list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around North by Northwest on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/North_by_Northwest/24964/default.aspx Title: North by Northwest
Year: 1959
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Plot: While having lunch at the Plaza Hotel in New York, advertising executive Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant) has the bad luck to call for a messenger just as a page goes out for a "George Kaplan." From that moment, Thornhill finds that he has stepped into a nightmare -- he is quietly abducted by a pair of armed men out of the hotel's famous Oak Room and transported to a Long Island estate; there, he is interrogated by a mysterious man (James Mason) who, believing that Roger is George Kaplan, demands to know what he knows about his business and how he has come to acquire this knowledge. Roger, who knows nothing about who any of these people are, can do nothing but deny that he is Kaplan or that he knows what they're talking about. Finally, his captors force a bottle of bourbon into Roger and put him behind the wheel of a car on a dangerous downhill stretch. Through sheer luck and the intervention of a police patrol car and its driver (John Beradino), Roger survives the ride and evades his captors, and is booked for drunk driving. He's unable to persuade the court, the county detectives, or even his own mother (Jesse Royce Landis) of the truth of his story, however -- Thornhill returns with them to the mansion where he was held, only to find any incriminating evidence cleaned up and to learn that the owner of the house is a diplomat, Lester Townsend (Philip Ober), assigned to the United Nations. He backtracks to the hotel to find the room of the real George Kaplan, only to discover that no one at the hotel has ever actually seen the man. With his kidnappers once again pursuing him, Thornhill decides to confront Townsend at the United Nations, only to discover that he knows nothing of the events on Long Island, or his house being occupied -- but before he can learn more, Townsend gets a knife in his back in full view of 50 witnesses who believe that Roger did it. Now on the run from a murder charge, complete with a photograph of him holding the weapon plastered on the front page of every newspaper in the country, Thornhill tries to escape via train -- there he meets the cooly beautiful Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint), who twice hides him from the police, once spontaneously and a second time in a more calculated rendezvous in her compartment that gets the two of them together romantically, at least for the night. By the next day, he's off following a clue to a remote rural highway, where he is attacked by an armed crop-dusting plane, one of the most famous scenes in Hitchcock's entire film output. Thornhill barely survives, but he does manage to learn that his mysterious tormentor/interrogator is named Phillip Vandamm, and that he goes under the cover of being an art dealer and importer/exporter, and that Eve is in bed with him in every sense of the phrase -- or is she? ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 57
Number of Lists: 81
Number of blog posts: 25
Number of discussion threads: 3
SpoutRating: 4
]]>Fri, 14 Aug 2009 02:29:46 GMTNorth by Northwest1959Alfred HitchcockWhile having lunch at the Plaza Hotel in New York, advertising executive Roger O. Thornhill (<a href="/players/P____28204/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Cary Grant</a>) has the bad luck to call for a messenger just as a page goes out for a "George Kaplan." From that moment, Thornhill finds that he has stepped into a nightmare -- he is quietly abducted by a pair of armed men out of the hotel's famous Oak Room and transported to a Long Island estate; there, he is interrogated by a mysterious man (<a href="/players/P___101610/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>James Mason</a>) who, believing that Roger is George Kaplan, demands to know what he knows about his business and how he has come to acquire this knowledge. Roger, who knows nothing about who any of these people are, can do nothing but deny that he is Kaplan or that he knows what they're talking about. Finally, his captors force a bottle of bourbon into Roger and put him behind the wheel of a car on a dangerous downhill stretch. Through sheer luck and the intervention of a police patrol car and its driver (<a href="/players/P_____5535/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>John Beradino</a>), Roger survives the ride and evades his captors, and is booked for drunk driving. He's unable to persuade the court, the county detectives, or even his own mother (<a href="/players/P____40294/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Jesse Royce Landis</a>) of the truth of his story, however -- Thornhill returns with them to the mansion where he was held, only to find any incriminating evidence cleaned up and to learn that the owner of the house is a diplomat, Lester Townsend (<a href="/players/P____53747/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Philip Ober</a>), assigned to the United Nations. He backtracks to the hotel to find the room of the real George Kaplan, only to discover that no one at the hotel has ever actually seen the man. With his kidnappers once again pursuing him, Thornhill decides to confront Townsend at the United Nations, only to discover that he knows nothing of the events on Long Island, or his house being occupied -- but before he can learn more, Townsend gets a knife in his back in full view of 50 witnesses who believe that Roger did it. Now on the run from a murder charge, complete with a photograph of him holding the weapon plastered on the front page of every newspaper in the country, Thornhill tries to escape via train -- there he meets the cooly beautiful Eve Kendall (<a href="/players/P____62641/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Eva Marie Saint</a>), who twice hides him from the police, once spontaneously and a second time in a more calculated rendezvous in her compartment that gets the two of them together romantically, at least for the night. By the next day, he's off following a clue to a remote rural highway, where he is attacked by an armed crop-dusting plane, one of the most famous scenes in Hitchcock's entire film output. Thornhill barely survives, but he does manage to learn that his mysterious tormentor/interrogator is named Phillip Vandamm, and that he goes under the cover of being an art dealer and importer/exporter, and that Eve is in bed with him in every sense of the phrase -- or is she? ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide57Tag Target (>10)812534http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t46985jrvym.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/North_by_Northwest/24964/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2009/2/27/40694.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 2/27/2009 6:01:36 PM
Body: One of the most popular sex scenes of all time is the kitchen scene from the 1981 version of The Postman Always Rings Twice. But many people find the more implicit parts of the 1946 version to be sexier. These people include the earlier film’s female lead, Lana Turner, who wrote in her autobiography, “[The makers of the 1981 film] didn’t have to worry about the censors. I’d had to project a rather intense sexual presence, but always with my clothes on. I was amused to read that [NY Times film critic] Vincent Canby considered the remake a pale, rather sexless imitation of my version.” Yes, a film with neither nudity nor simulated lovemaking can be quite sexy, likely sexier than an explicit remake, for innuendo and other teasing maneuvers around either the Hays Code or the MPAA ratings board’s restrictions are far more tantalizing than any bare and balls-out displays of graphic sex common in movies today. Though many classic implications of sex on the big screen were rather obvious and quick, giving the audience a nudge but hardly a rise (think the Eisensteinian metaphors of a train entering a tunnel in North by Northwest or fireworks exploding in To Catch a Thief), loads of films turned up the heat through the use of careful camerawork, daring dialogue and more subtly suggestive actions. Sometimes such sexy moments of tension and/or playfulness are definite forms of foreplay and serve as lead-ins to actual sex acts, on or off screen. But not always. Everyone has his or her own ideas of what’s sexy, so feel free to disagree with our choices and/or suggest your own (I can guess what the first suggestion will be). Consider our list simply a starting point for discussion. “‘Makin’ Whoopee’ scene,” from The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) Basically, this famous scene, in which Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer) sings “Makin’ Whoopee” while wriggling around atop a piano, is a slightly classier version of Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” music video. Just as loads of metal heads dreamed they were David Coverdale’s Jaguar, a few years later tons of moviegoers wished they could have been that piano. “Bogie gets wet,” from The Big Sleep (1946) Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) and the unnamed bookseller (Dorothy Malone) may actually get it on offscreen following this flirtatious exchange, but even if their little rye-drinking party is purely an innocent moment between two strangers waiting out a rainstorm, there’s no denying the sexual energy going on between them. While it may be hard for a guy to understand the appeal of the quite blunt and rude Marlowe (are the glasses really that big a turn-off, Bogie?), Malone is very sexy when communicating her eagerness for whatever, even before she complies with the eyewear request and then voluntarily lets down her hair. Just watch her reaction when he says, “I’d a lot rather get wet in here.” “Airplane scene,” from Chungking Express (1994) As far as suggestive imagery goes, the way Cop 663 (Tony Leung) plays with that toy airplane around the half-clothed stewardess (Valerie Chow) is only slightly subtler than the aforementioned montages from North by Northwest and To Catch a Thief, but Wong Kar Wai is much more sensual in the way he films his symbolic object. Certainly there is more direct sexiness to be found without Eisensteinian cutaways, anyway, and the additional innuendo provided by the airline safety instructions and the stewardess’ spilling of her beer gives the scene a delectable feeling of reciprocation. “Kiss scene on the beach,” from From Here to Eternity (1953) This scene is a bit of an obvious choice, and in a way it barely counts because the whole thing involves an explicit form of intimacy between two lovers (Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr) that can hardly be considered completely non-sexual. But the reason we’re including it is because it’s one of the greatest and most unmistakable