We will only see one film in this class, on the day that others are taking a final exam (Tuesday, May 15, from 2:30 to 5 p.m.). Do you have a choice for a film that we might want to see that day. It should deal in a serious way with murder, mayhem and/or madness, should be less than 2 1/2 hours in length, and should be available in VHS or, preferably, DVD.
What do I mean when I write that the film should deal with mx3 “in a serious way?” Basically, that the film has a point of view regarding human nature that helps us to understand, or at least experience, the point of view of one or more of the characters. For more information, please check out the course syllabus on the class Moodle site, which goes into more detail about the goals and values of the course.
The film you choose can be violent, but it should not simply be violent for its own sake. To get information on virtually any feature film every made, go to www.imdb.com. To read film reviews, go to www.mrqe.com.
Please post by noon on Thursday, April 26.
Your entry for this blog posting should be three to five paragraphs in length.
April 19, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Since I don’t believe that most people will know any movies I would suggest, I’m going with Apocalypse Now. What better movie to go into Murder, Mayhem and Madness than a movie based on “The Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad. I mean, the basic story was a decent into madness, so by setting it in the Vietnam War, the mx3 just increases.
There’s many examples of madness. First, there’s the american captain, who fights a battle for a vietnam town because “there’s good surfing.” Also, there’s the whole “innocent american who goes crazy in the face of war” thing. My last example is the main character, played by Martin Sheen, who, well, I guess you should have read the Heart of Darkness, huh?
There’s also cases of murder. There’s the the mission, to assisinate Kurtz. Also, there’s a scene with a Vietnamese family on a houseboat and and an American with a nervous trigger finger. Plus there’s the whole battle scene I mentioned before.
I wish I could go more indepth with why this movie would be good, but Moodle “can’t find” the syllabus, so I can’t go into detail about how this movie fits the requirements.
April 19, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Fight Club, Direct quote from IMDB:
“Fight Club is a brash slap in the face of consumerism and the working dead. It questions reality. It is strikingly thought provoking and visually stimulating. The direction is incredibly brilliant. Director David Fincher (Aliens, Se7en and The Game) is at his finest here warping both space and time, dropping in things here and there to make things clear. Edward Norton is excellent as Jack, the narrator of the movie. He is a nerdy insomniac who catalog shops at Ikea and has a going nowhere job. Brad Pitt is dynamic as Tyler Durden, an anarchistic man who lives in a run-down abandoned house and makes and sells soap for a living. Helen Bonham Carter is also great as Marla Singer, the manic-depressive chain-smoking woman in both their lives. Her role is critical and she plays it well.
There has been some controversy about the violence in this film but it is not gratuitous violence, it is part of the story and serves it well. It is much less than what you would see in your average Hollywood blockbuster. This is actually an insightful film and in many ways similar to American Beauty, although this film is much more in your face about it’s message. If you are squeamish, you may not want to see it. There are some very painful bloody scenes, but if you can stomach it, then check it out. There is also a huge twist in this film that almost rivals the twist at the end of The Sixth Sense. And I must admit, it is the twist in this film that made me really love it. The best audience for this film is men in their 20’s or 30’s, but anyone that can appreciate film as a modern art should like it. One of the best films of 1999. ”
Insomnia completely contorts Edward Nortons mind, making him hallucinate that Brad Pitt is a real character, which he is not. Never sleeping, he is crazy and beat himself up, built a whole fight club on a premise of someone who wasnt there, created a complete person in his head, acting schizophrenic, he even blew up buildings.
This movie is very thought-provoking, due to many twists, and it is overall a really good movie.
April 19, 2007 at 8:06 pm
My vote would HAVE to be for the 1991 thriller and classic, The Silence of the Lambs. I feel that this film truly delves into the criminal mind (of Hannibal) and provides some answers as to why people act as they do. While Agent Starling talks to Hannibal to uncover clues about a serial killer (Buffalo Bill) who is on the loose. We also learn about her history, as well as Lector’s while trying to figure out how to catch the killer. There is the obvious aspect of murder involved, the mayhem stems from talking to a serial killer about how to catch another serial killer, and the madness is simply the motives behind the killings. (This is all from me by the way).
On IMDB.com, I found some reviews that I feel help to back up my point.
