E:
A wartime film noir, Hitchcock's favorite of his own moobies, Joseph Cotten...what could go wrong?
Sigh. I wasn't that into it.
I'm a huge fan of film noir. I've always loved the chiarascuro lighting, the suits, the hard-boiled attitudes, the femme fatale. This film turns all that on its head and sets the drama in the suburbs. A dangerous man on the run - he runs to his family. They don't know what he's really about - but his favorite niece is starting to get the clue.
Supposedly Hitch loved this one because he liked the idea that there's no place to hide, not even in the mild-mannered suburbs. Surprisingly this moobie doesn't stand the test of time as well as so many of his others. I know that a lot of the cinematic story tricks we today find cliche were once innovative, and I know that Hitch was one of the best innovators around. But the tricks in Shadow Of A Doubt have been used so often since 1943, they're impossible to overlook.
If you're going to choose a Hitchcock film, there are plenty of others to choose from. It's important to know his stuff, but this one is no longer one of his best.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
New In Town
E:
I can't believe I let G talk me into watching this...
cliche city/country conflict, predictable storyline, Harry Connick, Jr. can't act, Renee Zellweger's character was too much of a bitch to care whether or not she accomplishes anything...
They spent how much money making and marketing this thing?
And...why?
I can't believe I let G talk me into watching this...
cliche city/country conflict, predictable storyline, Harry Connick, Jr. can't act, Renee Zellweger's character was too much of a bitch to care whether or not she accomplishes anything...
They spent how much money making and marketing this thing?
And...why?
Saturday, August 1, 2009
In The Heat Of The Night
E:
The Oscar race 1967. The turn of the tide. Moobies were different before then; they weren't the same after. 5 moobies from 5 different corners of the cinematic world. A collection that signaled the end of an era.
Arthur Penn's Bonnie And Clyde was so fresh, so hard hitting, so...cool! The Graduate - satirizing the bourgeoisie. Doctor Dolittle - a tepid studio musical, the lone holdover. Guess Who's Coming To Dinner - a soft approach to America's bubbling racial turmoil (also starring Sidney by the way). And In The Heat Of The Night - a much harder take.
A man is found murdered in a small Mississippi town. The white sheriff and his deputies arrest a black man only because he's unfamiliar and he's at the train station. They figure he's looking to escape. Turns out he's a big city detective and he's much better equipped to handle the murder case than the rest of them combined. Of course none of these white men want to admit that a black man could be better than any of them, but the sheriff has to swallow his pride and begrudgingly acccept his help.
It's a great moobie.
First of all, Sidney Poitier was amazing. He should have been nominated for his work and the fact that he wasn't speaks to the fact that although the academy was ready to address the issue of racial tension, it wasn't ready to embrace it. Sidney portrayed Mister Tibbs with such subtlety and fire and cool all at the same time, and Rod Steiger's Sheriff Gillespie was the perfect counterpoint. Conflicted and proud, he finally comes to respect Tibbs as they work together to solve the murder.
The Academy Award Ceremony was postponed that year due to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination.
G:
I finally saw the scene where he says "They call me MR. TIBBS" whooo hoo! nice. Oh, and when he slapped the rich white man, guuuuuuurl. This one is worth watching.
The Oscar race 1967. The turn of the tide. Moobies were different before then; they weren't the same after. 5 moobies from 5 different corners of the cinematic world. A collection that signaled the end of an era.
Arthur Penn's Bonnie And Clyde was so fresh, so hard hitting, so...cool! The Graduate - satirizing the bourgeoisie. Doctor Dolittle - a tepid studio musical, the lone holdover. Guess Who's Coming To Dinner - a soft approach to America's bubbling racial turmoil (also starring Sidney by the way). And In The Heat Of The Night - a much harder take.
A man is found murdered in a small Mississippi town. The white sheriff and his deputies arrest a black man only because he's unfamiliar and he's at the train station. They figure he's looking to escape. Turns out he's a big city detective and he's much better equipped to handle the murder case than the rest of them combined. Of course none of these white men want to admit that a black man could be better than any of them, but the sheriff has to swallow his pride and begrudgingly acccept his help.
It's a great moobie.
First of all, Sidney Poitier was amazing. He should have been nominated for his work and the fact that he wasn't speaks to the fact that although the academy was ready to address the issue of racial tension, it wasn't ready to embrace it. Sidney portrayed Mister Tibbs with such subtlety and fire and cool all at the same time, and Rod Steiger's Sheriff Gillespie was the perfect counterpoint. Conflicted and proud, he finally comes to respect Tibbs as they work together to solve the murder.
The Academy Award Ceremony was postponed that year due to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination.
G:
I finally saw the scene where he says "They call me MR. TIBBS" whooo hoo! nice. Oh, and when he slapped the rich white man, guuuuuuurl. This one is worth watching.
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