Unforgiven so far

This is gonna be one of them "stream of consciousness" posts. I'm just gonna blurt stuff out and hope it makes sense.

So far Unforgiven is really, really good.

I love how unpredictable it has been so far. For instance the scene with Little Bill, Beauchamp, and English Bob, was so brilliant to me because I had no idea how it was going to turn out. This is what I expected: Bob takes the gun from Beauchamp after all and fires at Bill but misses because he's still hurt from being kicked in, and then Bill draws another gun and plants a bullet between Bob's eyes. Then again, this would have been against the film's "realistic Western" idea. That sort of stuff doesn't really happen, and so the scene turned out differently, and much better than what I had expected.

Another thing I didn't expect was the Schofield Kid actually shooting the guy in the john. Just before the scene unfolded I leaned over to my buddy Benny and both of us expressed the same idea: the kid is gonna wuss out, get shot, and then Clint Eastwood is gonna come in and shoot down the guy and all his comrades. Instead, the kid gets the job done, and the two get away without Eastwood even pulling his trigger.

Morgan Freeman's character better not be dead! I want more of him and Eastwood on screen together. I've been enjoying that pair very much. I'm hoping that since this film is a discussion on storytelling like Mr Bennett said, that the woman that told Eastwood had only heard that Freeman had died through the grapevine (an exaggerated grapevine) and he is really just in the jail getting whipped some more.

Is it me, or does Gene Hackman never age? In 1971 he was in The French Connection, and he looks exactly as he does in this film which was 1992, and then he looked exactly the same again in The Birdcage in 1996, and then in his final film Welcome to Mooseport in 2004. He has not changed at all. So far I think he's been fantastic in Unforgiven. He won an Oscar for his role in this film I think. Well deserved so far.

Another thing I have enjoyed was the fact that other than Eastwood, Freeman, and Hackman, I don't recognize any of the supporting actors. It made it all the more simple to become convinced that these people are who they are supposed to be.

I'm also trying to figure out who exactly is "unforgiven". So far I have only been able to connect Eastwood's character with this moniker. He maybe feels unforgiven for all of the things he had done in his past. By helping kill these two men, he may be undoing all the contrition he may have paid in the years before, thus making him unforgiven. Once the movie is totally over, I will go through each character and see if they are also in some way, unforgiven.

That's it. Bye

Milk (2008)

"My name is Harvey Milk, and I'm here to recruit you!" This quote may not mean anything to most of us today, but when spoken by Harvey Milk himself in 1970s San Francisco, this was a battle cry that meant hope for homosexuals everywhere. To this day, the issue of homosexuality has been prevalent in our society. Great strides have been made to settle the dispute, but none have birthed a final conclusion. Intolerance of homosexuals became a past time for some Americans, and Harvey Milk was the man looking to find those people another hobby.

Milk is the true story of Harvey Milk (Sean Penn), the first openly gay man elected to a public office. Forced out of New York because of his inability to live his lifestyle freely, Harvey took to the road with his lover Scott Smith (James Franco) in search of a haven for homosexuals. The two arrived in San Francisco only to discover just as much prejudice crawling through the city as anywhere else. Determined to help the world realize that all men are created equal, Harvey runs for office multiple times but comes out on the losing end. Despite losing Scott because of the chaos of politics, he kept pursuing office and eventually won a seat as City Supervisor in 1977. Contending with the views of fellow Supervisor Dan White (Josh Brolin), Harvey now had to face a huge threat that endangered the jobs of millions of homosexuals: Proposition 6. Led by State Senator John Briggs, Proposition 6 called for all homosexual teachers at public schools to be fired in order to prevent them from teaching their students to be gay. This absolutely absurd claim sparked huge uproar in the gay community, specifically from Harvey Milk. Chronicling his life from his move to San Francisco to his murder (not a spoiler, as both his death and murderer are revealed about 4 minutes into the film), Milk is a fantastic film that teaches us about the life and teachings of this pioneer in history.

