The Criterion Collection

[colbyw]

Whoa!!!! Hitchcock is on of the greats. I find his endings perfect - not going to ramble, but have you seen the ending to Frenzy? North By Northwest? Psycho? Rear Window? Strangers on a Train? Shadow of a Doubt? etc. His endings are the GREATEST endings. I mean out of respect of course

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Ha ha! Fair enough. I was thoroughly engaged throughout the film, truth be told. I just thought that it crashed and burned in a pretty major way during that final act.

I was absolutely convinced that

[Show spoiler]he was going to kill her at the end, and get away with it, because nobody would believe it after he was proved innocent the first time

. I found the actual ending of the film quite improbable.

It's a film that I embraced wholeheartedly as I left the theater, but the more I thought about it, the more the whole construction of it fell apart.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by diskspinner

and many of the plot holes were actually intended...to exaggerate...to draw parallel with media...

can you give an example?

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by kuro_sawa

If I remember correctly, to use only natural lighting such as the scene lit entirely by candlelight, he took lenses from NASA. It's indeed a film where every frame can be hung on a wall. One of the best, if not the best, shot films ever made

I also feel that way about Tran Anh Hung's The Scent of Green Papaya.

[WonderWeasel]

Originally Posted by octagon

If you can get past the nude Nicole Kidman some of the shots in that famous vanity scene in Eyes Wide Shut is essentially film versions of Dutch masters. I took some art course or another in high school or early college and for some reason I was extremely impressed with the detail in one particular painting that had a large mirror in the background and this large mirror was encircled by several smaller mirrors in the frame and the reflection of the room was perfectly rendered in each of these tiny mirrors.

Take that and do it with a film set and you've got that shot from Eyes Wide Shut.

Still not sure whether I like the movie or not but damn, that was impressive.

He had another shot using a mirror that I thought was pretty cool in The Killing. It showed the reflection of the door to the Academy of Chess and Checkers as Sterling Hayden walked in, but didn't reveal it was a reflection until it zoomed out and turned into a little tracking shot:

https://youtu.be/V5Rzh8XjzHI

[diskspinner]

Originally Posted by colbyw

Whoa!!!! Hitchcock is on of the greats. I find his endings perfect - not going to ramble, but have you seen the ending to Frenzy? North By Northwest? Psycho? Rear Window? Strangers on a Train? Shadow of a Doubt? etc. His endings are the GREATEST endings. I mean out of respect of course

Yes, for the movies in bold...Have not seen Frenzy...
I knew something is wrong with me...I hated the ending of Strangers on a train the most...

But I cannot argue with Sir Hitchcock himself...

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by jayembee

I also feel that way about Tran Anh Hung's The Scent of Green Papaya.

Man, I've had that blu-ray forEVer and have never gotten around to watching it. Thanks for the reminder!

[diskspinner]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

can you give an example?

[Show spoiler]Towards the end, the female lead appears before TV camera with blood still on her clothes (many has pointed this as a plot hole since general perception is she should have been cleaned before appearing before camera)...but it was her decision to get more sympathy...and do we think media will object to that?

If it is normal, is it news?

Now I do not know what you think are the plot holes...

Anyway, we can take this to PM...Don't want to derail this thread...

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by diskspinner

Yes, for the movies in bold...Have not seen Frenzy...
I knew something is wrong with me...I hated the ending of Strangers on a train the most...

But I cannot argue with Sir Hitchcock himself...

you might not like how the action plays out, but none of those endings fall apart under the application of logic.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by diskspinner

Towards the end, the female lead appears before TV camera with blood still on her clothes (many has pointed this as a plot hole since general perception is she should have been cleaned before appearing before camera)...but it was her decision to get more sympathy...and do we think media will object to that?

If it is normal, is it news?

Now I do not know what you think are the plot holes...

Anyway, we can take this to PM...Don't want to derail this thread...

no.. you reminded me. I had forgotten about that one. that was indeed ridiculous.

so you are saying it was done to make the point that media eats up that kind of stuff? ok. I can actually see that. I don't know if it would change my perception of that plot point w/o seeing the film again and being able to revisit the full context of the scene, but yeah.. I can see what you are saying.

[Rich Pure Doom]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

no.. you reminded me. I had forgotten about that one. that was indeed ridiculous.

so you are saying it was done to make the point that media eats up that kind of stuff? ok. I can actually see that. I don't know if it would change my perception of that plot point w/o seeing the film again and being able to revisit the full context of the scene, but yeah.. I can see what you are saying.

I for one loved Gone Girl and love everything Fincher is doing these days. I never for a moment felt like the makers were taking this plot seriously and the whole thing seemed to have it's tongue planted firmly in cheek.

[Brad1963]

Originally Posted by llj

Ehh, Gone Girl is paperback pulp, not Chinatown. Touch of Evil and Lady from Shanghai are full of holes too, but that doesn't stop them from being good--or even great-- films.

I look at Gone Girl as somewhat of a satire. IMO that is what makes the film so wonderful.

[llj]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

you might not like how the action plays out, but none of those endings fall apart under the application of logic.

Vertigo's entire premise is based around something that is pretty difficult to believe would happen in the real world. Even in the 1950s. There are even scenes that don't make any sense whatsoever, and add more to the atmosphere than actual logic. It was a great movie, but the original source material for the film was basically a dimestore paperback.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by llj

Vertigo's entire premise is based around something that is pretty difficult to believe would happen in the real world. Even in the 1950s. There are even scenes that don't make any sense whatsoever, and add more to the atmosphere than actual logic. It was a great movie, but the original source material for the film was basically a dimestore paperback.

well, I welcome you to give examples of what scenes or plot points fall apart under analysis as Vertigo is my all-time favorite film.

whether or not it would actually happen is one thing. but,

[Show spoiler]home video surveillance showing a woman flailing for her dear life covered in blood... while those same video recordings show her in every other room of the house willingly sleeping w/ the guy, getting cozy w/ him otherwise, and well... just leading a normal existence w/ him during every other minute of footage is complete nonsense.

[atlantajoseph]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

well, I welcome you to give examples of what scenes or plot points fall apart under analysis as Vertigo is my all-time favorite film.

It’s one of my favorite films as well, but

[Show spoiler]the notion that Jimmy Stewart would just walk away after Kim Novak's leap (and that the perps knew he would do so) really strains credulity.

[CraigThom]

Originally Posted by octagon

It took me a long time to make my peace with the fact that Hitchcock was far more interested in spectacle than in telling the kinds of stories I liked to see.

Once I came to terms with that I got a lot more out of of many of his films.

Not just spectacle but gimmicky visual effects, too. I still enjoy the films, but his "signatures" can be a bit heavy handed.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by atlantajoseph

It’s one of my favorite films as well, but

[Show spoiler]the notion that Jimmy Stewart would just walk away at the end (and that the perps knew he would do so) really strains credulity.

[Show spoiler]at the end of him being scammed? (for lack of a better word)

[atlantajoseph]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

[Show spoiler]at the end of him being scammed? (for lack of a better word)

I went back and clarified what I meant in my post...

[Show spoiler]Jimmy walked away after Kim's supposed leap without going to identify her or try to help

... long day. LOL

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Brad1963

I look at Gone Girl as somewhat of a satire. IMO that is what makes the film so wonderful.

Agreed, it is satire.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by atlantajoseph

I went back and clarified what I meant in my post... long day. LOL

ok. no prob.

why not? what would a person do in the real world? isn't there a scene

[Show spoiler]where the husband tells Jimmy Stewart that he shouldn't feel guilt and that he did all he could? what could he do outside of just continuing his life normally?