2012: A Reflection in the Year of Film

2012 has been the best film year in recent memory. I can say that with absolute certainty and with no regret. Although each year sees the release of successes and failures, no other year has managed to seem so strongly successful, with virtually little to no true abysmal failures and an abundance of great movies. Movie theater ticket sales are higher than ever. Oscar season is as close as it ever has been. And the top directors in the world today, including Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Tim Burton, Ridley Scott, George Lucas, Woody Allen, Robert Zemeckis, and Christopher Nolan, have all released top-notch, blockbuster films. 2012 has been a year for the ages.

Even January and February, considered "Dead Months" in the Cinematic Calendar, saw the release of movies that surprised both critics and audiences. By the time March came around, family-friendly tales such as The Lorax and fun comedies like 21 Jump Street raked in a decent amount of the box office drawings. But no other film in the first four months of the year even compared with the phenomenal success of The Hunger Games, based on the hugely popular first book in the trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The movie shot actress Jennifer Lawrence to stardom, and held the number one spot at the box office for four weeks. Lawrence plays a young girl suddenly thrust into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse for the amusement of others, armed only with a bow and arrow for protection. The Hunger Games broke many records at the time of its release, and managed to remain in the top ten highest grossing movies of the year with $686.5 million, an impressive feat for any movie, much less one that was released during the "Dead Months" of the year.

Small time movies, like The Cabin in the Woods, impressed critics throughout the first third of 2012. By the time May came around, The Avengers largely surpassed both critical and box office expectations, starting off the summer movie season with a bang. The Avengers, which has been baiting moviegoers since the closing credits of 2008's Iron Man, is the crossover story between Marvel's finest superheroes (namely Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Nick Fury) facing Earth's most dire enemy, Loki, who plans to send an alien army to invade the planet. With strong approval ratings from both critics and audiences, and $1.5 billion in its pocket, the movie took the top box office receipt of the year.

Summer continued to see multiple success stories, from big names such as The Amazing Spider-Man and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, to smaller critical successes like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Prometheus. Easily the most anticipated movie of the year, The Dark Knight Rises is the epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan's famous Dark Knight trilogy that began with 2005's Batman Begins and 2008's The Dark Knight. Set eight years after the traumatic events of The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises sees Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) having to face off against two anarchistic new enemies: the manipulative cat burglar Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) and the brutal Bane (Tom Hardy). Despite the tragedy at Aurora, Colorado, which disturbed Hollywood in unimaginable ways, people rallied in pride around The Dark Knight Rises, which saw positive critical reception and the second-highest gross of the year with $1.08 billion.


Though August saw critical duds like The Bourne Legacy and the remake of Total Recall, by the end of September, 2012 was back on track with the highly imaginative Looper and the kids flick Hotel Transylvania. And October began Oscar season with Argo, masterfully directed by Ben Affleck. Based on a true story, Ben Affleck plays a CIA agent who is tasked with rescuing a group of Americans from the Canadian embassy in Iran, and ingeniously comes up with the idea to fake a film production to get them out. The result is a thrilling suspense tale, with intrigue and just the right amount of comic relief. Argo already has critic's groups hailing it as one of the year's best films, and remains a frontrunner for the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director.


Oscar season continued throughout October and November, with December finishing off the year on a high note with movies like Django Unchained, Les Miserables, and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The Hobbit, a prequel to The Lord of the Rings series, was shot at a higher rate of 48 frames per second (fps), instead of the usual 24 fps, giving the film a more realistic feel. Theater goers, though initially skeptical of the higher film rate, are still attending the movie in waves, already landing The Hobbit in the top ten highest grossing films of the year with $686.7 million and counting. Les Miserables is based on the Tony-winning musical of the same name, and finally saw a release after almost twenty years in stalled development. The wait has been worth it; the film has received strong critical reception and is considered to be a leader in the Oscar race.

2012 saw several highly anticipated sequels, prequels, and long awaited movies. The Avengers, built up since 2008, finally saw a release date. Men in Black 3 exited development hell and was produced after almost ten years. The Snow White studio battle finally came to a head with Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman, though both ultimately failed to impress. Alien series prequel Prometheus saw the return of original director Ridley Scott. The Dark Knight Rises ended Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. The Bourne series continued without Matt Damon. The Taken sequel was released (with laughable results). Spielberg's ten-year baby Lincoln was finally released, with Daniel Day-Lewis (who plays Abraham Lincoln) as the frontrunner for Best Actor in Oscar season. The Twilight saga ended. The "unfilmable" Life of Pi was indeed filmed by Danny Boyle, to fantastic approval. The Hobbit and Les Miserables saw the light of day after years of stalled production schedules. These are all only a hint of the highly anticipated films that finally saw fruition in 2012.

However, 2012 does not only mark the release of a multitude of successful movies. It also cements the legacy of several films from cinematic history. 2012 showed the 15th Anniversary of action film Air Force One, the 20th Anniversaries of Quentin Tarantino's first film Reservoir Dogs and courtroom drama A Few Good Men, the 30th Anniversaries of science fiction family flick E.T. and biopic Gandhi, the 40th Anniversary of gangster picture The Godfather, the 50th Anniversary of desert epic Lawrence of Arabia, and the 70th Anniversary of the romantic war film Casablanca.

But no other anniversary special rivaled the 50th Anniversary of James Bond 007, celebrating five decades of the British spy since the release of Dr. No in 1962. A Blu Ray release of the complete franchise, museum openings, and television and book specials marked the anniversary throughout the year, cumulating in James Bond Day on October 5th. The most prominent celebration of 007, however, was the global theatrical release of Skyfall, the twenty-third movie in the franchise. In Skyfall, Daniel Craig returns as James Bond, this time facing off against Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), a brutal hacker who is striking against the heart of MI6 and its leader, M (Judi Dench). Clinching the number three spot on the top ten highest grossing films of the year with $1 billion, Skyfall was critically praised and proved that James Bond 007 was still relevant in the modern age.

Overall, I loved 2012 in film. It has been the best year of movies in recent memory, with dozens of highly successful films and franchises reaching a height of success previously unheard of. A year of superheroes, spies, and Oscar-worthy movies, it will be hard to match such a successful twelve months. 2012, you will be missed.

