Gold itself ain’t good for nothing except making jewelry with and gold teeth.
Overview: Does money and wealth corrupt? When you don’t have it, you feel incorrigible by it, but the more you get, the more it sinks its teeth into you. This movie is among the great “fall from grace via corruption” stories (eg. Scarface, Blow, Casino) which reiterates a social more that’s been around for ages — wealth and power corrupt. The more you have the more you want. Fred C. Dobbs (Bogart) says gold would never change him — can he make good with his promise after striking it rich?

Noteworthy Actors/Actresses: Humphrey Bogart (Fred C. Dobbs)
Verdict: This movie was really cool — the emphasis on the movie was obviously not so much the striking it rich (since they found about 35,000 dollars worth of gold apiece, which is far from being an arbitrarily large number, even by standards back then), and more so about how when you get a taste of wealth, you whet your appetite for more. Bogart does a great job of playing a bad guy in this film, and I particularly liked the “old guy”, Howard (Walter Huston. According to IMDB, he had an uncredited role in Maltese Falcon as Capt. Jacobi). Howard has seen it all, been there, done that. He just wants his small fortune and to go home.
One thing I found especially interesting about the film was how they played up the idea that if you rise above riches, you’ll live a better life — kind of a metaphysical statement, really. Overall, definitely worth watching!

From IMDB: (1948) Dobbs and Curtin meet up in Mexico, and go to work for a contractor, Pat McCormick, who takes them away to remote site and tells them they will be paid when the job is finished. When they are finished, they return to town to find McCormick to get their wages. McCormick gives them a few dollars, and says he’ll just go to the bank and pick up the payroll for them. Dobbs and Curtin then meet up with an old prospector, who claims the hills are still full of gold, and if they can get the cash, he’ll go with them. They eventually get the cash from McCormick after a little “persuasion”, and all three set off for the hills as good friends, but will they return that way ?

Categories: Movies & the IMDB 250
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So I’ve been experimenting with an idea I thought of several months ago: using oil pastels on photographic RC paper (developed). It’s pretty fun. The initial pictures look ok by themselves, but adding the colorful pastels can really bring some life to them! I’ll try and take some pics to post them up here soon.

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Get busy livin’… or Get busy dyin’.
Overview: Andy Dufrain was a bank vice president by day, and a cold-hearted jealous murderer by night. Or so a jury of his peers convicted him. This movie is not about a 2-decade prison stay, it’s about a man that atoned for all of wrongdoings and eventually found redemption in the walls of the cathartic Shawshank Prison. It’s a film less about living-in-prison than it is about what it means to live, and how the life of one person with a vision of hope can dramatically empower those around him.
Noteworthy Actors/Actresses: Tim Robbins (as Andy Dufresne), Morgan Freeman (as Red),

Verdict: This movie is definitely one of my all-time favorites. The screenplay is brilliant, the acting superb, and the plot was very rewarding (and, at times, moving). It definitely deserves the #2 spot. If you have never seen it, you must. End of story.
From IMDB: (1994) Andy Dufresne, is sent to Shawshank Prison for the murder of his wife and secret lover. He is very isolated and lonely at first, but realises there is something deep inside your body, that people can’t touch and get to….’HOPE’. Andy becomes friends with prison ‘fixer’ Red (Morgan Freeman), and Andy epitomises why it is crucial to have dreams. His spirit and determination, leads us into a world full of imagination, filled with courage and desire. Will Andy ever realise his dreams…?

Categories: Movies & the IMDB 250
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