Taxi Driver: a perspective

Taxi Driver's Robert De Niro

The character arc in this story goes from New York Cabbie Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro)--a socially inept, angry white male, seeking self-gratification in the form of love--hating society, to planning to kill a lying politician, to wanting to see his neighborhood “flushed down the toilet.” Then coming around full-circle to what he did as a Marine for his country and risking his life for others, in this case, the child-prostitute named Iris played by Jodie Foster.  

Travis Bickle and Iris are one and the same, both flawed but at the same time redeemable. Out of all of his faults—he loves watching pornographic movies and he’s also a racist, there is something basically good about him that compels him to rescue Iris and this is what Betsy discovers when he becomes a hero for doing so. The fact that Iris’ character is a child prostitute also suggests that Travis’ faults are innocent faults because he hasn’t been exposed to anything else by which to judge the things he does or thinks as good or bad. But at the end of the film he is vindicated because he becomes aware through his experiences with Iris that he isn’t a bad guy taking the good with the bad and that as dark and filthy as the world seems there is something in it worth saving.  

Overstimulated: A perspective of the film 'Network'

Summary

This is a behind the scenes look at the Howard Beale show from the movie Network directed by Sydney Lumet. The employees all seem indifferent and going through the motions. The station has been getting bad ratings and Howard Beale’s announcement that he’s going to commit suicide on the air gives the station a big boost in ratings. 

Analysis

The people behind the scenes producing this show is how our society is today:

• bored 
• overstimulated (as represented by the many monitors)
• distracted -- It takes something sensational and violent like suicide to get people’s attention

This scene also shows the transition from news to sensationalism in how Howard Beales’ falling ratings get a big boost when he announces his suicide on live television. Even today anything that’s lurid or controversial goes into a 24 hour cycle where everything else is ignored for the sake of that 1 news item. These events play on every channel until the next big news--big ratings draw-- replaces it (The cops shot in Dallas and Baton Rouge, black men killed by cops in routine traffic stops, OJ, etc.).

Pre-suicide Howard Beale (here played by Peter Finch) represents traditional straight-down-the-line news. After he announces his suicide on the air, he is “born again” and transformed into the spokesman for society’s popular rage (Donald Trump) and the champion of the individual. 

Avatar: a dash of Tarzan and a pinch of anime!

This is a review of James Cameron's 2009 science fiction film 'Avatar'.

The Tarzan theme in Avatar has not been really talked about much. Let's keep it real; the Na'vi are Africans and Jake Sully is the White savior. What got me is that he 1st learns how to ride the Banshee and in doing so becomes the best Banshee Rider. Next, he tames the 'Last Shadow,' the biggest of all winged predators and becomes Toruk Makto. That thing hadn't been ridden for thousands of years and this dude just got there and in a month goes from learning to ride a little Banshee to mastering the biggest and baddest bird of prey. Then,  he becomes a 'mated pair' with Netyri. What about Tsu Tey? He gets kicked completely to the curb! Finally, Jake 'Sooly' leads all of the clans against the White invaders and succeeds in forcing them off the planet. I'm not saying that this is the only message in this movie but it is, as they say, the proverbial 'elephant in the room.' Overall, though, Avatar is a solid piece of entertainment and for what it set out to do, did so better than any of its peers. Effects-wise, Avatar did go 'beyond the beyond' as Cameron often boasts. But this Tarzan theme in the movie somehow got lost in all of the 3D hype. 

Another thing I want to point out about Avatar are the elements it borrowed from Japanese animation. Yes, that's right, this film borrowed heavily from anime, you just have to know which ones. Back in the mid 90's, there was an anime series called 'Visions of Escaflowne' about a planet called Gaea that had the same 'floating mountains' that are in Avatar. The exo-suits in Avatar also look exactly like the 'labors' in the anime Patlabor, exactly the same! The Na'vi which are piloted by humans are the same, in theory, as the organic life-forms called Evas in 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' that are also piloted or driven by humans. In pointing out these similarities, I don't want to give the impression that Avatar is completely derivative, but I think that the animes that informed it should be recognized. 

Will The New 'Ghost In The Shell' Film Live Up To The Anime?

