Articles in November, 2009

The rise and fall of the ’80s action genre

The 1980s was a time when action movies crashed noisily into American culture and seemed to take it over. They created a kind of film that had hardly been seen before; films where cops—for the most part—wreaked holy hell upon bad guys in the name of justice and then made snarky jokes about it.

Tysto film commentaries

I love movies and I especially love commentaries. So I got myself a microphone and produced some of my own. This is the master list of all my commentaries.

Commentary: The 39 Steps

Alfred Hitchcock presents his first big hit with all the trimmings: the innocent man taking it on the lam, the tough and beautiful blond sparring with him, the quirky humor, and the weird conclusion. Listen as I compare the film to Young and Innocent and North by Northwest, talk about Hitchcock’s early work and developing style, joke about the Scottish stereotypes, and stumble over British currency. Plus, you learn what a “crofter” is. Please note, however, that you will not learn what causes pip in poultry or how old Mae West is. Who am I? Mr. Memory?

Commentary: King Kong (1933)

The greatest of great apes is trapped by tiny men and dragged to New York, where he runs amok, all for the affections of a dame. I give a little of the history of the production, point out some of the successes and failings, analyze the structure, and mock the stuntman who gets squashed by a giant ape foot. I frequently compare the film to the 1976 version and occasionally to the 2005 version.

This is kind of a quickie commentary, done without as much post-production as I’ve been doing lately (no EchoSync). I am joined for the first 15 minutes by my little niece, who doesn’t have nearly as much to say here as she did about Paul McCartney in Help.