Friday, October 25, 2013

Hope you all are enjoying the fall weather kicking in and Halloween approaching ever so quickly. since we are so close to the time, why not take a look at a topic that seems to capture that creepy essence of Halloween that will satisfy that classic cinematic crave you have.

Alfred Hitchcock. I really hope you know who this guy is. You have most likely heard the name in your lifetime. If you do not know who he is, then you do not know that he is one of the most famously known directors of all time. He was one of the first people that truly understood and mastered the art of suspense in movies. he was able to introduce a new level of eerie strange-ness into a movie that even modern day directors have attempted to mimic yet fail miserably. Check out some of his work below.

North by Northwest. This film is one of the top films I know of that has so many plot twists and genius story line. This film was not really a huge creepy type of suspense flick, however this is one of his best known works of art, to not mention this film would be absolutely foolish of me. This film also contains one of the most iconic stars of that era, Cary Grant.

You think Zombies are bad? How about birds that have gone mad and decided they are tired of bird seed and now wanna eat people... that's just disturbing. Seeing a gang of crows waiting on a playground for kids to come out so they could attack them is down right freaky. It's such an odd and bazaar story it drew people and in and sure enough it created a perfect suspenseful and creepy movie. This film is a classic. watch it... now!

Psycho, this films title pretty much explains the main idea behind this movie. This was Hitchcock's most well known film he made and most popular. You've probably even seen cartoons mock or joke about this films most well known scene involving a shower and... well... a psycho! I wont spoil this one for you either. What I want you to do is to please explore these films. If you have not seen these, at least check out one. Alfred Hitchcock's work is undoubtedly the best suspense out there that jump started the whole genre. But, don't just stop at theses films, look for more of Hitchcock's movies on IMDB.com, you will find the whole list. I can guarantee you that if you are a true fan of the classics check them out, you will not be disappointed. Hope you enjoy!

Friday, October 11, 2013

The Westerns

Greetings again my fellow readers that are interested in motion pictures and awesomeness! This week we are looking at one of my personal faveorites from older films. The westerns! there have been western films ever since the silent film, however, around the period just before they introduced colored film was when the western genre began to explode into popularity and its popularity stretched well into the color era!

Now I'm not talking about Clint Eastwood really. I like him, but specifically we are going to look at the legend just before Clint. The one and only John Wayne. If you don't know who this is... I don't know whats wrong with you, but you should probably go repent of your sins. John wayne was like the Zeus of mythology in western films. John Wayne was involved in over 160 film productions, that is absolutely rediculous. But anyway, John Wayne started off fairly young in westerns and his popularity just kept growing. For many people he's the first they think of when they hear the term cowboy, his natural bluntness and voice was just a perfect match and stuck so well with the theme.


Ever seen True grit with Jeff Bridges? Well this one came first. Didn't follow the original book as accurately however it is very worth watching! This is probably one of the best characters John Wayne has portrayed. He didn't fool around when he was serious, and when he was serious... he kicked some serious tail. It's amazing to me how movies like these came out so long ago, yet they still hold their legendary value to this day. Yes you have to look past the fact that it does not use special effects... duh, but look at the story of it, you know... that thing that the movie is supposed to be around but nobody cares about anymore? I have stop there or I will get off on a rabbit trail about how poor movies have been with a good storyline these days.


I love this movie! John Wayne, and Robert Mitchum, who also was another legend who grew to be really popular at one time. Also James Caan, you would know him as Sonny from the Gofather... or Buddy the Elfs dad in Elf... which is even more ironic because the guy that played as Santa Clause in that film is one of the main badguys in this. Anyways, this film is a great western, the action is actually very well scripted and has characters you get attached to as well as a good respectable story. You just can't compare these flicks to the westerns that come out today, they were something of a different work of art. This film actually had a one of the first scenes where film makers recorded a man shot out of a bell tower and we see him falling from the floors perspective looking up. It looks kind of funny bu back then that was ground breaking.

Back then westerns truely were the fan favorite to so many viewers. Everybody liked seeing the good guy when and watching the bad guy get royally punched in the face with a one-liner that you can't beat by John Wayne, and let me tell you, he did a lot of that! Look into these movies and more of the older ones. They are absolutely classicly awesome!