The York School Student Blogs

“Dawson’s Creek” star, Joshua Jackson, plays the role of a failed novelist who went on to become a grade school teacher, Ben Tyler, who learns that he is diagnosed with cancer and is already at stage four; his last and final stage, meaning that even with treatment his survival rate is down by 90%. He has been told by his doctor that he has a very limited amount of time left to live; a year or two, a month or maybe even one week. After hearing the dreadful news, a flash of suicide came over him. He believed that there was no hope for his survival and that if he were to pull a triger to his head it would be no different then becoming a patient, and wasting all of his time getting treatment because it would all be worth nothing in the end; due to the results, he had the understanding that he was most definitely going to end up dying anyways. Ben then wondered how he would break the news to his Fiancee, Samantha, and if he should still go through with the wedding as planned or not.

While walking back from the doctor’s office, he heads down an alleyway and runs into an older gentleman who is selling his motorcycle, Ben then decides to take it for a ride and ends up recieving it as a gift. With no destination in mind, Ben finds himself heading to the western part of Canada with his motorcycle to escape the consequenses of his foreshortened existance on the quest to find meaning in his life. On his venture around Canada’s vast landscape, he stops at various locations that have both iconic and remarkable monuments, he finds all sorts of symbols along the way, in which he places his faith in. Throughout these experiences Ben finds the strength and courage to face his own bleak end.

Walking home that very day from school, I thought to myself … What would I do if I had only one week left to live? This maybe surprising to those of you who are reading this, but I found this question simple yet oddly difficult to answer. This film was truly inspiring. It shows you that your life can just be taken away from you in just a blink of an eye and you have the choice of either leaving with having the pain of knowing you have lived a meaningless life, suffering with the pain of regret and not letting yourself live life to its full extent, or you can have your life nearing its end and suffer from only the physical pain that we all eventually face, but you’ll always know that, that pain you’ve experienced will all be worth it in the end because, you left with the greatest treasure of all… a life that was significant and had true meaning.

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From Kailey Kimsa’s blog, Rice and Beans:

In ICE class on Monday we watched the film One Week, starring Joshua Jackson from Dawson’s Creek.  Ben Tyler, a grade school teacher from Toronto, is diagnosed with stage 4 cancer (out of 4 stages) and is told he could die at any time, his maximum life span being 2 years.  Lost and confused about his diagnosis, he runs down a neighborhood alleyway to find a man selling a motorcycle.  Without much thought (or approval from his demanding, anti-motorcycle fiancée) Ben decides to embark on a bike trip across Canada, heading west.   I actually really enjoyed the film – I don’t know if it’s because it was a good way to spend a school day or if I would have also appreciated the film if I watched it in my own time.  Yes, some of the parts could have been a little cheesy but the themes were apparent and strong.  Also, I found it very cool how the movie was filmed in Toronto and many scenes were filmed in my neighborhood (even on my street!).  Many movies are filmed in Toronto but they take the names of American cities; it really makes the movie more realistic, seeing my city in the background.

What I very much disliked about the movie was Samantha, Ben’s demanding and needy fiancée.  When Ben arrives home to tell Sam about his diagnosis, all it seems she can think about is their wedding.  “We’re not moving the wedding date!  Make sure you’re back for the wedding!  Wedding! Wedding! Wedding!”  I mean, the man was just diagnosed with cancer, could you stop thinking about yourself for a second!  Ben tells her how he needs to escape, needs to head west; it’s how he wants to deal with his situation.  Sam is completely unsympathetic saying how he can’t leave her.  She shouldn’t tell him how to spend the last days/weeks/months of his life; it’s a personal decision where you really need to find yourself.  It seemed as though Ben had been leading a mediocre life that he had never wanted, and finally he needed to see the world and find how he fits in to it; he didn’t want to die with no impact or place on the Earth.  Yet Samantha can only think about what shewants from him in his last few moments.  I think she should have taken the hint when he didn’t want to spend his precious time with her.

So Ben starts his bike trip across the nation.  The scenery is absolutely beautiful and makes me extremely proud to live in this country.  Also, the Canadian music is truly inspiring.  There is a remarkable feeling as you see Ben glide across the rolling hills of the prairies, into the rich yet vibrant, glowing sunset, as deep and uplifting chords are being strung togeth – DING A LING A LING!!!! Oh, great it’s SAMANTHA calling, whining to Ben about how he needs to come home! Way to ruin a moment Sam!  I came to dread the moments when I would hear his phone ringing, knowing selfish Sam would be on the other end.

