(1941, Dir. Eugene Forde)
In short: Private Investigator Michael Shayne tries to solve a double-homicide case so he can have enough money to marry his increasingly impatient fiancee. This is a very formulaic, studio movie. There's really no greater message being woven into the story--it's just entertainment for entertainment's sake. It does paint marriage as an inevitably bad and unhappy thing. The murders occur because of complicated marriages, and practically every character tries to dissuade Shayne from getting married--and in the end, he's not able to anyway. That's as close as it gets to there being any kind of moral to the story. This movie was so bad! It was a B-movie if I ever saw one, fulfilling every bad stereotype that exists for Old Hollywood--annoying detective jargon, nagging girlfriends, crazy actors, bumbling police, and not to mention several troubling racial stereotypes. The plot was trying to be clever, but didn't succeed. The cinematography was nice, and some of the jokes landed all right, but mostly I was just praying that it would end, the sooner the better. 3.5/10 Beppo the Dog Costumes.
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(1960, Dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
In short: Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) skips town after stealing $40,000 from her boss so she can marry her poor boyfriend. After a few run-ins with a highway patrolman who is suspicious of Marion’s nervous behavior, a rainstorm hits and Marion decides to stop for the night at the Bates Motel. There, she meets Norman Bates, the motel’s seemingly rather quiet and friendly proprietor, and she overhears an argument between Norman and his mother. From there, things go famously badly for Marion. This is a movie that’s meant to be shocking. The first scene with Sam and Marion is pretty risqué for the time period. Psycho was the first American movie to show a toilet--they hadn’t been allowed before! And of course, there’s the infamous shower scene, shocking for both its violence and perceived nudity. Moreover, there’s something taboo about the psychological aspects of the plot. (SPOILERS, obviously.) Norman’s mental illness is scary and weird and in-your-face by the end of the movie. It’s messed up that he dresses up as his mother to kill the women he’s attracted to. It’s even stranger that he is unaware of any of it. (End spoiler zone.) Hitchcock’s film puts all the controversial topics of violence, mental illness, and sexuality front and center in a way that’s impossible to ignore, yet it’s not just shock for shock’s sake. It’s smart. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this film. This is the most famous horror movie of all time, I’d say, and I tend to not like horror movies. But Psycho is, obviously, fantastic. It’s smartly written, well-acted, brilliantly-directed, and just plain terrifying. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it. It’s clear why everyone else does. 10/10 metaphorically resonant stuffed birds. (1939, Dir. Elliott Nugent)
In Short: The six remaining relatives of an eccentric millionaire meet on the tenth anniversary of his death for the reading of his will. Joyce (Paulette Goddard) is named the heir, but due to the family's history of insanity, a second heir will be named if Joyce goes crazy or is killed within a month of inheriting the family fortune. Danger and spooky hijinks ensue! This is a parody of horror films (in fact, it's a remake of a 1927 silent horror movie of the same name). It has all the tropes of a scary movie--an escaped serial killer, moving bookcases, flickering lights, a suspicious housekeeper, and hidden family treasure to name a few. These are all played for laughs, and Bob Hope's character, Wally, is an actor who often remarks that the events of the film's plot are just like those of plays and movies he's been in. The standard, predictable format of a horror movie is there, but for comedic purposes. This movie is tremendously funny. Bob Hope has fantastic comedic timing, and Nydia Westman is absolutely hilarious in her small role as Cousin Cicily. Paulette Goddard and Gale Sondergaard also give great performances. Elliott Nugent's directorial approach to the film creates frustrating levels of dramatic irony ("How are they not seeing that bookcase open???") that pay off big time for both comedic and dramatic beats. The plot is a bit lacking, however, and the twist at the end could have been more earned. Despite this, this film did what it set out to do: make fun of horror movies in a funny way. 8/10 sapphire and emerald necklaces. (1938, Dir. Frank Capra)
In short: Alice Sycamore (Jean Arthur) is a stenographer who falls in love with the boss's son and VP of the company, Tony Kirby (James Stewart). Alice's eccentric family doesn't mix with Tony's high-class parents; meanwhile, Tony's father's company is trying to force Alice's grandfather to sell the family house. It's interesting to think of this film in the context of the Great Depression, though it doesn't seem to exist in the story. In the film, the big bank is trying to take away people's homes. In this era, this was a very real fear for many. The upper class is understandably portrayed as somewhat villainous, because so many people were struggling with money at the time. Everything about this movie is delightful, especially all the characters. Each character, especially the members of Alice's family, has such a distinct, eccentric, but still human personality. The story was really well-written (it helps that it was a Kauffman/Hart play before it was a movie) and all the elements of the story pay off really well. Some bits drag on a little, but not much, and it's still great nonetheless. Capra's directing style features prominently (it won him an Oscar!) and tells the story very effectively (I especially loved the running theme of the "Home Sweet Home" sign falling). All told, I absolutely loved it. 10/10 Russian Revolutions. (2011, Dir. JJ Abrams)
In short: It's 1979, some kids on bikes are filming a monster movie, and there's this massive train wreck. Things start going terribly wrong in their small Ohio town! Turns out, the government has been hiding an alien from everyone, etc. etc. etc. There's something so appealing to the Kids-on-Bikes-Solving-a-Mystery-in-a-Small-Town premise for anything. No matter when you grew up, it's a familiar concept. There's something so authentic about it, that no matter what crazy sci-fi you add to it, you're sitting there saying, "Yeah, all right, I used to do this." That comes across really well in Super 8. Despite the alien craziness, it feels rooted in reality. It also really speaks to the notion of the curiosity of children saving the day, and that's always a lot of fun, if not predictable. That's really what this movie was--familiar and fun, but predictable. I wanted this movie to be awesome, and it was just slightly better than fine. It was absolutely gorgeous, but lacking plot-wise. I found myself wanting the different story lines to intertwine in a more clever way, and they really didn't. It was a very standard action movie plot, and the ending, in standard action movie plot form, was lackluster. I found myself enjoying the "real" parts of this movie a lot more than the space alien parts. I wanted to see more kids on bikes and less explosions and tentacles. But it was a lot of fun, so I can hardly complain. 7/10 Model Trains. |
AuthorEileen here, writing reviews for film class. Archives
April 2018
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