Rogerebert.com review

Rogerebert.com is the former website of the late Roger Ebert (1942-2013). It is no longer used by Roger Ebert for obvious reasons but is now frequently operated by several other staff members and Mr. Ebert's wife Chaz Ebert.

The site reviews a variety of movies that come out, including mainstream blockbusters and indie films that few have heard of. Movies are both critiqued by their overall quality and have their style analyzed. In the review for Spike Jonze's "Her", Glenn Kenny discusses the positive effect that the film's cinematography has on the quality of the film, rather than simply praising the acting and script (though he does that too). A similar example is Christy Lemire's discussion of black and white used in Alexander Payne's Nebraska. She praises the way that the black and white gives notice to a sense of decay and melancholy in the story, unlike many films where it's meant to be nostalgic.

There is another section on the site dedicated entirely to the blogs of several contributors to the site, including Ebert himself. Ebert's blog is obviously no longer active but one of the most notable posts, "Movies that are made forever", doesn't analyze any particular film, but rather film in general. He discusses how certain movies are like sausages ("Grind up everything that's usable, stuff it into the casing of a marketing campaign, package them six to the weekend, pull them off sale after they begin to spoil") and how other films have a fervent passion and a need to be seen on the big screen, giving a careful examination of movies that are made for profit vs. movies that are made for more complex reasons.

Jim Emerson's blog, Scanners (titled after the David Cronenberg film) has both movie and non-movie discussions. The movie discussions include analysis on how multiple people make the movie. For example, Emerson praises Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained for not simply being a mouth piece for director Quentin Tarantino, which he feels is all too common for Tarantino films. He explains how a great actors can make cliche dialogue sound good and strong direction can create strong performances.

The site even features a question simply titled "Great Movies" which attempts to break down films that are held in high regard. David Lynch's Mulholland Dr. is dissected in an unusual way by Roger Ebert. Ebert not only discusses what  the film could mean, but also the effect that the film has on people. He discusses how nobody has a common consensus on the complex film, how perhaps the creature lurking outside of the diner isn't supposed to be anything but a visual strategy, and how David Lynch's love of archetypes, genres, and obligatory shots shape the film. It's an unusually thoughtful analysis.

Rogerebert.com is a fairly effective site for both hardcore movie buffs and casual viewers. The casual movie fans can enjoy the reviews discussing the quality of the movie while the film buffs can find great appreciation in the inquiries of various motion pictures. 

Rope of Silicon review

Rope of Silicon is a site which explores a variety of films and their quality. These films include hollywood films, independent films, and foreign films. The head of the site is Brad Brevet, a Seattle native. Brevet has several features on his site. One of the features is reviews.

Brevet's reviews are thoroughly written and go beyond simply whether a film is good or bad. For example, when reviewing 12 Years a Slave, Brevet analyzed the sound in the film, saying "Sound, in fact, weighs heavily on this film. Following Northup's abduction he's chained and tossed into a room with a concrete floor and wooden slats for walls. Every move he makes the chains strike and scrape against the floor at a nearly intolerable level. And when the ambient noise isn't setting the mood, Hans Zimmer's cello-driven score threatens and taunts us with the promise of more to come." He is also not afraid to go against the status quo, giving American Hustle (94% on Rotten Tomatoes) a C+ rating while giving Spike Lee's Oldboy (44% on Rotten Tomatoes). Brevet is noted for finding entertainment in unusual ways. He enjoyed Oldboy because  he found "the cultural differences between the Korean original and this American remake result in a fascinating game of compare and contrast for those that have seen both, though it's not even necessarily the actual culture [he's] referring to as much as it's the difference in cinematic culture. Your willingness to expand your cinematic horizons, whether you're a seasoned film geek or simply a mainstream moviegoer, will serve as the true test." 

Brevet also discusses movie news. For example, he discusses recently released trailers and posters as well as his box office predictions. He thoroughly analyzes his box office predictions by taking many things into account, including the film's plot, the director and their relative box office success, and the actors and their relative box office success.

Arguably the most popular feature is the "Awards" section. Brad Brevet uses several factors to predict who will be nominated at the Academy Awards each year. He avoids bringing his own opinions into account and instead focuses on the common consensus, as well as the sentimentality that often times attracts the Academy. He thoroughly examines each individual or film that he considers to be a contender in the Oscar race. Brevet also looks at the other award shows that precede the Oscars to make his predictions. He has a high success rate with his predictions. However, the notable thing is his commentary on the Oscars itself. He likes them in the way that they are a celebration of film, but he dislikes the politics involved in the award show.

Overall, Rope of Silicon is an intelligent site that I would recommend any movie buff to visit. From the well written reviews to the engaging look at Oscar season, it should have something for everyone.

Early blog post #2

Jarhead

Jarhead is one of those outstanding films that nobody really watched. It's also one of those films that's not really regarded as outstanding scoring a mere 61% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, Jarhead tackles military life in a way rarely seen. War is hell as seen in most movies, but not for the reasons we are used to.


Jarhead is an examination of the effect war have on aimless use, especially in regards to their masculinity. The main character, Anthony Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) is ferociously yelled at by his drill instructor in a scene reminiscent of the first half of Full Metal Jacket. Swofford admits that he only joined the Marine Corps because he got "lost on the way to college". Drill Instructor Fitch is not impressed

Swofford finds his training at Camp Pendleton rather uninteresting and even pretends to be sick to avoid having to do any work. However, he is eventually invited to join a Scout Sniper course which he accepts. Swofford and a fellow soldier Troy are made shooter and spotter respectively. Troy and Swofford have a mostly friendly relationship. Troy's first words to Swofford are "welcome to the suck". The suck is a slang used by Marines which refers to the Marines, but it also ultimately foreshadows how all of the Marines will be feeling later in the film.


