Retooling Hollywood

Clueless

Clueless is a stereotypical chick flick in that it satisfies its audience, is light hearted, and good-natured. The film was so obviously written and directed by a female because of the components that perfectly satisfy the intended audience. This film was made for women, especially teenage girls. The film focuses on the American obsession with rich, ditzy, beautiful, young people. It has style, as in fashion style. The characters are young, fashionable, rich, and seem to have trivial problems. This movie, these characters were developed to provide entertainment, to take its audience away from the real high school experience and provide the fantasy of a glamorous lifestyle free of serious worries. I do not think it should be viewed as a commentary on American teenagers, although I do think it is important to remember, while watching the film, that there are American teenagers who have grown up like that. It is a strange divide between something that would be seen as a fantasy, a glamour world for some, and a normal high school for others. I believe through those implications Clueless could suggest that the divide between the American classes is larger than we may think. I do not think Clueless was meant to be seen as a serious commentary, however I do believe that under the layers there are those suggestions. It’s a cute, classic chick flick.

In the Cut. - Not Good

Ok, I am sorry, I thought this movie was terrible. Meg Ryan had to have ruined her reputation with this picture. Ruffalo was equally as bad in my opinion. I believe that Jane Campion had to have been influenced by heavy drugs when thinking about the ramifications of this film. There was really nothing good about it except for the chest shots. The vocabulary of Ruffalo was so elementary for a professional actor it was sickening. If this woman wanted to create a porno film than she should have with people getting murdered. I really did not find anything good about this film.

No doubt this film was much different from our other films. It was terrible. You know, the fellatio scene I thought might be a significant part of the movie but it was just unnecessary, and saying that coming from me is amazing because usually I love seeing stuff like that, but this was pointless and unneeded. Also, the fact that the killer cuts the peoples heads off is a little overboard don’t you think?

I think that Kevin Bacon was the best actor in the movie. What happened to the cute Meg Ryan? She looked terrible. Seeing her chest was better than listening to her speak. I really don’t see Campion’s motive for writing a screenplay like this. I mean,, I thought the Piano was strange, but this film was just pointless. Who would waste their time to go see this? I would like to know how many people actually went to see this when it was in the theatre. Honestly, Dr. Boles, I have thought about some positive things to write down in this blog but I really have not found anything I liked about it. The other movies were much more professional. I would like to think that this film was the low point of Jane Campion’s directing career. I really could not see her doing a worse movie.

In the Cut

Before watching Jane Campion’s In The Cut I prepared myself to see intense blood and gore and very graphic sex scenes. But I wasn’t that taken aback while watching the film. The only weird part was having to watch Meg Ryan play the role and really break down her typical “America’s sweetheart” status. The film was beautifully shot and watching the movie almost felt like reading a book because all of the symbolism that took place. Certain images were random and I couldn’t figure out what they meant, like the bride and groom in the subway. I felt as if Campion was trying to make me focus on a certain object from the way that the camera was placed. When Frannie and Pauline were in their room the camera focused in on Frannie holding the red shoes. When Frannie was leaving the bar the camera didn’t focus centrally on her walking out the door, instead the camera was placed behind a teddy bear that you had to look past in order to focus on the main character. Also certain shots made it seem as if we were looking though Frannie’s eyes, especially when she was reading poetry on the metro. The shots were blurry like she didn’t have her glasses on. Other shots that looked as if they came from Frannie’s point of view were glances out of the window at people on the street or looking around corners to see if detective Malloy was there. There were so many red things in this movie that I didn’t know what to make of it. Certain red things were obvious, like John Graham’s red hat and coat, the red turtle, the mom flower thing in the subway, pauline’s red shoes, or the overall red glow. Other images of red seemed more subtle like When Frannie put the detective’s card on her door she used a red tack, her teapot was red, on her dresser the lamp was red, there was a red vase and some red underwear was hanging out of the drawer. Red can mean anything from power, violence, or romance. Campion's use of the color did draw my attention and really made certain images stand out. Overall In the Cut definitely shows Jane Campion’s progression as a filmmaker.

