I'll be honest, I love the movies we watched, but both of them required extra effort from me to get into when I first watched them. And, I think that is a good thing. There is something to be said for relaxing, easy to watch entertainment... but there is also something important in giving focus, mental energy, and deep thought to participate in a film watching experience. I think there needs to be a balance in both. Just like we need a balanced food diet to remain physically healthy, so we need a balanced film diet to stay emotionally and mentally healthy.
I was really excited to share these movies with you. I really do love them a lot. But, I need to hear from you. What did you think?
Did you like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)? Why or why not? What worked for you in the film, the way it was told? Was there anything that really didn't work for you? It is totally cool, just make sure you explain thoughtfully why it didn't.
And 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Wow. Now, this is a motion picture. I explained to you why it is so important historically, I explained to you why I like it, but I want to hear what you think, sincerely think, tell me truth, and explain to me why. No holding back, let me have it. Did you like it? Did you absolutely not!? Inbetweenzies? Explain why.
Sweet. Peace out.
BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID--
ReplyDeleteI really did like BCATSK, it was really awesome. The only western I'd really seen before this that I liked a lot was Django Unchained. I think that I like Butch Cassidy much more that Tarantino film. Meaning: This is my favorite western. I think that the main characters of Butch and Sundance were very relatable and great. They weren't super awesome cowboy outlaws, they were just like normal flawed people. I really liked the harrowing scene where they first start getting chased by the skilled trackers, it's really a haunting image when you see the trackers still chasing them after forever long running away, and this scene also really helps you see who Butch and Sundance are as people. The absence of music is really noticeable in this scene, but I think it makes it better. It is still very suspenseful and it doesn't even need any kind of music. Speaking of music, I liked the very out of place bike riding scene, with the rain drop song. It was cool BECAUSE it was out of place, and then also I just really like 60's music. Mainly The Beatles, though. Favorite band. Ever. Hey, I just did an out of place moment. I'm so American New Wave. And so awesome. Also, I personally liked the ending, a lot. The film did not need to show Butch and Sundance being slaughtered like hogs, it was obvious that they would, and so the ending provided was all that was needed. It was a very creative idea not to show what would have been an awesomely gory finale to a great film. The idea not to show it was more exciting to me than the battle would have been had they actually shown it, because the idea not to show it was a pure example of very creative and artistic filmmaking. Those are all things that did work for me for this film, and I really can't think of anything that didn't. Great film, favorite western.
2001's post is rather long, so I will see if it can't post the whole response for that masterpiece as one comment. If not I'll would have posted three comments so let's hope this works.
A really good western to watch is "Once Upon a Time in The West."
DeleteOr "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly." Both are on Netflix.
Jovanie, I couldn't agree more! Anything by Sergio Leone.....so good!
Delete2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY--
ReplyDeleteMy apologies, Will, but this is going to be a long post. As you know, this to me, tied with several of Kubrick's other masterpieces, is the greatest film ever made. One of the main films that got me into film in the first place. Sheer beauty and mastery is what it is. I don't even know where to start here. How about EVERY SINGLE THING about this film is AS GREAT AS IT CAN BE. This film is the definition of perfection in film. From the opening moment, with the incredible shot of the planets, the inspirational music, and great feelings, I get extreme chills and want to cry from the beauty. It is at this moment that I literally do shed a manly tear of joy every single time I watch it. This shot alone captures the tone of the rest of the film and space altogether, with their great and terrifying majesty. I need to calm down right now or I will end up reviewing this film shot by shot. This film is not an average film. You can't just watch it and understand it immediately. It is more of an experience. The closest thing to space travel on film, and most real astronauts' favorite movie. It is not only about space, though. It is about us. About humans. About evolution. About life. About death. About technology. About extra-terrestrials. About everything. The film is as complicated and complex as one can be. I love this about it and I love these themes it explores. The amount of detail and work that goes into everything about it thanks to sir Kubrick I love (the Discovery space ship's centrifuge was made from a huge 30 ton ferris wheel that Kubrick had made for $750,000!). The story is as great as one can be, so hugely scaled and deep. It barely has any dialogue, but when it does, it is very smart. I love how it doesn't 'spoon feed' the viewer every single thing, leaving everything, especially the ending, for viewer's interpretation. Even the parts that seem relatively straight forward have strange hidden allegorical meanings. Kubrick was the only one who ever knew the 'true meaning' of the film and he took it with him to his grave. I'm glad he did so, for now the speculation and theories will never end, and I can always keep thinking and thinking about different interpretations I come up with for it.
