At the dinner table, I mentioned to my family that I would be commandeering the main TV to watch one of my plethora of recorded movies, “North by Northwest.” My grandparents were both positive on the film – occasionally a good sign – so I dove into my next Hitchcock picture with their blessing. Their recommendation was well bestowed. This 1959 thriller follows, Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant), an advertising executive on Madison avenue that seems like a toned down precursor to characters from “Mad Men.” Thornhill leaves work one day and goes to hang out with some friends. Once there, he goes to send a telegram to his secretary, only to be intercepted by two thugs (Adam William sand Robert Ellenstein) who mistake him for someone else. They take He does an excellent job as Thornhill, bringing that debonair, suave charm that made him famous. He is also pretty funny, delivering the humorous dialogue with some superb wit and comedic timing. He’s also convincing in the more intense “action” scenes, such as the famous one with the crop duster or the climactic chase. Most surprisingly, Grant, the picture of refined cool, does well with the everyman aspect of his character. Grant’s leading lady, Eva Marie Saint, does not match him in her role as Eve Kendall. Her performance was OK, and her and Grant have decent chemistry, but overall she was a little too subdued and stoic. Her character must put on an act for much of the film, but everyone she plays just comes across as icy and detached. The supporting players do well, though, specifically the two villains. James Mason is fantastic as Phillip Vandamm, the chief antagonist. He brings the perfect amount of collected cool to the role, but also adds a touch of menace to the character. Martin Landau, in an early role, also does well as Leonard, Vandamm’s right hand man. He’s the more sinister of the two and conveys it well, but he is also charismatic in a mysterious sort of These lighthearted moments never feel like they are slowing the film’s momentum or bringing the thrills to a halt, but merely providing an interlude for moviegoers to catch their proverbial breath. Grant, especially, does a good job with this, adding wit to the proceedings without ever minimizing the severity situation. Part of the reason the suspense and humor work so effectively in “North by Northwest” is the score from the legendary Bernard Herrmann. For this movie, Hermann crafts a score that builds suspense, adding to the adrenaline rush in the proper scenes with its frantic sounds. His work also enhances the humor, though, as it has a whimsical, bouncing quality to it in those scenes that works wonderfully. This is a very good score from Hermann, though not as memorable as some of his best work (i.e. “Psycho”). Though the movie works well as a thriller, it does drag some during its second act. The most interesting and suspenseful scenes are during the opening and closing, with the middle lagging a bit. Part of the reason for this is the romantic element between Thornhill and Kendall isn’t quite as convincing as it needs to be, mostly because of Saint’s aloof performance. This middle portion also doesn’t work as well because the MacGuffin in this film becomes increasingly unsatisfying as we learn more about the predicament Grant’s character has found himself in.
One of the main products of this movie that popped out to me was the stars. They all seemed to be great actors even though I only knew one of them. For example, I thought that Ian Michael Smith did a great job portraying Simon Birch. He made the movie cute and funny all at once. I also thought that Joseph Mazello did a great job portraying relatable feelings in the movie. You could tell by his facial expressions what his mood was. All the actors did a great job and I can’t pinpoint one of them who did worse than the
{ Hitchcock never explicitly referred to or mentioned developments of the period or the ongoing political machinations that made daily news; and while he hardly stove to substantiate David Lehman’s claim for the overriding theme in Hitchcock’s America, that “paranoia is sometimes a reasonable response to events in a world of menace” (qtd in Pomerance 12). As pointed out by Marshall Deutelbaum Hitchcock’s films were diligently faithful in their representation of the look and style of American everyday reality and it repeatedly focused on the
...the best for me was the use of voice. The way Miles used it made me see right into the character. When a person talks you can understand a lot about them. Where they grew up what kind of education they have acquired and what kind of family life they might have had. What didn't work for me was the emotional truth. I had a hard time believing that Seymour may or may not of had a hard life. A person who may have been out cast from social situations would not act out like Seymour did. Although it does not take any thought to murder someone a plant would have a hard time changing my value system in order for it to survive. Seymour would or should have felt less at ease with himself after the first victim was feed to the plant. The performance as a whole was good and I would like to see it again.
