Run Lola Run, …Roll Semester Credits

Here we are back in Germany to wrap up the semester. I didn’t see us ending in Germany, but it is a good stopping point. The last time we researched into Germany, we were talking about films that promoted the Nazis. Now we are in class watching a very exciting and entertaining film, Run Lola Run, to show were they ended up. The film is full of hidden surprises and sometimes hard things to understand.

On Monday, we got into the directors who revamped the German film industry. Over the course of the 20^th century we saw Germany at the heart of two world wars and in constant financial struggles. This new German cinema come from the post war. It was declared a start in the Oberhausen Manifesto in 1962 by 26 film makers in order to establish new German feature film. From my study of the 20^th century, we have seen issue at the heart of Germany due to the division between East and West Berlin. This lead many to want to be in the free and live by the Western ways in West Berlin. This was one of many conflicts in Europe at the time, a constant battle between communist and capitalism.

We then on Wednesday watched Run Lola Run and it was nothing that I was expecting. The techno beat and the outfits of the filmed screamed late 90s, early 2000s. I saw watching this film confused at first with the opening and having pan over a bunch of people lost in a crowd. Not knowing what it meant until we got into the film. The craziest thing for me was how quickly I thought it was over at. I mean I saw her get shot and just thought wow that was fast. Then the whole thing restarted, and, in my mind, I thought of movies where characters get a do over until they make the right choices or as I said in class the Butterfly Effect. I thought of the Butterfly effect because he would run into the same people, but each time their outcome was changed.

I wish this would work in real life like this because I have lost a lot of money on these tables and have felt like that on the inside. I was very jealous, it is very hard to pick the right number and get it to hit.

With the film I did not understand the transition from cartoon to real life, it just reminded me of the television show Lizzie McGuire. I didn’t get it until I read the article on the movie. In it the author states that “her metamorphosis into a “real” image emphasizes the invention of the character, and her transformation from cartoon to Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run and the Usual Suspects “real” image places her firmly in the realm of the imaginary.” This is an interesting take because I wouldn’t put those two films together and to think of how she could manifest into something more.

Over the course of the semester I have seen and heard many different things. I took this class because I know there are a lot of great movies I haven’t seen yet, and boy was I right. I watched films in different languages and countries, both I rarely ever do. It was always an issue to see a film in another language because I felt like I missed something because I am too worried about trying to read the subtitles. The two films of Wild Strawberries and Diva were unaffected by this issue for me. I was too confused during Wild Strawberries because as soon as it started, I felt like it ended abruptly leaving me wondering on so many things. With Diva, I didn’t care about the text, I was too busy listening to the music and seeing the way the director shot the film. It all wasn’t like that in this class, I loved the Rocky Horror Picture Show and found myself struggling to get the music out of my mind.

The class was slow to get going in my mind. I didn’t care too much for the silent movie or the all the Edison clips. I get we needed to start somewhere and why not at the beginning. I don’t this I will ever view these again, but I may use my knowledge from these to better teach other when seeing different camera techniques. We did see a lot of that like in The Great Train Robbery and in the Grand Hotel, we saw how the camera work changed. From displaying an image onto a screen in the back ground to a moving camera on a train or in an elevator. These techniques lead to many other down the road with better technology, but in their time were revolutionary.

With this being the end of the semester and having watched so many films. I can say that my least favorite of them all was the Fly. It was a great film and I did enjoy seeing actors that I knew, but the bodily fluids and the special effects were too much. I was grossed out watching him be fascinated by the way his body would break down food or when his whole face fell apart. Professor warned us about it and man was he right.

I did enjoy discussing this with others and have grown to seeing why they love it.

Now my favorite movie in class was either Bonnie and Clyde or the Poseidon Adventure. Both stared Gene Hackman, but that is not the reason. I enjoyed Bonnie and Clyde for the action and all the fun these two outlaws had. I also liked seeing the comical Gene Wilder get a cameo and making me laugh some more. The Poseidon Adventures was action packed and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. The idea of a disaster movie is annoying because you think someone should live while other that you want gone live. It is a constant struggle between your emotions.

