Essay/Term paper: Review of three movies: trainspotting, ferris bueller's day off and jurassic park

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Movie Reviews

Review Of Three Movies: Trainspotting, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Jurassic Park


English 11
5 December 1996

Trainspotting

Trainspotting is a drop-dead look at a dead-end lifestyle. Set among the junkies
and thugs of Edinburgh's slums and made by (director Danny Boyle, writer John
Hodge, producer Andrew Macdonald) that created "Shallow Grave," "Trainspotting"
caused a sensation in Britain, where it took in more money than any U.K. film
except "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and ignited strong controversy over its
attitude toward heroin. Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor), the film's narrator,
unleashes an overpowering verbal torrent that gets things off to an aggressive
start.

"Choose life," Renton insists in voice-over as store detectives chase after him
for shoplifting. "Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a
[beep] big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and
electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance.
Choose fixed-income mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your
friends. . . . "But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to
choose life: I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who
needs reasons when you've got heroin?" It is very difficult to resist the film's
great energy.

"Trainspotting's" subject matter is raw and raunchy, including AIDS, overdoses

and violence as well as obscene situations described in unprintable language.
This is a film that makes you laugh of things that can in no way be described as
funny. How is this possible? In the film's signature scene, where Renton, in
search of some lost opium suppositories, dives head-first into "the filthiest
toilet in Scotland" and emerges in a sublime and spacious undersea world. And
despite Renton's celebrated saying on the pleasures of heroin, boasting, "Take
the best orgasm you ever had, multiply it by a thousand and you're still nowhere
near it," "Trainspotting" is only interested in drugs because its characters are.
Most feeble of the characters is the glasses-wearing Spud (Ewen Bremner). Most
devious is Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), who knows all there is to know about
Sean Connery. Most innocent is Tommy (Kevin McKidd), whose insistence on telling
the truth no matter what is viewed as a fatal weakness. And most dangerous is
the beer-drinking, heroin-hating psychopath Begbie (Robert Carlyle)..

Some of the funniest parts include Renton's sudden passion for the mysterious
Diane (Kelly Macdonald) and Tommy's attempt to get the boys interested in the
outdoors, which leads to Renton's "I hate being Scottish" tirade, which ends:
"Some people hate the English, but I don't. They're just wankers. We, on the
other hand, are colonized by wankers. We can't even pick a decent culture to be
colonized by."

Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremmer, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller

Credits: Directed by Danny Boyle, written by John Hodge, from the novel by
Irvine Welsh.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

One of the all-time greatest comedies, this movie tells the tale of a smart
Chicago teenager (Matthew Broderick), who ditches school with his girlfriend
(Mia Sara) and his neurotic best friend (Alan Ruck), so they can spend a day in
the windy city. It also turns out that Broderick wants to build his buddy Ruck's
self-esteem, a task that turns out to be a more difficult than he imagined. As
if this wasn't enough, Broderick's sister (Jennifer Grey) and his principal (a
hilariously funny Jeffery Jones), truly believe he's playing hookey and they
both want to nail him in the act. Talk about a dilemma.

This is a fine teenage comedy, with well-rounded, intelligent characters, giving
Broderick a great starring role. Some of the best scenes are formed around
Bueller's ability to gleefully manipulate everybody and everything around him.
Those side-splitting, thigh-slapping scenes have to be seen to be believed. Of
course, he gets a little help from his friends (Sara and Ruck)..

The cinematography is good, with many pans and close ups in tight situation's
making things even more intense and funny. If there was ever a film to put on
your "What-to-rent" list, this is it.

Jurassic Park

An amazing film adaptation of the best-selling novel by Michael Crichton, that
revolutionized special effects in movies the way Star Wars and 2001: A Space
Odyssey did. The story concerns a tropical island, that is the home to living
Dinosaurs, brought back by way of DNA. The billionaire (Richard Attenborugh),
who owns the island, invites two paleontologists (Sam Neill and LauraDern), a
mathematician (Jeff Goldblum) and his grandkids (Ariana Richards and Joseph
Mazzello) to the island, unaware that anything can go wrong. Something does! In
a major way! A power failure allows the dinosaurs to escape from their cages and
roam the park, causing destruction and chaos.

Magnificent direction by the master of film fantasy Steven Spielberg, as well as
amazing digital effects, make this a captivating, roller coaster ride, with
plenty of suspense and astonishment to go along. True, the story isn't really
close to the book version, but why quibble. The actors work well together within
some well set up scenes. Still, someone else should have been chosen for the
part of the mathematician other than Goldblum. He is completely unconvincing in
his role, and doesn't really fit in that well. Other than that, the film is
practically flawless with excellent music, cinematography , and some of the
greatest special effects I have ever seen.