The Great Debaters

This film is set in 1935.  It's based on a true story and stars Denzel Washington, who also directed the film.  Washington stars as a professor at Wiley College.  He is the leader of the school debate team.  The school is a negro school and Washington attempts throughout the film to express his political views through his students.  The climax of the film is when the team gets invited to debate Harvard, the leading white team in the nation.  A last minute topic change creates tension in the team as they try to write their arguments (something that Washington's character had previously done for them).  The team form Wiley college ends up winning the final debate, and the film ends this way.  The film itself is a great commentary on the time in which it is set.  One great line used in the debates is "In Texas negroes get lynched." I enjoyed the social commentary of this film and highly recommend it.

Richard III

This film is based on the play by William Shakespeare.  It stars Ian McKellan as Richard.  The story is a tale of betrayal and murder.  Richard is bent on becoming king and will stop at nothing to take the crown.  This includes murdering not only his brothers, but also his nephews.  The most interesting part  about the film is it's modern feel.  Instead of being set in medieval times the film is set around the 1930's.  Because of this Richard III is a type of Hitler character.  The film definitely portrays him as such.  Also instead of swords there are guns and instead of cannons, tanks.  What was most interesting to me is that though the scenes and characters were modernized the dialogue was not.  The characters still spoke in the tongue of Shakespeare.  This made some parts of the film slightly hard to understand.  The story is well put together and easy to follow.  I would recommend this film to any fan of Shakespeare. 

Adaptation

This film stars Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep.  Cage plays a writer name Charlie Kaufman who is trying to write a script based on a book about flowers.  Streep plays the woman who wrote the book.  As Kaufman tries to adapt the script he runs into a lot of problems.  The film is most interesting because of its reflexive elements.  For instance the film Kaufman is attempting to write is the film you are watching.  So, not only is the film a film about filmmaking it is a film about the making of itself.  Throughout Kaufman gives little story ideas into his tape recorder that have either been in the movie already or appear later.  Even in the end we hear a voiceover of Kaufman describing the ending as the ending is happening.  The film is credited as being written by Charlie and Donald Kaufman.  Donald is an imaginary character and as a matter of interest was the first imaginary person to be nominated for an academy award.  In the film Donald is also played by Nicolas Cage.  He represents the alter ego of the actual writer Charlie.  Throughout the film Donald is writing an outrageous script about a serial killer with multiple personalities.  In the end of the film Charlie asks Donald for help with his film, and the actual film suddenly takes a thriller twist.  The movie is filled with reflexive elements.  Too many to write in a couple of paragraphs.  I would recommend this film to anyone that is interested in screenwriting, or reflexivity.  It is a marvelous piece.

The Count of Monte Cristo

This movie is a tale of betrayal and vengeance.  It tells the story of a man betrayed by his best friend and how he gets his revenge.  Jim Caviezel plays Edmond Dantes, the man who later becomes the count of monte cristo.  His performance is excellent and very convincing.  When in prison he plays a man who is nearing insanity very well.  Richard Harris stars as a priest who was taken prisoner for disobeying orders from Napoleon.  His performance is entertaining to say the least.  The film is full of wonderful camera techniques and rich colors.  The cinematography is superb.  One particular shot that comes to mind shows a man gambling away his fortune then effortlessly zooms past him to focus on two characters watching him from the other side of the room.  Also, the final sword fight is wonderfully choreographed and well edited to give a feeling of anxiety to the audience as they watch two friends fight to the death.  This is definitely a film I would recommend watching.