This has nothing to do with movies, but holy crap, I just found out that Pete Townshend
We now resume our normally scheduled blogging….
Archive for November, 2005 (cont'd)
We Interrupt This Blog…
Thursday, November 10th, 2005The Birds (1963)
Wednesday, November 9th, 2005Do you happen to have a pair of birds that are… just friendly?
How many of you have ever looked up to see a large concentration of crows perched somewhere nearby and the first two words to come to your mind are Alfred Hitchcock? The director’s fourth and final adaptation of a Daphne Du Maurier work, as much as any Hitchcock film other than Psycho, has left a vivid and indelible impression on the collective memory of film lovers.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Released: 1963 | 119 min. | Rated: Not rated | Genres: Based on a Book, Suspense
Psycho (1960)
Tuesday, November 8th, 2005Oh, but she’s harmless. She’s as harmless as one of those stuffed birds.
Psycho has, somewhat inaccurately, been credited with being the ancestor of what we now call the “slasher” film, despite having virtually nothing in common with modern horror films, in plot, theme or tone. It’s more of a godfather to that genre. At the very least, it gave birth to the horror movie tradition of the audience shouting to the characters on the screen, “Don’t go up those stairs!”
Rather than being a horror film in the traditional sense, Alfred Hitchcock‘s first film of the 1960′s is really a blood-soaked character study and that character is Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), who single-handedly gave “momma’s boys” a bad name for a generation or more.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Released: 1960 | 109 min. | Rated: Not rated | Genres: Based on a Book, Suspense
The Right Stuff (1983)
Tuesday, November 8th, 2005Our Germans are better than their Germans.
If nothing else, The Right Stuff could go down in history as the movie that could have elected a President. At a time when the Democratic party was looking for a viable candidate to challenge Ronald Reagan in 1984, the image of Ed Harris as John Glenn, the squeaky clean All-American with the can-do attitude filled them with hope that the real former astronaut turned senator could help them re-capture the White House. I think the film may have actually hurt Glenn in the long run. While he was an American hero, a capable senator and probably would have made an able president, to paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, he’s no Ed Harris, at least not in the charisma department.
Unfortunately, all the focus on political ramifications had nothing to do with the actual film, which seemed to get lost in the shuffle. Too bad, because it’s one of the best films of the 1980s, taking real life personalities and molding them into something like a modern American myth.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Released: 1983 | 193 min. | Rated: PG | Genres: Based on a Book, Based on a True Story, Drama
The Princess Bride (1987)
Monday, November 7th, 2005There’s a shortage of perfect breasts in this world. It would be a pity to damage yours.
There are very few movies that, after 18 years, I react to the same way I did when I first saw it. The Princess Bride is definitely one of those movies. I get exactly the same feeling of giddy delight from watching this that I did back in 1987. As a fantasy, it takes its fairy-tale elements just serious enough that it doesn’t feel condescending while still managing a knowing wink at a normally cynical modern audience.
Rob Reiner‘s fourth movie is as different from the three that came before it as they are from each other and nothing much like the many he has directed since. He obviously brings a great deal of love and respect to William Goldman‘s original novel and successfully communicated his enthusiasm to a talented cast.
Director: Rob Reiner | Released: 1987 | 98 min. | Rated: PG | Genres: Action, Based on a Book, Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
North By Northwest (1959)
Monday, November 7th, 2005I’m an advertising man, not a red herring. I’ve got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders that depend upon me, and I don’t intend to disappoint them all by getting myself slightly killed.
North By Northwest is one of Alfred Hitchcock‘s glossiest, most strictly entertaining films of his career. After the brooding study of obsession that was Vertigo, this film doesn’t seek to probe the depths of the human psyche. It’s content to be a superbly-crafted roller coaster and better for it.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Released: 1959 | 131 min. | Rated: Not rated | Genres: Espionage, Suspense
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Friday, November 4th, 2005Jerusalem is easy to find. You come to where the men speak Italian, then continue until they speak something else.
When I first saw the previews of Kingdom of Heaven, having not heard of the film before that, my first reaction was, “Wow, somebody’s seen Gladiator a few too many times.” Much about the scenes in the trailer seemed like a conscious attempt to ape Ridley Scott‘s sword-and-sandals epic. It wasn’t until I reached the end of the trailer that I realized this was also a Ridley Scott film.
Director: Ridley Scott | Released: 2005 | 144 min. | Rated: R | Genres: Based on a True Story, Drama, War
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2005So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause.
After the bitter disappointment of Episode I, The Phantom Menace, and the almost-but-not-quite-there glimpses of hope in Episode II, Attack of the Clones, the third time was finally the charm for Star Wars fans. They finally got the prequel they deserved with Episode III.
Despite the diminished expectations created by the first two prequels, the third installment still had a lot to live up to. This was the episode that would have to deliver all that the fans had been expecting from the sequels, namely the story about how Anakin Skywalker turned to evil and became Darth Vader and of the birth of the twins Luke and Leia who would be the heroes of the second, er, first, I mean, the other Star Wars trilogy.
Director: George Lucas | Released: 2005 | 140 min. | Rated: PG13 | Genres: Fantasy | Franchise: Star Wars
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2005It’s a terrible thing to hate your mother. But I didn’t always hate her. When I was a child, I only kind of disliked her.
The Manchurian Candidate has always been in a class by itself among cold war political thrillers. Maybe it was just the mystique that came with being unavailable for so many years, but maybe it was the simply fact that this is a damn good movie. Smart and laced with liberal doses of McCarthy-era satire, The Manchurian Candidate still stands as the pinnacle of John Frankenheimer‘s directing career.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Released: 1962 | 126 min. | Rated: PG13 | Genres: Based on a Book, Drama, Espionage, Suspense
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Tuesday, November 1st, 2005Oh, wake up, Norma, you’d be killing yourself to an empty house.
Billy Wilder‘s poison-pen valentine to Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard, could easily be made today without much modification. There’s always another generation of former stars clinging to their lost fame and a new generation on the make. Instead of simply pining her years away awash in faded glory, Norma Desmond might be doing info-mercials at two in the morning, but the basic story could be reused today.
