Jurassic Park

                                            

        Does getting an up close and personal experience with extinct animals combined with the terrifying thrill of running for your life sound like your dream vacation?  If so, then welcome to Jurassic Park, a magical world where dinosaurs eat, breath, and live in a scientific experiment gone wrong.  Steven Spielberg returns to direct another masterpiece focused on the hypothetical scenario in which an entrepreneur and a team of scientists create the first ever amusement park where dinosaurs are the main attraction.  The film begins when a pair of scientists, along with Jeff Goldblum, are invited to the island in an attempt to lure them to join the Jurassic Park team.  Immediately after their arrival they are whisked into electric guided SUVs for a tour of the island.  Though they are amazed with what they are seeing, the scientists seriously questions the ethics of bringing something back from the dead.  Soon enough, the planned tour goes horribly wrong as a massive storm hits the island, disabling all of the safety precautions set in place.  As the dinosaurs quickly escape from their enclosures, the dinosaur experts must use all of their knowledge and know how to keep themselves, as well as the owner’s grandchildren, alive. 

       Spielberg’s style as a director is one of a kind.  Though Jurassic Park was made almost twenty years after Jaws, the similarities are quite obvious.  Spielberg uses tight camera work as well as precise timing to create a story that has the audience on the edge of their seats.  By keeping the focus of the camera tightly on the characters, Spielberg brings the audience into the world of Jurassic Park.  As in Jaws, the camera only shows what the tormented guests see, creating a tense tone not allowing the audience to see what’s coming next.  It is as if the audience themselves are experiencing Jurassic Park, not knowing if they will survive this horrific ordeal.  Spielberg has a tendency to start a film off slow, luring the viewer into a false sense of security, before launching a full out attack on the senses before the audience even knows what hits them.  This is a tactic that he once again uses in Jurassic Park, successfully creating the tension necessary.  In collaboration with the cinematography, the musical theme of Jurassic Park adds to the experience.  Though the same mystical tone is repeated throughout the film, by slowing it down and speeding it up Spielberg is able to create tension and hold attention. 

       By the time Jurassic Park was made Spielberg had become a master of his craft.  Jurassic Park is another excellent example of the genius he posses, and is probably my favorite of his movies.  He expertly directs the camera and our focus to exactly what he needs us to see.  His style and attention to detail constrict our thoughts to a one-track mind, which he then scolds us for it by throwing a curve ball we didn’t see coming.  I believe that through expert cinematography and sound-scoring Spielberg once again demonstrates why he’s one of the best at what he does. 

500 Days Of Summer

   

         The film, 500 Days Of Summer, is an incredibly creative and genuine story of a boy chasing a girl, expertly directed by Marc Webb.  Through a combination of flashbacks and linear story telling, Webb creates a magical tale of love, loss, and heartbreak.  It is a story that almost everyone can relate too as at one time or another we all have experienced rejection.  The film progresses between a mix of good and bad memories, of times of joy and times of sadness.  Tom is certain that Summer is the girl for him, the one he wants to spend the rest of his life with, but she is less than sure.  Throughout the length of the film Tom tries to convince Summer, as well as himself, that they are meant to be together, and goes all but mad when life doesn’t turn out as such.  They stop seeing each other and when chance brings them back together on a train, Tom believes his dream will finally come true, only to find out that Summer is now engaged.  Tom believes that all is lost, until one day he meets another girl, Autumn. 

          Marc Webb does a fabulous job creating such a detailed and realistic film.  He brings the audience deep under Tom’s skin, and only the coldest of hearts would struggle to find sympathy for the man trying to get his dream girl.  This film is less about plot and more about character development.  Webb brings the characters out of the screen and into the real world of the audience, or vise versa.  Tom and Summer are not just characters through which the plot is propelled, but rather take on the roll of the plot themselves.   They do not just act out the story, but instead become the story. The decision of a non-chorological order to the story line keeps the audience intrigued and confused, much like that of the confusion that Tom feels relating to his relationship with Summer.  The film is a unique perspective into the emotions and thinking of young adults, who often have a hard time speaking what is on their mind. 

