Blog Directory CineVerse: February 2016

Philadelphia Story to be rescheduled

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Due to circumstances beyond our control (a problem with Oak View Center's alarm system, apparently), CineVerse had to be suddenly cancelled Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, no one from the building contacted the moderator so that he could inform members in time, so apologies to anyone who showed up.

Rest assured that we will reschedule "The Philadelphia Story" (Margaret's pick) for a date a few weeks down the road to be determined soon. 

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Otherwise known as a tale from the City of Brotherly Love

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Don't miss CineVerse on February 24, when the Our Favorite Films series shines its spotlight on "The Philadelphia Story” (1940; 112 minutes), directed by George Cukor, chosen by Margaret Rooney.

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Variety of films on tap for March and April

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Itching to learn what's on the calendar for CineVerse in March and April? The next two-month schedule is live and ready for viewing. Visit http://1drv.ms/1UaqEmk to view.

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"Fantasy Island" meets "The Terminator," with a touch of "Halloween" thrown in for good measure

Granted, it's a dated vision plagued by special effects and budgetary limitations of its era. And no, it's not going to win any retrospective awards for underrated acting or underappreciated dialogue. But Michael Crichton's "Westworld" (1973) is a picture chock full of chunky ideas that we can still chew on in 2016 and beyond, and deserves kudos for being slightly ahead of its time in terms of some of its espoused notions and techniques used. Consider the evidence:

WHAT ARE THE IMPORTANT THEMES SUGGESTED IN WESTWORLD?
The danger of undue trust in corruptible technology.
The exploitative nature of capitalism, the repercussions of corporate greed, and the ramifications of irresponsible corporations left unchecked.
The folly of attempting to contain, bilk, exploit and fabricate nature.
“The crisis of American malehood in the immediate post-feminist era,” suggests blogger Timothy Brayton. This picture plays with the masculine/macho conventions of the western and insinuates that indulging a primitive form of macho manliness can have disastrous consequences. For a further hint, consider the side character’s name, John Blane, which sounds a lot like John Wayne.

HOW WAS WESTWORLD PRESCIENT OR INNOVATIVE IN ITS IDEAS OR FILMMAKING TECHNIQUES?
Like “Soylent Green” the same year, it introduces the cinematic concept of big, bad evil corporations and the dangers they can inflict on humanity as a result of their avaricious, unpoliced and reckless capitalistic tendencies. This notion was copied in many subsequent science-fiction films, including:
o Alien, featuring the crass Weyland-Yutani Corporation
o Blade Runner’s Tyrell Corporation
o The Terminator’s Cyberdyne Systems and, later, Skynet
o RoboCop’s Omni Consumer Products
o Jurassic Park’s InGen
o Avatar’s RDA Corporation
This film also supposedly introduced the idea of the threat of computer viruses, which didn’t materialize in the real world for many years to come.
It’s credited as influencing the slasher horror movie subgenre; “Halloween” director John Carpenter cites the Gunslinger as an inspiration for the cold, soulless, unkillable character of Michael Myers, down to the way the Gunslinger walks and comports himself.
“Westworld” is also one of the first movies to employ computer animation, using a primitive form of digital image processing to “pixellate photography to simulate an android point of view,” according to Wikipedia. Actually, it could be the first instance of a feature film that depicts what the monster/robot/alien sees through its eyes, offering unsettling point of view (POV) shots that are later copied in “Halloween,” “The Terminator” and “Predator.”
While not exactly innovative, this film is clever in casting Yul Brynner, who usurps the heroic image he created by in “The Magnificent Seven.”
This could also be the first instance of the blending of science-fiction and the western genres for a feature film.
The score also features off-putting percussive sounds, instruments that sound unconventional and electronic music to create a futuristically suspenseful mood.

WHAT OTHER FILMS AND STORIES ARE BROUGHT TO MIND BY “WESTWORLD”?
Technology run amok movies and tales, like “The Andromeda Strain,” “The Terminal Man,” “Runaway,” and the aforementioned films.
Amusement parks that turn deadly stories, like “Jurassic Park,” “Welcome to Blood City,” and “The Outsider.”
“Relentless monster that won’t die” movies that require the hero to cleverly outwit the antagonistic force, like “The Terminator,” “Halloween,” and “Predator.” 

OTHER MOVIES DIRECTED BY MICHAEL CRICHTON
“Coma”
“The Great Train Robbery”
“Looker”

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Sagebrush meets sci-fi

Sunday, February 14, 2016

CineVerse reconvenes its Our Favorite Films series with a foray into 1970s sci-fi, a la  “Westworld” (1973; 88 minutes), directed by Michael Crichton, chosen by Jim Krabec, slotted for February 17. Afterward, stick around to view a trailer reel preview of the March/April CineVerse schedule.

