Rear Window's Recent Activity - Spout

Film:Rear Window

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 02:39:26 GMT

Title: Rear Window
Year: 1954
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Plot: Laid up with a broken leg, photojournalist L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) is confined to his tiny, sweltering courtyard apartment. To pass the time between visits from his nurse (Thelma Ritter) and his fashion model girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly), the binocular-wielding Jeffries stares through the rear window of his apartment at the goings-on in the other apartments around his courtyard. As he watches his neighbors, he assigns them such roles and character names as "Miss Torso" (Georgine Darcy), a professional dancer with a healthy social life or "Miss Lonelyhearts" (Judith Evelyn), a middle-aged woman who entertains nonexistent gentlemen callers. Of particular interest is seemingly mild-mannered travelling salesman Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr), who is saddled with a nagging, invalid wife. One afternoon, Thorwald pulls down his window shade, and his wife's incessant bray comes to a sudden halt. Out of boredom, Jeffries casually concocts a scenario in which Thorwald has murdered his wife and disposed of the body in gruesome fashion. Trouble is, Jeffries' musings just might happen to be the truth. One of Alfred Hitchcock's very best efforts, Rear Window is a crackling suspense film that also ranks with Michael Powell's Peeping Tom (1960) as one of the movies' most trenchant dissections of voyeurism. As in most Hitchcock films, the protagonist is a seemingly ordinary man who gets himself in trouble for his secret desires. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 76
Number of Lists: 93
Number of blog posts: 9
Number of discussion threads: 6
SpoutRating: 4

Spout Post: Re:Weekly Theme for January 19: Neighborhood Watch

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 01:37:54 GMT

Post By: Dr_Gor
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 1/25/2009 8:37:54 PM
Body: The two most obvious choices for this subject have already been mentioned... Rear Window and Neighbors (1981) ... But what of Brian DePalma's excellent Body Double ? Vouyerism, sex, murder and some very naughty neighbors! And Fright Night ? Many of the same qualities as Body Double , above. Poltergeist might fall into this category as well... < GOR >

Spout Post: Re:Weekly Theme for January 19: Neighborhood Watch

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 02:26:53 GMT

Post By: leeroy711
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 1/19/2009 9:26:53 PM
Body: [quote user="mercurial"] Nowadays, the American Dream is tough. Finding a decent paying job. Looking for love. Buying a house. Mowing your lawn. And just when you think you've got it, some jerk has to move into your perfect little neighborhood and ruin it all. You know who I'm talking about. The pyscho mass murderers, the pedophiles, or worse, one of those weird French guys with their creepy accent and stupid looking berets. Whether you're looking out for the safety of your kids (like Sarah Pierce and Brad Adamson in Little Children), suffering from OCD (like Melvin Udall in As Good As It Gets), or just plain racist and homophobic (like Walt Kowalski in Gran Torino and Col. Frank Fitts in American Beauty), there is always some reason to take an overactive interest in your neighbors and plot to drive them out of their homes (or kill them). So with that said, what are your favorite Neighborhood Watch films? [/quote] Now this is a kick-ass theme.How could anyone forget Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window. I just bought Brian DePalma's Sisters to add to my Criterion Collection umm collection. Anyways it too is about a reporter who witness a murder in a window across the street. Than it just gets more twisted from there. And for some reason, I'm reminded of the neighborhood community feel of Stir of Echos. Kind of a guilty pleasure of mine.

Spout Post: One of my favorites

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:22:17 GMT

Post By: JohnnyBottle2
Post To: JohnnyBottle2 Blog
Post Date: 1/12/2009 12:22:17 AM
Body: Alfred Hitchcock does it again. Rear Window is so well done that there isn't a moment where my attention was lost. Obviously due to Mr. Hitchcock's direction. And also to the superb performances by James Stewart and Grae Kelly. Raymond Burr, Thelma Ritter and Wendell Corey are also excellent. I would like to see more movies on a "small" scale like this that keeps our interest.

