Movie Reviews Wasinee Siewsrichol

A Beautiful Mind

A Beautiful Mind was written by Akiva Goldsman and Sylvia Nasar. This book is a true story about a genius mathematician named John Nash. John Nash attended Princeton University on the Carnegie Scholarship, and there, Nash was able to publish the Nash equilibrium. His theory laid the foundations for economics and evolution. The book was adopted into a movie, and it was directed by Ron Howard. John Nash was played by , Ed Harris as Parcher, Jennifer Connelly as Alicia Nash, Christopher Plummer as Dr. Rosen, and Paul Bettany as Charles.

I liked the way Crowe portrayed his character. John Nash was very socially awkward, and Crowe showed this by subtle actions such as the averted eyes when he talks to people. He mumbled and stuttered, and then stood with his back slightly hunched. This showed that he is not confident and is uncomfortable with the attention. The editing and music was great. Nash was in a bar with his Princeton peers. His peers make fun of Nash for not being good with the ladies. As Nash was thinking on how to be able to get a beautiful blonde woman in the bar, time stops for Nash. The director showed this by stopping all motions in the bar, and the only focus was on Nash and the girls. The tempo of the music started getting faster. In Nashs room, everything was moving except for Nash. Night becomes day, and the snow storm stops. The audience can see that when Nash is thinking, he thinks about nothing else except for math. His settings were blurred except for his numbers. Certain numbers, pages, or words in a magazine would be glowing.

The movie did a great job in showing the progression of each character. After Princeton, Nash was able to get a job at Wheeler Defense labs at MIT. Nash was first introduced to the conspiracy when he broke a code to some top secret locations. As he was walking out, Nash saw a man in a dark suit and wearing a hat, and asks, ”Who is Big Brother?”. I loved the subtle reference to George Orwell’s book, 1984. In 1984, Big Brother is the government. No one can escape from Big Brother because he sees all and knows all. At the end of 1984, the main character was also brain washed by Big Brother. This statement was foreshadowing Nash’s impending illness. Schizophrenia is like Big Brother. A person cannot escape the hallucinations and the paranoia that comes with the illness. Schizophrenia is incurable, and it can take over a person’s life. The audience sees that through Nash and his wife. Nashs wife, Alicia, grows increasingly irritable. Alicia is angry because of the unfairness of the situation and feels guilty at wanting to leave John. However, she feels that she has an obligation to stay and care for him because John is the man that she loves. She says that she can sometime see the traces of the old John. John acquires depression because his medications made him unable to work. Work was everything to Nash. He did not have any friends, and so Nash concluded that he was not meant for people. He did not like people, and the people did not like him. The only thing that made sense for Nash was math. At the end of the movie, Nash was able to come to the realization that there were certain things more important than work which was love. He said that he would not be there and winning all of the recognition and the Noble Peace Prize if it was not for his wife. I would give this movie an 8 out of 10, and I would recommend this movie to other people. Good Will Hunting

Good Will Hunting is directed by Gus Van Sant and written by and Ben Affleck. This movie is about a man named Will Hunting, played by Matt Damon, who works as a janitor at MIT and has a gift for mathematics. I liked how unique the movie was compared to other films because it seems like everybody has their own inner demons. Typically, a movie is just focused on the main character and his or her problems instead of the entire cast. Professor Gerald Lambeau, played by Stellan Skarsgrd, was a famous mathematician who was the winner of a Field medal. Although he has the fame, he does not feel as accomplished. Gerald is jealous that Will has all of this potential and can solve a math problem in a day, but it took the professor and his team two years. Then there is the psychologist who graduated from MIT, but works at a community college. Sean Maguire, played by Robin Williams, has a few demons inside of him. First his wife died of cancer, and he was abused as a child. Even though he is a psychologist and he knows how to help other people, but he does not know how to help himself. It was not until Sean met Will that Sean realized how to let go. Will is like a younger version of himself. Will grew up in an abused household and in the southern part Boston. Will hides his hurt through his sarcastic ways and builds a barrier around himself. It was not until his best friend Chuckie, played by Ben Affleck, told him to that he is wasting his life being a laborer because Will has so much potential. Chuckie told Will that it was his dream to see Will leave and never say goodbye.