Happy New Year!

Flashback Friday: It's a Wonderful Life (Capra, 1946)

Every year on Christmas Eve, NBC shows a very special holiday classic. It's annual viewing has become a timeless holiday tradition, and the film's universal appeal has made it a beloved movie worldwide. While it bombed in its original release, this Christmas drama has since become one of the greatest feel-good movies of all time. Today on Flashback Friday, we're in the Christmas spirit with It's a Wonderful Life.

The 1946 Christmas drama It's a Wonderful Life is based on "The Greatest Gift", a short story written by Phillip Van Doren Stern. For those select few of you who are unfamiliar with It's a Wonderful Life, the movie tells the story of George Bailey (James Stewart), a man who frequently gives up his dreams to help out others. Coming from a humble small town background, George saves his little brother from an ice lake, runs his family's loan group after his father passes away, and eventually convinces his brother to take a good job instead of returning to the family business. George eventually marries Mary Hatch (Donna Reed), who gives up the couple's honeymoon money to save the Bailey Building and Loan Association from collapsing.

George's main threat comes from Mr. Henry Potter (Lionel Barrymore, ironically fresh off his radio performance as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol), a ruthless businessman and shareholder who runs most of Bedford Falls' commercial industry. Potter desperately wants the Bailey Building and Loan Association, as it is the last remaining business that Potter has not conquered. George keeps fighting the businessman, but due to the bumbling antics of George's uncle, he loses the money needed to save the family store. His home life and work life growing worse with each passing day, and his financial problems now reaching their peak, George tries to kill himself by jumping off a bridge.

However, his suicide is intervened by Clarence (Henry Travers), George's guardian angel who seeks to prove how useful George is. So, Clarence shows his ward a troubling alternate universe where George was never born. The result is one of cinema's most uplifting and happy endings.

The idea to adapt "The Greatest Gift" was initially a popular idea in RKO Pictures. But, scheduling conflicts and Cary Grant's inability to star in the picture led to it's eventual shelving. Frank Capra, who would eventually direct the movie, loved "The Greatest Gift", and eagerly sought to buy the rights for the story. He entered into an agreement with RKO, who agreed to distribute the film in exchange for more films with Capra' production company, Liberty Films.

After several screenplay overhauls and edits, the movie was shot in a studio at RKO Pictures. The town in the film, Bedford Falls, is based on Seneca Falls, New York. Seneca Falls is very proud of this basis, and the New York town has an annual "It's a Wonderful Life Film Festival", a Hotel Clarence named after one the movie's characters, and a museum dedicated to the film.

Initial reviews of the film were mixed at best. Critics hated the overly optimistic nature of the story, though they found Stewart's and Reed's performances to be excellent. One of RKO Picture's most controversial actions for It's a Wonderful Life was moving it's release date to December 1946, instead of the planned January 1947. Had they kept it's initial release date, the film would have had far less powerful competition at the box office, and would only have squared off against fellow Christmas movie Miracle on 34th Street. Though the movie was bumped up to compete in the 1946 Academy Awards, the film won no Oscars, despite nominations for Best Picture, Director, Actor (Stewart), and Editing; these nominations all lost out to The Best Years of Our Lives.

The movie was also a box office disaster, failing to break even and costing RKO over $500,000 in losses. In the aftermath of the picture, Frank Capra lost his standing as a "good" film director, and never released another popular film again.

However, the film gained a cult following over the years, and grew in popularity with each passing holiday season. Jimmy Stewart listed It's a Wonderful Life as his favorite performance, and even director Frank Capra was surprised at how popular the film grew as a Christmas tradition throughout the 1970's. The American Film Institute included the movie in it's Top 100 Films, had George Bailey and Mr. Potter in the top ten for their greatest heroes and villains, and named It's a Wonderful Life the #1 most inspiring movie of all time.

Still an annual tradition to this day, It's a Wonderful Life remains one of film history's most repeatable achievements. It's story still inspires, and people will keep turning towards the life of George Bailey as an example of why they are loved in the world.

Happy Holidays, watch a good movie, and join Movie Critic's Club next week for a fond look back at 2012 in film!

Commentary on the 70th Golden Globe Awards Nominees

This morning, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) revealed the nominations for the 70th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television-making in 2012. The 70th Golden Globes will be telecast on NBC live on Sunday, January 13, 2013, and will be co-hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. For the purposes of this blog, we will be focusing on the Motion Picture categories of the nominations list. See bottom for the list of nominees.

The Golden Globe nominations, despite popular belief, do not officially start "Awards Season"; there have been several critic's awards handed out over the past couple weeks. These awards have included the Los Angeles Film Critic's Society, the Boston Society of Film Critics, and the American Film Institute's Top 10 Films of 2012. The big winners in these awards have been Zero Dark Thirty (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress- Jessica Chastain), and Lincoln (Best Actor- Daniel Day-Lewis, Best Supporting Actress- Sally Field). Argo, Les Miserables, Silver Linings Playbook, and Amour have also been strong contenders.

For the Golden Globes, Steven Spielberg's Lincoln is the big winner, with 7 nominations, including Best Motion Picture- Drama, Best Director- Steven Spielberg, and Best Actor- Daniel Day-Lewis. Argo and Django Unchained both have 5 nominations a piece, and both are up for Best Motion Picture-Drama and Best Director (for Ben Affleck and Quentin Tarantino, respectively).

The HFPA splits the Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress category into two different categories: Drama and Comedy or Musical. In the Drama category, Life of Pi and Zero Dark Thirty also bid for Best Picture. No huge surprises here, but Life of Pi has been surprisingly missing from the awards race until now. Life of Pi is also up for Best Director- Ang Lee, and Best Original Score- Mychael Danna. If Zero Dark Thirty keeps up the momentum it has gained over the past couple of weeks, it is likely to take Best Picture and Best Director- Kathryn Bigelow at a minimum.

