American Beauty

This was one of the most bizarre films that I've ever seen in my life. It was a crazy confluence of incredibly awkward storylines. There were so many awkward moments during which I was frozen, unable to bring myself to watch the movie until they passed. It did have some funny moments, some deep moments, and a lot of interesting social commentary.

Some of my favorite deep moments had to do with Ricky and the films he made. I loved what he said at 59:33 about filming the homeless woman who froze to death. I also loved 1:0:59, when he's talking about the most beautiful thing he's filmed. It's such an interesting clip to choose; it's like he's demonstarting a more urban version of the saying "stop and smell the flowers". Also, I'm a sucker for when teenaged boys actually let themselves cry.

The film's title made me think that the homophobia and the dysfunctional families that it depicts are social commentary about America. I was shocked when Carolyn hit Jane at 1:08:30 and when the Colonel repeatedly hit Ricky, but I thought that the film did a good job of portraying really dysfunctional households in an almost realistic way. Lester's sarcastic, articulate voice made the events of the movie seem much more realistic, because his voice was so natural.

I thought that Colonel Fitts' storyline was interesting and thought-provoking. I was completely floored at 1:41:27 when he kissed Lester. I thought that the point was to showcase homophobia in the military, and didn't think that the film would push the envelope further than that. I assumed that Carolyn shot Lester, and I think it's an interesting twist that the Colonel fired the gun. The actual murder scene was very well done and not overly When Carolyn hides her gun in the closet at 1:54:30, does she alread know that Lester's dead, or is she deciding not to kill him?

Overall, I really enjoyed American Beauty even though it was difficult to watch at some points. It featured memorable characters and storylines, and it made me reconsider the value of the American Dream.

Shawshank Redemption

I enjoyed the movie "Shawshank Redemption" more than I expected to. Most movies about prisons don't interest me very much, but this one caught and held my interest. I'm not sure how realistic it is, though. I wonder how many prisoners have ever been forced to serve a life sentence and then been found innocent? I'd like to think that most prisoners actually have committed their crimes. I also don't think that the prison is run in a realistic way. I don't think that guards would be so violent towards prisoners, and I'm not sure that the money laundering scheme could possibly worked as well as it was portrayed in the movie.

Part of the reason I enjoyed this movie so much was because it had so many funny and/or dramatic moments. A few of my favorites were Red's speech about prison life at 0:59:30, when Andy plays the record to the entire prison over the intercom at 1:08:30, and when Red makes his parole speech at 02:08:05. I also really loved the ending.

I want to discuss what happens at 1:03:42, when the prisoner who's on parole kills himself. It's ironic that he's released from prison because of good behavior, and that prompts him to behave badly for the first time in years so that he can return to prison again. Is it common for paroled prisoners to commit suicide? I know that some people in really bad situations commit crimes because they know that they'll have cells to live in if they go to prison, so I wasn't too surprised when he wanted to break parole and go back to Shawshank, but I was surprised that he chose to kill himself.

I also don't understand how Andy escaped so completely. How did they fail to catch him? It's not like the warden didn't know the name of the fake identity Andy had created. I thought that that was an implausible plot twist.

Shawshank Redemption gave me a glimpse of what life in prison is like. It's an engaging, suspenseful, dramatic movie. It made me laugh, cry, and appreciate my life. Any movie that can do all of that is pretty great.

Donnie Darko

This was a confusing, interesting, bizarre movie. I'm not sure I really understand what happened. After watching the end of the movie, I guess Donnie died when the "artifact" (aka plane fuselage) landed on his bedroom, and everything that happened in the film after that was...time travel? Even though it was confusing, I loved the movie. Parts of it, like the subplot with the girls' dance troupe and the part where Donnie tells his teacher to shove it, were hilarious. The idea of time travel was intriguing, and I liked the social commentary about the teaching methods in Donnie's high school.
I had a few questions about specific parts of the movie. At 1:38:57, for example, when the teacher talks about the phrase "cellar door"--is that really just foreshadowing? If so, that's a little annoying. I didn't like how this movie tried to tie everything into the plot in a meaningful way. Every twist has to have some deep significance.
Also, at 1:43:33--why does the doctor give Donnie placebos? Doesn't he qualify for some real meds? If they are placebos, then what was the point of the emotional scene where the doctor told the parents that she wanted to give Donnie more medication? I also didn't like how she kept trying to figure out if he believed in God. Donnie never once brought up God that I can remember, but his therapist kept trying to pin down his beliefs. Then again, I think she was probably right to tell him he was more agnostic than atheistic.
I completely didn't understand what happened in the scene that started at 1:52:55. What kills Gretchen? Is she shot, stabbed, run over, or all three? For much of the movie, it was so dark that I couldn't really see what was going on.
And my final, most important question is: did Donnie actually die when the fuselage hit his room? Did Frank ever actually exist? Was most of the movie a dream?During the movie, I kept expecting for Donnie to have one of his eyes cut out so that he could become the next Frank.

Although I didn't fully understand "Donnie Darko", I thought it was a moving, funny, and intriguing film and I'm excited to discuss it on Thursday.
--Sarah