So The Italian Job is a heist film and a good remake of the 1969 film. Charlie (Mark Wahlberg) heads up a group of thieves, as he recently took over the reins from his father figure, mentor, and safecracker; John (Donald Sutherland). The rest of the group is the “transporter” Handsome Rob (Jason Statham)…I know I know…
Couldn’t resist
the computer wiz, Lyle (Seth Green); explosives guy, Left Ear (Mos Def), and Steve (Edward Norton), whoI don’t really know what his actual job is in the group. The team pulls off the heist of the century, millions of dollars in gold bricks.
The group then goes off to a random mountain top in Switzerland to celebrate. There they are betrayed by Steve. Now this was my first time watching this film, but I knew Steve was bad news. I mean its Edward Norton! When is he not some guy playing you? How can you trust him? I mean in Fight Club his other self is trying to blow up the world (and selling people soap bars made out of their own fat), The Illusionist, he’s trying to make everyone think he can communicate with the dead; The Hulk 2, he turns into the Hulk; I don’t think he plays anything that isn’t trying to pull one over on you. Well there is Frida, I mean in that he is just a Rockefeller.
Anyways, so Steve turns on them, takes the money and kills them all. Or so he thinks. He actually only kills John and the rest survive. Charlie tracks Steve down and finds him in Hollywood. The team are ready to go after him, but need one thing, a new safecracker. He approaches Stella (Charlize Theron), John’s daughter, and the best there is.
The team decide to take Steve down, (Is it sad that everytime I write that I think of this:
Anyways back to the plot. So Charlie is able to convince Stella to join in with his crew and the group begin making plans to get Steve. They do it similar to how they did the Italian job, hence the name, but with a twist. They are going to take ove L.A.’s traffic. It is an amazing film, and I strongly recommend it!
******Most Romantic Moment******
So the most romantic part of this film comes right after the team’s first plan has been found out. Their first plan to steal the gold was fouled because Steve’s neighbor was having a party. Stella had told Steve she would go out with him so that they would have an open window to get the gold, as she was planning on standing him up. She instead is forced to go on the date, where Steve figures out that she is John’s daughter. He insults her and and goes on about how he killed her father.
Stella gets mad and leaves, while Charlie remains with the two having a standoff as to who is the tougher guy. Charlie becomes so angry he punches Steve out. Knocked out in one hit, YES! (That’s not the romantic part)
So back in the hotel, Charlie comes to visit Stella. She cries about her dad’s death and how he never really cared about her. Charlie tells her that it is a lie, that her father loved her.
Charlie Croker: Just because he was around me more doesn’t mean he wasn’t thinking about you all the time.
Stella Bridger: [Sniffling] It would be nice if it was true.
Charlie Croker: It is true. He always regretted not having been a good enough father to you, Stella.
Stella Bridger: How do you know that?
Charlie Croker: Because he told me.
Stella cries some more and Charlie just holds her, kissing her forehead.
So romantic!
So why is this so romantic? Well throughout the whole movie when Charlie is planning and completing a heist he shows very little emotion. Not that he speaks in monotone, but he just is trying to stay focused on the task at hand, as any mistake he makes could mean the end for his team. In this moment he allows himself to go off that path as he cares more for Stella’s well-being than he does for revenge. It’s so cute that he goes in and makes sure that she is okay and reassured of her father’s love. To further the romance, he knows that she is extremely vulnerable and just kisses her on the forehead, not taking advantage of her like some other guys would have. Plus it makes the end scene when they are in Venice even cuter.
What horror movie countdown would be complete without the film Frankenstein
Frankenstein is an amazing film that tells the story of when one man tries to be more than he is; messing with things beyond what he understands, and is full of gothic-y goodness. It is based on the novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley (FYI: A much better writer than her boring husband)
Edward Van Sloan: How do you do? Mr. Carl Laemmle feels it would be a little unkind to present this picture without just a word of friendly warning. We’re about to unfold the story of Frankenstein, a man of science who sought to create a man after his own image without reckoning upon God. It is one of the strangest tales ever told. It deals with the two great mysteries of creation: life and death. I think it will thrill you. It may shock you. It might even horrify you. So if any of you feel that you do not care to subject your nerves to such a strain, now is your chance to, uh… Well, we’ve warned you.
I have always loved this film, but I enjoy The Bride of Frankensteinmore. I will get more into why that is later.
This movie is terrifying as we see Frankenstein becomes consumed with creating his being/his creation. He won’t listen to anyone else and his behavior frightening his friends, family, and fiancé.
Henry Frankenstein: Crazy, am I? We’ll see whether I’m crazy or not.
Let me just clarify for everyone out there that the name Frankenstein alludes to Victor Frankenstein, the mad doctor who creates the Monster. For some reason they changed his name in the film to Henry, while making his best friend Victor (while in the book his friend’s name is Henry. Why? Go figure.) The Monster is never called by a name other than Monster, Creature, or something similar. It’s like The Creature from the Black Lagoon or The Thing from Another World, no proper names are given. People call it Frankenstein and while that isn’t technically correct, Frankenstein did create him so I will accept Frankenstein Jr.
Anyways, he is helped out by a hunchback named Fritz
Not Igor, FRITZ!
The hunchback named Igor who helps mad scientists isn’t from the original Frankenstein, but comes from one of the sequels, Son of Frankenstein, where his name was Ygor; later translated to Igor. So there’s a fun bit of trivia for you, Fritz is the first Frankenstein minion/employee not Igor.
Anyways, Fritz is the one who makes the mistake of stealing the criminal brain.