Notable Best Actor-Drama nominees include popular choices Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln, John Hawkes for The Sessions, and Joaquin Phoenix for The Master. Denzel Washington is up for Flight, but despite numerous nominations for the film, his lack of wins does not suggest a promising future. The only "odd man out" in the Best Actor category is Richard Gere, up for his role in Arbitrage. Though critics liked the movie, Gere has remained notably absent from the awards race so far; his nomination here is likely because of the split between Drama and Musical/Comedy, replacing Hugh Jackman and Bradley Cooper in the five-man lineup.

There's no real surprise in the Best Actress-Drama category, which includes Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty, Marion Cotillard for Rust and Bone, and Helen Miren for Hitchcock. Rachel Weisz's performance in The Deep Blue Sea was a huge surprise when it won several early critic's awards, and people have now recognized her role as a distinct possibility in the Oscar race. Rounding out the Best Actress-Drama is Naomi Watts for The Impossible.

Like usual, the Comedy or Musical nominations are an odd mix of bizarre films that are nominated for the sole purpose of getting their stars to show up on the telecast. Only two films stand a chance at winning any Golden Globes (or any awards for that matter)- Les Miserables and Silver Linings Playbook. Both are up for Best Picture- Comedy or Musical, and Best Actor- Comedy or Musical (Hugh Jackman for Les Miserables, and Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook). Silver Linings is also up for Best Actress- Comedy or Musical for Jennifer Lawrence (who is also a strong contender for an Oscar) and Best Screenplay for David O. Russell.

Other Comedy or Musical nominees include last summer's The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which remains the only other film besides Les Miserables and Silver Linings Playbook that has gained any recognition during Awards Season in the Comedy or Musical category. Moonrise Kingdom and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen also garnered a few nominations, as did awards-darling Meryl Streep for Hope Springs.

For Best Supporting Actor, favorites Alan Arkin for Argo, Philip Seymour Hoffmann for The Master, and Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln not surprisingly made the nomination list. They are joined by Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz, each up for their roles in Django Unchained. This category has been wide open in terms of winners, so any one of these five men have a chance to walk away with a Golden Globe.

In the category of Best Supporting Actress, Amy Adams for The Master, Sally Field for Lincoln, Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables, and Helen Hunt for The Sessions made the cut. The biggest shock in this group is Nicole Kidman for her part in the relatively unknown film The Paperboy. But, don't expect Kidman to take the gold based on shock-value alone; Anne Hathaway, after a hugely successful year and a belt-it-out performance in Les Miserables, is a near certainty for a win. Hathaway's only real competition is Sally Field in Lincoln, who has won several early critic's awards.

Unlike previous years, there's no real front-runner for Best Animated Feature. Brave, Frankenweenie, and Wreck-It Ralph are all Disney movies, and stand out more than Rise of the Guardians and Hotel Transylvania. If I had to guess, Wreck-It Ralph will take the prize, based on popular and critical praise for the film.

Overall, the biggest surprise in this year's Golden Globe nominations is Django Unchained, which entered late into the race, but is now making a huge impact on the nominations. Quentin Tarantino, considered to be one the greatest directors of the modern age, has yet to win more than Best Screenplay at the Golden Globes; the multiple nominations for Django Unchained could indicate his time may finally be at hand.

The nominations for the 70th Golden Globe Awards follow the majority of popular nominees this Awards Season. The few surprises probably won't make much of a difference in the overall race, with the exception of maybe Django Unchained and Life of Pi. 2012 was one of the best movie years in recent memory, and the amount of strong nominees and films should make for an interesting and nail-biting Awards Season.





The 70th Golden Globes Nominations for Motion Pictures

Best Motion Picture-Drama
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Motion Picture- Comedy or Musical
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Moonrise Kingdom
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Silver Linings Playbook

Best Director
Ben Affleck, Argo
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

Best Actor- Drama
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Richard Gere, Arbitrage
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight

Best Actress- Drama
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
Helen Miren, Hitchcock
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea

Best Actor- Comedy or Musical
Jack Black, Bernie
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Ewan McGregor, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Bill Murray, Hyde Park on the Hudson

Best Actress- Comedy or Musical
Emily Blunt, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Judi Dench, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Maggie Smith, Quartet
Meryl Streep, Hope Springs

Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin, Argo
Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
Phillip Seymour Hoffmann, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy

Best Screenplay
Argo
Django Unchained
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Foreign Language Film
Amour
A Royal Affair
The Intouchables
Rust and Bone
Kon-Tiki

Best Animated Feature Film
Brave
Frankenweenie
Hotel Transylvania
Rise of the Guardians
Wreck-It Ralph

Best Original Score
Anna Karenina
Argo
Cloud Atlas
Life of Pi
Lincoln

Best Original Song
"For You" performed by Keith Urban, Act of Valor
"Not Running Anymore", performed by Bon Jovi, Stand Up Guys
"Safe and Sound", performed by Taylor Swift, The Hunger Games
"Skyfall", performed by Adele, Skyfall
"Suddenly", performed by Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables

Flashback Friday: Quentin Tarantino XX

On October 23, 1992, the world was introduced to Reservoir Dogs, the debut of one of America's most prolific directors. Since then, he has produced such mega-hits as Jackie Brown, Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds, and, of course, Pulp Fiction. His brutally violent, ultra-profane, and dialogue-driven style has made him one of Hollywood's most profitable and successful film directors. Today on Flashback Friday, we're celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the career of Quentin Tarantino.

A film buff from a young age, Quentin Tarantino despised education and dropped out of high school. He took a job at a video rental store called the Video Archives, where he met Roger Avary, another avid movie fan who co-wrote some of Tarantino's screenplays.

Tarantino never attended film school, instead opting to watch movies. His job at the rental store allowed him to observe what kinds of movies people were watching. Plus, Tarantino's obsession and encyclopedic knowledge of everything film allowed learn by simply watching movies. All of his films contain allusions to other works of cinema, such as the mysterious briefcase in Pulp Fiction (a reference to Kiss Me Deadly).

While working at the Video Archives, Tarantino wrote the screenplay for True Romance, a romantic thriller about a Martial-arts film buff becoming involved with gangsters. By 1990, Tarantino had left the Video Archives to work for Cinetel, a production company that also allowed him to take acting classes. At Cinetel, he met director Tony Scott, who loved the screenplay for True Romance and bought the rights to it.