Sleepless in Seattle

Sleepless in Seattle (1993) is the classic “chick flick”, a story about love at first sight, and people who are meant to be together that is utterly romantic. However, could the enduring qualities about this film be attributed to the gender of its director? Written and directed by Nora Ephron, Sleepless in Seattle touches on the timeless question of the existence of true love. What distinguishes this film from other “chick flick” romantic comedies is the way love is presented to its audience.
Epron works to develop her characters into “real people” straying from the usual stereotypes for similar films. Gender roles are almost totally set aside within this film. Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks) is a sensitive caring father who is lost after the death of his wife, while Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) is a successful journalist who doesn’t believe in fate. Both Hanks and Ryan play incredibly real characters that are easily related to. Whether or not Ephron uses female insight to develop her characters or simply her own insights as a person is irrelevant because her ability to see and understand human motivations and emotions is uncanny.
Hanks’ conversation with his friend Jay (Rob Reiner) about dating is something only a woman would actually write about. I have yet to see another film where a man is so open about his dating worries. He is scared and uncertain, yet Ephron is able to turn this scene into a humorous light hearted conversation while still expressing the emotions of her character. The butts scene as I like to call it really targets male emotions without exploiting the vulnerability of the situation that Hanks finds himself thrust into. She doesn’t allow Hanks’ character to viewed as a bubbling emotional wreck, instead he retains a very masculine personal which becomes incredibly endearing. He is a strong man with a heart, a character that is very rarely depicted in Hollywood today.

in the cut

“In The Cut” is the first movie I have ever seen or at least that I can recollect that is as violent and gory as it is and is written and directed by a woman. This is the second work of Jane Campion I have seen and I enjoyed “In The Cut” much more than “The Piano.” While “In The Cut” has a female leading role and plays on her emotions and strength, I can not imagine this movie attracting too much of a female audience due to its graphic violence. Campion proves herself a courageous director with the sex scenes in this movie also, for they are graphic to a point that I have not seen in any other film. The movie is about a school teacher, Frannie, (played by Meg Ryan) her relationship with a detective, Malloy, (played by Mark Ruffalo) and a serial killer who targets several women in Frannie’s residential area. At the beginning of the film, Frannie seems to be a conservative young teacher who hasn’t been with a man in some time, while Malloy, the detective knows exactly how to please a woman and is not conservative in his actions or language ever. Malloy seduces Frannie and shows her something she was missing in her life, a man. Frannie feels for Malloy, but is cautious because the killer has some similar attributes to Malloy and although she has intercourse with him she doesn’t trust him at all. Throughout the film we see Frannie transformation from a quiet stoic school teacher, to a passionate person who feels and is more of a sexual being. Unlike “The Piano”, “In The Cut” is not so much driven by its characters, because it has more of an exciting story involving a serial killer on the loose. This means that her characters aren’t as deep as they were in the Piano, where there actions create the plot.

Retooling Hollywood

In the Cut

I found a few things quite interesting while watching “In the Cut.” First of all, I simply could not get over my feeling that Meg Ryan did NOT belong in that part of town, and she was not meant to be conversing with the people she knew. She seemed to come from a different class, she went to boarding school, valued education, dressed more conservatively, and while she appeared to be aware of the situations around her, she did not give in to that lifestyle. She was very different from her half sister. I found it hard to believe that they grew up as sisters because they seemed to come from different backgrounds. I wish that could have been explained a little better, because I found it a little distracting.
I also found it fascinating how much time was devoted to making the good detective appear to be the killer. The tattoo, the conversation about engagement, the sister’s comment on wanting the detective all seemed to imply that he was the killer. I suppose most of the story consisted of that tension between the audience (and at times Meg Ryan) believe he was the killer.
Everything was so crude in the film! Even her fantasy of Giovanni earlier in the film was a little crude. It was a little uncomfortable because there we were, watching Meg Ryan in a very intimate, personal situation, and the movie, as a whole seemed to break all personal, intimate boundaries. Even the scene with the blue finger nailed woman performing oral sex on the killer detective is shot very close, and feels uncomfortably personal.
The reds in the movie accentuated the bloodiness and the passion. Red appeared to be the only vibrant color in the film, surrounded by brown and grey.
I enjoyed the film, and I thought the cinematography and script carried us well along that twisted, crude, and violent world.

