Old Beginnings

Last year I made myself a personal list of “Must watch movies.” It started off with my love for Woddy Allen’s cinema. I think he’s the greatest film maker after Hitchcock. And the fact that he is a comedian and can act too, is just absolutely brilliant. The very first movie I ever watched that was directed by him was Match point. I’m just 21 and I live in India, so I barely knew that he existed till I was 18. As soon as I realized what a “visual” treat he is, I didn’t waste anymore of my time and immediately Googled him. “The guy is a genius”, I said to myself, “I love him and his art.” was my very next thought. This love grew into obsession, and I started watching his movies chronologically. I still have a long way to go, the guy doesn’t take a break. His latest release was Blue Jasmine which didn’t release in India due to some certification issues. It was all the rave in Hollywood though. Golden Globe to Kate Blanchet for best actress, and even a life time achievement award for Woody the same night. Brava! Since I’m going chronologically with his movies, It’ll still take me some time before I marvel this piece.

        About the title of my blog, well, I have decided to watch all the Hollywood Classics this year. You can call it my “New year’s resolution.” By classics here, I am referring to 40s-80s strictly. Although I have watched some classics before like, Wizard of Oz, which was actually my first Hollywood movie ever. I watched it when i was 5. Then there was Silence of the Lambs 1991, not a classic Per SE but a classic never the less. Casablanca 1942, Psycho 1960, Woman in black 1989, The Wicker Man 1973 and that’s all that I can think of right now. So now you know how much home work I have to do this year. I just finished watching Rosemary’s baby. I love a good thriller/horror and this was just it. Mia Farrow was great, Ruth Gordon was scary and the background scores hit you at a gut level, thanks to Krzysztof Komeda. It’s definitely a must watch. I hope I get to see more of such flicks this year.

I’m somewhat not interested in today’s cinema. I believe it has lost it’s charm. Though there are some exceptions, thank God for that. As for the new releases I am eagerly waiting to see American Hussle and 12 years a slave. I don’t know when I’ll be able to view these. But what I do know is that these will surely be worth it since it’s the talk of the tinsel town for being nominated for this years Academy Awards. But these are not on “The List” as far as I’m concerned. I have my own list and It’s a long list.

        On my list next is Woody’s 1995 release Mighty Aphrodite, starring Woody Allen, Mira Sorvino, Helena Bonham Carter, Pamela Blair, Rene Ceballos and others. The movie got two Oscar nominations. Mira Sorvino won an Oscar for Best Sporting Role and she also won a Golden Globe in the same category for her performance in this movie. I can hardly wait to see it. On my ‘resolution’ list, what I’m planning to watch is an Alfred Hitchcock classic Rebecca 1940. The story is about a middle-class woman, played by the amazingly beautiful Joan Fontaine (still alive at 93), falling in love with Winter (Laurence Olivier), a widower obsessed with Rebecca, his dead first wife. Amazingly, Hitch treats this dead woman as a main character, despite her never being shown. Strangely enough, despite featuring a great performance by the finest actor of the 20th Century (Olivier), Rebecca is the only Best Picture to not win for acting or directing. Let’s find out if I like this flick.

One might wonder why I am doing all this research over Hollywood classics, where I’m not even a struggling actor or an ambitious director. Well, I am an appreciator of good cinema and I find immense pleasure in viewing great performances. I’m not aiming to be a movie critic either. It’s because I feel like I have a different pallet for movies than anyone I personally know. I think this is the reason why I want to explore my own taste and refine my pallet. Who knows, it might help me in my life someway. 

             Until next time; see you at the movies.. 🙂