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This week was a mix of different foreign language films that, in my opinion, were able to break away from the stereotype oftentimes attached to them. These films were Let the Right One In [IMC DVD 791.4367 L645 2009], Gomorrah [IMC DVD 364.106 G634 2009], and The Good, the Bad, the Weird.

The first film, Let the Right One In, is a Swedish horror film which follows the story of Oskar, a bullied boy, who becomes friends with Eli, a vampire child. However, this movie is more than just a vampire horror movie. Instead, we learn about the bond of friendship and what those limits are. This film is one of my favorite “vampire” movies, because the portrayal of Eli’s character is so believable and serious in its fantastic representation. The cinematography has its own beauty as well, featuring predominantly in snowy, dark landscapes. I highly recommend watching this film subtitled instead of dubbed, because the voices match the characters much better in the original language.

My second film, Gomorrah, is an Italian mob movie, but again, this movie is much more than that. Gomorrah is the adaptation from a non-fiction book which was written about the Italian mob, Camorra. The film follows five different narrative stories, all of whom are intertwined in the mob life. In this film, mob life becomes connected to everyday life: two teens steal mob weapons in an attempt to take control back for themselves; a young boy breaks ties with his friend when he chooses the opposing mob family to join; a tailor finally gains recognition for his work from the Chinese, only to be shut down by the mob; an “accountant” who is employed by the mob to give out money to pacify locals; and a businessman works with the mob to acquire land which he then turns into toxic waste dumps, hurting local citizens and businesses. The stories are powerful in this movie, but the lack of climaxes create a sense of continuance, imbuing the feeling that these lives have been characterized by this fear for so long that there is only a sense of weariness and inevitability. It’s hard for me to recommend this movie, because of this, but I can appreciate what the director was trying to accomplish and appreciate the real life situations that Italy’s citizens are facing.

Finally, my last movie was The Good, the Bad, the Weird, which was a movie I borrowed via InterLibrary Loan. This film is categorized as a South Korean western, which I thought it did extremely well. Inspired by Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, it follows the story of three different men who are all after a treasure map. There are several goofy moments, but overall it was an enjoyable movie which had a well-defined plot line and great cinematography.

The IMC has just switched over its DVD display to an unconventional Valentine’s display—Tearjerkers! Check out your favorite sad movie, and as always, follow along on your own film travelogue journey at https://letterboxd.com/peterstanley/list/1001-movies-you-must-see-before-you-die/ .

This was a week of wonderful, but sad movies. Most of them dealt with war in some manner, but all of them had themes that were much larger than simply war. This week, I got to watch The White Ribbon [IMC DVD 362.27 W582 2010], Life is Beautiful [IMC DVD 940.5317 L722 2000], The Hurt Locker [IMC DVD 355.1097 H967 2010], and Scarface [IMC DVD 364.106 S285 2003].

My first movie, The White Ribbon, was a German subtitled film. Before World War I, a small village in Germany begins to witness strange events, which seem to follow a pattern, but no one knows who is responsible. The movie was beautiful in its black-and-white, masterfully composed picture. It is rare to see a movie which keeps you engaged for its entirety, but The White Ribbon managed to make a mystery drama suspenseful and interesting throughout. Each of the townspeople have a secret, and it is thoroughly enjoyable to see it all play out.

Life is Beautiful was another movie which dealt with a war, this one being World War II. This movie starts out so whimsical, when the main protagonist, Guido, falls in love with a woman he keeps bumping into, Dora. He later finds out that she is already promised to another, but manages to win her with overabundance of humor and imagination. These same traits later become important when he and his son are taken to a concentration camp, and he helps to shield his son from the danger around them. As you watch Guido, you can’t help but laugh and smile as his antics, even as he puts himself in danger. It is easy to see why this film was rated so highly—it reminds us that each situation is what we make of it.

The Hurt Locker was a movie that I remembered being released but had never gotten to watch. Jeremy Renner does a wonderful job playing a bomb squad technician who gets assigned to a new squad. His squad members struggle with working with him, as he does his job without conferring with them, leaving them all in dangerous situations. I ended up enjoying this movie more than I thought I would, mostly because it was directed and written very well.

My last movie was Scarface, which I am willing to admit that I had never seen before. Since it is much quoted by movie aficionados, I felt like the time had come for me to watch it. As to be expected, it was a great movie, well-shot and extremely well-acted by Al Pacino. This movie is currently on our Organized Crime DVD display in the IMC, so if you (like me) have never gotten around to watching it, I highly recommend it!

It is an indescribable feeling, getting to watch a great movie for the first time, and this week I was lucky enough to have gotten to watch several of them. Follow along with your own film travelogue adventure at https://letterboxd.com/peterstanley/list/1001-movies-you-must-see-before-you-die/ .

Thanks to the holiday break and the recent inclement weather, I have had a lot of time to watch movies, many of which I loved. For this post, I’ll be discussing the movies Precious [IMC DVD 306.877 P923 2010], The Wrestler [IMC DVD 796.812 W945 2009], Anvil! The Story of Anvil [IMC DVD 782.4216 A637 2009], and There Will Be Blood [IMC DVD 622.338 T398 2008]. All of these movies centered around a theme of never giving up, whether it be giving up on your dreams, your passion, or yourself. Having just begun the New Year, I felt like this was a theme which would resonate with many of us.

“Let’s be brave enough to dream, big, huge, embarrassingly impossible dreams.” –Melody Ross

Many people might remember the movie Precious from the Oscars in 2010, where it was nominated for 6 Awards, and ended up winning two of those. Precious follows the story of Precious who is emotionally and verbally abused by her mother, and has been raped by her father, resulting in her second pregnancy. She is offered the opportunity to attend an alternative school, where her life begins to change with the support of her new teacher. While this movie deals with heavy topics, the breakthrough that Precious goes through and how her life changes is well worth the film journey.

The next two movies, The Wrestler and Anvil! The Story of Anvil, tell the stories of two individuals who refuse to give up on their dream. The Wrestler follows the story of Randy “The Ram” Robinson, who is a wrestler now past his prime. He works a warehouse job to get by, but wrestling is his passion. However, health problems force him to retire, after which he tries to foster better relationships with a stripper and his daughter. I was impressed by this movie, which so eloquently tells this story. With Darren Aronofsky as the director, much of the movie was filmed with close face shots, requiring strong acting from all of the characters.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil is a documentary which details the rise and fall of the heavy metal band Anvil. This Canadian band has influenced many bands we know today, including Megadeath, Slayer, Anthrax, and Metallica. Steve “Lips” Kudlow is the vocalist of the band and has kept them together for over thirty years, hoping that they will be rediscovered and become famous once again. This movie attempts to discover why Anvil never succeeded the way many other bands did at that time. Throughout the documentary, you see Lips continue to follow his dream, swimming through a sea of rejection and mismanagement. You can’t help but root for them to succeed, which is part of the charm of this movie.

The final movie, There Will Be Blood, features Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Planview, an oilman who has dreams of becoming wealthy. His quest becomes increasingly ruthless as he refuses to let anyone get in his way, including his own son. I loved how authentic this movie felt, and the soundtrack that went with it matched it perfectly in its oddity and feeling of impending disaster. In addition, the cinematography and acting is extremely well done.

The IMC is now featuring an Organized Crime DVD display, so come by and check out a movie! As always, follow along with your own film journey at https://letterboxd.com/peterstanley/list/1001-movies-you-must-see-before-you-die/.