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SABRES, PENS, SHOTGUNS & METS |
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Spring Break Training PART I |
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Rex O'Rourke
Posts:194
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| 04-12-2008 - SelecP - |
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HOLLYWOOD, CA - After conferring with The Matts about the relative mediocrity of our local ball clubs, I’ve decided to shelve sports this week and regale one and all with my all time greatest Hitchcock film spectacular. I could rate his films with a thumbs up/down, or stars, or screams, or whatever silliness I choose. To put things in a vernacular we can all grasp, how about good old fashioned baseball metaphors.
A lead off double –“Strangers on a Train” (1951) What if you needed to murder someone, met someone with the same problem, and then swapped murders with them? Both killings would appear to be random acts. Don’t try this at home!
RBI double – “To Catch a Thief” (1955) Cary Grant as a retired jewel thief and Grace Kelly as, well, Grace Kelly. Somewhat lighter fare given Hitch’s usual themes, but it’s set on the French Riviera and has plenty of great scenery, action and plot twists; A guilty pleasure.
Diving catch that saves two runs – “The Birds” (1963) Avian attacks slowly drive Bodega Bay residents to paranoia and madness. Great special effects (for their day) and sheer creepiness combine to build the suspense. It did for birds what “Jaws” did for sharks.
Triple play – Rear Window (1954) Hitch teams Jimmy Stewart with Grace Kelly. Words cannot describe how gorgeous this woman was. This film was YouTube before YouTube. Voyeurism, violence, love, pity, jealousy, and rage permeated every frame of this masterpiece. Every human emotion is on display in a stylish Greenwich Village setting.
RBI triple – “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (1956) Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day go on vacation with their son only to accidentally witness an assassination and see their boy abducted. This one is a real thriller with political intrigue, great cinematography, acting and music. Doris Day is very easy on the eyes as well.
Two hit shutout – Vertigo (1958) Considered his all-time classic, Vertigo was not a blockbuster in its day but has grown in stature the past fifty years. Murder, obsession, phobias, and great shots of San Francisco make this one a must see. Mel Brooks had fun lampooning this one in “High Anxiety”.
Two run homer – “Torn Curtain” (1966) Paul Newman is in his prime and Julie Andrews just oozes wholesome hotness in this cold war era thriller. Nuclear secrets, double agents, chase scenes, murder; this one’s got it all.
Three run homer –“Psycho” (1960) Janet Leigh plays the naughty woman on the run and Anthony Perkins plays Norman Bates. How that shower scene ever got past the sensors I’ll never know. This is an absolute masterpiece of horror and suspense. Not a frame out of place!
Grand slam – “North by Northwest” (1959) It’s the best of the best. Hitchcock crafted a tight, fast paced, funny cold war thriller starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. The film has some stunning cinematography. The Hudson River, Mount Rushmore, and Grand Central Station seem to co-star and the film never eases off the gas pedal.
Rex’s Film Corner is looking for Hitchcock gems I may have overlooked or underrated.
Any classic cinema buffs out there?
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Grote2DMax
Posts:476
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| 04-13-2008 - SelecA - |
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Rex I agree with most here especially with North by Northwest being a grand slam. The combo of suspense and comedy was never better, especially in the auction scene. Here are a few more you overlooked that I believe are at least solo shots if not three run homers.
Notorious - A Nazi thriller set in Brazil with Cary Grant, Claude Rains and Ingrid Bergman, was possibly the best combination of pure actress and beauty to ever appear in film (the same is true for the aforementioned Grace Kelly). Grant was one of the few five tool actors of all time (to use another baseball metaphor) combining comedic timing, dramatic timing, believability, looks and character transformation.
As for an early Hitchcock classic, The 39 Steps shows pre World War II London like no other, with the underlying fear and tension that surely must have been griping the UK at that time.
Finally Rope, which mirrored the Leopold and Loeb murders of the 20's. One of the best psychological thrillers of all time. Jimmy Stewart is extremely believable in this thriller, which cannot be said for all his movies and keeps him from being a five tool actor in my book (a bit too hokey at times). |
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Yankees Suck
Posts:429
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| 04-13-2008 - SelecA - |
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| The end of Psycho, when the killer confronts that person in the basement, is one of the funniest/most disturbing things ever put to film. |
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Rex O'Rourke
Posts:194
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| 04-13-2008 - SelecA - |
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| Wow, G2DM, great insights. I had "Notorious" on my list but cut it in the interest of brevity. You're spot on about Jimmy Stewart, he was a little corny sometimes (espescially in "Vertigo"). I liked "Rope" but didn't think it was the caliber of the other films. "39 Steps" was an honorable mention as was "Shadow of a Doubt", "Dial M for Murder" and "Rebecca". As for Cary Grant...note to today's actors... that's a movie star!!! Thank you YS as well. |
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Cookie
Posts:615
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| 04-13-2008 - SelecA - |
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I enjoyed this Rex. There are actually a few of these classics I haven't seen and must see immediately. (In particular, 'Torn Curtain'-- I didn't realize my beloved Paul Newman did a Hitchcock film.)