I suggest seeing this movie IF you’re prepared to deal with the MOST annoying, self-centered ice queen that has EVER stepped foot on this Earth!

Well, I promised that I’d give a list of short reviews for the (multitude of) movies that I’ve watched over the past 2 months or so, but, to be completely honest, reviews for every movie that I have seen will be… Well, it would be a VERY long post. Off the top of my head, I’m sure that I’ve seen over 30 movies, and, making a review to every single one of them would be very draining. But, I’ll give a short review for a few of them:

Blood Simple – The first film written and directed by the Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan) is one of the best debut films that I have seen. While it is certainly not the best of their films, it holds up as a great film noir-esque movie, with great writing, great acting, and great direction.

Crimes and Misdemeanors – I’ll just say it, I’m a fan of Woody Allen. I think that he’s one of the funniest writers out there, because the films that he makes are great. This one is no exception, telling two stories about, well, crimes and misdemeanors! Look for the great scene near the end between Allen and Martin Landau.

Caché – Frankly, I need to see more movies directed by Michael Haneke, because this one was spectacular. Yes, it may be slow for most of it, and yes, the fact that it is a foreign film may turn people off, but, the reality of the situation (a couple are videotaped, more or less stalked, by an unknown person), and the way that the two lead actors pull it off is also very well done.

Alien – A great thriller. There’s not too much that I can say about this movie, but what it does is revolutionary to the general genre of sci-fi (even though I may not be the biggest fan of sci-fi movies). The sequel, Aliens, directed by James Cameron, is often seen as being superior to this one, but, since I haven’t seen it, I can’t judge that (though I do plan on seeing it soon). Once I do see it, expect a Face-Off between those two!

American Beauty – This is a spectacular film. The direction, the writing, the acting, all of it is completely breathtaking. The person to watch for, in my personal opinion, is Annette Bening, who plays the wife of Kevin Spacey (who also does a great job).

Brick – This is an interesting one. Think a film-noir made in the ’30s (you know, hard boiled detective, mystery, etc.). Now, set it at a modern day high school. While it is kind of odd listening to high school students talking in ’30s slang at first, it does its job quite well. The interesting camera work (which is pretty hard for me to explain) adds to the experience.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind – One of the first films written by Charlie Kaufman (one of my favorite modern day writers), while not as… well… confusing as his others, it’s still quite a captivating story. Watch out for the few extended takes, where you can really think about how much the actors would have to run around to pull it off. They’re not tricks, they were actually done in one shot!

The Spirit of the Beehive – Yet another foreign film (this one’s in Spanish) that is amazing. The person who steals the show is the little girl who plays Ana, a girl enchanted with the story of Frankenstein, the monster particularly. Is this movie about the Spanish Civil War? Is it about childhood? It doesn’t matter, this is a great movie!

Fight Club – Bloody, smart, entertaining. Essentially, this one is a crowd pleaser. That is, a crowd of testosterone-filled men. This movie is not for everybody, especially not the faint of heart. But, if you’re up for it, it’s a great movie. Also, it has one of my personal favorite performances by Brad Pitt.

Goodfellas – The fact that it lost the Oscar for Best Picture to Dances with Wolves… I can’t even really put my thoughts into words. This is a masterpiece. From the camerawork, to Scorcese’s direction, to the acting (look out for Joe Pesci), this movie is spectacular. Bloody and violent, but still spectacular.

Memento – From the makers of The Dark Knight, this movie… messes with your mind. While the acting is quite good, and the direction is too, the star of the film is the story. The fact that it a) goes in backwards-chronological order, and b) still keeps you guessing, shows how effective a good story can be.

Pleasantville – The acting is pretty good (especially that from Judy Davis and William H. Macy), as is the direction and the writing, but this film relies on the visuals. The visuals at points are completely breathtaking, and really blow you away.

Ok, that’s enough for now. Those were certainly not ALL of the movies that I’ve seen over the past few months, but they were all great ones that stuck in my mind.

