JoshuaC96 Reviews

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

[7/10 · 17 December 2010]

This was a good movie. I thought it was very intelligently written and was also a very enjoyable film. It was a little overpolished and refined, but that's just the type of film it is. I thought the acting was very good. However, I didn't particularly car for Katharine Houghton's performance. I thought she was really bubbly and her voice was too high pitched and sounded childish. She came off as ditsy and naive; not the kind of girl you would assume a super successful and intelligent doctor would be interested in. I think the film might have benefited from a more believable couple. It wasn't necessary to have her character be so effervescent just so they could say things in the film like "oh... she's always been such a happy girl, but I've never seen her more happy" and "she was laughing out loud at six months." For a film like this I think it's crucial for the audience to really be able to believe that the relationship on screen is genuine and strong. It didn't happen for me; I didn't see very much chemistry at all.

There isn't a whole lot to say about the film; It was mostly straightforward. It was very well made, flowed smoothly, and all of the events were clear and understandable. I liked a lot of what was said by the characters, and the story was interesting.

The Big Sleep (1946)

The Big Sleep

[7/10 · 16 December 2010]

The big sleep was a pretty good movie. The movie has a very consistent mise en scene. It's very dark and shadowy throughout, there are many rainy scenes, and a lot of the movie takes place at night. The story in the film is very interesting and entertaining. Bogart gives a smooth performance, as do all of the actors.

The only bad thing about the movie was that some of it was a little tough to follow. For example, when the main character investigates inside of a car and looks at a tag on the steering column. I had to back it up to see what it said, but I still wasn't quite sure what it was supposed to mean. There were a few other things like that throughout the movie. Also there were a lot of names thrown around and I was never quite able to get a grip on who was who. Eventually it doesn't really matter because the plot goes where it's going to go whether or not you understand, and even if you didn't catch everything that happened you are still able to understand the story's resolution. But still, stuff like that gets annoying and I feel like the filmmakers could have done a better job making things clear.

Overall it's still an entertaining film and I did like it.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Awesome!

[10/10 · 16 December 2010]

I totally loved One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The film is very intriguing and very hilarious at times. Every single character was really interesting and the actors all gave awesome performances. I thought it was really cool to see actors that I was familiar with, like Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd. It's probably the earliest film I've seen either of them in and it was really interesting to see them in something that came out before they became well known.

I have to say that in my opinion Louise Fletcher gave one of the most fantastic performances in the film. She did an absolutely excellent job making you hate her. I've never loathed a character in a movie so much. Towards the end you really just want her to die, honestly.

The film is deeply impacting. Sometimes it's totally depressing, and at other times it's really exciting and uplifting. I had a strong emotional response to the movie and I think it's probably one of my favorite films. The ending scene, when the chief throws the sink thing through the window was great; it's tough to decide whether to be sad or happy. I also thought that the Native American drums at the end were really cool.

The Killing (1956)

The Killing

[7/10 · 16 December 2010]

The Killing was fantastic. It was super exciting. It was the most complicated crime movie that I'd seen from before 1960. I thought that the intricate bank job plan was really interesting. All of the actors gave great performances and the characters were all very interesting. I especially liked the sharp-shooter character. I thought the way he spoke was cool. I'm not sure if that's the way the actor really spoke or if it was just acting. I liked it because it was interesting and I thought it gave the film some extra realism. Most older movies have all really sharp sounding actors and actresses, so it was cool to see some variety in The Killing.

The film had fantastic parallel editing. The movie was able to show what was going on with every character without the film getting too confusing. The movie even jumped around in time at certain points, but because it was narrated everything was able to be explained to the audience clearly.

The only thing that I didn't like about the film was the end, I actually found it to be a really detrimental flaw. At the end the character Johnny ends up with all of the money from the heist. He makes a bunch of ridiculous decisions and ends up having to let the suitcase with all of the money in it go through airport luggage instead of carry on. After all of his careful planning of the robbery it doesn't make sense that the character would be so stupid. The money gets exposed and he ends up getting caught. It seemed extremely forced, like it was only written that way to satisfy the hays code requirement that criminals have to suffer repercussions. And even if it was, it was still a lazily written seen. I really think the writers could have come up with something more creative if they'd have tried.