Overall, I found the best film to be my movie project of Pit and the Pendulum. I enjoyed it the most and would recommend people to take the hour to watch it. It had everything you could ask for. It involved almost everything the class had to offer and was produced by the great Roger Corman. I think this is a film that should be shown, or you could make a class out of it. A in depth investigate American International Pictures and Roger Corman.

Cinema du Look and Diva

This week we dove into the French cinema category of Cinema du Look. That is exactly as it sounds. It the using not only words to tell a story, but the world around us. It takes a large focus on the world around and using that to work into our tale. Cinema du Look is the idea of how it is built or constructed. We learned about some of the key directors during this period like Luc Besson and Leos Carax. In class we watched Jean-Jacques Beineix film, Diva, and it was wonderful. The ideas were simple for a film in this category. They had a youthful influence with doomed love affairs and an anti-establishment ideal. This were a common theme with any film of the youth of the 80s who wanted to break away and be free from the hand of the authorities.

The movie Diva had a lot of extras that can go unnoticed if you are not looking for them. Professor even stated that a second view can do well and that is always true to really understand a film. A film is just the vision of the director he attempts to portray to you. It is hard to fully understand the things in the background with out another viewing, but these are a few of the things I took away.

When we are talking about the looks from a film, this photo does it best. You can sit and stare at this for a long time and ponder upon it

Cinema du Look is all about how it is constructed and put together. This idea from the film dint hit me until after we finished, and we were discussing. In the movie, it opens on the main character on his scooter that he has attached the “Spirit of Ecstasy” to the

The Spirit of Ecstasy off the hood of a Rolls Royce

front. This comes off a very expensive and high-class car, a Rolls Royce. At first, I just laughed because it was funny to see it on something like a moped. Very surprising that the whole film was based on getting a recording because that hood ornament is worth a nice penny. Later, we see him receive a Rolex from the girl as a gift after they were looking at the crushed Rolls Royce. The Rolls Royce and Rolex both represent what I think Cinema du look stands for. These products are all about using the best materials and being put

A Rolex submariner to show the build and quality.

together perfectly. People go out and purchase these items because of their build quality and how they look. It is all about their construction and built. This was what I thought was a way to relate the idea of Cinema du Look to the audience

I think one of the greatest parts was to listen to this wonderful voice. I am not an Opera fan in the slightest, but it was very relaxing to sit and listen. It felt like her music was a representation of drugs because every time the characters would listen, they would become entranced and lose themselves when it played. The music was there to stand for something much more and showed the power it can have. Like past films like Rocky Horror Picture, I had to go back and listen again because it was so great. I think the music was my favorite part of the whole movie. It just had a way of bringing you in and making you sit deeper into your seat as it goes on. Over all the film was very pleasurable.

1980s

Here we are in the 1980s, a decade full of movies we all know and can reference. As we went over the slides and talked about great films. Everyone in class had that “ohh I love that MOVIE” or “what a classic”. I mean between the film greats like “The Breakfast Club” or all the John Candy movie. The 80s are filled with the film I love, even if they embraced some of the not so great techniques of the 70s.

One of many great scenes from a great movie. I was between this and the golfing part.

We talked about Harry Potter franchise and all the money out there for the industry to make money off. When we first started talking in the 70s about the increase money a film can make by selling merchandise, is now on a whole new level. With so many sources of revenue for most it can seem like a rip off. For most kids of my generation and the one before, this is normal for companies to wrench every cent out of a film. Even if that means it can ruin the franchise as a whole. We have all experienced it, from a horrible remake to a toy or a video game that was just awful. With talking about how big Jaws was, we didn’t even mention its three other sequels. I think this is mainly due to how bad they are or because it just repeated what the first movie did and didn’t change anything from the first film. It is just like going to see an appalling remake and who wants that when you can just watch the first one again. This is what I hate about so many sequels. They try to remake the magic the first film had, and it isn’t the same as the first one.