substitutes for an actual, outright sex scene ever put on film. That’s why so many films have imitated it so faithfully, even in times when it’s been more favorable and more acceptable to recreate the scene without the bathing suits. “Gable takes off his shirt,” from It Happened One Night (1934) Unlike Bogie’s come on, the appeal of Gable’s undressing is completely understandable, to either sex. And it’s not just clear in the way Ellie (Claudette Colbert) stares and then rushes off to her side of the room all hot and bothered. Male audiences also recognized the sexiness of the scene, evidenced in the film’s infamous influence on the (misfortunate) undershirt business. There’s plenty of sexual tension going on in the rest of the “walls of Jericho” sequence, and Colbert’s behind-the-sheet undressing is also quite sexy (as is her iconic hitchhiking display in another scene), but considering male stripping in cinema is rarely so inviting, we have to go with this narrowed-down choice. “The phone scene,” from It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) Were you aware that such a seemingly family-friendly director as Frank Capra gave us so many sexy scenes? There’s not much in It’s a Wonderful Life that’s as arousing as those mentioned moments from It Happened One Night, but one of the all-time best shots depicting sexual tension is in this holiday favorite. If George (James Stewart) and Mary (Donna Reed) hadn’t finally kissed at the end of this scene, audiences would probably have just burst in their seats. “‘Moonglow’ dance,” from Picnic (1955) Beginning with Kim Novak’s sultry wiggle down the steps, this is one of the sexiest dances in cinema, and that’s compared to hundreds of more explicit numbers throughout film history. Even without the graphic double crotch shot, which is used to frame Susan Strasberg (though surely you’re not actually focusing on her, right?), the scene is as clearly a substitute for sex as the beach scene from From Here to Eternity. “Jane changes clothes in silhouette,” from Tarzan and His Mate (1934) It wasn’t the first time a silhouetted stripping scene was used in a film. But we just couldn’t include the moment from the “Petting in the Park” number from Gold Diggers of 1933, because the voyeuristic kid makes it just a little too creepy. Besides, the idea of a nude woman silhouetted against a tent wall is a more iconic image, one that’s been constantly redone both erotically and comically. A later scene in the film, in which Jane (Maureen O’Sullivan, though replaced at this moment by Olympic swimmer Josephine McKim) goes skinny-dipping with Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller), is also quite a sexy non-sex scene. “Lusty eating scene,” from Tom Jones (1963) Did anyone else see the recent special episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations about the concept of food porn? Or, has anyone else felt a little dirty watching Padma Lakshmi bite into an apple during Top Chef promos? Well maybe not all cinephiles are also foodies, but for those that are, the feast of food and foreplay in Tom Jones is certainly relatable. Watching Tom (Albert Finney) and Mrs. Waters (Joyce Redman) may not directly turn you on, but if you understand the erotic power of food, you should at least be able to appreciate the sexual energy here. “Returning stolen goods,” from Trouble in Paradise (1932) Far more than Frank Capra, Ernst Lubitsch was responsible for many of the sexiest films of the ‘30s and ‘40s, but it’s arguably Trouble in Paradise that tops them all. Using his signature “Lubitsch touch,” he had a way of getting around censors by only carefully alluding to censorable things, all through the trust in the audience’s ability to read between the lines and imagine what’s happening behind closed doors. His sexiest scene, however, is more blatant than all that; two master criminals (Miriam Hopkins and Herbert Marshall) fall in love while returning the items they’ve pickpocketed off each other. Decades later, people will see a similar sexiness in a scene from Mr. and Mrs. Smith, clearly derivative of this scene, in which Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt pat each other down for weapons while dancing. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:01:36 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com2/27/2009 6:01:36 PMOne of the most popular sex scenes of all time is the kitchen scene from the 1981 version of The Postman Always Rings Twice. But many people find the more implicit parts of the 1946 version to be sexier. These people include the earlier film’s female lead, Lana Turner, who wrote in her autobiography, “[The makers of the 1981 film] didn’t have to worry about the censors. I’d had to project a rather intense sexual presence, but always with my clothes on. I was amused to read that [NY Times film critic] Vincent Canby considered the remake a pale, rather sexless imitation of my version.” Yes, a film with neither nudity nor simulated lovemaking can be quite sexy, likely sexier than an explicit remake, for innuendo and other teasing maneuvers around either the Hays Code or the MPAA ratings board’s restrictions are far more tantalizing than any bare and balls-out displays of graphic sex common in movies today. Though many classic implications of sex on the big screen were rather obvious and quick, giving the audience a nudge but hardly a rise (think the Eisensteinian metaphors of a train entering a tunnel in North by Northwest or fireworks exploding in To Catch a Thief), loads of films turned up the heat through the use of careful camerawork, daring dialogue and more subtly suggestive actions. Sometimes such sexy moments of tension and/or playfulness are definite forms of foreplay and serve as lead-ins to actual sex acts, on or off screen. But not always. Everyone has his or her own ideas of what’s sexy, so feel free to disagree with our choices and/or suggest your own (I can guess what the first suggestion will be). Consider our list simply a starting point for discussion. “‘Makin’ Whoopee’ scene,” from The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) Basically, this famous scene, in which Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer) sings “Makin’ Whoopee” while wriggling around atop a piano, is a slightly classier version of Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” music video. Just as loads of metal heads dreamed they were David Coverdale’s Jaguar, a few years later tons of moviegoers wished they could have been that piano. “Bogie gets wet,” from The Big Sleep (1946) Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) and the unnamed bookseller (Dorothy Malone) may actually get it on offscreen following this flirtatious exchange, but even if their little rye-drinking party is purely an innocent moment between two strangers waiting out a rainstorm, there’s no denying the sexual energy going on between them. While it may be hard for a guy to understand the appeal of the quite blunt and rude Marlowe (are the glasses really that big a turn-off, Bogie?), Malone is very sexy when communicating her eagerness for whatever, even before she complies with the eyewear request and then voluntarily lets down her hair. Just watch her reaction when he says, “I’d a lot rather get wet in here.” “Airplane scene,” from Chungking Express (1994) As far as suggestive imagery goes, the way Cop 663 (Tony Leung) plays with that toy airplane around the half-clothed stewardess (Valerie Chow) is only slightly subtler than the aforementioned montages from North by Northwest and To Catch a Thief, but Wong Kar Wai is much more sensual in the way he films his symbolic object. Certainly there is more direct sexiness to be found without Eisensteinian cutaways, anyway, and the additional innuendo provided by the airline safety instructions and the stewardess’ spilling of her beer gives the scene a delectable feeling of reciprocation. “Kiss scene on the beach,” from From Here to Eternity (1953) This scene is a bit of an obvious choice, and in a way it barely counts because the whole thing involves an explicit form of intimacy between two lovers (Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr) that can hardly be considered completely non-sexual. But the reason we’re including it is because it’s one of the greatest and most unmistakable substitutes for an actual, outright sex scene ever put on film. That’s why so many films have imitated it so faithfully, even in times when it’s been more favorable and more acceptable to recreate the scene without the bathing suits. “Gable takes off his shirt,” from It Happened One Night (1934) Unlike Bogie’s come on, the appeal of Gable’s undressing is completely understandable, to either sex. And it’s not just clear in the way Ellie (Claudette Colbert) stares and then rushes off to her side of the room all hot and bothered. Male audiences also recognized the sexiness of the scene, evidenced in the film’s infamous influence on the (misfortunate) undershirt business. There’s plenty of sexual tension going on in the rest of the “walls of Jericho” sequence, and Colbert’s behind-the-sheet undressing is also quite sexy (as is her iconic hitchhiking display in another scene), but considering male stripping in cinema is rarely so inviting, we have to go with this narrowed-down choice. “The phone scene,” from It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) Were you aware that such a seemingly family-friendly director as Frank Capra gave us so many sexy scenes? There’s not much in It’s a Wonderful Life that’s as arousing as those mentioned moments from It Happened One Night, but one of the all-time best shots depicting sexual tension is in this holiday favorite. If George (James Stewart) and Mary (Donna Reed) hadn’t finally kissed at the end of this scene, audiences would probably have just burst in their seats. “‘Moonglow’ dance,” from Picnic (1955) Beginning with Kim Novak’s sultry wiggle down the steps, this is one of the sexiest dances in cinema, and that’s compared to hundreds of more explicit numbers throughout film history. Even without the graphic double crotch shot, which is used to frame Susan Strasberg (though surely you’re not actually focusing on her, right?), the scene is as clearly a substitute for sex as the beach scene from From Here to Eternity. “Jane changes clothes in silhouette,” from Tarzan and His Mate (1934) It wasn’t the first time a silhouetted stripping scene was used in a film. But we just couldn’t include the moment from the “Petting in the Park” number from Gold Diggers of 1933, because the voyeuristic kid makes it just a little too creepy. Besides, the idea of a nude woman silhouetted against a tent wall is a more iconic image, one that’s been constantly redone both erotically and comically. A later scene in the film, in which Jane (Maureen O’Sullivan, though replaced at this moment by Olympic swimmer Josephine McKim) goes skinny-dipping with Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller), is also quite a sexy non-sex scene. “Lusty eating scene,” from Tom Jones (1963) Did anyone else see the recent special episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations about the concept of food porn? Or, has anyone else felt a little dirty watching Padma Lakshmi bite into an apple during Top Chef promos? Well maybe not all cinephiles are also foodies, but for those that are, the feast of food and foreplay in Tom Jones is certainly relatable. Watching Tom (Albert Finney) and Mrs. Waters (Joyce Redman) may not directly turn you on, but if you understand the erotic power of food, you should at least be able to appreciate the sexual energy here. “Returning stolen goods,” from Trouble in Paradise (1932) Far more than Frank Capra, Ernst Lubitsch was responsible for many of the sexiest films of the ‘30s and ‘40s, but it’s arguably Trouble in Paradise that tops them all. Using his signature “Lubitsch touch,” he had a way of getting around censors by only carefully alluding to censorable things, all through the trust in the audience’s ability to read between the lines and imagine what’s happening behind closed doors. His sexiest scene, however, is more blatant than all that; two master criminals (Miriam Hopkins and Herbert Marshall) fall in love while returning the items they’ve pickpocketed off each other. Decades later, people will see a similar sexiness in a scene from Mr. and Mrs. Smith, clearly derivative of this scene, in which Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt pat each other down for weapons while dancing. