My Favorite Movie

Over my break thus far, I have sat down and watched my favorite movie Inception directed by one of the most notable directors in the industry: Christopher Nolan. I mean not only was this movie well written, but the special effects and visual effects were tremendously well done. The first time I went to watch this movie I wasn't to intrigued to see it after watching the trailers. However, when I saw the movie, I left the theater totally mind blown. LITERALLY. I was so confused about what happened, but the story kept me on my seat and each minute that passed through the last scenes was a total nail biter more me. I watched the movie again and again and began to understand more of it and the hidden messages through out. I thought the characters were well picked for these roles. Leonardo DiCaprio played Cobb, the dream extractor and played an excellent leader of the group. Learning about his life through the plot made it even better and the story entertaining. Ellen Page showed true maturation through this film. After seeing her in Juno, I didn't expect her to do as well as she did, but she pulled off the part well. What can I say about Tom Hardy? An amazing actor with a lot of talent. I found his acting to be tremendously well-done and thought he did well playing the "bad-ass" of the group. Finally what movie isn't complete today without Joseph Gordon-Levitt? I remember watching him as a kid in one of my favorite child-hood movies "Angels in the Outfield." He has also grown up to become a really mature actor with the potential to do many different parts. I've enjoyed his roles and look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.

After a few awards at the Oscars in 2011 including best achievement in Cinematography, sound editing, sound mixing, and visual effects. I have to agree on all these awards because this movie produced excellent sound that followed the movie well. One of my favorite effects from the movie was the rotating corridor scene when Joseph Gordon-Levitt was fighting off an assassin. The scene consisted of a 120 foot long by 30 foot wide revolving corridor. The corridor was constructed of wood and was backed by steel tubing. I-beam rings with roller wheels were placed every 16 feet along the length of the corridor. The wheels were connected to two 55-hp electric motors, which were synchronized by a computer. The corridor would rotate every 10 seconds clockwise and counter-clockwise. The cameras were placed on tracks that were placed in the corridor to shoot the fighting scene. 

  

Patron Initiated Reservations and The Criterion Collection

Thursday afternoon, I attended an ICTV producer’s meeting in which we discussed Park’s new Patron Initiated Reservations system. Being able to make equipment and location reservations online is an incredible convenience! I want to familiarize myself a little more with the PIR system, so I’ll begin to set up Game Over’s recurring reservations for the semester. 

After talking about silent movies in class, I wanted to find a handful of films to watch as a nice break from “talkies.” I decided to start by going online to The Criterion Collection, which is a wonderful resource that not only distributes classic films, but has information on films in the form of film essays, articles and photo galleries. I’m currently reading about the Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu and his silent film A Story of Floating Weeds, which he actually remade in color. Out of curiosity, I’d like to view both versions of the film.

Another interesting feature of The Criterion Collection is their assortment of various celebrities’ Top 10 lists. I looked at the musician Adam Yauch’s Top 10 list, who’s selections include films by Akira Kurosawa and Wes Anderson as well as Federico Fellini, who I believe was mentioned in class. After A Story of Floating Weeds, I think I’m going to watch Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria. Unfortunately, The Criterion Collection website lists it as being out of print, but I’ll see if I can’t find it somewhere!