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US (Jordan Peele)
US starts with a creepy prologue set in a Santa Cruz amusement park in 1986 where a little girl wanders off from her parents to go inside a mirrored funhouse called “Find Yourself”. What she sees there haunts this young girl for some time, even to some extent into her adulthood where she’s now an accomplished woman with a jovial husband, typical teenage daughter and young son with a penchant for masks. It’s unclear why the family is vacationing in Santa Cruz, there seems to be reference to the husband having stayed at this house when he was a kid, like the house belongs to his family; but as this…
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Light Fare: Hitchcock Movie 2012
It's easy for me to be taken in by movies that recreate the old Hollywood film studios; where everyone was on contract, and many writers and directors had offices on the premises where they came to work everyday, even when they weren't currently doing a picture; and the guard at the gate addressed executive, director and star by name as they drove their convertibles into the lot.
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Vertigo: The Artist As A Filmmaker
As I’ve mentioned before, I didn’t see many contemporary films/movies in my youth. Starting at about age 10 through my 20’s, I spent much of my viewing hours watching old movies, with Hitchcock’s Rebecca, Marnie, Vertigo & Notorious at the top of my list of favorites. Of course Alfred Hitchcock is known as the master of suspense, an even as a child I was drawn into the eerie, mysterious, dangerous qualities of these films, but it wasn’t really what fascinated me. I most certainly didn’t watch for perspective, crane shots, camera angles or filmmaking techniques. Although, I’m sure subconsciously, I responded to these aspects of the films, which we now…
