The Godfather

Christopher Garcia     

Out of all the movies that we watched I found the godfather to be one of my favorites. Before we watched the movie we talked briefly about it. The godfather was created by Frances Ford Coppola in 1972 as well as went to school with James Caane(Sonny). The godfather was nominated for 11 awards and won three including: best picture, best actor, and best adapted screenplay. I found the themes of the godfather particularly interesting. In the godfather the themes are Anti-Hero where the bad guys are really good guys. We root for them despite that they are criminals and murderers. With this violence/Murder is intertwined and in this film saw 23 on screen deaths.

The article that I found really critically analyzed the movie and talks about the theme of family primarily. In the Godfather the family value differences between the families head (Don), future head, gang members, daughters; sons are all shown and given certain respects. Furthermore, In the movie there were weddings, baptisms, and over 50 scenes with food in it. Food and family are huge aspects in what makes a family a family. There was a scene were sonny says “No business at the table”, the dinner table is given a respect due to the family values that it represents, We must also remember that the story is told from within the family as opposed to society examining the mafia from the outside looking in.  

The article though it talks a lot about family also touches on the view of understanding and sympathizing with those that are supposed to be bad. During the movie we see not a single actual civilian victim of organized crime. Or in short we don’t actually see acts of crimes beside death attempts being made. You did not see any women trapped into prostitution, drugs being sold, deals with cash exchange for goods taking place, lives wrecked by gambling, victims of theft, fraud or protection rackets. Even in terms of people being bought out though it is said and beside the one officer there were not many views of corruption taking place.

The godfather was one of the highest grossing films of all time; in 1972 it grossed $82 million dollars, a total of $134 Million in the USA and a total of $244 Million in the world. When I was watching the movie which I hadn't seen in a long time I found specific dialogues to really catch my attention. “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse”, “It’s a Sicilian message, Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes”, and “This one time, Kate, I’ll let you ask me about my business”. These scenes that I heard this really brought me back to the time when I first watched this movie. Furthermore, out of all the scenes in the godfather the one scene that I felt the most dread was when mike’s Sicilian wife was blown up in the car. That scene made me feel sorrowful because it marked the end of his true freedom and happiness. Instead he is thrown into the family business once again and this time there is no hiding. I saw this as a symbolic representation of what the mafia truly was in terms of trust, love, and death.

Article: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-godfather-1972

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The Graduate

1) In class I found out that the director of the play was Mike Nichols. Mike was only one of twelve people to win all the major American entertainment awards. These awards are as followed: An Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award. He was also awarded the national medal of arts and received the lifetime achievement award from the American film institute. This director was truly one of the greats and it shows in the film The Graduate. Furthermore, I feel that Dustin Hoffman being the great actor that he ended up being truly shined in this movie and kicked off his career. He was nominated best actor in his starring role in The Graduate and several actors in different movies.

2) In the article I found it reviews The Graduate and gives some insight on the movie that might not be understood. It was said that, "It is funny, not because of sight gags and punch lines and other tired rubbish, but because it has a point of view." It simply means that the comedy is against something. The audience is more the target of the joke then the actors in the movie. I found this fact very interesting and thought about other movies that had the same type of style. This style incorporated by the British director Mike Nichols.

3) The article that I summarized really opened my eyes to the true structure of the film. Since the comedy was meant for the viewer once I thought about it I saw how the movie really did make me feel as if I was in the movie, so to speak. Furthermore, the article talks about the movie and goes in depth about Hoffman and the other actors in the play. This allowed me to understand their roles better and ultimately the movie’s plot really became understood. Whereas before I was not so sure I understood the movies climax or real meaning.

4) The movie the graduate was more of a romance/ drama than anything else. I found the romance to be quite twisted in the fact that it was an affair within the family so to speak. This really made me feel disgust for the entirety of the film. This is most likely a personal emotion due to the fact that I see cheating and even so in this case more so as very un-moral. Marriage and love are supposed to be sacred acts that are performed with that one person and one person only till death do us part. However I only feel that way about the story line/plot I feel that each actor played his role correctly. I also did realize that the twists in this movie were not subtle rather in your face. I found this interesting because to the individuals in the movie it was a complete mystery. I enjoy when a director does not leave out any details and allows the viewer to be in on what's going on rather than confused and waiting for the answers to be revealed.

