MYST 4 "Neighbors"

This past weekend I went to the movie theater and saw the movie Neighbors. Directed by Nicholas Stoller, Neighbors stars Seth Rogan and Zac Efron. It is about a young couple (Rogan)  raising a new family in the suburbs with a very young child, all seems well and quiet average until they notice the house next door has just been sold and the new neighbors is a college fraternity (Efron). The married couple goes over to introduce themselves to lay down some ground rules on noise but also tries to keep it "cool", the fraternity agrees but with one exception, go to them before calling the police. when a party gets out of hand and the couple tries several times to contact there neighbors to keep it down, they are given no choice but to call the police. When the frat finds out it was there "so called cool" neighbors who called the police all hell breaks loose. The frat throws bigger parties and plays pranks on the couple and terrorizes them. The couple is fed up with the shenanigans and and wants nothing to do with them and hatches a plot to get rid of the frat for good.

This movie was not just like any other college movie where its main plot was just solely about sex drugs and booze, this movie had a pretty decent plot and came full circle towards the end. It had a relativity dense plot. There were many scenes that were just pointless and thrown in for comic relief, or to just fabricate what the college life is about. One scene that stood out was when Teddy, the leader of the fraternity (efron), is at a job fair with the vice president of his frat. The VP (dave franco) is an architect major and is getting many applications handed out, but when teddy is asked about his gpa, he is shut down from a job at intel.He is standing there and has an epiphany about how she shouldve studied more and that college isnt just about drinking and girls and trying to be a frat legend. At the end of this film he later finds a job at abercrombie and fitch as one of those guys who just stands out there flexing with out a shirt wile attending night school.

The camera work was very jumping and fast to show intensity. But also many slow motion scenes during the parties to make it seem cooler. It kinda worked because everyone in the theater was loving it.

All around this was very good movie. Its a fun one to see if you have nothing else going on and you want a good laugh. Its much like any other college movie but also had a very good plot, it was excited and not to predictable. All around i give this movie a 7/10.

Formal Film Study: Wall Street

For my Formal Film study I studied movies that had to do with the lifestyle of working on wall street. I watched The Wolf of Wall street and that is what sparked my interest on this topic. The depiction of Jordan Belford's drug and sex crazed life intrigued me and i was curious as to whether this was a common occurrence that comes with the stock market and wall street life style. The films I watched were, again, The wolf of Wall(2013) street directed by Martin Scorsese, Wall street(1987) directed by Oliver Stone, and American Psycho(2000) directed by Marry Harron.

Wile all 3 films were different and had different plots from one another they were all very similar when touching on the life style of a stock broker on wall street. A little background knowledge on these films; The wolf of Wall street shows the life of Jordan Belford, a young thriving stock broker who starts his own firm on wall street that takes the market by storm and makes a name for himself and also shows his crazy and chaotic life that is filled with drugs and prostitutes and money. Wallstreet was a film that was about a young up and coming stock broker who desperately wants to move his way up the latter on wallstreet and make a name for himself and he feels the only way to do that is to impress his hero and legendary wall street player Gordon Gekko. American Psycho is quiet different from all 3, this film is a bout a young man on the sock market in wall street who also leads a double life as wealthy wall street banker by day and a crazed blood thirsty serial killer at night. All films were different yes, but when touching on the life style of wall street they were all very similar. In all 3 movies they show up and coming stock brokers and how they spend there time especially when trying to impress the top dogs. They all spend there time swearing, yelling, trying to make as much money as possible and being the best, having outrageous amounts of sex, and drugs: more specifically cocaine. All 3 movies had the main characters take part in all this. They were all dressed similar, the typical look was: a very expensive costom suit, usually a french collar shirt, nice tie, gelled back hair, and suspenders. This is the typical look for those in the movies. The interesting part was all films are based of different eras in time and yet they are all so similar. I guess things just never change.

All in all after watching all of these films it was an eye opener to see just exactly what it is like in the hectic life that is wall street. Its not just all numbers and money and people in pit sweating profusely throwing paper and yelling at people to buy and sell in there stock. No, it much more than that, behind the vail lies a much larger life style filled with sex, booze, drugs, illegal transactions, swiss bank accounts, and jail time. All were very good movies and it was very interesting to see how they all compare, im sure those on wall street would disagree and say that these are all fabricated and that its not all like this, but id like to believe otherwise and have some hope that out there right now some guys is living a crazed life style like that of a king.

MYST #3 Scarface

My latest MYST post is on an American classic, Scarface. Staring Al Pacino as Tony Montana, a Cuban immigrant who comes to America, specifically Florida, in a refugee camp. He and his best friend Manny (played by Steve Bauer) find a way out of the camp and a way to receive green cards. The two partners take on a hit to kill a local drug peddler for Frank Lopez. The job gets done and Lopez (big time cocaine dealer in the Miami area) is impressed and takes the two under his wing. They work together and make deals and carry on with business. Tony starts falling for the Franks wife and sees that he is next in line to be the biggest cocaine distributor in Miami. Tony stops at nothing to get there and reach his goals and go from being at the bottom of the totem pole as a lonely immigrant in a refugee camp, to a man with power, millions, and respect. As the story unfolds and the plot thickens Tony's world comes spiraling down just as quick as it was built up.

Scarface is the ultimate tale of the American dream. Here we have a man coming to a America and starting with nothing, pulling himself up by the boot straps and rising to the top and earning respect, wealth and power. This film could be compared to that of "Citizen Kane", take away the violence, excessive swearing, cocaine, and a thick and sweaty Cuban accent, they arent to different. In both films we have a man start with nothing and build up an empire to call his own. They both have a wife who is in love with them and there power but towards the end loses interest. Both main characters have a strong rise to power and plummeting decent back to reality, mainly resulting in depression and death. Now i know it is a stretch trying to compare to vastly different movies but with the fats and the plots they just seem to add up and go together. Both stories are great tributes the American dream, and both stories show the true cost of power and what it means to be the best.

Here we have a famous scene from the film. This is when Tony turns on his former boss Frank Lopez and you see the new structure of power and that Tony and Manny mean business and are taking over the game.
*WARNING: HARSH LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE* (sorry, you dont have to watch it..... its pretty sweet though.)

Here is another important scene, this scene illustrates the fall of Tony and shows his demise  and what he became. *LANGUAGE* (sorry, I guess cubans swear a lot, i dont know)

The editing of this film was very upbeat and fast. It had a nice pace and kept you wanting more and on the edge of your seat. With violence and action at every turn, and never knowing what Tony will do or say next this film always keeps you wanting more and eager to see what will unfold. Its exciting and that all stems from the editing and the up tempo of the shots and quick cuts.

Scarface is a a classic and there is a reason it has such a big praise a love for it, much like The Godfather. Its a great film that keeps you wanting more and more and excited to see what will become of Tony Montana and his empire. I would give this movie a rating of 8 Kilos of cocaine out of 10. its a good exciting film that keeps you hooked the whole way, but at some points you feel bad for the guy and you cant really understand him and the whole time you just wish you could pass him a glass of water and tell him to clear his throat or take out his retainer because Pacino takes on the voice of what sounds like a chain smoking lesbian with peanut butter on the roof of her mouth that gets caught in her mouth guard. All in a ll its a fun exciting film and i encourage everyone to see it, possibly with subtitles on.