The 1937 movie "The Life of Emile Zola" was the 10th movie to win the best picture Oscar. The film, as the title suggests, is a partial biography of Emile Zola. It focuses on his life from when he started as a writer, to his case against the French government and finally his death. It is a story about fighting for what is right, regardless of the price that you may pay. The story focuses heavily on the case between Emile and the French military. While this case brings the most drama to the movie it would have been nice to see some of Zola's hardships before he became an author. This just isn't focused on enough in the movie.
From an acting stand point, the movie is no slouch. All of the actors put in a great performance, with Paul Muni as Emile Zola leading the pack. With much of the movie surrounding his trial, it was really a courtroom drama, something that I typically enjoy. While it isn't as gripping as the dramas of today, it was still a fun watch due to the acting performances.
Overall, there wasn't much to analyze in this movie. It was a good story and put together well but at the end the, movie didn't really stay with me. For this reason it gets 3 out of 5 stars.
With this being the 10th movie I thought now would be a good time to rank the movies based on what I thought about them. So here is my list of the first 10 in the reverse order that I enjoyed them.
10. The Broadway Melody of 1929
9. The Great Ziegfeld
8. Wings
7. The Life of Emile Zola
6. Grand Hotel
5. Cimmaron
4. Cavalcade
3. It Happened One Night
2. All Quiet on the Western Front
1. Mutiny on the Bounty
Monday, October 18, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The Social Network - Movie Review
Finally, the long summer is over! Movie lovers can return to the theater. We can see drama, sharp dialogue and character development. Fall is here and with it comes the Oscar season. The year has had a few gems so far, but the next three months will bring the movies we will be talking about next January when the Oscar nominations are announced. The first movie of this season is "The Social Network."
The movie tells the story of the creation and development of Facebook. The movie is actually based on the book "The Accidental Billionaires." The story is told via two depositions that are occuring during the same time period and focusing on who invented Facebook. The story is incredibly interesting, most likely because the movie covers a very current topic. The only issue with the story is that it feels unfinished. This is because the saga of Facebook is unfinished, the site is still changing and constantly makes headlines with privacy issues.
The script was written by Aaron Sorkin ("The West Wing,"SportsNight") and it shows. Anyone familiar with anything he has written can expect the same thing here. Fortunately, his writing has yet to show signs of aging is still sharp and crisp. I am sure that after additional viewing I will be quoting this film as often as possible. The cast is more than capable of handling Sorkin's script. Jessie Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield (the next Spiderman) and Justin Timberlake all play their roles to perfection. Eisenberg shows some amazing talent here. He reminds me of Michael Cera but with depth and the ability to play more then one type of character.
The movie was directed by David Fincher ("Seven", "Fight Club"). However he really didn't have much to work with. The direction was solid but there was nothing really spectacular about it. Looking back at it, I can't think of any standout scene or sequence. However, there was no scene that felt awkward or out of place, an achievement on its own.
Overall it's a great movie, it's only real flaw is that the story ends up being light on any real drama. The movie is incredibly well made and for that reason it gets 4.5 out of 5 stars.
The movie tells the story of the creation and development of Facebook. The movie is actually based on the book "The Accidental Billionaires." The story is told via two depositions that are occuring during the same time period and focusing on who invented Facebook. The story is incredibly interesting, most likely because the movie covers a very current topic. The only issue with the story is that it feels unfinished. This is because the saga of Facebook is unfinished, the site is still changing and constantly makes headlines with privacy issues.
The script was written by Aaron Sorkin ("The West Wing,"SportsNight") and it shows. Anyone familiar with anything he has written can expect the same thing here. Fortunately, his writing has yet to show signs of aging is still sharp and crisp. I am sure that after additional viewing I will be quoting this film as often as possible. The cast is more than capable of handling Sorkin's script. Jessie Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield (the next Spiderman) and Justin Timberlake all play their roles to perfection. Eisenberg shows some amazing talent here. He reminds me of Michael Cera but with depth and the ability to play more then one type of character.
The movie was directed by David Fincher ("Seven", "Fight Club"). However he really didn't have much to work with. The direction was solid but there was nothing really spectacular about it. Looking back at it, I can't think of any standout scene or sequence. However, there was no scene that felt awkward or out of place, an achievement on its own.
Overall it's a great movie, it's only real flaw is that the story ends up being light on any real drama. The movie is incredibly well made and for that reason it gets 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The Great Ziegfeld - The Oscar Project Part IX
Released in 1936, "The Great Ziegfeld" tells a fictionalized version of the life of Florenz Ziegfeld. A person I have some familiarity with due to my background in the community theater. In fact I've even played the voice of Ziegfeld in "The Will Rogers Follies." The movie stars William Powell and features music by Walter Donaldson and Irvin Berlin. This adds some authenticity to the movie music as Berlin's music was part of the original Ziegfeld Follies.
The film itself was large in scope and short on actual substance, like many of Ziegfeld's most famous productions. The movie consisted of Ziegfeld being down and out, just to bounce back bigger and more successful then ever. After the third time this happens the movie becomes too predictable. However, since it is about the life of Ziegfeld there is not much that the script writers could do about that.
This leaves the main appeal of the movie to be in the singing and dancing numbers. Fortunately, these are much better then those found in "The Broadway Melody." The numbers made me feel as though I was watching numbers that could be truly labeled as Ziegfeldian. Since the rest of the movie had a sub par plot and no acting that really stood out, the singing and dancing was the only noteworthy part of the movie.
While the singing and dancing was great, it is dated. If you enjoy watching the pageantry of the theater of old than this movie has something for you. If not this probably isn't worth your time. It gets 2 out of 5 stars.
The film itself was large in scope and short on actual substance, like many of Ziegfeld's most famous productions. The movie consisted of Ziegfeld being down and out, just to bounce back bigger and more successful then ever. After the third time this happens the movie becomes too predictable. However, since it is about the life of Ziegfeld there is not much that the script writers could do about that.
This leaves the main appeal of the movie to be in the singing and dancing numbers. Fortunately, these are much better then those found in "The Broadway Melody." The numbers made me feel as though I was watching numbers that could be truly labeled as Ziegfeldian. Since the rest of the movie had a sub par plot and no acting that really stood out, the singing and dancing was the only noteworthy part of the movie.
While the singing and dancing was great, it is dated. If you enjoy watching the pageantry of the theater of old than this movie has something for you. If not this probably isn't worth your time. It gets 2 out of 5 stars.
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