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I'm surprised anyone should have four Blu-ray players. What for? And it's fine that the Sony is region free, but do you have three more "theaters" to supply? BTW, I've never been into Xboxes ort he like.
Depends on your definition of interesting I suppose. Hitchcock's best films certainly have had an influence on much that came after them though, including some of the most well regarded films of the last 10 years.
In the style of Hitchcock, and intriguing enough to want to revisit. What are some of those well regarded films of the last ten years?
I would like to see him do a Hitchcock style thriller, perhaps even a remake. He did a great job with West Side Story. I don't see a remake of my Hitch favorite, Vertigo, as the twist is well-known. But a remake of North by Northwest could be lots of fun. Would he update it to the present, or set it once again in 1959?
Tarantino has never made a straight up Hitchcock film, but I do think he’s made suspenseful sequences that come close to Hitchcock’s best (two scenes in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS definitely come to mind). The only way he could probably do a Hitchcock style film is if he minimized his dialogue and let the visuals tell more without any commentary. But that’ll never happen, because Tarantino is just too in love with his dialogue to ever give that up. Even when he tries to ape Sergio Leone he can’t help but have his characters babble.
He often got top billing when marketing the films. I think you are correct in saying that, I suppose John Houston, and Howard Hawks might also be in that category. But I think Hitch tops them all.
I'm sure just about every thriller David Fincher has ever made has used Hitchcock as an inspiration in some form. I'm sure that's true of Gone Girl which is a pretty well regarded film made in that time frame. Jordan Peele has said that he's a fan of Hitchcock, with Vertigo and The Birds influencing the setting of Us (I'm sure elements of Hitchcock also worked there way into Get Out). Recently Matt Reeves has said that the same director's work was a major component to The Batman and I have no doubt it was the same case with Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy too (ie. the sudden killing off of Rachel mirroring Marion's in Psycho). Park Chan wook is another modern director who's a fan - The Handmaiden certainly reminds me at times of Rebecca. If you haven't seen it Phoenix from 2014 (Christian Petzold) is also a film I find has many similarities to Vertigo too.
I mean, there are many other recent films that have those seeds from Hitchcock. Whether or not any of those movies are better than his best is up for debate (and very subjective).
Yes, that's a nice short documentary with good observations. Although the basic comparison between the two isn't really new. I've also read somewhere a long time ago that FRWL was the best Hitchcock movie that Hitch didn't direct.
And it's not a coincidence that NBNW has been my absolute favourite among Hitch's works for ages, with a never-ending rewatchability and some lines that can be used in all kinds of real-world situations, like the best Bond films have. (Or, for German-speaking insiders, Loriot's sketches...)
https://variety.com/2023/film/columns/do-we-need-vertigo-remake-robert-downey-jr-1235564239/
Quite enjoyed that. North By Northwest is my favorite film of all time and it certainly fits nicely into my Bond fandom.
As an aside, I'm eagerly awaiting its arrival on 4K.
Thank you. An interesting read.
As this is a Bond site, let's consider the remake of Thunderball. It had it's moments, but it wasn't Thunderball.
Vertigo remake? Big no.
Oh dear. Gus Van Sant's Psycho immediately springs to mind.
I mean, I'm not against remakes (or more strictly speaking, re-adaptations) of some of the films Hitchcock made, but Vertigo isn't a film particularly ripe for this. It's a unique, engrossing film that holds up today, made during the height of Hitchcock's artistic capabilities. Some people would call it perfect, or at least as close to it as any film can get.
Hitchcock had his misfires. His early filmography is full of them, and actually it took the director a while to become the Master of Suspense. I'm sure there are even films he made which could be improved upon and updated for today. Many were adapted from existing novels, so a different take on certain stories by different directors for the purposes of adding something new/doing something different is fair game. If done for these purposes it would be a valid endeavour. But that's not the point here. The point is not to film a different adaptation of 'The Living and the Dead' (the novel Vertigo was based on), but to remake one of Hitchcock's most well known films a chunk of audiences have heard of, but probably haven't seen. Whether or not this is Steven Knight's intention it'll likely ultimately be a re-packed version of the film, updated slightly albeit superficially, and likely won't be as engrossing or have the same sense of artistic flair as the original.
it. I have seen it a couple of times now. But when I recall WSS, I recall the original, not the remake. For others having seen the new version first, is the new version their WSS? The one they'll recall with fondness?
Are remakes necessary? Rarely, but film is about profit. So, we'll no doubt get a rehashed version of Vertigo that attempts to be something new. Something akin to Mel Brooks' High Anxiety, only serious.
Maybe one day The Louvre will feature a new Mona Lisa, you know, an updated version of that really old painting. Better yet, an AI created version. Why not?
As the old saying goes, "Everything old is remade again."
Having previously expressed reservations about remaking Vertigo, honestly, I don't care. Whether it succeeds or not, it won't diminish the original film.
It was fine. The new one made some changes which made sense. I see that more as an adaptation of the play though rather than of the film, and to be completely honest even the '61 version isn't one I have many strong feelings about. There are many other musicals that haven't been brought to screen that I'd prefer to see (something like Willy Russell's Blood Brothers).
True.
Even being aware of the technical progress that moviemaking has made in those over sixty years - and I don't want to diss anyone involved in the earlier movie - I'd say that Spielberg's is the more impressive and powerful of the two...and probably bankrolled with a multitude of millions more compared to the original. I also like the fact that the two protagonists sing their own roles, as much as I appreciate Marni Nixon and "whatever his name was" lending their voices to Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer.
I even bought the soundtrack album for the new one as well, in spite of having had the original first on vinyl (I think) and then on CD, plus for the last 20 years or so the Deutsche Grammophon studio recordings with Kiri Te Kanawa and José Carreras. And I love all three of them.
But yes, back to Hitch.
Uhm...what is WSS? Sorry to appear ignorant, but I'm sort of not used to abbreviations beyond the Bond films (and maybe the Indiana Jones movies).
The 'musical elements' bit suggests West Side Story, though I fail to see how that is a Hitchcockian film in any way at all.