I loved all of the characters in the movie because everyone is unique. However, I liked the character of Chuckie the most. Chuckie is one of those friends who everybody wants to have. A friend who will be brutally honest and risk losing a friend in exchange for that friends happiness. It is also hard to be a friend to a genius, but even harder to know that the friend is wasting his potential.

The music in this movie was also played at the right time and creates the right mood. In the scene where Chuckie goes to pick up Will to go to work, but finds that Will is not there. The music that was playing made the audience feel like there is a new beginning. The ending was bittersweet, but the music made the audience feel hopeful, and that everything is going to be alright. Then after that scene is the scene where Sean is reading Wills goodbye letter. The music made a nostalgic mood because Will used the same words that Sean said to him. When Sean first saw his future wife at a bar, Sean gave up a very important baseball game in order to talk to this woman. Will is also giving up his friends and home in order to chase a brighter future and be with Skylar.

Even though the characters, , and concept of the movie were fantastic, I did not find the movie to be the greatest movie of all time because the movie became boring at times, and I found myself falling asleep during some parts of the movie. The director and actors did everything right, but because of my own personal tastes, I would give this movie an 8 out of 10. It would not be one of those movies I would watch again, but I would still recommend this to other people.

2 Stand and Deliver

Stand and Deliver is a film that is based on a true story about a high school teacher, Jaime Escalante, who takes on the challenge of making his students take and pass the AP Calculus exam. Edward James Olmos plays the main character Jaime. Escalante leaves his steady paying job in order to teach at Garfield High School, and implements a rigorous study schedule for the students that were considered illiterate. The other teachers had very low expectations for Escalantes students because the school was full of Hispanic students from working class families.

The script writers and Escalante were excellent in this movie. The writers made the character Jaime feel more real to the audience. Jaime is full of charisma with his Hispanic accent and humor. I loved how he would sometimes insert some Spanish words into is speech, but the writers smoothly explained what the words meant. Although some words are not the most appropriate phrases to say in a classroom setting, Jaime talked to each of his students like they were his friends. As time went on, Jaime made each student feel like they were a part of his family. He believed in his students when nobody else would, and even staked his career when the AP board of education thought that the students were cheating. And in return, the students were able to trust him.

This movie also took us inside a whole new world. Some of us are lucky enough to be able to sit in a nice clean school with a high graduation pass rate. This disparity is shown in the scene right after the pool scene. I liked how the director shows the people who do not have to learn math swimming in pools and having fun with their beach balls. The scene is bright and people are laughing. Then the scene transitions into a hot classroom. The students have to pass around oranges to keep cool because the air conditioner was not working. The students are sweating and the room is crowded because Jaime could feel the students agitation, but to lighten up the mood he says, Think cool. Then he has his students repeat this phrase like a chant. Then each student starts to smile. This scene was touching in that even though each student could have left the room, but they stayed in order to learn.

I loved this movie and I would give it a 9 out of 10. The students were not expected to graduate high school, and things such as gang violence and being called a slut or prostitute was normal. One student even said that he needed two sets of books, one for school and the other for his house because he could not walk around carrying books without having his street friends see them. Before, the students would give Jaime snarky comments, but now they are able to concentrate. Each student is changing. Before they were not able to do something as simple as an algebra problem such as solve if X+Y=2 and X=1, then what is Y? At the end of the movie, all of the students passed. This movie was inspirational and enjoyable and I would recommend this movie.

3 The Man Who Knew Infinity

The Man Who Knew Infinity is about a man named Srinivasa Ramanujan, played by Dev Patel, who is a genius self-taught mathematician. Srinivasa leaves his young wife Janaki, played by Devika Bhise, and travels to Trinity College at Cambridge with Professor G.H. Hardy, played by , to make profound discoveries in mathematics. The movie writer and director was Matthew Brown, and the movie was based off a true story. The beginning of the film was in Madras, India in 1914. Srinivasa grew up in a very poor family where paper was considered a luxury, however, his intelligence and curiosity took him to England. In England, he faced many racial prejudices.