In the Cut

In the beginning of In the Cut, the main character, Frannie, is writing a book about slang. She says to her friend that "Slang is either sexual or violent," to which her friend responds "or both." This exchange helps set the tone for a movie that explores a lot of sex and violence. In the Cut has been accused of being misogynistic, but I disagree. Some have made objections to Frannie's desire for a man who she thinks could be the serial murderer who killed her sister. However, I think Frannie is supposed to be a very sympathetic character, and that it seems to make sense that she could fall for man who is a detective who is therefore supposed to be safe. The real character the audience is supposed to dislike is Malloy's partner, who establishes himself as a sort of villain from the time we meet him because he is clearly a misogynist. He acts very sexist when Frannie first meets in him the bar – he dismisses her and continues talking to Malloy, making obnoxious womanizing comments.

I did think it was ironic that Campion made this film after the scene in the piano where they are putting on a play where a man murders his wives and the Maori people object. In class, we interpreted this as a critique of western society where violence, particularly against women, is often used in entertainment. In the Cut contained a huge amount of violence towards women.

The colors red and green were prevalent in this film and probably took on several different meanings, but I guessed that they represented Frannie’s confusion. She didn’t know who to trust in the movie and while she was falling in love with Malloy it was easily possible that he was the murderer. This made it seem like the red and green lighting were sort of her simultaneous feelings of wanting to stop out of fear of the possibility of him being the killer and wanting to go on with the sexual relationship out of love for him.

In The Cut

In The Cut (2003) directed by Jane Campion is an incredible film both for its cinematography and its use of eyes. Campion uses both as tools to embellish the film’s plot. One of the most intense and graphic films I have ever seen, In The Cut is literally a piece of art. The way the camera shoots the actors, the facial expressions of the actors, and even the lighting in the film add to its overall success.
Campion makes many strong decisions in the film that make watching it difficult but looking away impossible. Her use of natural light, harsh light, allows her to play with the mood of her film. Pauline’s (Jennifer Jason Lee) apartment, Frannie’s (Meg Ryan) apartment, the Bars, the streets, and even the police station are all lit with this incredible light that both washes the characters out as well as giving them an air of mystery like everything is happening in the shadows. This use of light helps to establish the dingy, sweltering, unforgiving atmosphere of New York City in the summer. This atmosphere in turn provides the perfect setting for Campion’s film. It is hot, it is dangerous, and it is impersonal. It also highlights the desperation of Ryan’s character. Like a time bomb her situation is ready to explode, the audience knows this, they can see it in the shaky movements and quick cuts of the camera, they can hear it in the heightened sound of the film, and they are simply waiting at the edges of their seats for that horrible moment to come.
Campion uses tactics like these took keep her audience guessing. In this film nothing is for sure until the credits start to roll. She keeps her audience guessing, and they never quite know who to trust. This aspect of her film posses a powerful statement on modern society. Even in a culture where men and women are supposedly equals their exists a strong misogynistic undertone that is violent and manipulative.

