Alfred Hitchcock and Billy Wilder will never be mistaken as optimists.

In fact, their movies reflect the thoughts of famous crime writer
Raymond Chandler. The Big Sleep author was a fan of writers that “gave murder back to the people who committed the crime.”

He respected writers like Dashiell Hammett because they created a
world without hope and without elements of synthetic uplift. He probably wouldn’t have enjoyed the screenplay to Freedom Writers. But an era of film grew out these ideas and began to represent a darker image of the great depression: film noir.

The genre lasted roughly from 1940 and 1960 and was synonymous with murder, passion, revenge, sex, cigars and fedoras (think Humphrey
Bogart and not Jason Mraz).

Here are my top 10 favorite film noir pictures.

1. Double Indemnity (1944) — This might be the best fast-paced screenplay ever written. Chandler and Wilder wrote the script together, and even though they hated working with each other, they created a timeless piece. Fred McMurray delivers his lines with sexual arrogance that wasn’t seen in his family pictures prior to the film, Barbara Stanwyck is the perfect femme fatale and Edward G. Robinson is phenomenal. The unsubtle sexuality in this film is awesome, and it’s surprising that Wilder got away with the shot of McMurry and Stanwyck ready to get busy.

2. Strangers On A Train (1951) — This is my favorite Hitchcock picture. Robert Walker is very creepy and awesome. The homosexual undertones of his character probably went over everyone’s head in 1951. Farley Granger is very good, but not as good as in Rope — and some might argue his adult films in the late 70s. I’d give to much away if I gave plot details. This is a must-see.

3. Sunset Boulevard (1950) — I know, it’s boring to have two Wilder films in the top three, but what other movie starts with William Holden floating in a swimming pool? Exactly.
Aging Gloria Swanson is perfect for the role of a psychotic movie star who is … well, aging.
Also, it’s a great film for one liners like “Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up,” and “I am big! It’s the pictures that got small.”

Raising Kane: Orson Welles is as bad as they come in the extremely underrated Touch Of Evil.

4. Touch Of Evil (1958) — Orson Welles at it again. This movie goes in about 20 different plot directions much like The Big Sleep, which makes it chaoticly cool. Janet Leigh is hot, which is somewhat awkward to say. Charlton Heston rocks a classic ’stache and plays a Mexican (I’m not making this up). Supposedly, there was a lot of tension between Heston and Welles behind the scenes.

5. The Maltese Falcon (1941) — This is just a movie where Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) walks around San Francisco and says cool things. It’s also a film where it’s as good as the book. Anyone who says otherwise is the type of person who wants Hooper to die at the end of Jaws. John Huston did a great job recreating Hammett’s novel.

6. Notorious (1946) — A classic Hitchock film where you see Cary Grant actually playing an unpleasant character. In fact, his character (T.R. Devlin) is kind of a dick. Personally, Ingrid Bergman has always annoyed me, but the movie is fantastic anyway. The Master of Suspense does is again.

7. The Big Sleep (1946) — This time Bogart walks around L.A. and says cool things. This is a great adaptation of Chandler’s novel by Howard Hawks. Bogart and Bacall have awesome chemistry here.

Here's Looking at You: Humphrey Bogart was a film noir icon

8. Angels With Dirty Faces (1938) — This is clichéd James Cagney here, but what else do you want from him? Don’t miss the ending of this one.

9. Out of the Past (1947) — This might be Robert Mitchum’s best role, and Jane Greer rivals Stanwyck for best noir femme fatale. The plot is Hitchcock, like where a gas-station owner has an extremely shady past. But if you think about it, isn’t that most gas-station workers?

10. The Killers (1946) — This classic noir flick is based on a short story by Ernest Hemingway which is perfect for the genre’s bleak view — mainly because Hemmingway shot himself. This is the screen debut of Burt Lancaster, who is a personal fave.

För de spelare som nu väntar på den sista löneavräkningen från ÖSK så är framtiden fortfarande osäker. Ingen av dem (Adriano, James Frempong, Joakim Gren, Glenn Holgersson, Peter Rosendal och Robert Walker) har ännu hittat ett nytt lag att spela med. Givetvis är det så att det finns en hel del som skall stämma. För de som har ambitionen att fortsätta att försörja sig som fotbollsspelare gäller det att hitta en klubb som kan ta lönekostnaden, vilket i dagsläget nog inte är så lätt. För de som vill fortsätta på en något lägre nivå gäller det att hitta ett jobb som går att kombinera med fotbollen.

NA har kollat läget med tre av de aktuella spelarna. Glenn Holgersson funderar uppenbarligen allvarligt på om det inte är dags att lägga av med fotbollen och att istället utbilda sig. Dörren är ännu inte helt stängd för fortsatt spel, men nog lutar det mot att det kan vara slutspelat för Glenns del – i alla fall på elitnivå.

NA: Glenn släpper fotbollen?

För duon James Frempong och Robert Walker verkar det fortfarande att finnas öppningar även om inget i dagsläget är klart.

