Hype Movie Club

Lawrence of Arabia

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Yeah, I can see why David loved this film.

Experiencing this for the first time on the big screen was an absolute delight, this is an incredible looking film. Downright gorgeous compositions and visuals. Was taken aback by the how tragic this film was, seeing Lawrence go from a happy adventurer to a sad husk of his former self. Those four hours flew by like nothing.
 
Good Will Hunting. I know I watched it many years ago, but I forgot so much of it, it was like a brand new movie. So very good! Amazing to see Ben and Casey Affleck so young along with Matt Damon. Bit of a tear jerker, though, but worth watching.
 
I had a wonderful time with Bram Stoker's Dracula. Francis Ford Coppola's direction is audacious, wicked, and fun, and this same energy is present in every facet of the film, from the acting performances to the editing. The cast is excellent, especially Gary Oldman as the Count and Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing, both turned up to an almost constant eleven. Keanu Reeves is the only one who doesn't really gel, with his low energy and famously dodgy British accent, but there's something about his performance in this particular ensemble that I found charming. I wish Monica Bellucci had a larger role, but every second she had on screen was well spent. All the techniques utilized in this, like the breathtakingly beautiful matte paintings, the outrageous costumes and hairstyles, and the lavish sets, are crucial ingredients of a truly maximalist masterpiece. I had no idea this would be so good.
 
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I had a wonderful time with Bram Stoker's Dracula. Francis Ford Coppola's direction is audacious, wicked, and fun, and this same energy is present in every facet of the film, from the acting performances to the editing. The cast is excellent, especially Gary Oldman as the Count and Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing, both turned up to an almost constant eleven. Keanu Reeves is the only one who doesn't really gel, with his low energy and famously dodgy British accent, but there's something about his performance in this particular ensemble that I found charming. I wish Monica Bellucci had a larger role, but every second she had on screen was well spent. All the techniques utilized in this, like the breathtakingly beautiful matte paintings, the outrageous costumes and hairstyles, and the lavish sets, are crucial ingredients of a truly maximalist masterpiece. I had no idea this would be so good, I was not prepared!
I just watched this myself. For me this is my favorite version mainly because of the fantastic cast! :D
 
October is almost upon us, which means it's that time of the year again! That's right, you all guessed it: FC's Birthday Month! To celebrate, I'm blessing you all with the best director pick. You're welcome! Thankfully, he fits in well enough with the season just fine. I give you, our October category:



Alfred Hitchcock

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Hey, y'all should just be proud I managed to wait this long to do it. :o Everyone gets up to 5 votes, voting will be open 'til the weekend!

P.S. - Remember, we've already done The 39 Steps, so that one's ineligible.
 
Could use this as an excuse to check out the Psycho series, never seen any of the sequels. :hmm

The Birds
Frenzy (Never seen)
Psycho series
Rebecca (Never seen)
Strangers on a Train (Never seen)
 
Watched Good Will Hunting tonight for the first time. It was pretty darn good. It was a great character driven film and I really liked the dialogue and how unforced it felt. Sometimes it didn’t feel like I was watching a movie, that I was just eavesdropping into their lives.

And on the day we lost Wendy Darling, I’m watching a movie with Peter :sadcat:
“It’s not your fault”
 
Ok wow there was a much bigger variety in votes than I was expecting for this one, so voting was once again rather spread out. Each of our 4 winners only got 3 votes each! And our October picks are:


The Birds (1963)


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Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock
Written By: Evan Hunter and Daphne Du Maurier
Starring: Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor and Jessica Tandy
What It's About? A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.



The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)

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Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock
Written By: Alfred Hitchcock, Elliot Stannard and Marie Belloc Lowndes
Starring: Ivor Novello, Marie Ault, June Tripp, Arthur Chesney and Malcolm Keen
What's It About? A landlady suspects that her new lodger is the madman killing women in London.



Notorious (1946)

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Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock
Written By: Ben Hecht and Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Ingrid Bergmen, Cary Grant, Claude Rains and Leopoldine Konstantin
What's It About? The daughter of a convicted German spy is asked by American agents to gather information on a ring of German scientists in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?



