Skip to main content

Finally, at Long Last!

Well, here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for. I'm finally reviewing Citizen Kane. I have to say, I loved, loved, loved this movie. I think it's one of my favorites so far and I can completely see why it made number 1 on AFI's top 100 list.

Okay, here's what I loved about it:

The dark and mysterious opening. I can see why it is one of the most famous cinematic moments in film history.

Great camera work and transitions between the present and the past. I think one of my favorites scenes as far as camera work goes is the one toward the end of the film when Susan is leaving Kane. The camera angles and all the other cinema magic that goes into a scene like that were very effective in making Kane look like his imposing, over bearing self when entering the room and small and weak after Susan walks out of the room.

The sets - awesomely designed and again very effective for setting the mood of the movie, particularly in the later years of his time with Susan when they are in the huge, cold mansion and have grown apart from each other.

The acting - This was the first Orson Wells movie I've ever seen (although I have heard his Mercury theatre dramatization of War of the Worlds. I highly reccomend that one too, especially if you can find an authentic sounding copy and listen with the lights off. It is genuinely creepy, but I digress). I have to say, he really brought Charles Kane to life and made him a character you love to hate, or feel sympathy for. Oh and how could I leave out the music? This movie has a great score.

Then of course there is the big mystery surrounding his dying word, "Rosebud." I admit I already knew the answer to that question before I saw the movie, but final scenes were still really moving for me. As you can probably already guess, I give this one a definite thumbs up. My husband...he gave it a thumbs sideways and said it wasn't a compelling story for him. Ah well.

Next on the list is The Maltese Falcon, but don't hold your breath. It's been sitting on our entertainment center for three weeks already and I can't renew from the library anymore. It has to go back. Keep checking back here, though. You never know what I might post in the meantime.

Cheers,
Juli

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It Happened One Night

Ahh, there's nothing like a good romantic comedy and this movie, It Happened One Night was one of the first. It is number 35 on the AFI list. Starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, this movie follows the couple as they are traveling across the country. He is a newspaper writer and she is the daugther of a newspaper owner and has run away from an unwanted marriage. There are so many funny moments in this movie, it's hard to know where to start. One of my favorite scenes is the night they spend together in the motel. As they are settling down for the night, Colbert's character asks Gable's, "Who are you anyway?" My other favorite scene occurrs when they are trying to hitchike and Colbert's character gets a car to stop by showing her leg. Both of these are classic scenes and so funny! We did find this one on DVD and there are some pretty cool special features. There is a mini documentary type clip in which Frank Capra Jr. gives a narrative of how...
Post a Comment
Read more

I Wish you a Merry Christmas

So, are you on the lookout for a good holiday movie? Well, me too. I ended up working an extra Saturday this month, which really cut into my movie watching time. I had all these plans to see the following movies: Polar Express National Treasure Lemony Snickett's Series of Unfortunate Events Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera I'm sure there were others I wanted to see, but I don't remember what those are now. Out of all the above movies Brian and I have seen National Treasure . I have to say, despite some doubts I had at the beginning it turned out to be a pretty good movie. If you are in to U.S, History, you'd probably find this a good movie. I mentioned some doubts I had at the beginning of the movie. For example, In one of the opening scenes of the movie a grandfather is explaining the history of the Masons organization to his grandson and, having just researched the masons for a library customer, I'm not sure the grandfather's ex...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Dandy of a Movie

I'm referring, of course, to that wonderful movie Yankee Doodle Dandy directed by Michael Curtiz and starring James Cagney. The AFI placed it at number 100 on their list. In case you're not familiar with the plot, it's the life story of actor/producer/playwright George M. Cohan. The film pioneered the flashback method of telling a story and begins with Cohan's childhood stage acting. It tells the story of he and his family as they performed plays and shows across the country as "The Four Cohans. Like all entertainers, they have their ups and downs. At one point George's arrogance causes his family to be looked down on as performers. In a somewhat sneaky move, however, Cohan gets funding from a producer and makes his stage come-back. Finally the family is once again reunited as a family act. There is much more to the film, but I'll stop here because I don't want to spoil it for you. The message about family loyalty is something you don't see much in...
Post a Comment
Read more