Les Chorsites

Nay Hinain

Diala Esreb

Les Choristes

This movie is a critically acclaimed french film which was directed by Christophe Barratier. It was co-written by Barratier and Philippe Lopes-Curval, it is an adaptation of the 1945 film A Cage of Nightingales.

When the boys of the French country-side were misbehaving, they were sent to a boarding school called Fond de l'Etang. This school believed in the punishment policy in which the children would suffer for the consequences that they made. It came to the point where the teachers weren’t waiting for the lesson, but better yet for the next mistake that the children would make. Since the approach of beating the children for the problems they caused didn’t seem to have a working effect, the principle, M. Rachin, decided to get another teacher to join the faculty. The Teacher tried new methods when dealing with the children, because he didn’t believe in abusing children for disciplin. He starts a chorus, and has the children sing in it. It turns into a success and the children become very pasionate about the chorus.

We both enjoyed the movie because of the message it sends and we have grown attached to the characters because we witness them get out of their comfort zone, which demonstrates character development.

Gravity

Diala Esreb

Gravity

Personal Rating: 8/10
imdb Rating: 8.1/10
Rotton Tomatoes Rating: 9.7/10

"You'll see a little girl, with brown hair, lots of knots. She didn't like to brush it. You tell her I found her red shoe. She was so worried about that red shoe. And it was under the bed the whole time."

- Doctor Ryan Stone, Gravity 

Gravity Critique

Gravity is a fictional space drama film about two astronauts who are hit by space debris, become lost in space and attempt to come back    to earth. The movie was directed, written and produced by Alfonso Cuarón. The main character is an astronaut named Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) who is a medical engineer and she was on her first space shuttle mission aboard the Space Shuttle Explorer. She is accompanied by veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney). During a spacewalk to fix the Hubble Space Telescope, Mission Control in Houston warns the team about a Russian missile strike on a nearby satellite, which has caused a chain reaction forming a cloud of space debris. The debris hits them and they are lost in space. They also lost all communication they had with Mission Control. They are fending for themselves on a scarce supply of oxygen and are trying to find their way back to any space station.

            This movie truly portrays the emptiness and loneliness of the vast universe. Even while filming, Sandra Bullock was by herself. She couldn’t see the cameras and the crewmembers. She was in a black box, suspended by wires, acting completely on her own. Her only connection to the real world was through an earpiece. This is a parallel to how her character is in the movie. In the movie she was completely alone floating through space and her only connection to humankind was  the connection to the Houston Space Center, which was lost for the majority of the movie. The fact that she was alone in real life was shown in her acting. You could tell through her body language and her facial expressions that there was no one around her and she felt lost. It was truly lonely. And as watching, the viewers start to feel alone with her. They start to feel the extreme silence that there is in space, and the complete emptiness that there is in such a large universe.

            The special effects that were used in making this movie was so stunning, for some parts of the movie, I forgot that it wasn’t actually filmed in space. Every little detail seems to be correct. Even the physics behind everything is pretty accurate. Editors spent 4 years bringing Gravity to life. Most of the shots in the movie are entirely CGI, apart from Sandra Bullock. The images are so crisp and lifelike, that even without the intriguing plotline, I would still pay to see the movie.

            The main theme in this movie is loneliness. And the idea that even though people surround you, you are inevitably, alone. The extreme loneliness that there is in space really helps enunciate the fact that humans are alone, and even if you surround yourself with people, they are also alone, even when they are with you.

            I really enjoyed the movie, and strongly recommend it for everyone. Whatever genre you are most interested in, this movie will appeal to you. The film looks and feels so real you have to remind yourself virtually everything on screen doesn't actually exist.

V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta

Diala Esreb

Personal Rating: 8.5/10

Imdb Rating: 8.2/10 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434409/)

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 7.3/10 (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/v_for_vendetta/)

"People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people"

 - Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta Critique

V for Vendetta is a film set in a false reality where England is ruled by an oppressive government, and it’s about a terrorist named “V” (Hugo Weaving) whose main task is to empower the people and overthrow the regime. The film is based on a graphic novel by Alan Moore. “V” is a freedom fighter attempting to stimulate a revolution against their fascist government. Evey (Natalie Portman), a working class girl, gets entangled in V’s mission and ends up bringing an end to the government, and a start to the people.

This movie brings attention to the truth of how corrupt government and politics are. While politicians lie to hide the truth, this movie is a lie to exhibit it. This idea is brought up throughout the movie. The idea that artists use a false image to hide what they want to say, which in turn allows them to say it. It shows us that art is normally a metaphor for something real. The reaction the public had to this movie, further proves the point. Many political activist groups have interpreted this movie as a symbol of the oppression of the government. An activist group called “Anonymous” sport the same Guy Fawkes mask that V wears in the film when they appear in public. This movie has become an allegory to the resistance to political and economic oppression.

The cinematography of this movie is interesting because it is very dark and gloomy which relates to the story and the characters in it. Most of the light comes from the fireworks/explosions that V sets off whenever he is attacking parliament, and it symbolizes the fact that authority reigns in the dark, and we can only fight back to find light. Another aspect of symbolism I found interesting was that in the movie, whenever the chancellor would speak to the government workers he would be projected on a giant screen showing that he is greater than everyone, but when we meet him in real life we realize that he is the same as us, the people. This illustrates the fact that we are all equal and there is no one greater than another.

I personally liked this movie and I think many people should watch it. It is captivating, and the acting is magnificent. I enjoyed it and I think others will too.