$2.50 Reviews: 200 Movie Reviews Wrap-Up!/Blood Diamond (2007)

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200 Movie Reviews Wrap-Up!

http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/2344/s0022.jpg
Hmm...Apparently I'm already at 200 film reviews. Well, this happened much faster than I thought it would. I'm slightly unprepared. Actually, I'm just teasing you, I was well aware that this was coming up. Unfortunately, I'm also going to have to disappoint you quite a bit. I will disappoint you two ways, but I promise, one of these disappointments will only be temporary.

First off, I didn't write a "wrap-up" this time around. I figured that giving out awards to the films I reviewed would be a boring read, and would not be worth the time it takes me to write it up. I considered doing a "creative" awards list, but then realized I am not creative in the least. Oops! So yeah, no awards or a wrap-up this time around. Maybe I'll do a grand one next time, including 200 films instead of just 100. Or I'll get bored again, and just not write one. You read all the reviews anyway, right? You shouldn't need me to highlight a select few. RIGHT?

Second disappointment: I'm done writing reviews. For now, I must stress! I'm taking a month-long hiatus. I've got one more review already typed up, and it will be posted tomorrow, on April 1st. After that, the next review will be posted on May 1st, and the daily series will resume at that point. There are a couple of reasons why I'm doing this. Most of them are personal. I posted a while back that my state of mind was not good. This is no longer the case. I'm in a far better place emotionally -- essentially, I fixed myself. "So why the hiatus?", you might be asking. Well, I still need to fix other elements of my life. For right now, I need to focus on school as well. I need a specific average (80%) to get into university, and to get certain scholarships. I have a very easy semester, I'll admit, but I want to make sure it stays that way. I need to get a mark buffer, for lack of a better term, and I want to ensure that I do not fall behind.

I'd also like a small break from actually writing these. They're fun, but becoming slightly overbearing. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy writing them, but sticking to this sort of schedule is something that's been difficult for me. Especially because I'm not getting paid. (Hello, Escapist! You listening to this?) So yeah, I need a bit of a break to mentally refresh. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to be writing during this break, which means I'll have a good backlog to post beginning again on May 1st. This will ease stress on me in trying to keep to my own "one a day" deadline.

Now here is where I need your help. I'm going to post my 200th film review under this post. I want you to answer the poll question, and then, depending on that answer, respond properly. Whether or not that has to do with the 200th review, or the poll question is up to you; personally, I'd prefer you respond to both, but I can't dictate that. I definitely want some response to the poll question especially, as I don't tend to get many comments on the actual review nowadays. You guys must figure I'm too amazing or something, right? Sure, I'm going to go with that and just boost my own confidence, okay?

Now, enjoy my 200th review, and there will be one more review posted tomorrow. Then I'm done for a month, and I will begin again on May 1st.

 

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<color=darkred>Previous Review: <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.274218-2-50-Reviews-The-Twilight-Saga-Eclipse-2010>The Twilight Saga: EclipseNext Review: <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.277550-Marter-to-the-Movies-Your-Highness>Your Highness
$2.50 Reviews:
Blood Diamond
<img height=400>http://i69.servimg.com/u/f69/16/09/70/40/poster40.png

If you didn't already know it, Africa has quite a few problems. One of these problems is the blood diamond trade. Essentially, blood diamonds are diamonds mined in a war-torn area of Africa, and they are sold in order to raise funds to fuel more war. What Blood Diamond, the film, tries to do is bring awareness to this plight, and also tell a compelling story that will keep you wanting to watch it, despite how preachy it's being.

[Img_Inline width="275" height="189" Caption="That is one massive stone." Align="left"]http://i69.servimg.com/u/f69/16/09/70/40/285_bl10.jpg[/Img_Inline]

It's a good thing that the story is compelling enough, and the acting draws us in, or else the message might end up getting lost somewhere between the time it takes you to pause the film and get up and eject if from your DVD player. You might not remember the message, but the film will at least keep you intrigued and interested, which is a good thing.

The plot revolves around two men. One of whom is a captured Mende fisherman, Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), who is forced to look for diamonds in the fields. He finds a giant pink one, but while trying to smuggle it out, is caught, being sent to prison. He gets bailed out by Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), who has heard of the giant diamond that Solomon found. They embark on a quest to re-find that specific diamond, as well as hopefully rescue Solomon's family, who also got captured at one point.