Now I say how I dislike sequels and yet I still love to watch the Star Wars Saga and the trio of Indian Jones films (not the fourth, that one blows). I think that Spielberg and Lucas have done some great thing and have made some of the best films I know of. I think sometime films are just so very entertaining and enjoyable that you don’t care about them repeating the original.

As we learned more about John Hughes and the films he produced. He reminded me of another director/ producer we learned about a few weeks prior. I kept comparing him to Corman and American International Pictures because just like them, Hughes went to make films that spoke to a younger audience. With Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, and Ferris Beuller’s Day Off it was all so relatable for a teenager to relate to.

Now on to the main screening of the week with the Fly. I exited to seen Jeff Goldblum because he has been in many films, I enjoyed like Jurassic Park. At the start I wasn’t sure why Professor was so worried about showing this or why he picks and chooses which semester it will be on. Well, I now know why he does that. It wasn’t how he was acting that got to me. It was they sounds and the looks of Seth Brundle that got me. When he vomited onto his food to break it down and then you could hear him slurp it up was just gross. Even think about it made me want to gag because I can still hear it. Or at the end when he is melting the hand and is spewing this liquid out of his body. I was left with so many gross thoughts and images of his head and body kept deteriorating over the whole film. It was gross, but I may show it to some friends for a chance to view it again.

Had to pick out a more pleasing photo because I cannot stomach another viewing this film

Midnight Movies

Found this the best way to start this blog

Once again, we discussed the issue that Hollywood is running into and their economic distress. Competition between Hollywood and television is a constant struggle and the two see to be consistently butting heads. So how does Hollywood solve this issue to get people out of their homes and into theaters? Spectacles were the answer. Hollywood can do more special effects than you can ever see on your televisions. No one knew better on how to attract a younger audience and usher in the new era for the studios then the Roger Corman trained film brats. These directors are a constant in past blogs and future because they shape what we know about Hollywood today.

This led to more films based around the anti-heroes. We saw this with Bonnie and Clyde and in many popular movies like MASH and Rocky. All based around the idea of someone who you shouldn’t like becoming the one you are rooting for. In Bonnie and Clyde, these two bank robbers are stealing and killing, but when they meet their fate, we are sad to see them go. It pushes you away form rooting for your usually hero.

Now we must talk about the biggest film of the 1970s, which was Jaws. This was a huge film not only because it grossed a ton of money, but because it brought a new income to movies. The film made a lot more money off the merchandise. This was a new for a film and was not expected to bring so much money. The selling of merchandise like shirts and toys would be perfected late on with the release of Star Wars.

Next, we started to talk about the midnight movie phenomenon. From our partial screening we learned how it started with a film called “El Topo” and how it was a smash at midnight screening. Unfortunately, that was the only place it worked. When it was brought and tried to be played during the day it tanked. Which I found funny, like a movie at midnight is a huge success, but at any other time it sucked. I think there is draw to midnight events like movies or for me growing up it was midnight bowling. I think it was just fun to get out of the house and be out late with your buddies. This idea is like how American International Pictures did so well. It found a huge niche market and was able to be very successful from it.

We then went on and experienced the most well known and most popularized midnight movie, Rocky Horror Picture Show. This was more than what I expected. I knew it was supposed to be a stranger film based on many of the early horror films with many references to them. I didn’t think I would like it that much. I can see now, especially after reading the script for the audience why it was so popular. I bet being in a theater and everyone at the same time speaking as the movie goes on is great fun. I know I caught myself laughing and being surprised as Dr. Gagne shouted out some of these responses. It was so much enjoyment with the film alone, especially when I stopped seeing Tim Curry as the clown from IT.

One of my disappointments to the film was how quickly Meatloaf or Eddie was killed off and we didn’t get a chance to enjoy his character more. I am a big fan of both Meatloaf and Tim Curry and was hoping for a jam session between the two of them. Also, I never would have known how great of a singer Tim Curry was if it wasn’t for this film.