His place in Hollywood now secure, Quentin Tarantino was able to film his first movie as a director, a project called Reservoir Dogs. Originally, Tarantino planned to produce the movie on a minimal budget, with his friends playing the lead characters. However, actor Harvey Keitel got a hold of the script, and was able to secure a little over a million dollars for the budget. With Keitel co-producing and playing the lead role, Reservoir Dogs became more and more prominent each day. It finally premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 1992, receiving critical acclaim and skyrocketing the career of Tarantino overnight.

Reservoir Dogs is an intelligent heist film, featuring a team of professional thieves that get set up during a diamond store robbery. The thieves, known only by their colored aliases (i.e. Mr. White, Mr. Orange), begin to accuse one another of betrayal while they are stuck in a warehouse rendezvous point. The film also features one of the most violent and gut-wrenching torture scenes in cinematic history: the "Stuck in the Middle" ear sequence instigated by Mr. Blonde. Reservoir Dogs grew in greater popularity after the high success of Tarantino's next film.

After Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino next sought to produce Pulp Fiction, his masterpiece film about a pair of hit men who interact with various characters in Los Angeles. With a rousing pop soundtrack, featuring "Miserlou" and "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon", the film epitomized the Tarantino style of bloody violence, extreme language (with 272 uses of the "f-word"), and intelligent dialogue driving the plot. The film was also shot with hyperrealism, which means that the actions were so realistic that they were almost unbelievable.

Pulp Fiction revitalized the career of John Travolta, who along with the film was nominated for an Academy Award (Tarantino won for Best Screenplay that year). The movie has since become a classic, landing on AFI's Top 100 Movies of All Time and still remaining popular with audiences.

Quentin Tarantino's follow-up to Pulp Fiction, 1997's Jackie Brown, was a tribute to the Blaxploitation movies of the 1970's. The Blaxploitation movies, such as Foxy Brown, featured, and were catered towards, a predominately African American audience. Jackie Brown, though not as commercially successful as Pulp Fiction, still received great reviews and renewed the careers of Pam Grier and Robert Forster.

Since the 1990's, Tarantino has directed several more films, like the Kung-Fu movie Kill Bill, and the Nazi-hunting film Inglourious Basterds. In December, he will release his ninth feature film, Django Unchained. Django will tell the story of a slave (Jamie Foxx) turned bounty hunter who tries to rescue his wife (Kerry Washington) from a malicious plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio). 

Other trademark styles of Quentin Tarantino include casting a comedian in a cameo role (such as Chris Tucker in Jackie Brown and Mike Meyers in Inglourious Basterds) and frequently working with the same actors (Harvey Keitel, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, and Uma Thurman). He also personally chooses the soundtrack for his movies, with pre-written songs instead of an original score. With long, drawn-out scenes, unusual characters, and a penchant for glorifying crime, audiences know what they're getting from a Tarantino picture.

Personally, Pulp Fiction is a film that holds a very special place in my heart. After the explosive and mind-blowing opening diner sequence of that movie, I knew I was in a for a cinematic experience unlike anything I'd ever seen before. It is the movie that really rejuvenated my love for cinema when I was in a dry spell of watching bad movies, and since then I've always turned to Quentin Tarantino when I’m in a movie funk. His films always manage to prove to me how much I love the cinema. He makes audiences share his love for the movies, and I am eternally grateful to him for allowing me to reignite my passion. 

Tarantino is a cinephile, someone who is obsessed and lives around the movies. He's put his personal life on hold in order to do the one thing in life that makes him happy. And audiences are very appreciative. With one of the most loyal fan bases today, the director has made his mark on cinematic history. He modernized the film industry with his autuer-like filmmaking of combining both art and popular culture. And, with Django Unchained just around the corner, the world will not have to wait much longer to see his signature style once again.

Happy twenty years of doing what you love, Quentin Tarantino.

Flashback Friday: Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960)

Hitchcock (Gervasi, 2012) is in theaters now, so today we're taking a closer look at the scary film who's production is the focus of the new movie. As shocking and horrifying as ever, the first "slasher" film has inspired dozens of imitators over the years, including Halloween (Carpenter, 1978) and Friday the 13th (Cunningham, 1980). Plus, how many of us are still so afraid to take a shower? Today on Flashback Friday, we're analyzing Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 horror masterpiece, Psycho.

(WARNING: The following analysis assumes that you have seen Psycho. There WILL be heavy spoilers, so tread carefully before reading this edition of Flashback Friday.)

Psycho is one of Alfred Hitchcock's most important works. It rivals North by Northwest, Vertigo, and Rear Window in arguments about which movie remains the director's greatest. Psycho is certainly his scariest. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for this film, his fifth after previous recognition for Rebecca (1940, Best Picture Winner), Lifeboat (1944), Spellbound (1945), and Rear Window (1954). Hitchcock famously never won an Oscar, despite his great strides for film progress. The closest thing he ever got to it was an Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1968.

Alfred Hitchcock is an autuer of cinema, meaning a director who takes full creative control of his works. He's known for his meticulous, calculated, and planned shooting style for movies. Hitchcock personally details every shot, every angle to his movies. A showman by nature, his television show Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-1965) brought him into the public eye by personally appearing in each episode to introduce and conclude the story. He also appeared in a cameo appearance in all of his films, as well as personally leading the theatrical trailers and promos. Everyone at the time knew his face and name.

He gained the monicker "The Master of Suspense", and for good reason: in all of his films, he managed to scare audiences through intense thrills and perilous adventures. Another style of Hitchcock is his frequent use of romance. He filmed several passionate and controversial love scenes throughout his career, and established the "Hitchcock Blonde" as a strong woman to aid the hero. Alfred Hitchcock remains one of the principal figureheads of entertaining audiences, and not critics. He cared little for his production crew, actors, or distributers. As long as audiences liked his movies, he was satisfied.

For all these reasons and more, people thought they knew what to expect when they went to see Psycho. They had no idea the horror they were about to experience.