During this quest, they meet an American journalist (Jennifer Connelly) covering the story of "blood diamonds". She helps the pair sneak back into the war-torn area in exchange for information that she would otherwise be unable to obtain. Once inside, we witness the true brutality and cost of the diamond industry, and it's at this point that -- if the film wasn't already captivating -- you would want to turn it off.

[Img_Inline width="275" height="177" Caption="Run men, RUN!" Align="right"]http://i69.servimg.com/u/f69/16/09/70/40/0621-b10.jpg[/Img_Inline]

But you won't, because the two lead characters have already grown on you. Archer, armed with a faux Rhodesian accent, is determined, but is also a smuggler. He's a smart-mouthed character, doing something illegal, but we end up caring for him. Solomon is just a father wishing to get his family back. And the American journalist just wants to break the story of the blood diamonds, just like director Edward Zwick is attempting to do.

Let this be known though: Blood Diamond is not, strictly speaking, a drama. It's definitely got enough action scenes to carry a serious action film, and is also thrilling enough to work in that regard. There are grand-scale shootouts, with explosions and heads being blown off; and it's all shot in a realistic way, making it feel all the more disturbing. But that hammers home the point even stronger, doesn't it?

The film is set during the Sierra Leone civil war in 1996-1999. It is depicted as a terrible place to live in, where children are used as soldiers, given drugs and smokes as motivation. And of course, the threat of death. You certainly don't want to be a character within the war, at least, if it actually was as bad as the film shows it to be.

[Img_Inline width="275" Caption="If you want to talk like DiCaprio, and you're typing it out, do you end your sentences with 'brew' or 'bruh'?" Align="left"]http://i69.servimg.com/u/f69/16/09/70/40/soundt10.jpg[/Img_Inline]

I'm not sure how the best way to describe DiCaprio's performance in Blood Diamond, except to say that he is the driving force of the film. He's not necessarily the heart and soul, because that goes to Djimon Hounsou, but he somehow comes through as the more relatable character. He sets things in motion, and we care a lot about him as the film progresses, especially when we see some of the choices he makes throughout.

The only real problem I can see with Blood Diamond is in its plot, which, while entertaining, is formulaic. Except for its ending, which I will not spoil, there won't be many points where you will be surprised, or any plot twists that you won't see coming. It's a very basic and easy to predict story, but that allows it to not get in the way of the bigger issue that the film is trying to bring attention to.

All of the elements that make up Blood Diamond result in an incredibly captivating film. There is a larger issue that the film is trying to bring attention to, and for the most part, it succeeds in making you care about it. The actors are superb, the action is entertaining, and the film stays thrilling throughout its runtime. All in all, it's a great film that I definitely recommend giving a shot. You'll likely be glad you did. If nothing else, you will get a well-acted, highly entertaining film, one that will keep you entertained for the better portion of two hours.