1970s Films

We started off the week with the French New Way. This was an idea fueled by the idea of making film as art and not as a product. Sometimes that is the biggest issue, people get into something for the money and that is what it gets based around. Not with this, the new wave brought many smaller studios and independent film makers to the scene to create master pieces. I do find it funny how any time we talk about some of the greats like Jean Luc Godard or Francois Truffaut; professor describes them all as a mind fuck or you will be confused by the end. It makes me laugh every time, but also wonder why they are so great if everyone is confused. I felt that with Wild Strawberries, and I was kind of frustrated. Like it left us with too many questions, and I wasn’t sure what the larger idea was. I guess I cannot be a great love of the arts.

After this wave, we ride the American New Wave into the 1970s.  With this we see the Corman trained directors that we know and love like Woody Allen, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and many more. We are getting into films I know and love. With greats like Star Wars, E.T., and the Exorcist. All of these are still relevant to today’s society. All of them are before my generation, but we still know of their impact and their importance in Hollywood and society. Who knows where the horror would be without the Exorcist? Would we have films like Paranormal Activities or The Conjuring? These Roger Corman trained directors gave us some of the most impactful films ever.

Tonight, we watch Poseidon Adventure. We once again were blessed with Gene Hackman for the second week in a row. I really like him much better because this time he did not have his wife from Bonnie and Clyde. It was the first film I watched that drove me insane. I couldn’t stand the anticipation and a few of the characters. The disaster film idea is not one of my favorites. In the film and in class, I and a lot of other class mates were ready to scream at Nonnie. She was constantly causing delays and problems with the group; from her getting stuck on the ladder to not being able to swim. I was ready to jump out of my seat because of her. I have never been a fan of these type of movies, but I did like it.

With this movie, I was in a constant state of anticipation. I was wonder what was going to happen next or who is going to die. I wanted to say that I was surprised that Belle died, but she was constantly ready to go the whole time. I did think that her death was drawn out and almost comical. I was frustrated that after everything that happened and all the good the Reverend was able to do, he died. I was in shock; why would you just let him drop dead right at the end with the finish line was right there. I may not watch another disaster movie again, but I am glad we chose to watch this instead of Jaws. N/A

Singing Bank Robbers in the Rain

This week started off like any other week, where we viewed or discussed a movie I have never seen. This one was “Singing in the Rain”, we all have heard and seen the song; I have known it, and many have tried to recreate it when it rains. It is one of those iconic movies that you don’t need to watch because most people know it. The second group did a great job of presenting this film with lots of visuals to go along with the film. For me, who has never seen the film before these images really helped to understand the film more. This was by far the best presentation, but the bar is going to be set high for the next group.

After the presentation, I was not sure who enjoyed it more; the group presenting or Professor Schlegel. I thought it was funny to hear the two go back and forth about their favorite parts. This led to us viewing some great and iconic scenes from the movie like the leg of Cyd Charisse or the fit as a fiddle performance. Both were fun and very entertaining to view. I guess I never knew how much I knew about a film I never saw.

We then went on to watch the tale of two lovers who robbed and killed to survive the challenges of the Great Depression. Yes, I am speaking of the tale of Bonnie and Clyde, two of the most famous bank robber duos in history. Almost every child has heard of these two, they are up there with other criminals like Jesse James or Billy the Kid. We all know their tale and their demise. So, like these two, Bonnie and Clyde felt the same fate which was crazy for us because it came so late in the film. We watch them have issues expressing their feelings and soon after they do, we watch them get gunned down. You really can’t trust anyone, especially when you are wanted murderers and bank robbers.

Jesse James

Billy the Kid

The movie I though was kind funny. The fact that Bonnie and Clyde would just pull up and tell people that they are bank robbers and murderers just seems crazy. Like how you just walk up or finish getting your car fixed and tell that person “we rob banks”. This doesn’t seem like a great way of making an introduction but was entertaining for us. The film was so far one of the best ones, we have watched yet in this class.

One of the best parts in the movie was a great cameo by the late Gene Wilder. I have grown up seeing him in many different roles and movies like Willy Wonka and Blazing Saddles. His part in the film had some great comic relief, especially when they went from chasing the gang to being chased by the gang. The fact that they road around and had dinner with them seems odd. I think this was by far my favorite part of the movie.

