CEWB Movie Club - Who wants in?

[nyna]

Good Idea, but some of us are not in the US. but good job!

[KC]

nyna, it's so nice to hear from you! I'm sorry we missed your birthday this year. I hope it was a happy one!

If you get a chance to watch any of these Hitchcock movies, we'd be happy to hear your comments.

[KC]

Just want to report that I'm all caught up through Strangers on a Train, which I watched via my Google account. (I discovered belatedly that Google Play has quite a few of these, including two others I didn't have on hand.)

There's not a single one I didn't enjoy re-watching (I have seen them all at one time or another), some more than others. If I get a chance I'll try to add some thoughts in the respective threads.

[Matt]

Great! I just got around to watching Shadow of a Doubt tonight, my first viewing of it. I'm all caught up too -- it's been great visiting (or revisiting) all these fantastic films.

[KC]

I am now caught up through Marnie. Matt, are we maybe going to add another bonus film or two? How about The Birds?

[AKA23]

I'd be up for watching "The Birds," since that's a pretty famous movie. Also, I liked "North by Northwest," but haven't fully enjoyed most of the other films, which is why I haven't participated much in this discussion. It's tough for me to write analytical reviews on films that I'm not passionate about.

For those of you that are familiar with his work, are there any that you'd recommend that are similar to "North by Northwest" or that are likely to be enjoyable for someone who enjoyed that film?

[KC]

The Hitchcock film that's most similar to North by Northwest is probably The 39 Steps, but I take it that one didn't appeal to you?

You might like To Catch a Thief, which also has Cary Grant and a beautiful blonde in a spectacular setting. I'd be happy to add that one as an extra bonus.

[AKA23]

I haven't seen "The 39 Steps," so I'll look into that one. I've read about "To Catch A Thief" and it sounds like something I might enjoy, so I'm willing to give it a shot if everyone else wants to watch that one too. Bonus for young and crazy people like me: It's in color!

[Matt]

I am now caught up through Marnie. Matt, are we maybe going to add another bonus film or two? How about The Birds?

You might like To Catch a Thief, which also has Cary Grant and a beautiful blonde in a spectacular setting. I'd be happy to add that one as an extra bonus.

Sure, I've just extended the schedule to include both of these. I put To Catch a Thief for this week, and The Birds as our finale the following week.

[The Schofield Kid]

Sure, I've just extended the schedule to include both of these. I put To Catch a Thief for this week, and The Birds as our finale the following week.

Cool. I have these two on DVD.

[The Schofield Kid]

With the help of youtube I'm going to get to view all the films in the challenge. The three films I didn't have or couldn't borrow, are available on youtube and I only have Spellbound to view and the final 2 bonus films which I said I have on DVD.

I know we haven't had a lot of participation in this challenge but I hope we can do another this year. Maybe classic films like Matt mentioned even though AKA doesn't like B&W films.

[AKA23]

I know we haven't had a lot of participation in this challenge but I hope we can do another this year. Maybe classic films like Matt mentioned even though AKA doesn't like B&W films.

Pay no attention to the crazy man behind the curtain! I'm sure we can do a mixture of both B&W and color movies.

[The Schofield Kid]

Pay no attention to the crazy man behind the curtain! I'm sure we can do a mixture of both B&W and color movies.

[Matt]

Okay, let's start throwing some ideas out for a Classic Film Fest. I mentioned two Cary Grant films, Bringing Up Baby and The Philadelphia Story (which is just as much a James Stewart film, and both of these also star the gorgeous Katharine Hepburn).  Charade was mentioned earlier in this thread, and I have never seen it. So that sounds like a good one.

Not sure when we'll be up for starting this, but if you think of films you'd like to nominate, add them here.  We can do them from the beginning of film, all the way through to.... 1959.

(EDIT:  Just looked up Charade and see it was released in 1963. That's a bit modern for a classic film. But, if anyone wants to give me ideas on when they think we should cut off the eligibility year, pipe up.)

[The Schofield Kid]

(EDIT:  Just looked up Charade and see it was released in 1963. That's a bit modern for a classic film. But, if anyone wants to give me ideas on when they think we should cut off the eligibility year, pipe up.)

According to Netflix, when you search Classic films on their search engine, films from the 1980's appear!!

[The Schofield Kid]

Gotta have some Jimmy Cagney films on there. White Heat & One, Two, Three, are two favorites of mine.

[KC]

Casablanca is a must!

[Matt]

Casablanca is a must!

Agreed!

Gotta have some Jimmy Cagney films on there. White Heat & One, Two, Three, are two favorites of mine.

Sounds great! I haven't seen One, Two, Three. Angels with Dirty Faces is my favorite Cagney film.

According to Netflix, when you search Classic films on their search engine, films from the 1980's appear!!

Sounds like the same generation that thinks Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." is a classic album. But, for me, classic films go back not just to a year, but to a mindset:  gangster films where a gun holds no more than 6 bullets, romance instead of sex, and dialogue over action. When did this really change?  I think sometime in the 1950's or early 1960's.

[Matt]

Pay no attention to the crazy man behind the curtain! I'm sure we can do a mixture of both B&W and color movies.

AKA, would you be interested in watching a film, maybe just to experience some cinematic history, if it was a silent film?

[KC]

"Gangster films where a gun holds no more than 6 bullets"? I thought one of the hallmarks of the classic gangster film was the Thompson submachine gun ... familiarly called the Tommy gun.