“…The psyche of serial killers has been something we’ve wanted to understand for a long time, and here we catch a glimpse. Fictional or not, it’s fascinating. It’s also disturbing, but that’s good because since there were times where I found Lechter likeable I needed to be reminded why he was so evil. Lechter and Buffalo Bill were both killers one just had more charm. Both create a tense-filled and sometimes scary movie that leaves an impact on all who see it. It’s got some blood, but, fortunately, it wasn’t as gory as it could have been which I greatly appreciated. It’s a mature thriller that delivers the goods and one of the best films of the year…”
“…This movie is not only good because it has suspense, although it is one of the most suspenseful movies I know. The movie is more than a thriller. It gives us an interesting view of a woman in world filled with men, it shows a psychological study on a killer and an agent, is has memorable characters, terrific performances and it is perfectly directed by Jonathan Demme. Hopkins is the most memorable since his character is so interesting and creepy at the same time. Foster is as good as Hopkins, and probably Heald as well, but their characters are a little more usual…”
Ok my rant is done. Can we watch it, please?? It’s fantastic.
April 19, 2007 at 10:28 pm
The movie that I am going to suggest that the class watch for the final is the Shining. This movie demonstrates all of the qualities that the class is focused on; Muder, Mayhem and Madness. Plus, the date of May 15th is mentioned in the film as the opening date for the season of the Overlook Hotel. Jack Nicholson plays the character Jack Torrence in the film and is the “new” caretaker of the Overlook hotel for the winter season; after the “old” caretaker murdered his family. The story follows Jack and his family–wife, Wendy and son, Danny–while they live in a vacant hotel for the cold winter months, with Jack falling into a state of insanity that is common among all of the caretakers of the hotel.
The young boy in the story Danny is the reason that the movie is called the Shining, because he is “shining.” He can speak to others using his mind, while he can also see things that have occured in the past or what some would call a post-cognitive psycic. He claims that a man named Tony lives in his mouth and is the reason all of this occurs. Therefore, he knew what previously occured at the hotel and knew that staying there would be an automatic recipe for disaster. The story line is thrilling not only visually, but psycologically as well, and when thinking of what is going on it creates chilling thoughts. Jack repeats time after time that he is the caretaker of the hotel and that he always has been. He tries to murder his wife and his son, and he murders the one man who comes to save them after Danny sent a mental cry for help to him. Due to the snow of the Colorado mountains where the hotel was located, it isolated the family creating the perfect location for a horror movied to take place. At the end of the film a picture is shown in which Jack Torrence is present holding a sign with the date 1921. This shows that he was always the caretaker of the hotel.
The film was released in 1980 and filmed on location at the Stanley Hotel in Colorado. It was based on supernatural experiences that Steven King himself encountered while staying at the hotel on the last evening before the hotel closed for the winter season. Many of the characters in the story are based off actual people who lived and died at the hotel, and some are thought to never have left. Paranormal Groups such as TAPS–The Atlantic Paranormal Society based in Warwick, Rode Island are one of these groups who have been there several times for investigative purposes. In watching this movie the class would be taken on a wild and insane ride of murder, mayhem, and complete insanity.
April 20, 2007 at 3:15 am
I wrote a big long thing around 6, it hasn’t posted, but my vote is The Silence of the Lambs. I sure hope that my efforts were not wasted on writing what I wrote previously.
April 20, 2007 at 8:03 pm
When we think of murder, mayhem and madness, the key elements of our Mx3 class, the darker side of human kind comes to mind. Therefore, when searching for a movie to portray these three elements, we tend to steer towards horrific and startling examples of the genre. This does not mean that there aren’t movies that could be both upbeat and still contain these three dark aspects of humanity. I would like to put forth the film “Lucky Number Sleven.” With an all star cast including Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Lucy Liu, Bruce Willis, and Sleven himself played by Josh Hartnett, there’s no way this movie can go wrong.
The mureder aspect of Mx3 comes from the gangster/mobster design of this movie. In the movie we meet two warring mob bosses, The Rabbi (Ben Kingsley), and The Boss (Morgan Freeman). Both hate the other, and are ruthless leaders that have the heads of many on their consciences’. Throughout the entire movie, people die from strikes of hit men for vengeance, or for no readily apparent reason at all. Using the mobster genre, this movie readily encompasses the act of murder.