Article
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-graduate-1967
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Casablanca journal

Christopher Garcia

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

               In class we discussed Casablanca as an action movie that was rated the third best film of all time. It was filmed and directed by Michael Curtis who directed a very series yet funny film that incorporated a lot of emotion into the plot. As stated in the PowerPoint, “Near perfect entertainment balance of comedy, romance, and suspense. Michael Curtis won best director for Casablanca and directed several other films. I enjoyed watching the twists and turns play out until the conclusion was finally shown to everyone. Lost love and romance in a chaotic world, honor and self-sacrifice in war was interesting to point out varying from character to character as I watched the Casablanca. All in all the movie we discussed did not disappoint me as the plot thickened and what I thought was turned out not to be what I expected.

2) Find a related article and summarize the content.

"Here's looking at you, kid," "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," and "Play it, Sam." Are the three quotes that I found to be truly significant in this film. It is rare for specific catch phrases in films to hold such deep meanings. Though “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” was used once at the end it really summed up the film nicely. While the other two were mentioned a couple of times and really set the scene for specific climaxes throughout the film. The article also mentions the "invisible style." It goes to explain, “Rather than dazzling the eye with eye-catching visuals and histrionic acting, it seduces the viewer by creating a seamless, lush universe that gradually envelops the audience”. This way of preparing the audience in a different way really surprised me and made me look at the film again and realize specific scenes where this was applied.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class.

               Furthermore, the article also touched the Broadway side in 1940. Casablanca was thought to be one of the biggest flops in Broadway history at the time. I found this was specifically due to the fact that the directors Martin Gabel and Carly Wharton could not come up with a suitable script. Another reason was due to Everybody Comes to Rick's never making it to the Big White Way. When looking at the movie it was hard to believe that the idea and plot behind it was such a failure to the Broadway industry. However, once warner bros picked up the play they made it into the film that we know as Casablanca today. Since the Broadway obviously has to do with the movie I feel that this information related to the actual film and greatly interested me. This was due to the fact that I feel every genius idea always comes from something else. To conclude, I found that the actors that were in the movie were also not c actors they were already known actors that were in several movies. This really made the movie into what it became due to the great emotions that were shown.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film

               The film Casablanca was a very deep film with some flashback and a deep plot that I will go into detail about. The flashback had to do with rick and his beloved ilsa back in Paris a couple of days before German rushed into Paris. This was the true start of their lovers climax and they’re very harsh decline when she does not arrive at the train. This deeply hurt rich and was his reason for not helping her as well as helping her. This was a very important part of information and really set the romance, war, and tug of war that the movie wraps around. I though roughly enjoyed the twists that happened between rick and the captain. It’s seen as a friendship that was first built of necessity, money, and then at the end real friendship. This is where the quote, “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”, came into play. I really enjoyed the end scene due to the fact that it feels warming to know that rick was safe, his girl/leader was safe to help the good of all, and ultimately it felt like the real family rick made was still together. The film offers much to analyze, but these parts I felt held real significance for the movie Casablanca as a whole. 

 Article: http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/610/Casablanca/articles.html

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Citizen Kane Journal

Christopher Garcia

               While watching the film I found it very interesting how the scenes changed from citizen Kane being old to being young. This film definitely incorporated the entirety of his life from start to finish incorporating his private life as well. The way the transitions took place was very well structured and intricate. When I found out that Orson Welles was not an award winning director or even a director at all previously I was shocked. It was also never heard of for a director to have complete control over the set and its actors without any questions being asked. Furthermore, the actors that were in citizen Kane were all new actors which I felt performed really well considering they were all fresh to acting. Charles Foster Kane’s character was based off of William Randolph Hearst whose life represents Kane’s in the film very closely. Though there are many interesting things I found in the text when comparing the film I found these the most interesting.

               The article that I found on Citizen Kane really summarizes the movie and the meaning behind the rosebud really well. In the beginning of the movie it explains how rosebud is the true plot behind the movie though the movie may seem somewhat like a bibliography of William Randolph Hearst life. In the beginning of the movie it’s a very mysterious scene with the glob and the word rosebud you hear uttered from a mysterious man. However, the meaning of the rosebud remains a true mystery until the end of the film where you see the rosebud in the fire after his second wife leaves him. The article also talks about what it took to create the character known as Citizen Kane. To my surprise the article references several millionaires of that time that made up Kane’s character and the flashback and flash-forward technique that was used in order to represent the parts of Kane’s life.