It is almost impossible to determine where one should begin to discuss Milk. With such flawless execution in every aspect of the film, it seems unfair to start one without talking about the other. Writer Dustin Lance Black, who received an Academy Award for his Best Original Screenplay, did a terrific job of not simply stating facts about Harvey Milk's life but telling a story that dug emotions from the deepest trench of my soul. To admit something about myself for a moment, I am not exactly what you would consider a "sympathizer" of the homosexual lifestyle. However, Black's perfect blend of realistic drama and occasional humor (Dan White: Can two men reproduce? Harvey Milk: No, but God knows we keep trying!) made me connect with each and every character and start to think of things in a new light. Director Gus Van Sant complimented Black's writing beautifully with an eloquent style that was not in the least bit showy. Subtle and simple camerawork did not fancify the story but simply enabled it to be told in a direct matter for the purpose of entertainment and enlightenment. Van Sant, whose films have been hit and miss (a shot for shot remake of Psycho counts as not just a miss, but a complete and utter misfire that made Alfred Hitchcock weep in his grave), is at his creative best here by being as least creative as possible.

The piece de resistance of Milk is the one who not only brought the words, but the man, to life. I am referring to Sean Penn, who won his second Academy Award for Best Leading Actor for this role. My initial reaction to Penn winning this award was one of disbelief and anger, because although I had not seen the film yet, I had heavy doubts that he could have been much better than Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. Having seen Milk, I can say both men were equally worthy of winning the award, and the reason it was granted to Penn was probably due to the fact that Hollywood is a liberal place. This does not take merit away from Penn's performance, which was nothing short of outstanding. His contribution mixed with Van Sant and Black brought the era to life and put me right in the center of the action. What is perhaps most surprising about Milk is that there were a number of supporting performances that were just as praise-worthy as Penn's. Josh Brolin delivered a very powerful performance as Harvey Milk's executioner Dan White, earning him an Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actor. White, a man bent on protecting the sancitity of traditional family life, perhaps even confused about his own sexuality according to Milk, feels his world begin to unfurl as he starts losing support and he watches Milk start to gain some. His morals and ethics are shook to the core, and Brolin displays them easily for us to see. But to just give Brolin a nomination for Supporting Actor seems unfair to Emile Hirsch and James Franco, who both gave exceptional performances. As Harvey Milk's close political advisor and fellow gay activist Cleve Jones, Hirsch encapsulates the role and helps keep the movie afloat in scenes that in other hands would have sunk. The most unexpected performance of Milk was that of James Franco, whom I have never seen in a good dramatic role. I was shocked to find that while watching the film I had completely forgotten it was Franco and I just felt like I was watching Harvey Milk and Scott Smith. Perhaps there is a future for him in serious films after all.

Admittedly, my general views on homosexuality have not changed much since watching Milk, but I have gained a better understanding of the situation. The very idea that this film resonated with me at all should give you an idea of how powerful it's message was. One can only wonder that if this film was released a few weeks earlier, would the recent Proposition 8 have passed in California? Something tells me that if everybody watched this film, whether the ideas stuck or not, the immediate reaction would have been to vote "No". This is all a relative thought, however. If you are a strict, God-fearing person, this movie will not affect you at all probably. But if you are like me and your feelings about homosexuality come from your own mind rather than a book, you may be more inclinded to succumb to the bias of Milk.

Clocking in at just over 2 hours, I was never bored with Milk and felt that I could have watched it again immediately afterward. To those of you who are concerned about watching men kissing other men, I assure you that at no point does the film become uncomfortable to watch, as long as you have a mature mind about you. Whether you watch Milk as a historical text or a vessel of entertainment, you are guaranteed a terrific experience from a truly brilliant movie. My rating (10/10)

You may get a kick out of this.

Recently Jimmy put up a post about Forrest Gump and mentioned how it was similar to the recent film Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and that they were both written by the same guy. Well I found a video on Break.com entitled The Curious Case of Forrest Gump, and it really is astounding. Check it out.

http://www.break.com/usercontent/2009/1/The-Curious-Case-of-Forrest-Gump-649781.html

If that link doesn't work, you can also go to google video and type in The Curious Case of Forrest Gump.

Also, check out my list of favorite movie moustaches in my previous post. You may get a kick out of that too.

My Favorite Movie Moustaches

The other day I watched Gangs of New York and although I found the film itself to be entertaining, my favorite part of it was Daniel Day Lewis' moustache. As I sat down to write a review of the film, I found that I couldn't say anything without going back to the glorious moustache. So instead of writing that review I've decided to do something a little more entertaining (for me at least) and give a list of my favorite movie moustaches/facial hair combinations.

