Vertigo - 1958 - James Stewart, Kim Novak.

Hitchcock's most personal film.

Vertigo, adapted from the French novel D'entre Les Morts, is, according to Hitchcock himself, the directors most personal film; one centred around obsession and deceit. Scottie Ferguson (Stewart) retires from his position as a private investigator after an incident which reveals his fear of heights; vertigo. After retiring Scottie is lured into another case by an old friend, Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore), who asks Scottie to tail his wife who he suspects of being possessed by the spirit of a woman from the past. Elster's wife, Madeleine (Novak), is stunningly beautiful and after tracking her movements for some time Scottie begins to fall in love with her. As the film progresses, twists and turns in the plot reveal more and more about each character resulting in a whirlwind thriller that is widely considered to be one of the greatest movies of all time. 

Where to begin with such an iconic film and director. I've wanted to review a Hitchcock film for a while but struggled to pick which film to start with. I eventually landed on Vertigo due to its depth, controversy and sheer brilliance. Vertigo had an extensive production time due to problems concerning casting (Hitch wanted to cast Vera Miles, but the role went to Novak after Miles got pregnant.) and prolonged illness to the director. This unpredictable and unwanted start to production on the film pushed Hitch and made Vertigo a very personal project.

When I first watched this film, which was some years ago, the first thing that struck me was the soundtrack. The powerful and compelling music provided by Bernard Herrmann adds an extra tone to the picture which compliments the trials and tribulations on screen perfectly; creating another dimension that without which would not have resulted in the film that it is.

With Vertigo, Hitchcock has masterfully created a technically brilliant film that plays on a confrontation of colours with the reds of Scottie and the greens of Madeleine forming a visual dimension that is missing from many modern day thrillers. Directors of late don't tend to go into the depth that the likes of Hitchcock went into which in my opinion is a real shame. If more directors went into more depth and added elements to their film-making, I believe the thriller genre would get back to a higher level of appreciation. In recent years I feel the genre has been viewed simply in terms of entertainment and the art has been lost.

In terms of Hitchcock's oeuvre Vertigo is not his most entertaining film, feeling quite slow at times, however, the film is technically brilliant with a plot that takes the viewer on a thrilling ride that investigates the nature of human obsession and deceit. Vertigo is a classic that should be watched by all.

9/10.

J.Henderson.

    

American Psycho - 2000 - Christian Bale, Jared Leto, Willem Dafoe.

Underrated and impressive.

Directed by Mary Harron, American Psycho is a crime drama based upon the book of the same name by Bret Easton Ellis. The story is set in 1980s Manhattan and centres on the life of investment banker Patrick Bateman (Bale). With a life that is based around going out to fancy restaurants just to simply keep up appearances whilst also spending a large portion of his time as a serial killer, Bateman struggles with the emotional side of life; constantly portraying an air of calmness and intellect.
Detective Donald Kimble (Dafoe) discusses the disappearance of Bateman's colleague, Paul Allen (Leto); who Bateman had murdered after feeling humiliated once seeing Allen's stylish business card. Can Bateman keep control of his murderous tendencies?

Simply put, Bale makes this film. It's said that during production DiCaprio was proposed to star as Bateman but due to fears of a teen audience flocking to an R-rated film, Bale was preferred (definitely for the best). Bale plays the cool, measured individual on the outside and tense, uncontrollable mess on the inside extremely well. Bateman is a man who can control almost every part of his life other than his murderous urges which Bale personifies.

Harron produces a film that is slick and thrilling, definitely managing to keep the audience engaged leading a character that resembles something of a modern day Alex DeLarge. I find that American Psycho keeps you thinking throughout and undoubtedly leaves you with discussion points.

I'd recommend it to those that don't mind a large helping of blood.

J.Henderson

7.5/10

Gravity - 2013 - Sandra Bullock, George Clooney

If films were only rated on their visuals, this would be the best film I have ever seen. 

Gravity, from director (and co-writer) Alfonso Cuaron, is a sci-fi thriller set within the depths of space. The story focuses on Dr. Ryan Stone (Bullock), a medical engineer who is on her first mission into space along with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (Clooney). On what seems a routine spacewalk disaster strikes as a huge amount of debris comes whirling at Stone and Kowalski and suddenly the pair find themselves tethered onto nothing but themselves, floating in space with oxygen continuously depleting. Will the pair make it back to solid ground?