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The wrong man in the hands of the right director

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Long before he moved to the States and wowed Americans with one masterwork after another, Alfred Hitchcock was demonstrating his cinematic genius in his native England with memorable and innovative thrillers like "The Lodger," "Blackmail," and the original "The Man Who Knew Too Much." But arguably his finest hour on his side of the Atlantic was behind the camera on "The 39 Steps," an evergreen entertainment that set the template for so many chase movies and spy thrillers to come. In our dissection of this 1935 gem, our CineVerse group came to these observations:

WHAT THEMES ARE EXPLORED BY HITCHCOCK IN “THE 39 STEPS”?

The wrong man: an innocent protagonist accused of a crime he didn’t commit and on the run.
The frightening reality and vulnerability of being human and living in a chaotic, unpredictable world. Hitch’s film universe pushes harsh consequences of random chance and accidents upon innocent bystanders who are thrust into dark, dangerous settings and circumstances.
Theatricality and the fine line between illusion and reality. Consider how “The 39 Steps,” like other Hitchcock movies, features an actual theater and stage upon which characters play literal and figurative roles; in fact, this film begins and concludes with scenes that take place in theaters. Marian Keane wrote in her Criterion Collection essay on this picture: “The stage, and the events that take place on it, become part of the reality of the film…theater is exposed in The 39 Steps as vulnerable to the medium of film, penetrable by reality itself.”
The surrogate director—a character/figure in a Hitchcock film who subtly represents Alfred the director himself in the way that character manipulates and observes others. In this film, the surrogate director figure is Professor Jordan; in other Hitchcock films, it’s Vandamm in North by Northwest, Prescott in Notorious, and Gavin Elster in Vertigo. Ironically, the manipulated characters, including the wrong men, in these films, need the help of Hitchcock the director to escape the fates bearing down on them from the surrogate director—as these helpless heroes wield no authority or power in their worlds.

WHAT OTHER HITCHCOCK PICTURES AND NON-HITCHCOCK MOVIES DOES “THE 39 STEPS” RESEMBLE IN THEME, CHARACTERS AND SITUATIONS?
Several of Hitch’s “innocent man wrongly accused and on the run” movies, including North by Northwest, Saboteur, The Wrong Man, Young and Innocent, Foreign Correspondent, To Catch a Thief, and Frenzy.
Hitch’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (both versions), which feature a gripping theater scene where a murder is attempted by a mystery man in the balcony with a gun. 
Psycho: Think of the way that Hannay is shot in the chest by a gun relatively early in the film, followed by an extended fade out that insinuates he’s dead; similarly, Marion Crane is killed off within the first half of Psycho.
Multiple movies featuring Hitchcock’s classic icy blonde who sports a cool exterior of suave chic and control but hints at an unbridled sexual wildness beneath; think of Tippi Hedren in Marnie and The Birds; Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest; Kim Novak in Vertigo; Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief; etc.
On-the-run imitators like Charade, The Parallax View, Silver Streak, and Foul Play

THE 39 STEPS HAS BEEN CALLED HITCHCOCK’S FIRST TRUE MASTERPIECE AND THE CROWN JEWEL OF HIS BRITISH FILMMAKING PERIOD PRIOR TO COMING TO AMERICA IN 1940. WHAT ELEMENTS ARE AT WORK THAT MAKE THIS FILM SO EXCEPTIONAL?
This movie created the formula for virtually all spy thriller films, chase movies, and lovers-on-the-run pictures that followed by combining several key ingredients: an innocent or outnumbered hero/heroes being pursued, often by both good and evil forces; a man and a woman bound together—figuratively and sometimes literally—which leads to sexual tension and romance; daring escapes, close calls, and action set pieces that often occur at or near famous places/landmarks; and twists and unexpected turns of fate that tighten the knot for our hero(es). 
Screenwriter Robert Towne remarked: “It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that all contemporary escapist entertainment begins with The 39 Steps. most ‘pure’ movie thrillers, especially when you think of Hitchcock, are either fantasies fulfilled or anxieties purged. ‘The 39 Steps’ is one of the few, if not the only one, that does both at the same time. He puts you into this paranoid fantasy of being accused of murder and being shackled to a beautiful girl—of escaping from all kinds of harm, and at the same time trying to save your country, really. A Hitchcock film like ‘Psycho’ is strictly an anxiety purge. ‘The 39 Steps’ gives you that and the fantasy fulfilled.”

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39 Steps in a month with 29 days

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Circle February 10 on your calendar - That's the day that CineVerse's Hitchcockronology: A Sequential Study of the Master of Suspense returns with part 2 in the series,  “The 39 Steps” (1935; 86 minutes). Plus, enjoy the documentary “Cinema: Alfred Hitchcock,” in which the director is interviewed about his earlier films (41 minutes).

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CineVerse cancelled for Feb. 3

Monday, February 1, 2016

Due to a personal family matter, CineVerse is cancelled for this Wednesday, Feb. 3. We will reconvene on Feb. 10 with “The 39 Steps,” as planned. However, we will need to reschedule “The Searchers” for a date to be determined in March. Sorry for any inconvenience.

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