NA: Forna ÖSK:are letar klubbar

posted by: chemalopez

Cuarto paso, incluir un carácter burlesco

En la mayor parte de las películas de Hitchcock, uno (como mínimo) de sus personajes nunca se toma en serio el asesinato, llegando incluso a burlarse.
El ejemplo más memorable lo encontramos, probablemente,  en la película Sombra de una duda (Shadow of a Doubt, 1943), cuando Henry Travers y Hume Cronyn intercambian, durante todo el relato, diferentes formas de asesinar sin ser descubiertos. Sus conversaciones sobre el “asesinato perfecto” mutuo, suponen un gran contrapeso de todas sus conversaciones al clima de tensión que va en aumento en la historia. El resultado es una película híbrida entre la comedia y suspense.

En Extraños en un tren (Strangers on a train, 1951) el desequilibrado personaje interpretado por Robert Walker enseña a una mujer entrada en años cómo se debe estrangular. La escena es demoledora: Bruno Anthony – que así se llama el psicópata – entabla conversación en una fiesta con dos ostentosas ancianas, que ríen intentado averiguar cuál es la forma más eficiente para cometer un asesinato. Desconocen, como casi todos los invitados, que tienen enfrente a un verdadero asesino, el cual se ofrece a enseñarles un método. Ellas acceden, aún entre risas. Pero, y aquí es donde Hitchcock es mucho Hitchcock, surge algo inesperado que devuelve a la anciana a la “verdadera realidad” del asesinato: un juego ya no tan divertido.

Aunque recomiendo verla entera, dejo la escena descrita de Strangers on a train.

Veámos otros ejemplos. En La soga (Rope, 1948), Constance Collier se ríe histéricamente de Rupert’s (James Stewart) ante la idea de asesinar a personas por deporte. De nuevo, una mujer de edad avanzada toma la idea del asesinato como algo absurdo e improbable.

Y un ejemplo más conocido, en La ventana indiscreta (Rear window, 1954) tenemos a Thelma Ritter reaccionando ante la posibilidad de un asesinato al otro lado del patio.

In another installment of Rethuglicans not having a new idea in decades, the Raisin brings you the latest warmed-up same-old, same-old.

Washington (CNN) — A handful of Republican senators have proposed a constitutional amendment to limit how long a person may serve in Congress.

Currently, there are no term limits for federal lawmakers, but Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, and several of his colleagues are advocating that service in the Senate be limited to 12 years, while lawmakers would only be allowed to serve six years in the House.

Original DVD cover

Two-thirds of the House and Senate would need to approve the amendment — a stumbling block that short-circuited the idea 14 years ago. The new proposal echoes the Citizen Legislature Act, part of the original Contract with America proposed by Republicans before they won control of Congress in 1994.

That measure, which would have allowed both senators and members of the House to serve just 12 years, won a majority in the Republican-controlled House in 1995, but failed because it did not meet the constitutionally-required two-thirds threshold.

…snip…

This time around, proponents are not calling on lawmakers who believe in the idea to place a self-imposed term limit on themselves.

“If you are asking people to self-limit, what might happen — and what did happen — is that honorable politicians who made the pledge left office,” while others did not, [Philip] Blumel [president of U.S. Term Limits, a nonpartisan organization that advocates putting time restrictions in place] said. “The answer to the term-limit supporter is not self-limiting. It is the body as a whole.”

DeMint, who is currently serving his first six-year term in the Senate, echoed Blumel’s rationale for dismissing self-imposed term limits.

…snip…

One of the original co-sponsors of the amendment is Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who is serving her third term in the Senate, but is expected to resign her seat to focus on a gubernatorial bid.

A spokesman for Hutchison said it is easy to square the fact that the Texas Republican is advocating a cap of two terms, even though she is currently in the middle of her third term.

“Throughout her career she has fought for term limits and continues to do so, and that is why she is co-sponsoring this bill,” said Hutchison spokesman Jeff Sadosky. “But until it is passed, it would do a disservice to Texas and the people of Texas to do away with the seniority she has gained, unless all the states and all of the senators hold themselves to the same standard.”

The two other original co-sponsors of the amendment are Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas. Coburn, a first-term senator, is up for re-election to his second term in 2010, while Brownback is retiring next year after pledging to serve only two full terms in the Senate [because he's running for governor of Kansas]. As congressmen, both voted in favor of the GOP’s Contract with America term limit proposal in 1995. Coburn, a longtime term-limits supporter, retired from the House in 2000 after serving three terms, based on that pledge.

From Charleston City Paper:

DeMint emphatically states that he will not impose a term limit on himself until the law is changed to term limit every member of Congress. But, he leaves plenty of fodder for any candidate seeking to unseat him in 2016 by calling for an end to the “era of permanent politicians.”

“As long as members have the chance to spend their lives in Washington, their interests will always skew toward spending taxpayer dollars to buy off special interests, covering over corruption in the bureaucracy, fundraising, relationship building among lobbyists, and trading favors for pork — in short, amassing their own power,” he says.

Change in Washington has to come from “new leaders” instead of rearranging the deck chairs of a sinking ship, DeMint says, noting that term limits would “instill transparency and accountability” in congressional members.

