Hitchcock (2012)

Filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock and wife Alma have a little marriage crisis during the filming of Psycho in 1959.

Although it has a more serious topic at its core this movie manages it be a lighthearted and loving homage to the master and presents some enjoyably stellar performances from its cast.

On rewatching: Light-weighted, but quite entertaining depiction of the making of Psycho.

Maltin***: "As an account of the making of PSYCHO this is evocative and fun to watch. As an exploration of what made Hitchcock tick it must be taken as pure entertainment and not literal truth."

The Movies I Watched in April

Anastasia 1956  6
The Bad Sister 1931  5
Bunco Squad 1950  6
Burnt 2015  5
Chappaquiddick 2017  6
Escape Plan 2013  6
The Fall, Season 3 2016  7

Godsend 2004  5
The Hideous Sun Demon 1958  5
Hitchcock 2012  7

House on Haunted Hill 1959  6
I Bury the Living 1958  6
Joe Exotic: Tiger King (2020)  7

Jourbey Into Fear 1943  6
Lady Frankenstein 1971  6
Level 16 2018  6
The Manster 1959  6
McLintock! 1963  6
Mélodie en sous-sol 1963  7

Midsommar 2019  6
The 9th Guest 1934  6
Planet of the Humans 2019  5
A Private War 2018  6
Oija 2014  5
Ouja: Origin of Evil 2016  5
One of Us 2017  7

Queen of Blood  1966  6
Rocketman 2019  6
Systemsprenger 2019  7

Timeline 2003  5
Tomb Raider 2018  6
Unorthodox 2020  7

La veuve Couderc 1971  7

Woman in Gold 2015  6

Dial M for Murder (1954)

An ex-tennis pro carries out a plot to murder his wife, but when things go wrong, he improvises a brilliant plan B.

Although nearly complete bound to one room and with a rather lackadaisical cast, this crime mystery creates suspense with its director's fine sense for details.

Halliwell**: "Hitchcock did not try very hard to adapt this highly commercial play for the cinema, nor did he exploit the possibilities of 3-D. But for a one-room film with a not very exciting cast the film holds its grip pretty well."

Maltin***: "...stagey at times but slick and entertaining."

Rebecca (1940)

A self-conscious bride is tormented by the memory of her husband's dead first wife.

Perfect Hitchcock adaptation of a Gothic melodrama-mystery has excellent settings and atmosphere, a great cast and lots of memorable scenes.

Halliwell****: "The supreme Hollywood entertainment package, set in Monte Carlo and Cornwall, with generous helpings of romance, comedy, suspense, melodrama and mystery, all indulged in by strongly-drawn characters, and directed by the English wizard from a book which sold millions of copies. It really couldn't miss, and it didn't."

Maltin****: "...sumptuous David O. Selznick production...Stunning performances by Fontaine and Anderson..."

New Stuff: Rebecca

Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015)

Filmmakers discuss how Francois Truffaut's 1966 book "Cinema According to Hitchcock" influenced their work.

This documentary provides not much new about the famous book and the two directors, but you'll find more insight from the invited guest directors.

The Trouble with Harry (1955)

The trouble with Harry is that he's dead, and everyone seems to have a different idea of what needs to be done with his body.

Likable, but not too malicious black comedy; quite slow-paced and light-weighted which is remarkable considering it's a Hitchcock movie.

Halliwell**: "Black comedy that never quite, despite bright moments, catches the style of the book; however, it is finely performed and the autumnal backgrounds are splendid."

Maltin***: "Offbeat, often hilarious black comedy...Gwenn is fine as usual, MacLaine appealing in her first film. Beautiful autumn locations, whimsical score (his first for Hitch) by Bernard Herrmann."

New Stuff: Hitchcock/Truffaut

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941)

Two New York sophisticates have been lovingly and passionately married for three years, until they are told individually that due to a technicality their wedding was not legal.

A screwball comedy directed by Alfred Hitchcock which is well-made, mildly amusing, but also a bit dated.

Halliwell*: "Smartish matrinomial comedy, surprisingly but not obviously by the master of suspense."

Maltin***: "Madcap comedy...One of Hitchcock's least typical films, but bouncy nonetheless..."

The Paradine Case (1947)

 

A happily married London barrister falls in love with the accused poisoner he is defending.