               Before I read the article I thought that citizen Kane was an actual person though it did seem farfetched my knowledge on history is obviously lacking. When I found out how many people’s lives were actually incorporated it surprised me how in debt Kane’s character truly was. I also found out that the film closed its first run with a loss of $150,000 when it first debuted. Knowing it was a masterpiece before watching the movie I was surprised to find out that the movie was not really successful when it first came out. It was only after World War II that it finally resurfaced in Europe and then later on American television, that Citizen Kane took its rightful place as a cinematic masterpiece. This was a surprise due to the fact that most masterpieces that we have already watched were masterpieces right away rather than later on. It just shows you that at that time period there was many changes that took place in the movie industry and as the changes occurred so did the rating of films.

               During the entire movie I felt as if I was watching a bibliography because his life was such a grand mystery that had a lot of different parts. The plot was very deep but I felt that the climax was less of a climax and more of an answer to the grand question what is rosebud? What does it mean? That was the question proposed at the very beginning and right before the movie ended I first thought it was not going to be solved until I saw the fire being burned. I liked this movie and enjoyed all the twists and turns that it had from when he was a kid to the scenes with both his wives which ended up divorcing him. Though I wish the plot was a bit straight forward I definitely enjoyed the mystery that was first proposed.
Article:  http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/89/Citizen-Kane/articles.html

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Journal 3 Stagecoach

Christopher Garcia

Stagecoach Journal 3

Before going over the PowerPoint’s or reading the text I watched the stagecoach without knowledge beforehand. I found this to allow me to take my own point of view of what the movie stood for as well as the characteristics of each character in the movie. I was able to realize many key characteristics in john Wayne’s character specifically. I was able to realize that though he was portrayed as a villain or bad guy he had many hypocritical values/morals. For example, He held family, home, decency, democracy as well as put a lot of his faith into others. These are all good or Christian like values that unlike villains who only believe in themselves or what they can gain from others. Similarly Clair Trevor gave me the impression that she felt she was not a good person and held onto a lot of shame. Which I came to find in the PowerPoint shame was a theme along with prostitution which I came to realize was included very subtly in the movie. I found these characteristic traits from the notes and PowerPoint to really help me better understand the characters and ultimately the movie as a whole.

            In the article that I found on the Stagecoach I have come to find many interesting facts about the stars of the movie as well as the movies effect on society. I did not realize that this movie did not only revitalize the idea that western movie could not only be an art form like many other movies as well as being entertaining to watch. Furthermore, the Stagecoach also renewed John Wayne who before this was an extra, stuntman and then B actor. This was John Wayne’s first time being the leading/starring role in any movie that he was in, though he was in a lot of movie before finally getting his lead role in Stagecoach. Alongside John Wayne John Ford returned to the movie industry with the stagecoach after some years. John Ford as I understand it took the break in order to allow his idea of this specific genre which he continued to make movies with after the Stagecoach. The article also goes into more detail about other movies that both John Ford directed and John Wayne stared in. I found this article to give a deeper understanding of both John Wayne and John Ford as individuals.

            Comparing the article to the film in terms of how it changed the way I viewed the film made me ponder. I feel that before I read the article I saw John Wayne as a born star rather than one that worked very hard to get to where he did. I also did not realize that John Ford had much previous success as well as the fact that this film was his return to the industry. When I looked over the film again I thought, “For someone of that time to make a film like this it had to be someone looking outside the box”. Simply said I feel that someone who was not in the immediate industry I feel could not make the genre that John Ford did. Moreover, when looking at what an Ark Movie entails it allowed me to understand what the film was truly portraying. I did not even know what an Ark movie was until I read the article and it made a difference. It also allowed me to look at different movies both in past, present, and future movies to come out and I found it shocking that I did not understand that theme until recently. Ultimately the article successfully did change my view on the Stagecoach in terms of what it stands for as a movie.

            To conclude, I feel that this movie was one of survival that allowed many different characters to come together where normally they would not. This also allowed for many different morals, views, as well as actions to be shown that also normally would not take place. The idea to survive was entangled in the idea of death throughout the movie. Though normally life and death comes hand in hand I have not seen a movie in this class that I felt that was truly taken heavily. I felt that the Stagecoach had many intense themes and some comedic relief that really allowed this movie to shine. All in all I understand why this movie was viewed as a metaphor for society. Ultimately this movie makes me feel that all people regardless of stature carry a law that they see as just within themselves.

Journal Article:http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-stagecoach-1939

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lain  that  in  the  paper. 

3)  (    )  If  I  used  any  passages  word  for  word,  I  put  quotations  around  t

hose  words,  or 

used  indentation  and  citation  within  the  text. 

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ages  I  personally  r

ead. 

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