“The nation can no longer afford these entrenched men and women who enjoy lives of luxury wholly insulated from the consequences of their major policy failure,” he says.

But (and it’s a big but), DeMint suggested he would not limit his own reign in the Senate to the two-term max he considers so vital.

“We must have term limits for all or term limits will never succeed,” he says. “Only when we apply the same rules to all will we be able to enact vital bipartisan reforms.”

It’s an ironic statement considering DeMint’s self-imposed ban on federal earmarks, funding for projects back home that are decided by lawmakers, sometimes without regard of the project’s needs or value. The two arguments are related — DeMint has often decried earmark spending as a wasteful tool wielded by long-time legislators.

This isn’t DeMint’s first attempt to circumvent Washington’s seniority-based leadership models. After defeat last November, DeMint called for sweeping changes within his own party, suggesting a frustration with being so low on the totem pole in relation to his fellow senators.

“Then, let’s end the seniority system that turns too many Republican outsiders into Washington insiders,” he said at the time. “This requires term limiting our conference leader and appropriations committee members, then choosing committee heads on merit, not seniority.”

From The Dallas Morning News:

WASHINGTON – Three-term Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has thrown her support behind a constitutional amendment that would cap Senate service at two terms.

The stance echoes her argument that Texas governors should also face term limits and that Gov. Rick Perry, in particular, has served too long already. But it contradicts her own career.

When she won the Senate seat in a special election in 1993, she pledged not to seek more than two six-year terms. She argued in 2006, however, that it made no sense for Texas to voluntarily give up the seniority and influence she had acquired.

…snip…

The move drew snickers from the Perry camp.

“The senator has no credibility on the issue of terms limits, considering she broke her own promise to serve only two terms and then ran for a third,” said Perry spokesman Mark Miner.

By the way, kids, the Contract of America (partially taken from St. Ronald Reagan’s State of the Union Address of 1985), which included term limits as part of its list of reforms was cooked up by:

Newt Gingrich (he’s on the train with Kay B-H, in case you couldn’t make out who that was) (GA)-served January 3, 1979 – January 25, 1999, 20 years

Robert Walker (PA)-served January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1997, 20 years

Dick Armey (TX)-served January 3, 1985 – January 3, 2003, 18 years

Bill Paxon (NY)-served January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1999 (He left after being forced out of his leadership role in the House after an abortive coup against Newt Gingrich.)

Tom Delay (TX)-served January 3, 1985 – June 9, 2006, 21 years (Resigned to pretty up for his mugshots and because polls indicated he would probably lose reelection. Besides, he was born to dance!)

John Boehner (OH)-assumed office January 3, 1991, 18 years and counting

and Jim Nussle (IA)-served January 3, 1991 – January 3, 2007, 16 years (He lost his bid for reelection to Democrat, Chet Culver.)

NA fortsätter sin rapportering över vilka spelare som kommer att få lämna truppen efter den här säsongen. Helt klart är att Robert Walker och James Frempong lämnar klubben. Robert tar inte någon plats på mittfältet i den hårda konkurrens som råder där, medan James Frempong på grund av sina återkommande skadeproblem väl inte anses kunna ta en plats i spelartruppen i anspråk. För brassen Adrianos del verkar väl det mesta luta åt att det bara blir en halv säsong hos ÖSK. Beslut skall dock tas efter det att säsongens matcher är färdigspelade. När det gäller Peter Westman så verkar båda parter inställda på en ettårig kontraktsförlängning. Inte omnämnda i artikeln, men förmodligen även de på väg ut, är Joakim Gren (just nu utlånad till BK Forward) samt Peter Rosendal.

Ett möjligt nytt namn i truppen är VPS mittfätlare Tony Björk, skriver tidningen. Lennart Sjögren och Arvi Taaler har kollat upp honom då VPS mötte IFK Mariehamn (eller om det var tvärtom).

NA: ÖSK spanade in finsk talang

STRANGERS ON A TRAIN av Alfred Hitchcock (1951)
Med Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker, Leo G. Carroll, Patricia Hitchcock, Kasey Rogers, Marion Lorne, Jonathan Hale

SPOILERVARNING

I recensionen av American Psycho skriver jag om psykopater på film. I Strangers on a Train återfinns ett av de få trovärdiga och mycket otäcka filmporträtten av en psykopat, ett porträtt mästerligt målat av Robert Walker och Alfred Hitchcock. Den moderna filmpsykopaten är gärna som Christian Bale i American Psycho eller Anthony Hopkins i filmerna om Hannibal Lecter – ett osannolikt vidrigt monstrum, slaskande i inälvor och bloddrypande hjärnor. Fast den bilden är nu inte särskilt rättvisande. Psykopati är mer utbredd än vad man i förstone kan tro och inte så få psykopater blir framgångsrika politiker och företagsledare, medan andra – en klar minoritet – blir något slags motbjudande brottslingar, dock mycket sällan så motbjudande som i American Psycho eller Hannibal Lecter-filmerna.

