Good Will Hunting

Good Will Hunting
Good Will Hunting was a great movie! I had watched the movie previously but had never finished the movie (as I tend to fall asleep when I watch movies at home!). It was an inspiring and comical movie that had a great theme, a hero, and a great ending. Will was a genius that had grown up in a bad environment of countless foster homes and heartbreak. Jack Garner quoted in Holden Caulfield, Alex Portnoy, and Good Will Hunting: Coming of Age in American Films and Novels “Young Will Hunting is very, very bright; a genius actually. But he’s also bursting with confusion and rage, triggered by an abusive childhood and an adolescence of low expectations. Will can reason like mad, but he’s usually too mad to reason.” This is a great quote that sums Will up entirely.
I liked how the movie started and showed the life of Will and how he progressed as a person, it was like watching a child grow up and mature. Will began to gain trust for other people as he started dating Skylar and seeing Sean, the psychiatrist. Sean and Will began a friendship from the first session at Sean’s office. I think that what made Will intrigued by Sean and comfortable during the sessions, was the environment. It was not a white 4 x 4 room or a psychologist’s office with a leather couch. Sean was a professor at a public school and dressed casually, Sean wanted nothing from Will but to help him psychologically and be a friend.
In the book it says that the major appeal of a character lies in the qualities that set them apart from other people. Will was a unique individual, he was a genius, a rebellious teen, and a foster child that had been abused. Will did not see that being a genius could open up possibilities, nor did he want those possibilities at first. As the movie progressed and Will grew, he decided to take the wonderful opportunities and he learned to love other people, Skylar, Sean, and his friends.
In the book it defines a theme as a unifying central concern of the film, or the special focus that unifies the work. In Good Will Hunting I think that the theme can be a number of different things including: friendship, love conquers all, good vs. bad, where there’s a will there is a way, hard work and determination get the job done, we (humans) can be become anything that we want to become, or good will. All of these themes were portrayed in some way during this movie. The article Coming of age in American Films and Novels, talks about the theme “good will”. It also focused on the relationship between Sean and Will and how the two individuals were so different yet the same, they had a beautiful relationship.
In class we talked about heroes, we gave examples such as Batman and Spiderman. In the movie I think that you could see four different heroes, Professor Lambeau, Sean, Will, and Skylar. Professor Lambeau for rescuing Will from jail and giving him opportunities for his life, Sean for being a great mentor and helping Will through his psychological and emotional struggle, Skylar for showing Will what it really felt like to be in love with a person, and Will for being a role model to people of all ages. Will shows young children that no matter what hardships life faces you with, you can still prosper and crawl out of the dungeon. I think that Will gives the youth today hope for the future because they can watch the movie and say, if Will make it through all that then I can make it through HS, etc..
In the article, Coming of age in American Films and Novels, it talked about how the day Will started solving the math problems at MIT, his life was changed. It is strange how one little incident like solving a math problem can change a person’s entire life. The change can be positive (as it was for Will) or negative (as it is for those who commit crimes).
The article Too smart for their own good? was interesting, it talked about how movies
and television portray geniuses as emotionally stunted, lonely, and unsociable. I found that very
interesting because it is true, I often watch movies about geniuses and the movie depicts a character who is intelligent but doesn’t know how to play with other children or doesn’t get to be a child because intellectually at age 5 they are already 18 years old. Since I am not a genius I often wonder if that is true in ever day life, do genius children get a chance to just be children?
This was a great movie and I think was good to analyze and pick out elements such as character styles, themes and stories of heroes.

Movie-Casablanca

Casablanca was a great movie! I was skeptical when the movie started because of the date of the film but, I was pleasantly surprised. The movie's music was excellent and went along well with what was happening during the scene. The script was written very well and the actors did an amazing job. I think that one of the main reasons this movie is still so popular today is because of the love triangle that goes on between Iisla, Rick and Laszlo. I think that the drama of the triangle is something that many people like to watch and take joy in watching (as they do soap operas). I liked how the movie ended also, the love Rick had for Iisla is what allowed him to let Iisla go and be with Laszlo. He wanted what was best for her and believed that a life with him would not be as rewarding for her. The article Playing iy Again and Again also commented on the ending of the movie as being "an image perpetuated in the mass media", a "image of the lovers' last goodbye". I think that endings to movies can either break or make a film and this ending definately made this a great film.
Another thing I enjoyed about the movie was that I recognized many of the quotes. The article Playing it Again and Again comments on the quotations and that 47 quotes from the movie are widely used in public conversation still today. A few of my favorites are "We'll always have Paris" and "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" that were stated by Rick in the movie. I have heard these quotes so many times during conversations and watching other films. Another quote that I love (also stated by Rick) was "Of all the gin joints in all the towns all over the world, she walks into mine." I think that this is a great quote and many people can relate to what he was feeling at the time he said this.
I was interested to learn that Casablanca was one of the first films to be transferred onto videocassette and that a sequel was thought about but Ingrad Bergman refused to play in the sequel. Warner Bros. refused to have a sequel because they felt that without Bergman as Iisla the movie would not be a success. ( Playing it Again and Again )
The article Casablanca also had a few points that intrigued me, I was unaware that the movie was derived from a play written by Murray Bunett and Joan Allison. The article shared interview questions that were asked of Burnett. A few things I thought were interesting were that Burnett picked the song "As time Goes By" because he liked to relax in a hammock while listening to the song in college. Burnett said that a lot of the original play was incorporated into the film and a lot of the dialogue remained the same. In 1942 the play rights were purchased for $20.000 which was the most that had ever been paid for a play at that time. Today I dont think $20,000 would pay Julia Roberts to smile on film.
The article Casablanca ended the journal by stating that the film is a "significant part of America's and the world's cinematic and cultural landscape". I think that this is true, this film along with the famous scenes and quotes have made a huge impact on our American culture.
I think that the movie was a great depiction of what life was like during WWII, America wanted to be neutral but eventually entered the war to help in the end (just as Rick didn't help out Iisla until the end when he helped them escape to America). I think that the lighting of the movie, the music, the actors and the setting of the movie were all great. Even though the movie is outdated I was still able to see what the producer wanted portrayed. In the end smoke was used to make it seem as though it was foggy outside ( I think that it was a nice touch) and different lighting was used when it was meant to be night time. I enjoyed this movie!