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Vertigo , a review by Dragonfire

Vertigo One of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest cinematic achievements, Vertigo, celebrates its 50th anniversary with an all-new 2-disc Special Edition DVD! Set in San Francisco, Vertigo creates a dizzying web of mistaken identity, passion and murder after an acrophobic detective (James Stewart) rescues a mysterious blonde (Kim Novak) from the bay. Recognized for excellence in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies, this dreamlike thriller from the Master of Suspense is as entertaining today as it was 50 years ago. Featuring revealing bonus features and a digitally remastered picture, Vertigo is a "great motion picture that demands multiple viewings" (Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide). My Thoughts This one is a bit...darker and more twisted than most of the other Hitchcock movies that I've seen.  That darkness works for the story, but it probably won't appeal to some people, even people who have liked other Hitchcock movies.  The movie starts off showing a traumatic event that causes John to leave the police force.  He has an idea to slowly get use to his fear of heights to get over his vertigo, but his attempt to stand on a step stool doesn't end well.  When he is first approached by his old school friend Gavin about following his wife Madeline, John isn't interested and he tries to leave it by making suggestions of other people who can handle the job, but Gavin is insistent that John has to be the one to take the job.  John should have listened to his instincts, but he ends up being taking the job.  Gavin is worried that his wife has some sort of mental problem and he says that he needs more information before having her committed.  John spends some time following Madeline, lurking around while she does a few somewhat odd things.  After he saves her, John is pulled further into a bad situations and obsession develops.  The mystery - tied to exactly what is going on - works well and there is a good amount of suspense.  The tension and suspense do build slowly. Scenes that deal with John following Madeline do move a bit slower, but that is needed to fully set up everything.  Things are more complicated than they seemed at first, and the time is needed to fully set up everything.  It doesn't take John long to develop an obsession with Madeline.  A few things that happen probably should have raised a question with him, but he is so far gone in his obsession that he misses those hints that things are not right.  There seems to be come resolution in the middle of the movie, but then more is revealed when John sees Judy, a woman who looks like Madeline, only with darker hair.  From the second he sees her, he isn't acting fully rational, and his obsession is in full swing.  As things progress, he slides further into the obsession, acting in more questionable ways.  I think the movie is more about John's breakdown. The characters, especially John, are more complex and there are all sorts of flaws in them.  John's fear of heights is a believable problem, as is how it impacts his life.  He starts off as a likable character, but as the movie progresses, he does some things that make it a bit harder to like as more of his flaws come out.  That does make him a realistic character.  Madeline is a bit of a mystery and that does work well with what is going on in the movie.  Once Judy is introduced, more comes out about her and her motivations are understood more, but she also makes some bad decisions. This movie is very good and entertaining, though it is far from a happy movie.  The ending is more bleak than the endings in several other Hitchcock movies, though from some things I've read about other Hitchcock movies, he wanted to go in different directions with some of them - I'm mainly thinking of Suspicion and how he was forced to change the ending.  I still haven't seen all the extras on the DVD I have.  I did watch the foreign censor ending - or whatever it was called - again.  Hitchcock had to make the alternate ending to show the movie in some foreign countries.  I can't remember which ones at the moment.  That ending does tie up something else a bit more, but I think the original ending fits the movie better even though it is clearly darker and bleaker. I went with 4 when I first reviewed the movie..now I'm thinking more of 4.5 or even 5.  I'm thinking I wasn't in quite the right mood to watch it the last time, so the slower build up didn't work as well for me then. I posted a review on Epinions back in November of 2008, when I watched this one the first time I did an alphabet marathon.  I also posted about the movie here then too. Vertigo

(From Alfred Hitchcock Marathon on July 20th, 2010)

Laputa: Castle in the Sky, a review by dfmorgan

Title: Laputa: Castle in the Sky
Original Title: Tenkuu no Shiro Rapyuta
Year: 1986
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Rating: PG
Length: 125 Min.
Video: Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: PCM: 5.1, Japanese: PCM: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Keiko Yokozawa
Mayumi Tanaka
Kotoe Hatsui
Nou Terada
Fujio Tokita

Plot:
Orphan Pazu's life is changed when one day the beautiful Sheeta literally falls out of the sky. Round her neck she wears a glowing crystal, a relic of the mighty Levitation Stones that once kept ancient cities floating in the air. Caught up in a race between sky pirates and sinister government agents, Pazu and Sheeta go in search of Laputa, the last of the fabled castles in the sky.

Hayao Miyazaki's homage to Jules Verne and Jonathan Swift, Castle in the Sky was the first feature film from the now legendary Studio Ghibli. Combining the Japanese master director's twin obsessions of eco-thriller and aerial escapades, it crashes a treasure hunt into a fight against evil for an unforgettable adventure.

Featuring the voices of Anna Paquin, James Van Der Beek and Mark Hamill.

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Bonus Trailers
Featurettes
Storyboard Comparisons
Textless Opening and Ending Credits



The 3rd Ghibli Blu-ray release and the 2nd gorgeous upgrade. This time the presentation from Optimum Releasing is better as there are both the Japanese and English versions of the credits depending upon the language chosen.

Original DVD review is here

(From Ghibli Blu's on May 14th, 2011)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

At Last the 1948 Show (1967/United Kingdom) IMDb | Wikipedia (United States) Length: 172 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 1 Subtitles:

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Plot:
This historic, wildly silly series triggered a revolution that changed the face of TV comedy forever.

Bursting onto Britain's small screens in an explosion of outrageous and ofter surreal sketches. 'At Last The 1948 Show' featured John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Marty Feldman and Tim Brooke-Taylor. Produced in 1967, this recently discovered collection launched the Monty Python phenomenon and much like the effects of the Beatles on music, the world of comedy has never been the same.

This 2 DVD set features the recently discovered 5 episodes of the classic 'At Last The 1948 Show' series and a Comedy Family Tree poster booklet.

At Last the 1948 Show
1.01 Episode 1
Writer: Tim Brooke-Taylor (Writer), John Cleese (Writer), Graham Chapman (Writer), Marty Feldman (Writer)
Director: Ian Fordyce
Cast: Tim Brooke-Taylor), John Cleese), Graham Chapman), Marty Feldman), Aimi Macdonald), Jo Kendall), Dick Vosburgh), Barry Cryer), Dick Holmes)

An early show with John Cleese and Graham Chapman. I think it's only worth to check it out for curiosity sake. Though I only can base my opinion on this first episode. It's the first time that I ever saw any of them. This set has been in my unwatched pile for five years now.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on March 26th, 2011)