Regarding the Oscars, I’m working on what might be a very exciting announcement, so, I’ll tell you as soon as that gets going (if I get it all to work out).

Until then, keep on watching!

R.S.

Before I begin, I’ll say this: I have yet to see Avatar. Yes, I know, it’s a movie that MUST be seen, since it’s “the best movie ever made,” but, I’ve been slightly incapacitated, thus making me unable to go to the theater to see anything. I have watched quite a few movies while I’ve been at home, and I intend to make a set of “mini-reviews” in the near future on a few of those.

But, back to Avatar. I’ve been hearing from many people who have seen it that it is one of the best movies ever made, it’s a visual spectacle, and that it’s completely groundbreaking in technique.

I have seen the trailers, and a few scenes from it, and, judging by that, I can clearly see that it’s completely groundbreaking in its use of the technology, and that it is clearly a visual spectacle. However, there are a few hesitations that I have about this movie that makes me not want to rush to the theaters to see it, incapacitated or not.

That first hesitation (and in turn, the one that leads to more or less everything else in my argument against Avatar) is James Cameron. I’ve seen a few of his movies, and, while they are ok, they are far from the best movies of all time, despite the fact that he currently holds both the first and the second top grossing movies of all time (the other one being Titanic).

As a director, he’s far from the worst one out there. He clearly knows what to do with his camera, and, it’s never that bad. But, as a writer, he has work to be done. Aside from the fact that he doesn’t exactly have the most original plot-lines out there (I’ll get to that shortly), his dialogue tends to be kind of rough, and his characters aren’t always the most developed.

Now, the plot. In some cases, his plots can be quite good (Aliens is an example of this, despite the fact that it is a sequel, so, technically it wasn’t all his idea), but, in the case of Avatar, this plot is (somewhat obviously) stolen from a few different movies. There are people (myself included) who sarcastically dubs this movie with the title “Pocahontas Meets Dances With Wolves… In Space!” and there is a reason why people do this. I saw a post a little while ago that had the plot of Pocahontas written out, with aspects (character names, places, etc.) crossed out and replaced by what it is in Avatar. Also, the general plot of a person going to a land unlike their own, and befriending people unlike their own (yes, I know this is a VERY brief plot-line, but, as I said, I haven’t seen it yet, so, I can’t go much further than this at this very moment) is one that has been done many times before.

Despite all this, something is clear: the effects and the visuals are groundbreaking, spectacular, and every adjective in between that can describe something of this caliber. From the minute I saw the trailer, I didn’t doubt for a second that this would win any visual awards that it is eligible for.

But, can a movie be judged solely by the visuals? Shouldn’t the acting, directing, writing, etc., all be aspects of what makes a movie great? In the opinion of a humble movie fanatic, I think that what makes a great movie depends on all aspects of the film, and not just the visuals. Just a week ago, this movie won Best Picture: Drama at the Golden Globe awards. This, I was admittedly not very happy with, because I know James Cameron’s writings, and I know the fact that this plot is overdone, and, shouldn’t a “best picture” be called “best” due to all aspects of it?

But, I digress, for the sole reason that I have yet to see it. I most certainly intend on seeing this movie in theaters, and, seeing that it’s been at the top of the box office for 5 weeks running, I don’t think it’s going anywhere any time soon. But, without seeing it, I think that this movie might be more than slightly over-hyped.

Keep on watching!

R.S.

Do you agree? Disagree? Post your comments and opinions below!

Directed by: Spike Jonze

Starring: Max Records, James Gandolfini, and Catherine Keener

I’ll be completely honest here, I have no idea whatsoever where to start with this, so, I’ll simply start by saying this: This is one of the best movies (recent or otherwise) that I have ever seen. And I’ve seen quite a lot of movies over the 15 years of my existence. This movie is near perfect; the acting, the direction, the visuals, the music, the script… the list goes on, but, it truly is one of the best movies that I have ever seen.

The plot is very similar from the beloved children’s book (which I haven’t read in quite a while, so, this is simply the plot of the movie, and not that of the book). Max (played by Max Records) is a young child who isn’t exactly the most relaxed and nicest of kids out there, and, after being sent to his room without dinner, he runs off, and, finding a ship in his neighbours’ yard, travels for days and nights until he finds land. This land is inhabited by Wild Things; large, threatening, and yet seemingly fuzzy things that, after being convinced to not eat him, crowns Max their king.