Spout Post: Revisiting Rear Window for the AFI Project

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 17:10:33 GMT

Post By: pippin06
Post To: Reel Thoughts
Post Date: 1/3/2009 12:10:33 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 Rear Window is on the following AFI lists: The Original Top 100 (#42)100 Most Heart-Pounding Movies (#14)The Revised Top 100 (#48)10 Top 10's (#3 Mystery) At the same time that I purchased North by Northwest on DVD, I also purchased this film, though the situation was the same. I've owned it on videocassette for quite some time, so the test has equally passed here. This is my other favorite Hitchcock film (so far) and, unlike North by Northwest, I, at least, still get chills from this one. It's not that I don't know what happens, as I've also seen this one more than a few times; it's that this movie's mystery is more compelling and engaging because it's told from the perspective of a guy sitting in a wheelchair over the course of two hours who sees much but is unable to really do anything, except make trouble for himself in the end. LB "Jeff" Jeffries (James Stewart) injured himself on one of his dangerous, globetrotting photography assignments for his national newsmagazine, and has been confined to his Manhattan courtyard apartment, in the sweltering summer heat, for some weeks. He has nothing to do except wait for daily visits from his nurse, Stella (Thelma Ritter), and his fashion model girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly), who is trying to talk him into marriage and settling down, when all Jeff wants is to get back out on the front lines. Though Lisa wants to try her hand at danger, Jeff thinks she's only made for cotillions and fancy soirees and high heels and is considering calling the whole thing off, provided that Lisa is not willing to keep things "status quo." To take his mind off his boredom and the impending conversations over nuptials he does not want, Jeff passes the time watching his courtyard neighbors through his (wait for it) rear window, to whom he assigns colorful nicknames, such as "Miss Torso" for a prima ballerina and "Miss Lonelyhearts" for an older woman who lives by herself and entertains imaginary gentleman callers. As Jeff watches through his binoculars, he notes one neighbor, Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr), a traveling salesman with what looks to be a whining invalid wife. One day, Thorwald's shade closes, and his wife disappears, and Jeff begins to notice certain goings-on that cause him to theorize that Thorwald may actually have disposed of his wife in a more gruesome fashion. Whether he's serious or not, no one believes Jeff, until Lisa begins to piece together details that also don't make sense, and as they watch, they discover that Jeff may actually be right. Rear Window is a simply ingenius film and deserves its many entries on the AFI lists. As I indicated previously, not only is it a remarkably taut and intense little mystery/thriller, given the fact that the main character is confined to a wheelchair for the duration of the film, but with its sardonic undertones and cause-and-effect consequences, it actually becomes a sly satire and commentary about voyeurism in general. The reason why Jeff's propensity for nicknaming his neighbors is so funny is because it rings so true to life, and there is an indisputably timeless quality about this film, given the present-day voracity and mass production of reality television. Let's face it: Americans (at least) are nosy nellies at large, and this film transcends its thriller moniker by becoming a witty little jab at the public's need to invade others' privacy. The performances were pretty much perfection. In my mind, Jimmy Stewart was the perfect Jeff. Others I'm sure could have played this character, but Stewart was the quintessential everyman, and despite Jeff's character history, he represented the everyman in this sneaky social commentary. Stewart's performance was nothing short of his usual excellence, displaying the gamut from wryly sincere to downright fearful in a role that pre-dated the surreal Vertigo (which is upcoming on the AFI Project). Grace Kelly was the perfect choice to play the doting fashion model girlfriend, and Thelma Ritter's Stella is an absolute hoot, as she adopts the no-nonsense approach to commenting on Jeff's particular predicament and hobby from a moral and ethical standpoint. Grace and Jimmy also had adorable chemistry; not necessarily smoldering, but the viewer, at least this one, could believe without question that they care for each other quite intensely. Hitchcock's direction in this film was also brilliant (as pretty much always) and nuanced because he could only employ subtlety and restraint in a fixed settting such as this cozy set of Manhattan apartments. The attention to detail is the hallmark of this film. My favorite shot of the entire film was when (for reasons I won't explain), Thorwald sits in his dark apartment, listening to the events outside in the courtyard, but clearly smoking a cigarette. That's how the viewer (and Jeff and Lisa and Stella) know he's there: the cigarette flares and dims in nothing but darkness, while hubbub ensues amidst light and noise everywhere else. It was just awesome! Also, the entire film until almost the end is shot almost entirely from Jeff's perspective, immersing the viewer into his world and his viewpoint. Other notable elements include the stunning ensembles Grace Kelly sported as a model showcasing her couture and the art direction. For example, studying all of the props and pieces in Jeff's apartment (I tell you, I've seen this movie a kajillion times) is fun because, since he's a photographer for an important newsmagazine, the apartment contains various photographs of his journeys and artifacts from destinations worldwide, seemingly. Also, what is laid out in the apartments of his neighbors is also interesting, since whatever is there has to be visible only from Jeff's perspective. All in all, I think Rear Window is another masterpiece of filmmaking, by Hitchock or anyone else, because Hitch made something so rich and textured from a relatively simple concept, and he did so by keeping the film cheeky and socially relevant while remaining true to the intensity and mystery of the story. Rear Window is a perfect 10 in my book and a perfect 10 in the American film library.

