Movies This Week

I watched a whole lot of movies this week: American Beauty, Tender Mercies, The Lost Weekend, Doctor Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, and Somewhere.

 American Beauty: This movie won a whole bunch of Oscars in 1999 including Best Picture, Actor, Original Screenplay, and Director. It was Sam Mendes' first movie to direct, which is funny because he ended up winning as Oscar for it. The Screenplay is extremely well written, such as the monologues are gently portrayed and thought out. The acting is amazing by Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening, who played Spacey's wife. It is quite the unconventional movie, and is a true must see. I give it 4/5 stars

Doctor Zhivago: Doctor Zhivago is known as one of the greatest movies of all time. It is a true long epic. Everything about this movie is great from the cinematography to the musical score. The acting by Omar Sharif is spectacular, and same with Julie Christie. It is the story of Yuri Zhivago, a Russian doctor and poet during the Russian Revolution, must choose between his wife or his lover. It is narrated by Sir Alec Guinness, who plays Zhivago's communist half-brother. It is a wonderful epic, and truly is one of the greatest tales ever told. I give it 4/5 stars

 The Lost Weekend: This movie is an extremely depressing tale of an alcoholic writer trying to decide how to live his life. His decision-making skills are destroyed by his turning to the bottle. His brother abandons him, and he is pushing himself away by his lover. The directing and acting are extremely powerful such as the angles showed when he is looking desperately for the hidden bottle in his room. The Oscars this movie won were well deserving, and this film is in my opinion the greatest tale of obsession ever told, rivaled only by some movies such as Black Swan. I give it 3/5 stars

Lawrence of Arabia: Here we are yet again to another masterpiece of EPIC proportions. Out of the very few movies made about WWI this stands out among them all. This, Paths of Glory, and All Quiet on the Western Front are examples of the brutality of THE GREAT WAR. Lawrence tells the passionate tale of soldier T.E. Lawrence desperately seeking to unite the Arabs against the Turks. Yet in this movie they are also fighting each other, nature, and even their allies. Peter O'Toole gives an amazing performance of the biggest hero during the war, yet the Oscar went to Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird, which was justly deserved. Lawrence of Arabia is perhaps the greatest movie of the 60's and is one that is truly action-packed and very fascinating. I give it 4/5 stars

Somewhere: I have been wanting to see Sofia Coppola's next movie for some time since I really admired Lost in Translation. It tells the story of loneliness of a movie star played by Stephen Dorff. While trying to beat this seemingly depression he is afflicted with, he must also connect with his daughter, played by Elle Fanning. I thought the first 1/3 of this movie was slow, but it was necessary to portray how lonely this huge film star really was, even when surrounded by fans. The only part that we see him truly happy is around his daughter. Elle Fanning shows great skill, especially compared to her sister, Dakota. I thought this as a wonderful movie, and can't wait for Coppola's next movie. I give it  3.5/5 stars