The 2001 response ended up being to long for one post so sadly it is in two now, making it three comments I will have posted on this one blog post. Sorry, Will.
CONTINUING 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY--
ReplyDeleteIt's a real thinker, not just some mindless formulaic thing. That's another thing I like about it. It's as original as a film can be. Nothing anything like it came before it. It is so visual and the slow pacing is great, too. Speaking of visual-ness, Kubrick's direction of the camera, all the camera angles, are in Kubrick's signature visual style, which is one of the greatest things ever, being so perfect and exact. The cinematography of this and all of Kubrick's other classics remain the best cinematography of all films period. Also included are all of Kubrick's great trademarks: An important scene happening in a bathroom, the famous 'Kubrick face', the themes of dehumanization and the dark side of human nature, classical music, long takes, CRM114, and many more excellent things that I love. Another great thing: the innovative special effects. CGI sucks and real special effects are way better, and if someone had to choose one film to prove that, 2001 would be the one. The monkey men look real, the spaceships look real, the star child looks real, everything looks as realistic as realistically possible. I have never seen a film with better special effects than this one, but Hausu comes pretty close (joking). Also: The music. No one, before this film was released, could have ever thought of putting classical music to images of space. Then Kubrick came along and classical music is the only music associated with space now, even for those who haven't seen the film. The music fits with the images so well, and it all feels so right and glorious. The characters in this film are great, and so is the actors' acting. A cool thing is that of all the characters, Hal is probably the most human one, being a computer but having these emotions, deep and realistic emotions. Hal's voice acting is very great and very creepy. Such a big impact this film had on film altogether as medium. Such a great film. I have written so much, I am getting very tired. I know for a fact that I have not written everything I love about this film, because I love everything about this film, but I feel I have at least written enough for this response. I am going to get angry at myself when I realize what things I have left out but I think I have gotten my point across. There is enough things I love about this film to fill at least 87 more articles of this size, most probably more. Anyway, it is late so I will end it. 2001 A Space Odyssey: The greatest film ever made, tied with A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Dr. Strangelove, Barry Lyndon, and several other films, all by STANLEY KUBRICK, THE GREATEST FILMMAKER OF ALL TIME. Oh, sweet bliss.
The End.
Yes, I loved Butch Cassidy and the sundance kid a lot, it was by far one of my favorite westerns. I enjoyed how it was different in a lot of aspects. Especially how it was mostly focused on the characters and character development. That's something that I appreciate greatly in films and such. It gets you a lot more attached to the characters and feel really sad when they die. Even though they were outlaws, train robbers they were still really good guys. They had a great friendship. I really liked the bike scene with the modern song for the time. I just think that it worked and fitted with it very well, and the song is catchy. It is totally cool, the gun fights, the robbing banks montage, when they're getting chased by the guys hired by the head bank guy. Also the scenery with the west was really great.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I liked 2001 a space odyssey a lot. It was definitely like nothing I've ever watched before. The effects were amazing, how they did all the space ships and such. The scenes where they were in space, Dave and stuff was really realistic for well, people not really being in space that much. Still, it was really really interesting, it made you think so much. Like, what's this movie really about, what's the the whole thing to it. I liked how it was really futuristic and how before the 2000's they had all this awesome space technology. But it's kinda sad because we're not like that at all and it's 2014! *sigh* Yeah only if our space program was better and more devoted into going out into the cosmos. The end of the movie was soooooo crazy. When Dave is getting zapped across space or something with all the weird colors, oh man, it was awesome. But What I think the movie is mostly about it evolution and such with the black alien object that they all touch. When the apes touched it they got tools, when that one guy on the moon did, he got really smart and built Hal 9000. When Dave did, was the strangest. He traveled through space that seemed like a weird "acid trip", ended up in this weird fancy room aging excessively fast, and apparently there were invisible aliens, I don't know. Then he turned into this um, huge baby thing in space, yeah, super crazy.
I liked Butch Cassidy quite a bit. I liked the way they did the editing and I really liked the random slideshow parts in the film. My favorite scene was the one with the bike ride and raindrops.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I absolutely /HATED/ 2001. I didn't like the ending, and I didn't think the film was easy to follow. I've seen a lot of confusing films in my short life, but I couldn't follow any part of this film besides Hal, which made me cry because Hal was basically the only character I liked throughout the whole thing. I'm not sure how to explain the ambiguous ending, and I'm not sure there's a way to universally explain besides an acid trip ending with a baby watching Jupiter.