Cuaron has made a film that will undoubtedly be remembered as a cinematic great, but for it's visuals and not for its story. Visually this film is the greatest I have ever seen with the deep, silent, emptiness of space captured remarkably with the use of CGI. Due to this, Gravity is a beautiful film that has the ability to leave you speechless at the wonder that is on the screen. The result of which being 7 Academy Awards including Best Visual Effects, Best Film Editing and Best Cinematography.

However, for all that this film excels in it lacks in any effective story. I found Gravity painfully difficult to connect with due to the distinct lack of character development proving this picture's downfall. Even the little character interaction that did occur failed to engage me as a viewer. During the section where Ryan discusses her past with Matt it left me wondering why this conversation had not happened earlier, why had this topic of conversation not happened during the first week of their shuttle mission?

What this boils down to is a poor script; a poor story in fact. That interaction was needed for any hope of audience sympathy and connection to Ryan Stone, a character who is the only person on screen for the majority of the film. Yet, the necessary connection was not effectively established and in my eyes the film suffers for it.

I am aware that my view may not be shared with the majority but I feel that many may have overlooked the story due to the simply magnificent visual and sound effects. In my opinion Gravity took home one too many Oscars as I believe Steve McQueen produced a much better case for the Best Director award.

Gravity is gripping, it is exhilarating and without a doubt stunning to watch, but its story and character development let it down.

J.Henderson.

7.5/10.

Oscars round-up... who won what?

How could you miss the Oscars?! But for those that didn't manage to catch it, here's a round-up of the winners of the big six awards; Best Director, Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

In the nights other award categories Gravity truly ran supreme taking home the Oscars for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing. Other than Gravity, The Great Gatsby managed to pick up a couple of Oscars for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design which is great for a film that has not been given the greatest reviews from critics.

The Disney film Frozen won Best Animated Feature and also got the Oscar for Best Original Song; a great night for them and also the award is Disney's first Best Animated Feature Oscar in the 14 years that the category has been around. The outstanding Her, directed by Spike Jonze, only managed the one Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Ellen DeGeneres hosted the awards and although some critics have said her hosting was flat, I felt DeGeneres did a magnificent job, she was relaxed throughout and interacted wonderfully with the celebrities with her highlights including the ridiculously awesome selfie and a pizza delivery. The night was going excellently and the announcement of the big six awards made it even better.

Best Film: 12 Years a Slave

As the night went on I feared that 12 Years a Slave would fall victim to the Gravity dominance; but I'm so glad it didn't. 12 Years a Slave is stunningly crafted by the miraculously brilliant Steve McQueen and included outstanding performances from the likes of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o and Michael Fassbender. What I feel set this film apart from Gravity and the other nominees was its gripping true story that was phenomenally told. A film that will not be forgotten any time soon.

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron

Gravity gained its 7th Oscar with Cuaron gaining the Best Director award. Cuaron created a film that will be remembered for its technical prowess. However, I shocked that this award did end up in Cuaron's hands as I felt the direction from Steve McQueen was more worthy. Alfonso Cuaron had already been handed the award for Best Film Editing and I feel that that was where his personal Oscar lay, but not for Best Director.

Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Matthew McConaughey was sublime in a performance that rightly deserved the Oscar. The man who was renowned for his rom-coms has proven himself on the big stage and shown everyone that his transformation into dramatic acting is complete. Alright Alright Alright.

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

This was hardly a surprise as Leto's performance as HIV-positive transgender woman is quite honestly immense. Leto was the strong favourite out-doing great performances from Jonah Hill and Michael Fassbender.

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

What a shock! Oh wait... no it wasn't. Blanchett was the bookies favourite and now has her second academy award; gaining her first for her performance in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator.

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave)

I was so happy to see Lupita gain this award as her portrayal of Patsey was harrowing and so powerful that it just wouldn't have been right for anyone else to win the Oscar. I had a horrible feeling that Jennifer Lawrence would snatch the award in a similar fashion to last year but thankfully not.


2013 was a wonderful year for cinema... here's to an even better 2014!

J.Henderson