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<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.258000-2-50-Reviews-Billy-Elliot-2000>Billy Elliot | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.258197-2-50-Reviews-Cop-Out-2010>Cop Out | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.258483-2-50-Reviews-Letters-to-Juliet-2010>Letters to Juliet | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.258710-2-50-Reviews-The-Book-of-Eli-2010>The Book of Eli | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.258927-2-50-Reviews-Transformers-2007>Transformers | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.259099-2-50-Reviews-Transformers-Revenege-of-the-Fallen-2009>Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.259310-2-50-Reviews-Hot-Rod-2007>Hot Rod | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.259569-2-50-Reviews-Mean-Girls-2004>Mean Girls | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.259793-2-50-Reviews-Batman-Begins-2005>Batman Begins | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.259957-2-50-Reviews-The-Dark-Knight-2008>The Dark Knight | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.260201-2-50-Reviews-Mean-Girls-2-2011>Mean Girls 2 | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.260562-2-50-Reviews-The-Aviator-2004>The Aviator | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.261057-2-50-Reviews-Hoot-2006>Hoot | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.261625-2-50-Reviews-Alexander-Revisited-2007>Alexander: Revisited | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.262132-2-50-Reviews-Public-Enemies-2009>Public Enemies | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.262345-2-50-Reviews-Moon-2009>Moon | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.262578-2-50-Reviews-Zombieland-2009>Zombieland | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.262779-2-50-Reviews-The-Invention-of-Lying-2009>The Invention of Lying | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.263034-2-50-Reviews-Appaloosa-2008>Appaloosa | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.263384-2-50-Reviews-American-Beauty-1999>American Beauty | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.263586-2-50-Reviews-Revolutionary-Road-2008>Revolutionary Road | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.263899-2-50-Reviews-Brokeback-Mountain-2005>Brokeback Mountain | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.264054-2-50-Reviews-The-Painted-Veil-2006>The Painted Veil | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.264273-2-50-Reviews-Atonement-2007>Atonement | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.264463-2-50-Reviews-Lost-in-Translation-2003>Lost in Translation | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.264607-2-50-Reviews-Valentines-Day-2009-Valentines-Week-Wrap-up>Valentine's Day | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.264833-2-50-Reviews-Just-Peck-2009>Just Peck | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.265062-2-50-Reviews-The-Big-Hit-1998>The Big Hit | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.265237-2-50-Reviews-Role-Models-2008>Role Models | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.265439-2-50-Reviews-Antz-1998>Antz | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.265625-2-50-Reviews-Greenberg-2010>Greenberg | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.265779-2-50-Reviews-The-Children-2008>The Children | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.265963-2-50-Reviews-Frozen-2010>Frozen | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.266209-2-50-Reviews-Prince-of-Persia-The-Sands-of-Time-2010>Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.266446-2-50-Reviews-Ellie-Parker-2005>Ellie Parker | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.266917-2-50-Reviews-Daybreakers-2010>Daybreakers | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.267136-2-50-Reviews-Blow-2001>Blow | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.267306-2-50-Reviews-Donnie-Darko-2001>Donnie Darko | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.268213-2-50-Reviews-Spider-Man-2002>Spider-Man | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.268438-2-50-Reviews-Spider-Man-2-2004>Spider-Man 2 | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.268654-2-50-Reviews-Spider-Man-3-2007>Spider-Man 3 | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.268811-2-50-Reviews-Date-Night-2010>Date Night | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.268988-2-50-Reviews-Mega-Shark-vs-Giant-Octopus-2009>Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.269252-2-50-Reviews-City-of-Ember-2008>City of Ember | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.269406-2-50-Reviews-Dog-Soldiers-2002>Dog Soldiers | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.269694-2-50-Reviews-Summers-Blood-2009>Summer's Blood | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.269897-2-50-Reviews-Transsiberian-2008>Trassiberian | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.270247-2-50-Reviews-Lucky-Number-Slevin-2006>Lucky Number Slevin | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.270465-2-50-Reviews-The-Cave-2005>The Cave | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.270689-2-50-Reviews-21-Grams-2003>21 Grams | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.270912-2-50-Reviews-The-Twilight-Saga-New-Moon-2009>The Twilight Saga: New Moon | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.271104-2-50-Reviews-The-Wrestler-2008>The Wrestler | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.272035-2-50-Reviews-The-Shawshank-Redemption-1994>The Shawshank Redemption | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.272173-2-50-Reviews-Balls-of-Fury-2007>Balls of Fury | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.272422-2-50-Reviews-Boys-Dont-Cry-1999>Boys Don't Cry | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.273223-2-50-Reviews-Remember-Me-2010>Remember Me | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.273353-2-50-Reviews-Cube-1997>Cube | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.273458-2-50-Reviews-The-Taking-of-Pelham-1-2-3-2009>The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.273612-2-50-Reviews-Iron-Man-2008>Iron Man | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.273970-2-50-Reviews-Iron-Man-2-2010>Iron Man 2 | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.274076-2-50-Reviews-WALL-E-2008>WALL-E | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.274218-2-50-Reviews-The-Twilight-Saga-Eclipse-2010>The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Marter to the Movies: <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.248819-Marter-to-the-Movies-Harry-Potter-and-the-Deathly-Hallows-Part-1>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.254454-Marter-to-the-Movies-True-Grit>True Grit | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.261937-Marter-to-the-Movies-The-Kings-Speech>The King's Speech | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.263176-Marter-to-the-Movies-No-Strings-Attached>No Stings Attached | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.273103-Marter-to-the-Movies-Sucker-Punch>Sucker Punch

Marter Watches Television: <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.266686-Marter-Watches-Television-United-States-of-Tara-Season-1>United States of Tara (Season 1) | <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.267765-Marter-Watches-Television-United-States-of-Tara-Season-2>United States of Tara (Season 2)

If you are a fan of my reviews, and you want to boost my ego receive notifications when new reviews are posted, please join this <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/2-50-Reviews>user group.

