SinjinSB

Last night I watched the world premiere of this movie at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. While it made me chuckle several times, it just didn't seem to be very cohesive. I tended to enjoy the bits set in the modern day versus the silly caveman scenes. Though I am a big fan of John Cleese, his scenes didn't do much for me in this movie. One my favorite bits was Dan Marino explaining proper urinal etiquette. I think that was one of problems, it was more just a collection of bits than a complete movie. Some of the scenes were tied together, but it didn't seem to flow very well. With a $17.50 ticket price for this 72 minute film, I didn't feel I got my money's worth.

** (out of 4)

A solid sequel to my favorite superhero movie. While I have been unimpressed with most of the recent superhero movies (The Punisher, Hulk), the Spider-Man movies have continued to remain a step or two ahead of the pack. While not staying 100% true to the original comics, they don't stray too far. The production is top-notch and give us a visual treat with out going too far beyond believability. Despite some initial reservations, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst have proved to be quality choices for the roles of Spider-Man and Mary Jane. Along with a solid supporting cast and good direction by Sam Raimi, the Spider-Man movie franchise has set the bar for superhero movies in the 2000s. I'm looking forward to the next installment. Unfortunately Spider-Man 3 isn't coming until 2007. Meanwhile, I remain hopeful for other quality additions to the genre.

*** (out of 4)

My copy of this movie is truly silence with no musical score. Whenever I watch a movie that is completely silent, initially I find it a little hard. But when the film is well made, as this one is, it doesn't take long to adjust and focus on the story as you are drawn into it. I feel Hitchcock was a master of the silent film genre with his ability to tell such a deep story with very few intertitles. Relying instead on the expressions of the actors and written notes and signs in the movie, without having to cut away to an intertitle, which allows the film to flow more fluidly instead of constant cutting between the live action and the title cards. Ivor Novello in the lead role of Roddy and in his prior work with Hitchcock in The Lodger really impressed me with his talent of conveying his feelings strictly through facial expressions and acting without the use of sound. Hitch is also good at using subtle exaggeration and focus on action to help take the place of the sound in his silent films.

The story is that of a young man in school who is falsely accused of theft by a lady that he had danced with and he is willing to take the blame for a friend of his and is expelled from school. This leads to the downhill spiral of his life as leaves home after his father calls him a "LIAR!". Things get worse from there as ends up working as a gigolo in Paris, getting in fights, losing a large sum of money, and eventually hitting bottom.

In this film we really begin seeing a lot of Hitchcock's visual style that he is so famous for. He has some really good use of fades and graphic matches between scenes. Two of my favorite where the fading out on the pocket watch and into a large clock, and the other being the scene where he fades out on a photograph and then back in on the real person. I really enjoyed the symbolic shot of Roddy heading down the escalator, showing us that is in heading downhill in his life. And my favorite "Hitch" shot in this movie was the point-of-view shot when the lady was leaning back in her chair and it cuts to Roddy walking into the room and we see him upside down on the screen. I also thought Hitchcock did a great job of portraying Roddy's seasickness towards the end of the film. I really enjoy seeing Hitchcock's style developing in his early silent films, that will become so prominent in his later, more famous movies. I also really appreciate Hitch's working in comedic scenes into his serious movies. My favorite humorous scene in this movie is the peashooter scene early in the film.

Without giving too much away, I would have liked to see a more typical Hitchcock ending to this film.

*** (out of 4 stars)