This Film (Blog) Is Not Yet Rated

Directed by and featuring Kirby Dick (honestly?) , 'This Film Is Not Yet Rated' is a fairly biased documentary about the American movie rating system with interviews of film directors who give their opinion on the properties of censorship before and if their movie's are released.

Kirby Dick is best known for his documentary features which focus on themes of secrecy, hypocrisy and human sexuality.

Kirby Dick entertainingly investigates and exposes the secrecy of the biased American movie rating board, with the help of lesbian Private Investigators. There are several film ratings sketched out by MPAA from G(anyone can watch this film) to NC17(Only 18 and over) ratings. Though these ratings have been stretched from when they were first created.

Dick poses some question's concerning the unfairness of film ratings such as why are some films which contain moderate gay sex rated as NC17 but strong violence and moderate straight sex is only PG13? What's the controversy about? It comes down to money the difference between ratings can be a few m...m...m..million.

I was surprised at the extreme secrecy of the rating board members who acted as if they are agents of the US president. Why would they hide themselves? Movie terrorists?

The American rating makes sense to me it's simply for viewer information. The ratings don't make it physically impossible for an underager to watch it. As was mentioned in the documentary a young teenager getting hold of an NC17 is extremely easy. I do agree there should be a rating system but the American rating rules and inconsistency do get ridiculous.

As was mentioned in the documentary people could argue some content should have a right to be shown without any rating barriers but I think extremely in-humane offensive content which doesn't have any meaning or reason behind it are better if they weren't exposed and kept under the rug.

'This Film Is Not Yet Rated' was an enjoyable controversial watch.

The Searchers, Story Prediction.

Having studied the characters in the first 3 minutes of The Searchers, I found out that Ethan the main character is civil war veteran was fighting for the south. He seems a very adventurous but isolated and bitter character. Ethan is dominant around his sensible older brother's family.

Aaron, Ethan's older brother is the sensible and quieter brother, with a family and also enough essentials to keep a family a fairly large house, food etc.

Martha is Aaron's wife in the first few minutes it comes across she is caring, polite, thoughtful, organised and loving.

There seems to be some tension between Ethan and Aaron over Martha. Even though Martha is married to Aaron she longs for the love of Ethan. We know this because of a few signs Martha was waiting at her porch for Ethan coming home as she does every day at this time. Ethan kisses Martha on the forehead, she cherishes this moment. Also Aaron and Ethan barely utter a word to each other and when they do it seems a little abrupt. This gives the picture there is some bad history between them over Martha.

The Searchers could turn out to be a sort of Love triangle. From the title, I think Martha could possibly be captured by thugs and Ethan will go with his brother Aaron and try and rescue Martha. It would seem there would be a lot of tension and conflict if the story went this way throwing issues of love, trust and jealousy up in the air.

Twelve Angry Men

Twelve Angry Men (1957) directed by Sydney Lumet (Dog Day Afternoon) was the story of a Jury sweating out a the decision of whether or not they should send the accused an 18 year old boy to the electric chair. With the evidence given every one is sure the boy is guilty except one man in shinning white suit, Henry Fonda. Fonda has doubts on whether the evidence is enough, he manages to gradually convince the angry, impatient crowd. The whole entire film is set in one Juror room on the hottest day of the year with one or two exterior shots.

I have watched this film before, I genuinely think this is a classic. The performances by each individual character were realistic and three dimensional, each one of them having a story behind their faces. The feud through out the film between Henry Fonda and Lee J Cobb's character was like a guitar string being tightened and waiting to snap. The emotions of anger, justice, empowerment and opinions flowed out of this tense and gripping drama.

There were a use of a range of lenses to compress and oppress the character's actions and emotions in each scene. There was clever sound design toward the end when tensions are rocketing the noise of a storm is brewing outside, torrential rain is heard adding to the atmosphere.

I believe you have to be in the right mood to watch it, I wouldn't say it was visually entertaining but the character development and their decisions make it worth watching.

The Conversation

A paranoid and expert electronic surveillance bugger is convinced his suspects are going to be murdered by his employer, he decides he has to investigate further.
A story about invasion of privacy, written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The Conversation was far too long and was drawn out especially the first scene. In my opinion some scenes were far too long, slow and bleak are the words to describe it. For me it was not stimulating at all.

The main character Harry Caul, played by Gene Hackman, fitted hand in hand with his job, a lonely character clearly obsessed and protective of his job. There was great character depth but the story failed there didn't seem to have great conflict, just a man getting wound up by his own works.

The use of sound throughout was impressive there is a range of taped and muffled voices, electronic sounds and ambient noises and also instruments. The use of a whole closely researched, Erie sound scape added to the paranoia and loneliness of the character and strangeness of the film.
The Sound scape and character were the strong points in this film but the story was not intriguing.

