The Thin Man (1934)

Group Rating (out of 5):

Stevox: 3
Val: 5
Kyle: 4
Micah: 3

Averages to 3.75 drinks out of 5.

Shares this rating with The Princess Bride, Minority Report, and The Godfather.

The Great Movie Review: Buried

Buried is about a man who is, literally, buried in a coffin somewhere in Afghanistan.
He's just a truck driver who contracted to drive a just truck. He has a cell phone to contact the outside world, and the entire movie is set inside the coffin!

So I was interested in this movie after seeing the teaser trailer. I mean, the whole film is set in a coffin. How do you make a movie that's set only in a box. The movie uses several unique angles and unusual light sources to accomplish this. It also helps to keep you from losing interest. The movie is very fast past and emotion runs high with each piece of new information given. So this falls in line with The Lady Vanishes for unity of place. A movie set in a single location.

The opening credits are also pretty great. They rise from bottom to top to give the illusion of sinking into the ground. In the special features on the disc they make the comment that if Alfred Hitchcock had been given this script he would made it. And I'm inclined to agree. I think he would have definitely jumped at the chance to make this movie.

If you are claustrophobic or have a fear of being buried alive, this may not be the film for you to see.

Buried (2010)

Group Ratings (out of 5):

Val: 3
Kyle: 3
Micah: 3

Which averages to 3 used up light sources out of 5.

Shares this rating with The Breakfast Club, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The Great Movie Review: The Lady Vanishes

For this category, mystery thrillers, I went to the Netflix recommendations within the mystery/thriller genre and selected two of the movies Netflix rated highest for me: "Shutter Island" and "The Lady Vanishes." Both were presented as options, but seeing as how both Kyle and Micah had already seen "Shutter Island," "The Lady Vanishes" it was!

It was nice to return to Hitchcock, the director whose movies were our first foray into this film journey. I love mysteries and I love movies that keep you guessing along the way, so this was a good pick for that.

Filmed in 1938, "The Lady Vanishes" was one of the last movies Hitchcock directed in the UK before taking his film work to America. The set up of the movie is simple: a young lady named Iris (Margaret Lockwood) strikes up a friendship with an older woman named Miss Froy (May Whitty) aboard a train. Iris takes a nap and when she wakes up, her friend is gone. Not only that, but everyone else on the train insists that there never was such a woman.

The first portion of the film keeps you guessing, wondering if Iris is crazy or if the older woman really did exist. Mysteries set in an enclosed place, like a train, are already more interesting because you know there are a limited number of suspects and a limited number of places for a missing person to be held.

I won't ruin the film by going into too much detail, but I will say that things get a little sillier after the initial shock of the disappearance of Miss Froy. The story begins to take a few wild turns, and some of the characters behave quite peculiarly (even those who are never suspects). The climax of the film includes a long, drawn-out gun battle that never makes you feel that the main characters are really in jeopardy. In addition, there are several guns that are fired for an incredible number of rounds- and remember, this is 1938.

I will say that the conclusion, despite having a twist I didn't see coming, didn't fully satisfy me, as I thought Hitchcock would have had something a little more spectacular up his sleeve. As it is, though, "The Lady Vanishes" is a fairly entertaining little film that any Hitchcock buff should be sure to see. It's not at the caliber of a "Rear Window" or even "Strangers on a Train," but it beats the likes of "The Man Who Know Too Much" and "To Catch a Thief" easily.

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Group Ratings (out of 5):

Val: 3
Kyle: 3
Micah: 2

Averages to 2.66 infinite ammo guns out of 5.

Shares this rating with The Producers (1968) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

The Great Movie Review: Exam

So this is one of those rare movies that Netflix rated really high for me, and so I thought, "Ok, I'll check it out." About a week and a half later Val mentions in the car that she got in her new Netflix movie, Exam, and that it was really great. So I was really excited to see this movie, because, in general, Val has good taste, and Netflix rarely rates anything over a 3.5 for me.

So I rated this movie a 5. It's only 90 minutes long, and it is set in the same room for the entirety of the film. The idea is that there are 8 applicants for 1 job, and it's the job of a lifetime, with benefits that you don't fully understand until near the end of the movie. In this room there are only three rules: 1) If you spoil your paper you are disqualified, 2) If you leave the room for any reason you are disqualified and 3) If you try to communicate with the exam leader or the Guard you are disqualified. Did I mention they only have 80 minutes to answer one question, and they can't figure out what it is.

The opening sequences is full of great depth of field, cinematography and sound design. Even though the movie is set in the same room the whole time, it never feels like the shots stagnate. They probably must have shot that room from every angle possible. This little British Indy film may not have gotten wide release, but I bet it gains a much larger following over the next couple years. A 4.25 out of 5.

This is the first movie in our new theme: Thillers/Mysteries.

Exam (2008)

Group Rating (out of 5):

Stevox: 4
Val: 4
Kyle: 5
Micah: 4

That averages to 4.25 questions out of 5.

Shares this rating with The Sting.