Friday, April 24, 2009

Psycho

My personal rating scale:
5 *'s means WOW!One of my favorite movies :)
4 *'s means I enjoyed watching this movie!
3 *'s means This movie was okay..
2 *'s means I did not like this movie at all
1 * means I hated this movie A LOT!!



My personal rating for "Psycho" is 4 *'s out of 5 *'s.



Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Producer: Alfred Hitchcock
Main actors: Janet Leigh ( as Marion Crane)
John Gavin ( as Sam Loomis)
Anthony Perkins ( as Norman Bates)
Vera Mies ( as Lila Crane)
Martin Balsam ( as Detective Milton Arbogast)



This movie is a suspense/thriller, it is the first "horror" movie they ever made, they also call it the "mother" of all horror suspense movies. This film was made in black and white and it is based on a true story which happened in Wisconsin.


The movie "Psycho" is about two lovers, Marion and Sam, that want to marry each other as soon as possible. Unfortunately they don't have enough money, so Marion decides to steal $ 40,000 in cash. Her goal is to drive to California where Sam actually lives.
But because it would be a very long trip, she stops at a Motel with the name Bates Motel. There she meets the owner Norman Bates and she checks in for a night in a little room.
Everytime Marion talks to Norman, his behavior seems very, very odd. He tells her that his mother lives right next to the Motel in the big house.
The same day, when Marion decides to take a shower, someone stabs her with a knife and she dies. Norman finds her and puts her in a car, then he lets her sink in a swamp.
After a while ( maybe a week) Marion's sister and Sam too start getting concerned, because she still didn't come up from anywhere.
They hire a Detective who starts looking for her all over the place, then he looks in the Bates Motel. After he finds out that she is dead for sure, the Detective tries to find out where her
corps is. And there is also one important question left: Who killed Marion?? And why??





I personally really enjoyed watching this movie, that's maybe because I like all horror movies and scary movies.Of course, nowadays all the horror movies are a lot different compared to this movie. They didn't show as much blood and they didn't show much detail either.Where in our time, they almost show everything.
That sharp music that came up all the time made everything more scary and nervous, I think it was also a symbol for Marion's nervousness and concern.
This movie also had a whole bunch of symbols like the sharp music, water, stuffed birds, peoples names,...
And one thing that I think is interesting is that I was always scared of bathrooms, even before I saw this movie, and originally the "scary" bathrooms are from this movie. Other movies just copied it and made creepy scenes in bathrooms :)
The fact that this movie is based on a real story is VERY scary, it actually makes everything worse. I mean, Norman who kept his dead mother in his house is already very sick and if just somebody would have came up with that, it would be much better. But it actually really happened, so that's pretty scary.
All in all, I think they did a very good job with this movie and it's worth you time to watch it, because everybody who likes scary movies might enjoy it, because it is not exaggerated and detailed like the horror movies nowadays.




Great quotes:
Sam Loomis: You mean the old woman I saw tonight wasn't Mrs. Bates?
Sheriff Al Chambers: Now wait a minute, Sam, are you *sure* you saw an old woman?
Sam Loomis: Yes! In the house behind the motel! I called and I pounded, but she just ignored me!
Sheriff Al Chambers: You mean to tell me you saw Norman Bates' mother?
Lila Crane: It had to be - because Arbogast said so too. And the young man wouldn't let him see her because she was too ill.
Sheriff Al Chambers: Well, if the woman up there is Mrs. Bates... who's that woman buried out in Greenlawn Cemetery?

and:

Norman Bates: A boy's best friend is his mother.




Sources:
http://www.filmsite.org/psyc.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_(1960_film)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/quotes

Top 10 Movies

My Top 10 movies:

1. I am Sam



2. The Butterfly Effect


3. What Happens in Vegas


4. Stepmom

5. Never Back Down



6. Taken



7. The Sixth Sense




8. Saw 2



9. Georgia Rule
10. Mean Girls

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Gone with the Wind

My personal rating scale:
5 *'s means WOW!One of my favorite movies :)
4 *'s means I enjoyed watching this movie!
3 *'s means This movie was okay..
2 *'s means I did not like this movie at all
1 * means I hated this movie A LOT!!


My personal rating for "Gone with the Wind" was 2 *'s out of 5 *'S.

Director: George Cukor
Producer: David O. Selznick
Main actors: Vivien Leigh (in the movie Scarlett O'Hara)
Leslie Howard(in the movie Ashley Wilkes)
Clark Gable (in the movie Rhett Butler)
Olivia de Havilland (in the movie Melanie Wilkes)

This movie's genre is drama-romance and it was adapted 1939 from Margret Mitchell's famous novel (1926) " Gone with the Wind".
The film won 8 Awards and it remains as one of the most popular and commercially successful movie ever made. It also focuses a lot on the Civil War.


This movie was about a woman called Scarlett O'Hara, who falls in love with her friend's husband, Ashley Wilkes. After a short time, he rejects her. Frustrated from that cirumstance, Scarlett marries her friend's husband, Charles. But he goes into war and dies. Scarlett, who is a widow now, moves away from home to her friend and sister-in-law, Melanie Wilkes ( Ashly's wife) in Atlanta.
After the Civil War invades, an old friend named Rhett Butler comes and wants to flee with all of them. But instead of really going with them, Rhett decides to go into war to impress Scarlett, who he has fallen in love with.
After the return to her parents's house( because of the danger during the Civil War), ScarlEtt finds out that her dear mother passed away, which shocks her terribly.
After marrying and losing (death) another man, Scarlett tells herself that she is in deep love with Rhett and she marries him, although deep inside she exactly knows that she is still in love with Ashley.
Scarlett even gives birth to a beautiful daughter, but all she can think of is Ashley and how to get him. After figuring out that his own wife still loves a completly different man, Rhett finally leaves her. And the final question is: Is Scarlett going to get the love of her life Ashley?


During this movie, I asked myself at least three times "Is it over yet?". And the answer was always no. This movie is very, very long, which is really annoying in my opinion. But after I found out that they even cut the length of the film, I was quite happy that I didn't have to watch the long version of it.
In the first few scenes, Scarlett seemed like a fun girl, who knows exactly what she wants and I really started to like her.
Well, that changed a LOT throughout the movie. She got selfish and spoiled and wanted everything to go the way SHE wanted it, otherwise she started yelling and freaking out.
I mean, I understand that she really loved Ashley and that she wanted him so bad, but she just exaggerated. I think, she should have accepted it, that he was married and she could not have him. He was already taken. But she did not, instead she married Rhett.
I didn't even know, which man she actually loved during her marriage with Rhett Butler, but I don't think she knew it either.
All in all, I think the movie was just too mixed up and too much drama to everything, even a little exaggerated, how she married all these man and it was never something serious and she was never really satisfied.
Also, I thought the scenes were way too slow. It took forever for the scenes to change to the next scene and that was kind of bugging me.

A pretty good quote, that I thought was memorable, was:
Scarlett: [to Rhett] If I said I was madly in love with you you'd know I was lying.
and:
Scarlett: Sir, you are no gentleman.
Rhett Butler: And you, Miss, are no lady.

Sources:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031381/plotsummary
http://www.filmsite.org/gone.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_with_the_Wind
http://media.photobucket.com/image/gone%20with%20the%20wind/tlkbuterfly69/gone_with_the_wind.jpg
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031381/quotes

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Ben Hur Podcast

http://www.box.net/shared/otysllg06v