Så egentligen är den betydligt trovärdigare psykopaten i Strangers on a Train på sitt sätt mycket otäckare, för han har ett charmigt vinnande sätt och blir snabbt populär i sällskapslivet (ett mycket utpräglat drag hos flertalet psykopater) och förefaller alltså samtidigt som han är i total avsaknad av all empati vara traktens trevligaste och mest förekommande kille. Om man inte råkar vara bekant med honom och ofrivilligt dras in i hans planer.

Som så ofta hos Hitchcock är emellertid så gott som alla rollgestalter endimensionella staffagefigurer, eftersom deras enda funktion strängt taget är att likt spelbrickor i demonregissörens händer driva den hårt vävda intrigen framåt. Hitchcock visade sällan intresse för inträngande personporträtt, men desto större för ibland osannolika men alltid hypnotiskt fängslande intriger som gradvis, likt ett skruvstäd, kramas åt runt tittaren. Så även i Strangers on a Train, där man inte minst under upplösningen kan lägga märke till hur lite enskildas liv kan betyda när de underställs det övergripande syftet att driva en Hitchcock-intrig framåt – för hur sannolikt känns det, egentligen, att en polisman i ett försök att skjuta skurken i ryggen avsiktligt skulle skjuta rakt in bland folk, inklusive kvinnor och barn, på en fullsatt karusell på ett nöjesfält? Med följd att karuselloperatören träffas av kulan och avlider?

Ofta förekommande hos Alfred Hitchcock är också den oskyldige, hygglige, vanlige medborgaren som mot sin vilja dras in i en brottshärva han till en början inte behärskar men i slutändan, tvingad av omständigheterna, lyckas ta sig ur. Strangers on a Train är en av de bästa varianterna på temat och i synnerhet de första kanske femton minuterna kryper likt insekter in under huden på tittaren. Upplösningen är effektiv, men har man sett Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai innan man ser Strangers on a Train kommer den ofelbart att idémässigt om än inte i utförandet att framstå som en kopia i tredje karbongenomslaget. Vilket å andra sidan inte säger så hemskt mycket – det är och förblir för mycket begärt att ens en regissör av Alfred Hitchcocks obestridligen monumentala kaliber ska kunna matcha Orson Welles. Det går bara inte.

Strangers on a Train finns i en amerikansk och en brittisk version. Den förra är originalversionen och den senare, som är en annan klippning, skiljer sig såvitt jag vid en snabb kontroll kan bedöma inte från originalet på något avgörande sätt.

Kör hårt,
Bellis

The Clock is the first film Judy Garland made in which she did not sing. She had specifically requested to star in a dramatic role, since the strenuous shooting schedules of lavish musicals were beginning to fray her nerves. Producer Arthur Freed approached her with the script for The Clock (also known as Under the Clock), which was based on an unpublished short story by Paul and Pauline Gallico. Originally Fred Zinnemann was set to direct, but Garland felt they had no chemistry, and she was disappointed by early footage. Zinnemann was removed from the project, and she requested that Vincente Minnelli be brought in to direct.

The Clock is the second film that Minnelli directed that starred Garland. The first was Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), which is one of the great American musicals, a big, Technicolor production with memorable songs and fine performances. It’s worth seeing, even if you’re not crazy about musicals. Minnelli and Garland were involved romantically during the filming of Meet Me in St. Louis, and they were married on June 15, 1945, shortly after The Clock was released.

The Clock seems like a deliberate attempt to make a film as different from Meet Me in St. Louis as Minnelli was capable of making. Filmed in crisp, luminous black and white, The Clock is an intimate story of two people. Cpl. Joe Allen (Robert Walker) is on leave in New York City for the weekend. While trying to find his way around Pennsylvania Station, he meets Alice Mayberry (Garland), a Manhattan “girl next door” who works in an office and isn’t initially thrilled that Joe takes in interest in her. She breaks her heel and he offers to help her, but he’s so pushy that it’s a bit of a turn-off. He refuses to take “no” for an answer, following her onto a bus, questioning her incessantly, and attempting to arrange to see her again. He also does it in such a naïve, corn-pone manner that it’s obvious that a polite girl like Alice would have a really hard time just telling him to shove off. Part of the problem, for me at least, is that Walker just doesn’t have the necessary charisma to pull off the “aw shucks” persona the script calls for and get away with it. In any case, after some indecision (and after ignoring her roommate’s advice that the young serviceman she met is “just looking for a pick-up”), she goes back to the Astor Hotel to meet him under the clock where they first met. They spend the entire night together, exploring New York City, and even end up helping a milkman (James Gleason) make his appointed rounds after a drunk (Keenan Wynn) punches him in the face, partially blinding him. Over the course of the night, they fall in love, but are separated on a busy subway the next morning. How will they ever find each other in a city of seven million people? (I don’t want to give anything away, but the way they find each other again won’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention.) After they reconnect, Joe asks Alice to marry him, and she accepts his proposal, but they have to run through a mess of red tape to get the necessary documentation to get married immediately, before Joe has to ship out again.