The movie settings were picked very well. Srinivasa and Janaki were at the beach and he told her that he wanted to cross the ocean. She told him that crossing the ocean is forbidden for them. The ocean itself is symbolic because of the endless amount of water. The world is huge and full of discoveries, and Srinivasa knows that. He wants to see the world and spread his knowledge to the world. However, he has to leave his wife. Along with the sounds of the waves and the seagulls, the audience hears the sad music of the piano. The scene was also dark, but as they were talking, the director blurs the background. The actors also acted the scene very well. Although they did not have a lot of lines, they conveyed their feelings very clearly. Janaki stares very intently at Srinivasa; her eyes look like she is very worried, scared, and reluctant. But Srinivasas eyes are determined. He reassures her that no matter what obstacles they face, he will overcome them as long as she is with him.

I liked the film because it sheds light on a story of a mathematician that was not very well known. There are many movies about Albert Einstein or Isaac Newton, but not many on Indian mathematicians. Many critics from have rated the film a 6.2 out of 10 because of the unoriginal style of the director and the movies predictability. The story itself is a one in a million, but the execution of the movie has been reused by other directors, the plot of a genius who faces the world. Another point of dissatisfaction is that the film focuses more on the drama than it does on the mathematics. I agree with these critics, but I still think that it was a great movie because it showed Srinivasas character. Since it was the outbreak of World War I, rationing was expected. The rationing almost starved him to death because his religion did not allow any meat in his diet. His faith in God was unquestioned. Srinivasa would often compute or create a theory but did not show any work. He says that this was all possible because of God. Hardy, an atheist, disagrees with him and tells him that he needed proofs. These two mathematicians are very different on so many levels, but they were able to somehow work together as a team. This movie brings into question of if he is truly a genius or the theories just come to him from God. My favorite line from the movie is when Hardy asks Ramanujan, Why do you do it? Ramanujan replies, Because I have to. I loved this simplicity of his answers because this phrase shows that he is a man on a mission. I would give this movie an 8 out of 10. I thought that the acting was wonderful and the setting was artistic and beautiful.

4 21

21 is based off a true story about six MIT students who are in a blackjack team. Ben Campbell, played by Jim Sturgess, is one of the MIT students. He dreams of going to Harvard Medical School, but the huge debt of 300,000 dollars makes him unable to achieve his dreams. However, he is one of the candidates that is considered for a scholarship, but despite his amazing resume, competition is still tough unless he writes an amazing essay. He reluctantly joins the blackjack team in order to pay for his tuition. He and along with five others undergo an intense training period directed by Professor Micky Rosa, played by . They go to Las Vegas in order to win a huge amount of money.

What I liked most about the movie was the cinematography. Las Vegas is famous for its casinos, gambling, lights, and busy nights. The casino scene starts off as a medium shot of Ben. He is walking around to see which table he needs to go to. There is a lot of background noise of people talking and there is a lot of things in the scene. There are people talking to each other, slot machines, and lots of colors. The director transitions into a point of view shot. From Bens point of view, the audience sees one of his teammates Kianna, played by Liza Lapira, gives Ben a signal by crossing her arms behind her chair. Then it goes to a close up of the blackjack table. Before, the frame rate was average, but it starts to slow down and the audience sees the camera zoom in on Bens eyes. This shows that the audience is going to go inside Bens head and see his thought processes. The card dealer deals the cards, and the audience can only see the table and cards, but we can only hear Bens voice. In this scene, there is a quick switch between the card frame and the close up of Bens eyes. By using these camera techniques, the director is building up the suspense.

