Education. 2013.

Should I Be Embarrassed of Past Work? Oh well... here you go

More High school reviews guys!! I will have another new review up here on Thursday'ish'

Reviewer: Mikaela Porter

The Masque of the Red Death / 1964 / 7.0

Director/Studio:Roger Corman

                          Alta Vista Productions 

Box Office: Budget-?

                    Gross-?

Genre: Horror

The overall mis en scene in this movie was well for the time period. There were many colors that were associated with the rooms of many colors and it was great for the set design to keep up with furniture and tapestries of the same colors of the rooms. The lighting was completely justified in this movie. One look and you can see it is horror, the low light and the dim flickers of candles are eerie in itself. Wonderful set design for the castle and making the outside very gothic in style which is representative of the era. 

Critics have given this movie a 58%, which is rotten on the freshness scale. One critic thought it was good : “In adapting Poe's short story to the screen, Corman adds much material, including a romance, some Satanism, and a subplot with a dwarf.”- Leo Goldsmith

I am not on board with what he says because those reasons are why I don’t like this film, too much was added. Another critic didn’t like it and he said: “For such a little movie, there’s an awful lot going on. The revenge of Hop-Toad pads things out a bit as well and give us a bit more knife twisting if the agony of Prospero wasn’t enough already.”- Bryan White. So, This critic and I have more of an understanding.

“THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH” starring Vincent Price, Hazel Court, and Jane Asher. Directed by Roger Corman (NR 84 minutes).  Price portrays a prince named Prospero who invites one thousand of his noble friends to his castle like abbey to seek refuge from the oncoming plague known as the Red Death. Prospero holds a masque ball for his guests and when a strange figure in red appears, Prospero is intrigued with the idea that it is his master, Satan, however is surprised when it is not who he expected it to be. The plot twist to add a young girl, Francesca (Asher), and the two men in her life, was about the only good thing Corman added. It is a given that to make a movie more interesting, you need to bump up the story, but it was also confusing to add the sub-plot from Hop-Frog, another one of Poe’s short stories, and was unnecessary to include something unrelated to the original story.  The excessive references of satanic worship made no sense and deducted from the value of the movie, too much of something that is supposed to add to the movie just makes you want to ask for more plot to go with your demonic mess. One instance of this, is when Juliana (Court) is in a dream-like state and the scene is shot in green with awkward angles with bad acting and is also prolonged to an extent to cause the audience to lose interest in the movie in its entirety. Price, as always in a Poe adaptation, was excellent in appearing as macabre as possible. Price portrays the epitome of gothic horror superlatively, he draws your attention the macabre details and gives the film an eerie trepidation and makes you sit on edge. His acting saved Corman’s adaptation but, would be the only reason to ever watch it.  ★ Porter.

Until the coming week readers!!

Mikaela Porter

Review: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Reviewer: Mikaela Porter
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid / 1969 / 8.2
Director/Studio: George Roy Hill
                          Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
                          Campanile Productions
                          Newman-Foreman Company
Box Office: Budget- $6,000,000 (estimated)
                    Gross- $102,308,900
Genre: Adventure/Crime/Western
Running Time: 110 minutes

          Before viewing Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, I was intrigued to find out that these two outlaws were real-life bank robbers and leaders of the Hole-In-The-Wall Gang, in 1905, who take a journey with Sundance's (Robert Redford) woman, Etta (Katherine Ross), to Bolivia to strike gold and create a new name for themselves. However, their tales were only legend and in the beginning of the film there were captions telling the audience that what we were about to watch is partially true.
          The overall mis-en-scene feel to this movie was indeed that of a western genre film. The setting was beautiful and scenic, recognizable to anyone that they were now in the midst of the wild wild west, home of the cowboy, in desert terrain with treacherous valleys and canyons. Especially noticeable when Butch (Paul Newman) and Sundance were on the run from hired gunmen to chase them down after stealing money and blowing up the Union Pacific Railway's train, they were in a shooting sequence in which they were in a canyon trying to erase their trail and the mis-en-scene was amazing. In the following picture you can see Sundance in a full vigilante costume including a cowboy hat, mustache, dusty complexion and complete with his gun, again supporting the western feel.

