#55 North by Northwest (1959)

#55 North by Northwest (1959)

Roger Thornhill: "Now you listen to me, I'm an advertising man, not a red herring. I've got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders that depend upon me, and I don't intend to disappoint them all by getting myself "slightly" killed."



Hitchcock movies always start a little slow for me (with the exception of Psycho).  Even when things are happening, they're dragging a little, and then I'm asleep.  They gradually build up to excitement/horror/action; unfortunately, by then I'm already asleep.  I wake up and bullets are flying, and I have no idea what the hell is happening.

Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint.

For this reason, it took me several tries to get into North by Northwest.  I kept starting it over, and somewhere around the time he gets on the train I'd be out, and this with a kidnapping, a case of mistaken identity, a shooting, and a car chase going on.

Maybe it's the background music?  Strangely soothing in an ominous way?

I have no idea, but regardless I did like the movie when I finally got through it.  About halfway in it really picks up.  There are twists and turns, and of course there's the climactic ending on Mount Rushmore.



I'm a big Cary Grant fan, so if he's in a movie, I typically will like it (his charm and his tongue-in-cheek sense of humor are irresistible), and, in spite of the whole falling asleep thing, I do like Hitchcock movies as well.

I'd recommend checking it out, as long as you are not sleepy and have access to lots of caffeine.  Don't fall asleep, you will miss important stuff and have to rewind it.  The ending is worth it!

#56 Jaws (1975)

#56 Jaws (1975)

Brody: You're gonna need a bigger boat.

I re-watched Jaws, since it had been awhile.

The idea behind the movie is great.  Who isn't scared of sharks?  Even if you love sharks and think they're cool and want to protect them and know that shark attacks are rare, isn't the idea of a shark attack terrifying?

The thought of a great white fin headed your way...duh dun, duh dun!

Maybe I've just watched too much Shark Week.  Entirely possible.

I've read that the author of the book, Peter Benchley, regrets writing it, because it spurred people to go out and try to hunt sharks (bad bad, don't do it people).  Benchley has since become a shark advocate.  Still, his idea is one that seems made for the big screen: A big, man-eating shark is terrorizing a once safe town.

Yet somehow I always find the movie a little slow, considering the material.  I don't know what it is.  The subject matter is great, the actors are good, it has Steven Spielberg directing for pity's sake!  But something is missing, and I can't put my finger on it.  Any ideas, please post them.

And if anyone is wondering, it seems that shark fatalities were up last year -attacks were down, but fatalities were up:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/19/world/shark-attacks-worldwide/index.html

Duh dun!