I have heard from a few people that Vertigo is by far the best movie that famous director Alfred Hitchcock ever made. I have to take that with a grain of salt sadly, because as of this very moment I have seen exactly one Alfred Hitchcock movie, that one movie being of course Vertigo for the purpose of this review. I haveve heard that he was an amazing director, so I was glad to be able to finally experience on of his movies.
I can state with confidence that the plot is one of the most twisting things I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. I did not want to use this cliche, but this film is very much like a roller coaster. It starts slow, with a long buildup - this would be the clackety journey up the first and largest hill of the ride - and then, once the audience is filled with anticipation and curiosity, the bottom falls out. It is difficult to say much more than after the initial buildup, the plot twists and that it twists a lot, so you will have to settle for that. I was taken completely by surprise. I hesitated to mention this at all, so that you readers out there could experience the twists just as blindly as I did, but ultimately I am hoping that the knowledge of such a crazy plot will entice you to go watch this movie. The plot is absolutely wild, and it is absolutely brilliant.
The acting is also very well done. It took me about 30 minutes or so to grow accustomed to seeing James Stewart in such a serious role. My only experience with this actor is the very famous "It's A Wonderful Life", and because of that I had to break the actor out of the mold that I had fit him to. Once I got past that however, he did a great job. His very unique voice was a bit distracting but that too I was able to overlook with time. I think however, despite his performance, that the true star of this movie was Kim Novak. She played her role very well and sadly, due to the secrets of the twisting plot, I can't elaborate much more than that.
The movie was very firmly rooted in San Francisco, which was nice. The city was very well portrayed in the movie. We were treated to beautiful shots of the city, as well as some shots underneath the Golden Gate Bridge and inside a redwood forest. The city felt as ingrained in this movie as New York City does in the Ghostbusters films. If I ever make it to San Francisco it would be interesting to tour the city and try to find a few of the locations in this movie.
The music was not outstanding. In fact, thinking back on the movie, nowhere does the music particularly stand out. This means to me that it was neither exceptionally good nor was it exceptionally bad, rather it was just average.
This movie was a surprise for me. I was not expecting a barrage of plot twists from a movie made in 1958, which likely validates my earlier statement regarding never seeing a Hitchcock film before, and I was absolutely floored by them. The beginning was a little slow, but that was most likely necessary to set up the rest of the movie. I'll give this movie 8 scary nuns out of 10.
~Matt
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Vertigo(John)
I have never seen an Alfred Hitchcock film all the way though before this point. However, I do know that he is considered an excellent and prolific director/story-teller. I also know that Vertigo is one of his greatest works. So, I was definitely excited to see this film.
The acting was pretty good. Jimmy Stewart stole the show. His metamorphosis of an ordinary man with a fear into border-line insanity was excellent. Some of his parts were overly dramatized, but I forgave that because of the time period and they didn't completely annoy me. Kim Novak also did a good job of separating the two roles she was required to play. I thought she had a very charismatic presence on the screen. And the chemistry between her and Stewart was also evident. Again, she has some overly dramatic scenes but none too bothersome.
The story was crazy. The first half of the movie, I felt like I was watching something out of the Twilight Zone. And then the second half turns into this suspense film about a guy who was tricked into believing something that was not true. And for good measure, we have a romantic love affair. It was a fairly confusing story to follow. That being said, I think the story was good and definitely kept me on my toes. The pacing was good and I never felt bored. I can see where critics who watched this film when it was first released would have major problems with it. At the time, there was no other film like this.
The camera work was also crazy. Hitchcock implemented this zoom technique that help illustrate the feeling of vertigo. And he pulled it off perfectly. This technique is used all the time in today's movies/shows, but it was brand new back then. The camera angles were also appealing to me. The scene when Jimmy Stewart wakes up after having a nightmare is a good representation of the excellent cinematography.
I think this movie was pretty good. There were some confusing plot points and some very dramatic dialogue. However, the acting was great, the set and sound design was amazing and I enjoyed the Hitchcockian camera work. This may not be the first Hitchcock film you should see, but it should definitely be on the list.
I'll give it a 7.5 out of 10.
