July 1, 2015

The Last Ten Movies I Saw

By michaelgloversmith

1. Only Angels Have Wings (Hawks)
2. The Awful Truth (McCarey)
3. Kino Eye/The Life Unexpected (Vertov)
4. Inside Out (Docter/Del Carmen)
5. Man with the Movie Camera (Vertov)
6. Three Songs About Lenin (Vertov)
7. Cosmopolis (Cronenberg)
8. Citizen Kane (Welles)
9. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Wiene)
10. Life Without Principle (To)

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About michaelgloversmith

Filmmaker, author and Film Studies instructor. View all posts by michaelgloversmith
This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2015 at 11:48 am and posted in The Last Ten Movies I Saw. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

3 responses to “The Last Ten Movies I Saw”

  • Charlie Weil
    July 1st, 2015 at 12:29 pm

    Charlie Weil
    Cinema Studies
    6-29-15

    “Cosmopolis” (Cronenberg, England/ 2012)
    By: Charlie Weil

    When viewing “Cosmopolis”, I found the film to have many symbols of cynicism, greed and desire. I found that this film incorporated many of these themes because the world in which the film took place capitalized on greed, materialism, power, and self- destruction. For instance, Robert Pattinson’s character, Eric Packer, was a young man empowered by all of these things. He was a narcissistic, greedy, self- absorbed, misogynistic, selfish, and deeply unhappy man. He felt that if he would let himself be corrupted by all of these things, then he would be a fulfilled, successful and happy person.

    The characterization of Eric Packer was done in such a brilliant way. I honestly believed that Robert Pattinson truly became this character; as opposed to just portraying him. This is a true testament to David Cronenberg’s fearless direction of the film and Robert Pattinson’s hauntingly brilliant performance. “Cosmopolis” was a haunting interpretation of how wealth, privilege, materialism, and entitlement have corrupted today’s generalized society. He did a brilliant job capturing his pure desperation and eagerness to fit into the world’s society, that it made Robert Pattinson all the more intriguing to watch.

    I honestly found the film to be encapsulating and enticing to watch due to the actors’ performances, the searing cinematography, the ambiguous tone of the film, and the character development. The film had a very subtle tone to it; the screenplay did not reveal everything to the audience, but instead, the audience had to make inferences. The development of the characters was really well written and very complex. What were we supposed to think of Robert Pattinson’s character? When we watched the film, we perceived his character to be a vain, misogynistic, materialistic, superficial, and a serial womanizer who played by his own rules, with absolutely no regard for anyone else. The audience was very fascinated by Pattinson’s character and the journey he experienced throughout the course of the film. He had a charming personality that made him enticing to watch, which kept the viewer wanting to know more about him.

    The film also taught the audience how dangerous it is to make ill- conceived perceptions about people. This film was a perfect representation of how a person can allow himself to be completely brainwashed by technology and material possessions that he can forget about who he is, and what his values should be. Eric Packer existed as though he was a part of the limousine. During the film, he was always inside of the limousine. I believe that the limousine was a symbol for his life and what his life had become. The limousine symbolized his loneliness, his isolation from the world, his idealistic values, and his warped sense of reality. His character was so foregone from the world that the limo was the only thing left in his life that still had some significance. Therefore, the limousine was a metaphor of his life, and what the world he lived in had become.

    The film also incorporated themes of capitalism and of savagery. Every single character in this film, specifically Robert Pattinson’s character, was dependent on technology to survive in the world. Throughout the entire film, he tried to go to the barbershop to get his haircut, because the barbershop was a symbol of his childhood. Though Eric allowed himself to be brainwashed by capitalistic things and ideals, he still was desperate to get his haircut at the barbershop. The barbershop symbolized something from his childhood that had not changed. He wanted some familiarity in his life, and wanted more than anything to achieve this safe and comforting feeling again.

    In conclusion, I thought the film was very powerful. I loved the film because David Cronenberg incorporated many themes of cynicism, greed and desire. He did this magnificently in a way where the viewer may not always agree with the choices the protagonist made, but we understood why he made the choices he did. I also thoroughly enjoyed the film because of the unpredictability of the protagonist. The film made it rather unclear whether or not to root for this character or to despise this character because of the many layers of his character. Overall, the film was a psychological, intense and strange thriller that kept the audience enthralled in their uncertainty; and literally on the edge of their seats. It was a brilliantly done film with stellar performances from all of its actors, specifically Robert Pattinson. It was an astonishing feat and one of Cronenberg’s best, and it kept me only wanting more.

    Reply
  • writercr
    July 3rd, 2015 at 4:44 pm

    Michael, I think members of Lincoln Park Village would be interested in knowing about your book Flickering Empire and learning about the role of Chicago in world cinema. Would you be interested in speaking to our members — probably at Facets — about your book?

    If so, feel free to call me at 312-266-8146.

    Catherine Rategan

    Reply
  • In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood
    July 5th, 2015 at 8:31 am

    Some great movies. I would also like to invite you to participate in my upcoming blogathon in August. The link is below with more details.

    https://crystalkalyana.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/in-the-good-old-days-of-classic-hollywood-presents-the-barrymore-trilogy-blogathon/

    Reply

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