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.
Monday, July 20, 2009
I've Loved You So Long
E:
Kristin Scott Thomas, she of the big doe eyes and high cheeks bones. Screen debuted in a Prince vehicle of all things. Hit her stride with the weddings and the funerals moobie, and rode the zeitgeist of The English Patient (whether you like it or not). She's still around, just not around our neighborhood.
Since Gosford Park, she's mainly stayed at home and made French films. This latest, after the phenomenal Tell No One, validates Kristin as an acting presence to be reckoned with.
She plays a woman re-entering a public life after 15 years in prison. Her sister holding her hand as she takes her first steps, as they rekindle their relationship, learning about each other, learning about their pasts.
She had become a closed book after all those years alone in prison, now she has the chance to slowly unfold. The people she meets on her journey back into society are as varied as her reactions are not. But she learns to let them in as they learn about her time locked up and the reasons behind it.
The moobie crescendos to an emotional breakthrough with her sister. And the hope that our beloved Kristin will have a life filled with the promise of her second chance.
Kristin Scott Thomas, she of the big doe eyes and high cheeks bones. Screen debuted in a Prince vehicle of all things. Hit her stride with the weddings and the funerals moobie, and rode the zeitgeist of The English Patient (whether you like it or not). She's still around, just not around our neighborhood.
Since Gosford Park, she's mainly stayed at home and made French films. This latest, after the phenomenal Tell No One, validates Kristin as an acting presence to be reckoned with.
She plays a woman re-entering a public life after 15 years in prison. Her sister holding her hand as she takes her first steps, as they rekindle their relationship, learning about each other, learning about their pasts.
She had become a closed book after all those years alone in prison, now she has the chance to slowly unfold. The people she meets on her journey back into society are as varied as her reactions are not. But she learns to let them in as they learn about her time locked up and the reasons behind it.
The moobie crescendos to an emotional breakthrough with her sister. And the hope that our beloved Kristin will have a life filled with the promise of her second chance.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
His Girl Friday
E:
I know this is supposed to be a classic, and G actually enjoyed it, but I just couldn't get into it. There was just so, much, TALKING! Non-stop, wall-to-wall talking. Instead of anything actually happening, they just talked about it. It was exhausting. It was directed by Howard Hawks who was famous for his snappy dialogue. And I've even seen (and enjoyed, mind you) several other Howard Hawks films - To Have And Have Not, The Big Sleep, and Bringing Up Baby just to name a few. But this was too much.
I know other women who like the film. At the core of the story (and it took me viewing it a second time when G watched it to get this), it's about a woman who ends up realizing her true destiny as a newspaper reporter rather than succumbing to the average 1940's woman's ideal existence as a housewife and mother. So I can see how the theme is appealing. And women love to talk so maybe it's easier for them to watch, so if you're a woman check it out. If you're a man, just skip it.
I know this is supposed to be a classic, and G actually enjoyed it, but I just couldn't get into it. There was just so, much, TALKING! Non-stop, wall-to-wall talking. Instead of anything actually happening, they just talked about it. It was exhausting. It was directed by Howard Hawks who was famous for his snappy dialogue. And I've even seen (and enjoyed, mind you) several other Howard Hawks films - To Have And Have Not, The Big Sleep, and Bringing Up Baby just to name a few. But this was too much.
I know other women who like the film. At the core of the story (and it took me viewing it a second time when G watched it to get this), it's about a woman who ends up realizing her true destiny as a newspaper reporter rather than succumbing to the average 1940's woman's ideal existence as a housewife and mother. So I can see how the theme is appealing. And women love to talk so maybe it's easier for them to watch, so if you're a woman check it out. If you're a man, just skip it.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Let The Right One In
E:
Man, what a crazy picture. It's about a kid who gets bullied at school. He keeps to himself at home (his mother doesn't pay him much mind). He meets another kid in the building where he lives. Turns out, she's a vampire.
The title refers to an age-old superstition that a vampire must be asked before he (or she as the case may be) can enter, and it's a telling moment when she asks the question and he finally relinquishes a deliberate answer.
In it's own way it's a new sort of romance. It's touching. These two form their own relationship on their own terms. Sure, the terms take place in darkness and take the lives of others, but each has found someone that fills the voids in their little hearts.
In the end, I didn't know whether to be happy or sad at their fates. But it felt like theirs was unavoidable.
this is definitely one to watch.
Man, what a crazy picture. It's about a kid who gets bullied at school. He keeps to himself at home (his mother doesn't pay him much mind). He meets another kid in the building where he lives. Turns out, she's a vampire.
The title refers to an age-old superstition that a vampire must be asked before he (or she as the case may be) can enter, and it's a telling moment when she asks the question and he finally relinquishes a deliberate answer.
In it's own way it's a new sort of romance. It's touching. These two form their own relationship on their own terms. Sure, the terms take place in darkness and take the lives of others, but each has found someone that fills the voids in their little hearts.
In the end, I didn't know whether to be happy or sad at their fates. But it felt like theirs was unavoidable.
this is definitely one to watch.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Dark Passage
E:
The last of the Bogey & Bacall onscreen pairings, Dark Passage is an interesting entry into the film noir canon. Bogey plays Vincent Parry, a man escaped from San Quentin to find the real person behind the crime for which he was committed - murder. Bacall plays a woman who helps him along the way.
The first third of the film is shot in first person point of view. A novel new method in the 40s. Now it looks like a gimmick. Once the camera shifts to a narrative function, the film gets better. Overall it isn't Bogey's best, but there are a few twists that surprised me, especially that window - whoa! But really...you can't go wrong with a Bogey moobie.
The last of the Bogey & Bacall onscreen pairings, Dark Passage is an interesting entry into the film noir canon. Bogey plays Vincent Parry, a man escaped from San Quentin to find the real person behind the crime for which he was committed - murder. Bacall plays a woman who helps him along the way.
The first third of the film is shot in first person point of view. A novel new method in the 40s. Now it looks like a gimmick. Once the camera shifts to a narrative function, the film gets better. Overall it isn't Bogey's best, but there are a few twists that surprised me, especially that window - whoa! But really...you can't go wrong with a Bogey moobie.
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