The Final Reviews

10. Zero Dark Thirty (2.75/5)
I tried so hard not to say this after I saw it but I'm afraid I have to admit...boring. It was a boring film. It was like all this hype surrounded this really cool new roller coaster with a huge hill and corkscrew. But the roller coaster had to climb such a big hill so slowly that by the time you got to the top of the hill you really didn't care about going down the hill and were just ready to get off. There was so much talk and CIA jargon--which is important to this film, don't get me wrong--but it took so long! Then finally you go down the hill and it was like riding the kiddie roller coaster. The hill of the roller coaster was short and not exciting at all. I was very disappointed in the portrayal of the pre-event details of the raid and then the climax of the raid itself. This film had really fantastic acting and some pretty good cinematography, but it was hard to notice if you weren't asleep.

9. The Devil's Backbone (3.5/5)
Not a bad film at all. But as I heard people talking about it I thought it would be more of a horror or even more of a suspense film. But the way the ghost was portrayed was awful. I thought it was a very unrealistic looking ghost...thing. It was almost like del Toro tried too hard to make it scary looking. As for the plot, pretty good. The cinematography was great and there were a few key scenes that I was praising the shot used.

8. The Piano (5/5) 
Magnificent. Fantastic. Never would I have ever thought that I would like a silent film as much as I liked The Piano. It had a very, very unique plot and really pushed the envelope. (The finger chopping?) Great plot, combined with really, really beautiful cinematography really made this film my favorite silent film ever.

7. Do The Right Thing (3/5)
I feel like it is so hard to make a really, really good film about race and equality. For me it was hard to get into the story itself. However, I thought the acting was better than expected and the film did a great job of creating commentary on violence when it comes to race.

6. El Topo (2.5/5)
One of the most interesting films I have ever seen. The Spanish film was just too under-budget for me to take it all that seriously. The film had one thing going for it and that was that the shots and angles that were used were pretty creative in some scenes. But the horribly unrealistic props and even the effects--I know it's an older film--they were just too fake and it ruined it.

5. Seconds (3.5/5)
I love a good dystopian film. Frankenhiemer's Seconds follows a man who is made a 'second' through surgery and is renamed Tony. The film does a wonderful job of carrying out the plot. The plot alone was fantastic for me but I did not appreciate the cinematography as much as would have liked.

4. The Hitch Hiker (3.5/5)
A classic film noir made by female director, Ida Lupino. The film was unlike most film noir's I had seen. The suspense wasn't as much in the plot as it was in the cinematography. There were lots of longs shots that contrasted with close ups of the characters faces that captured the emotion. These were the shots that created the suspense in the film.

3. Double Indemnity (4.5/5)
One of my favorite films that I watched this year was Double Indemnity. The story of the affair of insurance man, Walter Neff, and the flirtatious, Phyllis Dietrichson involving the insurance fraud known as double indemnity. The actors played their parts fantastically and were complimented by the great cinematography that is used. I also appreciated how the story is told in a framed narrative.

2. M (4/5)
Fritz Lang's melodramatic horror about finding a murderer. The film had a great plot and the use of the letter 'M' was shown beautifully by the different angles and shots. I especially appreciated how the film ended. The film is a landmark for suspense horrors today.

1. Sherlock Jr. (3.75/5)
This film set the scene for silent films, slapstick comedy and for cinematography in general. Bradley Keaton uses many props and pie-in-the-face skits to create a classic mystery-comedy.