After Kuwait is invaded by Iraq, Swofford and several other marines are sent to the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Desert Shield. Lt. Colonel Kazinski (Chris Cooper) gives the Marines a charismatic pro-war speech. One of the Marines, Fowler, shouts "I can't wait to kick some Iraqi ass, sir!" Soon enough, all of the Marines start saying it, and Kazinski is happy to see the enthusiasm of men ready to murder others.

The only marine who doesn't seem to fall for the propaganda is LCpl. Chris Kruger (Lucas Black in an excellent performance). Kruger is different from the other Marines because he only joined to avoid going to prison (it's never explained what he did). Kruger is a young Texan, the type of person who is usually stereotyped as being pro-war and bloodthirsty. Instead, Kruger seems to be the only man who sees what's going on. He believes the only reasons the troops are there is to protect the profits of the oil tycoons. When a television crew arrives to interview the Marines, Ssgt. Sykes (Jamie Foxx) demands that they don't say anything that could be interpreted as anti-war. Kruger accuses it as censorship. Swofford starts to see more clearly at this point as well asking about freedom of speech and the constitution.

"No, you signed a contact. You don't have any rights. You got any complaints, you complain to Saddam Insane and see if he gives a fuck."

Kruger accuses Sykes of treating the Marines just like Saddam treats his own people.  Sykes responds "you are a marine. There is no such thing as speech that is free. You must pay for everything you say."

These marines, who are supposed to be fighting for freedom and democracy, don't even have freedom themselves. When the interviews happen, most of the interviews are typical. Troy talks about how he loves being a marine because he finally counts for something.  Cuban immigrant Ramon Escobar talks about how he's proud to serve America because it has given freedom to him. Naive Fergus O'donnell discusses how he misses his parents. Swofford is arguably the most honest after being asked if he's scared. "Look, I'm twenty years old and I was dumb enough to sign a contract. I can hear their fucking bombs already. I can hear their bombs and I'm fucking scared, yeah." 
Kruger is interviewed as well but ultimately has nothing to say because he wants to speak his true opinions and he's not allowed to do that.

Nobody seems to be lacking more in empathy than PFC Dave Fowler. Fowler is reckless, loudmouthed, and is bigoted towards Middle Eastern people including making obscene gestures to a woman in a Hijab. All of this goes unpunished. Swofford finally decides Fowler has gone to far when he sees him defiling a burnt Iraqi corpse. Sykes assures Swofford that Fowler will face consequences for his actions when they go back home, but the last scene we see of Fowler is him back in America making out with a woman in a bar with a big smile on his face. Fowler's lack of humanity was irrelevant to the U.S.M.C. The gung-ho marine is exactly what they're looking for so he gets off without even a slap on the wrist.
Swofford's behavior constantly teeters a line between sympathetic and gullible. Pure boredom often times gets the best of him. This isn't call of duty. The marines don't have to worry about shootouts or bombings. The only bombing incident is from a friendly fire incident caused by the gung ho PFC Dave Fowler dissented from the formation. Swofford has family waiting for him at home and a girlfriend, but his big concern is to be involved in the action. He wants to fire his rifle. He wants to kill someone. The USMC has taught him the importance of kicking Iraqi ass and if you leave the war without killing someone, then you're nothing. Only killers matter. This has a horrible effect on Swofford's mental state to the point that he almost shoots Ferguson in the face and then tries to shoot himself. Troy berates him for his reckless and dangerous actions.


At the end of the film, Swofford and Troy are finally sent on their first combat mission. Their mission is to kill two Iraqi officers in a control tower. They are given permission to take the shot but a team of Marines who outrank them appear and call in an airstrike instead. Troy wants a kill, he NEEDS a kill so he pleads with the commanding officer to let them take the shot anyways. When his requests are denied, Troy breaks down into a violent fit and eventually tears up. The commanding officer observes with a smirk. He doesn't care about his fellow marines. He just wants credit for everything. It's at this point that Swofford realizes what he has become and how Troy's mental break mirrors his own from earlier in the movie.

Troy and Swofford head back to base disappointed. They get lost but here noises in a distance (it's late at night). They think it's their chance so they get their guns ready only to discover that it's their own base and the noises are their fellow marines partying. The war is over and the Marines couldn't be happier. Swofford tells Troy that he never fired his rifle. Troy recommends that he does it now, so he fires a round in the air. The other marines fire their weapons into the sky as well, the only time any of them got to experience anything that even resembles action.

The marines head home and are celebrated as heroes, despite their presence having no real effect on the war. The situation becomes worse when a Vietnam war veteran jumps onto their bus and it's immediately clear that he's still suffering from effects of the Vietnam war. Swofford moves on with his life, though he discovers that his girlfriend has moved on with somebody else. Everyone else moves on with Kruger arguably ending up the most successful. His final scene shows him talking in a corporate boardroom, apparently doing quite well. Swofford discovers that Troy has died and attends his funeral (the cause of death is not specified in the film, but in real life it was a car accident). This causes Swofford to truly examine his life. The film ends with one final monologue:
A story. A man fires a rifle for many years. and he goes to war. And afterwards he comes home, and he sees that whatever else he may do with his life - build a house, love a woman, change his son's diaper - he will always remain a jarhead. And all the jarheads killing and dying, they will always be me. We are still in the desert.

This is going to be hanging over Swofford for the rest of his life. He spent a year doing absolutely nothing and he'll never forget it. His biggest accomplishment was almost killing someone and he now realizes the absolute pointlessness. He fell for the propaganda, for the pro-war movies, and now he has no choice but to continue. However, this will always remain a piece of him. Once a marine, always a marine. Swofford made the choices he made, thanks to his own naivety, and now must live with the psychological consequences.