Rebecca (1940)

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Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock
Written By: Robert E. Sherwood, Joan Harrison, Phillip MacDonald, Michael Hogan and Daphne Du Maurier
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders and Judith Anderson
What's It About? A self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.


Well, we managed to get my own personal fave of his entire filmography (Notorious) AND his only Best Picture winner (Rebecca) in there, so these are a pretty great sampling if I do say so myself! Thanks for voting!
 
I'm going back to September's selection for a bit with Perfect Blue, an excellent psychological Giallo anime film. It's wild that it's only 81 minutes, the pacing is magnificent. This came out in 1997, and the themes are ever-present. Parasocial relationships with celebrities, stalking, the difficulties women face in the entertainment industry, and the unhealthy expectation of purity from idols, particularly in East Asian countries.

This was a fascinating experience. Perfect Blue is probably the most satisfying example of a film with constant blurring of dreams and reality that I can think of. I wasn't even slightly frustrated, the film is edited and paced so well that I felt like I was just simply taking this nightmarish journey with Mima, the lead character. The soundtrack is incredible through and through, there's a moment when one of the songs from the central idol group is used in a creepy moment, and it's just perfect. The animation can be a little bit dodgy, but the art direction is so strong that it doesn't matter, in particular, there's several interesting faces in this, even if they play to certain storytelling tropes that I find old-fashioned and unnecessary.

Another criticism that I have is how gratuitous the film can be, especially for the themes it's working so hard to explore. The explicit nudity and salacious camera angles, often in situations of victimization, waters down the sincerity of the picture for me, but the rest of the movie is so brilliantly made that it doesn't ruin the experience. I'm glad I was finally able to watch Perfect Blue, and I'm certainly looking forward to a rewatch. I imagine it's going to be even more satisfying then.
 
Another criticism that I have is how gratuitous the film can be, especially for the themes it's working so hard to explore. The explicit nudity and salacious camera angles, often in situations of victimization, waters down the sincerity of the picture for me, but the rest of the movie is so brilliantly made that it doesn't ruin the experience.
This is what I haven’t been able to get past with this film I’m afraid. Kinda further solidified my ongoing general feeling that outside of Miyazaki films, anime is just not for me.
 
This is what I haven’t been able to get past with this film I’m afraid. Kinda further solidified my ongoing general feeling that outside of Miyazaki films, anime is just not for me.
I understand, it is a weird and often unnecessary part of the industry. Have you seen anything from Makoto Shinkai? His work is very earnest, not unlike Miyazaki's.
 
I understand, it is a weird and often unnecessary part of the industry. Have you seen anything from Makoto Shinkai? His work is very earnest, not unlike Miyazaki's.
I have seen Your Name and I did like that one. Will have to check out some others. :up: I have heard good things about Suzume.
 
I haven't seen Your Name in ages, but I remember it very fondly. Never quite vibed with Perfect Blue though. Very well made, but never clicks totally right with me.
 
Just stumbled upon this thread, seems like it’s a fun one!

Haven’t watched much of Hitchcock’s films, aside from Psycho and Vertigo, but better late than never. In fact, there’s a lot of films in my life I never saw, but this thread will hopefully expand my horizon.

Cue the booing! :o
 
Just stumbled upon this thread, seems like it’s a fun one!

Haven’t watched much of Hitchcock’s films, aside from Psycho and Vertigo, but better late than never. In fact, there’s a lot of films in my life I never saw, but this thread will hopefully expand my horizon.

Cue the booing! :o
Always better late than never @Pennywise , and welcome! All are invited to participate, in voting and discussion. I generally name the next month's category a few days before the end of the month, so everyone gets a few days to get their votes in, and I post the selections soon after. So just keep an eye out for the thread around that time if you'd like to vote on our next movies. There's no real structure other than that - watch and post about the films at your own leisure! So far, the categories have just been either decades or directors, but...that might be changing in a couple months. *wink wink*
 
The Birds. So this was okay. I found it kinda slow and vaguely unsatisfying in that there is never a reason for why the birds attacked. It's like there was a good idea to start with, but the author didn't know how to end it. :(
 

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