Exploitation films

This week we talked about the men who helped to save Hollywood and revolutionize the film industry.  The Paramount decision from a supreme court decision to break up large trust lead the way for many to enter the world of film. Samuel Arkoff and James Nicholson were two everyday guys with dreams of getting into the film industry with their company American International Pictures. Their film company was something that the big five didn’t think of or even care about. For Sam and James, their little company went unnoticed and helped to play in their favor. They we two smart guys with the ability to find market trends missed by the bigger studios. American International Picture made films like horror, beach movies and then films for the African American Market. In the beginning, the companies main focus was in teens and to make movies that the teenage population could watch. During the fifties, no one targeted this market and it was a gold mine waiting to be tapped. When Sam and James taped this, they were making movies just as fast as they made money. Their films like “I was a Teenager Werewolf” was a killer on the market because no one had ever used the word teenager in the movie title before.

James H. Nicholson (left) and Sam Z. Arkoff run American International Pictures

Not only did these movies appeal to teenagers, but it gave them an escape. None of their parents wanted to see these and left it as a large teen event. When you think of being a young adult in the fifties, you imagine going to the drive ins and seeing a movie this way. This was a perfect place because teens could get away and see many of these American international Picture films.

Now you may be thinking that Arkoff and Nicholson are the master minds behind the films well you would be wrong. The real genius is Roger Corman, who was the key to all these films and then was a large part in many future films to come. He was a produce, a director and a mentor. Many people who worked for him went on to be big names in the film industry like Marin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and James Cameron. These are just a few, but his role in the film world has been very important. He has helped to create many films and directors we know today. I though he was almost under credited because I had no idea who he was before this, but I knew many of the directors he taught.

After talking about American International Pictures, we learned about the nudist movement in film. This was a surprising film for me because I was not expecting to watch something like this in class. I know that in order to get nudity into films it had to start somewhere and with some movement, but I did not this it was this intense and full out. I imagined it would be maybe a few topless women in a film and then it grew. This just seems like they dove straight into the deep end and ran with it. I was a little shocked.

Italian Realism and Bergman

This week we started off with some review before getting to our real subject matter. We watched films on Italian realism and then a film by Ingmar Bergman called “Wild Strawberries”. To see what Italian Realism was like we viewed Bicycle Thieves to get an idea of how these films were set up. These films were not made to have a happy ending or leave you with a feel-good ending, but to give more of an idea of life’s hardships. In the Bicycle Thieves we saw a father try to help his family to retrieve his bike in order to keep his job. This journey pushes him to the extremes and ultimately forces him to do what wronged him in the first place. He was forced to attempt to steal someone else’s bike and be shamed for it. Then his son runs to his side not knowing what his father did in an attempt to stand up for him. As others call him a thief in front of his child. After viewing this and hearing the story, it made me wonder if this was a more serious version of “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure”. It follows a similar idea of going on a quest to find someone stolen property like the bike. Just that in Pee-Wees case, it is a more uplifting and comical film. Now maybe these films are completely unrelated, but who knows if there was some inspiration drown from the Italian Realism film in creating this one.

We then went on to watching a film by Bergman called “Wild Strawberries”. At the start of this film I did not like it right away. Mainly due to one simple fact, I really dislike watching a film where I have to spend the whole-time reading subtitles. I don’t whole it against any film and I know that there are great films out these in different languages it is just my personally preference. Besides that, I found the film to be quite charming and very enjoyable. The one thing I did not like was the ending. It came very abruptly and without talking on the result of some of the films issues. We never got to hear him make up with his son and forgive a debt, we don’t know why the people at the gas station were so thankful, and this makes me crazy. I know they never made another film to answer these questions because why ruin something so great, but why leave us with a huge cliffhanger and so many unanswered questions. With this very fact, I can’t see myself watching any other films by Bergman, especially if I was so confused by this one. The way some of his other films were described in class makes it very hard for me to justify another film. I am personally some one who likes a comedy or an action movie. So, something that will be a “mind fuck” or depressing just doesn’t seem like a film for me. Maybe as this class continues it will change my current opinion.