The production of Psycho is just as interesting as the film itself, and for that reason it is the topic of the new movie Hitchcock. In short, the production was financed by Alfred Hitchcock only, as Paramount Pictures thought the movie would be a failure. A cheap man, Hitchcock used the production crew of Alfred Hitchcock Presents to save money and time by not needing to get to know any new staff members. The film was filmed in black and white so that he would not need to create realistic blood (the blood used in the movie is chocolate syrup). The screenplay was written by Joseph Stefano, based on the novel Psycho by Robert Bloch. And all of the film was overseen by Hitchcock's "third and fourth hands"- his wife, Alma, who's approval or disapproval highly influenced Hitchcock.

The story of Psycho follows Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), a woman from Pheonix, Arizona who is dating highly indebted Sam Loomis. To help her boyfriend out, Crane steals $40,000 from her employer, and subsequently runs away to Loomis' home in California. Along the way, and after a series of misadventures, Crane ends up having to avoid a thunderstorm. She pulls into the Bates Motel, where she meets the motel's bizarre caretaker, Norman Bates- a man controlled by his domineering mother. Her night at the motel remains an unforgettable cinematic experience. After a conversation with the creepy Norman Bates, Marion decides to return the money in the morning after the storm has passed. She begins to take a shower, until a mysterious figure enters the bathroom. Concealed in the shadows, the "mother" figure pulls back the curtain and repeatedly stabs Marion to death. Norman, shocked at seeing a dead body, covers his mother's tracks by burying Marion's body and her car in the marsh near the Motel.

The second part of the story involves Sam and Marion's sister Lila Crane searching for Marion. After Norman's "mother" murders a private detective sent to find Marion, Sam and Lila personally go to the Bates Motel to investigate. After looking around, they eventually find the corpse of Norman's mother. They subdue Norman, who is taken under arrest. A psychologist reveals that Norman is psychologically insane, his mind split into the two personalities of himself and his mother. The mother in some ways did kill those people, as Norman truly believed that he was her. Deeply disturbed, the film ends with Norman smiling in a prison cell as Marion's car is pulled from the marsh.

The originality and different nature of Psycho prompted a creative promotion campaign. For starters, critics were not allowed to see the movie beforehand (which, some say, led to their initial terrible reviews; their grades changed by the end of the year). Hitchcock himself directed the theatrical trailer for the movie, an infamous mini-movie that had Hitchcock touring the Bates Motel. The trailer contained no footage from the actual film, further surrounding the upcoming movie in mystery. Hitchcock also "casted" the mother figure, throwing off the scent of the movie's twist ending; in addition, the whole cast and crew were sworn to secrecy.

When Psycho finally did open in theaters, Hitchcock's most ambitious move was strictly enforcing a "No Late Admittance Policy" to the theater. He did this so that late audience members would not be upset over not seeing super-star Janet Leigh, who dies in the first third of the film. This ensured that no one felt cheated when they saw the movie. While theater chains were worried this policy would hurt box office receipts, their fears were relieved when audiences doubled just to see what all the hype was about. Long lines waited outside the theater for hours before the next showing, and popular word of mouth gave the movie a highly successful box office gross.

Themes of Psycho include the romantic ironies of failed love interests, much different than Alfred Hitchcock's other films. No character in the movie has a strong romantic relationship: Marion loves the highly indebted Sam, Sam loves his girlfriend's sister Lila, and Norman loves his dead mother. Hitchcock believes none of these characters can ever be happy, as none of them experience true love. Also, no character is able to escape the past: Marion cannot steal the money without fearing the consequences, Sam cannot escape his father's debts, and Norman is stuck in the past with his mother. Not even the city of Pheonix can escape the past; the famous opening skyline sequence features several construction crews repairing damaged buildings.

There are several important symbols in Psycho. First, birds are frequently alluded to, whether in names (main character Marion Crane, city location Phoenix, Arizona), props (stuffed birds throughout the Bates Motel, rakes shaped like talons in the shadows of Sam's shop over Lila), or acting styles (Norman frequently cocks his head like a bird when talking to people, and mentions that Marion "eats like a bird"). Second, light and dark are often used to portray intense feelings of intensity, though not in the usual sense. Light oftentimes conveys "danger", as in the brightened bathroom during the shower scene, and with the neon Bates Motel sign. Shadows and darkness hide certain locations in mystery, and sometimes the darkness is more inviting than the light.

The shower scene took a week to film, a long time considering the short overall production time. Hitchcock liked the way a shower could convey to the audience a sense of rejuvenation and cleansing for Marion, further adding to the shock the sudden murder would create. For a forty-five second scene, it had over 100 different camera angles. The orchestral shrieking score featured in the scene, written by Bernard Hermann, is ranked as the #2 Best Film Score of All Time. For those closely watching, the rain foreshadows the importance of water in the movie. (Fun Fact: the shower scene also features the first time a toilet was ever flushed in a movie).

A full blog post could be written about the character of Norman Bates. His name means "normal", which makes viewers wonder whether this was intentionally ironic or further adding to the shock. Anthony Perkins, who played Norman, was praised for his performance, but after Psycho was typecast in playing the same type of role over and over again. But, he cited Psycho as his favorite performance, and didn't regret ever doing it until the day he died.

The audience is made to have sympathy for Marion initially, as the beginning follows her. After her death, the audience switches their point of view to Norman, a switch that also makes us sympathize the controlled son. This turned out to be an ingenious strategy, as we are prevented from suspecting that Norman could be so evil. We question our own judgements, much like the characters do, and as such we are further scared by the film's ending.

The twist ending shocks many viewers, and for good reason. Hitchcock intentionally alludes to the "mother", with several "MacGuffins" (things done in the film that seem important, but mean almost nothing in the end), including the $40,000 and the subplot involving a pastor believing someone else was buried instead of Norman's mother. We do not expect that the mother is dead, and in some strange way, we sympathize with Norman for his struggles, despite knowing how twisted an individual he remains.

Psycho is not only one of the scariest movies of all time, but is one of the best films ever made. The American Film Institute named it the #1 Most Thrilling Movie of All Time, and ranked it in their top 20 of the best films ever. It's my personal favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie. Only one question remains.

Who's up for a shower?

