Marmaduke

  Marmaduke (2010) tells the story of famous newspaper comic dog, Marmaduke, as he and his family move from Kansas to California. Marmaduke, being the new kid in town, finds friends in the "mutts" but desires to be part of the popular "pure breds" in this high school drama set in a dog park. After a party reveals the lie Maramduke created to fit in with the "pure breds" he finds himself alone in the world. But surely the lovable Great Dane comes up with a solution that leaves his family and new home in harmony.
  This film is stacked with a cast of talented actors, for the animal voices at least; Owen Wilson, Emma Stone, George Lopez, Fergie, and Kiefer Sutherland just to name a handful. These actors give a fun and lively feel to the animals in the film. Unfortunately, the actors who play Marmaduke's family and frankly all the human characters fall just short of the mark as they go about rather unimportantly in their mundane side plot. Marmaduke was not a film made for adults and yet it's simple plot is one we can all recognize from teen movies such as Mean Girls (2004). In a way, Marmaduke is Mean Girls but with dogs. The computer animation is the best I've seen in this type of animal-led film, complete with a dance scene at the end that always seems to leave me in tears laughing. The movie is well paced at a runtime of 87 minutes and meets all the plot points one would expect from a movie about talking dogs targeted at children. Emotion is successfully conveyed throughout as we see the rise and fall of our protagonist Marmaduke. This film is an emotional roller coaster that undoubtably leaves the audience howling for more.
  Overall, I give Marmaduke two paws up for it's ability to appeal to a mass audience that needs to be willing to kick back every now and then and just laugh at a talking dog, voiced by Owen Wilson, being chased by a bee. Despite my personal satisfaction with the film, facts are facts; Marmaduke did not make back it's estimated $50 million budget and certainly didn't win any awards. Director Tom Dey, who had directed the blockbuster smash Failure to Launch (2006) only years before, may have found his element in directing actors who have a high probability of literally taking a shit on the film set. While Marmaduke likely isn't going to find it's way into the Criterion Collection, it will hopefully find a place in the hearts of viewers who allow themselves to "get their bark on" as Marmaduke would and does say.

Batman Returns

  Gotham City has always been depicted as a shadowy city filled with crime and terror, who's only hope lies in the hands of Bruce Wayne, who we know better as Batman. Tim Burton (director) and Bo Welch (production design) create a city of gotham that is darker and stranger then we are used to. Batman Returns (1992) explains the origins of two characters from the Gotham universe: The Penguin (Danny DeVito) and Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer). Evil businessman Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) uses The Penguin in a scheme to take control of Gotham and turns his secretary, Selina Kyle, into Catwoman in the process. Of course, it is up to Batman (Michael Keaton) to save Gotham from the corrupt and power hungry and decide what place Catwoman has in his life.

  Batman Returns is a film that brings it's audience into a world that only seems to exist somewhere between the DC comic books and the macabre mind of Burton. Burton's background as an animator and past films lend to the style he has created that relies heavily on art direction and set design (which we can also attribute in part to Bo Welch). The cinematography and editing of the film are composed of longer shots that give the brilliant cast time to show off their chops and allows the audience to gaze in awe at Gotham with it's looming buildings, maudlin streets, and it's nearly constant depressing state of winter nighttime. Certain scenes give this movie the extra kicks it needs to excite the audience, such as Selina Kyle's transformation into Catwoman as she works feverishly in her destroyed apartment, surrounded be felines. The script for the film brings a slight frustration in the way it jumps from points of high energy to lows. Even a scene such as the first attack by the Penguin's henchmen feels lackluster as Batman uses his batmobile to end the terror with little emotion.

  While Batman Returns is visually an enjoyable movie and shows a darker side of the world of Gotham, Burton did not make a perfect film. The slow plot could have been improved through a good editor, or should have been fixed before production even began. Burton essentially had free-reign over this film and fell short on this occasion. 

JAWS

  JAWS (1975) is a thriller set in the quiet New England vacation community of Amity. Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) and his family have recently moved to the island and are preparing for their first summer when a series of shark attacks begin to plague the local waters. Hysteria breaks out as the attacks continue and terror spreads. Brody, with the help of marine researcher Hooper (Richard Dreyfus) and veteran fisherman Quint (Robert Shaw), works to kill the shark and return peace to his new home.

  Steven Spielberg's JAWS is a film that leaves the audience on the edge of their seats during it's entire 124 minute runtime; thanks to it's cinematography, editing, score, and innovative nature. Cinematography guided under director of photography Bill Butler is used effectively throughout the film. Shots such as the underwater POVs put the audience in the perspective of the shark and more creative shots such as the "Vertigo zoom" are implemented to create the sense of realization Brody has when a boy is attacked early on in the film. Clean cuts and sound editing make the transitions from below water to above flawless and mask the problems that the crew suffered with the animatronic shark they used on set. One of the hallmarks of the film is it's brilliant original score, composed by John Williams, which hints to the audience when the shark is approaching and is used to build the tension to an even higher peak. Through score and keen editing the audience is able to imagine a shark that is more fearsome than any physical prop could be. Incredible performances by the cast along with decisions to hold shots such as the monologue delivered by Robert Shaw about the USS Indianapolis give this movie the base it needs to become a masterpiece in the hands of amateur director for the time Steven Spielberg.

  Spielberg succeeds in his ability to take a B-movie plot and shape it into the tense blockbuster that literally made people afraid to go into the ocean. JAWS elevated Spielberg from an unknown to the position he holds today as Hollywood's most acclaimed director, and the title is rightfully his.          

Rear Window

  Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954) is a voyeuristic suspense film that places the audience in the temporarily immobile position of LB Jefferies (James Stewart). Hitchcock plays out a romance between Jefferies and Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly) amid the mystery of murder in a small apartment community.
  I feel that Hitchcock's film succeeds on account of it's astounding cinematography in which we, the audience, feel like the ones sitting in Stewart's wheelchair looking through his binoculars instead of Stewart. We find the same voyeuristic excitement and pleasure as Stewart's character does watching the people around him and are mesmerized by the murder mystery that unfolds throughout the film. I was intrigued by the way the confrontation between Jefferies and Lars Thorwald was depicted. We not only see Thorwald get blinded by the flashbulbs on Jefferies' camera but feel his sense of impaired vision as a flare appears on the film and slowly dissipates. I found this to be a wonderful use of effect for the time in which the movie was made.
  Rear Window is a masterpiece not simply because of Hitchcock's ability to create a tantalizing story and deliver it teaming with suspense, but because we are all fascinated by the idea of voyeurism. Voyeurism is the reason we watch any movie really, so that we can look in upon other people's lives as a silent spectator. Hitchcock feeds on this love of voyeurism which all movie-goers posses and amplifies it by creating a film about watching others. We are now voyeurs of a voyeur, makes your head spin in some ways.