sunday movie classic: Dial M for Murder

There's a new segment in town and it's called Sunday Movie Classic. There's nothing on tv and you're not about to hit the town when you have an 8am class Monday morning (or maybe you will. Honestly I don't recommend it). So what's a film lover to do? How about curl up on your sofa with a loved one or a loved mug of hot cocoa and watch some of cinema's finest offerings. In my mind, a classic is anything more than ten years old (and most things get finer with age). To kick start our new tradition, I thought I would pick one from my favorite directors. I went through a phase a few summers ago where I would watch only Hitchcock films and I became really intrigued by his signature and noticing what makes a great Hitchcock film. Dial M for Murder is definitely one of his better mysteries. The plot is that an ex-tennis players hires an old acquaintance to murder his wife, who he found out is cheating on him. The husband has planned out the murder perfectly and if all goes well, no one will be to blame. Of course it doesn't go well and long story short, the murderer ends up being murdered. The twists and turns of this plot gave me an ulcer from the anticipation of what the outcome would be. Would they figure out that the husband is to blame or will he go free? What I love about this movie is that we all think we're clever enough to get away with a crime. We've all watched CSI and think we can outsmart any forensic scientist. However, regardless of how efficient the plan is, you can never trust that minx called circumstance. If you want to see a dazed Grace Kelly and figure out if the husband is every found, I suggest you get your classic fix this Sunday!

never let me go...

I've been so MIA because of the shift from my party sleep party mentality of the summer that has no transitioned into party work internship gym party. I haven't quite figured out how to fit in blogging, sleeping and eating, but I'm sure I'll get there. However I have managed to see some films. I love this time of year when quality films are racing to get to the theater in order to be eligible for the Oscar race. One such film is Never Let Me Go based on the book of the same title. It's about three young people, in a world similar to ours, who were raised to donate their internal organs. In their short lives they deal with the same struggles that each of us face and our trying to make sense of their situation. I must admit that my initial draw to the film were both Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield, whom I believe are really talented actors and their performance in this film proved that I was correct. The film doesn't center around the ethical implications of whether one life is of greater value than the next, but rather how much time is enough to live? Is there any point at which we realize that we've gone as far as we'd like to go. It seems to me that regardless if you live one hundred years or only twenty, you still have that moment of recognition of how you want to leave this earth.
I also want to add the song from which the film gets its name was a perfect choice and the scenes in which the song came  into play were definitely my favorite. Sometime music can carry a film.
In all honesty I think this film and the performance are going to be overlooked come award season. After viewing the film, I had a sense of incompleteness. Maybe death isn't always the end.