James Stewart, Alfred Hitchcock Movie: The Rope

 Brandon and Phillip (John Dall and Farley Granger) are two roommates who kill a former college roommate, Peter (Dick Hogan) just for the joy of killing and the feeling of superiority.  They have a couple guests coming over to celebrate (for them) but a flimsy reason for others.  This includes a couple other former roommates, Peter's father (Cedric Hardwicke) and Peter's girlfriend Janet (Joan Chandler).  One of the former roommates is Kenneth (Douglas Dick), Janet's former boyfriend.  The other is Rupert Cadell (James Stewart) who was sort of an intelligent person.  Brandon has invitd him for the thrill.  He also has views on murder that it should be allowed for smarter people, similar to Brandon and Phillip.  Peter does not show up for dinner, and everyone is worried.  And Cadell's senses are heightened trying to figure out what is going on.  Brandon and Phillip are acting strangely.  The housemaid (Edith Evanson) has also noticed they are acting strangely.  Phillip is especially nervous.  The party leaves, but Cadell returns on a pretext of misplacing his cigarette case.  

The rope is the tool used to commit the murder.  It was lying around, and set away with some books, but Cadell brings it back.  And Phillip knows the gig is up.  The body is in a chest.  

Music Review: Gotan Project: La Revancha del Tango

 Gotan is a group dedicated mostly to tango.  There are three artists, one from Argentina, One from France and the third from Switzerland.  They are centered in Paris.  Their name is the word tango with the syllables backwards as would by in Lunfardo, an Argentine slang language.  The music overall is very good, but sometimes it starts becoming very repetitive.  La Revancha is their first studio album released in 2001 on XL Recordings and ¡Ya Basta! Records.  Two songs are covers, "Chunga's Revenge" (Frank Zappa) and "Last Tango in Paris" (Gato Barbieri) from the movie of the same name.  This is great falling asleep to music for a Sunday afternoon because of the music is very repetitive.  However at the same time, most of the music has that tango feel that gets your blood boiling.  It is very passionate.  The song Santa Maria (del Buen Ayre) was used in the movies Bourne Identity, Shall We Dance and Knight and Day.  The songs I liked the best are the first and the last, "Queremos Paz" and "Vuelvo al Sur."  The song "El Capitalismo Foráneo" is unique in that it quotes Eva Peron and has a recording of Eva saying capitalismo foráneo referring to get foreign business interests out of Argentina.  

Music Review: Christmas with Placido Domingo, Vienna Symphony Orchestra

Christmas with Placido Domingo, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, arranged and directed Lee Holdridge, CBS, Tokyo, 1981. 

Placido Domingo is the best singer for some songs, and then some songs just don't fit the opera style voice.  Cantique de Noel, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day and Silent Night are examples of songs perfectly suited for Domingo's style of singing.  These three conclude this album and are beautifully done.  On the other hand I'll Be Home for Christmas just doesn't work.  He also starts off with a medley of traditional Christmas songs that are really nice, Joy to the World, God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman, Good King Wencelas, Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem and The First Noel all really pop.  I also like Mary's Boy Child.  This was C.D. has some beautiful singing.

  

Alfred Hitchcock Movie: **** Young and Innocent (1937)

 Young and Innocent is a delightful early Hitchcock movie.  Robert Tisdall (Derrick De Marney) is accused of murder.  The belt off his coat was used, and two women saw him running away.  He maintains he was running away to get help.  However the deceased was a friend of his.  She was a movie star who was disaffected from her husband, but he would not give her a divorce.  The police commissioner's (Col. Burgoyne (Percy Marmont) daughter, Erica (Nova Pilbeam) has a liking for the accused murderer.  He escapes during police station confusion, and then convinces Erica to give him a ride in her car.  He is out to find his old coat so he can prove he is not the murderer.  The search many places and finally catch up with a bum, Old Will (Edward Rigby) who has the coat.   He describes who gave him the coat as a person with a twitch, not Tisdall.  They find in the coat a match and this leads them to a place to go next.  In the mean time the commissioner pressures his daughter to let him know where Tisdall is.  They follow her to the hotel/bar.  It is difficult to locate him, but they discover him in the band playing drum and in black face.  He admits to choking his wife.  This is in front of the police so Tisdall is no longer a suspect.  Our two love birds are free to pursue a relationship.  