Garapa 3/10

Garapa directed by Jose Padhila is a documentary looking at three  different families who live in one of the most poorest areas of native Brazil. This touching documentary was focusing on the sad and harsh realities of the families conditions covering malnutrition and bad health conditions. 

I know it is an extremely serious topic and it should be known in the western world but after an hour I wish I followed the paths of several members of the audience who walked out the screening. The documentary had a good unnecessary 2 and half hours which should have been cut. It required too much time  of the audience. The look of it was not alluring at all, it was black and white it had subtitles to follow. As one of my fellow class mates mentioned, It was like the documentary was not edited it was just a showing of tape rushes. Also to top it off the families were starting to irritate me and instead of feeling sorry, I was annoyed. Garapa was a very forgettable documentary. 

Running in Traffic 4/10

Running in Traffic, Two main characters  who coincidentally keep crossing paths and spiral into darker and more dangerous worlds.

The story didn't seem very clear to me, there were too many plot lines to follow. It seemed a little too complex and I don't mean in the clever sense.  The stories were possibly trying to link together but it failed miserably. The story wasn't original it just seemed like a really average depressing film, I didn't connect at all. The saving factor of  the film was the cinematography which looked fantastic. I mostly enjoyed the start of the film  which was emotional but then  the film took a downward spiral imitating it's characters.  Not a film I would want to watch again. 

Representation

This film gave me a very different perspective of 'Terrorists.' The characters were very human meaning they have the same feeling as any human being. (love, fear, family values). the character Said had strong feelings for his friend and 'girl friend'. He was also bored of life and wanted to achieve something. Another point that stood out when Said and his brother were having a friendly argument about Said wearing his T Shirt. The characters were extremely nervous and weren't sucidal thugs who want to blow people up. Said's girlfriend was a strong character she was totally against terrorism whih was different, she came across to me as a strong woman. It was a heart-felt film.

Gran Torino 6/10

A kick ass performance by Clint Eastwood. Set in a rough neighbourhood in Detroit, Gran Torino is about a widowed, tough, old and emotionally wounded war veteran (Walt) who befriends a feeble Hmong boy who lives next door after he was forced to and tried to steal Walt's valuable, the Gran Torino. He teaches this feeble young boy to be a man. The Hmong boy and his family are attacked by his wicked, enforcing cousin and gang. The only thing on the boys mind is revenge but Walt steps in.

Clint Eastwood gave a powerful, menacing and  growling (literally) performance, it scared the s**t out of me. Walt's mentor a young priest, Father Janovic also gave a good performance. The film was enjoyable but however some of the supporting actors lacked performance especially some of the emotional scenes that made me cringe, which was a slight let down. Walt was a nasty piece of work on the outside at the start of the film but as it progressed Walt became a very like able character. The end had a slight surprise twist which I'm not sure if I liked. This film as a whole shows how much Clint Eastwood is a legendary tough guy.

Mama Mia 7/10

Finally I've seen the most talked about film this summer. SURPRISINGLY, I enjoyed Mama Mia. It was a feel-good film as it said in the trailer and not only that, it was massively entertaining.

Mama Mia a musical featuring all of Abba's well known songs around the story of an impoverished single mother (Meryl Streep) who runs a dilapidated hotel in sunny Greece. She invites two of her backing singers to attend her daughter's (Amanda Seyfried) wedding. The daughter discovers that one of three men could be her father. She invites all three, without her mother knowing, to the wedding.

Mama Mia would make a terrible film, but since it is a musical, it's great. The location of the film made it heavenly, so much so, it has made me want take a holiday in Greece. The way the film looked, was gorgeuos, the actresses were gorgeous, the actors not so much (ha ha), altogether it was a nice feast for the eyes. The singing was not all that good, the acting... it's not oscar worthy anyway. A must see.

Coronation Street, 26 jan 09

The main story was about Maria who attacked Tony in a previous episode. Tony's wife (Carla) told the police that maria attacked him. It turns out that Tony killed Maria's husband, thus the retaliation. Maria went to the police and told them that Tony killed again. The police don't believe her. Maria upset and angry by this complication, on the way home, driving in her car, she bumps into Tony, then crashes. Tony is not badly hurt, Maria is shook up and petrified that her baby inside her might not be alive. She goes to the hospital to get checked out. Carla tells the police she did it in purpose. Later Maria at home gets a visit by the C.I.D who accuse her of running over Tony and is charged with attempted murder.

Meanwhile Ken was walking his dog down the canal, when suddenly his dog falls in.

New character Martha saves the dog with a fishing net. Martha after they have been introduced invites Ken back for a bowl of soup. Ken enjoying himself had another bowl of soup followed by another. Finding out about each other Ken didn't correct Martha when she assumed he was single.

Hook 1 - The police have been called.

Hook 2 - Maria's car crash.

