MYST 6: Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

The way this movie was shot is very interesting since you get both perspectives, that of humans, and that of apes. The movie jumps back and forth between the two societies, compares them, and contrasts them. These comparisons are usually made by how both sides can be civilized and peaceful, or angry and war ready in a split second. The contrasts usually are made by the methods of communication, and by the lighting when shooting each society.

The Humans and the Apes are very similar in this film, yet a certain course of actions by both sides caused all chaos to break loose. The Apes can communicate with each other through sign language, and some can speak English. The few who can speak English communicate with the humans throughout the film. When the Apes speak in sign language, there are subtitles until they utter a sentence or two in English.

The lighting in this film further adds to how both sides are compared and contrasted. When the Apes village is being shot, it’s much lighter and full of life than that of the Human camp. The Apes appear ready for war, but it does not appear to be the main focus of the group, unlike the humans. When the human camp is shot, it is very dark, it appears rundown, and everywhere there is some type of weapon. The apes appear to be interested in peace solely, but the humans appear untrustworthy, which causes tensions to rise. Many of the humans have prejudices against the apes and are very violent towards them because they believe them to be uncivilized. The violence of the humans, and the desire for peace with the apes further enhances the contrast between light and dark in the film.

The Director, Matt Reeves, did a very nice job shooting this film. Especially for including a very thoroughly thought out set ;which represented each side well. The cast was very talented and contributed great performances to the making of this film.

I enjoyed this film very much and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the Sci-Fi or Action genre. The special effects were incredible, the acting was great, and it contains a very suspenseful plot, what’s not to love. I rate this film a 4/5 stars.Trailer

MYST Post 5: Children Of Men

I recently viewed the film Children Of Men and I found it quite enjoyable. Clive Owen did an excellent job as the lead actor, and the rest of the cast had very nice performances as well. Alfonso Cuarón used very interesting camera shots, and special effects in this film. The Genre of this film is classified as Dystopian and a Thriller.

The plot of this film had many unexpected twists. Important characters die quicker than expected by the viewer. The leading actors were Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Clare-Hope Ashitey. The Cast had many unknown actors as well as big name stars like Clive Owen.

This film consisted of many different cinematographic elements that were very interesting. Some of the shots used lasted extensive periods of time, which, although difficult to shoot, added suspense to the scenes. A variety of languages were used throughout the film, due to the setting of the movie in Europe. This is also a characteristic of the director, who has filmed many movies in Spanish as well as other languages.

The genre of this movie is Dystopian/Thriller but it did not take the dystopian part of the genre too far. The plot was very believable and due to some of the implications of the dystopian genre, it was able to create a significant amount of suspense. I enjoyed the film very much; it had a great cast, an excellent plot, and had very interesting cinematographic elements. I would rate this film a 4.5/5 stars. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys apocalyptic type films, Sci-Fi, or even action films. Trailer

MYST Post #4: 22 Jump Street

22 Jump Street is the sequel to the film 21 Jump Street, and I enjoyed it as much, if not more, than the first film. I found the film to have a very unpredictable plot, and since it is a comedy, these vast changes make it work. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum played the main characters, and this acting duo was very amusing to watch, since they are pretty much complete opposites of each other. In the film, Hill is a quieter character, while Tatum is more of an extrovert.

This film used a large variety of special effects, and they were very well used. In many films special effects can make or break the movie and it made this movie. Some of these effects were used in scenes with a crashing helicopter, cars drifting, gun fights, etc. However, even with the large amount of special effects portrayed in the film it was not excessive. The special effects were only used in scenes with a lot of action and were necessary for the film to be successful.

The plot of this film is almost identical to that of the original film; Hill and Tatum play two college students, who are really cops going undercover to solve a drug outbreak. However, even though the plot is very similar to the first, since they reference and mock the original so frequently, it makes the film just as good if not better than the first. Furthermore, this plot differs from the first; in a sense that it does not repeat the same plot twists as the original. I enjoyed this movie very much and thought it was absolutely hilarious, therefore I recommend it to everyone. I rate this film a 4/5 stars. Here's the Trailer.

MYST POST # 3: The Fault in Our Stars

I recently watched the film The Fault in Our Stars, and I am not a fan of it. Not to get too much into the plot, but I found it to be very predictable. Once you found out the movie pertained to cancer, you could infer that somebody was going to die, and once the main characters were introduced, you could infer who was going to die. The film was very depressing, and even though I saw it coming, it still ruined any chance for me to be in a good mood for the remainder of the day.

Although I did not enjoy the plot of the movie I do have to admit it was very well directed. The cast was great, with it starring  Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff, Laura Dern, and Willem Dafoe. The cast had a difficult task in this film due to all of the emotions that had to be present for the characters in the story. Nat Wolff had to play a character who was blind, which must have taken a lot of work to perfect, and he did a stellar job a doing so. Ansel Elgort had to play a character that had his leg amputated, therefore even when he was just walking around, he had to be conscious of his characters limitations.

The editing in this film was very interesting. There was a lot of dialogue in the film that took place over text, and email when the characters were not together. Text and email bubbles, would appear as the characters conversed which I cannot recall being done in others films. The camera shots in this film helped set the scene and give off moods the audience is supposed to pick up from the characters. Anytime that Elgort and Woodley would be on camera together they always stood very close to each other, which informed the audience of their affection even before the dialogue would make it obvious.

This film had a very talented director, and actors who helped make the film such a success. Even though I did not like how the story went, or the mood it gave off, I have to admit it is a good movie. I would recommend it solely based off of the directing and acting because I believe that it is that good. I rate this film a 3.5 out of 5 stars. Trailer

MYST Post # 2: The Matrix

The Latest film I have watched was The Matrix starring Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantoliano. This film had the most interesting camera angles and shots out of any other movie that I have seen. With Sci-Fi movies, the special effects can make or break the film, and in this movie it definitely made it. Also the actors did an excellent job making the special effects appear to be real.

The cinematography in this film was excellent. One element of cinematography that was used well was slow motion, which was used in many of the fighting scenes. Characters would have gunshots being fired at them, and the camera would showcase the entire path of the bullet. This showed how close these characters were to being hit, and when they were hit, it would show just how close that was to being a lethal shot. After slowing down the action, the camera would then switch to regular, in which you could see just how incredibly fast these characters were moving to dodge the shots.

Another great element of cinematography displayed in this film was how all action could pause and just focus on a couple characters. In the training demo for the Matrix, Morpheus could have everything be moving at regular speed, then pause the program, so he could give Neo some pointers. Also in these training demos, Morpheus would show Neo how he can go faster and break earth’s rules once inside the matrix. The camera would have certain movements sped up and others moving at regular speeds which was very interesting.

This movie also kept you thinking for the entire film. The movie carried this out by constantly changing the point of view of the characters. The director didn't let you figure who you were supposed to be rooting for and against for a while. Also since the setting was constantly changing you could never get comfortable with the surroundings. Furthermore, there was the large theme of real and fake in this film, and the director kept you guessing throughout its entirety.

In all, this film was very interesting and action packed. I enjoyed it and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Action or Sci-Fi themed films. The acting is excellent and so is the plot. I would rate this film 5/5 stars. If you have not seen it, go and do so.

Trailer