Bruce Almighty - Review

I re-watched Bruce Almighty this week because I never really seriously watch this film before as I watched this on TV and it is already halfway when I watched it. I suddenly think of this film so I found it online and watched it again. Jim Carrey is probably the reason I re-watch this film because he his my favourite comedian since my childhood and for me, he is Stephen Chow of Hollywood. One of his film that I remember the most is Ace Ventura: Pet Detective because of his overacted facial expressions and body movements. He probably is one of the best comedian in Hollywood.

Bruce Almighty is the comedy film as Jim Carrey is the main cast in it and the first thing comes to our mind will sure be comedy. This film is directed by Tom Shadyac and it is about Bruce (Jim Carrey) who did not get promotion but his colleague did and faced different negative encounters after that. He blames it all to God and keep complaining about God is not helping him. Then God (Morgan Freeman) gives all his power to Bruce and see if Bruce can do his job better than him. This is an interesting story isn't it?

As this is a comedy film, it uses various types of comedy in it. The first type that I can see in this film is slapstick comedy. Bruce's pet dog always pee on the sofa instead of the tree in front of the house that Bruce ask it to. So Bruce lifts up his dog and run to the tree with his dog continue peeing. This is really funny when I see it.

Furthermore, this film also consist of surreal comedy. The most obvious example is Grace (Jennifer Aniston) gets in the toilet and got shocked when she sees her pet dog is using the toilet and reading newspaper.

Another example is when Bruce messes with Evan (Steve Carell) when he is on live camera. Bruce first uses his power to make Evan throat stuck so that his voice becomes funny. Then he changes the text on the teleprompter to make Evan mess up on the camera. After that, Bruce controls Evan's mouth to make him talk non-sense in front of the camera. This is the most hilarious part of the film.
There is one more example when Bruce is giving pressure to Grace with his power. When he mention the word 'pressure' then Grace will react with the 'feel good' reaction. It consist of little bit of potty humour in this.

Next, parody is also being used in this film when Bruce tries to part the tomatoes soup into half in the bowl after he get the power from God to prove that what the God told him is real. This is a parody to Moses who is a prophet in Abrahamic religions and he parted the sea into half to make a way, it can be seen in a scene in the film, Exodus: Gods and Kings.

There is one scene in this film that the God make fun of Gandhi, who was the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India, also known as Father of The Nation in India. The God make fun of his longest fasting during India's freedom movement which lasted 21 days. This is how black comedy being used in this film. People who can relate will find it funny but some people may be offended by this.

At last but not least, there are moral behind this film. Bruce is a guy who only care about himself, he is a narrow thinking guy who only sees his own problems. Whenever he got a problem, he will just complaint and blame others. An example that shows his selfishness is he use his power to drag the moon closer to earth to impress Grace but causes tsunami in Japan that kills many people and bring asteroid down to earth just to get exclusive news on the TV. At least, he finds out all the prayers that Grace did for him and realises that how bad he treated her and how important she is. The moral of this is to appreciate what we already have and never let it go. Do not regret only when we loss it. There is a quote from this film that I love the most is "Want to see a miracle? Be a miracle". Everyone of us have the power to create miracle and make the world a better place.

Zombieland - Review

Last week was the week 3 of me for taking the Film Studies subject in my university life. On the lecture class, Mr Joe discussed about film editing with us. Why do we edit film? It is because editing is economical, which allow us to control the production. We do not have to shoot in order according to the storyboard. We do not need to shoot per scene, but can shoot per venue. For example, we are shooting of two couple walking in a garden and we have to shoot another flashback scene of them in the same venue on 10 years ago. We can shoot both present and flashback in a same day with different outfits. Editing allows us to manipulate space and time such as creating 3D visuals on 2D plane. We can't place our character on a white wall because it is too flat and nothing behind the character to create the 3D visual to show the character is in front of something or where the character's position is in the set.

In term of manipulated space in editing, it allows us the character to 'appear' in a place with shooting at the certain place. For example, we need to show people are working in the office at KLCC but we do not have the budget to shoot at KLCC. So we can shoot an establishing shot of KLCC then cut to another interior. This is the simplest way to do it.

Furthermore, we also learned film genre. Genre is a way to categorize film. There are two main components in genre, Semantic and Syntactic. Semantic approach is the visual aspect of the film such as characters, locations and etc. Syntactic approach is the thematic aspect of the film such as conversation between character, situation, narrative and etc. Genre analysis must only be made by combining both components. Syntactic must be supported by Semantic. More over, there are 3 conditions of genre. The first condition is a film of certain genre must have the universal samantic and syntactic of the genre. For example, every action films must have chasing scene. The second condition is match with the audience expectation, because every audiences have their expectation towards the film they are going to watch. The last condition is innovative, create something new but keep the old conventions.

In the tutorial class, Mr Joe showed us Zombieland last week. This is a film that was produced in 2009 and directed by Ruben Fleischer. From the title of the film, we already expected it is a zombie survival film.