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2009/2/27/40680.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 2/27/2009 6:01:20 PM
Body: While Karina (and indieWIRE) sits off to the side celebrating the recent indie box office record-breaker, most of the interweb is talking about the weekend’s mainstream achievements. Well, actually people are mostly focusing on just the shocking success of Friday the 13th, which I believe broke records for its franchise, its genre, its rating and for President’s Day weekend (though not for the month of February). As for the other monumental marker, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, I’ve seen maybe two bloggers comment on how it’s just passed $100 million. How is this a remarkable feat? Well, not only does this make Paul Blart the highest grossing January opener ever, but the oft-derided comedy is also the first film to debut in January to reach the $100 million point (not counting the special edition re-release of Star Wars, that is). As this is a holiday and most of the web cinephiles are celebrating appropriately by watching North by Northwest or Point Break, there isn’t much else being written about, so here are some noteworthy quotes and links regarding the stunning box office figures: Let’s begin with a comment from horror expert Scott Weinberg (of Cinematical and elsewhere), from whose Twitter I learned of the F13 tally: “Wow, $42m for “Friday the 13th”? Get ready for a bunch of dumb articles about how horror is “back!”" And not even just from the mainstream media, Scott! As one of the very excited F13 fans at Bloody-Disgusting.com writes: “2009 is going to put horror back on the map! Could we see a repeat of the 80’s? As one person said, MBV 3D got 50 million and this is predicted 100 million. Back that up with the earnings that New Line will rake in with Final Destination 4 plus Vincenzo Natali making a return with Splice and niche horror titles coming to DVD such as Hush, Shortcut, Triangle and God knows universal will get returns on The Grudge 3. THAT is something we can cram down peoples throats and say, “Yeah, mock our genre now, bitches!” HORROR RULES!!!!!!!!!!! THIS YEAR WE WILL CHECKMATE THE FILM INDUSTRY AND TAKE THE BOX OFFICE BY STORM!!!!” In what seems to be an analogy relating Jason Voorhees to Richard Nixon, Stu at Defamer writes, “Fittingly or not, the biggest President’s Day weekend in box-office history was led by a bloodthirsty, unlikable and unkillable man who’s spent the last 30 years strategically decimating his opponents. Jason Voorhees’s landslide triumph reaffirmed his supremacy and mandate for years to come, or at least until David Frost corners him to ask why he didn’t burn the tapes and if he would like to apologize to the American people for anything in particular. Actually, Frost/Jason doesn’t sound half-bad.” It might sound better if Frost/Nixon wasn’t considered the opposite of Friday the 13th in terms of box office success. In yet another analysis of yet another weekend in which “the Oscar bump” was nowhere to be seen despite the otherwise stellar box office numbers, Patrick Goldstein at The Big Picture notes, “It’s time for filmmakers to grasp the new reality: The Oscars have become a hollow brass ring. They may be the ultimate status symbol to everyone inside the industry, but outside–in the real world, where Oscar ratings have been steadily dropping–the awards have less and less impact.” Minute details about the box office numbers are worth paying specific attention to, by the way. While Nikki Finke ponders the following, “I don’t know which is worse: that moviegoers flocked to horrific Friday The 13th 2009 from New Line/Warner Bros because it’s Friday the 13th. Or that they also saw a machete-wielding psycho killer with a loved one on Valentines Day.” Radar points out, “That’s impressive, though the signs for continued success aren’t so good: nearly half that total was netted on Friday, meaning that the die-hards went to see it and didn’t necessarily recommend it to their friends. And — okay. Maybe it wasn’t the best date movie in the world on Saturday for Valentine’s Day.” Gabe Toro at The Playlist still sees continued success: “Though the dropoff was steep after a nearly $20 million Friday (I guess couples didn’t want to spend Valentine’s Day watching people hacked and slashed to death?), don’t be surprised to see the franchise suddenly have new legs after this becomes by far the most successful of the series. The awful, reductive, embarassingly simplistic series.” Screen Daily comments on the triumph for the R rating: “That the number one launch was R-rated compared to [former horror top-grosser] The Grudge’s less problematic PG-13 certification is all the more impressive and vindicates Warner Bros’ decision to release this latest New Line bequest over Valentine’s Day weekend.” Of course, it’s worth reporting that The Grudge still sold more tickets. At Film Threat, Scott Mendelson has some quick thoughts on another remake: “I guess the $50 million 4-day Friday the 13th opening means the feared Nightmare on Elm Street remake is about to get fast tracked, right quick (when are we going to see that Martin Campbell remake of The Birds?). For the record, the movie could actually use a remake. The original still holds up as a creepy and surreal horror film, but all of the kid actors are pretty mediocre (yes, even Johnny Depp). And good on Platinum Dunes for getting a hungry, artistically talented rookie to direct the thing.  Better a hungry music video vet with something to prove than a theoretical auteur just in it for the glory (think Rob Zombie).” And finally, for no other reason than it has to do with the other record-breaker, a trailer mash-up of Paul Blart and the similar yet darker upcoming comedy Observe and Report (via Best Week Ever): Seth Rogen in Paul Blart Mall Cop Trailer @ Yahoo! Video Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:01:20 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com2/27/2009 6:01:20 PMWhile Karina (and indieWIRE) sits off to the side celebrating the recent indie box office record-breaker, most of the interweb is talking about the weekend’s mainstream achievements. Well, actually people are mostly focusing on just the shocking success of Friday the 13th, which I believe broke records for its franchise, its genre, its rating and for President’s Day weekend (though not for the month of February). As for the other monumental marker, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, I’ve seen maybe two bloggers comment on how it’s just passed $100 million. How is this a remarkable feat? Well, not only does this make Paul Blart the highest grossing January opener ever, but the oft-derided comedy is also the first film to debut in January to reach the $100 million point (not counting the special edition re-release of Star Wars, that is). As this is a holiday and most of the web cinephiles are celebrating appropriately by watching North by Northwest or Point Break, there isn’t much else being written about, so here are some noteworthy quotes and links regarding the stunning box office figures: Let’s begin with a comment from horror expert Scott Weinberg (of Cinematical and elsewhere), from whose Twitter I learned of the F13 tally: “Wow, $42m for “Friday the 13th”? Get ready for a bunch of dumb articles about how horror is “back!”" And not even just from the mainstream media, Scott! As one of the very excited F13 fans at Bloody-Disgusting.com writes: “2009 is going to put horror back on the map! Could we see a repeat of the 80’s? As one person said, MBV 3D got 50 million and this is predicted 100 million. Back that up with the earnings that New Line will rake in with Final Destination 4 plus Vincenzo Natali making a return with Splice and niche horror titles coming to DVD such as Hush, Shortcut, Triangle and God knows universal will get returns on The Grudge 3. THAT is something we can cram down peoples throats and say, “Yeah, mock our genre now, bitches!” HORROR RULES!!!!!!!!!!! THIS YEAR WE WILL CHECKMATE THE FILM INDUSTRY AND TAKE THE BOX OFFICE BY STORM!!!!” In what seems to be an analogy relating Jason Voorhees to Richard Nixon, Stu at Defamer writes, “Fittingly or not, the biggest President’s Day weekend in box-office history was led by a bloodthirsty, unlikable and unkillable man who’s spent the last 30 years strategically decimating his opponents. Jason Voorhees’s landslide triumph reaffirmed his supremacy and mandate for years to come, or at least until David Frost corners him to ask why he didn’t burn the tapes and if he would like to apologize to the American people for anything in particular. Actually, Frost/Jason doesn’t sound half-bad.” It might sound better if Frost/Nixon wasn’t considered the opposite of Friday the 13th in terms of box office success. In yet another analysis of yet another weekend in which “the Oscar bump” was nowhere to be seen despite the otherwise stellar box office numbers, Patrick Goldstein at The Big Picture notes, “It’s time for filmmakers to grasp the new reality: The Oscars have become a hollow brass ring. They may be the ultimate status symbol to everyone inside the industry, but outside–in the real world, where Oscar ratings have been steadily dropping–the awards have less and less impact.” Minute details about the box office numbers are worth paying specific attention to, by the way. While Nikki Finke ponders the following, “I