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Review: North By Northwest

Last night in honour of Sena returning to the fold which is Ottawa, we watched a Hitchcock film. My first of the sort. Benoit suggested it.

The verdict is in – it’s a great flick!

I thoroughly enjoyed the film…it had suspense, it had a hot leading lady, it had a spy story. You can’t go wrong. Some people commented on how this could be a precursor to the Bond films.

My question about Hitchcock is this…as far as I know (I haven’t done much research), he is the master of suspense. Also known for his revolutionary film making techniques.

Well, here in 2006, the techniques aren’t exactly new to me. Heck, I couldn’t pinpoint which ones would have been revolutionary. What I need is a study guide to go along with the film to point out things that were in its infancy when the film was being made. I think I would appreciate the film more that way.

It’s like when you watch a film nowadays and you say ‘Hey great film, but where were the special effects.” and then people list off of a slew of them and you say “Holy crap, that was a special effect? No way!”. Supposedly that is the greatest compliment to a special effects person…letting them know that you didn’t even realize it was a special effect (unlike the Burly Brawl sequence in the Matrix Reloaded where it saddens me to see a computer generated face on top of Neo. OR, in Revenge of the Sith with all the Jango clones running around…their faces are kind of sad. With time, it will improve.)

Let’s talk about CGI for a moment…I predict in the future, that someone will have the nerve to make a new John Wayne film. Or a new Bruce Lee film. It will be the era of resurrected movie heroes. Technology can allow us to do that…the question is, will the public buy it? Who knows.

Quote of the Day – “I love watching old movies because it makes me feel young!” – Palmer while watching North By Northwest

iplaying: Infinite Sadness (outtake 93) – The Smashing Pumpkins – Mashed Potatoes