The Sundance Kid (Robert Redford) holds a Single Action Army as he reacts to shooting a snake in the canyon

Butch and Sundance on the run in the canyon.

          Another element of filming that I greatly appreciate was the film montage in the middle of the movie showing the audience about the trio's adventures on their way to Bolivia. It was a sequence of events in sepia toned photographs that take you deeper into the time period and compresses time to convey more information. Especially in the beginning of the movie, there was another sort of film montage in the same set of sepia tone that was meant to set us in the time period even before the actual movie begins. It was a reel of film that had an old-timey feel with a sort of old-fashioned music and the sound of reels whirring in the background.  Following are snapshots of the montage and from the beginning of the film.

During film montage, showing Butch, Etta and Sundance on their way to Bolivia.

Beginning of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid  whirring reels in the background.

          What I also completely loved was the way that the cinematographer and everyone who helped, was the juxtaposition of the beginning and end of the movie. Above, I explained how the beginning was a sequence of film shorts that gave us a time period reference, the middle of the movie gave us another montage of the same tone, however most of them were photographs. In the end, we come right back again to the sepia toned image, however, only one. This was the final image that was shot showing Butch and Sundance in their last shootout battle. Because we see this sort of tone in the beginning and middle of the movie it gives the views a sort of closure, knowing that the vigilante train robbers are now beaten, especially since Etta was not there to see them die ( it was her wish that she would leave if they were to die, which she did leave).

Butch and Sundance in their last shootout.

        From viewing this movie and analyzing the mis-en-scene elements, I am in love with the use of scenery, location as well as the overall feel of the wild west that was incorporated into the making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I loved the costumes of the characters and most of the film angles and shots that gave the viewer a sense of their adventure as well. The juxtaposition of the entire film was very well done and is a rare element not seen too often. ★ ★ ★ ★ Porter.

References:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064115/

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF173CEE61BC4D51DFBF668382679EDE

http://www.reelviews.net/movies/b/butch_cassidy.html

http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/File:Bcsk-saa1.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butch_Cassidy

http://imthecautionarywhale.blogspot.com/2013/08/hit-me-with-your-best-shot-butch.html

Viewing courtesy of Western Washington University's class, Introduction to the Cinema THTR 201 taught by Professor Chapman.

Non-Existent Throwback Day #2

Once again I figured I could post something related to Cinema here and so please enjoy another review from my past before I write a new one!

Reviewer: Mikaela Porter

The Phantom of the Opera / 2004 / 7.2

Director/Studio: Joel Schumacher 

              Warner Bros. Pictures

 Box Office: Budget- $70,000,000

                     Gross- $154,648,887

Genre: Musical Romance Thriller

The mis en scene in this movie was wonderful. The setting is in Paris late 19th century and the costumes I believe are a great depiction of what it should look like. The overall set design was phenomenal and had a great taste. The genre is more of a romance musical so it had lots of candelabras and firelight which also added to the creepy aspect that it is she who gets kidnapped and taken to this dungeon. It is not what one would expect to be a sewer. Maybe the only thing that threw e off, but it is still a great design in that it is the Phantom’s home and his place of music. The lighting was great and always somewhat dim and dark adding to the thriller portion of the genre and making the film look older.

To my dismay, most critics did not like the film as I expected. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 33%, however, a better result is the audience saying that it was 86% good. “Give me the Lon Chaney version any day. Call me an old-fashioned man if you want, but I just had such a hard time finding anything remotely likable in Schumacher's glam rock version of "The Phantom". Though Rossum's performance is worth remembering, everything else is basically lifeless and lacking in energy or appeal. The whole production feels cut and pasted, and it doesn't translate well to the big screen.”- Felix Vasquez Jr. I completely disagree with Felix here. I think incorporating the rock element to the musical was a great idea! It is is fresh and it goes along with the attitude that most of the film is about. A critic that can better explain what I agree with said :