The Changing Face of Animation

The days of the Disney Renaissance are long over. The standards of animation are changing in a new-world landscape, at an age where digital and computer images outdate the traditional hand-drawings of the past. Walt Disney Animation Studios (along with their subsidiary company, Pixar Animation Studios) and DreamWorks Animation lead the forefront of computer-animated movies. In this digital age of computer generated imaging (CGI), an important question has remained overlooked:

Is traditional, hand-drawn animation a thing of the past?

Since the release of Pixar's Toy Story in 1995, feature-length computer animation has become an integral part of mainstream film. Toy Story's production company, Pixar, has released over a dozen movies over the last seventeen years, most of which have been critically and commercially successful. While the Disney Renaissance period (1989-2000) continued to dwindle, Pixar grew in popularity, surpassing even the producers expectations.

Disney ultimately bought their longtime partner Pixar in 2006. But, Walt Disney Animation Studios still produced their own movies throughout the 2000's to little to no success, failing in comparison to Pixar's seemingly unstoppable collection of smart, funny, and entertaining features. Hand-drawn Disney movies such as  Brother Bear (2003), Home on the Range (2004), and The Princess and the Frog (2009) remain greatly overshadowed by the computer animated Pixar films Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), and Up (2009).

Rival company DreamWorks Animation released their own line of computer-animated productions at this time, none nearly more potent than Shrek (2001), a fairy-tale mashup that matched Pixar's level of ingenuity and technical achievement. Madagascar (2005) and How to Train Your Dragon (2009) continued DreamWorks success streak, with some critics proclaiming it could beat Disney in the digital age.

But Walt Disney Studios, innovative as ever, managed to adapt to the modern era of animation. While the dated Dinosaur (2000) and the story-less Chicken Little (2005) marked forgettable attempts at computer animation by Disney, the highly creative and entertaining Wreck-It Ralph (2012) marks a new turn for Disney. Wreck-It Ralph is a fun, humorous, and oftentimes heart-warming adventure that manages to provide a feel-good story with striking visuals. It's Disney's best animated production in years, even surpassing some Pixar movies in terms of animation potential.

Through all of their failures and lackluster productions in the 2000's, it's a computer animated film that brings Disney back to the forefront of animation. No matter how hard the studio tries, they cannot underestimate the power of CGI. Which begs the question again: Is traditional, hand-drawn animation a thing of the past?

The answer: Maybe.

In 2001, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences created the Best Animated Feature category at the Oscars. Nominated films Nickelodeon's Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Pixar's Monsters, Inc. were easily beat out by DreamWork's Shrek. Since the category's creation in 2001, only one traditionally animated film has ever won Best Animated Feature (in 2002, for Japanese Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away). Pixar has won the category six times, while Disney has only been nominated for four hand-drawn animated films. Disney is now marketing four movies from 2012 in their For Your Consideration campaign: Pixar's Brave, as well as Frankenweenie and Wreck-It Ralph and the animated short Paperman (which combines hand-drawn animation with computer images).

Disney has announced a new film for 2013, Frozen, which will be another computer animated production. DreamWorks Animation has not created a single traditionally animated film since 2003's Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, and has announced a dozen new movies for release over the course of the next four years- all computer animated.

The changing face of animation is obviously made from a computer. But do not underestimate the importance of traditional animation; when done right, it can be just as effective as computer animation. Walt Disney Pictures is still the biggest name in animation, and for rightful reasons. Their classic films still manage to capture the essence of life and the entertainment of movies. Children today are still loving the likes of Pinocchio (1940), Cinderella (1950), One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), The Little Mermaid (1989), and The Lion King (1994).

The fact remains that computer animation will continue to thrive in the modern age. In a few years, maybe every Disney film will be computer animated. But traditional animation is still a valid art form, and remains vital to understanding the animation genre of filmmaking. While hand-drawn animation is primarily a thing of the past, it still remains a part of cinematic history that should be celebrated well into the future. Animation is changing, but one thing will always remain: through all the turmoil and problems, films adapt to modern technologies in the noble effort to spread movie magic for all ages.

Flashback Friday: A Few Good Men (Reiner, 1992)

"You can't handle the truth!" That's right, twenty years ago Jack Nicholson uttered these famous lines for the first time, uttering an era of immitators. Director Rob Reiner's Marine trial landed a spot in the top five of AFI's Greatest Courtroom Dramas Of All Time, and remains one of the most influential movies of the 1990's. Today on Flashback Friday, we're celebrating the 20th Anniversary of A Few Good Men. 

Tom Cruise shines as Lt. Daniel Kaffee, a JAG lawyer known for plea bargains who is assigned the defense of two young marines charged for murder. These marines, Lance Corporal Harold Dawson and Private First Class (Pfc.) Louden Downey, enacted an accidentally fatal "Code Red" on Pfc. William Santiago while stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Dawson and Downey claim that this illegal "Code Red" was ordered by Lt. Jonathan Kendrick (Kiefer Sutherland), who was in turn under the command of the powerful Col. Nathan R. Jessup (Jack Nicholson).

Working with internal affairs officer Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore) and his friend Lt. Sam Weinberg (Kevin Pollack), Kaffee begins to investigate Santiago's murder. Along the way, he finds a trail of corruption and illegal activities happening on the military base at Guantanamo Bay. Realizing that there's more to the murder than meets the eye, Kaffee rejects the plea bargain and goes head-to-head with prosecution lawyer Captain Jack Ross (Kevin Bacon) in the defense of Dawson and Downey.


Funny and entertaining, while at the same time serious and topical, A Few Good Men succeeds at being a great courtroom drama. It's stellar ensemble cast dives into their roles with style, and have great chemistry with one another. Easily one of the most engrossing courtroom dramas, the film's final scene is electrifying in its intensity, silencing even the most stoic of critics.

As a character drama with a point to make, few other movies can match Reiner's in terms of development and character study. Lt. Kaffee is a real hero, strong yet scared of the consequences of losing such an easily contested trial. Think about it: he's defending two murderers, and whether they are accidental or not, the fact remains that they personally killed Pfc. Santiago. Even the jury seems to have made up their mind beforehand. Lt. Kaffee is a brilliant trial lawyer, and combats every point with an equally intelligent rebuttal. Lt. Cdr. Galloway and Lt. Weinberg offer interesting foils for Kaffee, as either ends of the trial's extreme; she's confident of their victory, but he's sure they are going to lose.