This movie also expresses elements of mayhem, in a delightfully comedic manner. It uses a case of mistaken identity to the fullest extent to creat intricate plot lines and relationships throughout the film. Our main character Sleven is continuously mistake for another person who owes lots of money to the worst people: our previously mentioned bosses. This again leads to confusion depth, and death in the movie, as it should in any example of our Mx3 principles.
The last element that is key to an Mx3 movie is madness. Now, madness can be taken in many different forms or colors. Some imagine it as raving lunatics and padded rooms, but another aspect is also present. I don’t believe that any sane individual have an entire man’s family over a money dispute. That is beyond evil and definitely madness. This example of madness is what could be called an inciting incident for every twist in this movie. This movie is perfect for this class and a great view regardless.
April 21, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Nathan, if we are going to watch a mainstream crime movie, why not something like Scarface, or Godfather, or Pulp Fiction, or Resevoir Dogs, all of which are far better than Sleven even hoped to be?
April 23, 2007 at 3:16 am
Brick.
It is a good movie that I think the class can semi-relate to seeing as the main characters are close to our age. It is suppose to be alot like Dashel Hammet’s works and since we read him in the class. It incorperates Murder, Mayhem, and Maddness.
I’ve run out of ideas.
But it is a great movie.
April 23, 2007 at 5:05 am
Ok, So i skipped the actual looking at the directions. So we are going to give this thing another go. With hopes of having atleast 3 paragraphs.
My choice for a movie is Brick. This is a great movie that just came out recently. It takes place at a High School in Califorina. The main character, Breaden, is trying to solve a mystery, but has to work his way through the many layers of High School Cliques and the players throught out the school.
The movie is written like a Dashiell Hammett novel, it uses as few words as it can to get the point across. It is gritty and serious, thought Brendan can be witty as some parts. Since the setting is a High School, most of the students can relate to it, and will understand some of the goings-on, though it can be cryptic at times.
The movie incorporate’s Murder, Mayhem and Maddness. Within the first half hour of the movie, someone has been murdered. As the movie progresses, you can see Brendan’s mental state slip as the murder takes it’s toll on him. And the movie ends with a bit of mayhem between two gangs.
All in all, I think this is a perfect movie for the class to watch.
April 23, 2007 at 6:34 pm
I would have to suggest seeing American History X. Although it is a little longer than most, it is still under 2 1/2 hours! I think that this movie would be great to incorporate everything that we have read about and discussed in class.
The movie is about a man who was a Neo Nazi, who comes home from prison after being convicted of murder, and tries to stop his younger brother from going down the same bad path that he went down.
I haven’t seen it in a while, but from what I remember it is extremely moving, and you feel for the characters, and make opinions about everything. It is an amazing movie, and I think it should definitely be considered for the movie time in class.
For more information, you can imdb it. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120586/
While looking at the page, I looked at the memorable quotes page. This one I read stuck out to me:
“Bob Sweeney: There was a moment… when I used to blame everything and everyone… for all the pain and suffering and vile things that happened to me, that I saw happen to my people. Used to blame everybody. Blamed white people, blamed society, blamed God. I didn’t get no answers ’cause I was asking the wrong questions. You have to ask the right questions.
Derek Vinyard: Like what?
Bob Sweeney: Has anything you’ve done made your life better?”
April 23, 2007 at 10:02 pm
I think that we should watch the movie The Departed. It won a ton of academy awards and has an excellent line up of actors. Matt Damon, Mark Whalburg, Jack Nicholson,Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Sheen all do an amazing job in this movie. It is very interesting and always keeps you guessing. It is fairly easy to follow as long as you pay attention and fits the time requirement.
It deals with murder and mayhem and in some senses even madness. The way that the movie plays out, I feel, makes it compatible with this class.
The movie is about several main characters who all live in the Boston area; it deals with lies, betrayal, hidden identities and sacrifice. It’s a truly fascinating movie and I think it’s definately worth watching.
