The_Stuff_of_Dreams

The one thing I do not like about A Clockwork Orange is how it reminds me how desensitized I am to violence. I should be horrified by what happens on the screen, I should turn away in disgust, but I do not. So, by principle, I will not allow this film to be called "boring." Do not misinterpret me; I legitimately enjoyed this movie. It is visually and audibly thrilling. Its surreality gives it a unique element rather than a weird flavor that leaves the viewer feeling confused and unsatisfied. Stanley Kubrick is a master at emotionally manipulating the viewer, and Malcolm McDowell knows how to bring Alex DeLarge to life on the screen and in the audience's world. Expect the unexpected with this film; I thought, for instance, that there would be know plot (which there was) and I thought the violence would be unbearable (which, with spiritual misfortune, is not), and I thought that I would hate Alex for what he does (I feel the opposite). Perhaps it is easier to understand if the viewer knows what was going on in England at the time the film was made (a near state of anarchy). Perhaps it is just one of those films that has to be seen. Do not read the reviews or the synopses or articles; just watch it, and see what happens. There is little else that can be effectively done with A Clockwork Orange.

There are some differing qualities to Pearl Harbor but pieces of the film are direct copies of Titanic. The plot is the same: a whirlwind love triangle, set against catastrophe, has star-bursts of comedy but ultimately ends in tragedy. The flying scene between Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale, as breathtaking as it is, is an obvious theft from the "flying" scene between Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Titanic. "There You'll Be," the love song for Pearl Harbor in the end credits... think "My Heart Will Go On." A ;ove song written for the film in the end credits is not unique to Titanic, but still, come on, in the case of Pearl Harbor, it's obvious where the idea came from, as fine a song as "There You'll Be" is. Also, and you can't disagree with me on this, Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay made a two-hour movie into a three-hour movie. Why? Because Titanic was three hours long. Now, here's the key difference: every bit of Titanic is necessary. Every bit of Pearl Harbor... not so much. It's bad when a film feels like three hours. There was no need for the revenge sequence, and definitely no need for the prologue. That was ridiculous. Aside from its lack of creativity, Pearl Harbor also has lacks in several other crucial film-making fields. First of all, Michael Bay as a director... no. Second of all, Jerry Bruckheimer as a producer... yes, if it's a popcorn flick, not an attempt at a masterpiece. Third, Cuba Gooding Jr, as competent as he was in this movie... no. Fourth, Ben Affleck... definitely not. Who wrote the script? I hope it was his or her first and his or her last, so that the trash is limited to only one piece. No, Pearl Harbor is pretty bad. I don't think I'd ever recommend it to anyone. But I have a soft spot for it. Have you ever seen a movie that you know is bad but you watch it anyway? That's how it is with me and Pearl Harbor. Maybe it's because my mom liked it, maybe it's because my grandma likes it, both cases giving me a sense of childhood nostalgia, I don't know. All I know is: don't watch Pearl Harbor. Watch Titanic instead. Just because I watch both of them doesn't mean you should.

Schindler's List is a dual film. I have seen it twice. The first time, I thought it was grossly overrated and won its awards only because it was a Holocaust film. This was because my grandmother and cousin were talking the whole time. I saw it the second time because my friend wanted to see it and I figured if there were ever an opportunity to give it a second chance, then was as good as any. Good thing my friend is quiet. I watched the film without distraction and now admit my initial feelings for it openly and ashamedly, and I both regret and rejoice in my decision to watch it again. Schindler's List is a masterpiece, a brutally honest portrait of the darkest and most despicable chapter of human history that seizes the heart with a black hand and shatters it as each crack of gunfire cuts off the life of another innocent man, woman, or child. I cannot ever watch it again, unless I am showing it to someone who has never seen it. It is the tale of one man who saved hundreds from the undeserved wrath of the Nazis. Oskar Schindler was and forever will be a hero, and this testament to his courage captures every aspect of it, great and terrible. I hate to cliché such a work of art, but out of ten, I give Schindler's List eleven.