 

[ColdBlooded]

Good to hear your state of mind is better, I was a little worried about you. After 200 daily reviews, you deserve a break.

Also I really should check out this film.

 

[Marter]

Good to hear your state of mind is better, I was a little worried about you. After 200 daily reviews, you deserve a break.

Also I really should check out this film.

Thanks for the concern, but yes, fixed!

And yeah, I recommend checking out Blood Diamond. Good film!

 

[Jedamethis]

I think you type it bru, like Irn Bru.

I watched Blood Diamond a while ago, and loved it. Almost started shouting at it though because GODDAMNIT DANNY I WAS STARTING TO LIKE YOU, YOU DICK

 

[DustyDrB]

Man, I've been meaning to watch this movie for years now. After I'll put it in my Netflix queue, right after season one of Deadwood.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the sabbatical from reviews. They certainly must take up a significant chunk of your time. It's a good time of the year to explore new interests (or at least it is here, where it's been consistently 75 degrees and sunny).

About the lack of comments: I'm afraid that's just the nature of this section of the forums. I'm looking at the first two pages of the User Review section and only two threads have made it to a second page.

And while I enjoy your reviews, there's often not much to comment on other than "Nice review" and "I agree/disagree" (maybe said with more eloquence). Even then, I don't want to repeat the comment on every review because then I just feel like I'm patting your ego.

Here's an idea. Some movies you watch will cause you to ask yourself some difficult questions. Maybe it's a question raised by the narrative of the movie (choices made by the characters, themes within it, etc), or maybe it's a question raised by real-world factors about the movie (what makes this movie so popular, where does this rank among the directors work, etc). You could either add a discussion-type question to the review, or you could create a separate thread for it in "Off-Topic").

I don't know how good an idea this is or how repetitive it would get over time, but it would likely mean two things. One, this means you'll probably want to do reviews less (maybe on a once-a-week basis). Two, not every movie will prompt the same level of discussion (unless you're really good at digging up good issues out of a Transformers movie).

Either way, I enjoy the reviews and hope to see you continue them so long as they aren't a burden on your life. Happy 200th

 

[Marter]

I think you type it bru, like Irn Bru.

I watched Blood Diamond a while ago, and loved it. Almost started shouting at it though because GODDAMNIT DANNY I WAS STARTING TO LIKE YOU, YOU DICK

Hmm...didn't even think of typing it like "Bru". That...kind of makes sense. I guess?

Glad you enjoyed Blood Diamond.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Glad to hear you're doing better man! Redlin approves of this concentrating on school.

[sub]I should probably do so myself, all things considered.[/sub]

IN ANYCASE,

take this break and do not worry; your fans will still be here in May.

 

[Sassafrass]

I shall go and poke about for a DVD of this when I head to town over the weekend. Should be cheap now, I think. A good review as always, I could not see any errors in my read through. And it's good to hear you're feeling better, man.

As for changes, I've got a couple of smaller ones that aren't really here nor there and are just things you can do to get a few more comments. First suggestion is that you hold back on the amount of reviews you post. At the moment you post a review a day, more or less. By doing so, you're effectively killing off your previous review by posting a new one, as it shuffles the old one off onto the second page faster. I'd suggest posting about two or three reviews a week, see if that results in any more comments/views. And also, tactical bumping. Deciding when to bump a review at the right time can make it last longer. Like I did here. >> [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.246820-Sassafrass-Reviews-Fallout-New-Vegas]

Second suggestion is to do here what you started doing over on Mellow Leprechauns and start having a mega-thread, sort of like Stranger's music review thread. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.183857.5516279] Course, this will combat the potential character limit problem that you must be getting close to by now, as well as giving people an interesting and easy to find glossary of your own reviews, which could be upsides. Downsides to this is that it may be a lot of work to maintain, keeping the OP up to date with reviews and changes, but I think on somewhat decent internet, it wouldn't be too hard and/or annoying to keep up with.

Anyway, I hope you do well with your school work and I hope you feel very relaxed when you get back to posting reviews.

 

[Dr. Whiggs]

Get a blog. Go to RottenTomatoes, they've got thousands of people like you. Finish school. Anything.

 

[Rylot]

Congrats on the 200th review! Good luck with the school stuff, and we look forward to more reviews in May.

 

[urahara75]

Congratulations on a superb, and (as usual) well conveyed review.