The Clock has a lot to recommend it. Garland looks beautiful, and her performance is natural and engaging. Walker only has one mode, “wanting Alice,” but Garland wonderfully expresses confusion, excitement, and ambivalence on her path to falling in love. Also, the film does a good job of playing through the stages of love, from initial infatuation to full-blown romantic love, marriage, and even the quiet vicissitude of the “morning after.” The film looks fantastic. Minnelli recreated New York City on the MGM backlots in Culver City, California, mixing sets with stock footage, but I never realized this while watching the movie, and I live in New York. He reportedly spend almost $70,000 recreating Penn Station, and it certainly doesn’t look like a set. (The original Penn Station was torn down before I was born so I can’t say if it’s perfectly accurate, but it certainly fooled me.) I liked The Clock, and would recommend it to anyone who likes old movies, especially anyone who loves tales of wartime romance, but a more interesting actor than Walker in the lead role might have elevated it to a truly great film.

This is a love story, but it’s a melancholy one, especially during its second half. I’m not sure if the sense of sadness that pervades the film is by design, or is due to the fact that both stars were plagued with personal problems throughout filming. Garland became increasingly addicted to the prescription drugs the studio gave her to control her weight and perk her up, and Walker had recently found out that his wife, actress Jennifer Jones, had been cheating on him with producer David O. Selznick and wanted a divorce. Reportedly, Garland would often find Walker drunk in L.A. bars during filming and she would help him sober up during the night so he could appear in front of the cameras the next day.

Title: Strangers on a Train
Year: 1951
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: Raymond Chandler, Czenzi Ormonde & Whitfield Cook, based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith
Starring: Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker
Music: Dimitri Tiomkin
Distinctions: currently #111 on IMDb’s Top 250
Length: 101 minutes
Synopsis: a crazy person murders a stranger’s wife as a favor, and expects a murder in return
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 7/10
Objective Rating: 10/10

Such a rare thing: an Alfred Hitchcock movie that I liked. Suspenseful. A well-crafted script. A couple of the characters are fun. The ending is a bit disappointing; it turns into an action movie about 10 minutes from the end, which makes an exciting and memorable scene but it’s not what the story needed.

Por Bruno Pongas

• Esse texto possui spoilers.

Pacto Sinistro foi um dos grandes sucessos da carreira de Alfred Hitchcock. É verdade que sem o mesmo barulho de Psicose (1960), Um Corpo Que Cai (1958) ou Janela Indiscreta (1954), por exemplo, mas com uma qualidade bastante semelhante a esses trabalhos. A data de 1951 marca o primeiro filme do diretor após assinar com a multimilionária americana Warner Bros. Marca também uma de suas obras mais sinistras e admiráveis. Vale lembrar que nessa época o cineasta já era dono de uma carreira sólida, com alguns clássicos no currículo. Entre eles: Festim Diabólico (1948), Interlúdio (1946) e Rebecca – A Mulher Inesquecível (1940).

Em linhas gerais, a história gira em torno do tenista Guy Heines, personagem que por um terrível azar esbarra com o psicótico Bruno Anthony no trem. Desfeito o mal entendido, ambos iniciam uma conversa estranha. Bruno dá mostras logo de cara que é um maluco, enquanto Guy apenas dá corda à conversa fiada do ‘amigo’. Papo vai, papo vem… o estranho Bruno faz uma proposta ousada ao companheiro: o plano seria o assassinato perfeito. De acordo com o suposto plano, cada um cometeria o crime do outro. Ou seja, Haines teria que matar o pai de Bruno (Sr. Anthony), enquanto Bruno mataria a esposa de Haines (Mirian). O que parecia mera brincadeira é levada a sério por um deles, desencadeando graves acontecimentos.

Como em todos os filmes de Hitchcock, Pacto Sinistro tem uma série de sacadas geniais. A primeira delas acontece logo no início: dois homens aparecem caminhando até o trem. Na tomada, o diretor apenas filma os pés de cada um. Para a nossa surpresa, ambos possuem sapatos completamente distintos – como se revelariam suas respectivas personalidades ao longo da trama. Em outra cena (a do parque) é criado todo um clima macabro: Miriam Haines navega pelo rio junto com outros dois pretendentes; atrás deles, o psicótico Bruno os segue sem pudor. Na passagem da caverna, Hitchcock cria uma das cenas mais legais que eu já vi no cinema. A sombra se aproximando, o grito da mulher… mera brincadeira. O ponto final de Miriam Haines na história é adiado por mais alguns minutos. Há também toda a mística do trem: o meio de transporte é um dos preferidos dos cineastas para cenas de suspense/terror. Os trens, ao mesmo tempo que nos levam a algum lugar, transmitem uma imagem claustrofóbica, como se o mocinho estivesse encurralado, sem saída.

Sacadas à parte, Alfred Hitchcock também é mestre em desenvolver seus trabalhos. Acho impressionante o modo como ele faz tudo ao mesmo tempo: constrói o suspense, desenvolve a história, os personagens, as subtramas… tudo isso com muita qualidade e sem deixar furos. Outros cineastas têm por costume fazer uma parte de cada vez, tornando seus filmes um pouco mais arrastados. Com Hitchcock tudo é ágil, rápido… é raro ver alguém dizer que alguma de suas obras é ‘parada’. Para isso, colabora a trilha sonora de Bernard Herrmann, sempre muito adequada e utilizada nas melhores horas. Em Pacto Sinistro temos uma aula de como usar os efeitos sonoros – que é um dos recursos primordiais do suspense.