I thought that this movie was good but not fantastic. The actors who played this movie was bland. Each did not bring the characters personalities to life. Jim Sturgesss acting was below average. His expressions seemed force and unnatural, and his eyes did not give off any emotions. Another flaw to this movie was the explanations. I was confused on how card counting actually worked. The general population probably do not have a PhD in mathematics or some sort of science, therefore, they should have done a better job in trying to make us see inside the geniuss heads. The plot of this story was also very predictable. It was a group of geniuses who do something they are not supposed to. The main character gets super cocky and ends up losing his friends, girlfriend, and money. They reunite one last time to try to win it big. The casino scenes were overplayed. Also, the group of students were the smartest students at MIT, but they went to the same casino enough times to get them caught by security chief Cole Williams, played by Lawrence Fishburne. Even though I did not have a 4.0 GPA or get a 44 on my MCAT, I would be smart enough to not go to the same casino. The movies great editing crew and camera crew could not make up for the terrible actors or the bland storyline. The title of the movie was not all that original either. The movie had a great concept, but I would give this movie a 6 out of 10. It was a watchable movie, but not a movie I would spend my two hours watching again.

5 Proof

Proof is about a girl named Catherine, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, who has a famous father. Robert, played by , was an amazing prodigy and revolutionized the mathematics field before he was 22, but suffers from a mental illness for the past 20 years of his life. Robert passes away last week, and the funeral is held tomorrow. Catherine wakes up from a dream and hears some noise from her fathers room. She soon finds a man named Hal who is a mathematician and a student of her father. Her father was a professor at the University of Chicago, and Hal is looking through her fathers stuff in order to find Roberts unfinished discoveries. Catherine calls the cops on him and tells him to leave, but she finds a notebook in the pocket of his coat. The rest of the movie is how Catherine struggles with the guilt of trying to work on her own proof and disregarding her fathers work and her own insanity.

The use of colors in this film was used very well. In the scene where she finds Hal in her fathers room, the mood was tense. The audience could see the shadows on the actors faces, and Catherine is very pale. She was not wearing any bright clothing, a dusty purple shirt with gray sleeves. We could tell that she was struggling with her fathers death by just the colors. The room also did not have any bright colors. The room had beige curtains and walls, and brown tables and window frames.

I thought that the plot was unoriginal. I have seen many movies where there are two very different sisters who both struggle with their fathers illness but react in very different ways. Claire, played by Hope Davis, is Catherines sisters who lives in New York. While Claire was living in New York, Catherine stayed behind in order to take care of her father. Catherine resents Claire for that and hates the fact that Claire is always being judgmental of her. The appearances between the two sisters are different in that Claire is a very polished woman. She wears a business suit and high heels with nicely curled hair. Claires makeup is also brighter than Catherines with lipstick and lined eyes. Catherine on the other hand wears a worn out jean jacket and a simple shirt under and minimal makeup. Catherines hair is also tied up in a messy bun. This types of sisters are in almost every movie.

I also thought the romance in the movie was lacking or unnecessary. They should either make the romance more believable or cut the romance from the movie altogether. This movie was also not one of Paltrows best works because her acting was bland and strained. I did not like this movie. I would give this movie a 5.5 out of 10.

6 Agora

Agora is based off a true story about Hypatia, played by Rachel Weisz, a teacher of astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy during the fall of the Roman Empire. There were violent religious riots in the streets, Hypatia and her disciples are forced to take refuge in the famous Library of the Serapeum. She is fighting to unite the people and save the wisdom of the Ancient World. There is a love triangle in which two men are fighting for Hypatias love. One is her slave Davus, played by Max Minghella, and the other is the privileged Orestes, played by Oscar Isaac. Davus struggles with the fact that if he joins the Christians, he will be able to retain his freedom, but he would have to betray Hypatia.

This is a sad but true story about a woman who tried to change the world. In scene of Hypatias death, men in black coats stripped her and then sexually assaulted her. The black coats signifies the evil in their hearts. Hypatia was also wearing red before she was stripped which symbolizes death. Davus stays behind and suffocates her to death because he did not want her to feel any pain when they will eventually stone her to death. We hear some singing and hymns in the scene, but we do not hear any of the voices of the poeple in the scene. It was if angels were singing Hypatias soul to heaven. Hypatia was a martyr that died for knowledge. She defies the Christians and upholds her values, even though it was at the cost of her own life. This movie really brings into question who is the evil ones here. The two sides were fighting because of religion, and they continue to fight to this day. Do humans have the right to decide which is the right religion? If there was a God, why would he create a world where humans fight each other? Is it the humans who are at fault or is it the Gods fault? Then there is the question of is there even a God?

