Coen Bros

I personally really enjoyed the Coen brothers unit and found there films to be really interesting. One of the biggest things that stood out to me was there portrayal of the characters in the films. All the characters were somewhat looked down upon and were made out to be unintelligent. There was also a big focus on criminality. The protagonists in the films were ether criminals or law enforcement figures. All the antagonists almost seem immortal and are ruthless and relentless. For example, the biker in Raising Arizona and Chigurh in No Country for Old Men seem to be unstoppable in there pursuit of there goal. There is a clear and present struggle between good and evil in all three films we viewed creating a on the edge of your seat tension that was really captivating.

Robert Altman

Altmans films are all very interesting and complex. His films consist of overlapping themes and lots of satire. I have found that most of his films don’t have an obvious meaning or plot and take multiple views to really take away something from it. A lot of his films are about issues and themes of the day. For example, issues in Hollywood, politics and the music industry. Altman also does an excellent job with blending reality with fiction in a captivating and interesting way.

I enjoyed watching Altmans films because it really made me think about characters and plots. The films also made space for your own personal interpretation and conclusion. Although, sometimes the complexity of the films drives me a little crazy

Fight Club

WOW Fight Club was… lets just say a very interesting film. I don’t know about you, but it was all over the place and I had a million ideas as to what could possibly be happening. It had some fantastic cinematic elements to it that made it very interesting and expressive. For example the extreme close ups of sweat glands, bombs ex. were very interesting because it really made you feel like you understood what was going on, you saw every little detail. The shots that were made to look like images on a film really were kind of eerie but gave a good example of the premise of the film, splicing two personalities together like a role of film. There was very little nondiagetic sound in the film up till the very end, when the buildings were collapsing, which I thought was a really cool scene. The whole holding hands thing was not really with the pace of the film but whatever. Also the high and low angles of the fight scenes, conversations and final building scene gave us an idea of who was in charge.
I thought the mental, social and psychological topics brought up in this film were mind boggling!! I like how David Fincher showed each step of Edward Norton’s character as he slowly slipped into insanity. I particularly liked the narrations during the film, I though it helped describe his mental struggles and complex thoughts. The way all the members of Fight Club transformed was amazing, how each individual was slowly desensitized and striped of all societal norms and morals, it was kind of freaky. Tyler Durden was an interesting character and alter ego. He showed what Fincher’s character was after in life but could not seem to find. He was so real and vivid that I thought he was a separate person all together, and I think most of us did too. They were total opposites trying to reach the same goal, freedom and self recognition.
The film also disused the topic of a modern society and corporate America. It showed in a very extreme way the pressures and difficulties that the average white collar worker faces. The whole movie was about the negative psychological affects of living and working under conditions that aren’t fulfilling and don’t satisfy your own goals and aspirations. I think it pressed the importance of finding ourselves and doing the things we love in life. It also showed how pliable and powerful the mind is and what it is capable of doing. Finally I believe the film stressed the importance of moral values and their importance in society as a whole