Raiders of the Lost Ark

I thought the movie, "Indiana Jones--Raiders of the Lost Ark" was a decent movie for the time that it was made, which was in the 1980's. I liked all of the adventures and constant action that took place in the movie. The action of the movie made me want to know what would happen next and if Indiana Jones would come out alive. I believe the symbolism in this movie was definetely the Ark of the Covenant, since it held the Ten Commandments. Not only did Indiana Jones want this artifact, but the U.S. as well as the Nazi's wanted this artifact. The reason the Nazi's wanted it, is because it was the most precious Jewish artifact. Also, I thought it was very tragic for Indiana Jones to have to go through all of the work to get the artifacts, when his old enemy Rene Belloq would end up taking the artifacts from him.

I thought some things about the movie were a little unrealistic. One of the things was Indiana Jones and Marion getting out of the enclosed hole in the ground with all of the snakes around them. It was kind of bizarre how Indiana Jones climbed the wall and made it fall, opening up a little hole to get outside. Another thing I thought was bizarre was Indiana Jones escaping the boulder at the beginning of the movie.

The movie starts off with Indiana Jones catching up with his ex Marion, who has the magic pendant that they need to use to reflect the sunlight off of to discover with the Ark is hidden. They continue on their adventures together until Marion is caught by the enemies and is taken away through different obstacles. Jones eventually finds her but cannot free her at the time due to their safety. Jones goes on, finds the hidden Lost Ark and digs it out with his friend. The enemy discovers their findings and takes it from them. Through all the adventures, Jones eventually gets the Lost Ark back and saves Marion. Indiana Jones had many near death encounters with booby traps, gunshot wounds, and fighting monstrous Nazi men, but in the end he succeeded.

I enjoyed reading the article entitled, "Real Archaeologists Wear Whips" because that is exactly what Indiana Jones does in this movie, and he knows how to use it well. This article tells you exactly how the film is, even down to Indiana Jones ideas about the discover being the adventure and the knowledge is the reward. I think this quote is a good quote for all to remember. It is not just about the reward including money that one might have or win, but it is about the knowledge that one gains.

Good Will Hunting

I liked this movie, "Good Will Hunting" the best out of all three movies we have watched so far. It was easy to understand and up-to-date so to say, so that I could somewhat relate to the movie. It was a very good choice for a movie to watch.

The movie was about Will Hunting, who worked as the janitor at a prestigious college called "MIT." While growing up, Will didn't have a very good childhood, which I believe he took his madness and rage out on other people including at the bars. He was often beat by his dad and was also stabbed. Needless to say Will went through multiple foster homes. One day while Will was doing his janitorial work he came across a mathematical problem on a chalk board and decided to answer it. He answered it correctly and was later on discovered by Professor Lambeau. Professor Lambeau found out that Will was a try genius and wanted to put his intelligence to good use. Next, Will ends up getting in a fight and is suppose to be sent to jail for quite some time, but instead Professor Lambeau reasons with the judge and Will's punishment is changed to math classes with the professor and counseling. After going through five different psychiatrists, Professor Lambeau asks a good buddy from college, Sean.

After a few sessions of counseling with Sean, Will learns to take Sean's advice and Will in turn helps Sean move on from the death of his wife. The two help each other to grow both mentally and spiritually.

Also, during the movie Will meets a girl that is going to college to become a doctor and is very intelligent as well. He falls in love with her and eventually follows her to California in the end.

I think that the hero in this movie is the psychiatrist Sean. Sean was a hero to Will by helping him to deal with his madness and to help the world. Also, Sean helped Will to follow his dreams and heart, including with Will's girlfriend.

In addition, I think that the symbolism in this movie is Will's intelligence and how everyone wishes they had it, but he didn't think it was that important.

"On the Waterfront"

I didn't really like the film, "On the Waterfront" because I couldn't relate to the U.S. Communist actions. People in today's society don't have to worry if they get a job for a specific day or not, because we won't have such things as tabs. These tabs that they used in the film symbolized if you could work each day or not. Americans who have a steady job basically know it will be there everday, if they work hard and go to their job when they are suppose to. Also, by not living during the Communist times, it is hard to relate to the mob fights and all the killings that took place. Although I didn't like much of the movie, I did like the romance that took place between Terry and Edie, because it was something extra that I didn't think would occur in a movie such as this one. Also, I think the ending of the movie with Terry stumbling to work was a key part of the movie to show that you should stick up for yourself and to be a role model for other workers of the time.

I thought the article entitled, "Arthur Miller's Proletariat:The True Story of On the Waterfront..." was an interesting article in the sense that people tried accusing Kazan of stealing the concept of his movie by the unsuccessful film, "The Hook:A Play for the Screen." Also, it talked about how the movie, "On the Waterfront" was so authentic that it seemed like a documentary than a dramatic motion picture. It is probably a lot easier for people of the time of World War II to understand this movie, because they would know how difficult it was to live in that time period.

Another article that i was intrigued about was the internet source of Modern Times. This article said how the movie is not a classic, which was different because critics usually say how olden time movies are always classic films. Also, it was neat to read that the movie won eight out of twelve Academy awards for various reasons.

"Casablanca"

I enjoyed the movie, "Casablanca" first of all because it was an olden time, black and white film, with a great romantic twist. The film had great mystery and a romantic love triangle that made me jump to conclusions about who Ilsa would choose--Rick or Laszlo. The ending was a sad one for me because I was hoping Ilsa would stay with Rick or that Rick would secretly trick Laszlo into going on the plane and leaving Ilsa for himself.

I liked the article, "Casablanca" because it gave lots of insight on the background of the film which I thought was very interesting. It was neat to read that the writer Burnett thought of the movie by vacationing with his wife in Vienna.

I wasn't too fond of the article, "Playing it Again and Again" because it gave too much information about the film such as quotes and awards it received. Although it was interesting to read that the movie was released a year after the U.S. entered World War II and also that film was ranked second for the century.

I think the movie has been so highly acclaimed because of the film's acting, script, and musical attributes in the early 1940's.