
The 39 Steps
Alfred Hitchcock
78 minutes

(#1)
Theatrical: 1935
Studio: ITV DVD
Genre: Thriller
Writer: John Buchan, Charles Bennett, Ian Hay
Date Added: 22 Dec 2007
The 39 Steps
Alfred Hitchcock
78 minutes

(#1)

Languages: English, Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Commentary by Hitchcock scholar Marian Keane, Dolby Digital 1.0
Subtitles: English
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Comments: Handcuffed to the girl who double-crossed him
Summary: A high point of Hitchcock's pre-Hollywood career, 1935's The Thirty-Nine Steps is the first and best of three film versions of John Buchan's rather stiff novel. Robert Donat plays Richard Hannay, who becomes embroiled in a plot to steal military secrets. He finds himself on the run; falsely accused of murder, while also pursuing the dastardly web of spies alluded to in the title. With a plot whose twists and turns match the hilly Scottish terrain in which much of the film is set, The Thirty-Nine Steps combines a breezy suavity with a palpable psychological tension. Hitchcock was already a master at conveying such tension through his cinematic methods, rather than relying just on situation or dialogue. Sometimes his ways of bringing the best out of his actors brought the worst out in himself. If the scene in which Donat is handcuffed to co-star Madeline Carroll has a certain edge, for instance, that's perhaps because the director mischievously cuffed them together in a rehearsal, then left them attached for a whole afternoon, pretending to have lost the key. The movie also introduces Hitchcock's favoured plot device, the "McGuffin" (here, the military secret), the unexplained device or "non-point" on which the movie turns. --David Stubbs


49th Parallel
Michael Powell
123 minutes

(#2)
Theatrical: 1941
Studio: Ortus Films
Genre: Drama
Writer: Emeric Pressburger, Rodney Ackland
Date Added: 18 Feb 2008
49th Parallel
Michael Powell
123 minutes

(#2)

Sound: Mono
Summary: A damaged U-boat is stranded in a Canadian bay in the early years of World War II. The Fanatical Nazi captain and his crew must reach the neutral United States or be captured. Along the way they meet a variety of characters each with their own views on the war and nationalism. In this film


The 51st State
Ronny Yu
92 minutes

(#3)
Theatrical: 2001
Studio: Momentum Pictures
Genre: Drama
Writer: Stel Pavlou
Date Added: 22 Dec 2007
The 51st State
Ronny Yu
92 minutes

(#3)

Languages: English, Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Comments: Nice Wheels. Dirty Deals. And One Mean Mother In A Kilt.
Summary: Elmo McElroy (Jackson) is a streetwise American master chemist who heads to England to sell his special new formula - a powerful, blue concoction guaranteed to take you to 'the 51st state.' McElroy's new product delivers a feeling 51 times more powerful than any thrill, any pleasure, any high in history. But his plans for a quick, profitable score go comically awry when he gets stuck in Liverpool with an unlikely escort (Carlyle) and his ex-girlfriend (Mortimer) and becomes entangled in a bizarre web of double-dealing and double-crosses.


2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick
141 minutes

(#4)
Theatrical: 1968
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Genre: Science Fiction
Writer: Arthur C. Clarke, Stanley Kubrick
Date Added: 02 Feb 2008
2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick
141 minutes

(#4)

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Sound: 4-Track Stereo
Comments: Let the Awe and Mystery of a Journey Unlike Any Other Begin
Summary: 2001 is a story of evolution. Sometime in the distant past someone or something nudged evolution by placing a monolith here on earth (presumably elsewhere throughout the universe as well) Evolution then enabled man to reach the moon's surface where he finds yet another monolith, one which signals the monolith-placers that we have evolved that far. Now a race begins between computers (HAL) and man (Bowman) to reach the monolith-placers, the winner will achieve the next step in evolution, whatever that may be. (Ever notice how sperm-like the space ship is?) Man wins the race because he is a slightly irrational risk-taker, compared to machine. HAL didn't think that Dave would be able to re-enter the ship but Dave took a chance. HAL was wrong and Dave wins, the prize being a meeting with a third monolith.

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