Author Archives: Maria Alvarez

I really enjoyed Jordan Peele’s US. There’s a lot of symbolism and themes in the film. One of the most prominent symbols are rabbits. Rabbits usually symbolize happy things such as luck but the film makes them symbolize experimentation which ties them to the tethered. The tethered were kept confined like the rabbits and nowContinue reading “Jordan Peele’s Us”

Mulholland Drive by David Lynch is one of the most confusing movies I have ever watched. I knew that when I saw ending explained videos in YouTube, that this film was going to be an interesting film with lots of different takes on it. A question I have is who is the cowboy man? HeContinue reading “Mulholland Drive”

Shutter Island is a movie directed by Martin Scorsese. The film’s main lead is actor Leonardo DiCaprio as a mentally troubled patient that has trouble with his identity named Andrew. He suffered from PTSD from World War 2, specifically the killing of surrendered Nazi soldiers which is a war crime. During his investigation of theContinue reading “Shutter Island- Martin Scorsese”

Inglorious Basterds is a 2009 World War 2 film directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is a film that shows what we expect in a typical World War 2 film. There’s the killing of Nazis, evil Nazis and Americans coming to save Western Europe from Germany.  There is history retelling in the end which shows usContinue reading “Inglorious Basterds- Quentin Tarantino”

Cache by Michael Haneke is categorized as a psychological thriller. Its a film with that touches on a common fear which is being watched by an unknown person. Nobody would like to be stalked and terrorized how the Laurents were. The film opened with a still shot of the Laurent home which I found unnerving.Continue reading “Cache (Hidden)”

Something new that surprised me was the opening credits of the film. It isn’t like anything we have seen in the previous films. Seeing it felt like an opening to a documentary. The other films like “Casablanca” had openings which had orchestral songs. Other films like “Citizen Kane” had like a title card then startedContinue reading “Bonnie and Clyde- Arthur Penn”

Marie Dressler was known for her comedy and her unconventional, rule breaking looks. She wasn’t the conventional Hollywood pretty actress but her comedy skits helped her get famous. She also was known for portraying the traditional American hardworking woman. It was interesting to learn about her because she was so different compared to the genericContinue reading “Make Me Over, Marie Dressler”

Merle Oberon used skin bleaching products to appear more “marketable”. To be marketable, an actress or actor had to be white. She described as Anglo Indian and did belong to either English or Indian society. Her past is very murky, fathered by an English officer. She had many desirable qualities like high cheek bones butContinue reading “Make Me Over, Passing for White”

The film is unlike the other films we watched in class in many ways. The most obvious difference is where it was filmed. The other films were filmed on a designed set and this one was filmed on the streets of France with other locations such as the school and the small apartment. It addedContinue reading “The 400 Blows”