“That said, open-minded moviegoers, shameless romantics, and, of course, existing Phans should have little difficulty in letting their darker (or, given the ultimately tender spirit of the material, lighter?) side give in to the power of the music of the night. There’s a reason why Lloyd Webber’s live adaptation has consistently packed in crowds for going on two decades and served as the “entry drug” for future fans of live theater (such as myself), and it’s the much like the reason why Christine is so taken by the Phantom himself: it conjures up this unexplainable spell that leaves audiences sad, sentimental, swooning, smiling–in some way transported and moved. Now, in Schumacher’s film, that spell lives on.” - Michael Dequina 

“THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA” starring Emmy Rossum, Gerard Butler, and Patrick Wilson. Directed by Joel Schumacher. (PG-13, 143 minutes) Christine Daae was brought up in the Paris Opera house. She grows up and discovers a voice, telling her and teaching her to sing. She believes he is the angel of music, but in-fact he is a scheming genius, The Phantom of the Opera, and he falls in love with her whilst. Although she is fascinated and drawn towards The Phantom, almost hypnotized, she falls in love with her childhood sweetheart, The Viscount de Changy or Raoul. This stirs up a major love triangle and the plot only thickens. Wonderful sets, costumes and cast. The music was brilliantly written by Andrew Lloyd Weber and is a must see musical. ★★★★Porter.

Shortly, there will be a new review!

Mikaela

Lets Have Some Throwback!...On a Friday

Now this isn't for class or anything but, I figured since I have a blog why not utilize it. So I am using today as a throwback day and I dug up one of my old reviews for ya'll to see. Enjoy!

Reviewer: Mikaela Porter

Silver Linings Playbook / 2012 / 8.1

Director/Studio: David O. Russell 

  The Weinstein Company/

              Mirage Enterprises

Box Office: Budget-$21,000,000

        Gross-$55,310,270

Genre: Dramatic Romance Comedy 

     This movie portrays how life can get really rough and it can do it quick. In this movie Russell gives us the message that you don’t have to go through life’s challenges alone, there will always be someone there with you. The characters are unfiltered, and are depicted as being truthful characters. The movie is about second chances and finding the silver lining of a situation.   The elements of mis en scene did a good job, the setting is in a small town and quaint like a drama would be so that it is relatable. The costumes were good and not over the top in any one part. With drama you can always tell that everything is serious when there is an over the shoulder back and forth shot with the camera with some serious dialogue but we also have some comedic aspects as well as in shots of the two of the together in shots with witty banter. 

     Critics generally like this movie. “It's a rom-com that succeeds in revitalizing that discredited genre where so many others have failed, injecting it with the grit and emotion of realist drama rather than with amped-up whimsy or social satire or montages of people walking on the beach.”-Andrew O’Hehir. I agree with this critic because it isn’t the stereotypical romance comedy that we get, it is genuine and most people can relate to. Other critics who don’t like the movie say mostly that the cast was not compatible. “A thoroughly annoying and staggeringly laughless quirkfest featuring the most alarmingly miscast role of 2012.”-Erick Weber. On the other hand I don’t necessarily disagree. The cast was a bit awkward to be together but I feel that it is the point. One critic said 

“The film’s dare-to-believe bandwagon is not entirely irresistible. What is impossible to ignore, though, is the acting juggernaut that is Jennifer Lawrence. Just 21 when the film was shot, the star of Winter’s Bone andThe Hunger Games still has a mercurial baby- faced softness that makes her fascinating to watch. Here, in her first real adult role and first comedy, she trades dialogue with Cooper with the snappy rhythms of a David Mamet play, and stares him down like a cobra ready to strike.”-Liam Lacey

and this is almost a perfect way to describe her role.

“SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK” starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert De Niro. Directed by David O. Russell. (R, 122 minutes) After being let out of a mental institution, Pat is in search of his ex-wife in order to win her back and to apologize for beating up  her lover that she was having an affair with. Things get complicated when Pat meets a girl named Tiffany who is also struggling with her past. This film is great because it is a movie about second chances and finding the silver lining in any situation no matter how grim it may be. It is a very relatable plot line and believable as well. The cast was a bit of misfits, but it could be tied into the mis en scene of the movie. ★★★★ Porter.