Jack Nicholson's Col. Jessup is a fun villain, appearing in only a few key moments of the film. But, much like Hannibal Lecter before him, the most memorable scenes of the movie are with Col. Jessup. Who can't help but repeatedly quote and instantly recognize his infamous monologue about the ethics of leading a military base? Hint: In addition to Tom Cruises's inability to handle the truth, Col. Jessup's speech includes such lines as "You want me on that wall, you need me on that wall!";"We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as a backbone of life worth defending something. You use them as a punchline,"; and, of course, "Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to!"

There's so much to A Few Good Men that makes it a good movie. Aaron Sorkin's script is both beautiful and relevant to today's controversial military activities, striking at the heart of everyone who watches the film. Twenty years after its release, we're still cheering on those few good men who stand up for what they believe in- no matter what the cost. It's not enough to obey orders. You have to stick up for what's right. That's a truth that's easy to handle.

Skyfall (Mendes, 2012)

If there are any lingering doubts about Daniel Craig's performance as James Bond, look no further. Complaints about the brutality of 2006's Casino Royale and the blandness of 2008's Quantum of Solace are answered in the latest installment of the 007 franchise. Fifty years after the series opened with Dr. No, director Sam Mendes brings viewers one of the most entertaining Bond films in years. And naysayers have nothing to complain about.

Skyfall, the twenty-third film starring British secret agent 007, is a richly satisfying James Bond film that perfectly combines the original style of the classic films with the modern spins of the newer movies. Skfyall is the first 007 adventure in a while to actually feel like a James Bond movie. Daniel Craig is never better as the iconic character, and finally moves past the emotional trauma he suffered in his first two performances in the role. He's still a more grounded, haunted Bond, but can have more fun with the part and all of its particular nuances.

Screenwriters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and John Logan give us a story that evokes some of the earlier Bond tales. After MI6 is breached, James Bond becomes the only agent who can stop a mysterious terrorist. Meanwhile, he must deal with the terrorist's apparent grudge towards Judi Dench's M, in her most emotionally involved performance yet.

Skfyall's Oscar-winning director, Sam Mendes, holds nothing back to prove that Bond was still relevant after a four-year hiatus and in a changing world landscape. Mendes is an open fan of the franchise, as popularly denoted by its reference in his Academy Award darling American Beauty (1999), where Kevin Spacey's character mentions he wants to watch the "James Bond marathon on TNT". Mendes, along with franchise producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, maintains the perfect balance of both an emotional character drama and a great thriller, with just the right amount of action scenes that keeps audiences on the edge of their seats every single time.

With Skyfall, Sam Mendes chose to really hone in on the central characters, and more than just the obvious figures of 007 and M. He does a lot with Ralph Fienne's Terry Mallory, an intelligence chair observing MI6's activities in recent days, and with Bond villain Raoul Silva. Actor Javier Bardem gives a similar approach to Silva to what he did with No Country for Old Men (for which he won an Oscar in 2007), but evokes the classic Bond villain style of the no-nonsense, megalomanic, and classy evildoer. Viewers will be reminded of earlier Bond villains such as Dr. No and Auric Goldfinger when they see Raoul Silva, one of the best villains in the franchise's history. In fact, Silva is unique for the fact that his mission is much more personal, much more evil than some of the more recent foes.

Two beautiful Bond girls include Naomie Harris' Eve and Berenice Marlohe's Severine. Eve is an MI6 field agent who works closely with 007, while Severine is an associate of Silva's in Macau, China. While neither is developed as well as the other characters in the film, their appearance is still important and adds the usual chemistry with 007.

Other Bond elements more evident in Skfyall than in the other Craig films include the use of gadgets (finally), riveting car chases, and exotic world locales. With "Skyfall", Adele provides an alluring theme song when combined with stunning graphics in the opening credits. She's on track to win Bond its first Best Original Song Oscar.

For loyal fans of the long-running franchise, several in-jokes appear throughout Skyfall as an homage to the 50th Anniversary of the James Bond movies. Pay close attention to notice some allusions to classic films of the franchise. To whet your appetite, one of the bottles of wine that Bond drinks is a 1962 Bollinger, the same year as the release of Dr. No, and a popular drink for the character in both the earlier films and the novels.

Skyfall will grow in importance as one of the best James Bond films in its fifty year history. Not for a while has a 007 movie felt as good as this one, and proves that fans and newcomers alike can still enjoy the adventures of the world's greatest secret agent. Nobody does it better than James Bond, and no one ever will.

Five out of five stars.

Flashback Friday: Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace (Campbell and Forster, 2006 and 2008)

With Skyfall opening in the U.S. today, Movie Critic's Club is taking another extensive look at the 007 franchise as part of the celebration of James Bond's 50th Birthday. Today, we're remembering the two most recent additions of the 007 franchise, two films controversial when first announced but who's success has promoted them to become two of the secret agent's greatest missions. With beautiful women, brutal villains, and some of the series greatest action scenes, these two movies have become the installments that have allowed James Bond to thrive today. Today on Flashback Friday: Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.

After the box office success but critical failure of Die Another Day in 2002, producer Barbara Broccoli (daughter of influential Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli) thought it was time for the series to go in a new direction. She thought that the movies were getting too silly, and wanted to ground the series in the way that Ian Fleming's source novels did. So, going back to these novels, she took Bond's first book, Casino Royale, and began to work on a new script idea for it. Eventually, she got approval, but ultimately decided that this new direction should not include then-Bond Pierce Brosnan.

For iconic role of James Bond, over 40 years by this point, Broccoli and several producers looked for a relatively unknown actor capable of heavy action and intense emotion. They decided on Daniel Craig, an independent film actor perfect for the part, but with one major problem- his hair. His blonde hair caused immediate backlash, and fans found him to be "too big" for the part and thought that this new "Blond Bond" would fail in the part.

Little did fans and critics know that they were about to get one of the greatest James Bonds they'd ever seen.