But then again, who are we to judge what is morally right or wrong? Some people may say that the ends justifies the means and that dying or fighting for your religion is an honor. While others might believe that it does not matter what religion you belong to, it matters who you are as a person and the values you uphold. One scene from the movie really shows this conflict. Orestes nearly got stoned to death by a mob because he would not swear upon the words of the Bible. Orestes knows that Synesius, played by Rupert Evans, will not help him unless he kneels and swears his faith to Christianity. Orestes is doubtful about the existence of God, but he kneels in order to gain power and to live. He needed power in order to save Hypatia and himself. The internal struggle is either to survive or uphold his moral values. This movie was a great movie because it showed that every religion up until now has shed blood and that no religion is pure because not every human has a pure heart. We all have some good and bad within ourselves. This movie had everything that a movie should have and it executed it really nicely. It had some fighting scenes and some touching scenes. The romance felt real and the plot was full of excitement and adventure. Weiszs acting was excellent. I absolutely loved this one line from her. She said, ”you don’t question what you believe... You cannot... I must. This journey is a lonely journey and the way Weisz said those lines touched my soul. I would highly recommend this movie to a friend and I give the movie an 8.5 out of 10.

7 I.Q.

I.Q. is about a man named Ed Walters, played by Tim Robbins, Catherine Boyd, played by Meg Ryan, and Albert Einstein, played by . Catherines and her fiance James Moreland, played by Stephen Fry, car broke down. They took their car to a garage where Ed Walters, played by Tim Robbins, works as a mechanic. Ed instantly falls for Catherine and goes to her house in order to return her pocket watch but finds out that she is the niece of Albert Einstein. Ed helps Albert and his friends, Nathan Liebknecht, played by Joseph Maher, Kurt Gdel, played by Lou Jacobi, and Boris Podolsky, played by Gene Saks, retrieve a badminton racket. Albert and his friends instantly knew that Ed likes Catherine and that Catherine is unhappy with her current fiance, and so the old men try to set Catherine and Ed together. Catherine only likes intelligent men and so Ed pretends to be a genius who came up with cold fusion. The story goes on with Ed trying to woo Catherine with the help of the old men.

One great point of the movie is the double meanings that were very subtle but if a person understood them, it was pure genius. In the beginning of the movie where the scene takes place in a garage. Ed and Catherine start talking to each other. ”May I look under the bonnet?” James, reassured by the use of the word ’bonnet’ consents. Ed looks at it, looks at Catherine and pronounces, ”You have no spark.” There’s clearly a double meaning here, referring to her relationship with James. James insists, ”But what’s wrong with it?” and Ed adds, ”My guess is that you have a short stroke and premature ignition.” He turns to Meg Ryan and says, ”Does it ever feel that way?” She replies, ”I’m sure I don’t know what you mean” but it’s clear that she gets the double entendre.

I absolutely loved this movie, and the best part of the movie was not the main characters, but the old scientists. There was one scene where the scientists were dressing up Ed. I thought that scene was hilarious because of the fact that most people want to dress younger, but the older generation is dressing the younger generation. Also, the vibes the scientists gave were of cute grandpas, but they are probably one of the most intelligent people in their times. The accents were a bonus too. The appearance of Einstein was very accurate since he had his signature crazy hair. Another great point about this movie is the main character Ed. I loved how much he does for a girl in the most clumsy and awkward ways. The confession scene was also romantic. They were on a boat in the middle of the lake. There are birds chirping and ducks swimming in the water. Albert also tries to make the relationship move faster by rocking the boat because he controlled the steering wheel, and Catherine falls into Eds arms. Then Albert just smiles through his mustache. Then Albert rocks the boat a second time. Ed was supposed to be the one to confess his feelings, but while Catherine was about to reject, she says. You cant expect somebody who youve just met. Somebody who hardly knows you to suddenly say... Then she looks deeply into Eds eyes and says, I love you. She just realized something about herself. The Ed smiles and says, I understand and thats okay. She says, No. I love you. I do. Then they kiss. I loved that scene so much. I would give this movie a 10 out of 10 and recommend this to anyone.