Other than that I thought the film was really good and I liked it a lot.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Great film

[8/10 · 16 December 2010]

This was a pretty good movie. It's a really fun movie to watch. I also thought the acting in the film was really good. I especially enjoyed Paul Newman's performance. I loved all of the witty, humorous dialogue in the film, It's a western, but it's very different from any other western I've seen. The film is very funny and charismatic. It has a very modern feel that comes through most in things like the music and the way the characters act. It's one of the earliest westerns I've seen where the heroes of the story are actually the criminals running from the law. In most western films the heroes are the good guys.

There were a couple moments in the film that I thought didn't work well. For example, there was a chase montage while the characters were in South America. It had really odd, somewhat annoying music, and it went on for way too long. I didn't like it and even fast-forwarded part of it. However, it was a pretty minor flaw and it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the movie.

Overall I really liked Butch Cassidy and the Sundace Kid.

Criss Cross (1949)

Criss Cross

[7/10 · 11 December 2010]

Criss Cross is a pretty good movie. I liked the films tone and the way it flowed, it reminded me of an episode of the Twilight Zone. I really like movies that are narrated from a first-person perspective, such as Orson Welles' Lady From Shanghai. It's always really interesting and entertaining to hear the inner thoughts of the main character and it gives the film a certain smooth feel that I can't really describe. Criss Cross had a really good plot as well and didn't get boring. I was held suspense for most of the movie, especially when the main character was in the hospital bed. You could really feel Steve Thompson's fear while he lay there in anguish just waiting for his killer to walk through the door.

In Criss Cross Steve Thompson gets reluctantly roped into some illegal activities. The film does a fabulous job portraying a heavily conflicted man who is only doing what he thinks he has to do to be with his lover. The lover who, devastatingly, betrays him at the end. Criss Cross is a great film-noir and is very enjoyable.

Do the Right Thing (1989)

I don't like it

[2/10 · 11 December 2010]

I did not like "Do the Right Thing" very much at all. For one thing it's boring, with much of the film's screen time wasted on pointless subplots like Mook's relationship with his girlfriend. But mainly I don't like it because it's clearly a message movie, except it's message is super unclear and confusing. For 90% of the film I thought that Mook was supposed to be the moral hero of the story because he works at the Italian restaurant and empathizes with its owners. But then at the end he causes the destruction of the restaurant, his own place of employment and the livelihood of his supposed friends. A lot of people think he did this to help Sal, but then why would he go back and poor salt in the wound the next morning?

Admittedly I really didn't get it. I thought it was either a movie about a large group of unintelligent, angry inner-city residents, which was meant to show people the error of their ways (a cause that to me seemed like it would be ineffective and rather self-destructive); or I though it could be a championing bravado meant to invigorate African American audiences (a theory supported by the overplayed "fight the power" ). Neither of my theories felt like they could be accurate. I decided I needed to read some analyses of the film to better understand, and from reading them I've learned that.... I still don't get it. Is it supposed to be a little bit of both?

The movie is so contradicting. The only two characters in the film which seemed to represent wisdom and understanding were the mayor and mother-sister. However, the mayor was a drunk who everyone hated and mother-sister was screaming "burn it down" during the riot. Also, I thought that the radio dude was supposed to be a good guy as well because of his little speech about love conquering hate. But then he chokes out Sal near the end. Is this film about hypocrites?

The scene I dislike the most is when the mentally handicapped guy puts the picture on Sal's wall. What is that action supposed to mean exactly..... the retard is a retard? Redundant! Why would any director do that? Sal can do what he pleases with his wall, It's his wall! That's his individual right. The sequence is given heavy emphasis and seems to be stating that the picture belongs there where that handicapped man put it. In my opinion the only logical conclusion one can come to is that the rioters are purposefully portrayed as heroes after all.

Mook obviously did what he thought was the right thing; clearly it wasn't. Most people reason that that's the point, that Mook had a twisted view on things. I disagree, I think Spike Lee was saying that in the end the pizzeria needed to be brought down, and that the crowed did what was righteous and justified. My interpretation of the quotes at the end is that the first quote refers to the barbaric actions of the police, and the second (the quote about self defense) to the demolition of Sal's restaurant. A demolition which in my opinion was completely unwarranted.

The Graduate (1967)

The Graduate is a classic

[9/10 · 8 December 2010]

I enjoyed The Graduate. It was a fun movie to watch; it had suspense, drama, humor, romance; everything required for an entertaining film. All of the actors gave good performances, especially Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. I love Simon and Garfunkel music, so that greatly added to my enjoyment of the movie.