          I enjoyed this film very much.  I found it to be very relatable, as I feel safe to say that we’ve all experienced the pain of rejection.  Though the story is not new, I enjoyed the way in which it was presented.  From the beginning of the movie, we know that Tom’s relationship with Summer will not end well, as it is already given an expiration date of five hundred days.  As someone who is very plot conscious with regards to movie watching, I was happy that Webb was able to create a structure just as complicated as the relationship that unfurls on the screen.  I was also very much happily surprised when Tom meets a new girl at the end of the film, her name of course is Autumn and this starts day one.  We don’t know if this is the girl Tom will marry, but the audience is left with a sense of hope.  

Jaws

It’s tagline read, “Don’t go in the water,” and it had people running from the beaches and into the movie theaters.  Jaws, Steven Spielberg’s first major feature film, smashed box office records and became a house hold name from the moment it was released in theaters.  Spielberg’s uncanny eye and precise direction with the camera created one of the best examples of film that we have today.  He paints a picture of a sleepy little town dependent of summer tourism.  Just as the town is preparing for their busy season, a string of shark attacks plagues the beaches and threatens these peoples way of life.  Spielberg then assembles a miss-matched crew, consisting of a shark expert, a seasoned fisherman, and the town’s sheriff.  Together the three men set off to put to rest the giant monster that has eluded captivity for so long. 

            Spielberg had an uncanny eye and despite the fact that the film went way over it production timeline, he knew exactly what he wanted.  The most iconic scene, which sets the tone for the rest of the film, happens to be the first.  The camera starts from under the water, as if it is trying to take the point of view of the shark.  This image combined with the now immediately identifiable tune that has become associated with Jaws, set a tone that Spielberg carries throughout the rest of the film.  In fact we do not even see the shark until more than halfway through the film, which I believe in itself is brilliant.  We see multiple people dragged down and violently thrashed about in the water with out ever seeing the attacker.  The curiosity of the audience increases with each attack as well as their fear of the unknown.  This seems to be Spielberg’s ploy; even though we know that it’s a shark terrorizing the town we have a compelling need to see it with our own eyes.  And when we finally do Spielberg does not disappoint.  It is a tactic that Spielberg uses in many of his films including Jurassic Park. 

            Of course the film is about a shark terrorizing a sleepy little town, but the underlying meaning is so much more than that.  The film alludes to our own fears.  The type that we keep under the surface and only rarely let it breach the water. When we become to restless and cant keep it bottled up anymore we like the shark strike out harming people when all we’re trying to do is survive.  While our fears might not be as tangible as Brody’s, in some way we all face our own battle with the shark. 

The Taiwan Oyster

                                                           The Taiwan Oyster

One of the best independent films that I have seen in the past year is The Taiwan Oyster.  It is the story of two American’s teaching kindergarten in Taiwan, when they experience the untimely death of another American acutance.  After finding their friends name written on the bathroom wall paired with his favorite song, the two men decide it is their duty to take his body on one last homage to find a final resting place.  As they steal their friend’s body from the morgue, they befriend the girl working behind the counter, and soon all three are out on the adventure of a lifetime.  As the party heads for the coast, emotions run high and friendships are tested, while their friend’s body acts as a tangible source for all their discomfort.  As the film progresses, it becomes obvious that the anguish these three young people experience has less to do with the dead body and more so of the lack of control they feel for their changing lives. 

            The film’s cinematography and score raise it to a level that rivals the major Hollywood studios.  The director has such power of his camera that it seems to become an extension of the main characters.  Instead of just feeling like an observer watching a dysfunctional road trip, the camera brings the audience in and gives the impression that the audience is a part of the crew.  It brings the audience in close, putting the observers right in the thick of things, becoming an active participant.  Combined with this, the score brings an intense intimacy to the film.  Lacking the big budget of Hollywood severally limited the songs available for use, allowing for an original score to set the tone of the film.  The score becomes personal and subconsciously draws the audience in closer than the cinematography could have done so alone.  These two aspects of filmmaking make this film a huge success. 

            I was a true fan of this film, and it had me on the edge of my seat until the final credits rolled.  I found the camera direction and sound track for the film to be an incredibly powerful reason for why I feel so strongly, even despite the fervent acting from the no-name actors who are just as successful.  I believe the director was incredibly successful in his attempts to convey his message.  He makes it clearly obvious that this film is much more than a road trip, but more so a life-changing journey during a difficult time in these young peoples lives.