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movies

2001: A Space Odyssey, Reviewed by Abhi, 12

Let me set a couple of things straight. First off, if you are looking for an exciting sci-fi movie that keeps you really engaged every second, this is not for you. If you’re looking for movies with simple yet effective plots, this is not for you. 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the most brilliant yet confusing movies I’ve ever seen in my life. But no matter what age you are, I highly recommend watching this movie. 2001’s story is about the evolution of mankind. Men discover a black monolith, which lead to the first sign of new alien intelligence. The signal leads to Jupiter, so five men head to Jupiter along with their robot HAL to figure out what’s there. But certain strange things happen along the way. This film is notable for many reasons, but the most important reason will probably be the brilliant special effects. This film, although it may not seem like it, was made in 1968, before man even landed on the moon! This film gave the concept of A.I, space travel, alien intelligence. All the good children’s books, like The Giver, The City of Ember, and Ender’s Game exist because of this movie. Even my own book, Three Days Till EOC, was inspired by this movie. This film is strange. It can never be fully explained or understood. There are many long scenes with nobody talking and just seeing the vast wonders of space. The ending, even five decades after this film came out, is still something nobody has understood. Even though it’s rated G, 2001 is one of the most cryptic and most engaging movies, told with almost zero dialogue, which I thought could never be achieved. It constantly keeps you excited, but not like other films or books. See, most books and movies have really exciting action scenes with characters jumping off buildings, or characters running for their lives and a monster taking over the town (The Alex Rider series, Godzilla and Alien are all great examples). But 2001 is engaging, without any of those elements. No exciting music, no dialogue, no sounds, no exposition and background to explain what’s happening. It’s a strange movie you have to really think about to understand. This film is directed by Stanley Kubrick, and he has directed really awesome films, but all of them require some thinking to understand. He always has ridiculous ideas and puts them on film (check out his other classic, Dr. Strangelove). Most of his movies are great, but this one is easily his best. HAL is a robot, but he is a creepy and weird character, as we see him slowly malfunction into madness. The opening called “The Dawn of Man” perfectly resembles human society in an interesting way, showing apes fighting, working together and acting curious when a very strange object leaps before their eyes. Unlike movies told with lots of exposition through a character or opening title sequence (e.g., Star Wars), 2001 tells the story through hidden details and little, cryptic hints. During a really easy-to-miss scene, a bone is turned into a weapon, which cuts later in just a brief second, into a spaceship. These cuts look perfect, brilliant and amazing. 2001 is strange and criminally underrated. When I hear most people think of “sci-fi movies ahead of their time,” they say Star Wars or Alien, but they forget about the most important movie of them all. Without 2001, we wouldn’t have Star Wars, Ender’s Game, Ready Player One, blah blah blah I can go on and on! It’s a very self-aware film about mankind, society, and predicted the future far ahead of its time. 2001 is a thrill ride I recommend everyone in the Stone Soup community to watch at least once, because it is the true definition of a great sci-fi film.

Film: Remembrance (75th anniversary D day montage)

https://youtu.be/I7sXPz9U7KY My music has a military feel paired with a more “grey” tone in a slower tempo to convey the atmosphere for a piece on remembrance so we do not forget the past. I chose the sounds of the piano, flute and drums. Drum represents the light military beat, piano the base layer and for contrasting or duet with the flute (main voice). The flute can be used to express both happy and sadness. My physical experience of being present at the various different D-day sites while listening to stories told my our guide, in addition to seeing reenactment vehicles that were setting up was more powerful than reading all the books on the topic. We visited the following areas related to D-day: Normandy beach, Juno beach, Utah beach, Omaha beach, Pointe du Hoc and Normandy American cemetery. You can physically feel the courage, fear, will and the enormous disadvantages the Allies soldiers had to overcome to break through at each of the locations. I do not think you can truly understand without going there yourself and hope to share a little through my music paired to my family video