Ben Braddock is kind of a depressed guy who doesn't know what to do with his life. The Graduate is a great film for young people, especially college kids, because a lot of them can identify with the main character's feelings of being lost and not knowing what choices to make.

The only problem I had with the movie is that Hoffman's character seemed kind of ditsy a lot of the time and made weird illogical decisions. However, his choices were what pushed the plot forward so it was easy to go along with.

Overall I thought The Graduate was pretty great. There is a lot to like about the movie and it has a lot of meaning behind it. The film is more than 40 years old but it doesn't seem like it. It's a classic and is as good as any modern film.

Easy Rider (1969)

Easy Rider

[5/10 · 7 December 2010]

I didn't particularly care for easy rider. I think it's a good movie, especially for the time it was made. It's definitely a significant film, but it just wasn't for me. Easy rider touched on a lot of interesting topics such as hippies and intolerance, communes, and drug use. It was cool to watch the main characters on their quest for freedom, and I thought the film gave an interesting depiction of people from that era. I like to ride a motorcycle myself so at first I really loved the great shots of the open road and the country side. However, constant scenes of the duo's road trip became extremely boring rather quickly. The best parts of the film, or at least my favorites, were the scenes with Jack Nicholson. His character was very entertaining and humorous. I loved when he was talking about space aliens. I've seen a lot of sci-fi films and alien movies, but I had never heard aliens discussed quite that way and with the points he was making. Sadly, after Nicholson's character died I was again very board with the film. Dennis Hopper's character was annoying, although he played him well. I thought Peter Fonda's performance was bland and not very convincing. Also he was often rather emotionally ambiguous, even at crucial moments in the film. It may have been intentional, perhaps to portray the character as being detached and distant, but I didn't like it; it made the movie unnecessarily tough to understand. The whole thing was really drawn out and slow, far too simple, and poorly edited; the whole flash back and forth at every scene transition was just retarded in my opinion. Also the acid trip sequence went on for way too long.

On the Waterfront (1954)

On the Waterfront

[10/10 · 13 November 2010]

On the waterfront was really great. Marlon Brando was absolutely perfect for his part. Terry Malloy is a sort of defeated man who finds a reason to fight again, and Brando's portrayal of the character was fantastic. My favorite scene is towards the end when Terry is talking to his brother in the back seat of the car. A lot of Terry's true thoughts and feelings about his life and details about his past are revealed in the scene. You learn about the situation with his brother and how he was forced to throw the fight that would have given him a shot at the title. It is an extremely gripping scene and it adds an extra layer of importance to everything that takes place later at the docks. In my opinion there is a kind of dual message in On the Waterfront. One side of the coin deals with Terry and his personal struggles, which has a great message about self-worth and perseverance. On the other hand you have the film's larger message about tyranny and oppression by those in power, which concerns all of the characters in the movie. The two messages kind of culminate together at the end when terry goes to the docks to confront Johnny. During the scene Terry is finally able overcome his issues while at the same time put down the oppressors, which in my opinion helps to give him a sense of importance and value. He becomes more than just some bum in the eyes of the people around him and he earns their respect. The movie is extremely impacting and I think it's one of the best we've seen in class.

Gun Crazy (1950)

Gun Crazy

[7/10 · 13 November 2010]

Gun Crazy was a decent movie. I liked the film's style and atmosphere. I thought that the way the story was told in the film was interesting and effective; how it starts off when he's a kid and shows you his history then movies forward in time to when he is an adult. I honestly did not figure out ahead of time that the movie was going to turn into a bank-robber/police-chase film. It was an interesting twist, and the story became much more entertaining as the relationship between Bart and Annie became more and more complex. The acting in the film wasn't as sharp and stylized as in other movies we've seen, but it actually helps make the film seem more real. Camera work in Gun Crazy wasn't as slick as other films, but it didn't matter because the sort of choppy editing in certain parts helped support the films chaotic plot. I liked Gun Crazy a lot.

