Ben's film blog

Barton Fink Review

Barton Fink was the 1991 movie from directors Coen Brothers (Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona and Fargo). In the movie Barton Fink has created a renowned play in New York has been asked to create a movie for capitol movies. After an interview with the CEO of Capitol records, the CEO asks Barton to create a wrestling movie. The problem is, is that Barton is suffering from writers block and is unable to get past the first page. Barton tries to create an excuse for the writing block by making a noise complaint to the hotel. The man who received the noise complaint talks to Barton and they start talking. Soon Barton and Charlie become friends. Barton meets a fellow writer or producer (I don’t really know) for Capitol records and Barton tells him his situation with writers block and how he needs help. Ben Geisler gives him the advice of meet fellow writers and watch other wrestling pictures. Barton follows the advice, watching the films and meeting the acclaimed writer M.P Mayhew who was being sick in a bathroom stall. Barton arranges a meeting with Mayhew also with his wife. In the meeting Mayhew is rude to his wife as he is drunk and Barton confronts him about his actions, this makes Mayhew leave and eventually his wife tags along. To apologise for Mayhews actions his wife talks to Barton. She tells Barton that she actually writes the books and Mayhew has nothing to do with it. After a speech by Barton about how she deserves all the credit, Barton and Audrey sleep together. When Barton wakes up he finds Audrey dead next to him, with the help of Charlie, they hide the body and Charlie announces that he is going to New York. The day after Barton is interviewed by detectives and they tell him that Charlie is actually called madman charlie and is a prolific murderer. Not long after the detectives handcuff Barton to his bed. Then suddenly the hotel goes alight with Charlie killing the detectives with a shotgun and leaving Fink in the building but releasing him from the handcuffs.Fink suddenly has a movie idea and in no time makes a script but sadly Fink leaves with no movie deal and mystery package Charlie gave to him then the movie suddenly ends

This movie was spectacular, full of suspense and SO many twists. The Coen brothers have yet again made a spectacular movie which is both quirky and scary leaving you on the edge of your seat at the Madman’s arrival, the movie is perfectly paced and the cinematography is stunning with the movie doing everything it can to add to the movie. The hallway in the move is long but empty so whenever someone is in it you know something is going to happen, it really is just a stunning movie with an amazing story. I give this movie a 10/10

Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan is a war film by acclaimed director Steven Spielberg (Jaws, ET and Indiana Jones) which won him the Oscar for best director. The movie follows Captain Miller as he and his team of soldiers attempt to bring Private Ryan back to his family as all his other brothers had died in the war.

The movie starts with the Normandy Landings with Captain Miller leading the soldiers into battle, the first 30 minutes of the film which takes place in Normandy are suspenseful, action packed and overall amazing. The scene demonstrates Captain Millers prowess and mentality so that we view him as the hero he is throughout the movie. I believe that this 1 scene conveys the soldiers attitudes about war, as they are more focused on making it back to their families instead of fighting for their country and while it is a thrill ride it also manages to tell the story better than any other way imaginable which is what makes the best scene in the movie but also in my opinion the best scene in war movie history. While the movie substantially (and quite rightly) slows down, we are then introduced to the main plot of the movie, saving Private Ryan. To do this dangerous job (as the army are unsure of where he is) they command Captain Miller and his team of extraordinary soldiers. The movie plays out like a wild goose chase with Ryan seeming fingertips away from them at all times, however after 2 of his soldiers die (including 1 young Vin Diesel) and 1 awkward interaction with a different Private Ryan they eventually find where Ryan and his fellow soldiers were. Captain Miller finds out that Ryan’s group have a massive task of holding 1 of only 2 bridges while having an insanely low amount of soldiers and due to this crisis Ryan doesn’t want to leave his group. Captain Miller and his team are frustrated with his decision as they spent too long trying to find Ryan but eventually due to the unknowing help of one of his soldiers Miller decides to join the soldiers in defending the bridge during the eventual German attack. When the Germans attack they are ambushed by Miller and his team as they do exceptionally well at fighting the odds with the Germans but the odds were too much so an injured Miller blows the bridge to stop the Germans from but sadly dies in the process.

Overall I thought that this movie was exceptional and spectacular at everything it did. From the first scene to the last this movie provided both action and drama perfectly with the fantastic script and great direction it had, I could have asked for nothing more. I give this movie 10/10

Jojo Rabbit Review

Jojo Rabbit is latest film from director Taika Wattiti (hunt for the wider people and Thor:Ragnarok) about a 10 year old kid enthused by Nazi culture so much that he has an imaginary friend who is Hitler (played by Taika himself) but he then finds out that his mother is hiding a Jew in the wall. Soon Jojo learns to understand the problems with Nazi culture and its corruption as he soon starts to befriend the Jew.

This movie is stunning and emotional with the progression of Jojo tacking centre stage and his emotions on Nazi culture being portrayed through the actions of Hitler as he starts turning into a corrupt person just like we view Hitler. The movie perfectly demonstrates the emotions that a 10 year old would have at the time and it truly made me feel like I was living through the 10 year old’s eyes, fully understanding his reasoning for everything he did. Calling this movie a comedy is a massive understatement as it is much more, making the story as substantial as the comedy in this movie making me feel invested in all the characters. The movie has the Nazis being silly and the butt of the joke, this makes the comedy even better by not saying Nazi culture is a good thing and instead shows the Nazis are goofy and completely incompetent.

Overall, I believe that this movie is brilliant that amazingly knows the line for when dto stop and manages to create a compelling story with hilarious jokes and while it is (personally) not as good as Hunt For The Wilder People, it is a fantastic film that deserves all the credit in the world. I give this movie a 9/10