 

Superb courtroom drama with an excellent cast; Hitchcock manages to set the characters' moral ambiguities as the plot's pacemaker.





On renewed view: it's bit pedestrian in pace.

Halliwell**: "A stodgy and old-fashioned script is given gleaming treatment; this and the acting make it seem better thirty years later than it did on release."

Maltin**1/2: "Talk, talk, talk in complicated, stagey courtroomdrama...Below par for Hollywood..."

The Paradine Case (1947)

A happily married London barrister falls in love with the accused poisoner he is defending.

Superb courtroom drama with an excellent cast; Hitchcock manages to set the characters' moral ambiguities as the plot's pacemaker.

Halliwell**: "A stodgy and old-fashioned script is given gleaming treatment; this and the acting make it seem better thirty years later than it did on release."

Maltin**1/2: "Talk, talk, talk in complicated, stagey courtroomdrama...Below par for Hollywood..."

Bon Voyage (1944)

A young Scottish RAF gunner is debriefed by French officials about his escape from occupied territory, and in particular one person who may or may not have been a German agent.

A short propaganda film, well produced and interestingly telling its story Rashomon-like in two different versions, albeit one of them is the true story.

Aventure malgache (1944)

A French actor chatting with his fellow actors as they put on their makeup before a performance. reminisces about a very unpleasant Vichy official that he knew when he was part of the Resistance on the island of Madagascar during the Second World War.

Short propaganda piece, well staged in flashbacks, but not particularly engaging and quite dated.

New Stuff: diverse DVDs

At the supermarket they dvds for 1 Euro, old classics and obscure B pictures, I now have a lot more movies in my collection

Suspicion (1941)

A shy young English woman marries a charming gentleman, then begins to suspect him of trying to kill her.

A classic Hitchcock suspenser with all the touches of a masterpiece, if it were not ruined by the phony happy ending.

On second view: I stick to my opinion.

Halliwell**: "Rather artificial and stiff Hitchcock suspenser, further marred by an ending suddenly switched to please the front office. Full of the interesting touches one would expect."

Maltin***1/2: "Suspenser is helped by Bruce as cary's pal, but finale (imposed by the Production Code) leaves viewer flat."

Hitchcock (2012)

Filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock and wife Alma have a little marriage crisis during the filming of Psycho in 1959.

Although it has a more serious topic at its core this movie manages it be a lighthearted and loving hommage to the master and presents some enjoyably stellar performances from its cast.

Maltin***: "As an account of the making of PSYCHO this is evocative and fun to watch. As an exploration of what made Hitchcock tick it must be taken as pure entertainment and not literal truth."

The Movies I Watched in June

28 Weeks Later 2007  6
48 Hrs. 1982  6
And Soon the Darkness 2010  5
Animals United 2010  5
Assassins 1995  6
Doom 2005  5
Duplicity 2009  5
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 1998  5
Friday the 13th 1980  5
Funny Games 2007  6
Hang 'Em High 1968  6
Hush 2008  5
Kill Theory 2009  5
Over the Hedge 2006  6
Predators 2010  6
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier 1989  5
Star Trek: Insurrection 1998  5
TRON: Legacy 2010  5
Tarantula 1955  8

The Amityville Horror 2005  5
The Birds 1963  8

The Crazies 2010  5
The Grandmaster 2013  8

The Hole 2009  6
Triangle 2009  7

Vanishing on 7th Street 2010  5
Wolf Creek 2005  6

The Movies I watched in March

Springfield Rifle 1952  5
Black Swan 2010  6
Deep Blue Sea 1999  6
The Conversation 1974  7

Blind Side 1993  4
Mindhunters 2004  5 
The Call of the Wild 1972  6
Runaway Jury 2003  7

Find Me Guilty 2006  7

Scanners 1981  7

The Red House 1947  6
Thr3e 2006  5
Shoot Out 1971  6
The Ballad of Jack and Rose 2005 7

Birdcage Inn 1998  7

Crocodile 1996  6
Agnes of God 1985  6
Serpico 1973  7

Planet of the Apes 1968  7

Anna Karenina 1997  6
The Ten Commandments 1956  7

Ghost 1990  6
The Pelican Brief 1993  6
The Experiment 2010  5
Unbreakable 2000  6
The Village 2004  7

Vertigo 1958  10