don’t know which is worse: that moviegoers flocked to horrific Friday The 13th 2009 from New Line/Warner Bros because it’s Friday the 13th. Or that they also saw a machete-wielding psycho killer with a loved one on Valentines Day.” Radar points out, “That’s impressive, though the signs for continued success aren’t so good: nearly half that total was netted on Friday, meaning that the die-hards went to see it and didn’t necessarily recommend it to their friends. And — okay. Maybe it wasn’t the best date movie in the world on Saturday for Valentine’s Day.” Gabe Toro at The Playlist still sees continued success: “Though the dropoff was steep after a nearly $20 million Friday (I guess couples didn’t want to spend Valentine’s Day watching people hacked and slashed to death?), don’t be surprised to see the franchise suddenly have new legs after this becomes by far the most successful of the series. The awful, reductive, embarassingly simplistic series.” Screen Daily comments on the triumph for the R rating: “That the number one launch was R-rated compared to [former horror top-grosser] The Grudge’s less problematic PG-13 certification is all the more impressive and vindicates Warner Bros’ decision to release this latest New Line bequest over Valentine’s Day weekend.” Of course, it’s worth reporting that The Grudge still sold more tickets. At Film Threat, Scott Mendelson has some quick thoughts on another remake: “I guess the $50 million 4-day Friday the 13th opening means the feared Nightmare on Elm Street remake is about to get fast tracked, right quick (when are we going to see that Martin Campbell remake of The Birds?). For the record, the movie could actually use a remake. The original still holds up as a creepy and surreal horror film, but all of the kid actors are pretty mediocre (yes, even Johnny Depp). And good on Platinum Dunes for getting a hungry, artistically talented rookie to direct the thing.  Better a hungry music video vet with something to prove than a theoretical auteur just in it for the glory (think Rob Zombie).” And finally, for no other reason than it has to do with the other record-breaker, a trailer mash-up of Paul Blart and the similar yet darker upcoming comedy Observe and Report (via Best Week Ever): Seth Rogen in Paul Blart Mall Cop Trailer @ Yahoo! Video Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2008/12/30/38976.aspx Post By: pippin06
Post To: Reel Thoughts
Post Date: 12/30/2008 10:07:25 PM
Body: What's the AFI project, you ask? For more information, or if you just enjoy my bemused ramblings, read here: http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2008/3/1/25756.aspx North by Northwest is on the following AFI lists: The Original Top 100 (#40)100 Most Heart-Pounding Movies (#4)The Revised Top 100 (#55)10 Top 10's (#7 Mystery) I bought North by Northwest on DVD for this project, but I already owned it on videocassette (the test was passed long ago). For me, so far, this and Rear Window are my two favorite Hitchcock movies (and are ranked very closely on the Original AFI list, so stay tuned). I don't know if I can say I'm still "thrilled" by this film in the traditional sense of the word - I already know the twists and turns and what to expect, as I've seen it a few times at least. Thus, I suppose North by Northwest loses some of its luster on too many repeat viewings. Still, as expected from Hitchcock, this film is constructed quite masterfully, and even if my heart doesn't pound quite as fervently as it did when I first watched it, the film still plays out as a tight, subtle romantic comedy/drama as well as a mystery that makes one laugh, cringe, stew, jump, and ultimately swoon with the best of them. Cary Grant plays Roger Thornhill, an innocuous advertising executive in New York City, who plans to meet some clients at a the Plaza Hotel and the famous Oak Room for business and then take his mother to the theater. The trouble is, after coincidentally being in the wrong place at the wrong time when the hotel page calls for a "George Kaplan," some thugs surreptitiously kidnap Roger at gunpoint and take him to the mansion of a mysterious and sinister man (James Mason), who identifies himself as Lester Townsend and insists that Roger is George, a federal agent who may have some information about his less than kosher activities. The man tries to have Roger killed after his insistent pleas that he is not George Kaplan, and the thugs see fit to fill Roger with bourbon and help him drive off a cliff. Roger is able to escape his fate through pure, unadulterated luck but not before being picked up by local police and charged with driving while intoxicated. It's after this that Roger, trying to escape from this surreal nightmare, also tries to prove his innocence by ultimately confronting the real Lester Townsend at the United Nations, where Townsend works. Before Roger or Mr. Townsend can learn more about each other and these strange happenings, Townsend gets a knife in his back, and Roger is accused of the murder and becomes a wanted fugitive. Following the bread crumbs left behind allegedly by the real George Kaplan, Roger manages to hide aboard a train headed for Chicago, where he meets the cool and careful Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint), who hides him from the police--twice--and on the last occasion, Eve and Roger share her compartment. Romantic sparks fly, despite Roger's precarious situation; Eve even seems willing to help Roger find Kaplan and arranges for Roger to meet him on an abandoned rural bus route. It's at this point that Roger is attacked by a low-flying crop-duster airplane in one of the most famous scenes in all of film history. Roger escapes and ultimately re-locates Eve, only to find out that the sinister man's name is Phillip VanDamm, and that Eve seems to be "with" VanDamm, though from her reaction upon seeing Roger, it's clear that everything is more complicated than it seems. Whew. As plot summaries go, I needed more help from the Spout page's many plot synopses than normal, for North by Northwest is one of the more twisty, turny, thickly laid out plots I've ever seen, from Hitchcock or anyone else. As twisty and turny as it is, though, as a story, it's also completely satisfying in so many respects. Sometimes, Roger's harrowing nightmare of mistaken identity and deception takes so many tributaries, it feels surreal, even stream of consciousness, but in classic Hitchcock fashion, everything makes sense by the end of the film. If you're a film fan, I probably don't really need to get into why this film is so great - it would just be redundant. But, for you not so filmy fans, this is a film that is truly a fantastic sum of its truly great parts. The performances are great. I've tried to imagine some of Hitch's other favorite leading men in the role of Thornhill, such as Jimmy Stewart or Gregory Peck or someone, and none of the options satisfy me or my imagination, though I've read that Jimmy Stewart was originally attached to play a version of the Thornhill character. Grant could play too cool, befuddled, suave, snarky, mildly chafed, and downright acid seemingly effortlessly and all at the same time, and he does so with such apparent glee in this film that it's hard not to connect to the Roger character right away. Plus, coupled with Hitch's trademark sense for letting certain events crawl under a viewer's skin before hitting them with the whammy, the combination of the direction and Grant's performance give North by Northwest its thriller cred - when Roger is abducted, so quietly and for seemingly no reason, it comes from left field, and Cary Grant's ability to play off Roger's coolly disaffected sarcasm while showing expressions of legitimate fear and confusion is unparalleled. It helps that the dialogue as written is so snappy and smart, and then when Eva Marie Saint's Eve enters the picture, the chemistry and sexual tension are undeniable. Also, Saint walked the morally ambiguous line very well in her portrayal. You know, though, I've always found Roger and Eve's "love-making" scene a little awkward in this film. I'm not sure if it was the Hayes code at work or what, but especially during the first seduction scene in Eve's train compartment, the way he's holding her and vice versa is a little strange and strange enough that the love story here is the hardest part for me to buy, at least at first. I get over it quickly, however. Hitch's masterful direction worked very well in conjunction with his cinematographer and art director. If the open country road that's deathly quiet until the farmer suggests that the crop duster is dusting where there aren't any crops, followed by the iconic plane-chase scene, doesn't do it for you, then how about using a convincing replica of Mount Rushmore with choice shots and angles of each presidential face while various members of the cast dangle from the presidents' visages precariously in the final cat-and-mouse sequence? No? Perhaps you prefer understated: the United Nations entryways? The aerial shots of NYC? And so on? Where would Hitch be without Bernard Hermann to compose a dynamic and dynamite score for one of his movies? They were two peas in a pod, and Hermann's musical sensibilities added so much texture to his films. This score did not get ranked on the AFI scores list, while Psycho and Vertigo did. That's too bad, because as a violinist in the Michigan Pops Orchestra at the University of Michigan, when we played some Hermann selctions in an ode to old Alfred, I found North by Northwest so much more fun (with its string-heavy opening) than selections from the slow-moving Vertigo. Either way, it's such a unique sound used here and yet fits the helter skelter of this great picture perfectly. My only eensy teensy minus against the near perfection of this film is the wham-bam-thank you ma'am nature of the ending. Then again, the segue is also cheekily perfect, so I don't actually mind too much, nor do I mind the tongue-in-cheek visual suggestion of the train entering the tunnel in the last shot. In fact, I'm still going to give this movie a 10 for being a masterpiece because I think it is a masterpiece, and it's one I enjoy more than Hitchcock's higher ranked film and previous entry, Psycho, only because it has that cynical yet quirky sense of humor that characterized many of Hitchcock's films, with the exception of a few such as Psycho. In short (too late), North by Northwest is a sure bet, especially if you've never seen it before, and it deserves to be ranked among the AFI's greatest. I might not have put it quite so high on the thrillers list, except that the sheer bravado and cross-country scope of it coupled with the sharply veering twists and turns are very thrilling, so I'm not quibbling much. Plus, it really is a superb mystery and a great film to pull out and watch just for fun, for a giggle or a jump, therefore achieving that rare balance of art and entertainment to which, as I've said, all films really should aspire.
