#11 Finding Nemo

FILMS FOR THOUGHT

By: Alex Holzum

    The next film that I will be discussing is another animated masterpiece: Finding Nemo.  This is another one of those children's movies that has a terribly sad opening scene.  It starts out really happy with the clownfish couple, Marlin and Coral.  We learn that they are very excited because they have a bunch of baby fish who are waiting to hatch in an ocean floor alcove.  It seems like the beginning to a very generic and happy tale of two fish raising their fish children; unfortunately, this is not the case.   A barracuda dives in and eats Coral and all but one of the fish eggs.  Marlin is left to raise this one fish all on his own.  He chooses the name, Nemo, because that is the one name that Coral said that she wanted for at least one of her fish babies.

                                           

   The movie picks up with Nemo starting his first day of school.  We learn that Marlin is a very protective father who kind of smothers Nemo.  He raises Nemo to think that the ocean is scary so that Nemo will not try anything too adventurous.  Of course, Marlin does this with the intention of keeping Nemo safe, but he stunts Nemo's growth and fun in the process.

    While at school, Nemo ends up getting kidnapped and Marlin goes on a hunt throughout the ocean to find his son.  During the search, we meet Dory who becomes another main character.  Dory and Marlin make a very fun search party as they find a lot of adventure in meeting new ocean creatures and try to find Nemo.  While Dory and Marlin are searching the ocean, Nemo is trapped inside a tank in a dentist's office in Australia.  He also meets a lot of new friends who end up teaching him how to be brave enough to take on new things. 

    This movie is so quotable and has not gotten old for me yet even though my cousins make me watch it every other day during the summers.  If you are looking for a light-hearted movie to watch with your family, I honestly think this movie would be appropriate for a group of all different ages.

                                       

   

#10 Silver Linings Playbook

FILMS FOR THOUGHT

By: Alex Holzum

     For my next film post, I would like to analyze Silver Linings Playbook.  Let me just start by saying that this cast is STACKED: Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Julia Styles, Chris Tucker, and even more.  Keeping that in mind, I will give you a general overview of the plot.  It all begins with Pat (Bradley Cooper) being in a mental hospital.  We later find out that he landed himself in there because he caught his wife cheating on him with a coworker and he ended up brutally attacking the guy within an inch of his life.  When Pat gets out of the hospital we learn that he has a very hopeful outlook on life even though a lot of people would consider him to be in a rut.

    Pat moves back in with his parents (De Niro and Jacki Weaver) after he gets out from the mental hospital.  He is excited to explain to them his plans of reading all of the books on his ex-wife's book reading list in an attempt to get her back.  He also plans to get into great physical and mental shape.  His parents could not be more skeptical of his goal of contacting his wife because evidently she took out a restraining order against him.  Basically, this whole movie is full of the people in Pat's life trying to help him through this difficult time all while Pat is trying to do what he thinks is best for his own life.  Things really start to pick up when Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) who is arguably just as crazy and lost as he is.  The two of them enter into a dancing competition that requires them to practice together constantly.

    This is one of my favorite movies because each of the characters is hilarious at one point or another.  I enjoy how fast pace this movie is because Pat is a just a fast pace person who does not want to waste a second of his new life and who also has a very interesting perspective on everything.  My overall favorite character has to be Danny, Pat's friend, who is played by Chris Tucker.  He is my favorite simply because he is such a nice guy and Chris Tucker is hilarious.  If you are still not convinced to see this movie, I should tell you that the whole viewing experience is worth it simply for the sake of the final dance performance.  Go watch it!

                                              

    

#9 Forrest Gump

FILMS FOR THOUGHT

By: Alex Holzum

    For my next film review, I will begin with a quote: "My momma always said, 'Life was like a box of chocolates. You never  know what you're gonna get.'"  That's right, this post will be about Forrest Gump.

    The outlining plot of this film is that Forrest Gump (played by Tom Hanks) is sitting on a bench waiting for a bus to come.  While he waits, he is telling his life's story to whoever happens to be sitting next to him.  His story begins as a child growing up in Alabama.  When the movie first begins, we learn that Forrest is raised by a single mother (played by Sally Field, pictured at right), whom he absolutely adores.  We also learn that he is academically challenged and will need leg braces in order to walk.  Despite all of these setbacks early on, we get to see all of the tremendous success that he experiences in his life.

