Jack Oberli's Blog

 Sofia Coppola's rom com "Lost in Translation" takes on a melancholy theme to the genre. It uses changes of tempo and character contrast to build a large part of this theme. While not overly hilarious it does have its charming moments both in mix ups fitting in with Harris attempting to fit into Japanese culture and interactions with Charolotte.      As alluded to before, Lost in Translation is designed to be slower film. I believe that this largely plays to the pieces advantage. Harris is supposed to be going through a midlife crisis and has no idea what he wants to do with his life. While this may lead some to completely blow up in panic, Harris goes the other route and lulls out of caring. Meaning the slowness of the plot adds to the dullness Harris is feeling in his life. Of course, this begins to change when he meets Charlotte, but all the same their love is more romantic friendliness than overly passionate which ties easi...

 When thinking about Jordan Peele, his work in the skit comedy series "Key & Peele" often comes to mind. However, Peele's work "Get Out" could not be further from a slap stick comedy. Instead, "Get Out" is filled with thrills, horror, anger and complex social dilemmas.     Peele's use of emotion is near perfect in this film. You see a great contrast in this emotion between Get Out's protagonist, Chris, and the Antagonist, the Armitage's. Chris commonly swears and shows his stress through smoking and his quips. While the Armitage's seem eerily kind and accommodating. Of course, this closely comes to an end. During the turning point of the movie, Peele signifies the twist by implementing conflicting emotions in the characters. You see this is in Georgina as she has a gleaming grin yet begins to shed a tear. Then Walter snaps from being joyous with the Armitage's guests to hysterically crying and screaming at Chris to run. Lastly, ...

 Pan's Labyrinth is a film that leaves you thinking for hours after it's conclusion. There is so much to mentally unpack you may not fully grasp what Del Toro portrays in the film until you really reflect on it. This is in no means a knock on the film. Leaving the viewer with something to think about just expands the impact of the film.     Another one of Del Toro's signatures that really shows in "Pan's Labyrinth" is his monster creation. This is both through their physical cosmetics and background. In a time dominated by CGI, it's refreshing to see how this lightly older work used a majority of animatronic and costume design. This creates more of a connection between our protagonist, Ophelia, and the creatures because they are actually next to each other. Pan's Labyrinth seemed to borrow a creature design theme from Del Toro's "Hell Boy". In both, the monsters are created to be ugly and uncomfortable to look at, even the monsters on the...

 Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zussou" is an incredibly charming film. It does its best to stay in the grey area between serious and comical. Which in the end just creates really funny moments and inappropriate times. The world creation is very whimsical but in a borderline cheesy sense. However, that just feeds into the films sense of humor. The cinematography fits the whimsical world very well along with the awkward comedy.     The overall comedy relies on the films tone. None of the characters view what they're doing as funny. Matter of fact, the movie is literally life and death for them at times. The dialog between characters can be dry and without emotion, yet they're in a goofy yellow room so you kind of just giggle.  One part that I found summed up the comedy of this film was the scene where the group goes to rescue the bond agent from a band of pirates. Zussou finds his rival Hennesey captured in a room full of at least 20 pirates with guns....