Both 'Rear Window' and 'Vertigo' are right up there for me. True that Grace Kelly couldn't be more flawless in 'Rear Window.' The pace and suspense built in this film is crafted with the care and mastery that many filmmakers these days overlook. (My one bone to pick with this though-- is that Jimmy Stewart overacts a bit in this movie-- ok.. in most movies. He just frickin' annoys me. Oh well...)
A 'masterpiece' tangent here (non-Hitchcock)--
'What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?' Holy cr*p!! That movie is both scary and stupendous for a plentitude of reasons.
I say-- perhaps we start to pick some classics and cast the leads with current day, most appropriate baseball players.
To start it off... 'Some Like it Hot'-- with David Wright and Alex Rodriguez (as Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon). Marilyn Monroe's character would be none other than Manny Ramirez. |
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TheMatts
Posts:1598
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| 04-13-2008 - SelecA - |
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| Wow! And we thought Sterling "Alfred" Hitchcock was nothing more than a back-end starter who didn't live up to the hype! His accomplishments are/were - dare we say - frightening... Well-done Rex and a nice break from sports but let's get back to sports for a second. THE RANGERS are on a Cup-Winning tear... The B.C. Eagles and Notre Dame played some HOLY HOCKEY in the Frozen Final. B.C. held on and avoided emulating the Buffalo Bills as a team to lose three consecutive championships, courtesy of the 61-year-old tournament's leading scorer - a 5'5" dynamo who calls himself NATHAN GERBE. Montreal's Mark Messier's, ALEXI KOVALEV, is playing like a man possessed - Hitchcock would be proud. Finally, our Phanatic Phriend can only imagine what life would be like with both Cole Hamels and GAVIN FLOYD in the Philthydelphia rotation. Floyd was traded for Freddy Garcia - OUCH! |
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How Philly Won |
One Of Our First
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ROY HOBBS ON STEROIDS??? |
MEAGHAN & JAKE: COOLEST FANS |
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Nobody Remembers The Loser |
Giant/Super Tuesday |
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MATTS-MATICS: Hockey Nuts Go At It |
See us on: "Law & Order" |
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MATT FACTS:
Chad Pennington is NOT a Brett Favre fan... Hillary Clinton and Don Nelson have never been seen in the same place... Jerry Manuel is not related to Charlie ManuelJerry Manuel is not related to Charlie Manuel... Somebody namd Michel coaches the Pittsburgh Penguins... Tiki Barber quit the Giants. The Giants then won the Super Bowl... The New England Patriots only lost ONE game out of 19!!! Aaron Heilman was actually funny in re to Eli and Plaxico Burress helping the Mets as a pitcher and outfielder, respectively. Repeat, Heilman was funny... Jessica Simpson would rather date Tom Brady - trust us... Eli Manning is better than Archie - now... Alyssa Milano is a Met fan. RRRRR... Rickey Henderson speaks in the 3rd Person... Shawn Green has big ears... Howard Johnson likes to stay at the Holiday Inn, ironically... Sandy Alomar, Sr. is the youngest of 9 kids. That's why he was quick around the dish. Jiminy Cricket was the Philly Phanatic in a previous life…Fred Wilpon is pals with Sandy Koufax... Mike Ditka is a really tough guy.. Buffalo has a Triple A baseball team. They are NOT called The Snowballs... Chan Ho Park has people thinking of naming a ballfield after him - it would be called Chan Ho Park Park... John Maine has never been, oddly enough, to Maine... Curt Gowdy, Jr. has never been to Yellow Knife, Canada... Kevin Mitchell played 6 positions for the Mets in '86 and, according to Doc Gooden's book, didn't like cats... John Olerud & Wayne Gretzky have never been seen in the same place... Kevin McReynolds now makes his living doing laugh tracks for sit-coms... Tony Gwynn is nearing 300 lbs... Carlos Beltran has Mercedes Benz dealerships named for him in Barcelona, Spain... Willie Montanez was called Guillermo by Lenny Randle... Rusty Staub beat Jeff Kent in a race – TODAY... Jay Horwitz is a dynamite Cricket players – somebody said... Jeff Wilpon was a decent minor league catcher... Ziggy Palfy lives in Slovakia and is a big Met fan... Superman Returns, yet still can’t hit Billy Wagner... David Wright will win the Triple Crown – on a horse... Omar Minaya is Tobey McGuire’s stunt-double in Spider Man 3... Hilary Clinton has Mr. Met pajamas – we think... Albert Einstein was a HUGE Met fan... The Metropolitan Opera House was named for the Mets after their 2nd season in ’63... Wally Backman, ’86 sparkplug, considered changing his name to Wally Back-Matt... Neil Allen and Mike Stanton, former Mets, have Allen & Stanton Streets on Lower East Side named for them.
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