Don Jon

A film about relationships and porn and for the first time Julianne Moore doesn't show us her tits.

 Don Jon is Joseph Gordon-Levitts first run as a writer-Director and already I can see his potential. He has a strong sense for character and friendship development which is played in the film nicely, his two main buddies are realistic everyday guys and you feel like they have known each other for years. Scarlett Johansson's character is  a 'Princess' and very well played, the couple works and it's nice to see real relationships in cinema, you don't always have to find the one. His family are chaotic and fit perfectly into this world and Julianne Moore smashes her performance yet again but I feel her story leaves you a little confused.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt's use of light was great, Having Scarlett Johansson's light react to Jon's feelings towards her is an interesting move that doesn't detract the viewer from the story, also the panning shot reverse shot is definitely something I am going to have a go at soon.

The story works for me and I like the repetition throughout the film, I would and will recommend this film to anyone, it has many layers that will appeal to all audiences.

Mean Streets

Do you know what the Queen said?… 'If I had balls I’d be a King.'....... Obviously.

Mean Streets is a good early example of Martin Scorsese being an auteur, for his first New York based film he gives us a classic example of his art.

You can tell his BA and MA have really paid off, he shows examples of French new wave cinema techniques and also Italian neorealism combined with his own now well known style to create a film that was not only gritty but funny.

This was Martin Scorsese’s third feature film and we can see he has already got a style in mind for his career, we have the bar tracking shot, voice overs, strong red lighting, religious background for the main character and also a heavy soundtrack all these elements can be seen in his 1990 film Goodfellas. Also he starts this picture with old home movie footage for the main character (played excellently by Harvey Keitel) which is similar to the cut scenes in Raging Bull.

This was Robert De Niro’s first film with Scorsese yet you can see a partnership would soon blossom, He plays the character Johnny Boy a care free yet out of control young street tough that owes money all over the neighbourhood, You feel for his character even when you know his actions are going to get him in trouble, In his introduction to the film he is seen blowing up a mailbox for no other reason then he found it funny.

If you haven’t seen this picture I would recommend it. The characters are believable and the narrative is simple yet deep, you get swept along for the journey into 1970’s New York.