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Reviews
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Once In A Blue Moon Movie!
I see a LOT of movies being both in the business,and being someone who loves being in a dark theater and being transported to another time and place. I'll just state here that I had nothing occupationally to do with this film, although I wish I had.
The sad thing is that most often, something is either over-done or under-done in the films that make it to the market. Usually, it's the script that hasn't quite been thought through and finessed.
"Million Dollar Baby" is a once in a blue moon type of movie that satisfies the audience member in pretty much every way possible. The story in the script is strong, and most important, simply told. It is essentially about a man who has lost his ability to give both support and independence to others due to a failed relationship with his daughter. It's about a young girl who is so driven toward what she wants, that she affects others around her. And essentially, it's about the man learning to let go when he needs to.
The scenes are shot with such care, just the right length, just the right amount of dialog, just the right amount of information, and just the right amount of emotion from the actors, that I must congratulate the director for doing what so many strive for, and so few are unable to do.
I also think that the cinematography is beautiful in this film. When I think back, I feel like I saw a beautiful black and white film. This tells me that the Director of Photography must have taken care to look for interesting shapes with light and shadow to create a sort of film-noire ambiance in many scenes.
I have recommended this film to everyone I know.
The Aviator (2004)
Shots and Issues Too Long
My father worked for Hughes Aircraft for over 30 years, so our family was especially interested in seeing this film about Howard Hughes. I enjoyed seeing the cinematography in this film. It was very nicely shot, especially the night scenes. However, I felt that the film's shots were overall too long. Confrontation scenes between Howard Hughes and Katherine Hepburn went on too long as did scenes showing Howard Hughes' neurosis (hand washing, being distracted by camera flashes and lens changes). I felt that to see a little bit of this was enough, but each scene seemed to be played out much longer than was needed to bring home the point. I also felt that too much time was spent with Howard Hughes' relationships with women (especially Katherine Hepburn) and not enough time showing each of the successes that Howard Hughes had in his career, especially aviation. I think that the prologue should have started out with his father inventing the oil drill bit that was patented. This would have been a better visual explanation of how the family got it's money. It's only alluded to in the film, but it would have been better to have shown this to create a foundation for the family money. I found myself squirming at times because I wanted the film to move more rapidly out of scenes.