As a recap for those seeing Skyfall this weekend, Casino Royale rebooted the Bond films for the new decade. Set in modern times, the Martin Campbell film featured James Bond's first real mission as a 00 agent, earning his license to kill by taking down a corrupt MI6 informant. Shortly after this promotion, Bond is assigned to capture a bomb maker, who dies after a highly entertaining chase scene. MI6 and M (Judi Dench, the only remainder from the previous Bond films) links the bomb maker to a terrorist organization financed by a mysterious man named Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelson), and sends Bond to beat him at a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro. 007 is financed by the Treasury and their correspondent, Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), whom 007 seduces and falls in love with.

Casino Royale surpassed expectations, with Craig being hailed as the best Bond in a long time. Critics praised it's darker themes and shocking brutality, happy that it dispensed with some of the silly action and gadgets the more recent films contained. Even with a disturbing torture scene, a tragic ending, and extremely violent gun battles, audiences still flocked to the theaters to bring Casino Royale a $596.4 million box office receipt.

With the success of Casino Royale, Broccoli and fellow producer Michael G. Wilson began work on the next installment, Quantum of Solace. In this Bond thriller, director Marc Forster pits 007 against Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), an environmental terrorist working with the same organization financed by Le Chiffre- Quantum. James Bond, seeking revenge for the events at the end of Casino Royale, goes on a mad killing spree, murdering anyone he thinks may be involved with Quantum. Along with fellow vengeance-seeking Camille Montes (Olga Kurylenko), Bond goes after Greene to stop his aims of taking control of Bolivia and the nation's water supply.

Though less positively received than Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace still racked in an impressive $586 million at the box office. Daniel Craig was still successful in the role of Bond, but fans were less enthusiastic about Bond Girl Montes and villain Greene. However, soon after Quantum was released, MGM began experiencing financial troubles. In November of 2010, the company filed for bankruptcy. The James Bond franchise was in trouble, and many were concerned that the end of the 007 franchise was near.

But the fates were in Bond's favor. MGM was saved from bankruptcy that next December, and Broccoli and Wilson began scouting locations for the Bond film. They announced Skyfall in 2011, and the rest is history.

Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace both mark turning points in the James Bond franchise. Their brutal modern action sequences may differ from the previous installments, but many find them to be what the franchise needs in this new decade of cinema.

For me personally, Casino Royale is one of my favorite James Bond movies, and Daniel Craig has earned my respect for a fantastic performance of 007. He brings a haunted presence to the part, and his violent nature makes him a great action star. Eva Green as Vesper Lynd is a phenomenal Bond Girl, tempting and equally matching James in ways no other woman has before. And who can forget Judi Dench's award-worthy portrayal of the motherly M, the one friend Bond has truly ever had?

Even Dominic Greene is entertaining as far as villains are concerned, and the disappearance of Mr. White makes sure that Quantum will remain as strong as a force as SPECTRE was in the early Bond films. I have high hopes for Quantum; over the next few Bond films, hopefully the villains have some relation to this organization that is bound to make life interesting for 007.

Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace are extremely relevant films in today's post-9/11 world, and are fantastic installments of the 007 franchise as a whole. The success of these two films has made sure that James Bond will always be around, and I am excited to see what new missions are in store for the world's greatest secret agent.

Flashback Friday: The Exorcist (Friedkin, 1973)

With Halloween last Wednesday, and Movie Critic's Club recent list of the Top 10 Film Villains, a horror movie with an excellent villain seems appropriate for this week's Flashback Friday. We're taking a look at one of the scariest and most controversial films of all time, banned by the Catholic Church and  still scaring audiences to this day. This week on Flashback Friday: The Exorcist.

The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973) is a tour-de-force of pure horror and adrenaline. Ellen Burstyn plays Chris MacNeil, an actress and recently-divorced mother of young Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair, brilliant, terrifying, and uncharacteristically intense in the role). After a series of mysterious incidents, Regan starts to grow more violent and sick with each passing day. After the death of her boyfriend forces her to resort to extreme measures, Chris sends Regan to a hospital, where the doctors perform multiple surgeries to no avail. Meanwhile, Regan begins to change and acts darker and more profane.

Meanwhile, the narrative follows Father Damien, a troubled psychiatric priest who is dealing with his own disbelief as well as his elderly mother. After the institution of his mother, Father Damien tries to be relocated and attempts to leave the church. But, attacks on various psychiatric patients plus defamations of various religious statues force him to stay.

Ultimately, after the doctors offer no solution to help Regan, Chris resorts to extreme measures on the off-chance of helping her daughter. She hears of a possible cure: an exorcism performed by a priest to "cast out" the demon inside of Regan. Chris teams up with the reluctant Father Damien, along with trained exorcist Father Merrin (Max von Sydow), to try and stop Regan before she dies or kills again.

Had this movie been released today, it probably would have scared a good majority of visiting teens or religious adults. But, as it is, The Exorcist was released in 1973. Controversial from its first appearance, the movie about possessions and exorcisms by the Catholic church offer some of the most controversial sequences ever filmed. People got so worried by this film that Friedkin had to hire bodyguards for Linda Blair for several months after the movie's release.

The special effects still terrify, and the infamous "spider walk" sequence features one of the most terrifying moments in cinema history. This movie was one of a few banned by several organizations for its outright exclamation of possessions and the reality of the Devil himself. Doctors are mystified and unhelpful; it takes a priest to save Regan, ironic considering the film's obvious distrust of the Catholic church.

After all the green vomit, spinning heads, extreme profanities, excessive gore, and creepily realistic makeup stands a strong movie on purely a psychological standpoint. Regan MacNeil, possessed by the Devil (later named "Pazazu"by the various sequels and spin-offs), offers the audience unique insights into their own minds. What do we fear most? What deep psychological problems do all of us have to face? For Father Damien, the image of his dead mother offers more terror and anger than anything else Regan throws at him.

The Exorcism scene is highly entertaining, and even modern film critics are mystified by the special effects-heavy exorcism. "The power of Christ compels you!" can still be heard by high schoolers across America. The movie is so good, in fact, that the Academy Awards nominated it for Best Picture- the first horror film to do so, and the only one until 1991's The Silence of the Lambs (which won).

An attack on everything religious and right in this world, The Exorcist is one of those rare films that fights every convention, breaks every rule, and stuns every person- yet still provides one of the most entertaining horror films ever made. "What an excellent day for an exorcism."