Notorious (1946)

Notorious

[8/10 · 13 November 2010]

Notorious is a very good film in my opinion. I liked all of the settings and the characters, and the film was written and acted really well. The film demonstrates Hitchcock's idea of a MacGuffin fabulously. The thing that everyone in the movie was worried about didn't really matter to the audience at all; what matters to us is the relationship between the main characters and what's happening with Alicia while she is undercover. After listening to Hitchcock's explanation of a MacGuffin, it was really interesting to look for it in one of his films. Notorious is a super suspenseful film. I thought it was really great how the movie was able to be so exciting and suspenseful while not having very much action at all. Everything that happens in the film happens very subtly without a lot of commotion, but the movie is still just as gripping as any high-action film. Notorious is quite fun to watch and is really easy to get into.

Psycho (1960)

Psycho

[6/10 · 7 November 2010]

I didn't really like Hitchcock's Psycho.

The plot is way dated by today's standards. You can tell the film was made specifically to shock audiences in 1960, but today it fails miserably to be convincing; especially because of the film's constant attempts to keep you convinced that Norman's mother is the real killer. The film stresses this so much that other aspects of the plot suffer. For example, characters hardly ever have any logical thoughts/theories and don't make logical decisions or actions. I pretty much figured out that he'd already killed his mom from the moment her "character" is introduced. I'm sure the film was fantastic when it first came out, but to me it just isn't any more.

I can understand why many people would find the film to be really good. It was definitely groundbreaking and utilized a lot of interesting camera and editing techniques. Also I thought that Anthony Perkins' performance was great. However, it is by no means a timeless film like most of the movies we've seen in class. I'm sure I missed some deeper meaning or theme in Physco, but I was far too distracted to think about it and could hardly enjoy the film.

Stagecoach (1939)

Stagecoach

[9/10 · 17 October 2010]

Stagecoach is a really good movie. The film has an interesting, engaging story, which is believable and entertaining. The movie flows really well from one scene to the next. The acting performances in the film are great. I especially liked John Carradine in the movie. I remembered him from Grapes of Wrath, and I liked his performance in that film as well. I love actors who can believably portray different types of characters, and Carradine's portrayal of a western gambling man in Stagecoach was great.

A great deal of the film takes place inside the stagecoach, and sequences in those parts of the movie were really impressive. There were a lot of close up shots and cutting between characters; also, there was a lot of subtle interaction between characters and information was frequently conveyed through facial expression, often without much dialogue. Acting in these scenes was top notch. It's really amazing how the directer was able orchestrate the stagecoach scenes so well. Character interaction integrated with camera work was really impressive throughout the entire movie. Overall the film was really smooth and well made, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Casablanca (1942)

Casablanca

[9/10 · 16 October 2010]

Casablanca was not what I expected it to be when I started watching it. I assumed that it was just going to be a slow, straight forward love story set in an exotic place. However, I was completely wrong. The movie has a really meaningful story, and a super exciting, fast-paced plot. The love story you see take place in the film is already half over when the film starts. I thought that we were going to be able to see the two characters meet and fall in love, however they had already met and are already in love from the beginning of the film. Having the characters already share history and having their history revealed to us over time is a really gripping and impacting way to tell a story. Everything in the move from the music and lighting to dialogue and camera-work are great and work really well. The whole movie is really well made and is super entertaining.

Citizen Kane (1941)

Citizen Kane

[8/10 · 16 October 2010]

I liked this movie quite a bit. The movie starts of with an almost horrific tone. The first scene is more dark and ominous than Frankenstein. The cinematography in the movie was really interesting and used effects that I haven't seen in other movies from that time period. For instance, the movie used a lot of really low and really high camera angles, which were pretty cool. I also liked, during the scene when Thatcher was speaking to Kane's parents, how you could see Kane through the window outside playing. It was really cool because you could see how happy he was with his life the way he had it, while at the same time people were planning what would turn out to be an empty, unhappy life. I also thought that how the plot moved forward by jumping around in time through flashbacks was really cool. Everything in the film; the lighting, camera work, music, and overall atmosphere came together to make the story seem epic, which helped make the film really impacting. As depressing a movie as it is, it's really great.

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

The Grapes of Wrath

[8/10 · 13 October 2010]

I thought that The Grapes of Wrath was a really good movie. The film really educates you on the hardship and struggle that these people had to endure. Many circumstances in the film make you feel greatly compassionate, sympathetic, or even angry. Such as the characters losing their homes, the conditions of the camps, and the harsh attitudes people had toward the farmers wherever they went. The film was really slick and well made, it flowed well and didn't get boring. The movie was well acted and well directed. The film has great cinematography, with a lot of great shots of the open road. You really feel like you're accompanying the characters on their journey and you don't know how it will turn out. Overall I was really impressed by this film.

