For the third and final blog for art of film I chose the movie “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” This is a western movie directed by Sergio Leone. However it is not a typical western movie, it is a revisionist. It is the story of three men, all coming from different backgrounds and situations with the common goal of uncovering a buried treasure worth $200,000. Tonino Delli Colli is the Director of Photography and is famous for his widescreen cinematography and sweeping landscapes. It takes place in the US southwest during the civil war. It is widely considered one of the best westerns of all time and is a classic movie in my opinion. It has great cinematography and an exciting plot, but I think the acting makes this movie truly unique and that is the aspect I will further investigate in this blog.

The acting in this movie is great. It has three distinctive characters, that all work so well with each other. The first character or “the good” is played by Clint Eastwood. He doesn’t really have a name but is known as Blondie. He is a mysterious vigilante who is fighting bad guys, but isn’t exactly a straight shooter himself. He plays the system to make more money than he should by freeing the bandits that he catches and turning them back in. He is extremely confident and there couldn’t be a better actor then Eastwood to play this character. He played the same character in the two prequels to this film (all directed by Leone). He was also a similar character in other westerns such as High Plains Drifter and Hang ‘em High, so he is proven in this category. However, he does have some versatility as he did movies from other genres; however he mostly had a similar character.

The second character is “the bad” and he definitely fits the mold. Lee Van Cleef plays Angel Eyes, who is an unsympathetic, ruthless murderer. Van Cleef is great for this role I believe since he acts so freaking hard. He does not have a very illustrious career but he is a multitalented actor as he made appearances on TV shows, as well as played the protagonist in another Sergio Leone directed starring Clint Eastwood.

The last of this dynamic trio is “the ugly” played by Eli Wallach, and he is the most comical of the three. His name is Tuco Benedito Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez, and the list of crimes he has committed is about as long his name. He is in many ways the opposite of Blondie. He is dumb and funny and loud, which makes the two blend perfectly. He also appeared in the Godfather Part 3, but did not make many other appearances.

The Godfather is the movie I chose to review for this blog assignment. The Godfather is off the list of the top 100 movies of all time, and in my opinion is very near the top of that list. It is directed by Francis Ford Coppola and is based off the novel named The Godfather, written by Mario Puzo. It follows the life of an Italian mafia family through its everyday doings, and also a mob war. Don Vito Corleone is played by Marlon Brando, who is the head of the family or “the Godfather.” Al Pacino plays Michael Corleone, who is Vito’s son, and eventually takes over the family. Other star members of the cast include James Caan as Santino "Sonny" Corleone, Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen, and Diane Keaton as Kay Adams. The infamous Godfather Waltz, is written by Nino Rota and won an Oscar. The film is produced by Paramount Pictures. There are many things that make this movie one of the best of all time, such as plot, and great cinematic affects.

First of all, this movie has an outstanding plot. It is a very realistic portraying of the Italian mafia during this time period. It keeps the viewer very involved in what is going on in the movie. You must be thinking while you are watching it trying to decide what the next move is for the Don, as if you were in the position. It takes place during a mob war, started by the attempt of the Corleones to stay away from the narcotic business. After doing so, there are many attempts of murder, including one on Vito. Meanwhile, we see the transition of Michael from citizen to a member of the family business. However, it is not simply a bloodbath. There is a very strategic side to this war as everyone wants peace, which means more money. A few themes that I noticed throughout the film are greed and power. Every different family is trying to gain as much power as they can, so they can control more and make more money. At the same time, within the families, the members are attempting to move up and create more for themselves. Each character is developed fully in his own way, especially Michael, as we see the transition from citizen to wise guy. Everything about the film is very realistic, including costumes, makeup, and dialogue. Some of it is spoken in English, while sometimes it is in Italian.