WW2 films

The week started off with many different films like “Thin Red Line”, “WW2 in Color”, and “Bring Darkness into light”. So far, I have found this class interesting because of how well it links up with my 20^th Century history class. This week we also learned a lot about WW2 and the atrocities committed by armies during this war. With “WW2 in Color” we were able to see the battles both on land and sea and the concentration camps. In my history class we learned that there were two types of camps; either they sent Jewish people to concentration camps for work or they went to execution camp. The images from the camp were just awful and really makes you wonder who could do something like this.  To hear what these soldiers were seeing and described by them I think would be unreal for those people they were sending it to. Some of my favorite quotes was a soldier saying “Not sure if this will be the last letter I send” is a scary thought to come to realize. One id did find funny was the German kid saying how the American soldiers always had chocolate and cigarettes. I have seen “WW2 in Color” a few times and it images never seem it change how I feel.

The next film we watched was “Thin Red Line” that spoke on the fighting in the Pacific. The war in the Pacific was much deadlier than the fighting against the Germans. This was the due to the Japanese fighting style to never quit and I found it to be similar the ideas of the Spartan Armies. In the film, we saw an army commander get told to go home because he was” soft” and would rather do what’s best for his men than follow commands. He was let go because it would be better for all and said he would be sent home well decorated. The intro leading to this seen showed the fear of an impeding battle and the horror during this battle.

We finished up the week watching “Casablanca”, a film that spoke on the trouble of trying to escape a war-torn Europe.  For a movie that had so many issues with actors, filming and writing was so excellently crafted and produced. The film was full of funny quotes and question constantly left unanswered. I found it especially funny that the official closed the pub because of gambling as he received his winnings from the roulette table. He then also stated earlier on in the film that he is a poor corrupt official with is a funny statement because most corrupt officials use their position to gain more money. One thing I did find strange that never got answered was when Rick kept asking to marry Ilsa he had a wedding ring on his finger. I found that odd and never heard anything about his own marriage, but he is open to the idea. The film had some famous quotes that I knew even before seeing this like when he is drinking and wonder why out of all the pubs, she had to walk into mine. Th film was wonderful, and I may have to watch again to see if I missed anything.

In this image you can see the ring on his finger.

Hay’s Codes and Alfred’s 39 Steps

This week I felt like we got a lot accomplished. We started with a little more talk about “Grand Hotel”, which lead into our discussion on the Hayes codes and then the “39 Steps” by Alfred Hitchcock. Before I discuss the Hayes Codes, we talked about the impact of Leni Riefenstahl and her film “Triumph of the Will” or “Triumph des Willens”. This film became well know as a propaganda film for the Nazi Party and to build support for Adolf Hitler. After watching some scenes and talking about we made the connection to someone else only a few years earlier. IT was very similar to what the Russian Communist did to help build support for Stalin and his Party. Even though Leni never admitted to what her films purpose was, it has been ling lasting and a great example of propaganda film.

We then moved into the told about the MPAA and William H. Hayes. The MPAA or also known as the Motion Picture Association of American was founded on the idea to protect and keep people from seeing sexual things in movies.  William Hayes was appointed as the president of the association to help regulate how films are produced and what the content can be in it. The association wanted to stop people from seeing films with provocative and violent scenes because it influences people to do this. This came after someone claimed they saw a film and it convinced him to murder. We still see this today with people blaming violent video games. The MPAA is still around today, but should it?

We then watched one of Alfred Hitchcock’s many historical and influential films. The “39 Steps” was just one of these films and talked about the secret life of spies. This was a very entertaining and hilarious film. The character is constantly falling into poor situations and struggles to prove the truth. I wonder if he would have just answered the phone the first time when the women were still alive, if all this trouble would have been avoided. He ends up trying his best to avoid the law and get to the bottom of this spy game. One of my favorite scenes and when he is being chased over the mountain and the police bring in a helicopter. I want to know what the original viewers thought of this part. We found it comical because of the cheesy looks, but I want to learn their original thoughts.