Lawless

 

The film I have selected for this week’s blog is Lawless. This movie is based off of the true story of the Bondurant brothers, as told in the historical novel, “The Wettest County in the World,” written by Matt Bondurant. The movie takes place in Franklyn County, Virginia during the prohibition-era when bootlegging was a way of life for many. The three main characters in this film are Shia LaBeouf as Jack Bondurant, Tom Hardy as Forrest Bondurant, and Jason Clarke as Howard Bondurant. These three brothers run a bootlegging business that introduces them to a world of corruption and crime.  The Bondurant brothers were legendary in their town. Many people claimed that they were immortals and could not die. This thinking came from the history of the older brothers, Howard and Forrest. Howard was the only survivor from his battalion in the war and Forrest survived the Spanish flu that took so many lives including the brother’s parents. Howard and Forrest also had a reputation of being rough around the edges and wouldn’t give in to anyone no matter the circumstances.

 

In the opening credits, the three young brothers are seen as young boys in a pig pen. The youngest of the three is holding a rifle while the older two are watching telling the youngest, Jack, to shoot it. Jack is unable to shoot the pig and is brought to tears as the oldest, Howard, shoots the pig. From this scene, we can establish that Jack is not as tough as his brothers. He is even a little tender hearted and lacks the life experiences because he has been sheltered by his brothers. Shia LaBeouf is an actor who really gets into his characters. His methods are not as conventional as some other actors as he was reported to have pulled his own tooth out for an upcoming movie called Fury (Miller, 2014). I would classify LaBeouf as a star. He has been in the public eye since he was child starring in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens and has played various roles that he is well known for.

 

Jason Clarke plays Howard Bondurant, the hot tempered older brother who has suffered some mental damage from the war. I would consider Clarke as a personality actor. He tends to play roles that lean towards characters that are tough and can take care of their own.

 

 

Tom Hardy plays Forrest Bondurant. He was my favorite character in this film. Although he was violent, had no regard for the law, and did things that would seem heartless, I saw a side to his character that could not help but love. I saw Forrest as a maternal figure in this movie. Although he is the middle the brother, he is the one that watches over his brothers to sure they are well taken care of. His oldest brother has been in war and possibly has suffers from mental instability and he in a way shelters his younger brother by making him hang back and wanting to keep him out of trouble. Hardy has played various roles, but he seems to be better known for his action roles such as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. I consider him to be a personality actor as well.

 

 

 

Miller, J. (2014) Brad Pitt’s Concern Over Shia LaBeouf’s “Method” Odors May Mean the Actor Is Too Extreme for Hollywood. Vanity Fair. Retrieved from http://www.vanityfair.com/vf-hollywood/shia-labeouf-brad-pitt-extreme-Hollywood

Shia LaBeouf pulls out own tooth. Online image. Retrieved from www.themoviebit.com

 

YouTube. (2013). Have you met Howard? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyzLbQ7hjP4

 

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13^th became a popular horror movie with a sub-genre of supernatural horror when it was first released in 1980.  The story line portrays a young boy named Jason, who supposedly drowned in the lake at summer camp, but his body was never recovered. When the camp opened up again a year after the drowning, camp counselors begin to be murdered. Jason’s mother turns psychotic and violent and often talks to herself in her son’s voice. This movie has gone on to produce 12 movies all together (IMDB, 2014). The most memorable thing about all of these movies is the sound or the music that is played prior to Jason killing someone and the fast paced orchestra music that is played during the murder scenes. These music and sounds are known as non-diegetic sound, this helps to provide a dramatic effect to the movie (Filmsound, nd).  Sounds help to add to the suspense, it helps to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. The music and sounds help build up the suspense and energy of what is about to take place in the scene. I think that without music and sounds like this, movies would be boring and generic.

