Last Movie You Watched

[Jaakko Keskinen]

My top3 probably would be:

1. Psycho
2. To catch a thief
3. Rear window

It's so long since I watched birds that I can't say whether it would enter top3 if I would rewatch it. If I recall, the shadow of a doubt was alfred's personal favorite from his movies? Haven't seen that one.

It's obvious I like Hitchcock, although I haven't seen even nearly all of his movies, even several well-known. I even quote Hitchcock

                                       down here ♣

[Ken B]

Hitchcock has produced many classics, hard to just pick a few, but I'll try...

Notorious
Shadow of a Doubt
Strangers on a Train
Vertigo

All great choices.
Naturally!

Of these .. I like Rear Window best. My third choice would be Rope .. probably followed by Frenzy.

These too. Frenzy has issues IMO but has that wonderful trackin in/track out sequence.

He has a few near misses. Marnie is close to great, but has somejarringly bad aspects.

Mr and Mrs Smith is a pleasant outlier, a romantic comedy.

No love here for NBNW?

[mc ukrneal]

North by Northwest has been surprisingly AWOL. My three would be:
1. Rear Window
2. North by Northwest
3. To Catch a Thief.

I enjoy the 39 Steps quite a bit as well (another that has been forgotten?). Man Who Knew Too Much was never a favorite, but still pretty good. Of course, there is Rebecca too, but while excellent, was never a favorite.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

If I would have to mention some criticism about Hitchcock movies, that would be at times the awkward performance of some of the actors. They are emotionless, almost remind me of reading lines from a paper in front of them. At times, this emotionlessness works to its advantage, such as in Psycho where Anthony Perkins gives terrifying performance precisely because for most of the time, he talks in calm, monotonic voice yet clearly you can see from his face that there is more to it. That's scary as hell, makes one think that there is something wrong about this guy although he acts normal enough. His usual calmness also makes the brief moments when he's not in control of his emotions all the more powerful. But then there are movies or scenes when it just seems some actors can't act or that Hitchcock wasn't strict enough with coaching them. I've heard that Hitchcock considered the shooting of the film with actors the least important phase in making of a movie. He had already the movie in his head and the acting process was merely a minor point,a necessary annoyance.

[SonicMan46]

Hitchcock films - now the guy was making movies in the silent film era, but a partial list below of his films from the mid-1930s - a lot of those earlier ones are great, too - I've been adding a lot of BD versions from that period to my collection lately, like 39 Steps; Foreign Correspondent; Lady Vanishes, The; Notorious; Rebecca; Shadow of a Doubt; and Strangers on a Train - have many of his later ones on blu-ray also - SO, he is abundantly represented in this video format, for those interested!    Dave

[George]

My favorite Hitchcock films:

Rope
Strangers on a Train
Notorious
Rear Window
To Catch a Thief

[SonicMan46]

The last 3-4 nights, I've been watching the first season of the original Star Trek TV series (free streaming w/ Amazon Prime) and also continuing to go through my 'burnt' DVD collection - at the end of the 'S' w/ plenty of good films:

Stanley and Livingstone (1939) w/ Spencer Tracy as Henry Stanley & Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Livingstone; Walter Brennan as Stanley's sidekick - well done w/ one of the best Tracy on-screen speeches - BOY, 1939 was a great year for movies!

Star is Born, A (1937) w/ Janet Gaynor & Frederic March - this story has been filmed 3 times, and I love the version w/ Judy Garland, but this one from the '30s is worth seeing - highly recommended!

Story of Louis Pasteur, The (1936) w/ the always great Paul Muni - as a physician, I've been watching this film probably from the 1950s - if you like these medical bioptics, another one is Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940) w/ Edward G. Robinson convincing as Paul Ehrlich.

Stranger, The (1946) w/ Edward G. Robinson, Orson Welles, and the ever beautiful Loretta Young - about an investigator (Robinson) from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi (Welles) (IMDB, source). 

     

[Corey]

[Drasko]

Can't see the picture. Not sure imdb allows linking.



Maison close is bit too grim all the time, but keeps you interested. I'll finish the first season definitely.
 
With A Passage to India I'm struggling, seen half of it last night hope to finish it tonight. Scenery is fantastic, actors are excellent, but the story is too much on the nose for my taste. 

[Jaakko Keskinen]

The last 3-4 nights, I've been watching the first season of the original Star Trek TV series

That one original Star trek series episode I'll always remember is the one in mines underground where this strange monster (which by 60's effects looks like a guy who has crawled under a carpet) kills miners.

[Cato]

What's NBNW?[/font]

[Corey]

Can't see the picture. Not sure imdb allows linking.

Fixed!

[Bogey]

 

One of my, if not my favorite, Robinson film.  Have this on my bluray wish, Dave!

[Bogey]

Fun film!  My favorite part was Dunne's mannerisms and light quips throughout.  I may rewatch it just for those again.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

I'd say one of their aircraft is missing.

[SonicMan46]

One of my, if not my favorite, Robinson film.  Have this on my bluray wish, Dave!

Hey Bill - I see The Stranger is out on blu-ray w/ the use of a Library of Congress 35mm print - Blu-ray Com rates the video 3.5/5* & audio 4/5* - so, still room for improvement on the video and somewhat pricey on Amazon - might wait or if I have some gift card points, then?

As to The Awful Truth, own that one on DVD at the moment - Dave

 

[bhodges]

Around the World in 50 Concerts (dir. Heddy Honigmann) - Honigmann followed the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on its 125th Anniversary tour, and this documentary is the result. Wonderful scenes inside the Concertgebouw (and elsewhere in Amsterdam), as well as Buenos Aires, Soweto, and St. Petersburg. Musical excerpts include Bruckner, Mahler, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, and Verdi, among others, and as you might expect, photography and sound (of course) are terrific.

Not listed on Amazon yet, but here's the listing from Cobos Films, and a blog post about the film:

http://cobosfilms.nl/portfolio/around-the-world-in-50-concerts/
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/sometimes-the-world-of-classical-music-seems-to-be-set-up-like-social-security-the-young-serving-the-old-20150301

--Bruce

[SonicMan46]

Criterion - just received an email about a 50% 'Spring Sale' - on for 24 hours!  May have exhausted my interests until some 'new' BDs are released but will take a look!  Dave

ADDENDUM: well, I did take a look & at $20 each and free shipping, decided to add some Criterion BDs to my collection, most DVD replacements except for Design for Living - newbie!

     

[Ken B]

Fun film!  My favorite part was Dunne's mannerisms and light quips throughout.  I may rewatch it just for those again.

I love that. I won't insult you by asking if you've seen My Favorite Wife, but will suggest Theodora Goes Wild.

[Ken B]

Criterion - just received an email about a 50% 'Spring Sale' - on for 24 hours!  May have exhausted my interests until some 'new' BDs are released but will take a look!  Dave

ADDENDUM: well, I did take a look & at $20 each and free shipping, decided to add some Criterion BDs to my collection, most DVD replacements except for Design for Living - newbie!

     

I really liked DFL when I saw it ages ago.
PBS is great of course.
I can live without the other two.