Yet for all such positive reviews, the movie reeks. In an attempt to display the movie in a light-hearted way, the movie omits the things that really matter.
One aspect of the film that the reviewers found to be positive was the performance of Matthew McConaughey. Carpenter states that, McConaughey does a “credible job
Based on my prior knowledge from the novel, the actors in the film surpassed my expectations. In my opinion, knowing the plot of the story made me note every individual facial expression and body action each actor did. In particular, Leonardo Dicaprio did a
Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 thriller Psycho, one of the greatest suspense horror films of all time, focuses particularly on its main character Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a haunted young man with particularly psychological troubles. A seemingly ordinary, meek man, Norman shows throughout the film his propensity for violence, often through the lens of his mother, whose personality inhabits him in moments of great frustration and mania. Hitchcock uses very many psychological lashings-out, putting the audience in Norman’s state of mind while also exposing the terror of his victims. The literary, dramatic and cinematic aspects of Psycho help to explore Norman’s psyche, and make us question whether or not he is a killer or a victim of his own childhood
In addition to that, the romcom still proceed its comic quality with hilarious script lines and slapsticks, particularly the performance of supporting character Spike (Rhys Ifans), William’s kooky roommate. Most of his scenes were shots of him only wearing underwear and making sexual jokes, creating laughter and comic relief to the audience. Hugh Grant’s character, Will also possesses a silly take on the film with his awkward and overly British-ness charm that add cloying and cuteness to his romance. It is so realistic that we all forgot that Hugh Grant play almost the same character throughout his entire career.
All in all this movie is good the only thing that it could have done different is an ending about 20 minutes earlier. It has its drag ons and loopholes. When we first see Kate, she is doing an unusual song and dance routine while cooking, and her husband comes and as fast leaves for some clients.
Billy Wilder’s “Sunset Boulevard” is a 1950’s film about famous, but forgotten, Norma Desmond, a silent film star, who has been living in exile, in her gloomy rundown mansion. William Holden stars as Joe Gillis, a struggling Hollywood screenwriter looking for work with no success. During a car chase between Joe Gillis, and the repo men who are after his car, his tires blow out leaving him stranded in Desmond’s deserted mansion. Desmond spends her time watching her old films, dreaming of the day when she makes her grand comeback. Gillis agrees to help Desmond edit her script, that she’s been working on, soon their relationship goes through twist and turns. Swanson, who plays Norma Desmond, gives a great performance with stellar acting; her theatrical mannerisms were perfectly executed. Holden also does a great job counteracting Desmond’s delusional rants. His character is well balanced, and at times is the voice of reason. The film is not only a love story, but also a story about redemption. Overall, the film has beautiful cinematography, great dialogue, and amazing a...
Overall, the score was beautiful and appropriate, adding suspense and mystery at all the right times. The sound effects added psychological flavor to the story without drawing too much attention to it.
This paper has attempted to investigate the ways in which Alfred Hitchcock blended conventions of film noir with those of a small town domestic comedy. It first looked at the opening scenes of the film in which the two conventions were introdruced. It then went on to analyse the film with the aid of Robin Wood's article Ideology, Genre, Auteur. From these two forms we can see that film noir and small town comedy were used as a means of commenting on the contradictions in American values.
A key to the unsurpassed artistic quality of this film was the "passionate restraint" Williams and Spielberg used. Critics noted how the simplicity and directness in the score advanced the tangled emotions and frenzied, multi-layered activities (Editorial Review).
were all good. Sean Connery Played a nice cool, slick James Bond, well so did
Although admittedly some scenes have a comical side to them, Besson's fast paced action and gruesome images hold the tension and suspense brilliantly. His use of close-ups and camera movements, especially the subjective stance used by the victim, convey the feelings felt by the characters and the way in which they behave. Sound plays a crucial role in the opening sequence because, in my view, it is used to control the level of suspense and intrigue.