- John Murphy
The acting was pretty good. Jimmy Stewart stole the show. His metamorphosis of an ordinary man with a fear into border-line insanity was excellent. Some of his parts were overly dramatized, but I forgave that because of the time period and they didn't completely annoy me. Kim Novak also did a good job of separating the two roles she was required to play. I thought she had a very charismatic presence on the screen. And the chemistry between her and Stewart was also evident. Again, she has some overly dramatic scenes but none too bothersome.
The story was crazy. The first half of the movie, I felt like I was watching something out of the Twilight Zone. And then the second half turns into this suspense film about a guy who was tricked into believing something that was not true. And for good measure, we have a romantic love affair. It was a fairly confusing story to follow. That being said, I think the story was good and definitely kept me on my toes. The pacing was good and I never felt bored. I can see where critics who watched this film when it was first released would have major problems with it. At the time, there was no other film like this.
The camera work was also crazy. Hitchcock implemented this zoom technique that help illustrate the feeling of vertigo. And he pulled it off perfectly. This technique is used all the time in today's movies/shows, but it was brand new back then. The camera angles were also appealing to me. The scene when Jimmy Stewart wakes up after having a nightmare is a good representation of the excellent cinematography.
I think this movie was pretty good. There were some confusing plot points and some very dramatic dialogue. However, the acting was great, the set and sound design was amazing and I enjoyed the Hitchcockian camera work. This may not be the first Hitchcock film you should see, but it should definitely be on the list.
I'll give it a 7.5 out of 10.
- John Murphy
Vertigo
Origin: U.S(Alfred J. Hitchcock, Paramount) 1958Length: 128 minutes
Format: Technicolor
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Producer: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplay: Samuel A. Taylor, Alec Coppel, from the novel d'Entre les Morts by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac
Photography: Robert Burks
Music: Bernard Herrmann
Cast: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Henry Jones, Raymond Bailey, Ellen Corby, Konstantin Shayne, Lee Patrick
Oscar nominations: Hal Pereira, Henry Bumstead, Sam Comer, Frank R. McKelvy(art direction), George Dutton(sound)
Links:Vertigo Wiki, d'Entre les Morts Wiki
Though director Alfred Hitchcock was then at the height of his critical success and commercial fame, Vertigo was not a well-liked film at the time of its release. Most criticism focused on the intricate and unlikely plot dependent on a fiendishly implausible murder scheme on the part of a thinly characterized villain, whose exposure is about as much of a surprise as the ending of your average Scooby-Doo episode. The climax is so concerned with something else that the killer seems to get away with it-though Hitchcock shot an unnecessary tag, in the spirit of his TV narrations, to reveal that he was brought to justice. Closer to the mark, there was a genuine feeling of discomfort at the nasty little relationship between Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak around which the film turns. But during a lengthy period in which Vertigo was unavailable for copyright reasons, the film was critically reassessed. Now it is held to be one of the Master's greatest works.
Monday, May 3, 2010
A Nightmare On Elm Street (Matt)
Well here we are. It's time for me to write up a review on the introduction of one of the giants of the slasher horror genre. This one character was responsible for many a terrified child and I'm afraid I have to count myself among those ranks. This movie came out in 1984, I was 4 years old that year, and I was very susceptible to horror at that time. In between the ages of 4 and 12 I thought monsters still might exist out there somewhere. It's hard to tell reality from fantasy when you're that age, at least it was to a certain extent with me. My parents would not let me watch this movie and I actually did not see it until I was a bit older, although some of the sequels did sneak into my bedtime TV viewing when mom or dad was not looking.
I was not safe however, from the stories of my friends. I heard all about Freddie throughout elementary school and I was terrified. I would occasionally see his picture on a sign or on a t-shirt or in a commercial or such and that's all it took to trigger scared Matt time. I can remember lying in bed knowing that Freddy was after me but too scared to run to mom and dad in their bedroom because I knew that he would wait in between my room and theirs for me to do exactly that.
I'm telling you this so you know the impact that this character had directly on my life. He terrified me in a very real sense, and this is his beginning.
Now that I'm a grown man, of course, this seems very silly. I can separate fantasy from reality and that allows me to actually enjoy movies like this and even laugh at them. I can recognize exaggerated stereotypes aimed at provoking fear in usually a teenage audience and can enjoy the movie for what it is. So that said, here is what I think of this first movie in the series.
