A Bite of Perfection

Steven Spielberg's first true film in theaters is still considered to this day as one of the greatest films ever shown or made. Jaws follows a chief of police, a fisherman and a marine scientist in a  small town that has been under attack by a gigantic great white shark. After the first attack the chief wants to shut down the beach but the Mayor has other plans, but after a kid gets taken by the shark the boys mother sets a bounty on the shark driving the small town into a whirl wind. Soon after the fisherman and the chief decide to hunt the shark, soon finding out its a bigger mission then they originally pictured.

The sounds in the film are one of the most famous music scores of all time, the famous sounds that we hear when we are about to see jaws are a perfect way to add to the suspense of seeing someone get bitten or eaten. The slow methodical sound has been used ever since when talking about sharks or any other situation in a film or show that seems stressful or suspenseful  Another aspect to the movie is the camera angles. Spielberg used certain angles to let you get into the eyes of the shark, by using underwater cameras that looked up to the people swimming at the top of the water. Spielberg also uses the sound scape to make the scenes on the beach more realistic, all you hear are the people talking water splashing and radios blasting music, like a real beach full of people is like.

The acting in this film is really a thing a beauty, the fisherman in this film seems to authentic and so raggedy like a fisherman living off fishing probably is like. Also the chief of police in this movie is portrayed wonderfully, he is frantic and scared but still is determined to find and kill this shark even though he has no idea what hes doing. Spielbergs first big film was a masterpiece, the way he used the electronic shark and how he didn't give you a lot fo glimpses of it. I think this movie is a great representation of what a small town is like when tragedy befalls them and how they react to this tragedy. I recommend this film to all movie lovers especially those who enjoy a good suspense film.

A Royal Mess

The Royal Tenenbaums is a film that makes you appreciate the family you have even if you despise everyone in it. Wes Anderson' follow up to Rushmore follows the lives of the Tenenbaum family, a rich successful family that lives in a unusually big house. The patriarch of the family and forgotten leader is Royal Tenenbaum, (played by Gene Hackman) a selfish father who left his family years before and becomes broke after staying in a hotel for a number of years and returns in hopes they’ll take him. Etheline,(Anjelica Houston) Royal's wife  becomes the leader of the family after Royal suddenly departs and she left to stay at home with their three kids. All of their children are also child prodigies, there's Chas (Ben Stiller), who was a financial whiz as a kid; Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow), who was adopted, and won a big prize for writing a school play, and Richie (Luke WIlson), once a tennis champion at the age of 17.  All return home through out the film for separate reasons including the father.

The beginning shot of the film includes the children sitting on one end of the table while Royal sits across them on this long wooden table that seems larger then normal. This shot is interesting because it gives you a sense of how this film works, the three siblings staying together side by side while they’re father is on the outside looking in, showing how they aren’t a united family, the mother however in her first scene is shot with all the children in the same shot all together on the screen like a family. I also noticed when the film begins they describe the children and what made them prodigies and use the camera to further the exposition of the story and further the background of every character. Chas' room is built like a business building; he has his desk set up a safety deposit box filled with money and financial magazines properly organized on his wall. Margot's room is more eccentric its full of artifacts covering her wall and a library of plays and model sets in her room giving you the idea that she’s more artsy. Finally we are show Richie's room the tennis phenom that paints murals of his sister and place all of them in a ballroom on his floor of the house.

So Wes Anderson with just the use of his camera work gives you background of the three main characters just by showing shots of each floor and rooms. Wes also uses the art of the gaze in this film multiple times, including having every character gaze into the camera in the opening credits as they’re names are shown and the characters they play. Wes Anderson who wrote the film with Owen Wilson delivers an art piece of a film that draws you in with the eccentric scenery and the absurd family you luckily get to watch unravel in front of our eyes only to come together in the end.