]]>Wed, 31 Dec 2008 03:07:25 GMTpippin06Reel Thoughts12/30/2008 10:07:25 PMWhat's the AFI project, you ask? For more information, or if you just enjoy my bemused ramblings, read here: http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2008/3/1/25756.aspx North by Northwest is on the following AFI lists: The Original Top 100 (#40)100 Most Heart-Pounding Movies (#4)The Revised Top 100 (#55)10 Top 10's (#7 Mystery) I bought North by Northwest on DVD for this project, but I already owned it on videocassette (the test was passed long ago). For me, so far, this and Rear Window are my two favorite Hitchcock movies (and are ranked very closely on the Original AFI list, so stay tuned). I don't know if I can say I'm still "thrilled" by this film in the traditional sense of the word - I already know the twists and turns and what to expect, as I've seen it a few times at least. Thus, I suppose North by Northwest loses some of its luster on too many repeat viewings. Still, as expected from Hitchcock, this film is constructed quite masterfully, and even if my heart doesn't pound quite as fervently as it did when I first watched it, the film still plays out as a tight, subtle romantic comedy/drama as well as a mystery that makes one laugh, cringe, stew, jump, and ultimately swoon with the best of them. Cary Grant plays Roger Thornhill, an innocuous advertising executive in New York City, who plans to meet some clients at a the Plaza Hotel and the famous Oak Room for business and then take his mother to the theater. The trouble is, after coincidentally being in the wrong place at the wrong time when the hotel page calls for a "George Kaplan," some thugs surreptitiously kidnap Roger at gunpoint and take him to the mansion of a mysterious and sinister man (James Mason), who identifies himself as Lester Townsend and insists that Roger is George, a federal agent who may have some information about his less than kosher activities. The man tries to have Roger killed after his insistent pleas that he is not George Kaplan, and the thugs see fit to fill Roger with bourbon and help him drive off a cliff. Roger is able to escape his fate through pure, unadulterated luck but not before being picked up by local police and charged with driving while intoxicated. It's after this that Roger, trying to escape from this surreal nightmare, also tries to prove his innocence by ultimately confronting the real Lester Townsend at the United Nations, where Townsend works. Before Roger or Mr. Townsend can learn more about each other and these strange happenings, Townsend gets a knife in his back, and Roger is accused of the murder and becomes a wanted fugitive. Following the bread crumbs left behind allegedly by the real George Kaplan, Roger manages to hide aboard a train headed for Chicago, where he meets the cool and careful Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint), who hides him from the police--twice--and on the last occasion, Eve and Roger share her compartment. Romantic sparks fly, despite Roger's precarious situation; Eve even seems willing to help Roger find Kaplan and arranges for Roger to meet him on an abandoned rural bus route. It's at this point that Roger is attacked by a low-flying crop-duster airplane in one of the most famous scenes in all of film history. Roger escapes and ultimately re-locates Eve, only to find out that the sinister man's name is Phillip VanDamm, and that Eve seems to be "with" VanDamm, though from her reaction upon seeing Roger, it's clear that everything is more complicated than it seems. Whew. As plot summaries go, I needed more help from the Spout page's many plot synopses than normal, for North by Northwest is one of the more twisty, turny, thickly laid out plots I've ever seen, from Hitchcock or anyone else. As twisty and turny as it is, though, as a story, it's also completely satisfying in so many respects. Sometimes, Roger's harrowing nightmare of mistaken identity and deception takes so many tributaries, it feels surreal, even stream of consciousness, but in classic Hitchcock fashion, everything makes sense by the end of the film. If you're a film fan, I probably don't really need to get into why this film is so great - it would just be redundant. But, for you not so filmy fans, this is a film that is truly a fantastic sum of its truly great parts. The performances are great. I've tried to imagine some of Hitch's other favorite leading men in the role of Thornhill, such as Jimmy Stewart or Gregory Peck or someone, and none of the options satisfy me or my imagination, though I've read that Jimmy Stewart was originally attached to play a version of the Thornhill character. Grant could play too cool, befuddled, suave, snarky, mildly chafed, and downright acid seemingly effortlessly and all at the same time, and he does so with such apparent glee in this film that it's hard not to connect to the Roger character right away. Plus, coupled with Hitch's trademark sense for letting certain events crawl under a viewer's skin before hitting them with the whammy, the combination of the direction and Grant's performance give North by Northwest its thriller cred - when Roger is abducted, so quietly and for seemingly no reason, it comes from left field, and Cary Grant's ability to play off Roger's coolly disaffected sarcasm while showing expressions of legitimate fear and confusion is unparalleled. It helps that the dialogue as written is so snappy and smart, and then when Eva Marie Saint's Eve enters the picture, the chemistry and sexual tension are undeniable. Also, Saint walked the morally ambiguous line very well in her portrayal. You know, though, I've always found Roger and Eve's "love-making" scene a little awkward in this film. I'm not sure if it was the Hayes code at work or what, but especially during the first seduction scene in Eve's train compartment, the way he's holding her and vice versa is a little strange and strange enough that the love story here is the hardest part for me to buy, at least at first. I get over it quickly, however. Hitch's masterful direction worked very well in conjunction with his cinematographer and art director. If the open country road that's deathly quiet until the farmer suggests that the crop duster is dusting where there aren't any crops, followed by the iconic plane-chase scene, doesn't do it for you, then how about using a convincing replica of Mount Rushmore with choice shots and angles of each presidential face while various members of the cast dangle from the presidents' visages precariously in the final cat-and-mouse sequence? No? Perhaps you prefer understated: the United Nations entryways? The aerial shots of NYC? And so on? Where would Hitch be without Bernard Hermann to compose a dynamic and dynamite score for one of his movies? They were two peas in a pod, and Hermann's musical sensibilities added so much texture to his films. This score did not get ranked on the AFI scores list, while Psycho and Vertigo did. That's too bad, because as a violinist in the Michigan Pops Orchestra at the University of Michigan, when we played some Hermann selctions in an ode to old Alfred, I found North by Northwest so much more fun (with its string-heavy opening) than selections from the slow-moving Vertigo. Either way, it's such a unique sound used here and yet fits the helter skelter of this great picture perfectly. My only eensy teensy minus against the near perfection of this film is the wham-bam-thank you ma'am nature of the ending. Then again, the segue is also cheekily perfect, so I don't actually mind too much, nor do I mind the tongue-in-cheek visual suggestion of the train entering the tunnel in the last shot. In fact, I'm still going to give this movie a 10 for being a masterpiece because I think it is a masterpiece, and it's one I enjoy more than Hitchcock's higher ranked film and previous entry, Psycho, only because it has that cynical yet quirky sense of humor that characterized many of Hitchcock's films, with the exception of a few such as Psycho. In short (too late), North by Northwest is a sure bet, especially if you've never seen it before, and it deserves to be ranked among the AFI's greatest. I might not have put it quite so high on the thrillers list, except that the sheer bravado and cross-country scope of it coupled with the sharply veering twists and turns are very thrilling, so I'm not quibbling much. Plus, it really is a superb mystery and a great film to pull out and watch just for fun, for a giggle or a jump, therefore achieving that rare balance of art and entertainment to which, as I've said, all films really should aspire. http://www.spout.com/blogs/captainryannn/archive/2008/12/4/37953.aspx Post By: CaptainRyannn
Post To: CaptainRyannn Blog
Post Date: 12/4/2008 4:28:18 PM
Body: I’m actually rather upset with myself for not getting into Hitchcock earlier. I’ve long considered myself a somewhat ‘fan of cinema’ but I just never got around to watching the works of one of the most revered directors of all time. I’ve seen Psycho but that’s about it. So now, it seemed natural to check out North by Northwest after seeing it mentioned quite a bit over the internet the past few days. So I finally got it from Netflix and popped it in. I pretty much loved it right as the credits started rolling. The film stars Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill, an advertising manager who captures the same smoothness as any James Bond. During a meeting one morning, his identity gets mistaken in such an innocent way that one cannot help but feel bad for him. He gets taken back to a mansion where he insists that he’s not the man they’re looking for who happens to be named George Kaplan. They liquor him up and send him off driving in hopes that he’ll kill himself and the whole thing will be settled. Instead, he gets taken in by police and tells them the story that they think is too far-fetched to believe. Throughout the film, we are taken across the country on a search for a man who might not even be real. Behind this search is another race to catch a man who may be the key to it all. If that’s not reason enough to watch this, then do it for the crop-duster scene. Hitchcock has always been known to create suspense but man, this was top-notch.