From Clueless
So while in the novel, Shelley never tells us how it the creature is brought to life done, as Frankenstein never wanted to share the details of the experiment for fear that someone would create their own living dead. With nothing to go off of, the writers and directors decided to use lightening, and therefore changed film culture and film history as this is referenced and parodied in so many films and TV shows.
“Henry Frankenstein: Look! It’s moving. It’s alive. It’s alive… It’s alive, it’s moving, it’s alive, it’s alive, it’s alive, it’s alive, IT’S ALIVE! Victor Moritz: Henry – In the name of God! Henry Frankenstein: Oh, in the name of God! Now I know what it feels like to be God!”
Frankenstein is so intent on proving everyone wrong, so focused on completing everything that he never stops to think whether he should do this. This is an interesting question posed; how far is too far?
Frankenstein does in fact create his monster:
The monster is played by the very amazing Boris Karloff; an extraordinary actor. He almost didn’t play this part as they originally offered it to Bela Lugosi who turned it down. I’m glad it was Karloff, because as much as I love Lugosi, no one could have done this better.
The green makeup that is such a part of the Frankenstein figure was used because it gave Karloff a deadlike pallor of skin. Now it has become such a strong part of culture, we see the green-skinned, bolted monster every October.
After the Monster is created, we see this innocentlike creature. He is afraid of fire and tries to attack Fritz who brings a torch by him. All involved fear for their lives and chain the Creature up in the dungeon. Frankenstein and his friend Victor leave and discuss the best way to euthanize him. Unbeknownst to them Fritz is stupidly taunting the creature with a torch; causing the Monster to reach out and kill him.
When Victor and Frankenstein return; they see Fritz’s dead body on the floor, and have to run away from the Monster as he tries to attack them too. Frankenstein prepares a shot of something to kill him, and Victor gives it him as Frankenstein can’t. With all his problems solved, Frankenstein leaves to prepare for his wedding, and Victor begins to dissect the Creature. Unfortunately, the chemical didn’t kill the Monster, but only knocked him out. He kills Victor and then escapes, running amuck in the countryside.
He runs into a little girl, who is nice and shows him the flowers she is picking.
She shows him how flowers float in the river, which Frankenstein, bit understanding, mimics using the little girl. Thinking that if he tosses the girl in the water she will float; he ends up drowning her.
“Little Maria: See how mine floats. [the Monster picks her up] No, you’re hurting me! No!”
The farmer finds his daughter’s floating corpse and goes to pieces. He starts hunting down the monster; searching everywhere to find the fiend.
Frankenstein, meanwhile, is happily preparing for his wedding and is not even thinking about what he has done and destroyed. His happiness (and denial) ends when he is brought news of Victor’s death. He goes out searching for the monster along with the peasants who have their torches and pitchforks at the ready.
Grab your torches and sharpen your pitchforks!
Eventually Frankenstein tracks the monster down and is prepared to destroy him.
However, the Monster knocks him out and carries him off to the windmill where he throws him off. Luckily, Frankenstein is caught by a vane and saved from death. There some peasants carry him home while others destroy the mill and kill the monster.
Or do they?
Frankenstein gets home, where we see that he is safe and sound and in the arms of his Elizabeth dear.
After I had watched this film a gazillion times, it is an October staple (although really anytime I am in the mood), I read the novel and found it to be much more horrifying than the movie. In the book Frankenstein isn’t this bumbling creature, completely innocent and not able to understand everything; but a criminal mastermind. Having learned to read and talk before he died; he is able to after some time remember how to do this and begins becoming more “human”. The one thing that he never regains is compassion, kindness, etc; all the caring emotions that make us who we are. He has no empathy or sympathy, believing that he was shown nothing but hatred and cruelty so he must show this to all.
What they take from this and use in the sequel, The Bride of Frankenstein, is his want of a mate; his desire to have one like him to spend his life with. He threatens to destroy everyone that Frankenstein holds dear if Frankenstein does not give in to his demands. Frankenstein goes through a constant struggle with himself; knowing that he cannot risk creating another creature being made and mating along with the first. (What do they made undead children?) He realizes his mistakes at creating such a thing far too late, and when the monster’s plan is rejected, he kills all Frankenstein holds dear. There is no sweet guy, accidentally killing someone like Lenny in Of Mice and Men, but this is a true psychopath fully aware of the crimes he is committing. Not only is the creature a serial killer, but he has become so intelligent that he is able to plant evidence so that people think someone else is the murderer. He kills Frankenstein’s brother William, and plants a locket on William’s nanny so that she is also killed. Then he kills Henry, Frankenstein’s friend, planting evidence so Frankenstein is arrested. He also kills Elizabeth, Frankenstein’s wife, making it seem once again that Frankenstein is the killer. With all those that he loves dead, Baron Frankenstein dies as well. After everything is gone from him; Frankenstein devotes his life to hunting down what he created and destroying it.
It’s a great book and movie. I suggest both reading it and watching the film.
I almost forgot to mention this. Unlike The Mummy, Dracula, or The Wolfman; Frankenstein has never had a major motion, globally shown, sent to all theaters, remake in recent times (the last one was Kenneth Branagh’s production in 1994 (you know the film he made and cheated on his wife Emma Thompson with Helena Bonham Carter. That’s okay, she traded up with the faithful Greg Wise). However that is all about to change as Guillermo del Toro is planning one, and hoping that it will be coming out soon. To read more up on it go here. We shall have to wait and see what happens and how it turns out.
Here’s poster I made for my cover page on facebook in honor or Halloween. Hope ya love it.
janeaustenrunsmylife 