International Movie Database (2014). Friday the 13^th. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080761/?ref_=nv_sr_4

Filsound.org. (n.d.). Diegetic and Non-diegetic sound. Retrieved from http://filmsound.org/terminology/diegetic.htm

Wait Until Dark

Wait Until Dark was filmed in 1967, staring Audrey Hepburn. It was a Alfred Hitchcock movie, but it was not directed by Alfred Hitchcock himself (Gunz, 2014). This movie stars Hepburn as a young woman who was left blind as a result of a car accident. Her and her husband come to own a doll that has been stuffed with drugs unbeknownst to them. Later, the drug are traced to the couple’s apartment by the bad guys. They form a hoax to have Hepburn’s husband to leave town, leaving the vulnerable and blind Hepburn behind. The bad guys begin to play mind games on Hepburn as they enter her apartment and try to have her hand over the doll. The part of this movie where lighting becomes important is toward the end where Hepburn begins to turn off or break all the lights in the apartment causing the apartment to become dark http://youtu.be/qZsnaOQwOlI, leaving one light on to allow for low lighting that produces a suspenseful feeling. Later, the main bad guy captures Hepburn and has her at the refrigerator, where she gives him the doll while grabbing a knife behind her back http://youtu.be/fO8Z0F_CQ_o.  In the shadows of the refrigerator light, we see Hepburn and the bad guy get really close and she makes a moaning sound we are unable to see who is injured until he slumps and she runs behind the refrigerator door. She tries to pull the plug on the refrigerator to turn the light off and struggles up until he is on top of her, the lights go dark and she screams. We are left with wonder and suspense holding on to her empty screams. The lighting is most important to the fact that she is blind. She sees in the dark on a normal basis and she knows her home inside and out. Turning off her lights is a survival mechanism blinding her attackers so she may get away.

Gunz, J. (2014). Alfred Hitchcock Geek. Wait Until Dark: Audrey Hepburn’s Non-Hitchcock Hitchcock Film. Retrieved from http://www.alfredhitchcockgeek.com/2012/07/wait-until-dark-audrey-hepburns-non.html

YouTube. (n.d.). http://youtu.be/qZsnaOQwOlI

YouTube. (n.d.). http://youtu.be/fO8Z0F_CQ_o

 

Cool Hand Luke

I have selected one of my most favorite movies of all times, Cool Hand Luke. Released in 1967, Cool Hand Luke was directed by Stuart Rosenberg and written Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson. Major characters of this movie include, Paul Newman as Luke, George Kennedy, as Dragline, Strother Martin as Captain, and Morgan Woodward as Boss Godfrey.

In the beginning of the film, Luke is arrested for cutting the heads off of parking meters while intoxicated. He is sentenced to prison for destroying public property and we discover then that he was in the Army, but was discharged and demoted in rank. This little bit of information foreshadows Luke’s problems with authority and being able to conform. When Luke is placed with the other prisoners he is faced with the leader, Dragline, who Luke eventually ends up fighting. Dragline is bigger and stronger, but Luke does not give up. He continues to fight even though he knows he is beat. His resilience earns Dragline’s respect and they become friends.

Luke’s cool demeanor and free spirit make him popular among the other prisoners, but has the warden and guards uneasy. When Luke’s mother passes away, the warden has him locked in “the box” so he does not “get rabbit and run.” His time in the box gives him time to think of an escape and only fuels his discontent with authority. Luke makes his first escape, but is later brought back to the prison and beaten until he can no longer take any more and pleads for them to stop. The warden and guards want to use Luke as an example so the other prisoners will not attempt to escape. After this, Luke begins to act as if his spirit has been broken.

Luke makes his second and final escape along with Dragline. They make their way to a church where Luke enters to speak to God in an almost mocking tone asking for help to escape. While he is inside the church, he is shot by the guards but not killed instantly. He is shown driving off in the warden’s car with a smile on his face, that Cool Luke smile. Even in his death Luke is a symbol of hope to the prisoners and this is seen in the final scene when Dragline is telling the others about what happened to Luke.

This movie was shot in chronological order to display the story of how Luke ended up in prison, the two years he spent there, and up to his death. I think this order helps to keep the attention of the audience and was normal for movies of this time frame.

IMDB. (2014). Cool Hand Luke. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061512/synopsis?ref_=tt_stry_pl

YouTube. (2012). “Cool Hand Luke” End of the Movie.” Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPlHAFV-dfo