Romantic Comedys...Pretty Bomb

Welcome to the Wild Wild West!

In regards to westerns, I enjoyed the films in general, the themes were pretty basic and classic, the cinematic elements were interesting, the characters fun, but I have to say that the dialogue and plot line gets pretty tiresome after awhile. I do spose watchin' a western once in awhile'de be okay, but three in jus'a few weeks, well, that there's a lil' much.

The thing I really liked the most about these films is the emphasis on the power of the land. The extreme long shots in both of the movies is classic, but I had never thought of the reason for all of them in westerns. But I realize now that the director is trying to point out how the land dwarfs the people, and how man is trying to command this vast, powerful nature, which is much harder than it seems. Man did not know how to handle this challenge, so chaos ensues. I really liked how obvious this message was, especially in "Unforgiven".

Now just a few comments on the characters of "Stagecoach". I have to say that I really loved the character development in this film, these guys were hilarious! My favorite characters were Doc Boone and Bucky. Doc Boone because he just does what he wants and nobody says anything because he's a doctor, or even if they do say something, he basically gives them a big "screw you", especially to the 'upper class' characters. And I love Bucky because he tries to be that 'does what he wants' character, but his fear gets in the way, I find him very real and easy to relate to. Now I just want to take this opportunity to say that Hatfield and Mallory were obvioulsly in a relationship! This is why Hatfield came on the stagecoach in the first place-to protect his pregnant woman! Mallory was apparently very lonely and missed her husband who was in the military, so she gave into temptation, I mean, who can turn down that Hatfield with his jalepeno-looking face and everything? Not Mallory, that's for sure! seriously though, it actually makes sense as you watch the movie and think about them specifically.

In conclusion, gittyup lil doggies!!

The Motorcycle Diaries

"The Motorcycle Diaries", set in 1952, depicts a young Che Guevara-known as Ernesto or Fuser in the film-(Gael Garcia Bernal) as he and his close friend Alberto Granada(Rodrigo de la Serna) travel across South America on a leaky, broken-down motorcycle which they call "The Mighty One". Their original goal is to reach the very-most southern point of the America's, have fun and pick up women along the way. Although once they witness the deep separation of rich and poor (specifically in Peru) their motives change awfully quick. Directed by Walter Salles’s, this film was touching, beautiful, heart warming, funny and inspiring.

The film is full of extreme long-shots which show the majesty that is South America. This affects the characters as well as the viewers. The shots of the open scenery, the abandoned Incan ruins, and the impoverished towns throughout are generally shot in high-key lighting with many colors and vivid images, indicating that these scenes are ‘the good guys’ of South America, the underdogs if you will. Whereas the scenes depicting the big cities are very dull in terms of color.

Nature also played an important role with symbolism in this film. For example, Ernesto and Alberto get overpowered by nature early in the film, when they are trying to set up a tent in the rain, and the wind sweeps the tent away into a river. Another example of this is when they run into snow while driving through Chile and afterwards end up having to let The Mighty One go. These specific examples seem to show how powerful nature is, but later in the movie, once Ernesto and Alberto become less ignorant to the problems of unity throughout their trip, they and the viewer start become aware of how man uses this power of nature to his advantage. The most obvious illustration of this is how a river is used to divide the people infected with leprosy from those who are taking care of them. Ernesto breaks this barrier by swimming across the river to stay and celebrate with his friends with leprosy on the other side.

Another aspect of the film that I found particularly interesting was the camera movement. A great deal of the movie is shot with a hand-held camera or a steadicam. This gives the audience the feeling that they are in the movie, or that they are an outside observer of these two friends, almost as if the audience is filming their journey.

Overall, this film was wonderful. I enjoyed the clever writing and acting that carried it out so well. I also appreciated the symbolism, the awe-inspiring scenery, the story in general, the choices in cinematography and the significance of the film’s message as a whole. Bravo a Salles para esta película hermosa.