Falamos de tudo, mas ainda falta citar os atores… que fantástico é o desempenho de Robert Walker na pele de Bruno Anthony! A personagem goza de um desenvolvimento absurdo, muito bem trabalhado e aprofundado. Bruno é o típico filhinho de papai mimado que nunca teve um pedido rejeitado na vida. Quando cresceu, virou um maníaco, doido, maluco, frio, calculista… tudo que se pode imaginar. Impressiona a sequência do parque, quando logo após cometer um crime, ajuda um cego a atravessar a rua. Que lógica é essa? Como isso funciona? É difícil explicar, mas é um personagem interessantíssimo. Outra cena rica em suspense e extremamente tensa é a do quarto, quando Guy Haines se depara com Bruno em plena cama do pai. Aliás, toda aquela sequência é de deixar os cabelos em pé – dá vontade de adiantá-la no controle remoto para ver logo o que acontece.

O longa também conta com um elenco de apoio respeitável. Aqui, destaco a própria filha do diretor: Patrícia Hitchcock. Ela é o alívio cômico da trama; é desbocada, fala o que quer, garante risadas… ainda por cima é uma das chaves para desvendar o mistério. Mistério esse que é solucionado em outra cena empolgante (reparem na música ao fundo). De volta ao parque, no carrossel, com direito a ‘velhinho’ quase se sacrificando para evitar uma tragédia… aliás, alguém acredita que cavalos inofensivos de carrossel possam dar medo em alguém? Hitchcock de alguma maneira os transforma em diabólicos e assustadores (coisa de gênio).

Por fim, vemos em Pacto Sinistro uma obra completa, com todos os elementos necessários para se montar um grande filme. Obra obrigatória a todos os cinéfilos, especialmente aos que adoram um bom suspense!

Completando a ficha…

• Para quem é daqueles que gosta de ter os dvd’s em casa, há uma versão recheada de extras interessantíssimos. Um dos mais legais é uma entrevista com o diretor M. Night Shyamalan, autor de obras como O Sexto Sentido e Sinais. O cineasta, fan assumido do trabalho de Alfred Hitchcock, comenta o filme com propriedade – bem melhor do que esse que vos fala. Vale a pena conferir.

Minha Nota: 9.5

Direção: Alfred Hitchcock
Gênero: Suspense
Duração: 101 minutos
Elenco: Farley Granger, Leo G. Carroll, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker, Patricia Hitchcock, Kasey Rogers, Marion Lorne e Jonathan Hale.

NA har några notiser idag som kan vara av ett visst intresse.

Nytt kontrakt med Astvald.
ÖSK försöker skriva ett nytt (längre) kontrakt med Marcus Astvald. Man har redan en gång erbjudit ett treårskontrakt, men Mackan tackade nej eftersom han ansåg att lönen var för låg. NA: ÖSK vill förlänga med Astvald

Bengtsson inte värvningsmål.
AIKs Pierre Bengtsson (med fotbollsrötterna i Kumla) har antytt, att han nog måste söka sig till en ny klubb på grund av att han får för lite speltid. Eftersom han har ett utgående kontrakt så kan det mycket väl bli klubbyte redan i sommar. Bengtsson vill helst av allt komma utomlands. Intresset för någon annan svensk klubb är däremot begränsat. Lennart Sjögren säger till tidningen att Bengtsson är ingenting man jobbar på eftersom ÖSK inte har något behov på de platser han kan vara aktuell för. NA: Bengtsson inte aktuell för ÖSK.

Knappast Vasalund för Walker.
Det har tidigare förekommit spekulationer om att Robert Walker skulle kunna vara på väg till Vasalund. Detta lag har dock just gjort klart med GAIS om att låna två av deras spelare, varför en Solna-flytt för Roberts del nu verkar (ännu) mindre trolig.

Tobias Wolf skriver i bloggen Allsvenskan:MITT att Vasalund har hört sig för om Robert Walkers tillgänglighet. Enligt Wolf handlar det om en utlåning. En regelrätt övergång skulle ju innebära att Vasalund skulle behöva betala utbildningsbidraget för de år som Robert tillhört ÖSK.

not so merry-go-round...

PG?

Farley Granger, Robert Walker

Bruno: I’d like to talk with you some time, sir, and tell you about my idea for harnessing the life force.  It’ll make atomic power look like the horse and buggy.  I’m already developing my faculty for seeing millions of miles.  And senator, can you imagine being able to smell a flower on the planet Mars?  I’d like to, uh, have lunch with you some day soon, sir…tell you more about it.  I’ll see you…
Sen. Morton: Goodbye….don’t remember inviting that young man.  Who is he?
Anne: Friend of the Dorvilles.
Sen. Morton: …Unusual personality…

A tennis player, Guy (Granger), meets a strange man on a train who describes to him the perfect way to commit a murder.  He says that two strangers should swap murders so neither one can be tied to the other’s murder.  The man, Bruno (Walker), turns out to be quite mad, and thinks they had a deal to actually kill a person for each other.  Guy discovers that Bruno has murdered his estranged wife and now wants Guy to kill his father for him, or else he’ll implicate Guy in the murder of his wife.

