To start this off, Kick Ass was the perfect combination of comedy and action. However, the idea of bringing a comic to life is pretty hard to do effectively. Anytime someone reads a comic they are reading it internally and therefore assign a voice to the character. Knowing that, when it is portrayed in the movie the difference in what the viewer expects can cause disappointment. Also, there are all different types of ways to draw a character, but it is not always that easy to change a human character. For instance, the character might be drawn overly muscular and manly, but then he is portrayed in a TV show as a kid’s show which makes the storyline "clean". Even when transferred to a movie, we see the problem that the characteristics are never the same. However, Kick-ass was the reverse of this, with the movie being first and the comic being second, and we don't see as many issues as we do with Marvel comics or things of the same kind. So when they produced this they were able to portray the weak kid who played kick-ass and then easily transfer that mind set to the comic. Throughout the movie they essentially build the first comic, which is how kick-ass was tired of everything that was happening to him and attempted to become a super hero. After gaining the attention of some other heroes and villains we see the story fully unfold. Through pain, fear, and anguish kick-ass develops himself into a whole new kind of hero. Again, a fantastic movie and would recommend this to all groups of appropriate ages.

Pan's Labyrinth has to be one of the most interesting movies that deals directly with a child's mind. The only other movie that can compare to this is "Where the Wild Things Are". Ivana Baquero, the main character, showed how a child's mind blocks things out by making imaginary scenery to deal with emotional issues. In this movie, the main character is traumatized by a series of events and in turn sees creatures that direct her to leave the human world entirely. By doing so, she would leave war and poverty behind. Throughout certain scenes, you are able to see the plot progress as the creatures lead her towards exactly what she wants. During the "serious" scenes where human characters were involved, there was plenty of room throughout the shooting area. That being said, the "hallucinations" so to speak, have very artistic scenery such as twisted tree branches and immensely colorful leaves. In film this works very well, however on stage the "hallucinations" would be the only one that would work well. In summation, the combination of everything I've talked about here really ties this movie together with twists and turns that have signification meaning to not only the plot, but the girl's current situation. I would recommend this movie to almost anyone I know.

Crash

Crash had to be one of the only films I've seen that really shows you how real life can be, and the delivery by every actor make this one of the best films to show the portrayal of this. To reiterate, the acting was the driver of this movie, without this the movie would have surely failed. For instance, when Sandra Bullock and Brendan Fraser are standing in their house after they had been car-jacked, she stares him in the face while repeating that she would like him to have the locks changed. Her persona shows that she is afraid and constantly upset, which drives her to the decisions she makes. Each time she repeats herself her tone of voice grows more harsh and angered. This is much unlike that of stage acting, where people must focus on the speed, pitch, and volume of their lines make a world of difference. This is relevant in any type of art performed on stage, and by doing so they decrease the amount of realism. Going back to the original point that the acting drove this film, each word was chosen very carefully. The expression on their face and the word (regardless if it is complicated or simple) emphasized greatly on what the character was really saying. Even a week later, I'm still thinking of different parts of the movie and how I see some of those situations on a much smaller scale throughout my daily life. That being said, I would recommend this movie to anyone who wanted a movie to make them think.

This film had a fantastic plot, and along with the acting and special effects it was one of the best films I've seen regardless of its low budget. Throughout the movie we were able to see a series of situations where the main character, Wikus Van De Merwe (played by Sharlto Copley), had to go against impossible odds to ensure his own survival. Having worked to keep the aliens in line with the MNU, he was now able to see the other side of what was going on behind closed doors with new perspectives. The whole idea of the film as portrayed in the short film of the same movie was racism, which is ironic with it being centered around Africa. However, without knowing that information, people will look at this film as another alien movie. When writing this, Niell Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell should have made it a point to talk more about the racist undertones that this movie originally portrayed. Despite that, the special effects were outstanding. The futuristic weapons had amazing lighting, explosive, and physical characteristics. In other movies such as Predator or Alien, there weren't nearly as many different types of weapons, and at the same time they made them look just like advanced earthly weapons. What really ties everything together for this movie and others had to be the music. In every scene where you saw Wikus in a high action situation the accompanying music added to the suspense with its high speeds and sudden high volume drums it kept you at the edge of your seat. It doesn't always have to be action films that have great music to accompany the scene. For instance, in other Sci-fi movies such as ET there were many different slow/sad scenes that had soft music with violins that set the mood for how the actors felt. Again, a great film, and I would have no problem recommending this in the future.

