Sara_Golfarbs_fate Reviews

Miss Congeniality (2000)

Ultimate feel good movie

[10/10 · 10 December 2018]

We all love or want to appreciate movies that have some sort of artistic merit. 'The most creative display of cinematographic excellence I have ever seen', 'The most poetic dialogue of all time', 'The movie that started a new genre'.

You know what? Sometimes you just want the perfect excuse of enjoying couple hours without overly thinking what is actually represented by what you have seen, or whether there is an underlying universal theme in a movie. Sometimes, you just want to eat that piece of cake, rather than appreciate how awesome it looks.

Every time I feel sad, depressed, angry etc. I pop this one in. I have probably watched it more than 20 times, and every time I watch it, it still leaves me roaring in laughter. This is one of the most enjoyable, quotable, and entertaining (and many other superlative adjectives inserted here) movies I have ever seen. From the start to the finish it is pure joy. It never takes itself too seriously, but it delivers exactly what it promises, and to me that is COMEDY GOLD.

Endlessly one unforgettable line after another, ('My favorite date is April 25th, not too hot not too cold, all you need is a light jacket', 'That would be harsher punishment for parole violators Stan.... and World Peace', 'I am gliding here!' 'My parents don't like anything ostentatious and they don't like fire' 'Kathy: This is Texas everybody has a gun. My florist has a gun. Stan: My ancestors were Quakers) even now as I write these lines, I start laughing uncontrollably. If movies are meant to bring you joy, well, then for me nothing comes closer than this and 'Emperor's New Groove'.

A true 10/10.

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Very intense, very beautiful and impressively thought-provoking. I wish I had a stone in stead of my heart!!!

[10/10 · 2 August 2003]

When I was surfing on the internet, I have seen a article about the most 25 disturbing films of all time .. And this movie was one of them along with counterparts such as Dancer in the Dark, Eraserhead, Salo, Bad Lieutenant etc. As you might have probably understood, those movies are not so pleasant to watch. Anyways, when I was in a Blockbuster in Boston, I have seen RFAD and I have remembered it from that site. I have rented the unrated uncut version and went back to my dorm, I immediately put it in my VCR. To be honest, before watching it, I didn't expect to much because the tagline says ' the downward spiral of for people because of drugs'. I thought this was another junkie movie. Boy was I wrong. When the last credits started to roll. I was in a state of shock. All I could do is to call my mom in Turkey at 2AM and sobbing like a baby for 35 minutes.

This can give you the idea. I consider my self as a pretty jaded person and I am not easily affected by movies(Except Schindler's list because I am jewish). But in RFAD's case this is not true. From my Perspective, This movie is THE BEST again THE BEST movie that has ever been put on celluloid, BY FAR. Never once in life before have I seen a gut-wrentching, heart-shattering and horrifying movie like this. This movie is a sad tragedy. The level of its tragedy can be just equaled by King Lear or Macbeth.

MILD SPOILERS BELOW!!!The movie is about four human-beings. Sara Golfarb, His son, son's friend, and son's lover. The mother is a lonely old women who wants to be on television but to make it real she should fit into her ostentatious red dress. The son Harry and his girl friend Marion are junkies whose major dream is to open a fashion store and Harry's friend Tyrone is also a junkie who wants to be a 'somebody' to reach happiness. But their goals were bullied by their addictions and as the movie goes ahead we see the hell got broke loose.

I don't want to spoil the film by telling the significant details of it but what I have to say is this is the most intense, realistic, horrifying journey that I have ever attampted to join. If you are a human, than there is no way that you cannot be affected by this flick. Especially the last 20 minute montage of this film is so powerful and so sad that a faint of heart or a squemish may want to throw himself from the window. But this shouldn't fool you because although it is not a pleasant film to watch, this doesn't mean that it is bad infact for me it is the best film of all time as I mentioned numerously.

The cinematic aspects of this film are no less then spectacular. The acting is the best one could ever attempt to see. I meant the ensemble cast but Ellen Burstyn steals the show as the desperate lonely mother. Giving the Oscar to Julia Roberts in stead of Ellen Burstyn is a laugh riot. The other actor are also more than amazing. They should have gotten at least an Academy Award nomination but who are we kidding ha!!!. The cinematography is one of the best, the directing and film editing is simply groundbreaking with hip-hop montages, split screens, reverse angels and close ups. A solid script and The most haunting score that has never been listened to since Schindler's list. The score perfectly matches with the progression of the movie infact it may be the third crucial element to make this movie the best of motion picture history, after the acting and the directing.