8 The Imitiation Game

The Imitation Game is based off a true story of a man named Alan Turing, played by Benedict Cumberbatch. The movie starts off in the home in England of Alan Turing, a well-known professor at Cambridge, and he has been robbed. Then the movie takes the audience to a flashback to WWII. Alan arrives at Bletchley Park which was guarded by Royal Naval officers, and he waits in the office of Commander Denniston, played by Charles Dance. The Commander was about to kick Alan out because he seemed cold and dismissive, but Alan mentions the Enigma program. The Enigma is a top secret encryption device that if the Allies crack the code, then the Allies can win the war. Alan claims to be the one who is able to solve it. He is accepted into the program along with five other people. They are Peter Hilton, played by Matthew Beard, John Cairncross, played by Matthew Beard, and Hugh Alexander, played by Matthew Goode.

I liked how the scene was set up. In one scene, I saw burning buildings and a broken car on the right. The sky was murky and dark blue. The smoke fills the air. There were broken pieces of glass and wood everywhere on the ground, and we see people running. The most important part of the scene was that it was a long shot. The people looked very small compared to the land. The director did this in order to make the people seem insignificant compared to the world. In one scene, Alan was very overwhelmed with the task at hand and he begins to crumble under the pressure. Alan says, Im just a mathematician. But then Joan Clarke, played by Keira Knightley, said that something along the lines of it does not matter who your as long as you can imagine. The people who have those big dreams can change the world.

Another part of the movie that I liked was that I was always feeling on edge. There was never a dull moment for me because the more time the team took to crack the code, the more people die. In one scene of the movie, Alan and another man was having a conversation. That man told Alan that as they are speaking right now, three people have already died. The film showed another side to the war that no one really appreciated which were the people in the background. Everybody knows about the soldiers who are shooting their guns and losing their lives. However, people do not know about the brains in the war, which was unexpectedly a team of mathematicians.

What I liked most about this movie was Alans transformation. Before, he was a super independent person who was cold, dismissive, and he can come off as a bit rude. But now he has a team of loyal people. He is a very intelligent human, but humans can not go through life doing everything alone. That person will be too stressed from the workload or completely shut their brain down. In one scene, the government was about to fire Alan because they lost faith in him and was inpatient. Then one of his team members said that if they were to fire Alan, then they would have to fire him too. Then the rest of his team joined in, and the emotionless Alan smiled for once. Overall I enjoyed this movie and I would give this an 8.2 out of 10. I would recommend this to a friend.

9 The Theory of Everything

The Theory of Everything is the story of , a theoretical physicist and cosmologist. The movie begins with Stephens life as a university student at Cambridge, and there he meets Jane. Stephen and Jane start getting closer to each other. Then Stephen learns that he has a debilitating disease. Stephen has a slow-progressing form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as motor neurone disease, that has gradually paralysed him over the decades. He now communicates using a single cheek muscle attached to a speech-generating device. His expected life expectancy was only 2 years.

I loved the scene where Stephen and Jane were overlooking a fountain. The lighting was bright and yellow and they were in a garden. Jane looks to see their children coming and she thanks Stephen for that day. She said that everything was extraordinary. Then Stephen starts to write something. Then he said, Look. What. We. Made. What I loved most about this movie was that it had everything that a movie should have and it ended well for both of them. It showed the sacrifices that Stephen had to make, but also Jane as well. Stephen Hawking was played by Eddie Redmayne, and Jane was played by . After over a decade of marriage, Hawking decided to leave Jaine for Elaine Mason, but Jane later married Jonathan. They have been through many hardships, but it felt like they would do it all over again if they had that choice because they made three beautiful children. Then the director does a birds eye view shot and starts to increase the distance between the people. Then the movie flashbacks to the very beginning. It started with the latest monumental moment where Stephen becomes a celebrity. Then it goes to the time where he went into a coma during the opera and the surgery. Then he was holding and playing with his child and having fun with his friends. It goes back to the time he got married, the time Jane and Stephen watched fireworks together, their dance and kiss, and the time Stephens and Janes eyes first met.