The first thing I notice when watching this movie is the music. The opening credits are dark and this eerie music starts to screech out from the TV speakers. That music is creepy and it sets the mood perfectly. A lot of horror movies will employ terrible music on purpose in order to get the view to feel uncomfortable, this movie however pulls off the same effect with music that doesn't make you want to yell at the TV to stop. For that it gets points.
The acting in this movie is second rate for the most part. This, I suppose, is to be at least a little expected. Most of the actors were either first timers or were young and this definitely shows. There are a few scenes that feel forced and this has the tendency to take you out of the film.
The settings are pretty great, especially those used in the dream scenes. The boiler room set, the foggy outside scenes, the school, they all looked great. I enjoy how during dreams the rooms would start out being just a little bit off from reality; maybe the lights are too bright or too dim, or perhaps there is a thick mist covering everything that surrounds you. Then as the scene progresses things start to get weirder and weirder until you don't know what is real and what is not. This was a highlight of the film for sure.
In my opinion the true star of this movie is the monster Freddy. It's hard for me to think of another horror film that has such a brilliant idea for a story. Freddy lives only in dreams, and that single character fact instantly connects every single human alive to him. We all sleep. We all dream. We all might run across him someday. This is scary stuff, and I love it. The more I think about it the more I am amazed at this idea. It's amazing, and I'm glad it brought New Line a lot of money.
The movie is showing it's age a bit now. The clothes look strange and the teenage characters are a bit harder to connect to, at least for those who didn't live through that time period. I have to say though, this movie still is a great watch. It's scary, it's fun, it's.. well it's Freddy.
I'd give it 8 bloody body bags out of 10.
I was not safe however, from the stories of my friends. I heard all about Freddie throughout elementary school and I was terrified. I would occasionally see his picture on a sign or on a t-shirt or in a commercial or such and that's all it took to trigger scared Matt time. I can remember lying in bed knowing that Freddy was after me but too scared to run to mom and dad in their bedroom because I knew that he would wait in between my room and theirs for me to do exactly that.
I'm telling you this so you know the impact that this character had directly on my life. He terrified me in a very real sense, and this is his beginning.
Now that I'm a grown man, of course, this seems very silly. I can separate fantasy from reality and that allows me to actually enjoy movies like this and even laugh at them. I can recognize exaggerated stereotypes aimed at provoking fear in usually a teenage audience and can enjoy the movie for what it is. So that said, here is what I think of this first movie in the series.
The first thing I notice when watching this movie is the music. The opening credits are dark and this eerie music starts to screech out from the TV speakers. That music is creepy and it sets the mood perfectly. A lot of horror movies will employ terrible music on purpose in order to get the view to feel uncomfortable, this movie however pulls off the same effect with music that doesn't make you want to yell at the TV to stop. For that it gets points.
The acting in this movie is second rate for the most part. This, I suppose, is to be at least a little expected. Most of the actors were either first timers or were young and this definitely shows. There are a few scenes that feel forced and this has the tendency to take you out of the film.
The settings are pretty great, especially those used in the dream scenes. The boiler room set, the foggy outside scenes, the school, they all looked great. I enjoy how during dreams the rooms would start out being just a little bit off from reality; maybe the lights are too bright or too dim, or perhaps there is a thick mist covering everything that surrounds you. Then as the scene progresses things start to get weirder and weirder until you don't know what is real and what is not. This was a highlight of the film for sure.
In my opinion the true star of this movie is the monster Freddy. It's hard for me to think of another horror film that has such a brilliant idea for a story. Freddy lives only in dreams, and that single character fact instantly connects every single human alive to him. We all sleep. We all dream. We all might run across him someday. This is scary stuff, and I love it. The more I think about it the more I am amazed at this idea. It's amazing, and I'm glad it brought New Line a lot of money.
The movie is showing it's age a bit now. The clothes look strange and the teenage characters are a bit harder to connect to, at least for those who didn't live through that time period. I have to say though, this movie still is a great watch. It's scary, it's fun, it's.. well it's Freddy.
I'd give it 8 bloody body bags out of 10.
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