Is Wendy and Lucy a Chick Flick?

    Wendy and Lucy portrays a woman surrounded by poverty that must overcome adversity as a result of economic and authoritative issues. Wendy and Lucy is not a chick flick in my opinion. When I hear the phrase chick flick, immediately I think of movies where a girl and a boy meet, break up, and eventually get back together and live happily ever after. This loose personal definition in no way describes Wendy and Lucy. Wendy, struggling to support Lucy while trying to fix her car and purchase food, in no way seems dependent upon another person. Whenever I watch a chick flick there is always a common theme of reliance. Sure Wendy wants to have Lucy back in her life, but Wendy is willing and able to realize she must find her own way before she can support the life of Lucy. The movie ends with an open ending, unlike a traditional chick flick in which the two main characters would end up sailing off together or getting married. Instead, Wendy leaves Lucy behind and travels to Alaska leaving the film's ending open for infinite possibilities. Of course the majority of the audience watching this film would love to see Wendy end up with Lucy, but this is what makes the film that much more appealing and "countercultured."

The "Nameless Man"

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) is a film that takes place in the American south during the time of the Great Depression. A scene that really stuck out to me occurred during the first few minutes of the film. Everett, Pete, and Delmar encounter an African American man riding some sort of transportation device on the railroad tracks while running away. The man works for no one and has no name, but he does have some interesting words to say that really stuck out to me from the moment I heard them.  The “nameless man” tells the three men they have a great fortune to seek, though it will not be the fortune they intend to seek. The man continues by telling them they will seek a cow on a cotton house and that they should continue following the road to salvation. After the conversation is over, the camera begins to back away and form a long shot of a lengthy stretch of railroad tracks. I think this really resembled the long journey the three men had ahead of them.

            This scene did not completely make sense until the movie carried on and the Soggy Bottom Boys found their fortune and were saved by a flood that then lead to the scene of a cow on a roof. In my opinion, this scene really set up the way for the entire film. Although the nameless man only made one appearance-excluding the final scene- he was an essential part to the film.

My Own Private Idaho's Shakespeare Correlation

      My Own Private Idaho (1991), written and directed by Gus Van Sant, portrays the lifestyles and struggles of Mike and Scott, two male hustlers located in the Portland area. It was not until after I had read Adnum's article and some google searches that I learned Gus Van Sant used a pretty interesting cinematographic element in his film, My Own Private Idaho. The film is a representation of Shakespeare's Henry IV and Henry V that takes place in the 1990's as opposed to the era of Henry IV and Henry V. Hal, a reckless prince hoping to follow in his father's footsteps to become the next King represents Scott, while a minor character Poins, represents Mike. Scott, like Hal, is a reckless character who eventually attempts to change his unacceptable ways in order to make something of himself. Unfortunately, I have not read Shakespeare's Henry IV and Henry V so it is hard to go into a lengthy comparison of Shakespeare and Gus Van Sant's work. I think it is fair to say that Gus Van Sant illustrated some use of Shakespeare's work , but he also created a fresh film by taking something historical and applying the story to a modern film.

Vanishing Interpretation

   I would not consider The Vanishing a horror film primarily because I was never really scared. However, I do think this film contains some elements of the horror genre such as the uneasy emotions felt throughout the film and the antagonist, Raymond. Raymond is a twisted and frightening character who could very easily play a role in a horror film, but I did not find him to be very scary in The Vanishing. It was curiosity rather than being scared that had me on the edge of my seat throughout the film and that is my main reason for categorizing The Vanishing as a suspense/ thriller film.

   One scene in particular that helped me come to my conclusion is the last scene when Rex gets buried. Typically, I feel like I would be pretty frightened to watch a man get buried alive like that, but I really just felt anxious during that final scene. I think the anticipation I felt came from the fact that I thought and I wanted Rex to find a way out. The final scene was not an easy scene to watch, but nevertheless, I was never truly scared during this film.

Killer of Sheep: Random, Historical, and Frustrating

This film was most definitely a difficult one to watch. There were a few questions that I kept repeating in my head while watching this film, but the most common question was when is something interesting going to happen? Killer of Sheep was basically a film that consisted of a bunch of random scenes that lead to nothing. It was not until after I watched the film that I started searching for the purpose of this film. Little did I know that this genre of film was at times used to simply represent the daily routines of African Americans and of the working man. This film did just that. While watching Killer of Sheep I found myself scrolling over the time bar many times to make sure there was enough time in the film for the "big climax" to occur... it didn't. I do not enjoy extremely slow moving movies and I think that is one of the main reason Killer of Sheep was so difficult to watch.

To be honest, while watching Killer of Sheep I wanted to shut it off because I began to get really frustrated that nothing was happening except kids throwing rocks and adults having conversations that did not go anywhere. However, after watching the film and reading the assigned article and some other google searches I now have a decent understanding of Burnett's purpose and the purpose of many L.A. Film School films similar to Killer of Sheep. Although I now understand the historical influence that Watts' had on this film, I won't be seeing Killer of Sheep a second time.

Final Shootout Analysis

The shootout I am choosing to analyze is the final showdown between Blondie, Tuco, and Angel Eyes. Personally, this was the scene that had me sitting on the edge of my seat the most throughout the entire film. I think this is in part because during the entire film I was anticipating a scene like this to occur. The final shootout begins with various close, medium, and long shots between the three characters in order to build suspense. I was surprised how long it took for the characters to finally wield their weapons, but this only enhanced the scene even more. The suspenseful music and the close up shots really helped me connect with each character and the situation they were in. Bouncing from one character to the next, it was only a matter of time for bad ass Clint Eastwood to take action. Cigar in mouth, Blondie remained calm and confident, while Tuco and Angel Eyes had their eyes wondering from one character to the next. The most interesting part of the shootout was the fact that the shootout really only lasted a few seconds while the suspense was built for a few minutes. I could not help but notice how Angle Eyes and Tuco seemed rather frightened while Blondie remained in his usual confident state. This really stuck out to me when the close up shots only showed the eyes of each character.

Awara

The first musicals that come to my mind are Cats, Fiddler on the Roof, and movies like Grease so I tried to compare Awara with these famous musicals to come to my conclusion. There were various examples in Awara as to why I think it was musical. In my opinion, a musical emphasizes certain events throughout the film through music and singing. There were various examples during the film when characters would begin singing about the current situations such as when Raj sings about why he is a "tramp." I find that in musicals singing is another way for characters to connect and express their emotions with the audience and I feel that Awara did this effectively.