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An error has ocurred. Please try againNote: There are a lot of old Charlie Chaplin movies on the second page because I am a huge Chaplin fan.
Reviews
North by Northwest (1959)
Northwest Passage
Confession-this is my favorite Hitchcock film but I do not consider it to be the best one. Nevertheless, North By Northwest, the 1959 suspense/adventure/thriller/romance/mystery starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint is still very worthy of the high acclamation it receives. It could very comfortably fit into any one of the five genres just listed and it is an incredibly fun movie to watch. Ordinary New York businessman Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is abducted and taken to a private mansion where enemy spies plotting against the U.S. government accuse him of being an American spy named George Kaplan. He repeatedly insists that he is not George Kaplan and after escaping, ends up running for his life through various states while being pursued by both the enemy spies and the police, who have framed him for murder. I will not reveal the rest of the plot as it would take me way too long to remember all the twists and turns. North By Northwest has some memorable scenes. The most famous one depicts Thornhill being chased by a crop duster plane. Also, the climax is pretty suspenseful as well. But I think what I love most about this movie is the way it has aged. It's fifty-five years old yet I still feel it could have been released last Friday and still have done as well financially as it did back in 1959. I guess if I had to say one thing against this film, it would be during the climb down Mt. Rushmore. Seriously, do you really think a man and woman could scale and climb down the steep sides of Mount Rushmore with any success while wearing dress shoes and high heels? But that's just me getting really picky. North By Northwest is so much fun to watch. The first time I saw it, I didn't even understand half of what was going on yet I still was enjoying the movie. I remember the second time I watched it, I had so much fun that when it was over, I just wanted to stick the DVD back in and watch it again immediately. Thankfully, I got the 50th Anniversary DVD for Christmas so maybe one day that will happen
Oh, and one last note, the main theme to North By Northwest is probably my all-time favorite movie soundtrack theme. Overall, I love this movie way too much and if given the chance, I would even recommend it to my fellow school peers because I feel it's stood the test of time that well.
The Birds (1963)
Something Fowl
The Birds failed to make it on the American Film Institute's list of one hundred greatest American movies, but nonetheless, it has still been influential. A true horror movie, The Birds inspired such films as Jaws, and is unique among Hitchcock films because, unlike others, which rely on psychological horror, The Birds is graphic, violent and terrifying. The plot follows a young woman (Tippi Hedron) as she journeys to a tiny village in northern California called Bodega Bay. It seems like an average small town until a bizarre event happens. Formerly peaceable birds suddenly begin attacking people without provocation. The first attack is nothing more than a knick from a seagull but larger swarms of birds begin to strike to kill and nobody can figure out the cause of such violence. The Birds makes use of some innovative filming techniques to capture the vicious scenes but Hitchcock was not above putting his actors in danger in order to get a shot. Most notably, the final attack scene was all real and live birds were used. The Birds is a good film but not necessarily a great one. It is a movie that seems to focus on the horror and intensity of the attacks rather than the logic behind them. Thus, the plot suffers and is not as strong as the story lines of previous Hitchcock films (although the plots of most Hitchcock movies seem to fall apart if over analyzed anyway.) The film also seemed to lack the star power of Hitchcock's previous movies. In its most primitive development, Hitchcock had wanted The Birds to star Cary Grant and Grace Kelly but the former was aging and the latter had married Prince Rainier of Monaco and had retired from acting. So, Hitchcock ended up with Rod Taylor and a rookie Tippi Hedron.
Vertigo (1958)
This Movie was Disappointing at First-Now, I Love It!
It's the movie that perfectly describes its name-Vertigo, the film often considered to be Hitchcock's masterpiece. The experience I had with this movie the first time I saw it was, pun-intended, vertigo-inducing. Vertigo was only the second Hitchcock film I saw and I wish somebody had warned me of what I was to expect. At the end, the first thing I said was "holy crap." If asked point-blank, I couldn't have been able to tell you whether I liked it or not because there were elements I liked and elements I didn't like but overall, it was an overwhelming experience and it may hold the record for the only movie I was ever afraid of. The plot is so tortuous, one really needs to view it multiple times to completely get the gist of it and become "immune" to it. A detective named Scottie Ferguson with a paralyzing fear of heights quits the San Francisco police force and then is hired by an old college buddy to follow the latter's wife, who has been displaying strange psychological behavior. Scottie becomes increasingly and dangerously obsessed with the cool blonde and ends up being driven to the brink of insanity. There are several things I love about this movie since as of this writing, I've seen it a total of five times. First and foremost, the acting is top-notch but then again, Hitchcock did get a top-notch actor in the always lovable Jimmy Stewart-well, he's actually not quite that lovable in Vertigo. Gone are the days of his "aw-shucks" persona in It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Rear Window. Stewart's performance in Vertigo is so complex and convincing, it disturbs me a bit-and it's a heck of a performance. In the beginning, he still retains a little of his old likable mannerisms but as the films progresses, he becomes darker and more agitated so that by the climax, his anger boils over to the point of him yelling at Kim Novak's character and throughout, his eyes have a crazed and tortured shine that I've never seen in any other film of his-and I've seen over twenty films of his. He completely pulls off the role of a necrophiliac sufferer of Freud's Repetition Complex and his habit of following Kim Novak-and later leering at women who bear a resemblance to her- are more than borderline stalker. This is really the only one of Jimmy Stewart's characters I don't like and if he can make me not like him, then I really must have some great evidence to support my statement of him being the greatest actor ever. But let's not forget Kim Novak's performance. She plays dual roles-which is really tough to pull off- and does it flawlessly. Anyone else in her role just would not have worked. Novak adds a certain haunting and hypnotic quality to the character of Madeleine that adds to her mystery and elusiveness. Also, I love the photography in this film-it's probably some of the most beautiful photography I've ever seen in a film period. There is a dreamlike quality and the pastel tone of the colors reminds me of a watercolor painting. Heck, it's so beautiful, it makes me want to go to San Francisco. The music is brilliant as well and almost makes you see swirling patterns. I think that Hitchcock truly captured lightning in a bottle with this movie and that there will never be another film like it. If I had to say anything against it, it would be just a personal thing. The nightmare sequence will probably always creep me out no matter how many times I see the movie. This movie is brilliant.
Psycho (1960)
Mother Knows Best...
Still considered a ground-breaking film today, Psycho shocked audiences when it was released back in 1960 because they had never before seen a graphic murder scene shot with such brutality, intensity and at the same time discretion. Though the infamous "shower scene" does not reveal a plunging knife nor a single bare breast, it still manages to be unsettling nonetheless due to its sheer realism and plausibility. The plot of Psycho comes with many twists and turns and is pretty unpredictable seeing as how it starts out very simple. A Phoenix secretary steals forty thousand dollars and takes off. But when she runs into Norman Bates, the peculiar owner of a small motel who is very attached to his invalid mother, things get complicated. The acting in this movie is nothing less than phenomenal. Janet Leigh does not have a large role but still was able to make the most of it. As previously stated, the acting is phenomenal-in the case of Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates, a little too phenomenal. I felt he truly could have been a great actor-had it not been for his disturbingly convincing performance in Psycho. He makes you believe he really is a psychopath. Perhaps one of the most disturbing moments in the film is when he stares directly at the viewer, his eyes glowing with evil mischievousness.
Psycho is a disturbing but interactive film that tests the viewer's knowledge. Shot in gritty black-and-white, the cinematography only adds to the unsettling nature but it also adds to the artistry of it as well. When one tallies up its great acting, haunting atmosphere and twisting plot, it is easy to see why Psycho is ranked amongst the greatest films ever made.