skygiants: Princess Tutu, facing darkness with a green light in the distance (ooooh)
So the roommates and I have recently taken advantage of a month of free Hulu Plus, mostly so that we can gorge ourselves on the holdings of the Criterion Collection. One of the first things we watched is Hitchcock's The 39 Steps, and I need to talk to you guys about it because I had forgotten how very much it is an amazing movie about THE WORST ACTION HERO EVER.



THINGS THAT RICHARD HANNAY BELIEVES TO BE TRUE:

1.) If you are a dashing gentleman, it is perfectly normal for ladies to accost you in the street and demand that you take them home with them!

2.) If there's a dead body in your flat, never mind! Somebody else will take care of it.

3.) If you're a handsome man on the run from the police, just grab a nearby lady, fakeout-makeout with her until the police go away, and then earnestly explain that it's not your fault and she simply has to help you. Surely she will be swayed by your trustworthy face and dashing good looks and assist you!

4.) If a jealous gentleman thinks you have been macking on his wife, just cheerfully explain that he's got it all wrong, you're just on the run from the law. Surely he will be swayed by your trustworthy face and dashing good looks and assist you!

5.) If you have discovered that a respected local official is secretly a foreign agent, just go to the police and tell them that a.) you are the murderer they have been looking for but b.) NO LOOK THEY'VE GOT IT ALL WRONG. Surely they will be swayed by your trustworthy face and dashing good looks and assist you!

6.) If you have been mistaken for a political campaigner while on the run, no worries - a gentleman with your trustworthy face and dashing good looks will have no difficulty BSing your way through a political speech!


THINGS THAT ARE ACTUALLY TRUE

1.) No, if ladies accost you in the middle of the street and demand to be taken home, it is generally not because your face is JUST THAT DASHING.

2.) If you leave dead bodies lying around in your flat, someone is liable to believe you murdered them. WEIRD, HUH.

3.) No, in fact, if you have just grabbed a strange lady and started macking on her, what she is going to do is SLAP YOU IN THE FACE AND REPORT YOU TO THE POLICE AT ONCE. (At which point we all cheered!)

4.) No, in fact, if you tell a jealous husband that you are a wanted man, HE IS GOING TO TURN YOU IN. (At which point we all facepalmed.)

5.) . . . and if you tell a police officer that you are in fact the murderer he has been searching for, HE IS GOING TO ARREST YOU. (At which point we officially decided he was the worst accidental spy of all time.)

6.) Actually this does turn out to be true! Richard Hannay's one great gift, as it turns out, is hilariously BSing inspirational speeches. (At which point we decided that Richard Hannay was Jeff Winger, and now I DESPERATELY WANT that fic.)


In other news: anyone have specific recommendations for Criterion Collection films we should take advantage of before our month runs out?
skygiants: Audrey Hepburn peering around a corner disguised in giant sunglasses, from Charade (sneaky like hepburnninja)
So, you guys guessed ten out of fifteen on the movie quotes meme I did a while back. The ones that were not guessed were many of them ones I sort of figured no one would get, but that also makes me sad, because they are all fabulous films. Therefore, I am going to seize the opportunity to pimp them to you all! Not that this was my intention all along or anything. >.>

#1 is from Bedazzled - NOT the recent one with Elizabeth Hurley and Brendan Fraser, but the Peter Cook and Dudley Moore movie from the 60s that was stolen, twisted and debauched by said recent film. Peter Cook stars as George Spigott, aka The Devil, and Dudley Moore is the hapless fry-cook who has signed over his soul in exchange for seven wishes, which of course are guaranteed to go wrong in whatever way they can. I saw this movie for the first time when I was fairly young, and I am sad to say it has influenced my religious views forever. One of my favorite bits is up on youtube here, and you should all go watch it. (I would embed it and make it harder for you to ignore, but . . . um, I don't know how, and am too lazy to look it up. ANYWAYS.)

#5 is from Charade, another old movie, this one a suspense comedy with the ever-wonderful Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. It's been called the best Hitchcock film that Hitchcock never made, which is about accurate. Audrey Hepburn is a divorcee-to-be who becomes a widow before she gets the chance and gets pulled into her husband's shady business, and Cary Grant is the Mysterious Stranger with a secret identity, and I'm not going to say anymore than that because it would ruin the plot, which is full of twists and turns and witty repartee and Audrey Hepburn trying to be LIKE A NINJA and failing miserably and hilariously.

#6 and #12 are both from movies I've only seen once, but they stuck in my head enough to earn permanent slots among my favorites (and will probably also watch again over spring break, if I have the time.)

#6 is from a seventies film called They Might Be Giants - the band took its name from the film - about a millionaire who believes himself to be Sherlock Holmes, and incorporates his psychiatrist, Dr. Mildred Watson, into his hunt for an imagined Moriarty. The film is in dialogue with Don Quixote as much as with Sherlock Holmes, and what might sound like a slapstick pastiche from the premise is actually kind of a gorgeous and bittersweet movie.

#12 is from Cradle Will Rock, one of the more recent movies on the list, which ties together several storylines about art and power and freedom of speech during the Great Depression. The WPA tries to stop the production of a play about labor and union organization; Diego Rivera is commissioned to paint a mural for Rockefeller Center; the head of the FTP defends a children's play also in danger of being shut down for promoting ideals of communal work. The ensemble cast is unbelievably star-studded, including Susan Sarandon, both Cusacks, Hank Azaria, Bill Murray, Emily Watson, Jack Black, Cary Elwes, Vanessa Redgrave, John Turturro, etc. etc., and they are all incredible. It pushes a whole lot of my buttons - ensemble cast, meta on the production of theater, freedom of speech - and even if you don't agree with the politics (Tim Robbins directed) I still think it's undoubtedly a film worth watching.

#13 is from a Hitchcock movie called The Lady Vanishes, chosen because I realized I had no Hitchcock on my list and someone had already done Vertigo. It's early Hitchcock, made while he was still in England, and the plot centers around a young woman who makes the acquaintance of an elderly lady before getting on a train, only to realize when she wakes up that the lady has vanished without a trace, and no one seems to remember her existence. Naturally, there is a plot afoot on the train! Bring on the wacky disguised nuns, life-sized cardboard villains, and extremely befuddled Englishmen. Like much Hitchcock, as you might be able to tell, the film is very funny as well as being suspenseful. I was looking for clips on youtube, and while I did not find any short ones, I did find a Brokeback Lady Vanishes, which entertains me a ridiculous amount because a.) who would think to make it? but b.) it's SO TRUE. Warning for middle-aged Englishmen in bed together.
skygiants: Lauren Bacall on a red couch (lauren bacall says o rly)
This seems to be a day for short, note-jotty posts from me, but: we went to go see Spellbound (the Hitchcock with Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck) at the old theater tonight, and while there are many cool things about that movie - and some hilarious ones - I had forgotten the fact that half the plot consists of Gregory Peck, as the male lead, falling over in dramatic swoons while Ingrid Bergman sternly tells him to pull himself together. Which is not to say it does not have many of the typical gender issues of the time period, but still, awesome.

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