Movie Monday: Strangers on a Train

Last week I got "Strangers on a Train" in the mail from Netflix. I liked it so much I watched it twice!


This is another Hitchcock thriller and made in 1951. The story is about a semi-pro tennis player, Guy Haines and a man he meets on a train, Bruno Anthony. Bruno recognizes Guy from the gossip columns in the paper detailing his troubled marriage. Bruno is very forward and during lunch he explains his idea for the perfect "criss-cross" murder. Bruno will kill Guy's wife so he can marry his girlfriend Anne in exchange for Guy killing Bruno's father. Clearly Guy thinks the whole thing is a joke...but Bruno doesn't.

A few nights later Bruno follows Guy's wife, Miriam to an amusement park and strangles her! Everyone instantly believes Guy is the murderer and his only alibi is a drunk guy he sat near on the train who doesn't even remember him. Bruno convinces Guy that he can't go to the police because why would anyone believe that Bruno, a seemingly random guy would follow Miriam and kill her?

Bruno starts pestering Guy about his part of the bargain. He sends him a key to his house, a map to his father's bedroom and a gun! Guy tries his hardest to avoid Bruno but he just keeps popping up places!! Once Bruno realizes that Guy really isn't going to kill his father he decides he is going to frame Guy for Miriam's murder. And boy oh boy that is when it gets suspenseful!

I really liked this movie because you know that Bruno is a crazy person and really does have Guy between a rock and a hard place. While watching it, you have no idea how it's going to end and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! Also, completely random but the actor who plays Bruno, Robert Walker totally reminds me of a young Bill Murray! Also another fun fact, Hitchcock's real life daughter has a part in the movie. She plays Guy's girlfriend's little sister.

I hope you're all having a lovely Monday!

Jamie

Movie Monday: Dark Passage

Last night I watched 1947's "Dark Passage" starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. They are such a great couple!


I was really surprised by this movie and the style it was shot in. Almost the entire first hour is shot from the first person perspective. The story is about Vincent Parry who just escaped San Quentin prison where he was serving a life sentence for murdering his wife. He ends up being picked up by Irene Jansen who heard the news report of his escape. Turns out she was always at his trial and wrote letters to the newspaper expressing her concern for what she thought was an unfair trial. We find out that her father died in prison while also serving a sentence for murdering his wife, which she thinks he was wrongly accussed of.

Vincent realizes that his face is plastered all over the newspapers and there is no way he can escape the city without being recognized. Luckily on the way to visit a friend who was going to give him a place to stay, he is picked up by a taxi driver who has a friend who can "help" him. He goes to this doctor in a back alley and gets a whole new face...guess whose face...Humphrey Bogart's!! The movie switches to the normal third person (is that right?) once he has the bandages all over his face. Eventually they are removed and he looks older but unrecognizable.

Over this time a relationship has been building between Irene and Vincent. I mean obviously there would be a relationship, she's helping him escape for crying out loud! During the movie Vincent is framed for the murder of the friend who was giving him a place to stay. It is very clear that Vincent didn't commit this murder either and he is determined to find out who did! I was pretty surprised who the murderer actually is but they explain it pretty well.

In all I really enjoyed this movie. It was a thriller but kind of a quiet thriller, nobody's jumping out at you or anything. You're just kind of on the edge of your seat hoping Vincent doesn't get caught and gets away!

As you've notice...I'm an old movie kick!
Got any suggestions?!

I hope you're having a great day!

Jamie

Movie Monday Disclaimer:
I live on Netflix and thought it would be fun to share reviews of some things I watch. I do not stream movies as I don't have internet or any kind of gaming console at home. I am on the 3 dvds at a time plan and love it since I don't have cable either. I watch TV shows this way too but mostly movies. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share!

Netflix Review: Papillon

So after all this hubbub with Netflix I got to thinking about how much I depend on the DVDs they mail me. I don't have cable or anything so all I watch are movies. I was actually pretty stoked about the plan changes because I don't stream movies so my price went down. It does suck for those of you who do stream and watch DVDs that your price went up now though, sorry friends!

I've been on a massive kick of old movies recently. I thought it would be fun to review a movie once in a while that I really loved since they might not be something you have seen or even thought of renting or streaming.

Here are some of my favs from the last few weeks:
Rear Window - I love Hitchcock and this is the original with Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly.
North by Northwest - Another Hitchcock with Cary Grant. Family Guy did a spoof of one of the final scenes at Mount Rushmore from this movie.
Gone with the Wind - This was the first time I watched it and I am shocked at what a pain in the ass Scarlett O'Hara is!
The Sting - I looove Paul Newman!!
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - I would ride on Paul Newman's bicycle handlebars anyday!! PLUS Robert Redford, a pretty good looking cast I must say.
The Thin Man, After the Thin Man and Another Thin Man - The husband and wife duo are pretty funny together in a way I never expected since these movies were made in the 1930's!

The most recent movie I watched which I really liked is Papillon.


It stars Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. It was filmed in the 70's but takes place during the 1930's and is based on the true story of Henri "Papillion" Charriere. Papillion is accused of murder and shipped to the Devil's Island penal colony in French Giuana to serve a life sentence where he meets Dustin Hoffman's character, Louis Dega. Papillion is determined to escape from the very beginning, especially because he maintains that he was wrongly accused of the murder. After being captured from his first escape attempt he is put into solitary confinement for 2 solid years and almost died from starvation and light deprevation. After gaining his strength back he makes another daring escape with Dega across the Atlantic in a sailboat to Venezuela. Dega is captured as soon as they get there but Papillon gets away and is able to live there for quite a while. He is eventually captured again, sent back to the penal colony and spends 5 more years in solitary confinement!!! By the end of the movie Papillon and Dega are imprisoned on another island which seems A LOT nicer than Devil's Island. They have their own little huts, gardens and pretty much do what they want. The reason being, the island is surrounded by the ocean and there are no beaches, only cliffs falling into the ocean so there is no chance for escape. Either the tide will kill them by smashing them into the cliffs or the sharks will.
I won't tell you the end because I really think you should watch it. I will tell you though that I was totally surprised at how it ended! This is kind of a long movie, 2 1/2 hours but definitely worth it. There are some good extras on the DVD as well. You get to see some of the filming of the movie as well as Papillon himself on set and his reaction to the recreation of the penal colony. The credits of the movie are cool too because it shows you what Devil's Island looks like now that it is no longer used, it's all over grown with vegetation and the buildings are all delapitated.

I hope you watch it and if you do, let me know what you thought of it!