Lawrence of Arabia, Reviewed by Abhi, 11

Image via Wikimedia Commons History is more complicated than you think. It isn’t just some quarrel between different countries that started WWI. It was much more than that, and Lawrence of Arabia showcases this theme perfectly. I started watching the beginning of this movie, but I was very worried about the pacing and storyline, since it’s nearly four hours long. I tried avoiding it, but I couldn’t keep myself from doing so. I only watched about thirty minutes of it on a plane flight to India, and after that, I couldn’t get rid of it. My mind was obsessed with scenes from the movie, and kept on telling me the same thing: You have to watch this movie. You HAVE to. So after a long six months, I watched it all — in one sitting. My mind was blown away. Lawrence of Arabia is a true story of a British soldier named T.E Lawrence, who is assigned to protect Arabia in WWI and help Prince Feisal, the leader of Arabia, defeat the ruling Turkish Empire. But his journey to get freedom for Arabia is a bumpy one. He makes many friends, and many, many enemies. The thing that sets Lawrence of Arabia apart from other movies is that T.E Lawrence is not a hero that solves ALL the problems for Arabia. He realizes he can only do so much as a human being. For example, after he rallies the Arabs to defeat the Turks, he realizes that the Arab tribes are still fighting amongst each other, and cannot put their differences aside to unite as a common people and form a nation. By the end, Lawrence realizes he is just a mere pawn – used by Arabs for their own purpose (defeat enemy who is stealing their land), and used by the English/French and the Western countries for their own needs (to gain more land and control in the Middle East). This taught me that nothing in history is really solved. Problems creep up over and over again. For example, remember when we had WWI and Germany lost? Sure, the US and other countries got some relaxation for a while, but then Germany got revenge back in WWII! By the end, T.E Lawrence wants to get away from the desert and just live a normal life. T.E Lawrence also has many different aspects to his personality. Sometimes he’s good, sometimes he’s bad, but he never has one fixed personality! This leads to some really tense moments, because you’re scared about what he’s going to do! Lawrence also stands out from the crowd. He talks in a very strange way. Like in one part of the movie, Lawrence and his guide are traveling to Arabia, and they stop at a well. But just as they’re about to drink, a stranger comes and kills Lawrence’s guide! When the killer comes up to Lawrence and asks for his name, he says: “My name is for my friends. None of my friends is a murderer!” He also does some pretty crazy things, some resulting in near death. He also has some really memorable lines. One of the greatest lines he says is: “Nothing is written.” That one line captured the whole spirit of the movie for me. Lawrence is trying to say this when he tries to rescue a lost friend in an empty desert. Everyone is saying he would likely die from the heat, but Lawrence says that there’s still a chance, and he’s going to take it and obviously, he’s successful! The acting is just as perfect as everything else. Peter O Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn – all these actors play out their roles perfectly, and create very memorable characters. For example, Prince Faisal (played by Alec Guinness, aka Obi Won Kenobi) is very wise and kind as the Arab prince, but Auda Abu Tayi (a tribal Arab leader played by Anthony Quinn) is very quick-tempered and rough. The music is downright amazing. After I heard it, I started going on YouTube and playing the soundtrack over and over again. It truly fits the theme. The final thing I love is how this film captures history. Some of the battles and meetings are staged in a unique way, making this war with the Turks truly different than others (that’s also another reason this film is so good!). This is because this war is not just two different sides fighting each other. It showcases the stand-off between different tribes and countries, and some are fighting for different reasons than others! The imagery is awesome, like when Lawrence is shown on his camel traveling through the desert. The camera captures the shape and color of the mountains and sand and paints the whole scene in a beautiful sunny light. This is also one of the only movies I’ve watched that I seem to have no problems with! No wonder it won 7 Oscars, including Best Picture in 1962. I’m sure I can see it fifty times and I would still not be bored with it. Lawrence of Arabia completely surprised me. It truly captures the spirit of a simple, smart man that changed history, and trust me, he is more interesting than any superhero! He is the kind of protagonist I’ve always wanted in a movie.