By: Charlie Buckreis
I watched the movies The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, and Schindler’s List. The Monty Python movie was probably my favorite. The other two were also good.
I thought Life of Brian was very funny, which is somewhat expected given that it’s a Monty Python movie. I especially found the satire on Christianity funny. I think Monty Python’s method of satire is great because, to me, it’s so overdone that it’s hard to feel offended if it’s directed at something relating to you. For example, I’m a Catholic, but I didn’t feel at all offended by the satire in Life of Brian that was directed at the Catholic Church and Christianity as a whole.
I thought The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was done very well. I don’t get emotional easily, and this movie almost made me tear up. I had to read the book a few years ago for English class and I think the movie evoked a much stronger emotional response in me than the book did.
Schindler’s List was also quite good. The camera work was great and the acting was excellent. Spielberg’s choice to use primarily black-and-white coloring brings the audience’s attention to the stark, haunting truth of that time, while his occasional usage of color helps to underscore whatever emotion a scene is trying to convey.