Overall, I thought the movie was touching and wonderful. The movie was well scripted and well paced. Nothing was rushed, and the ending was not rushed; the movie wraps everything well. Eddie Redmayne was a star in this movie. I thought that the role he took on was not only the most challenging role, but also the role with the most pressure. If Redmayne did not portray it correctly, the audience would criticize him very harshly because people are very sensitive when it comes to people portraying a person with a disability. However, Redmayne portrayed him perfectly, down to the little details such as the nervous glances he took with Jane or the way his mouth quivered when he was trying to talk. I loved this movie and I would give it a 10 out of 10. I had very high expectations for this movie and this movie met every one of my expectations, and the cast exceeded them.

10 Pi

Pi is about a man named Maximilian Cohen, played by Sean Gullette, who is a number theorist. Max builds a supercomputer, Euclid, in order to find patterns in the stock market. Since he was young, Max suffered from painful headaches, and these headaches would sometimes make him pass out. Max also suffers from paranoia and social anxiety disorder. He would often have hallucinations, and since the movie is made through his eyes, the audience would sometimes get confused on what is real and what is fake. Euclid breaks down, but before it broke down, the computer spits out a 216 digit number. As Max thought more about this mystery, his headaches became more intense and he discovers a vein popping out from his temple. Sol Robeson, played by Mark Margolis, was his old mathematics mentor and warns Max and tells him to give up on this number. Max is also being pursued by Marcy Dawson, played by Pamela Hart, for financial reasons. Max eventually gets way too overwhelmed with the number Pi, and he suffers another stroke.

The movie was directed by Darren Aronofsky and he directed the movie with only a budget of 60000 dollars. Also, it was made in 1998 so the cameras were not as advanced as the ones today, however, the film was still nicely made. In one scene where Max was walking through the street, he was walking by a bunch of fences. Directors would often do that in order to show imprisonment because of the straight vertical lines. Max is trapped in his own mind because he is unable to differentiate his hallucinations and reality. While he was walking through a very crowded street, the director used a handheld camera and started to shake the scenery. The pace of the scene was also very fast and while the camera was on Max, the frame was also distorted. Maxs face was made to be skinnier. This was done in order to create tension and fear within the audience because of the unnatural angles and pace. Then when the camera was back on Max, the pace started to slow down and we hear the narration of Maxs voice. Then the scene goes back to the fast paced one. This was done on purpose in order disorient the audience so that they are able to be within Maxs shoes. In the following scene, we see Max staring up at the sky and trees. We hear his dialogue and music that sounded eerie and unsettling. The director zooms in on Maxs eyes which shows that we are going inside his head. I liked this movie because it was both thrilling and chilling at the same time.

Another great scene was where Max was in the subway. We first see him and his hands start to shake. There is this ear piercing sound combined with the sound of bees in the background. The camera is then placed at a sideways angle and the camera starts to shake. Then the film quickly switches from a medium length shot to a close up shot and this pattern is repeated. The camera is then mounted on a dolly and tilted. The the audience sees through Maxs eyes by a technique in which the camera is mounted on top of Maxs shoulders. The directors did that so that it was like looking through Maxs eyes. We see a man in a dark suit and his hand is dripping with blood. We could hear each drop of the blood. I just thought that this scene was beautifully done by using great camera techniques. Although this was shot in black and white, it actually helped to add to the mood because modern day viewers are so used to things being seen in color that black and white movies are different. I liked this movie because it was different and I would give it a 7 out of 10.

11 Sneakers

Sneakers is directed by Phil Alden Robinson, and written by Robinson, Walter Parkes, and Lawrence Lasker. The film starred , Dan Aykroyd, , Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, , and David Strathairn. In 1969, Martin Brice and Cosmo illegally hacked their schools funds from the schools computers, and while Martin was getting pizza, the police caught Cosmo, and Martin became a fugitive. Then the film fast forwards to the present day where Martin leads a team of specialists. Martin is approached by National Security Agency officers Dick Gordon, played by Timothy Busfield, and Buddy Wallace, played by Eddie Jones, and gives Martin the task of retrieving a black box. If Martin accomplishes this task, then they will clear his record of his past criminal activities. Then the plot gets intense where there are fake FBI agents, killers, and Martin is eventually reunited with Cosmo whom he thought had died while in prison.

