Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Rocky: Americas Manly Man


Rocky, it was the movie I watched and I thought other than the accent I wanted to be just like him. He was the kind of guy you knew would be the under dog but all you could do was root for him to win because he was such a nice guy. Rocky is the classic underdog story. I remember when my dad would jokingly say "hey don't worry son I'm like Rocky I can get through anything". So what is so amazing about this movie? First the story behind the making of the movie is just as amazing. No one expected the unknown Sylvester Stallone had the skills or the money to pull off such a film. Sylvester Stallone struggled as an actor and moved back to New York with a dream to become a great actor. He came up with the idea of Rocky and wrote the film in only three and a half days. He loosely based it off the famous fight between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner a rugged club fighter know one knew who made it through all fifteen rounds with the champ. 

As you watch the video you see Chuck Wepner the challenger being pummeled by the champ like nothing. While you admire the champ for his skills and grace you cant help but have a weird attraction to Chuck's ugly, unpolished, street type of fighting. You can tell he is no where near the level of the champ but for the life of him the guy will not quit at all; he just keeps fighting and you wonder how it is possible.

In this video its the final fight in Rocky. Rocky Balboa finally fights Apollo Creed. As you can see Creed is so similar to Muhammad Ali in his flashiness, his charisma, and confidence. You see Creed even moves like Ali in how he fights. Rocky you see hes very humble you can tell hes shy as soon as he introduces himself in the ring. When he fights you can see that he is sloppy, wild, and stubborn. For most of the fight you see Rocky taking a viscous beating. However unlike in the previous clip Rocky was able to hurt the champ. Sylvester Stallone is smart enough to show Rocky is no joke. While we love our underdogs we prefer for them to be winners as well. People are only behind the underdogs only hoping they will win not lose. SPOILER ALERT! Rocky still lost this fight to Apollo Creed but the only difference is Chuck Wepner was forgotten, Rocky Balboa was remembered forever.
Rocky statue in front of Philadelphia art museum

Rocky was only shot in 28 days with a budget of only about one million. Its an underdog story both in the film and the making of the film. It would also become nominated for ten academy awards for which it won  Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Film editing. The people loved the film so much because it is something we can all relate too and admire and at the same time is something so American.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBPDsE080kM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSUmB80GqDM 
http://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/1/1-rocky-statue--philadelphia-brendan-reals.jpg 



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Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Memento: The Clueless Hero

Before the films that we all love such as The Dark Knight Trilogy and Inception this is what I consider to be Christopher Nolan's first masterpiece the Director of Memento. The Director is known for focusing on the plot of all his films and the complexity of the story. This movie was the first movie where I actually had to pay attention to understand what was happening. During the course of this movie all the viewers have to become investigators and figure out whats happening during the story. In most movies while the viewer may be aloof to what is happening at least the character knows the story and we have a guide to rely on during the movie. In the course of the film we are not only trying to figure out the story, but the main character is also trying to figure out who he is and the story repeatedly. Leonard Shelby the main character of the movie is the most unreliable character in the movie.









Leonard Shelby played by Guy Pearce has suffered a head injury while trying to save his wife from being murdered. He now suffers from short term memory loss a condition where he cannot retain new memory. He only retains memory the night his wife was murdered and prior. So this fact about the character is what makes the story so interesting. Because since neither us as the audience and the main character have no idea what is going on, the story is open to interpretation. This film gives us the unique opportunity to create our own back story, our own interpretations, and our own answers. Lenny made his whole purpose to find the killer of his wife and kill him. Could Lenny have had been the killer and we just don't know it? Did he already find the killer? Are the people in his life really for his benefit or not? These questions will continue to be murky through out the film. Whenever we learn something for the first time, it his also new to him. Since Lenny was an investigator prior to this he learns many ways to retain information in a way that can not be changed and is trustworthy.












As you see in the picture Lenny has tattoos of information all over his body. Like Lenny always says "facts are important and they must be recorded". He doesn't let his condition stop him from getting the facts that he needs and keeping them. The most reliable way he keeps information and probably the most iconic is he tattoos of facts on his body. The most noticeable one is the one across his chest that reads "find him and kill him". He also takes Polaroid pictures of every person he meets and puts a fact about them behind the picture and keeps them with him at all times. Here's a clip of how he deals with his condition and how the tattoos help him in being able to still have control of the situation somewhat.
So as you can see here while Lenny is the hero of the story he is the most vulnerable person in it. You can't help but feel bad for him, but at the same time expect for him to pull through and overcome because that is what a hero in the story does. However it is more complex than that in this film. You come to learn that you cannot only trust the other characters in the film but Lenny as well. You would ask well how is that possible when he has no control over the facts, and when he can hardly retain them? That is wear lies the important question. Are the small facts that Lenny has being manipulated by himself for himself and why?

The film employs all different types of unique qualities to make the film such a fantastic film. The construction of the story is made in a way where the viewer is discovering the ending along with the main character. The way it is filmed using both modern and old noir type styles and the way the hero is portrayed is unique. I highly recommend and hopefully you can figure it out in the first view.

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