Posted in Movies

Top 5 Movies That Are Better Than Citizen Kane

Posted on by Godfather

Last week, I talked about why Citizen Kane is not the best movie ever made. So this week I’ve decided to make a list of 5 movies that are better than it. I’ve taken into consideration most of the aspects of filmmaking, cinematography, directing, originality, writing, and story when making this list.

 

5. Memento

 

This was the hardest decision for me when making the list. I had 2 other movies that could have taken this spot, but I pretty much had to choose Memento because of how greatly it was told. The movie starts from the end and makes it’s way towards the beginning.  You would think that you could guess what is going on from the start, but so much changes by the end (of the movie) that you are left stunned. The shots were excellent, and keeping the black and white scenes between every segment was brilliant. For those of you who didn’t know, Memento was written and directed by Christopher Nolan, the creator of The Dark Knight, which was amazing, but this one was even better. For it’s originality and storytelling, I think that this was much better than Citizen Kane.

 

4. Metropolis

 

Made in 1927, I think that this silent movie is still better than Kane. The story is basically about how the rich business owners and poor workers need to work together. Even with no sound but the music, Metropolis is still much more interesting than Citizen Kane. The sets don’t look too realistic, but they did what they could with the materials. The movie isn’t even fully put together yet because somebody lost a few of the film reels with the scenes, yet it still works fine with a few slides telling what happened in them. The ending does wrap up the story well, clearly showing what the whole film was about. I think that Metropolis should be on a lot more Top 100 Movies Lists, maybe it will when they come out with the full version.

 

3. Raging Bull

 

From start to finish, Raging Bull is a masterpiece of film. It’s been known to be a “great film about a bad person”. While it is #4 on AFI’s list, I could see it being 1. It shows this man’s life greatly through black and white and how he came to realize how much he needed to change. It’s directed by Martin Scorsese, one of the greatest of all time, and what many believe to be his best movie. Even behind the scenes, Raging Bull is great because Scorsese was heavy into drugs before making this, but with the help of his friend and lead actor Rober De Niro, this movie was his rehab. At the end, it shows a quote that is wonderful, because it shows what the movie was about, behind the scenes and in the movie.

 

2. The Godfather

 

How could you make a list like this without The Godfather? This film is great in every way, wonderful music, acting, and story makes it perfect for the #1 movie of all time. It shows the mafia in a very realistic manner, and how the people around them suffer for the line of business. Symbolism is everywhere in here, doors, windows and even chairs represent something else. I really don’t think there is much explaining to do for The Godfather, everything is executed better than Citizen Kane, I even thought it went by faster for being 3 hours compared to 2. It definitely has stood the test of time, and is already #2 on AFI’s list, so one spot shouldn’t change too much.

 

1. Schindler’s List

 

How this movie is still only #8 I don’t know. I actually didn’t enjoy watching the movie, because of how long and slow it is. But thats the point, since Schindler’s List is about the Holocaust, it needs to make you feel like it’s never going to end. It gets very emotional at the end, bringing me to the point of shedding tears. I just can’t see anyone not respecting this out of how well it was made, and the subject matter. I think that in 10 or 100 years Schindler’s List will still be seen as a wonderful film. Spielberg is said to be one of the best for a reason, and it’s these kinds of movies that earns him that title.

 

Posted in Music

Making a memory

Posted on by Bri

Usher is doing an all ladies tour. “What better way to get up close and personal than to make it all women?”

Apparently, the 29 year old rapper believes that his new CD is very intimate, and in order to get closer to his audience, he thought an all-woman tour would be a good idea. Which seems weird, but hey, it’s Usher. No offense. (Take it. Take offense! Yell at me!)

But the intimacy issue isn’t the only pro of the tour. “The ladies like to see that masculine build,” he said. “They question if I still got it.” So apparently Usher is also questioning his masculinity and wants to be reassured by thousands of woman that he’s attractive, all at the same time. Yeah, read that again. Usher has masculinity issues. So he’s going on an all woman tour. Hm.

He also re-hired his mother as his manager, which suggests that he has fired her before. I’m sorry, but that just made me laugh. almost as hard as the masculinity issues.

When I’m a rock star (yeah, you know it’s coming), I’m gonna go on an all-man tour. and then sing about female issues like periods and childbirth so men and women can get “closer”. It’s like those videos they showed in fifth grade, how they separated the boys and girls and taught them about the other gender and sex. It’ll be like that, except more graphic and not as much about sex since most grown men know what that is.

If you would buy a ticket to my all man concert (ladies, I expect to see you trying to get in with fake beards), let me know and I’ll start scheduling my tour. (I think I’ll start in Greece and make my way around Germany….)

Posted in Sports

Hey, Blue!!!

Posted on by Scarface

For those arguers out there, I’d definitely like to hear your take on this.

