Zane Umsted (zumsted07)

Bluebeard Unrated

The central storyline, wherein a poor dowry-less girl is tempted to marry an aristocrat despite the auspicious disappearances of his previous wives, was largely uninteresting when it really shouldn't have been. The saving grace for the film, though, is the narrative framing device for the story where two young girls discover an old book containing the Bluebeard tale and proceed to read and argue. The ending of both parts are fascinating, one for poetic reasons the other for tragic reasons, and provides a solid bowtie on an otherwise so-so film.

Into the Wild R

My favorite movie ever! I had been looking forward to this movie for a long time before watching it in hopes that it would really speak to my desire for adventure. Not only did it deliver in that regard, in a way that I never could've imagined, but it also gave me a new outlook on life. Christopher McCandless, alias "Alexander Supertramp," embarks on his adventure to escape what he feels are trappings of human society: materialism, status, greedy priorities, and the generic cookie-cutter structure of life. The movie portrays Alexander Supertramp at once as a pioneer and as a naive headstrong young man, and Emile Hirsch is pitch perfect in playing the complex role. As Alex begins to starve once reaching "the wild" of Alaska, you see the extent of Hirsch's transformation into the role to a point where he could be referred to as "Chrisian Bale Version 2.0" in terms of his extreme weightloss. Hirsch is not the only noteworthy performance, however. All of the supporting turns, including Catherine Keener, Hal Holbrook, and Vince Vaughn, are also emotionally engaging and give further depth to the movie. It is also worth noting that the soundtrack by Eddie Vedder is phenomenal, both in the movie and in its own regards. Into the Wild is, in my opinion, the ultimate counter-culture film despite it being released in the wrong decade and is the best, deepest, most thought-provoking film that I have ever seen.

Sin City R

My favorite movie ever. A flawless comic book to film translation.