Winter Break Entertainment

   Over my winter break consisting of an entire month, I found myself watching several movies with my family and friends. Ever since being in an IB Film class back in high school, I have analyzed and looked for a deeper meaning into the films and television shows that I watch. I look for lighting techniques, along with camera angles and other cinematic techniques that I was taught and continue to learn every day that I am in a studio/field based class. That being said, I found a few movies I watched over break visually fascinating. I first saw American Hustle, not only did the acting blow my mind, but the way the characters were portrayed just worked overall. I found the humor to be a key part of the film and added substance to it. The portrayal of love and fraud was smart and sophisticated.
     While loving that film, I then saw Wolf of Wall Street. Going into it, I had very high expectations. All I heard was how amazing this film was. Scorsese is a genius, no doubt about it. The various camera shots and direct address was great and definitely created a relationship with the audience. However, I found it a bit too long and over the top. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's joke at the Golden Globes stating, “We're going to get this done in three hours – or as Martin Scorsese calls it, act one" was one of the best jokes of the night. Many were annoyed at the fact that throughout the entire 3 hours of a movie, they did not mention the victims of this entire Wall Street disaster that Jordan Bellfort and several other sleazy stock brokers caused. 
     Another film I saw over break that is worth mentioning was The Untouchables. You can't go wrong with a killer cast, starting with Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro and Sean Connery. My favorite scene in that movie is the famous scene on the stairs. The build up of the scene lasts a little more than 5 minutes, adding more and more suspicion. Eventually the shoot out happens and we reach the turning point of the scene. This is one of the most famous scenes ever to be done, especially by De Palma. Overall. I enjoy the uniqueness and specialty the way films are made and spent a lot of time over break analyzing and appreciating these incredible works.