Bill Hader in Adventureland: Although the movie itself was TERRIBLE, Bill Hader's moustache was definitely one to behold.

Josh Brolin in No Country For Old Men: this is a moustache with attitude. I'm sure holding a gun helps too.

Will Ferrell in Anchorman: Some may say Paul Rudd's moustache is better, but Ferrell's leading moustache takes the cake.



John Hurt in Hellboy: A combination that boasts wisdom and awesomeness, this is top notch facial hair.



Terry Jones in Monty Python and the Holy Grail: I couldn't find a picture of this one, but for those of you who have seen this movie, I am talking about Sir Bedevere. Very long moustache.

Nicolas Cage in Raising Arizona: Complete with the sideburns and mussed up hair, this is the ultimate easy-going look.



Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski: Another laid back look from a Coen Brothers film, Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski sports a tremendous goatee.




And finally, I will leave you with a double dose of Daniel Day Lewis. One from Gangs of New York and one from There Will Be Blood.





Do you have any favorite movie moustaches?

(I'll bet that is the strangest question you have been asked this week)

Apocalypse Now in 39 words.

Slow. Long. Boring. Well crafted in terms of direction and cinematography. Unimpressed with Brando. Long. Best performances were Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper. Very nice visuals. Ultimately unsatisfying. Slow. Overrated.

Did I mention slow and long?

In my opinion.

UPDATE: I'm also adding the word "forgettable", because it has not been more than an hour since the movie ended, and I can hardly remember a thing.

Double Indemnity (1944)

The perfect murder is so hard to come by. Although I've never tried it, (and hopefully, if everything goes right in my life, I never will) I have seen countless movies in which characters plot and plan and plot some more to commit "the perfect crime". In The Killing, everything almost went right for Sterling Hayden's character. He had just committed a great racetrack heist that left him and his girlfriend sitting on loads of dough. He was even at the airport with the money all set in his briefcase when he suddenly became exposed by an obnoxious poodle. In Fargo, William H. Macy's character hopes to set up the perfect kidnapping of his wife, but temperemental henchmen and stubborn fathers foil the plan. In Double Indemnity, which I caught late last night on TCM, insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) is tempted by depressed housewife Phyllis (Barbara Stanwyck) to kill her husband and walk away with a $100,000 insurance policy on his life. Neff, who has seen all the tricks in the world that people will pull to get a fake "accidental death" payout, devises what he believes to be the perfect plan to get away with it. But of course, nothing is ever that easy.

It was pretty late when I watched Double Indemnity, so I couldn't throw on my analytical goggles (not a metaphor, my goggles are blue with lightning bolts on the strap that goes aorund my head) and study the settings of the film. However, I was still awake enough to be engulfed in this film's suspense. What started off as a rather slow film that I was questioning if I should watch any further, ended up as a very engaging film that had me glued to my seat. Even though the film begins with Neff going into his boss' office and recording his confession, I was still eager to see how things would turn out. I kept getting fooled into thinking maybe they could get away with it. That is probably from the writing and directing of Billy Wilder, who I am told is a masterful film-maker. I have not been exposed to Wilder much, (and by much I mean this is the first film I have seen from him) but I would like to see more of his work now that I enjoyed Double Indemnity so much.

I really enjoyed the screenplay of this film, only because people don't talk that way anymore. I loved the wit that characters spoke with, because not many people anymore possess such a quality. I don't have nearly as much of it as I would like to. Here are just a few examples that I particularly enjoyed. You may not see what I see, but I would still like to share them. (I couldn't find all of them, so I posted some from memory)

Barton Keyes (Neff's boss)- "I picked you for the job, not because I think you're so darn smart, but because I thought you were a shade less dumb than the rest of the outfit. Guess I was wrong. You're not smarter, Walter... you're just a little taller."

Edward S. Norton (Keyes' boss)- "The witness from the train, what was his name?"
Keyes- "His name was Jackson. Probably still is."

Neff- "Where would the living room be?"
Maid- "It's over there, but they always keep the liquor locked up."
Neff- "That's OK. I carry my own keys."

Phyllis- "I wonder if I know what you mean."
Neff- "I wonder if you wonder."

There were a few more but this'll do.

