When I first set out to write this blog, I did not anticipate that I would actually provide any critiques for the films that I watched. However, as the blog has developed over the past few months, I realized that I was becoming an amateur movie critic. Around the time that I was having this epiphany, I released my second film review. In that review, one of my movie buddies suggested that I implement a ratings system, which would allow for some recognizable system among the various reviews. I researched a few of the standard rating systems currently being used and I also thought about developing something unique for myself. For now, however, I'll just use a combination of some of the more popular ones.
I've found that I like to ask myself five basic questions after I watch a film. Thus, when I'm reviewing a film, I will ask myself the following:
1) Did you like the film?
2) Would you watch it again?
3) Would you recommend it to others to watch?
4) Would you add this film to your library?
5) If I had free time, would I watch this film?
I feel that answering these five questions provide me with the framework to give any particular film a final rating. Additionally, I also realized that there was a sixth question that I asked myself, which will serve as a bonus question.
Bonus Question: Would you immediately watch this film again? (Meaning as soon as the film is over, would I put it on instant repeat or would intentionally try to watch it within a twenty-four period). Like the other five before it, this bonus question should solicit a yes or no answer. Answering no to this question will not have any impact on the final results of the rating. However, if I answer yes to this particular question, then that answer will have the possibility of elevating the rating to higher rating. For instance, if I grade a movie with an A, answering yes to the bonus question would elevate the final rating to an A+. Essentially, if the film already has a high rating from me, a yes answer to this question will likely reflect that I believe this to be a perfect movie or as close to perfect as possible.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Scarface
Run Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
Cast: Al Pacino, Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Robert Loggia, Miriam Colon, F. Murray Abraham and Paul Shenar.
Writer: Oliver Stone
Director: Brian De Palma
Well, I finally watched the film that most consider to be one of the greats. So, what did I think? I went into watching this film with the expectations of seeing Pacino do a great job playing his character and watching a great story develop from the beginning to the end. I can honestly say that I was not disappointed. Having watched a few Pacino films now, I feel he does a good job of selling the character to the audience. My only complaint for this particular film would be the "Cuban" accent he tried to use. To me, it felt extremely forced and it was a little distracting at times. However, I don't feel that it negatively impacted his performance.
When I watch a film, I expect to feel like I'm watching the character, not the actor trying to play a character. I've heard some say that "Pacino has become really good at playing Pacino." I'm not sure when he fell into that description, but I don't feel that he was quite at that point here. However, I think I may have caught some hints at why some would make this statement. There were a few moments in the film that felt very "Godfather-ish." (e.g. the wedding scene) I didn't think too much about it, but I have to recognize that the feeling was there. I guess it may be the Hollywood formula that Pacino films started to follow at a certain point in his career.
One of my movie buddies suggested that I implement a ratings system, but I have not decided on the one that I like the most. For now, I'll just use a combination of some of the more popular ones. When I'm grading a film, I like to ask myself five questions: 1) Did you like the film?; 2) Would you watch it again?; 3) Would you recommend it to others to watch?; 4) Would you add this film to your library?; and 5) If I had free time, would I watch this film? Answering these five questions provide me with the framework to give this film a final rating. So, here goes: Generally, I liked the film and I would gladly watch it again. I definitely feel that others should watch it and I believe it would be a good film to have in my movie library. The issue for me is with the last question, because I would not seek this film out to watch during my free time. For me, if I have nothing to do and this film is not already playing in front of me, I'm not going to think about watching it.
Overall, Scarface was a very decent movie. There is nothing really bad to say about it, other than I didn't like Pacino's "Cuban" accent. I feel the film accomplished what it set out to do. It had a decent story, with some good 80's action (meaning I'll show you that I'm going to saw someone's head off without actually showing the head being sawed off). Honestly, it was a good movie, with some spectacular scenes. In my opinion, it was definitely better than good, but less than perfect, yet not quite excellent. For me, the thing that really makes this particular movie shine are a few really great scenes.
The best scene for me was Mama Montana fussing at her son about his lifestyle and kicking him out of her house. She even threw his money back at him. His mother, played by Miraim Colon, did not take any mess from anyone. Obviously, an extremely close second good scene is the final one, which was well worth the wait of the entire movie just to hear that classic line, "Say hello to my little friend." Another scene that completely changed the dynamic of the film was when Montana made the deal on behalf of his boss. At that point, you knew he would take over the organization soon. One last scene I feel is worth mentioning would be the one with Montana being in New York with the killing expert. Despite his chosen occupation, by refusing to allow the expert killer to blow up the vehicle with the official's family, Montana demonstrated that he still had some part of him that was good.
With that said, Scarface gets a 4/5 stars from me. If I'm using grades, it would get an A/A-, with the curve being implemented. Basically, it's the situation where I know I have a good student, but they missed one too many questions on the exam. Fortunately, they're such a good student that they curve automatically bumps them up to the A range, so as not to effect their average.
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