THE KILLING ( 1956 )

I've always been a huge fan of film noir and those great black and white detective films of the 40's. I havn,t reviewed many of these on my pages so here goes with one of the best! ' The Killing ' is an exceptional earlier film from Stanley Kubrick and is certainly not one of your usual run of the mill caper films. It involves the robbery at a horse racetrack. Superbly photographed in B/W with a dovetailed scrambling of time sequences..........plot , planning and robbery ;which works surprisingly well throughout. Like anything Kubrick did......very masterfulll!! ....Some of it is done in semi documentary style. The technical aspects of the film too are outstanding with many very memorable exterior shots , close ups, and angles.

The Killing was a major success for Kubrick in the film industry even though it was produced for as little as 320,000 dollars....which does reveal itself in some of the cardboard looking sets. Sterling Hayden is once again excellent as' Johny Clay ' .....the tough but intelligent ring leader. Those who enjoyed him in Huston;s ' The asphalt Jungle ' will surely enjoy him here too. He is admirably supported by a host of character actors..........of particular note here is ' Elisha cook jnr ' as ' George Peatty ' the ticket seller at the racetrack who finally agrees to help out in the robbery ........A quiet man who loves his wife dearly and will do aything to please her ( played by Mary Windsor ) who is nothing more than a liar , cheat and go getter who eventually upsets the whole of the plans when letting on to her lover ( played by Vince Edwards )....... These have to be my favourite scenes ......the dialogue really crackles between these two. Then there's ' Ted de Corsia ' as the rather corrupt policeman who owes money. and ' Joe Sawyer , whose wife is sick and needs special attention. The backstage scenes of the robbery are expertly handled. We really become involved with all of the characters ......who for want or reason need money fast.........great pace from start to finish with plenty of excitement and thrills along the way........ i won't let on about the ending in case you havn't seen it........if you havn't you MUST!!!! ......Highly recommended as they say!!!

CRYSTAL EGG

PSYCHO ( 1998 )

One undoubtedly has to compare Gus Van Sant's version with Hitchcocks orignal and as such falls flat on it's face. Maybe this would have been a far better movie if wasn't so hell bent on copying the original shot for shot, which ultimately makes for a decidedly less interesting viewing experience. Shot in colour it is much less atmospheric too and only lessens the visual impact, including the famous shower scene.

Anne Heche fairs pretty well in place of Janet Leigh but is really no substitute. As i found almost every other actor to be. The exception on the other hand would be Viggo Mortenson as Sam Loomis , who in the original was played by John Gavin who i believe Hitchcock branded stiff. He was! He is far better characterised here by the lord of the rings man himself .........who is much more animated and believable, if a little less unlikeable!

The beginning i found pretty good, but once Anne Heche arrived at the motel and Vince Vaughn appeared on the scene it all seemed to fall apart even more. Nothing new here . A retread which plodded along until the conclusion.

Just like music .....live performances which try to recreate the studo recording are seldom of interest!

PAR BOLIED