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North by Northwest, a review by Tom

Title: North by Northwest
Year: 1959
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Rating: PG
Length: 131 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital Surround, Music Only: Dolby Digital Surround
Subtitles: Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish

Stars:
Cary Grant
Eva Marie Saint
James Mason
Jessie Royce Landis
Leo G. Carroll

Plot:North by Northwest is a masterful blend of suspense and romance, one of the best and most thrilling movie adventures ever created.

Awards:

Academy Award	1959	Nominated	Best Art Direction, Color	William A. Horning, Robert Boyle, Merrill Pye (Art Direction); Henry Grace, Frank McKelvy (Set Decoration)
Academy Award	1959	Nominated	Best Film Editing	George Tomasini
Academy Award	1959	Nominated	Best Writing, Original Screenplay	Ernest Lehman
AFI	1959	Won	100 Years... 100 Movies (1998)
AFI	1959	Won	100 Years... 100 Movies (2007)
AFI	1959	Won	100 Years... 100 Thrills (2001)
AFI	1959	Nominated	100 Years... 25 Scores (2005)	"Composer": Bernard Herrmann
Directors Guild of America	1960	Nominated	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	Alfred Hitchcock
Writers Guild of America Awards	1960	Nominated	Best Written American Comedy	Ernest Lehman

Extras:
Commentary
Featurettes
Photo Gallery
Scene Access
Trailers

This movie has some great scenes in it, like the biplane scene, but overall I found the movie boring. I had to force myself to stay awake (okay I was a little tired to begin with).
My brother and I are always bothered by minor scenes in Hitchcock movies, which are just not realistic. The scene which caused my brother to exclaim this time, that he thinks Hitchcock had lost his grip on reality, was very early on. A car was chased by the police. The car stops and the police crashes into it. That in itself is a little unrealistic, but what follows is just stupid: Another car crashes into the police car. Why would this car follow a police car which had sirens on? And doing it keeping such a close distance to the police car, that he cannot avoid hitting it? It are scenes like this which always pull us out of the Hitchcock movies.

Rating:

(From Alfred Hitchcock Marathon on November 22nd, 2009)

Pulse 2, a review by addicted2dvd

Pulse 2


My Thoughts:
I watched the first movie during my month long horror marathon this past October. It is one of those movies that was good... but could have been much better. It is one I rated a 3.5 out of a possible 5. So I thought enough of it to give the sequel a chance... but I am not expecting too much from it. Before even starting it I am already a little disappointed to see that this one does not have Kristen Bell in it. And I am not familiar at all with this Jamie Bamber they are promoting so much on the case. Now that I watched the movie... I am not sorry I bought it... but much like the first one it could have been better. I even liked the first one a little more then I did this one. But there was enough enjoyment in this one for me that I will eventually get part 3 to check out. But it will wait till I can get it cheap.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon 1/2 - 1/4 on January 3rd, 2009)

"Due South" marathon, a review by Tom

2.14 All The Queen's Horses (1996-04-11)
Writer: Paul Haggis (Created By), Paul Gross (Story By), John Krizanc (Story By), Paul Quarrington (Story By), Paul Gross (Screenwriter)
Director: George Bloomfield
Cast: Paul Gross (Constable Benton Fraser), David Marciano (Detective Ray Vecchio), Beau Starr (Lt. Harding Welsh), Tony Craig (Detective Jack Huey), Catherine Bruhier (Elaine), Camilla Scott (Inspector Margaret Thatcher), Leslie Nielsen (Buck Frobisher), Kenneth Welsh (Randal Bolt), Dean McDermott (Constable Turnbull), Alex Carter (Agent Ford), Paul Soles (Creeve), Gordon Pinsent (Fraser Sr.), Kirsten Kieferle (Cameraman/Racine), Mark Melymick (Deeter), Falconer Abraham (Team Leader), Scott Wickware (Terrorist/Albee), Kenneth Wickes (Train Conductor), Neil Foster (Computer Guy)

This has always been one of my favorite episodes. It was written by Paul Gross who is playing Fraser. It is almost like a fanfiction. It combines everything a typical fanfiction would do. Integrating fan-favorite guest characters (Leslie Nielsen as Buck Forbisher, Fraser's ghost dad, the incompetent FBI agents from season 1). Acting out the sexual tension between Fraser and his boss by having them bound together. Sadly this episode marks the high-point of their relationship in this series. Paul Gross, who is also a singer/song writer in real life, managed to get one of his songs into the show (he will get another chance in season 3, but on the other hand, he will be the executive producer then). I enjoy both songs he got into the series and have both as mp3 and listen to them from time to time.

Rating:

(From "Due South" marathon on August 23rd, 2009)