I’ve been a lover of the theater all my life and performed in community theater in both Chicago and Minneapolis. There’s nothing like the organic energy and communication that space provides.
When I was lucky enough to be in the audience for the Chicago Tour of Rent in 1997 and heard the power and beauty of the song “Seasons of Love“, hairs stood up all over my body and hit me with such a force I found it hard to stop crying, The song affirms what I believe, the concept that one should measure life “in Love”. Since I was a child I’ve always imagined a world where Love is the dominant force, overtaking the hate which unfortunately continues to live in the world.
Take a listen and see if you agree … we should measure life “in Love”.
RENT is a rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson, loosely based on Giacomo Puccini‘s operaLa Bohème. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan’s East Village in the thriving days of bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.
I remember hearing the word about Jonathan Larson having died. No!!! right before the1996 off-Broadway opening. I was rehearsing for a benefit show for HIV/AIDS and the number we were singing was “La Vie Boheme” from Rent. We all just sat down and reflected on how important and revolutionary Rent was. Instead of treating those who unfortunately contracted the virus as lepers, give them the dignity and compassion they deserve as a fellow human being – measure life “in Love”.
(Rent sweeping the Tony Awards 1996)
The musical was first seen in a workshop production at New York Theatre Workshop in 1993. This same Off-Broadway theatre was also the musical’s initial home following its official 1996 opening. The show’s creator, Jonathan Larson, died suddenly of an aortic dissection, believed to have been caused by undiagnosed Marfan syndrome, the night before the Off-Broadway premiere. The musical moved to Broadway’s larger Nederlander Theatre on April 29, 1996.
On Broadway, Rent gained critical acclaim and won several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Musical. The Broadway production closed on September 7, 2008, after 12 years, making it one of the longest-running shows on Broadway. The production grossed over $280 million.
The success of the show led to several national tours and numerous foreign productions. In 2005, it was adapted into a motion picture featuring most of the original cast members.
As we #StayTogetherHome, let’s remember to love one another by #Social Distancing, washing our hands, and as in the impactful words of Jonathan Larson – “measure life “in Love”.
Imagine, a little “colored girl” (the term at the time) born in White Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier County, West Virginia, in 1918, excelling as a mathematician at NASA and charting John Glenn’s Friendship 7 mission in 1962, making him the first American to orbit the Earth; rocketing the United States to the top spot in the race for space.
From an early age, Katherine’s brilliance with numbers was recognized by her parents, Joshua and Joylette Coleman. But, because Greenbrier County did not offer public schooling for African-American students past the eighth grade, the Colemans arranged for 10-year-old Katherine to attend high school at nearby town Institute, West Virginia.
Katherine graduated from high school at 14 and entered West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University), a historically black college. Taking every math course offered, Katherine graduated summa cum laude at 18 in 1937, with degrees in Mathematics and French.
Reading her story I reflected on the importance of the United States Supreme Court ruling Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada (1938). The court held that states that provided public higher education to white students also had to provide it to black students, to be satisfied either by establishing black colleges and universities or by admitting black students to previously white-only universities.
This ruling demonstrates why we must stay vigilant and keep the doors open for everyone, lest we go back in time. Think about it, without Katherine’s expertise at NASA, who knows how the space program would have evolved.
John Glenn, not trusting his life to the new electronic calculating machines, requested Katherine to plot the trajectory for his Friendship 7 mission the old fashioned way, by hand on her desktop mechanical calculating machine.
Katherine Johnson calculating at her desk
Katherine remembers:
“If she says they’re good, then I’m ready to go.” John Glenn
John Glenn (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016)
Glenn’s flight was a success and marked a turning point in the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Katherine’s skill and accuracy in computerized celestial navigation spanned decades at NASA and were critical to the success of their missions. She calculated the trajectories, launch windows, and emergency back-up return paths for many flights from Project Mercury, including the early NASA missions of John Glenn and Alan Shepard, the 1969 Apollo 11 flight to the Moon, through the Space Shuttle program. Johnson also performed calculations for a planned mission to Mars.