Being that this will be a "Europeanized" interpretation of GITS  and that most of the people seeing this film will not be familiar with the story's Japanime pedigree, I look for this film to stray from a lot of the deep philosophical and political themes the anime is known for. I, personally, have no problem whatsoever with Scarlett in the title role. She is at the very forefront of female action stars right now BAR NONE  with Lucy, The Avengers, Captain America, and Under The Skin most recently. However, being that this film is adapted from a story set in Hong Kong and the lead being recast from a Japanese woman to a white woman, I would have something to say about this if I were Japanese. But if they have no problem with this then why should I, right? Another factor that may affect this film's success is its long delay in being made and the director (Rupert Sanders) who's a virtual unknown. As anyone who's followed this film from Mamoru Oshii's original (based on the manga by Masamune Shirow) to the recent 'Arise' prequels knows, GITS, which itself is influenced by the film 'Blade Runner,' has been cannibalized by so many films from the Matrix on, that it may come across like a copycat of the films that copied it. I do believe that a director like Nolan, Greengrass, or even the Wachowski's could have at least guaranteed this film an intelligence close to that in the anime. I will see this film but I will go in the theater with realistic expectations of seeing nothing more than a dumbed down westernized live-action anime adaptation with loads of action and cool gadgets programmed to make as much money as possible. 

Raging Bull: anatomy of a boxing scene

An analysis of the film 'Raging Bull'

After brutally beating his little brother in front of the man’s wife and children, Jake faces his arch nemesis, Sugar Ray Robinson, for the 4th time, alone. He suffers a savage and bloody beating that results in him losing the title he worked so hard to win. The religious symbolism in this scene as it pertains to Christianity is powerful.

This scene represents the fall of Jake as a boxer, it’s all downhill from this point. The fight in this scene is Jake receiving all the punishment his conscience makes him feel like he deserves because of the beating he gave his brother and wife when he falsely accused them of having an affair. In this fight, Sugar Ray is the sum of all Jake’s sins requiring his blood for payment. The rope holding Jake up is a cross on which he is crucified and bloodied under Sugar’s barrage of punches. Also, at the beginning of this scene, the men in Jakes corner work on him as if they are preparing a man for death; the cornerman applying the vaseline looks like a priest giving Jake his last rites. 

The sound editor on the documentary said that he went for unusual sound effects for all of the fights, but for this one, particularly. When Jake is on the ropes waiting for his punishment, the crowd noises die out and a lion’s roar is cued to match Sugar launching himself at Jake. Also, the sound of winds howling replace the roar of the spectators at ringside. Visually, cinematographer Michael Chapman surrounded the ring with thick smoke to make it look like Hell and used the lights to transform Sugar Ray into a god-like silhouette representing all of the insurmountable appetites tormenting Jake’s soul. 

Analysis of a scene from 'Raging Bull'

This is an analysis of a scene from the film 'Raging Bull' after Jake La Motta is jailed for serving alcohol to a minor

In the film 'Raging Bull', Jake LaMotta is charged with serving alcohol to a 14 year old girl in his nightclub. He goes to prison where he confronts the demons inside of himself and comes out of prison broke but intact. He makes up with his brother Joey. 

This is the darkest and most powerful sequence in the entire film as we see Jake succumb to all of his excesses without the discipline and balance of boxing, his little brother, or his wife. As the film started with him in the boxing ring alone, in this scene he is also alone with himself to confront the question why? His unlit cell represents not only his isolation as a human but also the darkness of his inability to see that out of all the men he faced in the ring that he has always been his own worst enemy. Also, another note about his weight gain. Prior to his retirement, the training he underwent for his fights kept his weight from getting out of control. I interpret his weight gain as a metaphor for the accumulative effect of immoral behavior on his part.

With no way to offer penance with his blood in the boxing ring, all of his sins add up literally and figuratively. But, eventually, he comes out of prison, humiliated but repentant. When he sees his brother Joey whom he hadn’t seen since beating him for having an imaginary affair with his ex wife, Vikki, Jake begs Joeys forgiveness, kissing his little brother tenderly and crying. This is a powerful scene and marks the final stage in Jake’s character arc, going from a man living on pure appetite and impulse to a broken man in touch with his God and his humanity.

Analysis of a scene from 'Pulp Fiction'

This is an analysis of 'Pulp Fiction'. In this scene, Vincent Vega accidentally shoots Marvin in the face.

After the previous scene where Vincent and Jules got shot at point blank range without getting hit by a single bullet, Vincent and Jules are in the car returning the briefcase to Marcellus and Vincent is trying to explain away the miracle they just experienced. Jules is convinced that he’s out of the business for good once they return the briefcase. Marvin, one of the kids from the last scene, is in the backseat listening to them. Vincent turns and points the gun, not consciously, but carelessly, at Marvin to ask for his 2 cents and the gun goes off by itself, blowing Marvin’s face apart and covering the hitmen with blood. Now, they have to make a detour to Jimmy’s to clean the blood out of the car before they can drop the briefcase off to Marcellus.

This scene represents the blood sacrifice of an innocent, in this case, Marvin, for all of Jules' and Vincents’ past crimes. John 1:29: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” The blood in the scene symbolizes the blood of atonement, which will be washed away when they are “baptized” and forgiven and given new lives by the Wolf, played by Harvey Keitel.