Umpires, the “invisible men” some call them. So many of our major American sports are directly affected by the calls umpires or referees make. Some calls are obviously questionable, others make me want to punch the TV set. I’m hoping you’ve all experienced this kind of feeling before, if you haven’t, you probably almost never in your entire life even talked to a single person about sports.

They go through a lot of criticism, a lot of it unneeded. However it is in their job description so they got themselves into it. But isn’t there a line that should be drawn? Some arguments with umpires last even 20 or 30 minutes and take away from what everyone was intending on watching, the game.

So why in some sports, baseball for example, do we allow such insane behavior, even spit to a man’s face? I’ve seen umpires with dirt kicked all over them, even some coaches throw huge bags at umpires, knowing it won’t change a thing.

For whatever reason, be it decency or selfishly taking time from the game, do you think arguing with referees should be allowed?

If you don’t then great, if you do then I agree with you, I think arguing to a point is part of the game. It is sometimes even needed, referees do get a little high on themselves especially if they can completely mess with a team they don’t like. For those of you who don’t even watch sports I’m sure you can relate somehow. So tell me, do you like arguing in sports?

This is Scarface signing off.

Posted in Movies

Why Citizen Kane is Not the Best Movie Ever Made

Posted on by Godfather

On pretty much any organized list of the greatest movies of all time, Citizen Kane is up there as number one. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, its a 1940s movie about a man the comes up through poverty to be rich but when he dies, his last word is “Rosebud”. A news reporter then tries to piece together his life to find out why he said that. I’m not saying that it’s a bad movie, just that there have been much better movies out there.

So why do I think this? First, the pacing was pretty bad. The 2 hours seemed to add another 1/2 hour because of the way it was told. If a movie is to be considered the greatest, it should at least have a reason to drag out. It also didn’t have AS deep of a meaning as some other movies. Sure, the whole point is good, but it didn’t make you think about the movie to get it, they pretty much explained everything in the dialogue. “Show, don’t tell” is the motto for filmmakers, and Kane didn’t follow it. Finally, none of the movie is the best I’ve ever seen. There’s been better writing in Pulp Fiction, better cinematography (the way a shot looks) in Assassination of Jesse James, better acting in There Will Be Blood, better story in Schindler’s List, and a better meaning in No Country For Old Men.

Still, as a 60 year old movie, Citizen Kane is a good one. But with so many better films today, it doesn’t stand out. Next week I’ll post a blog on my top 5 movies that should be in front of Citizen Kane on any “Best Movies Ever” list.

Posted in Politics

And they’re calling Obama inexperienced?

Posted on by Aardvarki

In case you haven’t been following the news, Senator McCain has picked a running mate: Sarah Palin, the Governer of Alaska since 2006. She was also mayor of Wasilla, Alaska for six years previous. She is pro-life, a gun rights advocate, and opposes gay marriage.
I can’t think of anyone worse as a running mate for John McCain. She even said herself that there are many more qualified than her to be picked for vice president. She is as inexperienced as Obama, yet she does nothing to balance McCain except in youth and a few body parts that McCain is lacking. Personally, I think this is great. Really, is there any way this country will elect a McCain/Palin ticket over Obama/Biden? I honestly can’t wait for the VP debate: Biden is going to walk all over her!

Posted in Books

On Writing

Posted on by Rachel

not only is Stephen King twisted, crude, and terrifying, but he’s also brilliant.
This book is a refreshing nonfiction addition to his works, and it’s very good for all aspiring writers. Not only do you learn what not to do when you write, you learn about Stephen King and he’s even kind enough to give you blurbs about how he got his book ideas, which taught me, at least, that I don’t want to read them.

So, if you’re going to be a well-read person, you have to know Stephen King, and this book is pretty much everything you need to know. It’s funny, creative, smart, and interesting. He had a wildly cool life, for the most part.

most of all, however, this book reminds us that anyone can be an author. All they have to do is write.

Posted in Music

Life fills in my veins

Posted on by Bri

 

     I’m reviewing Panic’s second album, Pretty. Odd. And I have to say, I’m disappointed. Their debut album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, was incredible. Each song had it’s own personality, a good beat, interesting lyrics, and an upbeat and electric sound. Pretty. Odd., however, is much more mellow.

    I’ll give them credit for trying new things, and some of the songs were pretty decent, like Nine In The Afternoon, When The Day Met The Night, and That Green Gentleman. But overall, I was looking for their previous, punk/techno/orchestra/alternative sound, and I didn’t get it.

    One thing I found interesting was how the band traded instruments for some of the songs, and one or two Ryan, a guitarist, sand instead of Brendan, the regular lead singer. It was interesting, and brave, but next time I’ll be a little more wary of their music. Who knows what they’ll do next?

    Sounds like: Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, The Academy Is

    Best Track: When The Day Met The Night

 

Sorry for the late post tonight.