One of the highlights of Katherine’s life was In 2015 when President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Katherine Johnson Presidential Medal of Freedom
Hidden Figures, the 2016 Oscar-nominated biographical drama is an inspiring history lesson about Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, 3 brilliant African-American women whose careers represent one of the most remarkable, untold stories in American history.
Jannelle Monae, Taraji B. Henson, Octavia Spencer
I’m a black woman in my 60’s and before this film had never heard of these amazing women and their contributions to our country.
I wept with pride during the final credits at the realization of what they were able to accomplish in a time where their very presence was suspect and their gifts underestimated.
(L-R) Janelle Monae, Katherine Johnson, Taraji B. Henson, Octavia Spencer
I loved the racial mix of the crowd in the theatre and how the white couple next to me drew closer together as Kevin Costner’s character tore down the colored bathroom sign, symbolically standing up for the equality of Katherine and her role on his team.
Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson, an unsung hero of the space agency’s early days, made her transition on February 24, 2020. An inspiring trailblazer, she is integral to our shared American history and I encourage everyone to learn more about the incredible women who prove that we are capable of achieving great feats even when the odds say it’s impossible.
Josephine Baker is most celebrated as the “Bronze Venus” and her infamous “Banana Dance” in Paris c. 1927. However, the sum of her life is so much more! I was blown away by her boldness and sexual freedom, but it wasn’t until I saw the 1991 HBO movie starring Lynn Whitfield as Josephine Baker that I started doing research on her life. Whitfield won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special—becoming the first Black actress to win the award in this category which seems apropos since Josephine Baker was The Lady of firsts.
I’ve always been intrigued by Baker’s provocative reputation but had no idea of her involvement in the fight for justice, racial equality, and the civil-rights movement.
Born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, (June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975) she was an American-born French dancer, singer, and actress who came to be known in various circles as the “Black Pearl,” “Bronze Venus” and even the “Creole Goddess”. Her parents were Carrie McDonald and Vaudeville drummer Eddie Carson. Growing up poor she started working early cleaning homes and babysitting for wealthy white families.
Baker dropped out of school at the age of 13 and lived as a street child in the slums of St. Louis. Her street-corner dancing attracted attention from the Dixie Steppers which lead to her opportunity to appear in the groundbreaking and hugely successful Broadway revue Shuffle Along (1921). She performed as the last dancer in the chorus line, a position where, traditionally, the dancer performed in a comic manner, as if she were unable to remember the dance, until the encore, at which point she would perform it not only correctly but with additional complexity. Baker’s act set in motion the career which would make her an international star.
Josephine Baker dancing the Charleston, 1926
Josephine traveled to Paris, France, for a new venture, and opened in “La Revue Nègre” on October 2, 1925, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Her erotic dancing and performing in next to nothing made her a sensation in Paris. The bohemian culture of interwar Paris embraced Baker’s skin color, allowing her to catapult to stardom. At the Folies Bergère, she performed the Danse Sauvage, wearing a costume consisting of a skirt made of a string of artificial bananas – voila! – a star is born.
Josephine Baker became the most successful and highest paid American entertainer working in France and the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture. Baker starred in three films which found success only in Europe: the silent film Siren of the Tropics (1927), Zouzou (1934) and Princesse Tam Tam (1935). She also starred in Fausse Alerte in 1940.
However, despite her acclaim in Europe, upon returning to New York in 1936 to star in the Ziegfeld Follies, she walked right back into good ole American racism. Audiences rejected the idea that a black woman could be so sophisticated and she was replaced by stripper Gypsy Rose Lee later in the run. Time magazine referred to her as a “Negro wench”. She returned to Europe heartbroken.
Josephine Baker and the French Resistance of World War II
Josephine returned to Paris in 1937, married a Jewish Frenchman, Jean Lion, and became a French citizen. In September 1939, when France declared war on Germany she was recruited by Deuxième Bureau, French military intelligence, as an “honorable correspondent”. Baker collected what information she could about German troop locations from officials she met at parties. She was awarded the Legion of Honor and given a Medal of Resistance for her work during World War II. She was also the first American woman to receive the Croix du Guerre, a notable French military honor.