April 23, 2007 at 10:07 pm
So this movie focuses mainly on two men who work for the Mass. State Police and certain issues arise due to lies and betrayal. The soundtrack to the movie is pretty killer too, featuring a boston based band called the Dropkick Murphy’s. Centered around the mafia, dirty police and the occasional good guy who wants to make things right this movie has all the different aspects that make a movie worth watching. It is interesting, exciting, dramatic and memorable.
April 24, 2007 at 12:35 am
I personally feel that, “Sin City” directed by Frank Miller, would be an awesome choice for this class. Its total run time is around 147 minutes which would fit the class period perfectly. Even though it’s very gory, I still think most of us can handle it.
Quoted from Imdb:
“Four tales of crime adapted from Frank Miller’s popular comics, focusing around a muscular brute who’s looking for the person responsible for the death of his beloved Goldie, a man fed up with Sin City’s corrupt law enforcement who takes the law into his own hands after a horrible mistake, a cop who risks his life to protect a girl from a deformed pedophile, and a hitman looking to make a little cash.” The story is played out like Capote’s “In Cold Blood”, there are many different story lines showed at different times but they are all interconnected and make the movie very dramatic and exciting.
The cast of this movie is also star studded and the actors and actresses play their roles to a tee. You have actors like Elijah Wood who plays a really creepy killer and Bruce Willis playing as an aging cop. The characters are fun to watch and there are some moments when you can laugh and finally catch your breath.
I think this is an over all great movie to watch. It is enthralling, dramatic, and fun to watch. I think the class will enjoy it.
http://www.imdb.com
April 24, 2007 at 1:53 am
I would have to choose Brick as my choice because it deals with murder (definitely), mayhem and a little madness.
Brick certainly deals with murder because that is the basis of the plot – a girl, Emily, is murdered and her ex-boyfriend, Brendan, wants to know why. It’s a basic plot but it is done really well, mostly in the style of a detective novel.
As for the mayhem aspect, it is definitely there in the actions of the high school students, as well as the hero of the movie who is determined to find out what happened by any means necessary.
Finally, there is an element of madness in some select characters whose actions are unexplainable besides they’re “a little crazy.” And while I don’t want to give it away, the ending of the movie really takes all 3 aspects and combines them to blow you away.
It’s a great movie, and I think everyone would really enjoy it. Plus, it’s a movie most people probably haven’t seen, unlike 99% of the movies suggested. (Seriously, if I have to watch Silence of the Lambs or Sin City again … they’re both good but I have seen them way too many times)
April 24, 2007 at 3:47 am
My choice for the Mx3 movie to watch would be The Bone Collector. It’s a 2 hr movie full of not only crime and murder, but the psychology of a murderer as well. There are also some great actors who compliment the movie as well: Angelina Jolie, Denzel Washington and Queen Latifah. The story is gruesome and creeps the watcher out, as a thriller and crime/ cop movie. We get the persepctive of the cop in the field trying to solve the crime, as well as the murderer and a past cop in the field. The movie hooks you until the end, and everytime you think you’ve figured it out a new twist occurs. It’s like a movie verson of a CSI or Law in Order.
There is the whole forensics aspect brought forward and all the interesting ways they were able to solve the crime. The detectives had to try and keep up with the killer and figure out a way to best him so he wouldn’t be able to kill any others. We also get the background of the main character, Angelina Jolie’s character, with her past and her fathers death.
I enjoy this movie even though it does a great job at freaking me out, when I watched it for my forensic class in High School, everyone enjoyed the movie and thought it was a successful movie. Quote from IMDB:
Quadripeligic ex-cop Lincoln Rhyme was looking forward to his assisted suicide when he got the news: some sicko was abducting people in a taxi and leaving them to die in particularly sadistic ways. With time counting down between each abduction and possible death, Rhyme recruits rather-unwilling Amelia Donaghy, haunted by her cop father’s suicide and thinking she’s next, into working the crime scenes to track down the killer.
So yeah…let’s watch The Bone Killer, rock on
April 24, 2007 at 6:26 pm
The moving that I would suggest is called Striking Distance starring Bruce Willis. This is a great movie and it definitely fulfills the requirements for this class. Here is a direct quote from IMDB: “Tom Hardy comes from a family of cops and has just broken the cardinal rule–never speak out against another cop, which he did. Which now makes him persona non grata with the other cops. Presently there’s a serial killer on the loose and when Tom and his father and some other cops corner him, a big chase ensues and when it is over Tom’s father is dead, supposedly killed by the perp. Later a suspect is brought in whom Tom doesn’t believe is the one but most of the cops just don’t want to believe him or think that he’s objective is clouded. Eventually he is drummed out and the only position he could get is at river rescue. Two years later he still sticks to his beliefs and apparently the killer is back but everybody doesn’t believe him and some people think that he is copy catting the killer.”