Spout Post: Rear Window

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:44:37 GMT

Post By: krishkmenon
Post To: krishkmenon Blog
Post Date: 10/10/2008 6:44:37 AM
Body: The great master of suspense delivers another beauty. This is a movie that no one should miss. It does not age any bit and retains its form even 40 years after it was released. The ultimate "Peeping Tom" story carries its suspense till the end and leaves the viewer glued to his seat. The pairing of an aeging Jimmy Stewart with the glamorous blonde Grace Kelly works great and the chemistry shows when sparks fly during the conversations that they have. One wonders how any sane human can stay aloof from the advances of such a female as Grace Kelly and the double entendre in the dialogues are simply classic. Thelma Ritter is another character that comes out with flying colors. Hitchcock delivers and how. One of the greatest from Hollywood and also from the master. Krishna Kumar Menon, Chennai(Madras), India

Spout Post: 'Eye' sore

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 03:06:02 GMT

Post By: usesoap
Post To: usesoap Blog
Post Date: 9/29/2008 11:06:02 PM
Body: Shia LaBeouf and director D.J. Caruso reworked Hitchock's “Rear Window” for the teen set with adequate results in last year's “Disturbia.” With “Eagle Eye,” the two return in an attempt streamline Francis Ford Coppola's “The Conversation” for the text message set. Call it “The CNVRS8SHN.” On second thought, don't call it at all. “Eagle Eye,” a project long-shelved by LaBeouf's number-one cheerleader Steven Spielberg, has a kernel of an interesting idea rattling around in its hollow head, but it defaults back to the clamor and clatter of the worst of summer blockbusters. With visuals that suggest the film was edited in a Jeep traveling at top speed on a cobblestone street, the film does not so much transition but spasms from one scene to the next. The only reason I sat through the various chases is that I honestly did not know who was in what vehicle and was merely interested in who crawled out of the wreckages. That is very different from 'caring' who did. LeBeouf (don't ask me to pronounce his name, as I have trouble just spelling it correctly) stars as Jerry Shaw, a copy-center jockey who's called home following the funeral of his twin brother killed while on duty in the military. If movies have taught us anything, it's that having a twin rarely has pleasant, uncomplicated outcomes. After the funeral, Jerry returns to his hovel to find it redecorated with the Martha Stewart Terrorist Collection, featuring the latest in weapons, explosives and fertilizer. The discovery is quickly followed by a phone call telling him he's been “activated” and has mere seconds to elude an FBI arrest. He's led on what can only be described as a live-action RPG (role-playing game, for all you geezers out there), in which a faceless female voice directs his every move, while assisting him by manipulating everything from traffic lights to Circuit City Home Theater departments to aid his escape. He accompanied by a yummy mommy Rachel (played by Michelle Monaghan), who is equally befuddled as to her involvement in all this. What “Eagle Eye” attempts is to create panic in a world in which our most prized possession – technology – is both our greatest friend and worst enemy. It delivers him the necessary information to elude the “bad guys,” but it also has compiled every instant message, spending habit, website visit and intersection crossing made in the course of our life. But disembodied voices that inhabit closed-circuit McDonald's televisions and automated parking garage fee signs do not evoke immediate fear from audiences (though Hamburgler can be one scary dude), so we have been given two flesh-and-blood antagonists to occasionally point their guns at our reluctant heroes. Rosario Dawson and Billy Bob Thorton as two Feds in hot pursuit, with Thorton taking on the role of the befuddled, beleaguered agent a la Tommy Lee Jones in “The Fugitive.” LeBeouf, meanwhile, does his LeBest, which is to say that he injects his usual fast-talking, everyguy style in the face of overwhelming (and downright improbable) odds. It's the same card he's pulled in his other big-budget starring roles in “Transformers” and this summer's “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” He's not without his charms, but it's hard to notice talent amidst a cacophony of crashing metal and special effects. Monaghan, meanwhile, is reduced to nail-biting and fretting, which is really all she has time for when the camera remains steady for a nanosecond. The Big Brother paranoia is one rife with thriller possibilities, but “Eagle Eye” opts not to exploit it for all its personal intrusions, but rather replaces it with and Red-Bull-fueled action sequences that numb the senses. It leads to a hacker's fever dream conclusion that is staggeringly idiotic in both explanation and execution. This year marked the 25th anniversary of the release of the kid-friendly paranoid technological thriller “WarGames,” which, aside from its computer graphics, still manages to evoke some nerve-fraying fun. My guess is, in 2033, when “Eagle Eye” reaches the same age, it will hardly register a blip on the radar.

