Matrix-a little late

I had not seen the matrix since I was a kid so I was very excited to watch this film again. I have to say I understood it and loved it ten times more. I love keanu reeves and all the other actors in this film. I think they did an amazing job. The Wachowski brothers also did an excellent job with this film. The directing was amazing, as well as the script they wrote. There is a lot of amazing quotes/dialogue in the film. I think my favorite part of the film is that it is so thought provoking. It really gets you thinking. Are we in a computer generated dream world? Could this computer I'm typing on be just codes made up from someone to make it seem like it is actually a real computer? I'm in philosophy right now so I read a lot of theories, so i was glad to be watching the Matrix which had to deal with what I was studying. The few things I didn't like where a few plot holes here and there, but hey, it's a movie. And the biggest thing that annoys me is when Neo dies but comes to life after Trinity kisses him-I just thought it was kinda cheesy, though it goes with the storyline and what the Oracle says. But overall it is an excellent film and a classic. 

Tree of Life

Honestly, I did not enjoy the film at all. I felt like there was no real plot or story. It was just very boring. Especially the creation part which lasted, what? 20 minutes? Although I applaud Malik for his unique directing and visually appealing imagery, the film just wasn't for me. It was a bit confusing in some parts, like for example the wife randomly floating in the air??, the ending, etc. And it is also just long and slow. I did however enjoy the actress who played the wife. I had not seen her in any other films and I really did enjoy her performance in this film. Brad Pitt was good as always. And I can't watch a film with Sean Penn in it without remembering how he abused Madonna and is just an all around asshole. So that ruins it a bit for me too haha. 

Tree of Life

In the movie Tree of Life the marriage between Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien represents the conflicting philosophies of the path of nature and that of grace. By echoing the interconnectivity of everything through the title itself and the elaborate nature scenes, the movie develops the question of what exactly is the meaning of life and its culmination. As Jack looks back on his memories in recent light of his brother's death, the differing meanings of life established by his parents are staged. While Mrs. O'Brien leads a life of Grace characterized by selflessness and sacrifice, Mr. O'Brien leads a life of nature characterized by power and strength. The relationship between nature and grace is emphasized through the awe produced by catastrophic disasters and the mystery and beauty of nature which creates but to destroy. This allows for the family to cope with the passing of baby O'Brien by showing what little significance a single death is compared to the backdrop of eternity.

Tree of Life

I absolutely loved this film. Even while mostly pictures and ideas morphing together, there is so much to say about the film. The way the shots of awesome galaxies and earthy nature were used in comparison to shots of the everyday struggles and lives of a family was thought-provoking and inspiring. One of my favorite scenes is when the wounded dinosaur is spared by an oncoming predator. What makes the predator retreat? Mercy? Divine Intervention? Still the overarching story of how we come to learn and grow into the people we are today as a product of our environments is what keeps me wanting more. I could watch this film over and over and still have a million things to say about it.

Tree of Life

I don't understand this film at all. A) I'm not sure if there was any real plot line. B) the characters were all incredibly annoying, with the father being the only remotely interesting person featured and even that was because he was the only truly dynamic character. C) the dinosaurs were just bizarre. D) the ending didn't make any sense. E) why was the older version of the boy running around the city then suddenly in the desert? I could go on asking questions and listing what I dislike for a good long time, but that would not do much good.

If a movie is as long as this one is, I would expect the plot and characters to be more dynamic, the themes and symbolism to be more present and intense, and just overall, for the film to be better. One thing that was brought up in class though that I thought was interesting was why was the film was set in the 1950s. I think that that was to deflect controversy about how the families interacted. In most other eras if you saw a husband and wife being so aggressive with each other life the spouses were in some of the scenes in the movie, it would bring a great deal of controversy and a different light to the movie. Being set in the 1950s though, it made it so, while those actions are not already, they are more easily digestible, at least in my opinion.

Tree of Life-Jake Bradbury

Terrence Malick's highly controversial Tree of Life while to me does not exactly embody a film depicting a dystopian future, is a good movie to see in any film class. Some people I have talked to did not like the lack of dialogue and confusing cuts that seem to have no causal relation. I myself find that due to the fact that this film is the memories of Sean Penn, it is acceptable. The story to me speaks about   growing up. While they grow up in Texas it could really be anywhere in America and I think that the film is able to connect to all viewers about childhood. Everyone has gotten in trouble of fought with their parents or seen parents fight and everyone has also experienced fun times. The story is very relatable. I feel like the whole nature and grace aspect is interesting in the microcosm of the memories of Sean Penn but I did not particularly like the ending the creation scene. While I appreciated the masterful work done in using barely any CGI in the creation scene, I feel like it does not fit for me in the movie. Furthermore  I feel like the father (Brad Pitt) gets a bad rap in the film. He is a tough man but he is so because of his environment. He certainly isn't the best father but you can tell he sacrifices for his kids. The mother on the other hand has the ability to portray grace because she really has no stress in her life except for what is brought in with her husband.

Tree Of Life

Tree of Life is a strange picture in a number of ways, and one whose moral message seems to be more in line with 1950s era conceptions of female identity and autonomy than contemporary ones. However, having watched some of Terrence Mallick’s other works, I am unsure that the sort of anti-feminist rhetoric that seems apparent in the film is what was intentioned and while such criticism remains valid we can perhaps forgive the director in light of the otherwise interesting and beautiful aspects of Tree of Life. For example, Mallick’s work immediately preceding Tree of Life, The New World starring Colin Firth and then teenage , has a similarly controversial and antique presentation of Native Americans, suggesting that the people encountered by the Jamestown colonizing party were childish, brutal, or “in tune with Nature.” But, that film and our current subject are both designed and intended much life a work of Nathanial Hawthorne, not as a serious consideration of specific, actual events taking place in the real world but as narrative allegories based around very general themes; thus, it seems less like Mallick is a racist misogynist and more a really poor judge of appropriate subject.