Also the movie deeply focuses of the weak parts of the American society. For me The T.V and show obsession of Sara Goldfarb is a reflection of the entertainment obsessed Americans. MILD SPOILER HERE!!! When Sara went to the Diet Doctor to complain about the diet pills, doctor just didn't pay attention to Sara and said she will be allright. For me it symbolizes the isolation of American people from others. Also the loneliness of Sara is very American because I don't know a nation except Americans that the people just have to rely on themselves so much that they plan to be alone. As an individual in life Americans are pathetically lonely. And Tyrone's case. MILD SPOILER HERE!!! When Tyrone was dreaming of his childhood he said to his mom that one day he is gonna be a big man. I think that sentence was put intentionally in the film to criticise that America is also a success obsessed nation that emposes 'if you are not somebody, than you are nobody' ideology to its citizens END OF THE MILD SPOILER!!!. And these seperate things are perfectly matching with the sub plots of RFAD.

Overall, This is the best film of the cinema history. Also very provacative and thought-provoking about learning the darker side of American culture by its critisizations. RFAD should have gotten 12 Oscar for Best Picture, Best Director(Darren Aronofsky), Best Actress in a leading role(Ellen Burstyn), Best Actor in a Leading Role(Jared Leto), Best Actress in a supporting role(Jennifer Conelly), Best Actor in a supporting role(Marlon Wayans), Best Original Score(Clint Mansell and the Kronos quartet). Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Screenplay, Best Sound an Best Sound editing but thanks to the blatant hypocrasy of the beloved Academy. Also this is a very harsh movie that never loses the high level of emotion while viewing more than once. I have watched it 18 times so far and every time I watch it I pray to have a stone in stead of my heart for not being heavily affected. Thank god for letting me to witness the zenith of cinematic beauty at the age of 20.

On a scale of 1 to 10, this movie is 1.000.000.000.000/10

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

A very brave look at Hollywood when Hollywood was bullied by an absurd censorship.

[10/10 · 2 August 2003]

Usually, Cinema is considered as the most delicate form of art because it has the biggest potential to become 'dated' one day. Once a movie thought as 'mind-blowing' can easily become a 'turkey' a decade later.

This is not the case here. Sunset Boulevard still remains as one of the most eerie film in the cinema history and still a realistic depiction because of its reflection of Hollywood. It can give you the idea of the dream land's transformation into a nightmare.

The film is about a troubled script writer 'Joe Gillis and a forgotten silent film star Norma Desmond's weird relationship and the madness that surrounds them and the people around them. Don't wanna give much of the plot, on account the fact that it is a pure gem that should be invented without knowing nothing. But I can talk about the cinematic aspects of this movie.

This movie has some very eerie moments because of using a great cinematography. The moments of burying the dead monkey and watching the old film of Norma Desmond are exquisitely presented. The movie has some one of the most innovative scripts of cinema and that is certainly justified by the unforgetable and memorable lines captured from the film. The directing is top-notch but who are we kidding it is Billy 'the great' Wilder. The end of the movie is one of the most chilling part of the movie and it can truly give you some nightmares about insanity. The narration of the movie by the head character was probably done by this movie at the first place and this influenced so many movies afterwards.

One of the reasons that this movie is still not dated is because of its courage. The Hayes code was at its peak at the beginning of fifties which manipulates the producers to limit their bad thoughts on one subject, especially on Hollywood. The movie got 11 oscar nomination but only got 3 of them. Apparently, the reason was its harsh criticism on Hollywood.

There are some arguements about Sunset Boulevard's genre. It is considered as the greatest film-noir of all time. I don't think it is a film-noir at all. For some aspects, the movie has some noirish elements such as the black and white German-expressionist cinematography and an 'on the edge of insanity', femme-fatale but these two are not enough to make a film-noir. I think this is a psyhcological drama with some horror(the end is horrifying for me) and with some very very dark comedy.

Overall, This is truly a classic and one of the best movies of cinema history that will never lose its effects on cinema. Heavily influences American Beauty and Mulholland Drive, also making those movies a must see. 10/10