1. Olympics – Anti-Semitism – Gilbert And Sullivan
Chariots of Fire. It actually deserved an Oscar.
2. Crazed Strangler – Falsely Accused – Black Comedy
Frenzy. Bob’s your uncle! Alfred Hitchcock without the subtlety.
3. Ape – Bone – Lip Reading
2001: A Space Odyssey. Not much plot, dialogue on the usual level of Clarke, but great to look at. The first ever great use of special effects, I guess. Man-apes no brighter than chimps despite alien assistance. I wish I could see it in the original three-screen fashion.
4. Building – Puppet Master – Captain
Being John Malkovich. The main character is not my brother, who does not work at all with marionettes.
5. Heart Attack – Premarital Sex – Spacecraft Accident
Life of Brian. The one Python flick that isn’t a string of sketches and actually goes somewhere.
6. Ninja – Monorail – Cigarette
You Only Live Twice. James Bond is Sean Connery here (I prefer Roger Moore), but Roald Dahl wrote the screenplay, goshdarnit. Also I have been deeply intrigued by the gobbled Gemini capsule scene since I saw this film at the drive-in as a child; or at least I was very attached to that scene at the time. And the music is good, except the parts in which you can hear Nancy Sinatra.
7. Horse – Hidden Microphone – Pickpocket
A Day at the Races. Marx Brothers and a race horse. What’s not to love?
8. Construction – Shame – Demolition
What else could this be but The Bridge on the River Kwai? I even gave the keywords in temporal order. :) Don’t take this as evidence that I am a David Lean fan; although actually I don’t hate Lawrence of Arabia as much as I hated The English Patient or the Twin Peaks movie.
9. College – Chicago Illinois – High School Athlete
Hoop Dreams. Even though I don’t care much for basketball. It got a well-deserved Oscar nomination, and it was made by Minnesota Public TV.
10. Acrophobia – Obsession – Makeover
Vertigo. Well-known Hitchcock. This is what I included for number 10 before I noticed I’d forgotten to include number 11, which is …
11. Diplomat – Assassination – Windmill
… more Hitchcock: Foreign Correspondent. I think this was his second Hollywood film, with Rebecca being the first. The main character in this film is everything that the typical modern American mainstream reporter is not, and then some more. Though I have a suspicion he could be killed only by means of kryptonite. This is a great film.
