The Birds

Film Journal 1: Critique The Critic

The Bourne Ultimatum

When I read Matthew Turner's (ViewLondon) review of The Bourne Ultimatum, I couldn't have agreed more. He say's it all in the title: a satisfying conclusion to an excellent trilogy, The Bourne Ultimatum is an exciting, intelligent and impeccably directed thriller.

The movie is the final in a trilogy in which CIA intelligence agent Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), aka David Webb, searches for his identity after suffering amnesia caused by bullet wounds to the head. In the final film Bourne finally closes in on the answer after going from London to Madrid to Tangier, evading various hitmen along the way.

The first thing Turner commends about the film is the acting. Matt Damon has "an intensity to his performance that marks him out from the usual wise-cracking action heroes, even if he does seem more indestructible than three John McClanes." Turner also remarks on the supporting cast, he says "...particularly Stiles, whose character is finally expanded beyond the glorified cameos of the previous films. Allen is excellent as always and there's good work from Strathairn and Glenn, as well as a and a cameo by Albert Finney. It's just a shame Considine disappears so soon."

Turner also acclaims director Paul Greengrass's work, impressed by his "breath-taking action sequences." Greengrass's camera work was perfect for the film as well with his extensive use of "handheld cameras and rapid editing," creating "chaotic but effective sequences that would seem incoherent if directed by anyone else."

In his conclusion, Turner said "...The Bourne Ultimatum is an exciting, suspenseful and intelligent action thriller that's easily the best of the summer blockbusters. Highly recommended."

This clip from The Departed uses a couple different aspects of cinematography. First of all, the lighting in each place is different. With Billy Costigan at the airport, the director uses high key lighting to show the entire background in the distance. With Sargent Dignam in the office the director uses low-key lighting to emphasize Dignam's attitude toward Costigan. Another thing that shows this is the close up of Dignam in the shadowy room. At the airport they used mostly a medium shot so we could see the entire distant background.

Zoolander

Zoolander is one of my all-time favorite movies. It's a parody of the fashion world about a male model, Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller), who is set up in a plot to kill the prime minister of Malaysia by designer Mugatu (Will Ferrell). It's a classic "stupid-funny" movie, but however stupid it seems, film critic Eric D. Snider got it right when he said "...the humor is carefully and smartly concocted to seem dumber than it is."

Anchorman

This is legendary anchorman Ron Burgundy from the movie Anchorman. Photo courtesy of Cincinnati.com.