Romantic Comedy

I've never really been a big fan of Romantic Comedy. The movies just aren't my style. Sure there is some entertainment value in them, like watching them in class isn't complete torture, but if I’m going to watch a movie that I pick I don't think I’d ever watch a romantic comedy. Romantic Comedies just don't have the action and excitement that I like in movies. And a lot of times they are just kind of... cheesy, in a way that i don't really care too much for. His girl Friday may have not really been to gender specific back in the old days when it was made, but now a days I don't think that it would do very well in the box office. When it was made there weren't as many or as good of action, adventure, or thriller movies out there, so guys would go and watch it. Because really without any alternatives it would be a good movie to watch. But now we have alternatives. Even though there really isn't anything that makes it more specific movie that a girl would like, more girls would end up going to it. Nowadays, would most men want to see a James Bond movie or his girl Friday? 3:10 to Yuma or his girl Friday? No country for Old Men or his girl Friday? I think you can see my point, not a ton of men would go to a movie like his girl Friday if it was made today because there are better films out there. Another thing is that With the way that they always talk so fast is annoying, you have to pay such close attention to hear everything, and most audiences aren't going to want to have to pay super close attention for the entire movie, compared to most movies that at times go a lot slower, especially with the dialog.

Western Blog Post

UnForgiven, Directed by Clint Eastwood(1992)

William Munny(Clint Eastwood) was an outlaw that killed many people that didn't deserve it. He was an evil man, and he knew it. So he got married to a clean woman and she started to set him straight. He stopped killing, drinking and all the other bad things that he used to do. But then his wife dies, and he's on his own again.

William Munny keeps trying to convince himself that he truly is a changed man, and that he is forgiven from his past Sins. He keeps talking about how his wife straighten him out, in part to remind himself that he can't do those things anymore, and in part to convince himself that he has changed and isn't the evil man that he once was.

But as times for him and his children got tough, and he was struggling to make a living he was getting depressed because he wasn't able to support his family very well. Then when an offer to help a man kill two men that cut up a whore for money came along his old self showed a bit and he took the offer, something that would change his life forever.

He gets the crap beat out of him and chatches a fevor and almost dies. When he recovers he's kind of changed back into his old ways. He tells a whore that his wife is still alive, which shows that he needs even more convincing now to convince himself that he is a changed man.

When the time comes for them to kill a man, the other two can't do it, and so William Munny takes the Gun and shots the kid dead. It was a long, slow and painful ordeal. But Munny was able to do it. Although it is made clear that he's not as cold hearted as he used to be in that during the few minutes that it takes for the kid to die, it is obvious that Munny is uncomfortable with what he has done. The kid is asking for water and Munny gets mad at the kids friends for not getting him any water. Killing was hard but he did it.

Then later When Munny finds out that they killed Ned Logan(Morgan Freeman), even though he didn't do any of the killings. This pushes Will over the top. As he hears the details he grabs a bottle of whiskey and starts chugging it down. This shows that he truly hasn’t changed and isn’t forgiven from his past. Munny than goes into town, walks into the bar where the Sheriff and his men are and kills all of them in cold blood.

William Munny went back to his old ways. His wife only temporarily changed him, and now that she has been gone a few years when this circumstance comes up, he turns back to his old nature as a ruthless killer. He thought that he had been forgiven, that he had changed, but now it is made clear that nothing has really changed, he is still a murderer, he is still unforgiven.

Pan's Labyrinth

Pan’s Labyrinth, directed and written by Guillermo del Toro, is a fairy tale movie with a twist or horror thrown in. The movie is full of amazing scenes, props and costumes that make you wonder how they possibly make such wonderfully horrifying eye candy. Guillermo was very picky with the visual things in this movie. He would tell the people making the sets, the costumes and everything which artists they should look to for inspiration, which goes beyond what most directors do. Then he would constantly tell them to make little changes until it was exactly what he wanted.

Doug Jones is the actor that gets to wear the two most amazing costumes in this movie, the Faun and the pale man. Guillermo didn’t want this Faun to be like most fauns, half man and half goat. Instead he wanted it to look like it was part of nature, that it was one with nature, so he made it have part of a tree trunk, with bark, lower legs in the general shape of goat’s hind legs, the face resembling a human with goat’s antlers. This costume is in several parts. There’s the lower part which is the legs, in which is actual legs stick out of and have to be edited out. Then there is the part that goes over the abdomen, a part that covers the chest and arms, and finally the head. Jones, in his long career in which he has worn many costumes said that this was one of the most comfortable costumes he has ever worn in an interview that is in a special feature on the DVD. The face is very complicated and took a long time to get right. His nose is flattened so that it doesn’t stick out. There are many layers in the upper part of the face to give it the right shape and movement. This costume was difficult to act in because for many scenes Jones has to bend down in the difficult to maneuver costume. In one scene when he is taking to the girl he backs up slowly and then ducks down and vanishes, which is very difficult to do while speaking a language that Jones doesn’t know.

The pale man is also an amazing costume. Guillermo described this costume as an old man that was very fat but then lost most of the weight so that he was just skin and bones with super saggy skin. This costume was difficult because it is made of both foam and silicon, which then have to blend evenly. At first the creature had a face but later Guillermo decided that it look much better if it didn’t have any facial features, and had eyes in his hands. Doug Jones legs and edited out so that you only see the thin legs that look no more than skin and bones. The creature moves in a horrifying manor in which his hand with the eye in it leads the way, so which Jones’ great acting the amazing costume this scene is unforgettable.

I got all of this information from the special feature on the DVD called "Pan the The Fairies"