Josephine Baker Legion of Honor
Josephine Baker and the Civil Rights Movement
Though based in France, Baker fought for American civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s. When she arrived in New York with her fourth husband French composer and conductor Jo Bouillon, they were refused reservations at 36 hotels because she was black. In 1951 when the famous New York Stork Club refused to serve Baker because she was black, she wrote letters to President Truman and enlisted the aid of the NAACP which focused a spotlight on the issues of inequality and racism in popular establishments.
(Stork Club Controversy)
Josephine Baker was one of the few female speakers at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, introducing “Negro Women Fighters for Freedom”, including Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Congressman John Lewis. The NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, named May 20th Josephine Baker Day in her honor.
Josephine Baker in French uniform March on Washington 1963
“The Rainbow Tribe”
Long before Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s multicultural family, there was Josephine Baker and her “Rainbow Tribe”. Josephine wanted to prove that “children of different ethnicities and religions could still be brothers.” Baker raised two daughters, French-born Marianne and Moroccan-born Stellina, and ten sons; Korean-born Jeannot (or Janot), Japanese-born Akio, Colombian-born Luis, Finnish-born Jari (now Jarry), French-born Jean-Claude and Noël, Israeli-born Moïse, Algerian-born Brahim, Ivorian-born Koffi, and Venezuelan-born Mara.
Josephine Baker and “The Rainbow Tribe”
On April 12, 1975, we lost Josephine after she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, she was 68 years old. She performed right up to her death, starring in a retrospective revue at the Bobino in Paris, Joséphine à Bobino 1975, celebrating her 50 years in show business. The opening night audience included Sophia Loren, Mick Jagger, Shirley Bassey, (best known for recording the theme song to the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964), Diana Ross, and Liza Minnelli.
20,000 people lined the streets of Paris to watch her funeral procession. She received a 21 gun salute, making her the first Black American female to be buried with military honors in France. Josephine Baker leaves behind a legacy of accomplishments including breaking color barriers and fighting for justice and equality around the world. I thank her for channeling her celebrity into championing the rights of all.
I enjoy classic television just like classic films so I’m hooked on a tv station called METV. Perry Mason with Raymond Burr is one of my favorites so I usually catch an episode daily. I love the convoluted storylines and the less than plausible show ending of the murderer jumping up in court and hysterically coping to the charge; a full confession no less.
I say all this because an episode the other day featured the scenario of the rich father trying to eliminate his son’s less than a suitable new bride; “There’s $50,000 in the safe for you to fly to Paris and get a divorce.” That’s quite the offer.
Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, the film is about a man (Jimmy Stewart) from a family of rich snobs who becomes engaged to a woman (Jean Arthur) who speaks her mind and is from a good-natured but decidedly eccentric family.
The film received two Academy Awards from seven nominations: Best Picture and Best Director for Frank Capra. An iconic director, this was Capra’s third Oscar for Best Director in just five years, following It Happened One Night (1934) and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936). It was also the highest-grossing picture of the year.
I love Jean Arthur’s character (Alice) because she is a strong woman who knows who she is and isn’t afraid to tell Jimmy Stewart (Tony) that his family can go to the blazes because they aren’t better than hers; as a matter of fact, her family understands what Jimmy’s doesn’t, that money isn’t everything and you can’t take it with you. Friends and family are what gives your life worth.
Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur
Alice, sensing that her engagement to Tony will not be well received by his parents informs Tony that if their engagement is to go forward, he must invite his parents to the house to meet her family. I’m not sure what Tony was trying to prove but, he gives his parents the wrong date so the house is in disarray with the usual family “madness” in full view. (I said they were eccentric.)
Just another Tuesday night at the Sycamore house.
For me, the lesson of the movie is to live life to the fullest and cherish your family and friends. Don’t worry about being judged by others, they’re probably just jealous of how happy you are and how miserable they feel.
In the words of “Auntie Mame” from the 1958 movie.
Every time I think of the movie “Forrest Gump”, that’s the first quote I hear. Then, “Life’s like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.”
Forrest Gump’s (Tom Hanks) life is a testimony to gratitude. He understands his challenges but is not hesitant to live his life to the fullest, including telling his childhood love, Jenny (Robin Wright) how he feels about her.