This is another Hitchcock classic that I’d never seen.  It’s good, but not quite up there with Rear Window, Notorious, or Psycho.  It’s a little slow at times, and once again I wasn’t very impressed with Farley Granger in the lead role.  I didn’t really like him in Rope either.

Robert Walker, on the other hand, is very creepy as Bruno Anthony.  He seems like a nice enough, but annoying, guy to begin with, but as the movie progresses, we see more clearly that he’s basically just insane.  Some of it has to do with his overbearing father and overcaring mother not allowing him to grow up into a real adult, but not all of it can be blamed on them.

There were a few lulls here and there in this one.  For instance, the scene where Bruno is following Guy’s wife, Miriam, around an amusement park goes on far too long.  Also, the tennis scene was tedious as well.  I get that it was being used as a way to keep Guy from getting to a certain location before Bruno could, but I guess tennis just isn’t an effective tension builder.

Still, this is a good story, with some good tension, a few laughs (mostly courtesy of Patricia Hitchcock as Barbara Morton), and an effectively exciting ending.

10 – 1.1 for Granger’s one-note performance – 1.5 for some dull spots + .2 for Walker’s performance = 7.6

Åtvidabergs FF skriver på sin hemsida, att man lämnar tillbaka Robert Walker till Örebro SK. Något köp blev det alltså inte för Robert, som kanske trots allt kan få en uppgift att fylla som uppbackning för Kim. Sämre än Emra lär han inte vara. Helt överraskande kommer väl inte uppgiften. Robert har fått mindre och mindre speltid och i den senaste matchen mot Sirius byttes han in i den 90:e spelminuten. Förmodligen för att få tiden att gå – Åtvidaberg hade en man utvisad.

Det blev alltså ingen förlängning av utlåningen för Roberts del. Roberts förbannelse är att han är så pass mångsidig. Han gjorde några mål på försäsongen och Åtvidaberg värvade honom nog med tanken att han skulle visa sig vara den målskytt klubben behöver för att kunna vara med och slåss i toppen av Superettan. Samma sak råkade han ut för hos ÖSK på försäsongen då han fick hoppa in och vikariera för en rehabiliteringstränande Olsen. Men Robert bästa plats är inte längst fram utan centralt på mittfältet – antagligen i en 4-4-2 uppställning. På den positionen får man ut mest av hans arbetskapacitet och -förmåga samtidigt som han säkert gör minst lika många mål när han får komma med djupledslöpningar som han gör om han måste stångas med mittbackarna längst fram.

NA: Walker tillbaka med kort tid kvar (090616)

by Yepoka Yeebo

A British man convicted of smuggling four tonnes of cannabis into the US claims courts were misled into extraditing him.

Giles Carlyle-Clarke, who served three years in an American prison for his involvement in the £60m deal, says US authorities lied about being unable to find him.

Mr Carlyle-Clark previously suggested his extradition was linked to a deal to relocate British prisoners from Guantanamo Bay.

Conservative MP for North Dorset, Robert Walker, raised his constituent’s objections in the House of Commons on Thursday, demanding an apology.

“Although Mr. Carlyle-Clarke pleaded guilty to the original crimes and has served his sentence in prison, it still remains the case that the procedures surrounding his deportation could not be described as representative of justice,” said Mr Walter.

“Those procedures were an affront to my constituent’s human rights, and I believe that he is owed an apology by both Governments for an extradition that he believes was obtained by deception.”

Mr Walter said that US authorities had claimed they did not know where Mr Carlyle-Clark was until the end of the 1990s.

“New evidence before the Minister proved that the American authorities had in fact known his identity since 1988, and that they had known of his whereabouts since 1989,” said Mr Walter.

“In fact, he had served a sworn affidavit on the American authorities in 1989 in which he gave the address in Dorset in my constituency where he had continued to live.

“United States authorities knew all along who Giles Carlyle-Clarke was.

“They knew that he was the registered owner of the yacht involved in the offences; they had photographs of him dating from 1988 and a sworn affidavit that he had lodged in an associated case in 1989.

“All that evidence was available to the Home Secretary before his extradition. However, the Home Secretary chose to rely on the assistant district attorney’s statement that the authorities did not know who Mr. Carlyle-Clarke was until 1995, although they still took until 1999 to seek his extradition.

“I am not a lawyer, but I can tell when a citizen has been unfairly dealt with by Ministers and the courts.

“Those procedures were an affront to my constituent’s human rights, and I believe that he is owed an apology by both Governments for an extradition that he believes was obtained by deception.”

Phil Woolas, Minister for Borders and Immigration said he could not comment on the implication that the UK Government were either misled or complicit in misleading in Mr Carlyle-Clarke’s case.

