Marat's Thoughts

  Get Out was really good. I definitely could see where the conversation about Jordan Peele being an auteur comes from, and I would have to agree that he is. I haven't seen any of his other movies so I cannot compare between them, but I felt like this film was just different from other ones that I have watched. Even through how some of the more fantastical elements like the hypnotism were portrayed, as Daniel Kaluuya was in some sort of negative space. Everything felt grounded and like it was taking place on our Earth.  That's horrifying to think about in the context of black culture right now and how much oppression they still face in society. Just the fact that I believed that there could be white families out there doing this to black men after watching this movie, and even if there aren't, the underlying meaning still rings true. There are definitely lasting systemic issues that are designed to lure minority cultures into a false sense of security, when they're actu...

  The Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou was not my cup of tea in terms of film, I'll be honest. It was okay, and I did think there were parts that were funny, but I tend to prefer more engaging stories. I understand that it wasn't supposed to be super serious and dramatic, but I think that it just wasn't for me. I did like the use of color in the film, I enjoyed the brightness and contrast-y backgrounds in shots. I also liked that some of the film was on the water, I feel like I enjoy boat scenes in movies and I should watch more of them, but I just don't see it that often.  I do find it a little hard to suspend my disbelief about boat scenes though, and I think that was one of the things that unconsciously bothered me about this film. I didn't feel any stakes at any point throughout the movie, and so I lost interest quite early on that was never able to be recaptured. I always believed that Steve would find the shark, and that the hostage rescue mission would work out, ...

      I enjoyed Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock! I thought that the cinematography was super interesting, in the beginning of the film I expected to be bored sitting in the apartment for the entire film, but Hitchcock made it interesting throughout his story. I thought the murder mystery was elevated nicely by the tension from the window itself, and our very limited perspective of the events occurring. The window keeps the viewer even more oblivious to the outside world than Jeffries is, and the only things we know about it are what we hear from him, his aid, or Lisa. We have to make our own inferences about what is going on in the other apartments when Jeffries looks at them. Personally, I didn't think there really was a murder that happened until most of the way through the film. The detective Tom Doyle kept coming over and saying things that didn't totally disprove the murder, but I thought after a while that maybe Jeffries really was just projecting or making things u...

      The main difference that stuck out to me after watching both of these relatively short films, was the camera movement in Snowy. Zooms in and out, shifts in focus, the drone shot, etc. Even when the camera was being held by someone and it shook a little bit with their hand movement, I noticed that immediately because normally it kind of bothers me when the camera shakes. But after watching The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari with a completely unmoving camera that usually cut between shots with walls of text, it was nice to have a camera that felt physically real again. I enjoyed every closeup shot of Snowy and it was refreshing to see him switching in and out of focus in the grass scene.     This got me thinking a little bit about how far production and camera setups have come in the movie industry. I'm always in awe when I see a set photo of one of those giant RED camera rigs, or when there's a driving or aerial scene and the camera follows some fast-paced action....

            The history of films and film-making is always interesting to me, but the main parts that made me think were towards the end, namely when the chapter started talking about Warner Bros. Recently, Warner Bros. was purchased by Discovery, so now I think they're technically called Warner Bros. Discovery. Not the most concise name but that means the new head of Warner Bros. is David Zaslav (pictured above). This was surprising but I think also exciting for a lot of film lovers because if Discovery is able to buy Warner Bros. then David Zaslav must have lead Discovery to become really profitable and successful. The hopes are that he will continue to do great work, but now for Warner Bros. which I think is a much more beloved studio in general. Since the purchase, David Zaslav has cut a lot of projects that he didn't believe in, he has brought on a lot of revered and talented people to work under him on their film projects, and I think he has brou...

Cool, I'm a blogger now! :) About me: My name is Marat, I am a senior studying Psychology. I hope to finish my degree this December, a semester earlier than originally scheduled 4 years ago. I am from Carol Stream, IL, which is about a half-hour drive north of campus. But I am originally from Kazakhstan, I was born there, adopted, and brought to America when I was one year-old. Unfortunately, English is the only language I am fluent in, I took years of Spanish in the past but I don't retain too much of it anymore. I am currently a First Year Mentor on campus and I used to be a Resident Assistant. I also used to be a student athlete here, I ran Cross Country and Track.  I have tried to get more into watching movies this year, in the past I almost exclusively watched Marvel movies but I've gotten bored of them recently so I tried some things I normally wouldn't have. My favorite movie usually is affected by recency bias, and right now I would probably say that Top Gun: Ma...