He gets it. Life gives you what you get, so don’t whine, go for it and make the most of your journey. Thank God for his mother, (Sally Field), she didn’t listen to what the”experts” had to say. She did whatever she had to do to provide Forrest with the foundation that he could do anything. With his braces, he had “magic” legs. Turn every so-called obstacle into an advantage. Once again, attitude is everything!
Forrest is a true inspiration and proof that with support and love we can overcome adversity. Love and compassion make the difference.
Forrest and Bubba
Forrest – Lieutenant Dan
Lieutenant Dan, Bubba, Forrest
Jenny
Little Jenny
Forrest Life Quote
“Run Forrest, Run!”
Little Forrest/Little Jenny
Mama, Jenny, Bubba, and Lieutenant Dan. Forrest loved and was deeply loved by those whose lives he touched.
New York City Detective John McClane becomes the only hope for a small group of hostages, trapped in a Los Angeles high-rise office building when it is seized by terrorists on Christmas Eve. This 30th Anniversary event includes exclusive insight from Turner Classic Movies.
I have fond memories of the energy and excitement in the theater upon Die Hard’s release and it has remained one of my favorite movies of all time. Although premiering on July 12th,1988, it’s the perfect Christmas themed movie which our family always ends up watching during the Holidays.
The plot of the story takes place on Christmas Eve with NYPD detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) arriving in Los Angeles, intending to reconcile with his estranged wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), at the Christmas party of her employer, the Nakatomi Corporation.
While McClane changes clothes at the festivities, the party is disrupted by the arrival of a German terrorist, Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), and his heavily armed team: Karl, Tony, Franco, Theo, Alexander, Marco, Kristoff, Eddie, Uli, Heinrich, Fritz, and James. The group seizes the tower and secures those inside as hostages except for McClane, who slips away, and Argyle, (his limo driver) who gets trapped in the garage. (Wikipedia)
Let the games begin because McClane is a tough New York cop to his very core and is bound and determined to foil the terrorist takeover as captioned on the movie poster.
“Twelve terrorists. One cop. The odds are against John McClane…That’s just the way he likes it.”
Made for $28 million, Die Hard grossed over $140 million theatrically worldwide, with the film turning Willis into an action star, and became a metonym for an action film in which a lone hero fights overwhelming odds. The film’s success created the Die Hard franchise, which includes four sequels, a number of video games, and a comic book, and later in 2017 was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Die Hard has been named one of the best action and Christmas-themed films ever made. The film also ranks No. 20 on Empire‘s 2017 list of the 100 greatest movies of all time. (Wikipedia)
Alan Rickman
Rickman Bonnie Bedelia
I didn’t really care for the sequels, but I highly recommend checking out the original on the big screen at this 30th Anniversary screening. Find out where it’s showing in your area here.
The title sums it up. “Jam, Jive and Everything!.” Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller is one of the most charming, talented and prolific artists to ever tickle the ivories of a stride piano.
We share a birthday – May 21st. His last recording session was in Detroit, Michigan – home of my birth. I guess it was destiny that his music and spirit would come to bring me such joy!
What excites me about Fats?
When I was a kid and first saw the groundbreaking musical Stormy Weather (1943) I was familiar with its star Lena Horne because my father loved him some Miss Lena. But for me, the wonderful surprise of the film was Fats Waller.
Fats Waller and Lena Horne
When you see him you’re totally invested. His personality jumps off the screen. People talk about presence. Fats created “presence!”
Fats is credited with advancing the musical style – stride piano. Although known for his two most famous compositions: “Ain’t Misbehavin'” and “Honeysuckle Rose”, he penned many more uncredited hits such as “I Can’t Give You Anything but love, Baby” and “On the Sunny Side of the Street”.
Waller copyrighted over 400 songs and began his professional career as a pianist at the age of 15, working in cabarets and theaters.
His life and artistry became the Broadway musical revue “Ain’t Misbehavin‘ produced in 1978. (The show and star Nell Carter won Tony Awards.)
Recordings of Fats Waller were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame which is a special Grammy Award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have “qualitative or historical significance”.
Here ’tis, a tribute to Fats’ brilliance and charm:
Growing up in Detroit, Michigan in the 1960’s, every day on my radio I jammed to the greatest music of all time; Motown, Sam Cooke, the Godfather of Soul James Brown, and, the incomparable Aretha Franklin. She sang from the very depths of her soul becoming an icon and forever soundtrack of our lives.