Summer Lovin'

500 days of summer is a love story or at least one envisions it is from first look of the film and its premise, but when the movie begins  a narrator explains who the two main characters are and then goes on to say " This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story". Which is true, this is more of a story of a young male named Tom played by Joseph Gordon Lovett who has the sad fortune of trying to get over the fact that Summer, played by Zooey Deschanel, likes him now but probably doesn't love him in the long run. The story jumps back and forth from the time they meet (day 1) to the moment Tom meets another women at a job interview (ironically the woman's name is Autumn). The film begins on day 488, where were shown Tom and summer sitting side by side on a Hill looking down on the city, from there were cut to day 1 the day they meet. They begin to seem like a perfect couple, but even though they’re madly in love they both have different ideas of what love is and are truly opposite of each other. Their first conversation actually revolves around relationships; she explains that she doesn't like to be considered someone’s girlfriend. The movie then chronicles the highs and lows of Tom falling for Summer even though she doesn't feel the same.

This movie has a lot of cuts, and montages that help show the high and low of being in love or falling in love. It also shows many close ups of Tom and Summer when they're happy together in a good place, but when things begin to go south you see them separate from each other. A camera angle I really liked in this film was when they first kiss each other in the copy room. The camera is at a medium shot and the two of them have their backs to the camera. Separated by a good 5 feet of space that seems longer due to the camera angle each of them go about their business sneaking in a stair here and there until Summer cant control herself and decides to kiss him leaving the space she was just at vacant and then we cut to a close up of them kissing. I thought the way the film was shot, which was relatively mostly close up shot above the chest, made the film more intimate and romantic.

I believe Marc Webb did a fantastic job of portraying the way a relationship can feel to certain people who become heartbroken easily and abundantly. The film jumps from the good times this couple had to the times where they seem depressed and saddened to be with each other, then back to a time where they were still getting to know each other and head over heels in love. But I think what sets this film apart is the story telling, we’re told this isn't a love story but we still make ourselves believe it is because we root for tom to get Summer. The ending of this film is one of my favorites of all time, after losing Summer and wallowing for long enough Tom goes after his dream job and in doing so meets someone who might be perfect for him, Autumn

Crazy in Love

Silver Linings Playbook follows a former teacher who lost his job for brutally beating a fellow teacher who was having an affair with his wife beating him within an inch of his life. The film is a based on a book written by Matthew Quick and follows Pat Solitano a bi-polar former teacher who has just been released after an 8-month stay at a mental hospital. When he is released his only goal is to win back his cheating wife even though all of his loved ones and some generous cops advise him to stay away from her or end up back in the institute. Pat upon release moves back in with his parents, his mother a loving women and his father a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan. The person who ends up changing Pat for the good ends up being arguably crazier then him, Tiffany a widow trying to figure things out to. She continues to run into Pats life literally, he jogs every day and Tiffany knowing his route tries to run with him much to his dismay. Tiffany convinces Pat to help her and join her at her dance competition as long as Tiffany can get a letter to Pat's vacant wife. This leads to mayhem but also leads to true love.

David Russel who wrote the adapted script for the film also directed the film beautifully. He uses specific camera angles to show the strain in his characters. Through out the film he rushes the camera up to the characters face so it feels as if your there with them and it tends to seem disoriented just like the thought process of the characters, specifically the three main characters played by De Niro, Cooper, and Lawrence. The disoriented camera feel makes the nervousness of these characters come to life. The setting also attributed to this feeling, the family lives in middle class Philly where everyone knows everyone so every little thing spreads around the town like wild fire.

This movie has some of the best and most uplifting acting I have seen in a long time. The passion you see from De Niro and Cooper together in a scene make it seem this is documentary and the characters are real people. The performance of De Niro and Cooper are incredible on their own, but Jennifer Lawrence's portrayal of Tiffany is what you'll probably leave the theater talking about. Lawrence adds the perfect amount of crazy and anger to make you feel her pain but also feel her love for Pat as it grows throughout the movie.

This is just a good movie worth watching, you’ll fall in love with Lawrence and De Niro's characters and cheer and root for Cooper as his character goes from mental institute to falling in love all over again and learning he’s not as crazy as he thinks.