“Another judicial review application was dismissed… with the Court ruling that the claimant had got nowhere near establishing a case of a request made in bad faith.

“An application to the European Court of Human Rights was turned down, and hence the extradition took place the following month. I believe that the issues of fairness and proportionality were dealt with in the High Court case.”

Två av ÖSKs tidigare anfallare hade en bra dag på sina resp. jobb då Superettans 11:e omgång började avverkas igår. Johan Petterssons Sirius har inte startat serien alltför bra. Igår slog man dock Vasalunds IF på bortaplan och Johan svarade för en assist och inte minst det matchavgörande 4-3 målet som han slog in med två minuter kvar att spela.

Stefan Rodevåg gjorde av allt att döma en jättematch då Falkenbergs FF på bortaplan besegrade Landskrona BOIS med klara 3-1. Stefan gjorde de första två målen och fick en assist på det tredje. Hans lag belägger för tillfället tredjeplats i en något haltande serietabell.

På platsen över Falkenberg hittar man Åtvidaberg, som besegrade Qviding med 4-0. För Robert Walker blev det dock inte speciellt mycket speltid. Han byttes in i den 78:e minuten och efterlämnade inga avtryck i matchprotokollet.

I papperstidningen idag har Lasse Wirström kollat av med Lennart Sjögren beträffande vilka anfallsalternativ som står till buds efter det att Emra skickats tillbaka till Zurich.

- Vi hoppas få tillbaka Michael Jidsjö och Robin Staaf och har utlånade Robert Walker i bakfickan, säger sportchefen.

Beträffande de olika spelarnas status skriver Lasse Wirström att:
- Micke Jidsjö är tillbaka i full träning, men har inte spelat fotboll regelbundet på några år.
- Robin Staaf är höftopererad och på väg tillbaka.

En del frågetecken kvar alltså beträffande spelbarhet och lämplighet för uppgiften. Ja, Staaf gör ju mål – det såg vi förra året. Robert Walker har väl inte blivit någon jättesuccé hos Åtvidaberg. Å andra sidan är han egentligen ingen anfallare.

ÖSK har inte stängt dörren för ett sommarförvärv även om man avvaktar hur de spelare som redan finns i truppen utvecklas. Wirström frågar Lennart om klubben är beredd att rekrytera om det skulle visa sig att trion Staaf, Jidsjö och/eller Walker inte håller. Vilket Lennart bekräftar att man är från klubbens sida.

Arms brown, legs white, got to love two days paddlin in the lovely sun! 

Today I had to give a lesson on paddling in reverse canoe stylee!  I actually was looking forward to this lesson. Canoe isn’t my bag, or wasn’t.  This course has forced me to embrace the canoe.  I even found myself asking Hugh about suitable paddles for me as I know that paddle size has been detrimental to my performance in all my previous canoe sessions.

The group I have been “coaching” have been great craic throughout and even though they are 2* paddlers and above they all took genuine interest when the strokes were being carried out by the other would be coaches.  My session went very well with no major critisim – all good all good!  It is a real buzz when you have done a few games with students and seen that they are learning and enjoying wat you have created.

Before the course rounded up there was a future planning session- where do you see yourself going and what do you need to get there, well…

* my technical skills need worked on, I can talk rubbish and play games, I need to perfect the paddle —-3* in kayak and canoe what a task I’m setting myself

*I plan to make a compedium of strokes for quick reference based on the fundementals – body, boat and blade.

*my “bum in boat” policy still applies – if someone offers me to go out, to try a new boat or something new,  I am forbidden to say no (work permitting, have to pay for the habit after all!).

I had never coached before doing the course and to be honest I had never really planned to be on this course- I wanted my two star then, I had planned to paddle along at my leisure, maybe ticking off star awards, maybe not.  The coaching opportunity arose and I was convienced it was the right thing to do by a few members of the uni club.  The uni club at Coleraine had no coaches and have been depending on the amazing coaches from CCKA and from Xplore outdoors to take us all through the 1* and 2 * tests.

The training included coaching to coach, various models of learning and lots of on water time either carrying out rescues, demos or being assessed.  It was  very intense and I was glad at the end it was over two separate weekends rather than 4 days of slaughter!!

It was quite strange watching as myself and other participants change from being nervous and unconfident in the first week to becoming leaders in the final day.  I am really proud of everyone on the course for doing so well and passing.  I  want to thank CCKA tutors, Robin, Robert and Keith for their time and mentoring and also Hugh and Harry for their invaluable coaching tips.

I would certainly reccommend this course to anyone even pondering the idea of coaching.  As I said before- I never planned to coach  I just want to paddle, now I have done the course I  want others to share the fun I am having paddling!!

Robert Walker har startat sin lånesejour hos Åtvidabergs FF på bästa sätt. Efter två matcher har han redan skrapat ihop tre poäng (2+1). I dagens match mot Väsby gjorde han Åtvidabergs båda mål. En klart godkänd insats med andra ord även om det verkar som om han skulle kunna ha gjort fyra eller fem.

Kopparslagarna: Åtvidaberg besegrade Väsby
Corren.se: Walker ÅFF:s hjälte