There are also cinematic elements of this film that make it great. First of all, there are low angles, used to the power of some individuals, such as Vito Corleone. Also there are many scenes with low key lighting. This is for the simple fact that many of the everyday doings of the mafia can be illegal and mysterious. I think it also helps display the Godfathers prestige. There were also many close up shots to show the emotion that went into the family business. The shots were generally pretty long, to show the complexity of the strategy of the decisions they were forced to make. The music definitely added to the movie as it glorified the mafia and gave it a more synthetic feel. There was a musical motif when the Godfather made a big decision or had success.

Overall I think this could be the best movie ever and definitely would recommend seeing it.

So for my third entry I decided to once again go with the classic movie Billy Madison. It is, in my opinion the best movie of all time. However, many disagree, citing that it is immature and pointless, and that only immature hoodlums can appreciate. However, there are some critics that would tend to agree with me. Derrick Armstrong with All Movie Guide agrees in his review of the movie. He says, “Billy Madison is a knee-slapping celebration of a spoiled idiot who learns decency from a gaggle of children who wet their pants at recess.” That’s what I said! Anyway, he agrees that it is a hilarious movie. No it is not a “classic” in the sense of great plot line, or amazing special effects. What you need to do is just step away from what is considered mature and just laugh when it is funny. People who think it is not funny say that the comedy is dumb and over the top. Armstrong agrees, but then again disagrees. He says, “Sure, Sandler is over the top -- in fact, he's so far over it that it's nowhere in sight. But that's the point in this movie.” It is so dumb it is funny and that is what Armstrong is saying here. The dumb things Sandler says and does are just plain funny. For example, at the end of the movie he relates the industrial revolution to the story “The Puppy Who Lost His Way,” or when he tries to guess when the Spanish Armada was written, and is rewarded with the bus driver (Chris Farley) taking his shirt off, which brings me to my next point: Sandler is not the only reason this is a funny movie. The supporting cast completes this movie and keeps it fresh. “Simpatico supporting turns by Norm McDonald, Steve Buscemi, and Chris Farley provide either more giggles for the willing or more ammo for the obstinate,” says Armstrong. First of all, the very attractive Veronica Vaughn (Bridgette Wilson) keeps you looking throughout the movie. Nothing like a little piece of eye candy during a movie. But she is not the only member of the supporting cast with a major role. As Armstrong said Farley makes a great showing, being his weird, demented self. Buscemi and McDonald are two of Billy’s friends who are even dumber than he is, and the list goes on. The bottom line is that people who do not appreciate this comedy need to step outside their box and be willing to laugh at something when it is funny, even though it might not be up to their “high standards.” Billy Madison is the best movie of all time, no questions asked. And I needed this last long sentence that is drawn out way longer than it should be, in order to meet Miss Lippy, I mean Tholen’s, ridiculous requirement of at least five hundred words in this blog, even though I did not quite make it. But now I did.

This is a clip from Billy Madison at the end of the movie when Billy is competing against Erik in an academic decathlon for his fathers business. One element of ilm that I noticed was the editing. When Billy begins his story about the puppy who lost his way, the picture disolves into later in the story, and briefly the two shots are superimposed. Another aspect of film I saw was high key lighting, because it was just in the school and everything was lit up fairly equally.

Billy Madison

The best movie of all time is Billy Madison.

Billy Madison is comedy about the son of a multi-millionaire, Brian Madison, who owns a line of hotels. Brian wants to hand over the company to his only son, Billy (Adam Sandler), but there is a problem; his son is a moron. So, in order for his 27 year old son to show his dad that he is worthy of taking over the company he must go back to school. He must graduate from each grade 1-12 in two weeks to gain his company. And along the way Billy encounters many funny moments.


I like this movie because I consider it the funniest of all time. It is very random and immature comedy, which not only describes my movie taste, but also me. Billy's idiocity and lack of drive for life is also very funny. Plus, there is a supporting cast of characters that each bring something else to the table. For example, there is Erik the evil man that gets the company if Billy fails, and the bus driver that is very weird and angry.


Movie critics are very closed minded. Therefore they don't see the true beauty in this movie just the tasteless parts. They say the movie has no point. But that is the point. They say that it has no flow but they do not know what they are talking about.