King Kong (1933)

King Kong is awesome

[10/10 · 13 October 2010]

I really love the original King Kong movie. The movie is very thrilling and impacting. The whole concept of a backslidden civilization that lives behind a wall really gets your imagination going. I think that the film was really well made for its time. The way that the film makers portrayed the native people was really believable. Also, the effects in the movie were really impressive. They aren't anything special by today's standards, but audiences must have been blown away when the film was first released. I can't imagine anyone had scene gigantic gorillas fighting prehistoric dinosaurs in any other film at the time. The film has a really immense scope compared to other films I have seen from its period. The story travels across the world and back. There are scenes in the city, on a boat out in the ocean, in a huge jungle, and on top of the empire state building. Kong has become one of the most iconic characters from film and has had immense cultural impact. It is an amazing movie and is one of my all time favorites.

Frankenstein (1931)

Frankenstein

[7/10 · 6 October 2010]

I thought that Frankenstein was a really good film. I can't say I thought is was particularly frightening, although I can see why it would have been when it first came out. It is, however, a really interesting movie. The very first scene peaks your curiosity, and the movie only gets more interesting from there. Everything on screen really comes together to create a creepy, ominous atmosphere. Such as the decor in Frankenstein's house and in other scenes; and the turbulent weather and dark lighting. The choice of actors for the film was perfect. I thought that Colin Clive had a really edgy face and sharp voice, which made him perfect for a twisted, obsessed scientist. Boris Karloff was also a perfect choice. I thought Karloff had a really intense looking face and eyes, and his portrayal of a witless beast was spot on.

His Girl Friday (1940)

His Girl Friday

[8/10 · 29 September 2010]

I liked this movie considerably. The movie's fasted passed comedy and plot held my attention through the whole thing. Even though ninety percent of the movie takes place in the same room, His Girl Friday never gets boring. The film is hilarious. I loved how the characters spoke in the film, especially Walter. They all spoke really fast, made really witty remarks, and all spoke at the same time. It was like organized chaos and all of the actors had impeccable timing. I think my absolute favorite thing in the movie was the guy who showed up to deliver the reprieve. Everything he said was completely hilarious and was totally my style of comedy. The film is considered a screwball comedy, and rightly so, but it also has a great deal of suspense; the whole fiasco with Wilson's escape, his hiding in the desk, and everything that happens while Walter and Hildy try to get the story for themselves. As hilarious as these events are, they're also super exciting and kept me on the edge of my seat. The film also has a gripping love story. The relationship between Walter and Hildy and the love triangle with Bruce, Hildy's current fiancée, makes the film all the more fun to watch. At the end when Hildy starts to cry I at first thought she was crying from sadness at losing her fiancée, but really she was sobbing from happiness because she had learned that Walter still loved her as much as he ever did.

My Man Godfrey (1936)

My Man Godfrey

[8/10 · 28 September 2010]

I really enjoyed this movie. My Man Godfrey is supper funny and has an interesting plot. The main character is really entertaining because of his hilarious, witty way of speaking, which is interesting because when you're first introduced to him he looks like a homeless bum and you don't expect him to be so intelligent. It is really fun to watch Godfrey interact with his employers, the Bullocks, which is where most of the comedy in the movie comes from. The movie also has a great message. It touches on assumptions made about social classes and the people in them. Wealthy or high class people are often expected to be very prim and proper, however the film shows you a family that is anything but. The Bullcock family is crazy and dysfunctional, and most members of the family engage in reckless behavior. In the movie Godfrey says "The only difference between a derelict and a man is a job." The film points out that poor and homeless people aren't inferior to anyone else just because they have less money.