This film contains various type of genre. First I will discuss about the expected type of genre, horror. As we know, every zombie films can't run away from horror because zombie film is belong to the 'unnatural' type horror film, same as ghost and vampire film. The unnatural horror film will show the irrational forces of chaos or horror invariably terrorrizes and end with normalcy and victory over the monstrous. It will show the audience what is normalcy at first, then the terror comes and back to normalcy in the end. For example, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) was a otaku who was playing his video game in the beginning of the film then a girl went to his house for hideout. They slept on the couch and he saw the girl turned into zombie after he woke up. This is when the terror comes.

Besides, this film shows treat to normalcy, which means the external force that threaten the civilians. The most obvious are the zombies who were caused by mad cow decease. The mad cow decease is the treat to normalcy. The film also shows bodily mutations, which can be seen on the zombies who were turned from human because of mad cow decease.

Moreover, this is also a comedy film because it brings a lot of laughs to the audience. Some parts of the film contain slapstick such as when Columbus falls from the bike and he shoots Bill Murray when he think he is a real zombie.

This film also contains parody, The Ghostbusters. Tallahassee keep looking for Springies is an idea that came from the original Ghostbusters movie. One part of the film that obviously shows the parody of the Ghostbusters is the chandelier scene, where Tallahassee wears the real ghostbuster uniform and Bill Murray takes a vacuum cleaner to pretend it as ghost vacuum.

Romance is also one of the genre that appears in the film. Columbus and Wichita have the romance in the film as they meet each other in a supermarket and Wichita tricks him and Tallahassee. This is when the conflict starts between them. Then they fall for each other through all the conflict and be together in the end.

Sci-Fi is another genre that appears in the film as it shows the projection of our worst fears in the future. Sci-Fi is a film genre that shows science is being misplaced. The example in this film is the mad cow decease that makes people turn into zombies. It also shows the extinction of human race and apocalypse which are the prediction of the possibility of our future.

This movie contains a lot of components of action film too such as Tallahassee who looks like a typical action hero, the one man army. Columbus who is a nerd but strategising, the accidental hero. Wichita who is quick, smart, pretty but not using her sexuality, the femme fatale. Little Rock is a young girl who is brave, smart and not afraid to learn. All of them play an important role in the action of the film. The thing that must be shown in an action film is the chase scene. For example, the parking lot where two zombies chase Columbus on the parking lot and he keep running away from them. Another chase scene happens in Pacific Playland where Wichita switches on the light of the playland then attracted all the zombies around it which cause them surrounded by the zombies. The keep running away from the zombies then get on the drop tower ride.

Last but not least, Zombieland is also a road film because it shows the characters travel from point A to point B. For example, Wichita and Little Rock head to Pacific Playland from the supermarket. Road film also contains part of bonding when struck in a way of transportation, either vehicles or just walk. In the film, there is one part when they are taking turns to drive, talking and playing with each other.

Requiem For A Dream - Review

After I watched this film, the only thing that pops out in my mind was 'WOW!'. This film really amazed me, it makes me think that the director, Darren Aronofsky is someone with crazy thought because it is not something we can usually see on the screen. It is really an amazing and beautiful piece of work from the narration to the editing of the film.

The first thing I think the director did very well in this film is the mise-en-scene. The costume and makeup is one thing I really have to talk about, especially for Sara Goldfarb. Her costume and makeup really represent her character well who is a typical old housewife. What important is when she get psychologically ill, the makeup really done well for her. The pale face, dark circle and the unmanaged hair really shows that 'something wrong' with her. 

The art director did a good job in setting and props. When we watch the film, we can see that Sara Goldfarb live in an simple old apartment with an outdated television set. It directly make the audience understand her situation and her financial status. On the other hand, the lighting of the whole film is an excellent job too. It looks real and natural. The actors' and actresses' performance is a thumbs up too. They really brings out the emotion of the situation which makes the audiences are able to understand their feelings. 

Next, I would like to talk about the cinematography of this film. First, I will talk about the camera angle. There is one scene when a high angle showing Marion Silver is looking up and she is actually looking at a building. The high angle gives us a feeling that the building is taller than her and shows that she is tiny as compared to the building.

Then there is one scene when Harry and Marion lay on the floor and talk to each other after consuming drugs. The shot is high angle, the camera zooms out and spins at the same time. This clearly represents the steamy feeling of taking drugs as two of them feel like floating around. 

Furthermore, there is one camera angle that I find it interesting is when the scene of Tyrone runs from the gun fight and Marion leaves the apartment. The camera is placed in front of the characters and follows as they move. It clearly shows their facial expression and their emotion.

Lets talk about the editing of this film. The editing is the element that amaze me the most, it is just beautiful. The director uses a lot of creativity in it. For example, the scene when Harry and Marion laying on the bed looking at each other. The director uses split screen with two different shots instead of just a simple high angle shot of both of them. A shot shows Harry looking at Marion's side and another shows the extreme close up shots of where Harry is touching her, the same goes to Marion when she touches Harry.