Raging Bull

In all movies we see several changes in not only scenery but also camera angle. The average viewer doesn't really take into account the fact that with each camera angle change they have to stop shooting, readjust, and start shooting again. This can be a long and tedious process.

In the movie Raging Bull, we see that the amount of angle changes were minimal compared to current movies coming out. However, by not changing angle as often they gave a certain look and feel to each scene that was very important to the story. In the scene where they are in the hotel and Robert De Niro's wife said she would have a burger, most of the scene was shot from one wall where they could move side to side as people moved or a certain character was talking. The alternative was to shoot from another angle and bounce back and forth as was needed for the two separate groups in the room. Although, with how they shot this, it showed people walking around having multiple conversations in a clear and coherent manor. For other movies where the scenes are shot in the alternative manor, there is a great deal of editing to put all of the scenes together to make them match up with fluency. Not only that, but we can see that an actor may not look the same as they did in one angle as they did in another. A good example would be in "Year One" where Jack Black was speaking to the crowd and half way through his speech he turned around. During this his hair was drenched from the rain at the beginning of the speech. However, when he turned around and the camera angle changed his hair was completely dry. This is one of those instances where the editing wasn't flowing with the whole scene.

As stated, there are several edits in movies that must be performed to have a final product that is clear and fluent. However, if any little part of this is not performed correctly it can draw attention to itself causing issues with viewers understanding it or even liking it.

Run Lola Run

There really aren't that many differences between live action and animated movies. For each movie there is a plot, layout, proper sounds, etc. However there is a difference in the actual kinetics of it all. For most of these situations we can understand that anything is physically possible in an animated movie, but that isn't really where kinetics come into play.

For the movie Run Lola Run, we see both aspects running together. For instance, there were some times where there was an emotionally tense situation and it split to animation of Lola running. At these times the there was little physical attributes associated with the running other than the movement of arms and legs. Now when she was running in live action there was the moving of arms and legs, heavy breathing, a look of concern on her face, and sweat. All of these things add to the realism and influence how we interpret the character's disposition. Now in full animation movies such as the Lion King you will see the same aspects come into play. If someone is hit you don't see the full impact (i.e. blood, bruises, etc.) unless it is pertinent to the story.

In conclusion, there really is a fine line in the differences between live action and animation. However, the slight differences that come into play make a huge difference for the viewer. When we take the time to notice these it can help us to understand the subtle pieces in the story that tie everything together.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

In the film “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” the Doctor (Christopher Plummer) played the biggest part of the delusion within the movie. There were several places where you could see the specific placement of the characters and objects to emphasize on the scene. To give example, in the sense where Tony was lying on the ground he was diagonal; it was easily understood where he was and the objects around him. This layout allows the viewer to know where all of the other characters are in relation to Tony. Without doing this the viewer wouldn’t be able to follow and would lose interest. All in all this movie was very well thought out and entertaining. The whole idea of heaven and hell within the choice of temptation was taken into a different aspect really making the viewer think.

In Donnie Darko, Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) goes through a series of stressful situations that seem to cause mental distress. This mental distress is pointed out in several scenes where you can see the lighting dim indicating that there was an intense conversation going on between Donnie and Frank the Rabbit. This is emphasized especially in the first conversation in the bathroom between Donnie and Frank the Rabbit where during their dim lighted, heated conversation they are suddenly interrupted by Donnie’s little sister Samantha and the lighting immediately goes back to a normal household setting with Donnie breaking from his trance. This is used in several other movies to emphasize on emulating moods or possibly separating characters from their reality. All in all, the use of lighting was able to allow the viewer to understand the mentality of the main character.