I can appreciate the film for starting what it did and turning scifi into a serious genre, but I really didn't enjoy it.
~Brennan Hanks
utch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid it told are great and true story so i love it and the ending was good it showed that flim makes people live forever .A Space Odyssey i realyy liked it i thoght it was intesting in all of its movie ness but it could be esay to fall asleep in the beging and i never so the ending so i don't know about that it was the badnesst cuz i never seen it ~yami gaia
ReplyDeleteI only got to watch the end of 2001 (I have seen it more than a billion times)! I love this movie it is the best sci fi movie because I say that it says it's is the best sci fi film!!!! Forget that I just used a Petitio Principi! I like many others love this movie and I want to watch it another trillion times! I won't get tired of it at all! I love the beginning! The them song is the best most epic wonderful theme song in the history of ever! John williams is an amazing composer and will always have a special place in the Duel of the Fates... Lol. The movie is kind of silly at the beginning because things clearly did not turn out that way but I wish they had!
ReplyDeleteYes, I loved Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid , it was by far one of my favorite westerns. I really liked the character development,that's something that I appreciate greatly in films and such. It gets you a lot more attached to the characters and it makes you sad when they die. Even though they were outlaws, they were still good I found that interesting its like a different point of view that you would expect.I did not like the bike scene with the modern song for the time. I just think it did not fit very well, at least song is catchy. Its still a really cool movie! the gun fights, the robbing banks montage, when they're getting chased by the guys hired by the head bank guy. Also the scenery with the west was really great.
ReplyDeleteIf you did not like the ending after Josh's long passionate speech I don't agree with you it was awesome and innovative
Yeah, I reeeeally Didn't like 2001 a space odyssey a whole lot. I think the only thing that is more odd than this movie was THX The effects though were amazing, Still, it was really really interesting I guess. A lot of the times I was asking "What the heck am I watching? When Dave is getting zapped across space or something with all the colors what the heck. But What I think the movie is mostly about it evolution and such with the black alien object that they all touch. Because they all seemed to get abilities when they touched it. Will it was really weird I'm not going to lie but if we had to make weird movies like that to make good movies in my eyes then I guess it is what it is
Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid- An awesome western movie with a few twists and turns. I really like this movie mostly the characters. I still like the plot, music, and cinematography. The characters are the best I love the friendship between Butch and Sundance you can really feel how much they care about each other. The female character Etta Place is also an interesting character tagging along with our two characters. I do think it's odd that they put in 1960's music in a western but at the same time it fits when ever a character is going thorough happiness or stress. Overall very good movie I really admire the characters a lot
ReplyDeleteA-
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
ReplyDeleteThis movie is an awesome western movie. It even has a few twists and turns, like a good western movie should. I like this movie, but I really DO NOT care for the ending, it just doesn't work for me and it leaves you puzzled. I like the plot and the cinematography, and the characters are really good! There's really nothing else I care to say about this movie.
2001
I'm kind of inbetweenzies on this movie, I both liked it and hated it. For one thing, the ending. It felt like an entire waste of five minutes of my life that I'll never get back, it was just too confusing to me. Everything else about the movie, however was great. I liked the futuristic feel to this movie and I liked the Sci-Fi aspect of the movie. Another thing that confused me is the beginning, because we transition from way in the past to the future.
To be continued on another post...
I have very mixed feelings about butch cassidy and the sundance kids. I mean I kind of liked it but I kind of did not like it as well. I liked a lot of choices the director made, like shot choices and definitely the montage scene. I was not really fond of the plot, I mean it was ok i just found it dull and uninteresting. I guess it was just dragged out and extremely long so I found it kind of boring. I would elaborate on that more but I guess i’m so on the fence with it. I enjoyed it but on the other hand I disliked it. I am just in inner turmoil about it.
ReplyDeleteI guess the 60’s was a filming period where I am just very indifferent about it. 2001: a space odyssey was a very unique movie in itself. I felt very odd watching this movie, it was just a very strange movie. I mean I appreciate it for its place in film history but honestly I didn't enjoy it. Maybe if I read the book I would be able to understand it better therefore maybe liking it more. But until then I stand where I am now and i'm not very fond of this movie.