Another creative method that the director uses is when they take drugs, the director uses montage of some simple shots, such as changing of cell, lighting up lighter, boiling water, pulling up syringe blood moving in vein and changing of pupil. All these shots do not have connection individually, but when we put it together in a certain arrangement, it become the procedure of taking drugs. The director use this instead of showing exactly they are taking drugs. The montage itself does not tell us what it is, we understand it through the knowledge that we get in our life. I think this is what the director is trying to do, he wants the audience to think.

The director also uses time lapse to show what the characters did in the period of time and dissolve in between scenes. My favourite part of this film is in the end all the characters lay on the bed and turn to the same side. It just makes everything connected. In my opinion, they all lay in the same position is reflecting that they are all ended up badly and they have no return and can't get any better.

In conclusion, I think the director is trying to show that everyone has their own dream. It can be a dream like Marion wants to be a fashion designer and has her own boutique, or it can be a simple dream like Sara wants to be on TV screen to share her joy. Everyone will think of a way to achieve their dreams, but if we use the improper way, sometime it will lead us to something that have no return. This film is really a beautiful work and worth to watch because it is not something we can often see on the screen like other mainstream Hollywood film.

Spirited Away - Review

Spirited Away is one of my most unforgettable childhood animated film in my life. I remember that I watched it when I was less than 10 years old but this film is like carved deep in my brain. Maybe it is because of the special character designs in this film and I watched it in Cantonese dub. The character designs are really one of the things that I love the most in this animated film, such as Yubaba. The big headed old lady with a pair of scary eyes and a witch-like nose really brings out the creepiness of the character. I like this film when I was a kid was simply because of the interesting look of the characters and the Cantonese dub.

When I re-watch it at current age and I re-watched it twice, I see this film differently. I can see there are many hidden messages that Hayao Miyazaki puts in this film which are all reflected to the reality in Japanese society, since this is a Japanese animated film. From the moment I found out what Hayao Miyazaki was trying to do, I started to fall for this film again with another reason. How he portrays Japanese society in this animated film is what I love the most and it is really interesting.

First, we can see the parents of Chihiro are so happy when they saw the tasty foods in the spirit world and they started to eat it. Chihiro refuse to eat it even her parents asked and her dad said 'Never mind, dad is here. I have cash and credit card.' This reflects to the working adults in the society who are materialistic and think money can solve every problem. After that, Chihiro's parents turned into pigs by Yubaba because she think human only know to eat and did not want to work. This clearly reflects to the people who are lazy are the same as pigs because pigs will only eat and sleep.

This film have some shocking messages in it which we can't realize and I found the explanation online. Hayao Miyazaki admitted that this film is actually reflecting the modern Japenese society with sex industry, "I think the most appropriate way to symbolize the modern world is the sex industry. Hasn’t Japanese society become like the sex industry?" he said. As we can see, the main set in the entire film is the bathhouse and it was a place where men seek for sexual favors during the Edo period. The women who work in the bathhouse known as 'yuna' which is 'hot water women' and it is the same as what the female workers in the film are being called. In the past, people called the brothel madams as yubaba, that is what the old witch who are operating the bathhouse being called!

Next, Chihiro signs over her name to work at the bathhouse and Yubaba changes her name to 'Sen'. This is in fact how the prostitutes change their names and sign over their identities to their madam. When Chihiro thought No-Face is their customer, she allow him to get in the bathhouse. No-Face starts to observe her and offer her bath tokens and golds that he think she will like it. Actually he is trying to buy Chihiro like a man buy a prostitute. Chihiro did not accept his gifts because she does not need it and I can see this is reflecting the relationship in reality. A relationship must have someone who is willing to give and someone who is willing to take, but No-Face the one who gives and Chihiro is not willing to take. This shows that one-sided love is not going to end well. No matter how much a person gives, if another person does not want it, it will be all become a waste.

Further more, we can see that Chihiro was so weak and timid in the beginning but she started to be strong and do things all by herself after she lost her parents. In reality, we will only grow up if our parents are not helping us. In contrast with Yubaba's son, who is a gigantic baby. Yubaba is so protective towards his son and overly loving him. I think what the director is trying to show here is when the parents are over protective to their children, they will not grow up and remain as a baby or a spoil kid.

Hayao Miyazaki is also trying to reflect the environment issues nowadays. There is one scene that the stink spirit comes to the bathhouse to wash himself up. Chihiro then find out something is stuck inside his body and she try to pull it out. After a hard trying and with the helping of the other workers, they finally pull everything out and it is all trash. After that, the stink spirit becomes clean and they find out it is actually the river spirit. This clearly shows that people nowadays do not care about the environment and damaging it. The river becomes dirty and stink is all because people polluted it by throwing rubbish in it.

In conclusion, I really love this film from the character designs to the way Hayao Miyazaki portray modern Japanese society. This is a really special and worth watching animated film unlike all those fairy tales from Disney. There are just one thing that makes me confuse, which is why the female workers are human but the male workers look like frogs?