The End of the Best Three Months of My Life

Today was a very difficult day for me. I was forced to give up something I love, and something I had for far too short a time. I am talking, of course, about my Netflix account. For Christmas, I received a 3 month free gift subscription to this fine operation and used it every day of that time period. I got to see so many films that I would otherwise have missed for months, years, or maybe even my entire life. I credit Netflix with single-handedly making the past 3 months of my life the best ever (film class helped too, but Netflix was really number 1).

The shipping back of my final film (The Bedford Incident) was a very solemn occasion that I could have turned into a 2 hour ceremony. The three block walk to the mailbox down near Farrell was far too short, and did not give me enough time to gather my thoughts for a proper sending off speech. As I approached the dreaded blue box my tongue receeded to the depths of my throat and I felt a warmth ensconse my face. Speaking would be impossible. My fingers trembling, I reached for the blue handle to open up the mouth of the great beast, and as I gently placed that thin red envelope in, I cringed at the callous nature the box swallowed the poor thing. I stood just a moment longer before turning away and taking a much longer walk back to my home.

I would love to talk in great length about all of the films I saw due to the magic of Netflix, but I will instead give very brief explanations, for the sake of my readers patience. In order of shipment:

In Bruges - so good, I went out and bought it myself. If you want my full review of this film it is somewhere on this blog and on my other. I'll save you time and tell you it was amazing. A 10 out of 10.

Fight Club - very different from what I expected, but in a good way. Brad Pitt and Ed Norton had such a terrific screen presence I couldn't look away. The story was unique and mind-blowing.

The Machinist - great performance by Christian Bale and great direction by Brad Anderson. A little predictable but a good watch. Bale's emaciated figure is enough to see this film.

Pulp Fiction - the most disappointing film I rented, Pulp Fiction sure was the picture of originality. Sadly, I was not tricked into believing that ALL originality is GOOD originality. An hour and a half too long, I was upset with this rental.

Rescue Dawn - once again, great performance by Christian Bale and great direction by Werner Herzog. Not the best Bale film, but not the worst.

It Happened One Night - really, really, really, really good. Watched it with my parents, they loved it as well. "Do whatever you please, but shutup about it!" Haha, I wish I lived in the day when you can say that to a woman you didn't know and it was OK.

Fargo - Benny knows exactly how I feel about this one. Fantastic.

12 Angry Men - the absolute best film I rented, I was on the edge of my seat from the moment they entered the room to the moment they came up with a verdict. Sidney Lumet was robbed of an Oscar!

Grand Illusion - a recommendation from Mr Bennett, I liked it. I will have to watch it again when I am a little older, but for now it was good.

Schindler's List - Fabulous. Spectacular. Powerful. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes = wow.

3:10 to Yuma (original) - better than the remake

North By Northwest - extremely engaging, this was a great thriller from Hitchcock. Eva Marie Saint was friggin hot!

Barton Fink - Coen Brothers did it again

The Man Who Wasn't There - The Coen Brothers did it again...again.

Milk - Outstanding. Changed my vote for the Best Picture of 2008. Sorry Slumdog Millionaire.

Shadow of a Doubt - a bit disappointing, I failed to find the suspense here. I read the envelope after I watched the film and it used the word suspense like 4 times. I just didn't feel it. Oh well.

The Bedford Incident - the final film and a very high note to end with. Mr Bennett told me it was "edge of your seat stuff" and he was absolutely right. Though I wouldn't expect anything less from James B Harris, the man who discovered Stanley Kubrick.

I dragged a bit, but trust me, I could talk for hours about my experiences with Netflix. The moment I get a credit card, it is the first thing I will purchase. I have a feeling that as I lie on my death bed in my old age, as I hold a snow globe with a DVD inside, the final words to pass through my moustached lips will be, "Netflix".

Adventureland (2009)

In 2007, director Greg Mottola made a huge dent in the world of comedy with the hit Superbad. With the assistance of writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, he delivered one of the funniest films of the year and still kept it sincere underneath the loads of vulgar language. In 2009, Mottola went out on his own and wrote and directed the film Adventureland, a project probably very close to his heart because he worked at the real Adventureland long ago. For his sake, I hope this was not an account of his actual experiences there. Not only was this film about as funny as stubbing your toe on the refridgerator, it was overrun with whiny characters that pulled no sympathy from me.