Aretha began her career as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, where her father, C. L. Franklin, was the minister. In 1960, at the age of 18, she embarked on a secular career, recording for Columbia Records.
After signing to Atlantic Records in 1967, Ms. Franklin achieved commercial acclaim and success with songs such as “Respect”, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, “Spanish Harlem” and “Think”. By the end of the 1960s, she was being called “the Queen of Soul“.
Recording 112 charted singles on Billboard, including 77 Hot 100 entries, 17 top ten pop singles, 100 R&B entries and 20 number-one R&B singles, Aretha became the most charted female artist in the chart’s history. She won 18 Grammy Awards and is one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, having sold over 75 million records worldwide.
Aretha received numerous honors throughout her career including a 1987 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in which she became the first female performer to be inducted. She was inducted to the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005.
In August 2012, Aretha was inducted into the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame and listed in at least two all-time lists on Rolling Stone magazine, including the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.
Today we both mourn and celebrate the life of a musical pioneer, Civil Rights Activist, and without dispute the reigning Queen of Soul.
Let’s take a look back at her remarkable career and journey through the soul-stirring music of Ms. Aretha “Queen of Soul” Franklin.
Maybe I’m just a wee bit set in my ways, but the day of the week dictates the genre that I watch. Monday thru Friday are pretty wide open, however, Saturday and Sunday must stick to my criteria. Saturday afternoon is definitely B-horror/Sci-fi flicks and Sunday is reserved for Melodrama film classics.
If you’ve read my About Page you know that as a kid the Saturday Matinee had a big influence on my love of B-horror/Sci-fi movies and William Castle.
The Blob, The Incredible Shrinking Man and The Tingler. Now that’s good stuff!
The Blob, directed by Irvin Yeaworth, was Steve McQueen’s first leading role before he got his own TV series – Wanted: Dead or Alive (1959). McQueen was called “The King of Cool” and starred in such popular films as The Magnificent Seven and The Thomas Crown Affair. He received an Academy Award nomination for his role as Jake Holman in The Sand Pebbles.
The Blob plot revolves around what happens when an old man pokes a stick at a piece of a meteor and it cracks open releasing an oozy substance that starts to crawl up the stick. He tries to shake it off but ends up with “the blob” all over his hand. (This is why you don’t poke at things that drop from the sky. Yeesh!)
Steve (also his character name) and his girl Jane, after almost hitting the old man who has run onto the road, take him to the local doctor. Cutting to the chase: while Steve and Jane ( Aneta Corsaut, who eventually plays Andy Griffith’s TV girlfriend Helen) leave the doc’s office to look for clues to what’s on the old man’s hand, The Blob absorbs the old man, the doc and his nurse. Next thing you know it’s at the midnight horror movie. Cue the fleeing and screaming and holy crap how do we stop it. Phew, that was exhausting.
The theme song, written by Burt Bacharach and Mack David (who wrote some of the top hits of the sixties) is a catchy little gem. “It creeps and leaps and glides and slides across the floor…beware of the blob.” Catchy😊
I’ve watched this movie a hundred times and the ending always makes me cry. This thought-provoking Science Fiction classic taps into an anxiety of our purpose and what exactly is the meaning of life. Scott Carey (Grant Williams) is dusted by a radioactive mist while on a boating vacation with his wife Louise (Randy Stuart). A few weeks later he starts to notice his clothes are fitting looser and he also appears to be losing height. After visiting a specialist, it is confirmed that he is indeed shrinking.
Reduced to living in a dollhouse and eventually fighting for his life against the family cat and then battling it out with a big, hairy tarantula living in the basement, Scott finally shrinks to an infinitesimal size, entering the realm of the unknown.
For me, this movie is so much more than just another Saturday afternoon B-Movie flick. The closing monologue makes the point by concluding that no matter how small, we still matter in the universe because, to God, “there is no zero.”
Producer/Director William Castle delivers his finest in The Tingler (1959), his third collaboration with writer Robb White. The film stars the incomparable Vincent Price as Pathologist, Dr. Warren Chapin who researches and discovers the existence of The Tingler.