]]>Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:28:18 GMTCaptainRyannnCaptainRyannn Blog12/4/2008 4:28:18 PMI&rsquo;m actually rather upset with myself for not getting into Hitchcock earlier. I&rsquo;ve long considered myself a somewhat &lsquo;fan of cinema&rsquo; but I just never got around to watching the works of one of the most revered directors of all time. I&rsquo;ve seen Psycho but that&rsquo;s about it. So now, it seemed natural to check out North by Northwest after seeing it mentioned quite a bit over the internet the past few days. So I finally got it from Netflix and popped it in. I pretty much loved it right as the credits started rolling. The film stars Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill, an advertising manager who captures the same smoothness as any James Bond. During a meeting one morning, his identity gets mistaken in such an innocent way that one cannot help but feel bad for him. He gets taken back to a mansion where he insists that he&rsquo;s not the man they&rsquo;re looking for who happens to be named George Kaplan. They liquor him up and send him off driving in hopes that he&rsquo;ll kill himself and the whole thing will be settled. Instead, he gets taken in by police and tells them the story that they think is too far-fetched to believe. Throughout the film, we are taken across the country on a search for a man who might not even be real. Behind this search is another race to catch a man who may be the key to it all. If that&rsquo;s not reason enough to watch this, then do it for the crop-duster scene. Hitchcock has always been known to create suspense but man, this was top-notch. http://www.spout.com/blogs/karina/archive/2008/11/7/37063.aspx Post By: Karina
Post To: Karina on SpoutBlog
Post Date: 11/7/2008 2:01:06 PM
Body: A number of our blogging friends have picked up the Alphabetical Favorites meme. The idea is that you list 26 favorite movies, one for each letter of the alphabet. Some people are adding comments, but I think it’s more interesting to just toss the titles out there, to see how they fit together within a single list and how they match up to other lists. Also, it’s been a hell of a week and I’m exhausted. I will say this: after not being able to think of a single movie beginning with the letter “J” that I enjoy more than Joe Versus the Volcano, I noticed that several commenters at the House Next Door had slotted the same film in the same face. So much for Todd McCarthy’s contention in his Doubt review that John Patrick Shanley’s first directorial effort was “misguided.” So! My list is after the jump. Ali: Fear Eats The Soul Barry Lyndon Charade Deconstructing Harry Eyes Wide Shut Forty Second Street Ghostbusters Happy Together I Walked With a Zombie Joe vs. the Volcano Killers, The (1946) Long Goodbye, The Morocco North By Northwest On The Town Purple Rain Querelle Rules of the Game, The Star is Born, A (1954) They All Laughed Une Femme est une Femme Vivre Sa Vie When A Woman Ascends the Stairs Xanadu Yolanda and the Thief Zabriskie Point Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth
]]>Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:01:06 GMTKarinaKarina on SpoutBlog11/7/2008 2:01:06 PMA number of our blogging friends have picked up the Alphabetical Favorites meme. The idea is that you list 26 favorite movies, one for each letter of the alphabet. Some people are adding comments, but I think it’s more interesting to just toss the titles out there, to see how they fit together within a single list and how they match up to other lists. Also, it’s been a hell of a week and I’m exhausted. I will say this: after not being able to think of a single movie beginning with the letter “J” that I enjoy more than Joe Versus the Volcano, I noticed that several commenters at the House Next Door had slotted the same film in the same face. So much for Todd McCarthy’s contention in his Doubt review that John Patrick Shanley’s first directorial effort was “misguided.” So! My list is after the jump. Ali: Fear Eats The Soul Barry Lyndon Charade Deconstructing Harry Eyes Wide Shut Forty Second Street Ghostbusters Happy Together I Walked With a Zombie Joe vs. the Volcano Killers, The (1946) Long Goodbye, The Morocco North By Northwest On The Town Purple Rain Querelle Rules of the Game, The Star is Born, A (1954) They All Laughed Une Femme est une Femme Vivre Sa Vie When A Woman Ascends the Stairs Xanadu Yolanda and the Thief Zabriskie Point Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/11/7/37062.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 11/7/2008 2:00:55 PM
Body: A number of our blogging friends have picked up the Alphabetical Favorites meme. The idea is that you list 26 favorite movies, one for each letter of the alphabet. Some people are adding comments, but I think it’s more interesting to just toss the titles out there, to see how they fit together within a single list and how they match up to other lists. Also, it’s been a hell of a week and I’m exhausted. I will say this: after not being able to think of a single movie beginning with the letter “J” that I enjoy more than Joe Versus the Volcano, I noticed that several commenters at the House Next Door had slotted the same film in the same face. So much for Todd McCarthy’s contention in his Doubt review that John Patrick Shanley’s first directorial effort was “misguided.” So! My list is after the jump. Ali: Fear Eats The Soul Barry Lyndon Charade Deconstructing Harry Eyes Wide Shut Forty Second Street Ghostbusters Happy Together I Walked With a Zombie Joe vs. the Volcano Killers, The (1946) Long Goodbye, The Morocco North By Northwest On The Town Purple Rain Querelle Rules of the Game, The Star is Born, A (1954) They All Laughed Une Femme est une Femme Vivre Sa Vie When A Woman Ascends the Stairs Xanadu Yolanda and the Thief Zabriskie Point Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:00:55 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com11/7/2008 2:00:55 PMA number of our blogging friends have picked up the Alphabetical Favorites meme. The idea is that you list 26 favorite movies, one for each letter of the alphabet. Some people are adding comments, but I think it’s more interesting to just toss the titles out there, to see how they fit together within a single list and how they match up to other lists. Also, it’s been a hell of a week and I’m exhausted. I will say this: after not being able to think of a single movie beginning with the letter “J” that I enjoy more than Joe Versus the Volcano, I noticed that several commenters at the House Next Door had slotted the same film in the same face. So much for Todd McCarthy’s contention in his Doubt review that John Patrick Shanley’s first directorial effort was “misguided.” So! My list is after the jump. Ali: Fear Eats The Soul Barry Lyndon Charade Deconstructing Harry Eyes Wide Shut Forty Second Street Ghostbusters Happy Together I Walked With a Zombie Joe vs. the Volcano Killers, The (1946) Long Goodbye, The Morocco North By Northwest On The Town Purple Rain Querelle Rules of the Game, The Star is Born, A (1954) They All Laughed Une Femme est une Femme Vivre Sa Vie When A Woman Ascends the Stairs Xanadu Yolanda and the Thief Zabriskie Point Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/krishkmenon/archive/2008/10/3/35885.aspx Post By: krishkmenon
Post To: krishkmenon Blog
Post Date: 10/3/2008 11:48:22 PM
Body: A classic tongue-in-cheek Hitchcock with the evergreen Cary Grant as hero. Though in his latter years Cary never lets you feel his age and the film moves with lightning speed. Who can forget the murder scene at the UN and the memorable mistaken identity chase through the Mid-West. The Crop dusting scene & the Mt. Rushmore finale are now folklore. Most of the movie going public dont realise that these scenes have been consistently copied in various forms by contemprory directors throughout the world. James Mason makes the classic urban political villain and the Star Trek Mr Spark a definite crony. In short nothing but a memorable classic which improves with every viewing. Unfortunately not many people in India (my part of the world) have seen this great film. A sure need for a release. Krishna Kumar Menon Chennai (Madras), India
]]>Sat, 04 Oct 2008 03:48:22 GMTkrishkmenonkrishkmenon Blog10/3/2008 11:48:22 PMA classic tongue-in-cheek Hitchcock with the evergreen Cary Grant as hero. Though in his latter years Cary never lets you feel his age and the film moves with lightning speed. Who can forget the murder scene at the UN and the memorable mistaken identity chase through the Mid-West. The Crop dusting scene &amp; the Mt. Rushmore finale are now folklore. Most of the movie going public dont realise that these scenes have been consistently copied in various forms by contemprory directors throughout the world. James Mason makes the classic urban political villain and the Star Trek Mr Spark a definite crony. In short nothing but a memorable classic which improves with every viewing. Unfortunately not many people in India (my part of the world) have seen this great film. A sure need for a release. Krishna Kumar Menon Chennai (Madras), India http://www.spout.com/blogs/joem18b/archive/2008/9/28/35654.aspx Post By: joem18b
Post To: joem18b Blog
Post Date: 9/28/2008 1:47:56 AM
Body: Watching Kabluey the other night, I was delighted to see that Lisa Kudrow is letting the camera record her age (45), at least in this movie. Her part required her to look haggard and beaten down, but not necessarily mid-forties; in this business, it takes some guts to show your age, especially if you're female. Helen Hunt, born the same year, looks 45 in Then She Found Me, which is good, except that as the director, she cast herself as a 39-year-old trying to conceive. Does this mean that she thinks that she still looks 39 onscreen? I like Helen Hunt, so I hope that she isn't deluding herself. A while back I found I Could Never Be Your Woman unwatchable because Michelle Pfeiffer has had so much work done that I feel creepy looking at her. See, everybody should be in charge of their own body and if someone wants to get a little plastic surgery done, fine. Their perogative. But as a movie-goer, it's my perogative to choose not to go to films that creep me out. Sorry, Michelle. In the movie she's the October in a May/October relationship, which is good, but that face. Whew.And as soon as I say that, here comes Aging Gracefully with Michelle Pfeiffer.The common trope on women is: "Except for occasional supporting roles as mothers (who are never germane to the plot), Hollywood actresses disappear from the screen at about age 35 or certainly by 40. After of few years of exile, they turn up as has-been semi-celebrities on reality shows then disappear again until they age into grande dames like Helen Mirren, Judi Dench and Maggie Smith." (Ronni Bennett) Somehow I've been thinking that there are more women of middle age in the movies now than there used to be. True or false? Women who never stoped working, like Geneviève Bujold and Charlotte Rampling. Hmm. In their forties or older: Nicole Kidman, Lucy Liu, Laura Linney, Demi Moore, Julia Roberts, Holly Hunter, Meg Ryan, Mary-Louise Parker, Elizabeth Perkins, Mary McConnell, Felicity Huffman, Teri Hatcher, Alfre Woodward, Geena Davis, Stockard Channing, Frances Conroy, Glenn Close, Bette Midler, Susan Sarandon, Goldie Hawn. I keep thinking of more. Angelica Houston. Lily Tomlin. Sarah Palin. Debra Winger. Catherine Deneuve. Got to stop. Signorney Weaver, Isabella Rossallini, Juliette Binoche, Isabelle Adjani, Lili Taylor, Jane Curtain. Got... to... let... it... go. Janeane Garofalo. Julie Delpy. Sharon Stone. And by the way, Helen Mirren was never out of work, nor was Maggie Smith, nor was Dame Dench.I remember how pleased I was when Pacino let his age show, in movies like... hmm... when did he start looking ravaged? Heat? Scent of a Woman?. Not like Cary Grant in North By Northwest or Gable in Teacher's Pet - geezers romancing younger women. I like Grant and Gable but having them nuzzling young dishes in their late 50s... Ugh. To me, Gable and Doris Day in a clinch has not aged well. Meanwhile, my hat is off to Clint Eastwood for making Laura Linney his daughter instead of his squeeze in Absolute Power. He was pushing it with Streep in Madison County (she's 19 years younger than he is). And Redford and Deniro just throw their aging mugs up there onscreen without feathers. So too Woody Allen, but thank God he's finally stopping pairing himself with young women.Btw, Paul Newman. RIP. There was a guy who looked great all the way through.Burt Reynolds, once, just once, take off the rug. In Leatherheads, Renee Zellweger, 39, claims to be 29; does she mean it or was that just a character lying about her age? Stallone, ok, he's had so much work done that he's entered the realm of the weird but for some reason that doesn't bother me at all. There he is in the latest Rambo, totally unwrinkled and supposedly a guy living as a snake-catcher out in the bushes and that totally works for me. On the other hand, what is it with Mathew Broderick? I kept staring at him in Then She Found Me, trying to figure out what's strange about his face. He looks like a recovered burn victim. I googled his name along with "work done" and all I got were hits about his wife's plastic surgery (Sarah Jessica Parker's, that is).Bottom line: skip the lift. P.S.: Parker Posey, Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh, Mary Kay Place, Dianne Weist.