What I liked best in the movie were the little comedic breaks. While the team was trying to hack into a bank, the audience could hear the ticking of the clock. There was not a lot of lighting in the room, but the faces and bodies were illuminated by a red light and blue light. While the team was trying to escape since they set off the alarm, everybody else smoothly jumps over the Wall except for Martin. Then Martin says, Im getting too old for this. Martin asks one of his teammates, Are you sure you know which one to cut. His teammate says, The alarm is always the green one. Then the lights went off. He was supposed to cut the line for the alarm but instead cut the line for the lights. Then Martin says, Good Carl. Carl Arbogast, a young genius, is played by River Phoenix. Although there are people being killed and targeted in this movie, there are certain times where the director adds in some comedy which lightens up the mood. Shakespeare also did the same thing in his plays. Before any major or intense scene, he would always add a comedic scene. I think that he did this in order to lighten the mood, and make the audience think that everything is going well. Then he surprises them with a dark scene and the audience did not see that one coming. In the next scene, Donald Crease, a former CIA officer played by Sidney Poitier, is hacking a computer. But instead of a serious scene, there is this jazzy sounding music playing in the background. This music makes a contrast between the dark lighting of the scene and the music.

I did like this movie. It was an enjoyable experience, and I thought the actors did a great job. The film cast includes three Oscar winners: Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier and Ben Kingsley; and five Oscar nominees: Dan Aykroyd, David Strathairn, River Phoenix, James Earl Jones and Mary McDonnell. I was also amazed at the technology used in this film since it is an old film. The movie came out in 1992. The film was also easy to follow and I would recommend this film to a friend. I would give this film a 7 out of 10 stars.

12 Fermat’s Room

Fermats Room is about four mathematician who do not know each other are invited to an isolated place and asked to solve one of the most difficult puzzles of all time. The mysterious host goes by the name of Fermat.Alejo Sauras plays Galois, Elena Ballesteros plays Oliva, Llus Homar plays Hilbert, Santi Milln plays Pascal, and Federico Luppi plays Fermat. Each person receives a code name. On the isolated island, the four people go inside a barn in which there is a comfortable room. They have a nice dinner together, but then Fermat gets a phone call from the hospital. The hospital says that his daughter is in a coma, and so Fermat had to leave right away. Then the four mathematician find themselves locked in the room. They receive a phone call with a mathematical riddle and given one minute to reply; soon they find that if they do not find the answer to the questions, the walls move and the room shrinks. The four people try to figure why they are being targeted.

The movie did a great job in setting the mood. When the four people first meets Format, the audience sees a room with dark red walls. Red in a movie usually signifies blood or torture. Then there is this music that makes a person watching it have chills go through their spine. The music was eerie, creepy, and dark. This scene reminds me of the last supper. They are treated to a luxurious before their death. The five people talk about various math related issues where we find that each person is very different from one another. They have differing views. Then the next scene is where they find out that the walls are closing in on them. The music starts to speed up and we see the closeup shots of the doorknob being pushed against the walls, the walls creaking, and one man trying to figure out the riddle. They start talking faster, and the tension starts to build. The door knob was under so much pressure that it fell off.

I thought that this movie was fantastic, even though I had to read subtitles throughout the entire movie since the movie was entirely in Spanish. This movie reminds me of another movie called Saw. However, this movie had intelligent people, while Saw had people who clearly did not know how to use their heads. The four people are still humans, and so they do start to panick such as trying to push a piano near the wall to stop the walls from collapsing in on them. Then one of the people says that it is no use because those hydraulic presses were meant to crush cars into cubes. Which means that it can easily crush the bones of the four humans. I really enjoyed this movie and I would recommend this to a friend. I would give this movie a 8.5 out of 10.

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