I really enjoyed this movie.  It is a very good whodunnit with the romance added in.  

Matt Damon Movie: *** Inception (2010)

 This movie is very hard to understand.  Cobb (Matt Damon) is someone who helps draw information from people's subconscious as a form of industrial espionage.  However this time he is employed by Saito (Ken Watanabe) to put an idea into somebody's mind, Robert Fischer Jr. (Cillian Murphy).  This movie has lots of excitement an action but I have difficulty understanding what is going on as they are in dreams inside dreams inside dreams.  It is really difficult.  Cobb recruits Ariadne (Ellen Page/ Elliot Page) as a designer.  In the movie we discover that Cobb's wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard) committed suicide because after a dream state she no longer believed the world was real.  At one point we get a dream in the snow on a mountain.  It just doesn't make sense at times.  Why did they need so many layers of dreams?  It is the new lady that is in onto Cobb and his instability mentally after his wife died.  he often sees her in his dreams and she is always violent.  Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Eames (Tom Hardy) help Cobb in his endeavors.

This movie had great success and received four Oscars.  I think people like not being able to understand as long as there is lots of gun shooting and explosions.  

Alfred Hitchcock Movie: ***^The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

 This movie was remade in 1956 with Doris day and James Stewart.  The movies are similar but not the same.  The Lawrences (Edna Best, Leslie Banks and daughter Betty, Nova Pilbeam) travel to Switzerland for a skiing event.  There mother participates in a shooting contest, and loses as one of the finalists to Ramon Levine (Frank Vosper),  In addition to being a marksman he is part of an terrorist group headed by Abbott (Peter Lorre).  That evening at dinner their new friend, Louis Bernard (Pierre Fresnay) is shot.  Before he dies he tells them to get a note intended for the British consul.  They find the note which tells of an assassination plot.  However before they can tell anyone, their daughter is kidnapped.  However they understand that the bad guys are headed to London as the assassination is to take place at the Royal Albert Music Hall.  Clive (Hugh Wakefield) and father, Bob look for the girl .  The track one of the kidnappers to a temple of a sun worshipping cult.  Father is captured but Clive gets away and helps to expose the group.  Mrs. Lawrence goes to the concert indicated on the note.  Her scream effects the aim of Levine and he wounds rather than kills the intended victim.  But he gets away, sneaking out in the chaos, but they are able to track his vehicle to the sun temple, which sets up a final gun battle.  Many police die, as do all the criminals, including Betty's nurse and Abbott love (Cicely Oates).  Father found his daughter and helped her escape, but Levine was after her and catches her on the roof.  They are exposed to the police below.  It is a tricky shot and the police officer marksman hesitates.  Mrs Lawrence takes te gun and makes the shot.  Abbott is hiding in a closet and his watch gives him away, so he takes his own life.

This is a very good early Hitchcock movie.  It also takes on the spy theme which becomes a Hitchcock trade mark.

Alfred Hitchcock Movie Review: ***^ Dial M for Murder (1954)

 A murder show, but not a mystery because we know who did it.  A man (Ray Milland) wanting to get rid of his wife (Grace Kelly), after discovering she has a new love, Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings) (but not her money) arranges her murder.  He does this by blackmailing an old college roommate (Anthony Dawson).  However when he does this, after planning the murder for several months, something goes wrong.  Instead of the murderer killing the wife, the wife defends herself, and finds a pair of scissors on the table and uses them to kill the murderer.  The husband then quickly sets in motion another lan, frame his wife.  He does this by giving bad advise, and destroying evidence; and his plan works.  She is condemned to death for the murder of her supposed blackmailer.  However there is something about the keys the has the inspector (John Williams) puzzling.  Also something about his gambling debts.