On to the pressing issue at hand:

It's regrettable you're committed to a self-imposed hiatus, but understandable. You carve out hours(?) at a time to write, proofread, and provide feedback to your reviews on the forum. Sometimes it seems like you do multiple a day, at least every other day. With as much as you have going on in your personal life, doing reviews in such quantities appears to have resulted in "burning the candle at both ends".

Even though it's been suggested before, might I propose that you limit the film reviews to no more that 2 perhaps weekly, or biweekly? It would suck, for everyone, if it so happened that these film reviews caused any unnecessary undue burden for you.

 

[Jedamethis]

I think you type it bru, like Irn Bru.

I watched Blood Diamond a while ago, and loved it. Almost started shouting at it though because GODDAMNIT DANNY I WAS STARTING TO LIKE YOU, YOU DICK

Hmm...didn't even think of typing it like "Bru". That...kind of makes sense. I guess?

Glad you enjoyed Blood Diamond.

I think that's how they did the subtitles...

Mmmhm. But I'm sure this review would have convinced me to watch it if I hadn't. :3

*attempts to think up some insightful piece of advice to help you along the way somewhere*
*ahem*
YOU STOP DO WORK YOU SLEEP GOOD REVIEW LATER.

 

[superbatranger]

You know, I enjoy reading your reviews very much. I think the only reason I don't comment on all of them is because some of the movies you have reviewed I have either never heard of or never seen, so I can't really think of anything to say. I sometimes feel that just saying "That was a good review" isn't good enough. But, regardless, keep up the awesome work.

 

[googleit6]

You deserve a break, most definitely! 200 is a big number, you know. Something to be proud of.

As for Blood Diamond, oh man, I loved the movie. I was sobbing at the end, I'll be honest. It was very tough to watch.

My parents actually went to seee this in theatres I believe, and my mother actually told my father after the movie that if he ever wanted to buy her diamonds of some sort, he would have to give her Canadian ones, so she didn't get a blood diamond. I guess that's just a real life application of this movie's message. (On a side note, my dad actually did buy her a piece of jewllery with a Canadian diamond in it. Go figure.)

 

[Cain_Zeros]

Glad to hear you're doing better. And I'd say you've definitely earned a bit of a break.

 

[oliveira8]

I would actually like you to continue doing reviews, but only if you actually improved much more on them and your own cinema knowledge. I'm going to be quite blunt, but I don't really mean to offend you or anything in any regard, just some criticism. If I do offend you, I apologize. I also only know you and your movie watching habits from these reviews, so I would wager, that the movies you watch on a daily basis are the ones you eventually review. If I'm wrong, I also apologize.

Now for my criticism:

From your reviews I get this feeling that you don't actually know that much about cinema overall. Your Citizen Kane review in the nutshell is horrible. You pigeon hold this movie into categories like "Is the acting good? Cinematography Good? Is X good?". You just don't do that with a film like Citizen Kane.
Not once in your review you actually get to what makes Citizen Kane one of the greatest movies ever made. You talk about the cinematography and the use of the camera angles, but you never go beyond than "Yeah they are good". You never mention the meaning behind all that amazing cinematography, what the different usage of angles are telling, etc. Or better yet, why did Orson Welles and Co. decided to use these type of techniques.
Citizen Kane is told mostly through it's mise en scene. It's a visual movie and the movie's thematic is playing it at the eye level, not via the sound that comes out of the actors mouth. That mirror scene for example, where you see plenty of Kanes reflected, what does that mean? It's more than " wonderfully shot scenes" like you mentioned. It was there to say how multi-layered and complex Charles Foster Kane was, and how it's impossible to nail him to a word(Rosebud), it was also to symbolize how many reflections of the character you were watching till that point. Every person the the reported talked too, had their own idea of who was Charles Foster Kane(And Orson Welles adapts the character's mannerism to each own. Bad acting?), by the end of the movie you never really "met" Charles Foster Kane, you only got to see what other people thought of him and how he was remembered.
This is the stuff that makes Citizen Kane the greatest movie ever. It's told all in the visuals, and it was really the first movie ever to do this in such manner. The placement of objects and actors, the camera angles, all of them are telling a story. The movie took so long to be considered good, cause most filmmakers and critics back then were from an old school of filmmaking and thought. It was only when the Nouvelle Vague hit, and directors like Truffaut and Goddard started to talk about this movie as a reference, that Citizen Kane was reconsidered. Modern movie making exists cause Citizen Kane exists. Yet this is your conclusion?

