Hitchcock & Oprah on 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot'
Wednesday, July 31, 2013 at 9:00AM Three great (?) movies by three renowned directors (Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg and Vincente Minnelli) are next on Hit Me With Your Best Shot
We didn't mean to take two weeks off (whoops) but here we go again. If you've never participated please consider joining. It's easy and fun and gives you an excuse to watch a classic again or for the first time. On Wednesday nights we look at a famous (or interesting) movie and we each select "the best shot", completely subjective of course, from the film. Tell us why you chose it and we link up. It's communal movie fun!
Wed Aug 7th SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943)
It doesn't have the highest profile among Hitchcock's classics so let's boost that up a bit since the Master himself was so fond of it among his own movies and Stoker, now on DVD, riffs on it so shamelessly.
[108 minutes, 1 Oscar nomination. Available on Amazon Instant]
Wed Aug 14th THE COLOR PURPLE (1985)
Let's celebrate the return of Oprah Winfrey to the big screen (in Lee Daniel's The Butler) with a look back at this beloved 80s film. I haven't seen it since the 80s and other people adore it so much more than I that I thought now was the time to give it another chance.
[154 minutes, 11 Oscar nominations]
Wed Aug 21st THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (1952) winner of 5 Oscars including Cinematography. We're watching it for the return of the Supporting Actress Smackdown on August 28th and plus, Nathaniel (c'est moi) loves Vincent Minnelli movies. Yes, the Smackdown is coming back.
[118 minutes, 6 Oscar nominations.]
After The Bad and the Beautiful we'll wrap up this Best Shot season with one or two more pictures depending on how many of you are participating and where the excitement level is. What should we close with? Let's do a boy appeal movie since I'm often choosing women's pictures. I can't help myself!
Reader Comments (28)
Boy appeal movies? What about some samurai flick? You owe it to Japan, since they've produced some of the best cinematographed movies ever.
I suggest:
If you want to go with something less known, Samurai Rebellion, by Masaki Kobayashi, with Toshiro Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai. It's a masterpiece, the best samurai flick ever.
If you want to go more mainstream but so obvious, what about Throne of Blood, Kurosawa's version of MacBeth. People love his Lear in Ran, but his black and white Shakespeare is even more accomplished,
You may pick not a samurai movie, but a fantastic Kurosawa thriller, like High and Low!
Fun choices! I've never seen Shadow of a Doubt or The Bad and The Beautiful and The Color Purple is one of my all-time favourites.
Other ramdom boy-appeal suggestions:
- Since I know Best Pictures From The Outside In is never coming back, maybe it's time for you to see The Godfather Part II. Incredible cinematography.
- I always try to pimp Raw Deal, by Anthony Mann, my favorite movie of the 40's, and of the reasons is its spectacular cinematography by John Alton.
- I wish I could break people's resistence to westerns. Of course we could go with one of the best movies ever, The Searchers, but how could we not to choose the final shot, arguably the best shot ever? Since I love Anthony Mann, I suggest The Man From Laramie.
- If you're feeling more contemporary, have you ever seen anything by Johnnie To? S P E C T A C U L A R thrillers, specially Exiled and Sparrow.
- I think Michael Mann's digital movies (Collateral, Miami Vice, Public Enemies) do deserve a place in this series. They're groundbreaking.
- And of course it's not exactly boy-appeal, but I'll never stop suggesting A Woman Under The Influence, Opening Night and Love Streams.
Performance is a clear stunner in this area (EVERYONE would have a different shot because they're all great and none are that iconic), The Tree of Wooden Clogs is an underseen masterwork (c'mon everyone. I live in Markham, Ontario and it was in my library. Your library card is your friend) and Le Samourai builds tension and atmosphere with every framing.
Ooh, the perfect excuse to watch The Bad and the Beautiful for the first time.
@cal roth--I love The Searchers but as great as that final shot is, my all time favorite shot has got to be when Debbie appears running down the sand dune in the background. But if I'm throwing in my Ford hat in the ring, it's gotta be for The Quiet Man.
Is Last Of The Mohicans a boy movie? And I'll always plug for The Adventures Of Robin Hood, my all time favorite action/adventure movie. But then, I guess my "boy" movies are more everyone movies than anything else. Pure boy movies are so boring ;) Maybe that's why I've yet to pull the trigger on The Bad And The Beautiful, despite my deep love for Minnelli. Why worry about his foray into boy territory when he's got so many great girl movies to explore?
Oh, the visuals in Vincente Minelli movies! How could one choose just one shot?
For a boy-appeal movie, there's an old one that my brothers just adore: The Long Riders by Walter Hill. The cast has 4 sets of actor brothers in it. Stacy and James Keach as Jesse James and Frank James, 3 Carradine brothers, 2 Quaid brothers, and Christopher Guest and his brother. It does seem to capture that sense of boys outside, playing outlaws, and having the best time of their life.
The bad and the beautiful AND The color purple. I'm SO there. Boy appeal movies? Hmm. Pretty much anything by Tarantino, Fincher and Michael Bay. Ooh, how about Scarface? Boy movie with extra Michelle pfeffier.
correction (Lee Daniels' The Butler)
sad (You've only seen The Color Purple once) — There's a reason why people continue to watch and appreciate Purple while Prizzi's Honor and Out Of Africa are Oscar trivial questions.
@TB I L O V E that shot of Natalie Wood, but I love so many shots in that movie. I love when Ethan discovers his family was killed and the first word he says is "Martha". But the beginning and the end are just too perfect for words. I think The Quiet Man is a great choice, too, but my favorite shot would be too obvious again: that kiss.
Cal Roth--Westerns are totally "boy" movies.