Clueless

Clueless (1995) is a wonderful example of how female direction can take a simple story full of stereotypes and clichés and turn that story into something much deeper for their female audiences. Amy Heckerling’s direction takes Clueless far beyond the expectations of her audience through her subtle use of detail. Use of themes, feminist ideas, and dialogue turn this simple film into a cinematic treasure. Although the story revolves around the somewhat shallow dramas of Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) and her high school friends, Dionne (Stacey Dash) and Tai (Brittany Murphy), the undertones of the plot have universal significance.
Clueless is surprising. Although it seems to be a “chick flick” one cannot help noticing the Heckerling’s social commentary. Yes, the film’s characters are caught up in the superficial aspects of modern life, clothing, cars, and social status, however, when considered outside the parameters of the movie itself these themes take on a whole new meaning. Heckerling is not simply poking fun at some spoiled rich kids in Beverly Hills; she forces her audience to consider their own role within this ridiculous society. She seems to ask, how far have we strayed, and how much farther can society go? Looking back, when I first saw clueless I was about ten years old, I remember being awed by Cher and her amazing computerized closet, I remember thinking how cool those kids were at the party in The Valley, and most of all I remember how much I wanted to be in high school.
Now, watching Clueless I cannot help but be appalled by how little society has changed. It remains obsessed by standards of beauty, wealth, and status that are seriously out of control, like those kids in Beverly Hills we continue to push the limits and take very little time to consider the consequences of our actions. Heckerling was commenting on the lives of American girls, it’s scary how little has changed in the last decade.

In the Cut

The film In the Cut was filled with so much suspense, being that it was not until the last moment that all the pieces to the puzzle were revealed. Throughout the film, Campion places many possible choices in the film as suspects, but at the last moment reveals the criminal who in my opinion was one of the least expected choices. However, all throughout the film subtle hints are dropped such as detective Malloy stating that his partner who is revealed as the murderer does not believe that all the murders are connected. In this film many of the scenes are graphic and intense unlike the other movies we have watched. Also many aspects of the movie do not connect well with each other. In the beginning the storyline develops very slowly which hints that director is a female. However, although this movie has a female director, writer and producer is not the typical romantic chick flick. In fact I do not believe that this film can even be labeled as a chick flick. Though the movie does show a relationship between Frannie and Detective Malloy the romance is not on a level that most women want. Instead the relationship between the two is disturbing with no solid emotional connection. Unlike the other films we have watched where the female character experiences a renewal or a better understanding of who she is that is not the case with Frannie.
In the beginning of the film Frannie seems to be burnt out, lost and in search of something. Campion places red in the same scene with Frannie a lot. For instance, the large red heart which reads mom, I think that the use of red is to depict the violence and murder that occurs in the film. Unlike the other films in which some sort of new understanding about life takes place, this does not happen in this film. The only thing I can see Frannie gaining from the outcome is being able to develop some level of trust with Detective Malloy. However, as for their relationship though I believe it is showed that they have moved on from simply a sexual attraction there is no clear understanding of where they can go from there on out.

In the Cut

In The Cut was not all I thought it would be. It was more tame than I thought it was hyped up to be. Yes, there were very explicit sex scenes. Yes, there was an amputated head. I did not see the need for Kevin Bacon's character in the film though. He did not seem to add much to the film except to establish the fact that Franny had a pension for picking up strange guys and tried to discard them when she was through having sex with them. I guess the reason he is present is to show the connection she had with Detective Malloy and how her habits changed, but I think that is it.
From Dr. Boles' warning or disclaimer of the movie, I thought that you would see grotesque body parts dripping with blood or intenstines oozing blood, something reminiscent of Seven but it was not there. I guess that is the difference between a male and female director. In the Cut focused more on telling the story through colors like red and green fabrics, dulling the lights or distorting the images. It creates more of an uncertainty and suspense without being to out of the ordinary. In the Cut also told the story through poetry and references back to the main character's family.
The slow motion sequences of her parents are shown like old time romantic films but slowly transform into a horror sequence or nightmare to show how her father cut her mom to pieces so to speak when he left her. This also draws on the fact that Franny thinks she is closely involved with the killer.

Cut It Out...

