The Notebook

In this scene of The Notebook Allie(McAdams) asked her once summer love, Noah(Gosling) why he never tried to contact her after she moved away. There are many different film elemets in this scene but I thought it would be good to focus on the directors use of unrestricted narration and close-up shots. The director uses unrestricted narration because he lets the audience know that Noah has written Allie everyday and is still in love with her, while Allie has no idea he tried to contact her. With unrestricted narration it allows suspense to build, thus making the scene more effective. The director also uses close-up shots on both Noah and Allie while in the rain to show the emotion they are feeling. This lets the audience feel what its like to be in their position.

Across The Universe

My favorite movie is Across the Universe.

Across the Universe is about Jude who travels to America to find his father. At the college Jude's father works at he finds a new friend, Max, who invites him home for thanksgiving. This is where Jude meets and begins to fall in love with Max's sister, Lucy. Jude and Max move into New York City, and soon after Max is drafted into the Vietnam war. While at war, Jude and Lucy struggle with the hardships at home and riot to try and bring Max back.


I like this film a lot because it has a very interesting plot and the music is very catchy. Across the Universe is a love story in which many would be attracted to. The soundtrack to the movie is all re-make of Beatles songs, which are all nicely done. I also liked how they shot the movie because in the movie the characters are highly into experimenting and it is shown through how they edited. When the characters were experimenting with drugs the director would invert the colors of the film and distort the picture to make you feel somewhat how the characters would.


The critic reviews were varied for Across the Universe. Many gave it a high rating, although like any movies there were also critics who did not like the film. The New York Times said "Somewhere around its midpoint, Across the Universe captured my heart, and I realized that falling in love with a movie is like falling in love with another person. Imperfections, however glaring, become endearing quirks once you’ve tumbled." Along with positive reviews from Rolling Stone who stated, "To call it trippy would be an understatement. Your head might explode. Just don't accuse Taymor of playing it safe." With many positive comments there were also negative comments from critcs like Ty Burr, from the Boston Globe, who wrote, "Hobbled by its vaguely insulting comic-book version of the '60s and by a humorlessness that can only come from talented people convinced they're creating work for the ages." For the most part critics either loved the film or hated it.




(photo credit: smh.com.au)