Spout Post: 10 Awesome Homages to North by Northwest

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:01:20 GMT

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

Spout Post: New Movies Week of 9/26: Shia LaBeouf, censorship, disappearing whales

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:40:11 GMT

Post By: SkyPilot
Post To: Coming Soon
Post Date: 9/22/2008 4:40:11 PM
Body: New Movies Week of 9/26 Eagle Eye Spout's giving away five Eagle Eye swag packages this week. Each package includes an Eagle Eye zip-up hoodie, t-shirt, and flash drive pen (which is total spy gear: a pen and a flash drive). Find out how to win. Eagle Eye makes the second Hitchcock-inspired flick from Shia LaBeouf and director D.J. Caruso. Eagle Eye sounds a lot like The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Disturbia (was this good?) is a teen update of Rear Window. Would you like to see LaBeouf in another Hitchcock update? Would he make a good Norman Bates? I'll say this for the young man--he's starting to pull off being a sex sybol, with or without a crushed hand. (Sorry to hear about that Shia; it'll just make you more impressive, though.) Did anyone out there think he was the best part of Indiana Jones 4? "What is that? Oh, that's just a thing." Michelle Monaghan was good in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang but the chemistry between Robert Downey, Jr. and Val Kilmer stole that show. Miracle at St. Anna It's a shame that Spike Lee's new movie isn't impressing anyone, because I think it looks really interesting. It made me realize I've never seen a WWII movie about an all-black "Buffalo Soldier" unit. Maybe that's because America prefers to think of themselves as the unambiguous good guys during WWII? Thoughts on this?Also, I haven't seen many Spike Lee movies but I really liked Inside Man. Nights in Rodanthe Diane Lane and Richard Gere in an adaptation from a Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle, The Notebook). I like Diane Lane, she was great in that TV miniseries Lonesome Dove. It also stars Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall, and the moral universe of it feels kind of like No Country for Old Men. Richard Gere on the other hand--sure he's good-looking, but otherwise I can't figure out the appeal. The only thing I've liked him in is the Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There. Towelhead is in wide release now. Anyone seen this yet? I'm pretty interested. LIMITED RELEASE Blindness Wow, this sounds interesting to me: when a sudden plague of blindness strikes a city, the afflicted must band together to survive the cruel conditions of their quarantine. Starring Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, and Gael Garcia Bernal. This reminds me of that Stephen King TV miniseries The Stand, which I'm hoping and praying will come to DVD. Anyone remember it? I loved the crap out of it when I was 13, haven't seen it since. Choke I like Sam Rockwell, who stars in this adaptation of a Chuck Palahniuk novel. (Palahniuk also wrote Fight Club, which led to the rare case of a movie that surpasses the book.) Rockwell's charcter cruises at sex addict meetings and asks for handouts after pretending to choke in restaurants. Kevin Buist from FilmCouch saw this flick at Toronto and he didn't like it very much. He and Paul will discuss it in FilmCouch #89 (which comes out 9/26.) Forever Strong When professional rugby player Rick Penning (Sean Faris, who's also in the Fight Club-in-high-school Never Back Down) is put behind bars, the warden (Sean Astin) gives Rick a choice: stay behind bars, or play for his long-time rival, Highland Rugby. Rick chooses the latter, and bonds with his new teammates. When Rick's released from prison and returns to his old team, he's given a difficult choice to make when his team faces Highland in the National Championship. Okay, it sounds kind of formulaic but I would totally see that. Fireproof Kirk Cameron plays a firefighter who can risk his life on the job, but can't save his marriage. This one's receiving heavy promotion from Christian radio station KLOV. Question for you guys: any good movies about people trying to salvage their marriage, and the marriage works out? The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela The tag line "Not your everyday fairy tale" seems pretty accurate: Queen Raquela is a Filipina transsexual prostitute searching for her prince on the internet. Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story Atwater was many things, and different things depending on who you talk to: rogue, political assassin, godfather of American politics (he mentored Karl Rove and George W. Bush). This documentary from Stefan Forbes tries to look at all the angles of a complicated, influential guy. Lucky Ones Three troubled Iraqi veterans take a road trip across the US. The vets are Tim Robbins, Rachel McAdams (I love you, dream woman!) and Michael Pena. Whaledreamers Julian Lennon produced this documentary on the relationship between whales and a tribe of aborigines. Both the whales and people group are slowly disappearing. Lennon, Pierce Brosnan and Geoffrey Rush make appearances. Obscene Documentary on Barney Rosset, the influential publisher who battled censorship (he successfully published Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer after a long legal battle) and introduced American readers to the literature of Samuel Beckett, Tom Stoppard, Harold Pinter, and Eugene Ionesco, among others. He also owned a porno theater. Humboldt County An uptight med student bonds with his pot-loving new girlfriend. Interesting cast (including Fairuza Balk and Peter Bogdanovich), so it might be more interesting than it sounds.