Percepto is my favorite William Castle gimmick. There comes a time in the movie when the Tingler (a parasite that feeds on fear) is loose in the theater and to save your life you need to scream! For grins, in select seats in the theaters, Castle placed the Percepto system which made the seat vibrate to simulate the feeling of fear you feel in your body when The Tingler strikes.
Man do I wish I could have been there in 1959 when The Tingler attacks the projectionist, the film strip breaks and The Tingler appears on the screen. If that’s not enough, the lights go out and you hear the voice of Vincent Price declaring that The Tingler is loose in the theater so scream, scream for your life! Awesome!!
Just think of it, being in the movie theater watching The Tingler scene and ending up participating in the experience in your Percepto seat, with lights out and the sound of Price’s voice. I love it!!!
Break out the popcorn and let me know your faves in the comments! 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
I was working on a post the other day and the TV show Nothing but Trailers was on in the background. It got me thinking about some of my all-time favorites and what constitutes a great trailer.
First of all, it can’t just be a series of scenes from the movie. That really irks me! What’s the point of me going if you’ve already given me your best shots? Just lazy.
An excellent trailer peaks your curiosity gets your heart-stirring and demands that you’re first in line to see it. An incredible trailer gives you minimal information but builds the anticipation with atmospheric music, punctuation shots, and an ending that elicits the core emotion of the film.
This is the criteria I applied to the following trailers and is the basis for them being some of the most memorable.
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Number One has got to be the 1979 sci-fi classic – Alien. “In space, no one can hear you scream.”
Starring Sigourney Weaver, director Ridley Scott scared the crap out of me and the little boy sitting in front of me at the theater. Oh, and to make matters worse, I was pregnant at the time. Yikes! (if you’ve seen it you understand if you haven’t, what?? You must!) And my girl Sigourney Weaver showed the world what a badass woman in space looks like.
Sigourney Weaver
This is the epitome of an incredible trailer. Little bits and moments and truly haunting music. My heart was racing and I had no idea of what I’d just seen.
The visuals were outstanding! There was absolutely nothing familiar in the images coming off the screen. The Alien and its accompanying elements were designed by Swiss surrealist artist H. R. Giger. (I don’t know how he slept with those images in his head) The film received both critical acclaim and box office success, receiving an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
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Number Two is the sci-fi thriller –The Dark Knight (2008) – “Why So Serious?”
First of all, Heath Ledger. Second of all, Heath Ledger!! Even in the trailer, his intensity shines thru. He draws you in and you’re compelled to see more. His Oscar-winning performance was incredible and the most talked about that year.
Ledger almost made a complete sweep of over twenty awards for acting, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
Heath Ledger
Unfortunately, we lost him, but his genius as The Joker lives on. Starring Christian Bale as the caped crusader and directed by Christopher Nolan, when I saw this trailer I knew where I was going to be on opening night. Totally lived up to the hype.
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And, Now Presenting… “The Master of Suspense”!
In 1960, Alfred Hitchcock shocked the world with his groundbreaking thriller. Unsuspecting moviegoers stood in lines that wrapped around the block with no one being allowed admittance after the movie began. Intensifying the anticipation, each patron’s directive was to NOT reveal the ending.
Watch this legend pull on your tension string. From the “Master of Suspense”, Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s – Psycho (1960) “…she just goes a little mad sometimes.”
This trailer shows Alfred Hitchcock taught the world just how horror is done. Fits all my criteria for an incredible movie trailer and then some. Starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins, my heart is racing right now re-visiting this magnificent piece of cinema.
Sir Alfred Hitchcock – (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980)
Hitch’s stylistic trademarks include the use of camera movement that mimics a person’s gaze, forcing viewers to engage in a form of voyeurism. In addition, he framed shots to maximize anxiety, fear, or empathy and used innovative forms of film editing. (Wikipedia)
To quote me, “An incredible trailer gives you minimal information but builds the anticipation with atmospheric music, punctuation shots, and an ending that elicits the core emotion of the film.”
An unquestionable classic!
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Now that I’ve shared some of my faves, I’d love to hear some of yours! 😎
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