Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Oh Ida...

While the City Sleeps(dir. Fritz Lang)
I liked the core story concerning the mystery around who the killer is, even though we, the audience, already know since they showed him in the beginning and throughout the experience before the other characters know. I wouldn't really say that finding out his identity is the point of the movie since we know, but how the other characters find out the identity of the man. There are some subplots that are given a lot of focus within its last ten or so minutes that I wasn't particurlarly fond of, but other than those subplots, I really had no problem with the movie. Ida Lupino is easily the best part of the movie.
***1/2 out of ****
The Lady from Shanghai(dir. Orson Welles)
My DVR cut off recording it right before the end. I read the script so I know what he says in his narration at the end. I'll just assume he walks away from the amusement park narrating. His style seemed to fit with this story a lot more to me than say Citizen Kane. It is more narrative-driven while Kane is more character-driven. His acting works well with this film while with Kane, he just seemed unlikeable. All the actors play the roles at a certain intensity and the style of the film is about as intense. The scenes in the aquarium and the crazy house were pretty awesome. The guy who played George was particurlarly memorable. Rita is definately better looking than Ida, but how Ida just exudes sexiness with her performance. I loved it.
**** out of ****

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