Spout Post: AFI's 10 Top 10: Mystery

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:01:33 GMT

Post By: ShaunHuston
Post To: ShaunHuston filmblog
Post Date: 6/19/2008 6:01:33 PM
Body: The mystery list is another one that seems poorly conceived. Unlike animation, “mystery” may be a genre, but the way it is defined and applied in the AFI list leads to a muddled selection of films.The AFI defines mystery as “a genre that revolves around the solution of a crime”. I'm not convinced that that adequately describes the films on the list, or, even if it does, it is absurdly reductive. Most ironically, the definition seems least appropriate when applied to the list's top selection, Vertigo (1958), which does not actually revolve around the solution of a crime at all, but a domestic mystery, and is really about Scottie's (Jimmy Stewart) inner-demons and obsessions in any event. Similar questions can be raised about other movies on this Top 10. For example, the second film on the list, Chinatown (1974), certainly starts with a mysterious murder, but part of the point of the film is that some “crimes” aren't illegal at all, and may even be facilitated by laws. The plot of The Third Man (1949) involves the unveiling of criminal activity, but the central mystery, on more than one level, proves not to be a crime, or at least is vague enough for questions to be raised about whether it is or isn't. And, as was highlighted on the broadcast, Dial M for Murder (1954) is really more about the commission of a crime than its solution. You get the picture: the AFI definition for this genre is fine as far as it goes, but it misses the nuances in most of the films on the list. In fact, it can be argued that most of the films on this Top 10 are typically considered to belong to more refined categories than “mystery”. Chinatown, The Third Man, and The Maltese Falcon (1941) are better thought of as Film Noir, as should North by Northwest (1959), though I recognize that that may be a less typical way of understanding that movie than it is for the others. Another segment of the selections – Vertigo, Rear Window (1954), Dial M for Murder – are more precisely “suspense” movies or “thrillers”, wherein mystery, rather than being the point of the narrative, is merely a device for exploring the human psyche. This leaves three movies as the “true” mysteries on the list. From what I know of Laura (1944), I've not seen it, this seems like a fair enough categorization, and I think that “mystery” is reasonable as a way of thinking about The Usual Suspects (1995). Blue Velvet (1986) I'm tempted to say belongs to the genre of “David Lynch,” but it is also clearly the case that a mystery drives much of the film's action. What's curious about the AFI's choice to use and apply “mystery” to the films that it does is that the alternatives I suggest, “noir”, “suspense”, “thriller”, are also well-used genre categories, and ones that better capture one of my points above: these movies largely use mysteries to explore other themes – power, obsession, fear, evil. There are, however, films where the mystery is the thing. Think The Thin Man series, or the incarnations of Nancy Drew, or adaptations of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple books. I suppose the orchestrators of these lists may have considered this, and decided that there aren't enough such movies to “honor”, but that's not only narrow-minded, especially in the context of genre entertainment, it also begs the question of why “mystery” and not “noir”, “thriller”, etc. Assessing the individual selections is made complicated by the underlying categorization question. I can see where each of the films on the list can and should be honored on a Top 10 in “x” genre, even if I don't quite see it for this particular accounting. However, Vertigo is, like The Searchers