I doubt that can explain the entire plot very well, but honestly, I don’t know exactly how to explain it, because there isn’t a lot of plot. It’s very “freeverse”, in a sense. Once Max gets to this land of the Wild Things, over the course of 90 minutes or so, he partakes in having a “Wild Rumpus”, builds a giant fort, has a dirt clod war, and so much more. The plot is very loose, but, that’s ok. It’s ok because this is truly a movie about childhood, and that’s the way that childhood is. Childhood isn’t so set out that you will do everything in order, and it would all make sense, and this movie captures that perfectly.

The director, Spike Jonze, who has also directed Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, has really made this movie into a masterpiece. He spent years trying to get his idea to the screen, and after years of hard work, it paid off. This movie is truly a masterpiece; visually, and in many other ways.

The acting is also superb. Max Records completely changes the idea of what can be expected in a child actor, and, this really changed what goes into a performance by a child actor. He shows everything that he has to perfectly; when he’s supposed to be sad, he’s sad (perfectly). When he’s supposed to be angry, he’s angry (perfectly). No matter what he’s supposed to be, he shows it incredibly!

Many people were very surprised as casting James Gandolfini (famous for his role in The Sopranos) as the lead Wild Thing, but, after seeing it, it’s clear that he was perfect for the role. One moment, he’s cuddly and sweet, and the next morning, he’s chasing max around, threatening to eat him. He voices the role amazingly.

And, adding to the actors is the visual. I must ask Spielberg and Lucas to take note, because they did this entire movie completely on location. And this includes the desert that you can see in the poster above. Yes, they did that without using green screens, or CGI. Another thing, they didn’t use animation or CGI for the Wild Things. They actually made those suits, and the only thing that was CGI were the eyes and mouth. You completely believe everything that you see, and it just wouldn’t have that impact if it wasn’t for the fact that it was all real.

I could go on forever on this movie, but, I can summarize this entire review in two words: SEE IT! This is truly one of the best movies that I have ever seen, and, it is truly a masterpiece!

I must warn you, though, this is a love it or hate it movie. I’ve heard of many people who completely hated it, and I can accept that. I mean, quoting a good friend of mine, “everybody is entitled to their own wrong opinion”. But, I recommend this movie to anybody; children, adults, anybody. See this movie.

Rating: 10/10

Keep on watching!

R.S.

Directed by: Pete Doctor

Starring: Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, and Jordan Nagai

Disney/Pixar are very well known for the amazing animated movies that they make. Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, WALL-E and others that they’ve made have all been examples of the great movies that they make. Up, their latest film, is not an exception to the amazement that is the films they make!

This animated movie tells the story of Carl Fredricksen, a 78-year old man (voiced by Ed Asner) who’s dream was to travel to South America with his wife. After his wife dies (in the first 10 minutes of the movie), he decides to travel to South America on his own to fulfill his wife’s dream. Except, he does so in his house. To which he attaches hundreds of helium balloons. No, I’m not making this up, that’s what happens! Along the ride with him comes boy scout Russell (voiced by Jordan Nagai), who will do anything to achieve his “assisting the elderly” badge.

On the outside, the movie has a very child-friendly plot. You know, a guy flying his house with giant balloons. But, there are many ideas of this film that young kids may not really be able to grasp, like death, letting go of those you’ve lost, divorce, and more… But, don’t worry, the movie is by far a complete downer… It’s a movie that I think both kids and adults alike would be able to enjoy (though, kids younger than 10 might not be able to truly appreciate some aspects of it).

As is normal with Pixar movies, while the voice acting is great, as is the plot, the star of the film is the animation. The animation in the film is spectacular, and, even though some of the things are larger than life, it’s almost possible to believe that it could happen, because of how realistic some of the animation is. From showing the characters’ emotions to the smallest detail, to making us believe that the impossible could be possible, the animation is amazing! The movie was shown in theatres in both 3-D and 2-D formats, but, I saw it in 2-D, and I can tell you that, while I haven’t seen it in 3-D, it didn’t take away from the overall experience.

This is a movie that I’d recommend to anybody, parents and children alike!

Rating: 9/10

Keep on watching!

R.S.