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Foreign Correspondent, a review by Jon

Foreign Correspondent (1940)
4 out of 5



An impressionable, but passionate American newspaper reporter (Joel McCrea) is sent on assignment to Europe, to get a real story about rumours of war. In London he meets representatives of a peace organisation, and is soon drawn into a kidnapping conspiracy.

Foreign Correspondent, Hitchcock's first proper American film, is easier to describe as an early version of North By Northwest (coming soon, to a thread near you! ). At heart it is a breezy spy caper, huge in ambition and jet-setting across several locations. And I hate to bang on about it, but if Fleming was inspired by Secret Agent, he must have been absolutely convinced by this. The plot could easily be used as a Bond story.

It's notable for being Hitchcock's biggest film so far. He really lets loose with his new American producers and the difference in scope from previous pictures suggests he was pushing himself. The joy being that it never feels like he's over-reaching, in fact it often has the wonderful sense that the screen isn't big enough! An Amsterdam sequence in particular is superb, moving from a wonderfully composed scene of umbrellas and trams into a thrilling chase, ending in a huge windmill and the end set-piece in a plane is a true thrill ride with yet another excellent use of models, way ahead of its time. It's much more exciting than a lot of modern action films, because Hitchcock still understood the importance of suspense, even when moving fast.

It does flag in the middle with a silly sub-plot that kills the pace (although it does give more screen time to the brilliant George Sanders) and I was especially disappointed because it fell into the trap of my pet hate of American movies from this era: marriage proposals. It hamstrings every film it happens in! The barest suggestion of attraction must be validated by marriage. Within seconds of Joel McCrea and Laraine Day admitting mutual affection, they're discussing a honeymoon. Ridiculous considering the plot they were mixed up in. It has to be the Hays Office ramming this moral crap down American throats and I can only assume that in a rare moment Hitchcock was caught out by the rules, or realising he must toe the line to get the resources he came to Hollywood for in the first place. For a while the film seriously suffers because of it.

I've enjoyed Joel McCrea from the wonderful Preston Sturges movies, like Sullivan's Travels, and here he was very funny (the hat sequences are especially good), if a bit too dumb, even though that was the point. An American who can deal very well with what is right in front of him, but is ignorant of the bigger picture would be a political metaphor about America's flawed "wait and see" attitude at the beginning of World War II, just as much as the Europeans who are shown to work in shadowy corners, suspicious of each other and even unable to share languages, allowing themselves to be overrun.

In that sense, this is an astonishing film. Considering that it was directed by an Englishman in 1939, who must have felt real pain at what was happening back home, it is humble and focused, while still being masses of fun and aggresive in its set-pieces. It's always exciting, but there is a definite change of mood when war is announced. Heroes and villains alike still have their plotlines to run, but now they do so with grim resignation that their efforts mounted to nothing. Also, it's interesting that Hitchcock refuses to slip into an easy good versus evil commentary. The final scenes will really make you think, even while a torture scene will make you squirm (despite it not being on-screen!). And the very last moments sent a shiver down my spine. I hope it did so to a few people at the time.

This should be a five star Oscar winner, but that bloated middle section derails it. But it's still a better film and a far more important film than Rebecca. That got its Oscar for playing safe and not upsetting anyones naive political motives. Rebecca is still a great film, but not a Hitchcock film.

Alternative review: "A masterpiece of propaganda, a first-class production which no doubt will make a certain impression upon the broad masses of the people in enemy countries." Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Propaganda Minister



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

Ghajini, a review by dfmorgan

Ghajini

Year: 2008
Director: A. R. Murugadoss
Cast: Aamir Khan, Asin, Jiah Khan
Overview: Ghajini is the largest grossing Hindi Film of all time. It is the only Indian film to earn One Billion Rupees at the Box Office across India and it Grossed 4 Million US Dollars overseas within a week of it's release.

A film about a man with only 15 minutes of memory recall.  A man who was once suave, successful and had everything a man could desire.  A man who had everything he loved snatched away from him, including his identity by brutal senseless violense.  A human being who is forced to become something close to inhuman.  A story about his wounded, savage quest for revenge.  Driven by the pain of what he once was and had...

Watched: 22nd. Jan. 2011
My Thoughts: A very interesting film. A Bollywood song and dance romance but with a very dark edge. The story is well told and the film's constuction helps to maintain the story with the film having two halves with two big sections forming each half. These sections are the lighter side of the film being that they are about the romance. However they are each bookended by the dark side of the film with Sanjay (Aamir Khan) dealing with his short term memory loss and its cause. Parallels can be drawn with Memento as that also deals with short term memory loss and the protagonist's, both here and there, handle it in similar ways but I would have to rewatch Memento before I can reach any real conclusions.

My Rating: A interesting 4



(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on January 22nd, 2011)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

Land of the Lost
Marshall, Will and Holly on a routine expedition met the greatest earthquake ever known. High on the rapids it struck their raft and plunged them down a thousand feet below to the Land of the Lost.

Take a journey back in time with the Marshall family through this incredible world of breathtaking wonder, pulse-pounding danger and mind-boggling special effects. Only in the Land of the Lost will you battle dinosaurs one day and encounter beings from other dimensions the next.

The Pylons, the Pakuni, evil energy storms...they are all part of the awesome adventures created by legendary Sid and Marty Krofft. Relive all your favorite Saturday morning thrills as you rediscover all 43 action-packed original episodes in the Land of the Lost Complete Series.

Cha-Ka
The Marshalls make a new friend, Cha-Ka the Paku, and a new enemy... a hungry T-Rex.

My Thoughts:
I used to watch this series every Saturday morning when I was a kid. It was one of my favorites at the time. So this show brought back some memories for me. When I first got this set I watched a few episodes with Brittany... and she liked it too so I know that this show can still appeal to kids. But I am sure it offers nothing for adults. Not unless of course you watched the show as a kid and want to watch it for nostalgic reasons. And for that reason I still find this series to be a fun distraction from real life.

This is one of those shows where the starting theme serves tells you the story on how they got there. In the first episode they are already in The Land of the Lost and they meet their new friend Cha-ka. Not to mention figure out how to fend off a T-Rex. I am probably enjoying this more then I should... but hey... this is my childhood we are talking about here. It is a reminder of simpler and better times.

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on February 24th, 2010)