Bride of Frankenstein

Bride of Frankenstein is not your typical monster movie. Unlike others of the genre, Bride of Frankenstein sets itself apart by focusing on a cast of characters that are neither purely good or purely evil- from the scientist whose ambition goes too far, to the monster himself, whose very existence is worth pitying. The movie strives to display an emotional depth that is both uncommon and welcome, while still telling a good story.
The film picks up shortly after its predecessor, quickly establishing that both Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and his creation have survived the inferno meant to destroy the monster. Frankenstein returns home to his fiancé, hoping to put his past actions well behind him. This plan is dashed by the appearance of the nefarious Doctor Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), who hopes to convince Frankenstein to assist him with his own experiments. Specifically, he hopes that together they can build a new creation- this time a woman- and so begin a new race. Meanwhile, Frankenstein’s creation (Boris Karloff) is again pursued by angry villagers. This becomes surprisingly heart-warming at times, as the monster attempts to find his own place in the world, though it may seem that this is a Sisyphean task.
Bride of Frankenstein tells us about this creature created by a scientist-a creature that soon will find itself between a monster and a human. The movie itself shows us how human beings are used to seeing only what is different from them. It was the dark era in which human conventions were the rule of what was right and wrong. This is why this movie has been particularly well-done. Other than that, the film presents how the creature starts discovering the joys of life such as drinking, smoking, friendship and so on. To see how a new life that doesn't have a place, trying to fit into society is the best feature that compounded the movie. That's why the creature is the best candidate to be the protagonist.

In the past and nowadays, people classify others based on their facial characteristics, appearances, nationalities, accents and so forth. This is mirrored by the persecution of the monster. The impression that the creature gives is not evil at all-on the contrary, it gives a unique sense of genuine innocence coming from his heart.
The movie did suffer from some problems, in part due to conventions of the time that do not carry well. For instance, Minnie, played by Una O’Connor, was clearly meant as comic relief, but comes across as very grating. The dialogue as well, occasionally had a tendency to go a little over the top, the main offender being Pretorius, whose character is just a little prone to melodrama. Over all though, these were very minor flaws, and did not impact the movie experience as a whole.
It is easy to see why Bride of Frankenstein has remained a classic- more so, perhaps, than its predecessor. The movie provides the viewer with an introspective look at societal flaws through the marginalization of the monster. At the same time, it manages to do so while retaining a unique blend of humor, horror, and heart.

Rashomon

Fabio A. Santos Hernandez
Assignment 2
Rashomon
Rashomon is a Japanese movie that was made in 1950. The story focuses on the performances of a notorious bandit, a beautiful woman, a rich samurai, and a rationally pessimistic woodcutter. Even though, initially, the movie seems to be totally silly to me, after the first ten or fifteen minutes, it started to make sense. Let’s say that the woodcutter gives me a feeling of innocence; his lack of understanding the current situation is almost unbelievable. I mean, why is he traumatizing himself with something that doesn’t even concern him! Every time, I heard him saying, “it’s a lie, I don’t understand” I was about to go rabid. But then I realized that he was acting like that because he actually saw the scene happening. The samurai in his persona conveyed me a sense of loyalty, peace, and seriousness. He looks like those ancient Japanese warriors whose sword can pierce even the sky. He is definitely a man of honor, although I remained quite disappointed when he was fighting against the bandit. The one that impressed me, in an evil way, was the woman. Her pure darkness was nearly tangible. Besides, she was the cause why the samurai and the bandit went into a struggle to death.
In contrast to what the others might say about the bandit, I truly believe that he is the most sincere among all of them. He doesn’t care about telling a lie to others; moreover, he is proud of what he is (a bandit), and he clearly shows that he does his extracurricular activities with pride – this is what I call genuine evil – a child who a is looking for his toys. In the end it seemed like he was bonding with the samurai.
These characters are related to one trait, that is human egoism. When facing death, human beings don’t think twice to be selfish to each other. The woodcutter was selfish to the reality around him and didn’t want to accept things as they were. The woman didn’t even care about her husband. For her personal enjoyment, she put the two men against each other, and she did enjoy it. The bandit destroyed a family just for one of his caprices to have a wife. At last, the samurai decided to follow his set of principles, which is not bad, but by doing so he destroyed not only his life but also his wife whose fears were triggered by his principle within the Japanese culture.
To conclude, all of these features lead me to think that this movie represents the aspects of death, that are loneliness, old age, sacrifice, nihilism, despair, destruction, intoxication, madness, greed, and rage. All of these human traits together are a cycle that brings life (the baby at the end of the movie), just like a long gloomy day, sooner or later, has to become sunny.

For the Love of Movies

Media Review Writing
Fabio A. Santos Hernandez
Assignment 1
For the Love of Movies:
“For the Love of Movies” is more than a movie to be specific. It’s definitely a documentary based on American history of movies itself from a critical point of view. Experts who work within a critical world give us their critical judgments about this subject matter and their insights change from person to person.
Even though, For the Love of Movies is greatly focused on film criticism, it also shows a deep understanding related to the environment we are in. For instance let’s try to apply the same terminology of the experts in the movie to everything else in our lives. The results and understanding of our personal things would be clearer. That is why I consider this movie and/or documentary a life lesson. To see people out there who feel comfortable to talk to the outer world is a way that certainly demonstrates great self-esteem. As a consequence of this, people can feel more open-minded to express their ideas not only for criticism, but for anything else.
During the advance of the movie I could feel a deep reflection, awareness of my connection with the opinions related to the professionals’ thoughts. By the same token, at times, I totally overlooked some of the interviews. I’m not able to explain why, but this certainly made realize one thing. People, during the interviews had some sort of bias even if they are not supposed to. Because their analytical skills are well-developed, their personal opinions are part of their topics.
When viewing the documentary I had felt envy of people on the screen because to see how good they are at talking about movies from such an overview perspective gave me the courage to be at least as good as them. So I hypothesized that there is always a relationship between audience and the viewing content.
Challenge is the term that I was looking for. My pride was hurt by their critical points, which gave the boost I needed to push my own knowledge beyond of what it actually is. Of course, the fact that I was overcharged with sugar may have strengthened my emotions.
To see with my own eyes how the guy that has a blog, which has in it arguments related to movies made think of the growth of a child. Little by little he created an empire so big that obtained Hollywood’s attention. This fact gives me the belief that with hardworking people can become really successful.
A great example of who I am talking about is Gerald Peary. His critical mind is just incredible to me. Besides, his success is proof of his personal interests in regard to movies. It was ironic to see how successful he became, because, many times, human beings have the tendency to set aside things like movies or any other sort of entertainment. Instead, Mr. Peary, despite his age, he never abandoned his true passion. The key term is passion. Passion is the beginning and the end of why people get interested and professional in certain areas.