The Cut was by far the most vulgar and disturbing film I have ever seen. I have seen some twisted horror films with blood and bodies and I have seen films with intense sex scenes, but the combination of both intense gore and sex was just too much to handle. There was no chance to relax. People were either performing intense sex acts or disgusting human remains were being found. I still can’t get a grasp on how much nastiness I saw in within a two hour span, and I’m haven even harder time synthesizing everything that happened.
As the movie began I had a hard time figuring out the setting, time, characters, purpose, etc. It took me almost fifteen minutes to get my bearings and sort out who is who, where they are, what they are doing, etc. Meg Ryan’s character was very ambiguous and I wasn’t sure what her profession was and where she was going. I was really irritated by the fact that so much information wasn’t presented and it took so long to answer my questions. It made following the films progression somewhat difficult, and I would assume that it would be helpful to watch the film a second time.
The relationship between Meg and her student was also ambiguous and I found it difficult to understand where it fit into the rest of the film. I felt like there were too many characters with side plots going on so it was hard to find the common thread among them. There was just too much going on; all the viewer needed to see was the progression of Meg and Mark’s relationship, as well as the progression of the serial killers killings.
In terms of the directing I noticed a lot of interesting color choices. There were a lot of dreary blues and grays with splashes of bright erotic red. There were never even scenes with bright colors or bright light from the sun. The scenes were always dreary, dark, and depressing. Obviously Campion was making a statement with those color choices. I also noticed there unique camera angles that put the viewer in the car, the apartment, the bar, etc.
All in all I found the film to be interesting, but I don’t feel comfortable saying that I enjoyed the film because I don’t know how you can enjoy watching intimate, graphic, and sometimes vulgar sex scenes paired with gory, blood, and always-vulgar murder scenes. And the all around tone of the film was far from cheery and enjoyable.

In the Cut

In the Cut was at all what I had expected. I was a little nervous that it was going to be really graphic (which is was) and a lot of blood and violence. I am one of the worst people to watch a scary or bloody movie with because i am so jumpy and get scared easily. Gun shots and loud noises, or suspense make me crazy in movies. However, when I see a movie that I don’t need to cover my eyes in a lot, I usually like it. I have a lot of mixed feelings about In the Cut. The story I really liked, even though I was really sad when the sister died. I thought Meg Ryan was really great in this role, which is interesting because she usually is very innocent and perky. I think it is good to give and actor a role that is different than what they are used to. I wasn’t able to watch any of the scenes with dead bodies (luckily there were only two) but I think it was necessary to have it that graphic in order to show the intensity. I was a little confused by the end. Malloy and Rodriguez were partners and really good friends. They got the 3 of spades tattoo together and they’re obviously close. Did Malloy know that whole time that Rodriguez was the killer? Or did he realize it when he was handcuffed in Franny’s apartment? If he did know about it, why did he pretend that he didn’t? This movie was completely unpredictable! Even though I said in one of my previous blogs that I like being able to predict movies, I actually liked that I couldn’t predict this one. The entire movie I kept saying “Cornelius is the killer!” or “Malloy is the killer” or Kevin Bacon’s character, and I kept finding evidence or quotes that they said that made me think that. For example, I was sure the Bacon was the killer at one point because he had said “ I took a shower” and then the next scene Pauline was dead in the shower. I am assuming that this was Campion’s intention. The detective ( I think his name was Rodriguez) was one of the last guys that I predicted to be the murderer

Something that stood out was that in many scenes with Malloy, his tattoo on his wrist was showing. Now I know that it is in a very visible place, but I only saw it when he and Franny were alone together, and in many scenes when his hands were on her head, or when they were being intimate, which is exactly how she had noticed it on the detective receiving oral sex. I think Campion definitely chose when the viewer would see the tattoo and where his hand would be at the time. The color red was very prominent in the movie. It was everywhere all the time. Red can have so many meanings! It stood for passion, and violence and intensity. It also represented fear and death. All in all, I didn’t mind the movie. It was a little too graphic for my taste, but I like detective stories and it kind of reminded me slightly of CSI. I wouldn’t say that I really liked it, but I also didn’t really dislike it. I think that Campion is a very interesting, and talented director and I am interested in seeing other films by her.