Comments on the Film Review Packet

Roger Ebert's Review of The Tree of Life 

Roger Ebert’s review of The Tree of Life was both enjoyable and insightful into how a great film review should read. The review was not overly dry and straightforward, but rather had a lot of personality that shined through. It stayed fairly broad and managed to provide some details about the film's story and plot, but it pulled away before divulging too much information, which could spoil the movie. While reading the review you get a sense that you are peering into Ebert’s life and it feels as though it was personal to write. It's not common that one deeply connects to a film, but Ebert's review shows his connection, even when delving into topics not directly related to him. Ultimately, the review focuses on a lot of the bigger picture aspects of the film, rather than the acting or technical aspects. I have never seen the film being reviewed; however, after reading Mr. Ebert’s comments I will be sure to watch it in the near future.

Locarno Review of Museum Hours

                         

The review of Museum Hours was much different than the previous review of The Tree of Life as it looked almost entirely at Jem Cohen’s efforts to move into more traditional narrative form. In looking at the film's narrative form, the review tended to focus a great deal on the plot summary and looked at how the film moved from beginning to end. The actors were not forgotten however, as there was a small paragraph at the end of the review discussing the performances. I found it interesting and helpful that there was a grade given to the film at the end of the review, which made the reviewer's evaluation very clear. I also thought adding how the film will play in general was useful in that it took into account how other's may perceive the film.

Peter Sobczynski's Review of Joe

The review of Joe was interesting in that a large portion of Peter Sobczynski’s focus was on the members of the team behind the film. It delves into the actors’ performances, the director, the screenwriter’s contribution, and even the cinematographer’s decisions. A lot of people who wouldn’t normally be given a lot of attention are each given their moment in the spotlight. Sobczynski makes sure to point out the performances by Nicholas Cage, Gary Poulter, and even non-professional actors. The unusual career of both Nicholas Cage and director, David Gordon Green, gave review a major angle to work from. This angle seemed to lend itself to looking into how Joe deviated from one's preconceived notions about how a film starring Cage or directed by Green may turn out. 

Roger Ebert's Review of Freddy Got Fingered

I was wondering when there would be a negative review of a film in the packet. I thought it would come with the Nicholas Cage film, but then there was Freddy Got Fingered. Ebert’s description of how bad the film is was very entertaining and funny. The review spent minimal time going into a plot summary compared to the other reviews. It seemed like Ebert wanted to get straight into the reasons it was bad in order to not waste time for both the himself and the reader. If I was going to take anything away from this review, it would be that sometimes a review should be short and to the point. 

Matt Zoeller Seitz's Review of Ex Machina

This was the densest of all of the reviews that were in the packet so far. Matt Zoeller Seitz looks deep into the genre and themes present in Ex Machina compared to the other reviews. At certain moments in the review I found myself daydreaming while reading it because of how much information was packed into the review. There is a balance needed when reviewing a film, one that teeters between a film analysis and evaluation of a film’s worth. I felt as thought Seitz may have fallen a little too much on the analysis side. Even though I didn’t particularly enjoy this review, I can see it’s worth and Seitz’s passion for and enjoyment of Ex Machina was obvious.

Manohla Dargis' Review of Spiderman 2

Where as many of the other reviews have been predominantly positive or negative, the Spiderman 2 by Manohla Dargis review was a mixture of the two. The review complimented the acting from both Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield as well as featured some positive comments about the directing of Marc Webb. However, there were some negative comments about the stale moments of the action sequences of the film and the predictability of the story. It seemed as though many of the positive aspects of Spiderman 2 that were mentioned in the review came with something negative as well. Rather than having serious issues with this film in particular, Manohla Dargis seemed to take more issue with comic book films and how they are made, than this particular film. 

Justin Chang's Review of American Hustle

This review may have been my favorite one in the packet. Justin Chang struck a perfect balance in this film review of being informative and praising the film without overselling it. The beginning bolded section gave a nice lead off into what was a fairly lengthy review. He focused a great deal on the actors and their award winning performances. It was the performances that Chang seemed to think make American Hustle so entertaining. The review also looked American Hustle in the context of the other films that David O. Russell directed. Looking at the film from a wider perspective made the film seem more significant and gave it points of comparison. It just seemed as though this review did everything well while I was reading it.