This movie looks inside the mind of the killer while Det. Tom Hardy (played by Bruce Willis) is left alone to solve the case and prove that he is not the person that is committing all of the murders.
It has been a while since I have seen this movie, but it is very applicable to this course as well as being a very interesting movie. It came out on video in 1993 so it is an older movie and I think that makes it an even better movie because it focuses on the crimes as opposed to being violent just because it could be done. Check out the review at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108238/
April 26, 2007 at 2:23 pm
I was going to suggest the movie The Shining…. holla! to Nicole for doing so. I’ve never seen the movie but its a classic tale of madness… with a little murder and mayhem mixed in. So my first choice would be to watch the Shining.
Another movie I thought would be interesting to watch is One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I’m sensing a Jack Nicholson theme here…. hmm… Anyways, although it doesn’t involve a murder, there is a death in the movie (suicide I believe) and LOTS of madness, as it takes place in a mental institution. The basic plot of the movie is that Jack Nicholson’s character gets put into a mental institution and throughout the entire movie is trying to get out. It deals a lot with the relationships he makes with the other patients, how he afftects them, and more importantly i think with the nature of the hospitals and how they treated patients for many years.
It is a wonderfully made, and often funny, film with an all-star cast: Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd… and many lesser known but wonderful actors. The film was nominated for several academy awards and won Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, and Screenplay. NEED I SAY MORE???
April 26, 2007 at 2:52 pm
I think that a great movie to tie in a work of literature we read and discussed to a great extent would be Capote. I have not seen this movie, but I do want to see it, especially after reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I think that the murders and murderers in this real life crime are perfect for our murder, mayhem and madness themed class. We all have our own visions of the scene and these murderers, but it would be nice to better visualize with a film based on the real life occurences. Also, Capote’s personal obsession with the story is somewhat mad in itself.
According to imdb.com, Capote was released just a year ago. There do not appear to be any A-list actors or actresses in it, although I could be mistaken. I would describe the plot of the movie, but for our class, this is self-explanatory. It is a deeper look at Capote’s investigation into the brutal murders, with numerous interviews with the murderers, as well as the development of an unnatural obsession with Perry Smith.
The film is 114 minutes long, which will work out nicely for the time frame we have. I think that rather than to open another can of worms with a film we have not discussed or topic we have not touched upon, why not delve deeper into something we’ve spent a great deal of time reading about..?
Resource: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379725/
April 26, 2007 at 3:24 pm
I love movies, especially ones dealing with murder, mayhem, and madness. So after thinking about all my favorite movies I feel the one that would best fit the requirement is “Boondock Saints”. This movie definitely fullfills the requirements you listed and is very entertaining.
Most people know what this movie is about, but incase you don’t it’s about two brothers who believe it’s their mission from God to rid their city of all the “bad” guys, which are the Russian and Italian mob. This is perfect because all the people they kill are “bad” by any definition of the word and everyone agrees. So despite the fact that the two main characters are going around killing everybody, they are the heroes. This makes you think about is it ever right to kill someone, especially if they’re causing so much damage to the world.
This movie is also a good pick because it’s so different from other movies of it’s kind. Usually when you here about someone who’s comitting mass murder in the name of God, they’re labeled as insane, definitely not “saints”. In this movie, that idea is turned around. You end up completely believing in the MacManus brothers. There’s also quite a lot of mayhem and maddness. With Willem Defoe, Bob Marley, and David Della Rocco there ends up being many humorous parts of the movie as well, making it that much more grabbing.
April 26, 2007 at 3:29 pm
sorry accidently hit enter. anyway, i feel that out of all the movies you could pick “Boondock Saints” is definitely the best one because it deals with all the topics that we cover in class and is extremely entertaining.
Here’s a trailor for the movie and ill let you decide for yourselves whether or not this movie isn’t perfect for this class: