"Movies aren't a Slice of Life, They're a Slice of Cake"-My Love for Hitchcock

Introduction

I watched my very first Hitchcock movie, North by Northwest, purely by accident.  After hearing all about the man at Universal Studios dozens of time, I always pictured him directing dark, horror, and creepy movies in Hollywood.  I was young, and I judged hard.  When my high school orchestra teacher decided that we were going to play movie music (famous themes and such) for our spring concert, he assigned us (the students) movies to watch at home in order to "get the feel".  In this list included many of the Spielberg classics (Jurassic Park, E.T., etc), some Star Wars, and one movie I've never heard of before.  This was North by Northwest.

One of my habits before and after I watch a movie is that I do HEAVY research.  This includes looking up the year of the movie, general summaries (not ruining the ending, of course), stories while the movie was being filmed, interviews with casts, original trailers, looking up casts, etc.  I absolutely love movies, and I always get super excited when a familiar actor from the cast or music score composer pops up.  But, in this case and for some odd reason, I failed to look up the director.  If I had, I would have definitely avoided this film as it was a Hitchcock, a director I told myself I would forever avoid.  Little did I know, that mistake would change my view of movies and my former dislike for the infamous director.

North by Northwest: At the time, attracted only by Cary Grant

After Tasting Hitchcock

 Let me just say, Hitchcock is remarkable.  I now understand why Hollywood was (and is to this very day) so ga-ga/fangirling over him.  He has the capability to captivate his audience in his films from beginning to the end so deeply.  With amazing storylines and cinematography, the British director is simply phenomenal.  Additionally, he still manages to keep the Hollywood-esque aspect of romance despite all the drama in his films, always having attractive and talented actors and actresses. 

Ever since, I have been a huge fan, and I don't regret it any bit.  I have dug so much into Hitchcock, my list of watched Hitchcock movies is slowly starting to even out with the list of unwatched ones.  Rear Window, Vertigo, Psycho, Dial M for Murder, The Birds...each one is alike yet so different in every way.  Each one tells a remarkable story that I can assure you will be forever engrained in your minds, pondering the same question, "How did Hitchcock do it?"  Hollywood is still asking the same question currently as the famous man remains as the most influential artists of film of all time.



Just a handful of Hitchcock's films



Last Words

I have been continuing my exploration into Hitchcock and am proud to say my favorite movie genre is psychological thrillers.  I will always have a heart for light romantic comedy and Disney, for good fun, as I am still a child at heart.  (You can never beat those silly sing-a-longs)  But, a more mature side to me has found peace with darker genres as I continue to find more interesting films.  Although I am far from trying horror, I hope to acquire enough stamina and mental brainpower to venture into that industry as well as it's so popular.  But at the current moment, I'll stick with my treasured 1980s and 1950s classics, Hitchcock, and psychological thrillers.