August 5, 2010 by Nostra - 0 comments

Vertigo (1958)

Vertigo is a feeling that you are dizzily turning around or that things are dizzily turning about you. Vertigo is usually due to a problem with the inner ear. Vertigo can also be caused by vision problems.

The word “vertigo” comes from the Latin “vertere”, to turn + the suffix “-igo”, a condition = a condition of turning about). Vertigo is medically distinct from dizziness, lightheadedness, and unsteadiness.

After a chase on the rooftops of San Francisco, John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson (James Stuart) starts suffering from it. He’s even afraid to get on small ladders. He has to quite his job and leaves the police force to become a private detective. He’s asked by an old friend to shadow his wife as she has been acting very strange lately. He takes the job and follows the woman everywhere she goes around San Francisco, which results in not only some beautiful shots of the city, but also a suspenseful thriller as only Hitchcock could make them. Continue reading →

June 18, 2010 by Nostra - 0 comments

Alien (1979)

It’s been 30 years since Alien was released and I have to admit that I hadn’t seen it. I have been wanting to see this (and the sequels) for a long time and in 2006 I bought this 25th anniversary box set Continue reading →

April 28, 2010 by Nostra - 0 comments

My IMDB tens: Psycho (1960)

I was planning to continue with my existing IMDB tens list with the next movie that was already present on it, until i watched Psycho. So a new addition to my list (after E.T. and The Great Dictator).
I guess that’s what you get when you are slowly working your way through the IMDB top 250. What a movie this is.
Just like Rope, this is also a movie Hitchcock directed. I only knew one scene about this movie, which is the famous shower scene including the haunting music that accompanied it. I had no idea where in the movie this scene would show up, but thought it was probably near the ending. It turned out i was wrong about it and it just shows what kind of ideas you can have about a movie which you have not seen yet. Continue reading →

April 15, 2010 by Nostra - 0 comments

The lives of others (2006)

What was it like to live in east Germany before the wall fell? What did it feel like to have to pay attention to what you said, because you never knew who you could trust or had to think about the possibility of the place you were in being bugged? What was the feeling a Stasi employee had when looking into the lives of others? This movie tries to give an answer to these questions. Continue reading →