It's 1987 and James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) just graduated from college. Before attending Graduate school at Columbia, James wants to spend some time in Europe in hopes of losing his virginity to an easy foreign girl. But when the cost of his trip increases unexpectedly, James is forced to find himself a summer job to pay for the difference. Enter Adventureland, the local amusement park where James' friend Frigo (Matt Bush, the kid from the AT&T commercials, and the only funny part of this film) works. After a brief interview with park manager Bobby (Bill Hader) and his wife Paulette (Kristen Wiig), James begins his thrilling career as a game shack attendant. Life looks bleak for James until he is spotted by Em (Kristen Stewart), another game attendant. The two spark up a friendship that soon turns into romantic feelings for James. But Em's chaotic home life and an attractive musician mechanic named Connell (Ryan Reynolds) jeopardize James' chance of making this summer one he will remember forever, in a good way at least. Falsely advertised as a comedy, Adventureland is a drama chronicling the life of a post-graduate loser in Reagan era Long Island.

Adventureland did have one aspect going for it in it's favor. It was a realistic film in how people, specifically younger generations, interacted with each other in their awful job environment. The awkward and somewhat gloomy nature of these poor souls was a truthful account, so in that respect Mottola did a great job at writing. However, this brings up a serious problem in the film. Real life is not all that funny. In Superbad, the friendship between the two main characters was real, but events in the film were heavily exaggerated to accommodate the comedy of the film. In Adventureland, everything that happened was practical and thus much less funny. Mottola left little room for comedy and instead put heavy effort into developing his characters. In a dramatic film, character development is key. There needs to be a significant amount of it in order to draw an audience in. However, a comedy does not need nearly as much attention put in to the characters. In a good comedy, such as Superbad, the very beginning of the film introduces us to exactly who our main protagonists are. As the film progresses, subtle actions inside the comedy reveal more and more about the characters, but we are never force fed the material. Mottola takes this short 5 minutes of character introduction and stretches it into a full hour. Because of this, there is no light-hearted interlude between the moments we meet our friend James and the main issue of the film. It is drama through and through, and I was looking for a comedy.

Perhaps the biggest disease that Adventureland suffered from was the fact that it was a character driven film with boring characters and lackadaisical actors. Jesse Eisenberg plays the soft spoken intellectual James in a static way that is reminiscent of Michael Cera. Both emit an air of pathetic awkwardness, and neither ever really raise their voice beyond a certain level. The only difference is that Michael Cera is actually funny. Line after line Eisenberg delivers with the same "enthusiasm", and never once did he bring a smile to my face. Much like Paul Rudd's character in I Love You, Man was embarrassing to watch, Eisenberg overplays the quirkiness of his role and never shows the maturity that his character supposedly gained. The lone bright spot as far as performances go belongs to Kristen Stewart, who may have actually been too good for her role. The confusion and mayhem that was Em's life is brought forth with stunning strength though Stewart's performance. I say she may have been too good for this role because since everybody else was so awful and she was so spot on, the gap between was uncomfortably recognizable. However good of a job Stewart did though can be overlooked by the fact that she too, has not a single comedic line in Adventureland. So far, we have a comedy with two main characters. One is pathetically unfunny despite his best efforts, and the other is straight-laced and meant to amp up the drama. Forget good performances, somebody say something funny! It was here that the supporting cast contributed hugely to the film. Matt Bush as James' pestering friend was by far the funniest aspect of Adventureland, but was unfairly underutilized. I have seen Bush in a few TV commercials and I was glad to see that he transferred well onto a big screen. His future in the film industry will hopefully long, despite his upcoming project, Halloween 2. And of course, Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig deliver as always but are, like Bush, rarely on screen. Martin Starr, as James' game shack mentor Joel, provides little to nothing to film, and may as well have been dropped from the script entirely.

It can be argued that Adventureland was not meant to be a comedy in the vein of Superbad but rather a touching coming of age story. This statement I can live with, but respectfully disagree. This film has been marketed vigorously as a hilarious follow-up to Superbad so that is exactly what I expected. Marketing this film as a comedy makes about as much sense as marketing Schindler's List as a great date movie. But judging Adventureland as a coming of age tale does not help it much. Because of the dismal acting and irritating characters, the journey into manhood didn't interest me in the slightest. The final resolution to the film is predictable and conjured not a single emotion from me. The characters themselves showed little emotion to any situation presented to them. They simply looked bored, and that made me bored with them.

