The Great Films

The Great Films – Double Indemnity

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Double Indemnity
  • IMDB: link

“How could I have known that murder could sometimes smell like honeysuckle?”

The Great Films - Double IndemnityIt wasn’t the first film in the genre that would come to be known as film moir, but it’s one of the best. Directed by Billy Wilder, who co-wrote the film with Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep, The Long Goodbye), Double Indemnity is often referred to as “the paradigmatic film noir,” raising the bar and setting the standard for all others that followed.

Our story begins with Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), a cocky insurance salesman bleeding out in his boss’ office of a gunshot wound while recording his confession on Dictaphone. Through Neff’s narration the events which led him to this gruesome end are slowly revealed.

A simple house call to get his client to renew his auto insurance becomes anything but when Neff falls hard for the man’s younger wife (Barbara Stanwyck) who, at their first meeting, suggests procuring accidental life insurance for her husband (Tom Powers), without his knowledge.

…

The Great Films – Double IndemnityRead More »

The Great Films – Double Indemnity Read More »

The Great Films – Rear Window

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Rear Window
  • IMDb: link

“Are you interested in solving this case or in making me look foolish?”
“Well, if possible, both.”

With the recent release of Disturbia I thought this would be a good time to introduce a new feature and take a look back at the film which it pays homage to.  Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window is considered one of the director’s finest films by both critics (it earned a 100% Fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes and ranked #42 on AFI’s 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time) and fans (at the time of this review it ranks #16 on IMDB’s Top 250 Films of All Time).

Alfred Hitchcock, ah, there was a man who knew how to tell a tale.  The joy in Rear Window is the simplicity.  One man looking into the windows of his neighbors discovers a little about them, and a little about himself, and uncovers what he believes is evidence of cold-blooded murder.  It’s a film of slow revelations, of constant building tension, of troubled relationships, and of learning the truth about yourself as well as your neighbors.  If you enjoy suspense then you could search long and hard trying to find a flick better than this one.

Stuck at home with a broken leg, photojournalist L.B. Jefferies (Jimmy Stewart) begins to examine the world around him finding numerous worlds in the apartments across the courtyard.  Over the past six weeks these strangers have become his form of entertainment and his only way to experience the outside world.

…

The Great Films – Rear WindowRead More »

The Great Films – Rear Window Read More »

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Star Wars
  • IMDb: link

It is a period of civil war.  Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire.

During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.

Pursued by the Empire’s sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy….

Star Wars

It begins with a captured princess, a villain in black, a young farmboy with dreams for the stars, a hot-shot pilot and his furry companion, a mysterious old man, and two droids.  It ends with a huge space battle, heroic moments, and a ceremony celebrating what our eyes can hardly believe we just witnessed. This is Star Wars.

…

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far AwayRead More »

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away Read More »