Okay's Thoughts on Okay Films

"Raging Bull" is totally awesome! It seems like Robert De Niro putted all of his effort and passion into this project, didn't he? He seriously impressed me with his particular dedication to his role, along with the rest of his amazing cast-mates, and their enthralling New York accents. Because of such enormous group effort, by the end of the film, I was hit by all kinds of combined emotions and feelings. So as the credits rolled, I remember being agape, and simply expressing how great of a movie Scorsese has constructed.

The best part about my experience, is how my expectations were constantly being defeated. I was continuously expecting certain plot points to turn into clichés, but that never happened. I was also captivated by all of the nuanced, and complicated relationships, between our main characters. As I said, Robert De Niro is phenomenal as Jake LaMotta. Seeing him play a person who's having his motto, 'the raging bull never goes down', challenged by the consequences of his own flawed behaviour, makes for an interesting character study. LaMotta eventually and gradually goes down, sinking in his lonely ship, due to his destructive actions towards his loved ones, therefore, he punishes himself in a terrifying last match.

I initially thought that the final act was gonna be a problem, but man was I wrong. It was actually the most emotionally jarring part of the movie. That scene in the prison cell....Fantastic! In fact, this whole film is fantastic. The editing is fantastic! the cinematography is fantastic! Them accents were fantastic too!

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Martin Scorsese's camera work has been consistently interesting to me. He really knows when to let the camera speak for itself, by having the cinematography express what's in the scene, without the help of the actors. Speaking of the actors, Griffin Dunne convincingly plays an unhappy office worker, who after a hellish night, definitely considers his mundane job to be heaven. The story is intelligently written, by heving each little or insignificant encounter Paul has, have a contributing role later on. Ultimately, everything about the film interconnects, which makes this up for multiple viewings, despite my annoyance at the uninteresting repetitions, occurring as Paul goes about his terrifying escapade.

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STUNNING! That's the first thing that comes to my mind, when thinking about this beautiful piece of film. Visually, it's truly remarkable, due to all of the noticeable (not in a boastful way) effort and details that went into its making. This is Satoshi Kon after all, so of course I will yet again praise his excellent decisions in editing, and his splendid manner of integrating fitting music with a scene, aiding its atmosphere. One could say that the entire film is an extended chase sequence, and in a way it is. Every time our main character is running her animated butt off, I was either thinking of how perfectly the accompanying music fitted, or how great of a gif this would be, especially as an avatar.

While I do think, visually, "Millennium Actress" confidently trumps "Perfect Blue" (the only other Satoshi Kon film I've had the pleasure of seeing so far), story and substance wise though, this movie is a bit lacking. Regardless, it still has brilliant sources of comedy (the documentary makers) who are genuinely funny, along with enough heart warming moments for an 80 minutes long feature. I am 2 - 0 so far with this phenomenal director, and I can't wait to up the score with his other two films.

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”Phoenix” is a very well-crafted, and brilliantly acted, (not your typical) post-WWII film. It explores many interesting themes in interesting manners, such as the heavy guilt the war had left upon the people, who just want to ignore and sweep whatever issue there is under the rug, instead of confronting it, contrary to the actual survivors, who simply cannot forgive and forget. This contrast is presented in the form of the relationship, between our three main characters: Nelly, Johnny, and Lena.

Nelly holds on to the past, and is in constant denial of the present. She craves what she once had with her husband Johnny, so she desperately tries to reconnect with him. The sort of game Nelly is playing throughout the movie, is very interesting to explore, because it is approachable in numerous different ways. One can obviously look at it, as her being attached to the pedestal she put him on, or what he once was, even if he himself can’t live up to this idea she has of him anymore. I personally perceived the situation, as her seeking and trying to make him see who she actually was, this whole time.

While the central concept may need a few stretches to totally work, it still isn't a big of a deal, that makes one detached from the created atmosphere of the film. Not to mention, the particularly skilful execution, builds up to a great third act, and a fantastic hard-hitting ending.

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"An American Werewolf in London" totally has that 80's horror flick vibe going for it, with its strong practical effects, and its black humour, along with the few exceptional scenes that makes an 80's horror flick stand out. In this film, it's of course the body transformation sequences that built its reputation, and to be fair, they genuinely still hold up to this day. However, what I more so want to praise about the movie, is how terrifying that subway scene was (at least to me). The scene works magnificently mainly because of the framing of each shot, which perfectly conveyed the thickness of the tension throughout its duration. Overall, this was an enjoyable watch, and a pretty deserving candidate for the best horror of such infamous decade.

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First and foremost, the strobe lights featured in this movie are unbearable. I simply couldn't even take a peek at my TV, due to their extremity. Anyway, as for the quality of the film, it was pretty good for the most part. My entire experience was divided into two halves. The first half, I was fairly interested and engaged with all of the happenings. While the second half turned everything into complete mediocrity.

In the beginning, the centre of attention was the psychology of our main character, and her conflicted mindset, while the supernatural aspect of the movie is put in the background, and is only a catalyst to the internal conflict. Thelma (our main character), is held back by her religious upbringing and morals, which alienate her from the generic college life that constantly tempts her. This, to me, is much more interesting than having the focus be on Thelma's powers, how to treat them, their source, etc...The latter is my issue with the second half of the film, which contains many overused tropes, such as a character going to a weird out of town place, in order to find out more about whatever occurring paranormal stuff.

All in all, the good about "Thelma" definitely outweighs the bad. It is shot very well, and has an interesting concept, but regular execution, beside the few shinning and powerful scenes here and there, such as my favourite: The first terrifying flashback to Thelma's childhood, and what happens with the baby.

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I actually watched this film twice on the same day. The first time I checked it out, it left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, but I was still feeling a crave for a re-watch. Later that day, I as expected, came out of the movie with a lot of admiration for it. When speaking of Antonioni, we definitely have to mention the visual beauty he brings to all of his features, as he is responsible for some of the best looking films in cinema. "The Passenger" (English title) is no exception, with its last 10 minutes being the most exceptionally shot. The way the camera moves, and frames each scene, it's as if it has a mind of its own. Its movements are those of a passenger, resembling our main character, who's struggling in his relationship with himself, and yearns for a blank slate, and another chance in life.

Despite all of the technical achievements, I do have my issues with the movie. I didn't really buy into some of the components of the logistics of the main event, as they seem a bit too convenient for me. I also took issue with Maria Schneider's delivery, she seemed stiff and wooden during some crucial points, but I still really dug her relationship with Jack Nicholson's character. More importantly, I wished the film had left an even bigger and stronger impact on me. The more and more I see of Antonioni, the more and more I want to re-watch "Blow-Up", the first film of his I saw and hated. What I'm even more looking forwards to, is checking out "L'avventura", which will happen very soon.

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