]]>Sun, 28 Sep 2008 05:47:56 GMTjoem18bjoem18b Blog9/28/2008 1:47:56 AMWatching Kabluey the other night, I was delighted to see that Lisa Kudrow is letting the camera record her age (45), at least in this movie. Her part required her to look haggard and beaten down, but not necessarily mid-forties; in this business, it takes some guts to show your age, especially if you're female. Helen Hunt, born the same year, looks 45 in Then She Found Me, which is good, except that as the director, she cast herself as a 39-year-old trying to conceive. Does this mean that she thinks that she still looks 39 onscreen? I like Helen Hunt, so I hope that she isn't deluding herself. A while back I found I Could Never Be Your Woman unwatchable because Michelle Pfeiffer has had so much work done that I feel creepy looking at her. See, everybody should be in charge of their own body and if someone wants to get a little plastic surgery done, fine. Their perogative. But as a movie-goer, it's my perogative to choose not to go to films that creep me out. Sorry, Michelle. In the movie she's the October in a May/October relationship, which is good, but that face. Whew.And as soon as I say that, here comes Aging Gracefully with Michelle Pfeiffer.The common trope on women is: "Except for occasional supporting roles as mothers (who are never germane to the plot), Hollywood actresses disappear from the screen at about age 35 or certainly by 40. After of few years of exile, they turn up as has-been semi-celebrities on reality shows then disappear again until they age into grande dames like Helen Mirren, Judi Dench and Maggie Smith." (Ronni Bennett) Somehow I've been thinking that there are more women of middle age in the movies now than there used to be. True or false? Women who never stoped working, like Genevi&egrave;ve Bujold and Charlotte Rampling. Hmm. In their forties or older: Nicole Kidman, Lucy Liu, Laura Linney, Demi Moore, Julia Roberts, Holly Hunter, Meg Ryan, Mary-Louise Parker, Elizabeth Perkins, Mary McConnell, Felicity Huffman, Teri Hatcher, Alfre Woodward, Geena Davis, Stockard Channing, Frances Conroy, Glenn Close, Bette Midler, Susan Sarandon, Goldie Hawn. I keep thinking of more. Angelica Houston. Lily Tomlin. Sarah Palin. Debra Winger. Catherine Deneuve. Got to stop. Signorney Weaver, Isabella Rossallini, Juliette Binoche, Isabelle Adjani, Lili Taylor, Jane Curtain. Got... to... let... it... go. Janeane Garofalo. Julie Delpy. Sharon Stone. And by the way, Helen Mirren was never out of work, nor was Maggie Smith, nor was Dame Dench.I remember how pleased I was when Pacino let his age show, in movies like... hmm... when did he start looking ravaged? Heat? Scent of a Woman?. Not like Cary Grant in North By Northwest or Gable in Teacher's Pet - geezers romancing younger women. I like Grant and Gable but having them nuzzling young dishes in their late 50s... Ugh. To me, Gable and Doris Day in a clinch has not aged well. Meanwhile, my hat is off to Clint Eastwood for making Laura Linney his daughter instead of his squeeze in Absolute Power. He was pushing it with Streep in Madison County (she's 19 years younger than he is). And Redford and Deniro just throw their aging mugs up there onscreen without feathers. So too Woody Allen, but thank God he's finally stopping pairing himself with young women.Btw, Paul Newman. RIP. There was a guy who looked great all the way through.Burt Reynolds, once, just once, take off the rug. In Leatherheads, Renee Zellweger, 39, claims to be 29; does she mean it or was that just a character lying about her age? Stallone, ok, he's had so much work done that he's entered the realm of the weird but for some reason that doesn't bother me at all. There he is in the latest Rambo, totally unwrinkled and supposedly a guy living as a snake-catcher out in the bushes and that totally works for me. On the other hand, what is it with Mathew Broderick? I kept staring at him in Then She Found Me, trying to figure out what's strange about his face. He looks like a recovered burn victim. I googled his name along with "work done" and all I got were hits about his wife's plastic surgery (Sarah Jessica Parker's, that is).Bottom line: skip the lift. P.S.: Parker Posey, Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh, Mary Kay Place, Dianne Weist. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/9/26/35618.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 9/26/2008 6:01:20 PM
Body: In the new movie Eagle Eye, three characters participate in a re-creation of the famous crop duster sequence from Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. Only the plane from NbN has been replaced with an electrical tower and power lines, and it takes Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan and Anthony Azizi to perform Cary Gran’t part (Azizi also substitutes for the pilot and the farmer, I guess). Such an homage is not surprising coming from director D.J. Caruso, whose last picture, Disturbia, is currently involved in a lawsuit for being an uncredited remake of Hitch’s Rear Window. This time, fortunately, Caruso borrows enough from other films, including Hitch’s second version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, 2001: A Space Odyssey and I, Robot, to keep from being sued by any single party. Eagle Eye will likely also remind audiences of The Dark Knight, if not for the similar cell phone surveillance tactics then for Caruso’s even less capable talent for directing car chases. While Caruso does a good job at allowing his audience to compare him to better filmmakers (yes, even I, Robot’s Alex Proyas), he doesn’t give us the world’s worst redo of the crop duster bit (that is probably this). But he also doesn’t come anywhere close to giving us the best. And for such a famous scene that is so widely studied and imitated, giving us merely another so-so re-creation is very disappointing. After the jump, you’ll find some of my favorite tributes to North by Northwest, mostly paying homage to that one beloved sequence. 10. Seth Rogen as Roger Thornhill, from Vanity Fair magazine I can’t think of many modern actors less like Cary Grant than Seth Rogen, but maybe that’s why I like this photo so much. Just looking at the shadow of Rogen’s gut lets me know that this is more appreciable as parody than reproduction. Also, Thornhill’s out-of-his-element storyline somewhat corresponds to Rogen’s ill-fitting position in Hollywood. 9. North by Northwest Airplane Scene: WoW Version People love re-creating their favorite movie scenes using video game characters, and this isn’t even the best example. So, why do I love it so much? OK, I’ll admit, I don’t actually love it. It’s actually pretty lame. But I wanted to showcase it, because it brings up the idea of a North by Northwest video game, which I think someone should produce, like what was done with The Godfather and Scarface. 8. Ralph Fiennes avoids the crashing plane, from The English Patient (1996) I’m not sure if this was officially meant to reference North by Northwest – the connection isn’t mentioned in either film’s “Movie connections” section on IMDb — but it’s clearly similar. 7. Roger Thornhill in bra and panties, from the photography of Michael Jang Maybe it isn’t actually Roger Thornhill, but Jang’s photos of an underwear-clad female model running from a plane is inspired by North by Northwest, and the woman is substituted for Grant, and well, I couldn’t think of anything else to call it. Anyway, the pics, which you can see at the end of the making-of video above, are nicer to look at than the Rogen picture. Perhaps Vanity Fair should have ripped Jang off and just had an actress re-create the scene for its spread. 6. Opening credit sequence, from Panic Room (2002) Taking a little break from the crop duster copies, here’s a different sort of homage to North by Northwest, specifically Saul Bass’ famous opening credits sequence. It’s only cool, though, if you don’t think about how after 40 years, the computer effects used for Panic Room aren’t actually any better than Bass’ work. 5. Peter re-enacts the crop duster sequence, from Family Guy “North by North Quahog” This image (and the episode it’s from) go even further with the gut thing than the Rogen photo. But not only does this episode feature a parody of the crop duster scene, it pays tribute to much of the plot of North by Northwest (hence the title), including a bit where Peter rescues Lois from Mel Gibson’s home atop Mt. Rushmore. 4. Homer falls under a truck, from The Simpsons “Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment” Family Guy is ok, but nobody pays homage to movie scenes better than the makers of The Simpsons, as you can see on the site Actualidad Simpson, which posted the comparison screenshots above, as well as other movie references from the show. 3. Balloon Travels North by Northwest, from Famous Balloon Movies Oh, what people do with their time now that the internet exists! If you’ve never seen any of the famous balloon movies, which were apparently made by an animator who works for Disney, you must. Consisting of 19 parts, balloons are humorously inserted into films such as Safety Last and The Empire Strikes Back. Though I don’t think I can name a favorite, I really, really love the way Grant looks off at his lost balloon here. 2. Vincent Gallo’s talent, from Arizona Dream (1993) Gallo’s character loves to ape his favorite movie scenes, and during a talent show he hilariously re-enacts the crop duster sequence. Well, he mostly only re-enacts the parts where Cary Grant jumps to the ground. He really should have gotten a 10, don’t you agree? 