FilmJerk Favorites

A group of unique directors and the essential works that you've got to see.

||| Alfred Hitchcock |||
Alfred Hitchcock

This is perhaps an obvious choice, however, most people tend to overlook the Master of Suspense’s early work as well as the relevancy of his last film as a key element in the continuing transition and development of the genre he defined.

One of Hitchcock's early triumphs, this predecessor to the mistaken identity man on the run scenario Hitchcock turned to time and again, stars Robert Donat as the innocent wrongly accused of murder and pursued by both the police and enemy spies. This is the first example of Hitchcock’s mastery over the suspense tale, giving us a glimpse of the greatness to come.

Considered to be one of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest works, this story of two men who meet by chance on a train and frivolously discuss swapping murders is a prime example of a common Hitchcock theme of the man who suddenly finds himself within a nightmare world over which he has no control. You can easily see how this film lays the ground work for the more popular “North by Northwest”.

Alfred Hitchcock's final film is a light-hearted thriller involving phony psychics, kidnappers and organized religion, all of which cross paths in the search for a missing heir and a fortune in jewels. Here, Hitchcock has brilliantly developed his signature form to include the now common, and often overused, device of plot twist, after plot twist, after plot twist. Widescreen!

Recommended by CarrieSpecht

Advertisement

Nick Nolte: No Exit

By BrianOrndorf

January 28th, 2010

Nick Nolte, the actor, is a celebrated professional with an eccentric, semi-enviable list of credits to his name, revealing a passion for the art form and willingness to surprise.

Nick Nolte: No Exit

Nick Nolte, the man, is a walking contradiction; he’s a soul on a life’s quest to find emotional truth in his profession, yet buries his feeling under layers of chemical excess and a pathological need to lie to the press. There’s no one better to tell the story of Nick Nolte than the actor himself, who takes center stage in this undeniably hypnotic but eventually aimless documentary.

Director Tom Thurman has dared to enter Nolte country, though he’s passed the duty of interview agitator to Nolte himself, who assumes a dual role as the grizzled man of the hour and his focused interrogator, studying each other through laptop web cams. It’s Nolte squaring off against his greatest enemy: himself. Thurman’s job to mold something out of the actor’s verbal gamesmanship, allowing Nolte to wander through his career, exploring his methodology, while encouraging famous faces (including Ben Stiller, Alan Rudolph, Jacqueline Bisset, Rosanna Arquette, and Powers Boothe) to comment on Nolte as both friends and collaborators.

The mix of perspectives suits Nolte well. Here’s a man who’s never been pinned down to a certain type, taught by Marlon Brando at an early age to pursue an exciting career, not necessarily a lucrative one. From his origin as a Midwestern boy reaching maturity during the 1960s to his lean years as a stage actor, Nolte recalls fragments of his development, stumbling into Hollywood without much patience for what the industry publicity machine typically does to handsome leading men. To an almost frustrating degree, Thurman sprints through Nolte’s career, allowing only the briefest of reflection on such films as “The Deep” (where he caused daily trouble due to his reluctance to star), “The Thin Red Line” (falling under the hippy-dippy daze of director Terrence Malick), and “48 Hours” (Nolte admits the film was almost entirely improvised). Psychological excavation be damned, there should be more talk of past big screen glory, especially with the actor this uncharacteristically collected, clad in a stained shirt, covered in sweat, and clutching a 7-Up bottle filled with God knows what.

“No Exit” does address the dirt, with Nolte calmly confronting his alcoholism and drug abuse, along with a rather logical explanation of his infamous mug shot from a 2002 arrest (he claims it wasn’t a official police photo at all, but an opportunity to help cash in on his indiscretion). Nolte also discusses his propensity for lying to the press, which, in a very calculated matter, casts doubt over everything revealed in the documentary. The actor delights in his enigmatic ways, which entertain and protect him, keeping Nolte in step with his youthful troublemaking spirit.

All the misleading, grunting, and dodging doesn’t add up to a sustained portrait of the actor. “No Exit” is better appreciated as a piece of loopy performance art, allowing Nolte to confront his worst fear of self-examination without the burden of outside forces keeping him on target. Nick Nolte is one of Hollywood’s greatest thespian mysteries; he’s a man of immense talent and filth, and while “No Exit” doesn’t crack him open as widely as desired, it does chip away a few inches of his standoffish exterior. It’s a start.

My rating: B