Scarface (1932)

Awesoem Movie

[10/10 · 22 September 2010]

I thought that Scarface was an awesome movie. It was a lot better than I was expecting. The protagonist of the film, Tony Comonte, was ruthless character and Paul Muni did a brilliant job portraying him. The character was a really interesting twist between a cold blooded killer and a sort of playful child. He treated the whole gangster life style like a big game. A good example scene is when he gets the machine gun from the rival gangsters. The fully automatic weapon is new to him and he acts all excited and giddy about it; saying stuff like "he Johnny, look what I got!" and "lookit Johnny, you carry it around like a baby." It's a really funny scene, but at the same time a little disturbing. After that scene Tony goes on a rampage, wiping out guy after guy, and you really get a sense of how cold hearted the character is. Especially when he lines up seven or so men against a wall and basically executes them all with the machine gun. Comonte is a strange character beyond just his ruthless blood lust and playful childish attitude. He also has like a weird obsession with his younger sister, and even goes as far as killing his beast friend over it. Which is probably the strongest example of his coldblooded personality. The whole movie is pretty brutal, which surprised me a good deal since I always assume older movies to be real prim and proper. I had never know about these "pre-code" films in the past, but I can easily tell that this film is one of them.

The writers really get their point across about the horrific nature of mobs and gangsters. The scene that really drove the message home in my opinion was when the police chief gives a short speech about the whole situation. He talks about stuff like kids getting shot while playing hopscotch, how people have unhealthy romanticized attitudes toward criminals, and about old west criminals and how at least those guys fought each other fairly. It's a great speech, and is probably one of my favorite scenes in the movie.

I really liked how shadows were used in the movie as sort of substitutes during violent scenes. You see what's going on, but you don't really see it. The effect does a great job producing a dark, malicious atmosphere. Overall I was really impressed by the film.

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)

An impressive film.

[9/10 · 21 September 2010]

I really enjoyed this movie. Firstly, I thought that the writing in the movie was very good, I was really able to sympathize with the main character. Through the whole film all he ever wanted was to chase his dreams and do the right thing. The movie really makes you angry about the injustice of the law system and about the unfairness and inhumanity of the chain gang system. I was surprised at how suspenseful the movie was, being as old as it is. In my opinion the film makers did a really good job making the film exciting. Especially during the chase scene at the end.

I am really impressed at how well sound was used in the movie, seeing as how it is one of the earliest films to incorporate sound; my favorite example being the depressed sounding singing of the men on the chain gang. It does a great job of producing a really sad atmosphere. I've seen the technique used in other movies as well, but this has to be one of the first films to use it, if not the very first. I did chuckle a little when I heard tires squeal on dirt during the chase scene, but I get why they put the sound effect in there. It's just one of those small things that film makers don't get away with anymore.

The ending was exceptionally sad. But it was also really interesting. The main character slowly backing into the darkness shaking his head was a really effective sequence and I'm really impressed that film makers were able to come up with something cool like that so early on.

The General (1926)

The General is a great movie.

[14 September 2010]

I really liked The General. The movie is just hilarious. The whole train chase scenario was really great. I loved all of the physical humor used in the movie. My favorite aspect is how he has to constantly stop the train, get off, do something, and then get back on again. He has to do this over and over through the whole movie, it's great. I also really enjoyed Keaton's performance. It was the first of his movies that I'd seen and I thought that the way he acted in the film was really cool. He almost always seemed sad and always had a sort of stoic expression on his face. However, even though the changes in his expression and behavior were really subtle, you could still easily tell what sort of emotion he was portraying. You could tell his mood based on his physical behavior; for example, when he is confused he'll keep looking up and around himself, or when he's sad he just mopes around and acts lethargic. The story is good to. The whole time he's just trying to do the right thing and impress his girl, and up to the end he thinks that his efforts are for nothing. However, at the very end he is rewarded and his girlfriend gets to see him be victorious.

The Gold Rush (1925)

Gold Rush is a great movie.

[8/10 · 14 September 2010]

The Gold Rush is the first silent film that I have scene. I've seen short clips from other Charlie Chaplin films, but I had never watched a full length movie. I have to say I really enjoyed it. I was very impressed with both the writing and acting in Gold Rush. Going into it I was somewhat expecting see a lot of random slapstick comedy and a disorganized story. However, the movie actually had a very coherent and entertaining plot. Charlie's acting was phenomenal in my opinion. His facial expressions and demeanor were really effective. Also, just the way he moved and his behavior were hilarious. I also thought all of the gags and physical comedy in the movie were great. While watching it I noticed that a lot of the jokes were predictable to me because I've seen similar things in so many other films. (For example; when Charlie and the minor, who had been looking for Charlie, crossed paths without noticing one another.) This is really interesting because guys like Chaplin were pioneers in film comedy and were the first to use a lot of these comedic techniques.