    Forrest's life events are seen in relation to historical events in history.  Some examples of this include when Forrest serves in the Vietnam war, meets President Kennedy, buys share in Apple, and many, many more. We also get to see the pop culture aspect of this time in history through the life of Forrest's oldest friend, Jenny.  We also meet Bubba and Lieutenant Dan who become two of Forrest's best friends and large influences in his life.

    This movie is wildly entertaining because Forrest is just so easy to love because his intentions are always pure and he does not realize the tremendous influence that he has had on people and history.  It is really interesting to see which elements of history the creators of this movie decide to attach to Forrest's life. 

 

This movie is timeless and truly a must-see.



#8 Good Will Hunting

FILMS FOR THOUGHT

By: Alex Holzum

 

Will hunting is the name of Matt Damon's character in this film.  It takes place in South Boston where Will is from.  Very early on in the film we learn that Will hunting is a young, struggling janitor at MIT that is definitely not living up to his full potential.  He solves a seemingly impossible math problem that catches the eyes of the professors at MIT.  We see different instances of Will's genius through his conversations with people and when he is able to defend himself in court by quoting ancient philosophers and demonstrating his ridiculous range of knowledge.

 

Next, we meet his friends who are all leading the same lifestyle as Will except that they are not geniuses.  His best friend is Ben Affleck's character, Chuckie Sullivan.  One night Will and all of his friends go out to a nice Harvard bar where Will meets Skylar (Minnie Driver) who he falls in love with throughout this film.  The MIT professors mentioned earlier decide to take on Will as a consultant-type position but due to Will's colorful criminal background, they have to register Will for counseling services before he is allowed to work for them.  This is where Robin William's character comes in.  Robin Williams plays Dr. Sean Maguire, the only counselor that Will agrees to see.  Throughout the film we get to see deeper and deeper into Will's and Dr. Maguire's backgrounds and understand how they got to their current situations in life.

 

 

If the Boston accents are not enough, this star-studded cast and great plot make for a great movie.  The relationship that Will and Skylar have is really interesting to me because they come from very different backgrounds but they get along so well and care enough about the other person to overlook any obvious obstacles to their relationship.  At the same time, it is unclear to the audience whether or not they will end up together.  Dr. Sean Maguire is another one of my favorite parts of this movie because he is so wise yet relatable.  The story of how he met his wife warms my soul every time I watch this movie; it is a classic testimony of true love.  The most rewarding aspect of this movie is watching Dr. Maguire chip away at the walls that Will puts up.

 

This movie can be pretty depressing at times but as long as you stick it out until the end, it is definitely worth watching.

#7 Sydney White

FILMS FOR THOUGHT

By: Alex Holzum

 

      Sydney White is a modern Snow White.  Right off the bat this is unique from all of the modern-day Cinderellas that we have now (I think there are four).  Sydney White is a tomboy who is going off to college with the hope of getting accepted into the same sorority that her mother was in.  When she get there, though, the president of the sorority instantly realizes that she does not want her to join.  This irrational hatred is mostly caused by the fact that Sydney caught the eye of the president's ex-boyfriend (the prince, if you will).  A series of unfortunate circumstances leaves Sydney needing a place to stay; of course it was raining when she had to go searching in the middle of the night for a home.  She stumbles upon the Vortex which is student overflow housing where she finds seven "dorks" who let her stay there.  The rest of the movie consists of Sydney shaping up the Vortex as well as her dorks and taking back the school from the oppressive power of the evil sorority president.

 

 



 

I have not encountered any other movies that have put a modern twist on Snow White which is a fun idea and I think they did a great job of including different allusions to the original animation.  For example, each of the dorks hone in on one of the qualities of the original seven dwarfs: sneezy, dopey, doc, grumpy, sleepy, etc.  One of my favorite allusions is when Sydney and the seven dorks are walking down the sidewalk with student government election posters resting on their shoulders (similar to the dwarves' pick-axes) and they walk by the evil sorority president and each of them say, "Hi, ho," as they pass her.  This is what the original dwarfs sing when they walk to and from work (except they are not calling somebody a rude name)!

 

Overall it is a cheesy movie, but it is really fun to watch.