"It's most definitely a film to watch if you are interesting in film history, or if you just want to learn a bit about William Hearst. "

What? I can understand not liking the movie, that's okay, but the movie is so much more than just that. Yet you, or at least your review of it, misses this completely. You waste the review talking about Orson Welles acting and how the supporting cast is weak. That's not why the movie is considered good.
Which brings me to three conclusions that A)You didn't quite understand the movie or B)You don't understand that well cinema or C)You should really get out of the comfort bubble.

If you just watch for movies that fit into these "review categories"(plot-story-characters-acting) you going to miss a lot of the point of plenty of them. I would actually like to see you try to review a movie from Terrence Malick, Werner Herzog(The Klaus Kinski movies), Fellini, Goddard, (more)Orson Welles, Jean Renoir, Luis Buñuel and countless others outside of American cinema. Directors who made movies that go beyond general convention. Directors that made really weird/fucked up movies. Directors that didn't even know that a concept like editing existed, or how to actually properly make a movie.
Maybe you have watched movies from these directors, I dunno, I can only judge the movies you review. And considering you review a movie a day, I don't think you watch more movies than these ones. I can be wrong, most likely I am. If I am, feel free to call me an idiot. ^^

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I would like to you to continue doing these reviews, but only if you are stepping up. Expanding your horizons. Most of what you review is well...trash(Garfield?) with the occasional "edgy" movie.(Mulholland Drive) Try something harder and more complex. Something that challenges your own perception of movie reviewer/critic. Something that when you finish watching, you can't quite describe what you watched.

Watch something like Fitzcarraldo by Werner Herzog and then try to fit it in your current review style. I would bet you would spend all the review talking about how the actors are clearly speaking English and the dub is German, and proceed to miss the point of the movie. Some movies go beyond those things. Citizen Kane has pterodactyls in one scene, yet it doesn't stop it from being one of the best. Vertigo has some serious logic gaps and some poor scenes, yet it doesn't stop from being the best movie by Hitchcock.

Anyway that's it. Hopefully I haven't offended you, and I'm not really calling you ignorant or anything in that matter in respects to movie knowledge. If it seems I'm doing that, I'm sorry but that's not really my intention. Nor is my intention to pass off as some cinema snob that only watches arthouse movies. I haven't quite reached that point. xD

To summarize my point: Would like to see you try more complex movies, more hard and thought provoking movies. Movies outside of the English language if so! They make a lot of stuff outside of the US of A and the British islands.

Anyway, enjoy your break! ^^

 

[tigermilk]

Just stumbled upon your reviews and I am really enjoying them. The only change I would suggest is updating your 'other reviews' link in your other film reviews so any review can be accessed more easily. As I say though I am enjoying reading your reviews.

EDIT: And perhaps putting the reviews in alphabetical order (perhaps I am just being lazy).

Speaking personally I would have to respectfully disagree with Oliveira8, but before I go on I would just like to mention I am coming to the end of my Masters Degree in film studies so it is not that I wouldn't understand a more academic approach to film criticism. Speaking personally I have access to a huge wealth of academic journals on film and probably have copies of pretty much every major/famous essay/article on cinema available in English due to film readers (specifically the best of Bazin, Mulvey, Dyer etc etc) perhaps the only major gap in my knowledge is not being able to read French so I can't read 'Cahiers Du Cinema' as the authors intended. This is not why I come to the Escapist though, what 'casual/non-academic' reviews and opinions on cinema, their is an immediacy to your reviews that I enjoy. To be honest if I wanted to read an academic critique of 'Citizen Kane' I have a book by Laura Mulvey published by the BFI which offers sufficient depth and a fiercely intelligent critique, I have a number of other articels and book entries discussing the text, I can go to my university library and find a wealth of books and articles on the subject.

I'll cut this ramble (relatively) short, keep up the good work your style is pleasing and immediate and by not inviting comparison with some of the greatest writers of the twentieth century your writing stands out for what it is, well written engaging and entertaining.

p.s. A sentence or two on transfer and sound quality would be great if you have a TV/home cinema set up which means you could offer insight.

 

[Outright Villainy]

-le giant snip-

Can I offer a counter-point to this, in that if you (Marter) start reviewing Goddard et al. I'll stop reading.

I enjoy your non pretentious style.

 

[gustcq]

was a good movie and as usual leo dies