Posted in Sports

The Americans Win!!!

Posted on by Scarface

The Olympic events in Beijing have come to a close, and what an amazing celebration of athletic ability it was. I watch the Olympics for two reasons:

1) To watch my favorite athletes compete in sports that I like to watch

2) To watch athletes support their country and see what amazing pressure they are put under and succeed under

Many Americans have HUGE expectations for our country, probably because they either think we’re superior, or because we have a pretty huge population of people to compete, not to mention how good our training facilities are in the US. But it really doesn’t matter to me who wins, honestly. Sure I’ll root for people, but I just love to watch athletes compete. What’s amazing to me is even though we have huge expectations, a LOT of other countries have bigger expectations on certain people. Many country’s people, maybe even China, absolutely are devastated after their athletes lose. They almost hate them just because they got the silver… talk about pressure. It is a little hard for me to watch sometimes because that thought pops up into my head, but if they succeed it’s sweet to see the look on someone’s face when they win the gold.

Besides that I like to see the shapes of people this world has. As an example I watched some gymnastics because they were on a lot. And as I watched, it was amazing to see how the athlete’s bodies have actually become somewhat deformed from their event, their bodies are shaping themselves from the shapes the events put them in. It’s funny to watch some of the gymnasts walk, they walk with a style that they developed from gymnastics.

However there are some problems that arise in the Olympics, namely bad situations between people from different countries. As you may have heard, a chinese man actually stabbed and killed an American coach and seriously injured his wife. These sort of things happen sometimes, maybe the worst time being the Munich games when a group of Arabs killed an entire team of Jews, which actually brings tears to my eyes.

It absolutely kills me to see these kinds of things happen!!! I don’t see why people feel the need to crash one of the few times the world’s countries come together for a time of should be peaceful competition. All athletes are trying to do is represent their countries, and all most fans want to do is support them, so why do people have to ruin it for everyone?! They’re so selfish!!!

On a happier note I did get to watch a bunch of the events, including a few of Michael Phelps’ historic races. And let me tell you one thing, they lived up to their hype. Even I, a person who could give a crud about swimming, could feel the energy and couldn’t resist cheering for the man as well as his team if that was the case. A few of the races were so close I was on the very -edge- of my seat, it was INSANE! He even won a race by the smallest margin possible to measure, now that’s close. I also watched a few of the great basketball games that the American team compete in and triumphed. Also, I even found myself enjoying watching some of the track races. One man, Usain Bolt, a man that competes for Jamaica set world records in the 100M dash AND 200M dash, that doesn’t happen very often. And to top it off, he won both by the biggest margin since the Olympics began keeping time in races, how amazing is that?!?!?!

So my point is you don’t have to be a fan of the event, or even sports. Just watch it and see, you might find yourself loving it!!!

Posted in Movies

Are Films an Art?

Posted on by Godfather

 

The definition of art is that it’s “the products of human creativity”, so would you consider (some) movies to be as much of an art as the Mona Lisa? They have as much, or more thought put into them than regular paintings/drawings and require a large group of people to come together to make a masterpiece. Like I said earlier though, I wouldn’t consider ALL movies to be an art since most are just made to entertain, but every year at the Oscars, the academy honors the films that went above and beyond what an entertaining movie does. So what makes the film an art? Well, to me, it’s the combination of not being cliche, having deeper meanings, and bringing every element together perfectly (directing, acting, editing, cinematography, etc.). Some though, don’t have all three. For example, Pulp Fiction doesn’t have a deep meaning, but the rest is done so perfectly that it doesn’t need one. So what do you think? Should all films be considered art, only a few, or none at all?

Posted in Politics

I don’t need to fall at your feet

Posted on by Bri

So I know that everyone will be talking about this, but we didn’t have a politics blog this week so I’m doing one now.

OMG OBAMA HAS A RUNNING MATE WHEEEEE. My local newspaper dedicated the entire front page to this news, and to “top ten facts about the candidates”. From this article I learned that McCain has a stuffed dancing hamster and Obama’s high school basketball nickname was “O’bomber”. Yeah, I really needed to know that. And haven’t we been a little sensitive about Obama and his religious beliefs for the past couple months? I don’t think learning that he used to be called “O’Bomber” is the best way to get past that… Some people are a bit less open minded than we like to think about.

And the fact that McCain has a dancing hamster is just creepy. And it was NUMBER ONE on the list. Sheesh.

 I’m getting pretty sick of this race. My prediction is that it will lean to McCain. I also predict that Voltaire’s reanimated corpse will make an appearance half way through. Dancing with McCain’s stuffed hamster.

 

 

 

…I’m afraid to go to sleep now that I have that vision in my head.

 

In other news, this is what happens when it’s one in the morning and one of your best friends only lives one house over…

Adventure Captain Pants and Bri. Thaaaat’s right.