and Shane from the Western list, one of those highly regarded “classics” that I don't quite get. To me it seems dated in its fascination with mid-century popular psychology, and its visualizations of feelings of vertigo don't hold up well at all. That the latter is important to me is probably a function of the former. I vastly prefer Rear Window, and, as to the non-Hitchcock on the list, Chinatown is one of those films I will routinely cite as my absolute favorite when asked. Everything else more or less depends on context and I'm not sure that the AFI has provided the right one here. Link to introduction. Originally posted on:Short-Circuit Signs

Spout Post: Alfred Hitchcock

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 20:16:58 GMT

Post By: divinemsjunebug
Post To: HORROR MOVIES 101
Post Date: 9/21/2007 4:16:58 PM
Body: They are having a sort of Alfred Hitchcock marathon (or something like a marathon) going on the AMC channel. I have always loved the movies he directs and I also love the old television series. What are some of your favorite episodes, movies?I was just watching Rear Window again for the millionth time. I absolutely love that movie. I love the way we get a glimpse into peoples lives just through their windows. The suspense in that movie is really great, especially when Grace Kelley gets caught in the killer's apartment...

Spout Tag:Classic

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 22:54:36 GMT

Classic
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Spout Tag:Loved-It

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:56:35 GMT

Loved-It
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Spout Tag:murder

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:57:25 GMT

murder
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Spout Tag:brilliant

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:28:43 GMT

brilliant
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Spout Tag:drama

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:38:30 GMT

drama
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Spout Tag:mystery

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:49:03 GMT

mystery
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Spout Tag:thriller

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:38:30 GMT

thriller
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Spout Tag:suspense

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:28:43 GMT

suspense
Number of films tagged: 129

Number of people who tagged: 66

Number of times used: 189

Spout Tag:personal-classic

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:21:00 GMT

personal-classic
Number of films tagged: 180

Number of people who tagged: 64

Number of times used: 274

Spout Tag:nyc

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:39:05 GMT

nyc
Number of films tagged: 90

Number of people who tagged: 29

Number of times used: 113

Spout Tag:Hitchcock

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:25:43 GMT

Hitchcock
Number of films tagged: 29

Number of people who tagged: 28

Number of times used: 72

Spout Tag:voyeur

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 09:37:11 GMT

voyeur
Number of films tagged: 68

Number of people who tagged: 24

Number of times used: 28

Spout Tag:neighbor

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:00:23 GMT

neighbor
Number of films tagged: 684

Number of people who tagged: 20

Number of times used: 35

Spout Tag:girlfriend

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:13:22 GMT

girlfriend
Number of films tagged: 1237

Number of people who tagged: 19

Number of times used: 55

Spout Tag:camera

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:03:25 GMT

camera
Number of films tagged: 178

Number of people who tagged: 18

Number of times used: 30