Hook 3 - Ken meets Martha.

Hook 4 - Maria may be charged with  attempted murder. 

Nosferatu 6/10

A German horror classic that would bore you to death. Over exaggeration, no doubt I have much respect for the film but it was slightly long. It started off well but I couldn't wait till it finished. Made in the 1920's this vampire silent film was adapted from Bram Stoker' s Dracula (some people would say stolen).


Hutter a real estate agent leaves his wife and travels far up into the mountains to close a sale with Orlock. Despite several warnings from the nearby villagers, he insists that he will go up to Orlock's sinister castle. During dinner with host Orlock, Hutter cuts his finger, Orlock sees this and licks his lips intently. That night Hutter, realizing he is no ordinary person, spies on Orlock who is loading himself in a coffin preparing for his trip to Hutters hometown. Orlock arrives on a boat but most of the crew are dead. There are a few mysterious deaths in the town which the local authorities think it's some sort of plague. But Hutter's wife Knows what's happening and knows the only way to stop Orlock bringing terror to the town, is to keep him entertained till sunrise.

This film is a classic and should be watched when your in the right mood. The make-up and costume design for Orlock is what makes him a famous and unforgettable character. This was definitely a creepy and at moments intense film. The film was full of long shots which made it in my opinion very slow.

Coronation Street - Episode - Jan 16 Fri 7:30pm

I'm not particularly a fan of Coronation Street (to be honest i think I've only watched one episode in my entire life and i think i was five). I didn't know any of the character names but i got there in the end. It must be popular if thousands and thousands of viewers watch it each week. It created T.V's 'Appointment Viewing' back in the 60's and it's been running since the sixties, now that's what you call a great idea.

I watched this weeks omnibus episodes (only one of them) last night on television (none of that time shifting). I choose the 7:30 pm viewing to write a synopsis about...

Coronation Street

The morning after the wedding Molly and Tyrone were oblivious that Tyrone's mum had stole their euro tickets to Paris. Once they found out the tickets were missing, Molly's mum remembers that Tyrone's twisted mum was hovering about the wedding gifts at the wedding reception. They have no doubt that she took them.

Elsewhere Steve and Michelle's relationship is on it's last legs. Steve set up Michelle with JD
and JD kissed her. Michelle is distraught when JD told her that Steve set the whole situation up.
Later Lloyd and Steve's mum are messing around. Steve catches them upstairs and is disgusted and forces Lloyd out. In the two men's tussle Lloyd in his anger spurts out in the Pub below that Steve has been having an affair with Becky in front of everyone including Michelle. Michelle realizes that they are not to be. After declaring himself single, Steve goes over to Becky's flat with champagne and flowers. Becky pops her head out the window and realizes that it's Steve knocking at the door. Wearing a pink bra she shouts down, 'I'm with someone!'

Battleship Potempkin 8/10

The story of the Revolution, Battleship Potemkin, a silent film which was made in 1925. The film is set in 1905, during the Russian revolution against the Tsarist regime. On a Russian battleship Sailors rebel against their superiors over extremely poor treatment. As a result a sailor is 'killed over a bowl of soup'. The ship returns to its home port, Odessa, citizens gather and give support to their navy sailors. A Tsarist militia set out to 'control' the situation but kill innocent men, women and children, powerful images of political violence. The navy sailors fire from their battleship in retaliation and destroy the Militia headquarters. Another battleship is sent out to destroy Potemkin. When the battleships are about to battle, Potemkin sends a signal 'Don't fight, join us.' A slide comes up saying 'Brothers' and then soldiers on both sides celebrate.

This film was a stride away from the films that were out at that time. It is often referred as one of the best film ever made. The film shows close-ups of the actors faces who showed phenomenal expression. It is known for fast cutting which built tension especially for the well known baby in the pram sequence which many films have adapted. Battleship Potemkin is a powerful, symbolic film of the Russian Revolution.

Slumdog Millionaire 7/10

Emotional, beautiful and worth every penny. Danny Boyle succeeds in his flashback drama  'Slum Dog Millionaire'. An 18 year old orphan boy (Jamal Malik), from the slums of Mumbai, is one question away from winning 200 million Rupees on the Indian version game show of 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire'. Held in custody, (tortured) for the suspicion of cheating. Jamal explains to the police how he knew the answer to each question by reminiscing his childhood.

The actors brought a lot of emotion to the screen, the child actors especially. Some  shots were strange but artistic, it brought tension to the chase scenes, the music also added. There was a continuity error that annoyed me, Jamal was tortured the night before he answered his last question but on the night it didn't look like he had been touched. One of my vivid memories of the film was when Jamal escapes from the toilet (a little shack with a hole in the floor) jumps into a shit pool, it looked so bad that i was holding my nose.  I never thought i would enjoy 'Slum Dog Millionaire'  as much as i did.