Adventureland is a very long 107 minutes that is only good for a few chuckles and one solitary worth while performance. Greg Mottola has fallen victim to the sophomore slump, falling well short of the expectations brought about by Superbad. To those of you who may complain that I am being unfair by comparing this film to Superbad, let me say this. Adventureland as a lone film was boring, not funny, and a waste of $8. My rating (2/10)

It's like death. It's like nothing.

7th period ended 15 minutes ago, but I can still feel the effects of a wasted period. Today Mr. Bennett was absent, and we started watching the movie Signs with a substitute. I understand perfectly why we are watching this film even though he is absent, and I was all up for the idea. However after watching 35-40 minutes or so of Signs, I've found that our little film class is nowhere near as engaging with the void of our teacher. It also didn't help that the lack of an authoritative figure (a substitute is about as frightening as a poodle with a mohawk) gave people the idea that they could talk and bother all those around them that actually cared about the film. The volume, although turned up all the way on both the computer and media player, was still rather low and made it difficult to hear what was going on, even as I sat in the very front of the room. Perhaps we should have asked the sub to put subtitles on? Why did I only just think of that as I was writing this? Dammit. Oh well.

So far, I am not very impressed with Signs. I had seen most of it in the past and never really formed a conclusion about it. We have not discussed the anti-existentialist themes of the film yet, but in general, Signs is pretty boring. Joaquin Phoenix has been pretty good in his role, but has not been utilized enough so far. I am very disappointed with Mel Gibson so far because I have not heard a single convincing line come from his mouth. "Isabelle, you're going to feel very silly when this all turns out to be make believe". Gibson delivers that line to a german shepard as he stands outside his home staring at the cornfield, and it made me cringe when he said it. A simple line that is probably meaningless, yet Gibson made it ugly to hear.

Rory Culkin is a creepy little boy.

I know that we have only seen the first 35-40 minutes of Signs so I shouldn't form my opinions yet, but to quote Mr. Bennett himself, "There have only been a handful of movies ever that have started off bad and gotten better". Let's see if this is in that handful.

The Seventh Seal

OK, it is official that black and white films are just as good if not better than films with color. The Seventh Seal was a beautiful film that would be destroyed by color. So many images have been imprinted on my mind, but I will save them for later in the post. The Seventh Seal is a thought provoking film that is sure to cause a discussion within its viewers. Hearing the plot alone is enough to evoke a myriad of emotions. A knight returning from the Holy Crusades questions the existence of God while playing chess with Death. It is these plot summaries that I miss reading on movies today! Watching the film, these emotions are stirred into a whirlwind as Ingmar Bergman presents us with so many questions left unanswered. One thing that I really enjoyed about Bergman's film-making was that although he is an aetheist, I did not get the feeling that he was trying to impose that belief onto me. I simply felt as though he was prodding me to answer these questions for myself. Two of the most prevelant questions are "What are we here for?" and "Is there really an afterlife that God has prepared for us?". To be honest, I've pondered these questions before, and to prevent a religious war, I am going to have to keep my conclusions to myself.

Some thing that I was surprised to discover was that this film was not nominated for any Academy Awards. I will allow the acting accolades to slide, but there is absolutely no reason that this film did not receive a nod for cinematography. This was by far one of the most beautiful films it has ever been my pleasure to view. I want to buy this film on DVD and simply watch it on mute, so I can take in all of the elegance that was painted on screen. I hate to sound like a broken record with the voice of Mr. Bennett, but there really were so many moments in the film that you could pause and find a stunning picture. One of my favorites was the wild strawberry scene (I believe it was this one, I may be confusing it with another). The image was of Joseph playing his lute, with the death mask just beyond his shoulder. I did not feel that Bergman was being too forward with this image, but was just reminding us that even in a happy situation, death is always near. My absolute favorite scene in the film was the very first reveal of Death. We see a vast ocean with an endless horizon, the water very active and full of life. The music in the background slowly begins to lower in volume, and then in the blink of an eye, Death stands on the rocks looking seemingly directly as us. To me this showed how some of us our disillusioned into thinking life is an endless path, but in reality death will always be there to catch us.