Miniature Movie Reviews

Directed by Christopher Nolan, Memento is a throwback to the Noir genre of film. Not knowing much about the genre, I can's really vouch for its consistence with elements found within Noir movies. What I can mention, however, is Memento's narrative format. Memento's story is told almost entirely through flashbacks. The film's protagonist, Leonard, is trying to track down his wife's killer. The narrative format works because of Leonard's mental condition. Since his wife was killed, he has been unable to create new memories. Half of the movie is told through these flashbacks, and the other half are present events, as he is recollecting these memories over the phone. Memento is presented backwards, starting with the end. I recommend Memento because of its innovative storytelling, and its originality.

Pee-wee's Big Adventure is the 1985 debut of the first feature film directed by the now-famous Tim Burton. The movie did pretty poorly critically, and it's not hard to see why. It's difficult to be critical of a movie like this. It's definitely not a good movie by any means, but it is enjoyable. Pee-wee's Big Adventure follows Pee-wee Herman as he travels across the US to find his stolen bicycle. Along the way, he meets all kinds of crazy characters. He makes new friends, and that's it, really. There isn't a real lesson learned at the end of the movie, which felt a little weird considering it's a movie made for kids. The main character's unbelievably annoying, and the story's insultingly simplistic, but it's hard to not have a good time while you watch it. Had I been a kid when I first watched it, I'm sure it would have been better because of nostalgia alone. Regardless of it's problems, Pee-wee's Big Adventure is a great family-friendly movie that everyone should watch at some point, whether you end up liking it or not.

The classic 1985 summer blockbuster. One of the most entertaining movies of our time. Back to the Future is a movie that, ironically, stands the test of time. It's an adventure movie with action, science fiction, comedy, and even a little romance. The movie follows Marty McFly as he accidentally travels back in time in Doc Brown's DeLorean time machine. Marty has to live a week in 1955 until he can manage to give the DeLorean enough power to send him back to the future. He gets to live out every kid's dream and see his parents when they were his age, and even goes to school with his dad. He learns how his parents meet (in an unsettling way), and his mom has a crush on him. He turns his father into a new man, and changes the everyone's future for the better. The movie remains popular because of the way it combined its elements. Few movies have managed to capture the wonder of Back to the Future. The focus of the movie wasn't on traveling through time, but the adventure that arose from it. Everyone should see the movie and the entire trilogy, even if they're each worst than the last.  

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A documentary is almost like filming an essay. It presents an argument, and then provides some information to support it. Also like an essay, documentaries are biased toward the creator's opinion. RiP: A Remix Manifest tries to argue that copyright laws have gotten out of hand. They limit creativity and the consumer. Fines for downloading music are outrageous. With such a slick film, how can you not agree? Copyright holders are conspiring against us!

The movie's subject definitely isn't a deep look into the human experience, discussing all of the troubles that we face every day. This isn't I am Number Four we're talking about here. But it is an important issue. A lot of people have an opinion on the matter, including me. I'm not about to change my opinion, though.

The pinnacle of moviemaking.

Technically, the movie is very well made. It moves along smoothly, and the filmmaker's argument is definitely well-supported. His argument is effective, though, because it's the only one with any evidence to support it. The pro-copyright side is terribly under represented. More specifically, he argues that the music belongs to the public, and that they are allowed to do whatever it is that they want with it, and obtain it by any means they choose. I only half agree with his point.

I support copyright laws. if I were to create something artful, perhaps even my prose here, I would want to make sure that it belongs to me, and no one else would be able to take my work as their own. I would be crushed if someone was profiting from my work, I don't profit from it. Not using my actual name would probably prevent me from maintaining my copyright, though.

Copyright laws are great in that they protect the creator's rights to exclusively own their work. They have gotten out of hand, though. Current laws have too many restrictions on what happens to people who infringe upon it. In my perfect world, perhaps when I'm king of this one, copyright laws would see an overhaul.

Anyone would be able top take any copyrighted material and edit it however they want, as long as the original creator is credited for it, too. If the modified material makes a profit, then some of these profits have to go to the original creator. If copyrighted material is pirated, instead of charging thousands of dollars, the pirate would only have to pay the same amount as someone who purchased the material through legitimate means.

And maybe pigs will fly, too.