1. Big Bird, Ernie and Bert, from Follow That Bird (1985) I got crap as a kid for wanting to see this, but I’ve always been a lifelong Muppets fan, and that includes anything associated with Sesame Street. Plus, who knows if I would have also loved North by Northwest so much had I not already seen the spoof of the crop duster sequence in Follow That Bird? Actually, I’m sure I hadn’t even recalled Big Bird narrowly escaping being run down by Ernie and Bert when I first saw NbN. If anything, though, I at least was able to appreciate FTB even more after realizing the connection between the films. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:01:20 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com9/26/2008 6:01:20 PMIn the new movie Eagle Eye, three characters participate in a re-creation of the famous crop duster sequence from Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. Only the plane from NbN has been replaced with an electrical tower and power lines, and it takes Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan and Anthony Azizi to perform Cary Gran’t part (Azizi also substitutes for the pilot and the farmer, I guess). Such an homage is not surprising coming from director D.J. Caruso, whose last picture, Disturbia, is currently involved in a lawsuit for being an uncredited remake of Hitch’s Rear Window. This time, fortunately, Caruso borrows enough from other films, including Hitch’s second version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, 2001: A Space Odyssey and I, Robot, to keep from being sued by any single party. Eagle Eye will likely also remind audiences of The Dark Knight, if not for the similar cell phone surveillance tactics then for Caruso’s even less capable talent for directing car chases. While Caruso does a good job at allowing his audience to compare him to better filmmakers (yes, even I, Robot’s Alex Proyas), he doesn’t give us the world’s worst redo of the crop duster bit (that is probably this). But he also doesn’t come anywhere close to giving us the best. And for such a famous scene that is so widely studied and imitated, giving us merely another so-so re-creation is very disappointing. After the jump, you’ll find some of my favorite tributes to North by Northwest, mostly paying homage to that one beloved sequence. 10. Seth Rogen as Roger Thornhill, from Vanity Fair magazine I can’t think of many modern actors less like Cary Grant than Seth Rogen, but maybe that’s why I like this photo so much. Just looking at the shadow of Rogen’s gut lets me know that this is more appreciable as parody than reproduction. Also, Thornhill’s out-of-his-element storyline somewhat corresponds to Rogen’s ill-fitting position in Hollywood. 9. North by Northwest Airplane Scene: WoW Version People love re-creating their favorite movie scenes using video game characters, and this isn’t even the best example. So, why do I love it so much? OK, I’ll admit, I don’t actually love it. It’s actually pretty lame. But I wanted to showcase it, because it brings up the idea of a North by Northwest video game, which I think someone should produce, like what was done with The Godfather and Scarface. 8. Ralph Fiennes avoids the crashing plane, from The English Patient (1996) I’m not sure if this was officially meant to reference North by Northwest – the connection isn’t mentioned in either film’s “Movie connections” section on IMDb — but it’s clearly similar. 7. Roger Thornhill in bra and panties, from the photography of Michael Jang Maybe it isn’t actually Roger Thornhill, but Jang’s photos of an underwear-clad female model running from a plane is inspired by North by Northwest, and the woman is substituted for Grant, and well, I couldn’t think of anything else to call it. Anyway, the pics, which you can see at the end of the making-of video above, are nicer to look at than the Rogen picture. Perhaps Vanity Fair should have ripped Jang off and just had an actress re-create the scene for its spread. 6. Opening credit sequence, from Panic Room (2002) Taking a little break from the crop duster copies, here’s a different sort of homage to North by Northwest, specifically Saul Bass’ famous opening credits sequence. It’s only cool, though, if you don’t think about how after 40 years, the computer effects used for Panic Room aren’t actually any better than Bass’ work. 5. Peter re-enacts the crop duster sequence, from Family Guy “North by North Quahog” This image (and the episode it’s from) go even further with the gut thing than the Rogen photo. But not only does this episode feature a parody of the crop duster scene, it pays tribute to much of the plot of North by Northwest (hence the title), including a bit where Peter rescues Lois from Mel Gibson’s home atop Mt. Rushmore. 4. Homer falls under a truck, from The Simpsons “Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment” Family Guy is ok, but nobody pays homage to movie scenes better than the makers of The Simpsons, as you can see on the site Actualidad Simpson, which posted the comparison screenshots above, as well as other movie references from the show. 3. Balloon Travels North by Northwest, from Famous Balloon Movies Oh, what people do with their time now that the internet exists! If you’ve never seen any of the famous balloon movies, which were apparently made by an animator who works for Disney, you must. Consisting of 19 parts, balloons are humorously inserted into films such as Safety Last and The Empire Strikes Back. Though I don’t think I can name a favorite, I really, really love the way Grant looks off at his lost balloon here. 2. Vincent Gallo’s talent, from Arizona Dream (1993) Gallo’s character loves to ape his favorite movie scenes, and during a talent show he hilariously re-enacts the crop duster sequence. Well, he mostly only re-enacts the parts where Cary Grant jumps to the ground. He really should have gotten a 10, don’t you agree? 1. Big Bird, Ernie and Bert, from Follow That Bird (1985) I got crap as a kid for wanting to see this, but I’ve always been a lifelong Muppets fan, and that includes anything associated with Sesame Street. Plus, who knows if I would have also loved North by Northwest so much had I not already seen the spoof of the crop duster sequence in Follow That Bird? Actually, I’m sure I hadn’t even recalled Big Bird narrowly escaping being run down by Ernie and Bert when I first saw NbN. If anything, though, I at least was able to appreciate FTB even more after realizing the connection between the films. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/karina/archive/2008/8/13/33979.aspx Post By: Karina
Post To: Karina on SpoutBlog
Post Date: 8/13/2008 7:01:04 PM
Body: Amy Winehouse swears the producers of Quantum of Solace will be sorry that they hired Jack White and Alicia Keys to record a Bond theme instead of choosing her, still-unrecorded tune. Without giving Amy too much credit, Vulture points out that the wrong bond songs have been left behind before. If Amy’s in a club with Scott Walker and Pulp over one with Madonna and Sheryl Crow, she should probably keep her mouth shut. From Mental Floss’s list of “4 Alfred Hitchcock Secrets”: why Hitch’s initial plan for the end of North by Northwest was foiled, and how Hitchcock came to be okay with it. The TakePart Blog points to the above Star Trek spoof, in which Kirk deports illegal alien Spock, and then, when he can’t figure out how to do anything for himself, lives to regret it. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth
]]>Wed, 13 Aug 2008 23:01:04 GMTKarinaKarina on SpoutBlog8/13/2008 7:01:04 PM Amy Winehouse swears the producers of Quantum of Solace will be sorry that they hired Jack White and Alicia Keys to record a Bond theme instead of choosing her, still-unrecorded tune. Without giving Amy too much credit, Vulture points out that the wrong bond songs have been left behind before. If Amy’s in a club with Scott Walker and Pulp over one with Madonna and Sheryl Crow, she should probably keep her mouth shut. From Mental Floss’s list of “4 Alfred Hitchcock Secrets”: why Hitch’s initial plan for the end of North by Northwest was foiled, and how Hitchcock came to be okay with it. The TakePart Blog points to the above Star Trek spoof, in which Kirk deports illegal alien Spock, and then, when he can’t figure out how to do anything for himself, lives to regret it. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/Classic/MemberTagFilms.aspxClassic
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