"Treasure of Sierra Madre" with Huston at the helm is chock full of testosterone, as is "The Wild Bunch". Those or "Unforgiven" or "Seven Samurai" would be my suggestions. "Ran" is a another personal favorite "boy" movie, though not a Western (but kinda). Saw it on a first date with one who became my long-term boyfriend. Guess he liked the fact I enjoyed it as much as he did (or maybe it was because of my unusual-for-a-girl obsession with "Stripes" and "Bachelor Party" around the same time?)
TB--"The Last of the Mohicans" is NOT a real boy movie. Too many long, loving looks between Daniel D-L and Madeleine Stowe, and swelling music.
I'm with Cal, TB, and Pam. We should do a Western! I generally prefer John Ford Westerns. Even though it's not a "boy movie," can I throw in "Johnny Guitar" as a suggestion? No? Fair enough. Then I suggest "The Wild Bunch," "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," "Stagecoach," or "The Magnificent Seven."
What about a horror movie? We've done more than a few thrillers, but horror definitely counts as "boy movie," or at least as a genre HMWYBS doesn't do often.
Boy Appeal Movie + End of Summer Nostalgia = Rob Reiner's "Stand by Me"
@cal roth--I recently had the pure pleasure of taking a class that focused on an auteur a week, Ford (and Minnelli!) included. And watching those moments--the Quiet Man kiss, Natalie on the dunes, and the opening and closing shots of The Searchers--projected on a big screen literally took my breath away.
@Pam--You're right, of course. Sigh. Even my favorite Westerns skew girly: Angel And The Badman anyone? Outlaw John Wayne falls in love with a Quaker. So good. Cat Ballou, My Darling Clementine...I'm a hopeless case.
@TB Since I'm all about Anthony Mann right now, if you want to combine westerns and girly there is nothing better than The Furies. Barbara Stanwyck is pretty incredible in it, and very feminine in spite of the role.
@Anne Marie I love Johnny Guitar. There are people that say it's not really a western, but it is, and the gender politics that you've got when you put a female lead are intriguing. The objetification of Johnny Guitar himself, playing his music, entertaining the women!
Cal, Johnny Guitar is the weirdest Western I've ever seen, and I love every minute of it.
Alright, I'm officially voting for a Western genre movie! And if we're getting specific, based on cal roth and TB's comments (and my own prejudice) I'd like to see Angel And The Badman or Johnny Guitar.
Do you have to have a blog to participate in HMWYBS?
And a "boy appeal" movie? Hmmm... What about Butch Cassidy? E.T.?
Evan, no. U can post to twitter or Flickr or wherever. Just as long as people can see it and ur brief thought on the image u chose
I'd suggest one of the following:
* The Innocents (1961): I adore widescreen B/W movies and when it comes to cinematography this one is the best of the lot
* The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967): So much fun shots to choose from
* Throne of Blood (1957): Visually arresting in each and every frame
* The Vanishing (1988): One of the best thrillers of the eighties that isn't flashy but so damned effective
* Either Shock Corridor (1963) or The Naked Kiss (1964): I just love Sam Fuller's go for broke style in both
Manhunter (1986) has an embarrassingly high rate of hang-on-your-wall-worthy pictures per minute. And it has plenty of boy appeal. And it's *awesome*.
Also, I'd love to see this series take on Stalker, Ugetsu or Fanny and Alexander.
Boy appeal? Well, if these haven't already been done:
Red River (for the gun comparison scene alone)
Shaun of the Dead
Night of the Hunter
Velvet Goldmine
In a Lonely Place
Blue Velvet
Paul -- i dont mean gay boy appeal. (velvet goldmine. lol... although that would be fun to do)
I'd like to second Dieter's last suggestion. Samuel Fuller is god and the Naked Kiss has one of the most riveting performances of the 60's, by Constance Towers. And if we're counting, that's two now for Throne of Blood!
TB: Well, from the modern perspective, Gigi is pretty awful and it would probably NEVER leave pre-production today. (The only way I could see Gigi being remade today is if it had an adjusted script, a 100% metalfied soundtrack and a crazily murky level of shadows.)
Nathaniel, you just had to call me out on Velvet Goldmine, didn't you? ;-)
My other choices are (on the surface at least) pretty "straight," I think!
And while I totally endorse Dieter's suggestion of The Naked Kiss, that movie ranks as high as Gilda on the gay boy appeal scale.
@Volvagia--Eh speak for yourself. I love Gigi. It's not a fashionable movie to love and I know everyone and their mother calls it creepy, but I've loved that movie since I was a baby. That said, I don't think I'm being biased when I say that it's a marvelously crafted film, obviously driven by a talented director at the height of his powers.
I get it if you're not moved by it on a script level (though occasionally I wonder why filmies are so quick to dismiss Gigi based on a modern reading of the film's sexual undertones, yet are so reticent to turn on actual pedophiles like Polanski or Kinski. What's good for the goose, y'all...) But I think it's patently insane to say Gigi is an awful movie. It has its Minnelli moments of pure cinema magic--Gigi opens the door in The Dress looms large in the Minnelli canon for me. As a film seen devoid of politics, I think it reads quite a bit better nowadays than An American In Paris or Brigadoon.
@Anne-Marie @cal roth--Love all those lady Westerns!
Adding another vote for Johnny Guitar - a movie I'm better for having seen.
I can't believe I only just thought of this, but what about The Devil's Backbone? Criterion just put it out on Blu-Ray, and it's arguably Guillermo del Toro's best film. Let's pour one out for Pacific Rim, pay tribute to the horror genre (currently ruling the box office in the form of The Conjuring) and take a trip down memory lane.