Keep Watching the Skies

"Skyline" is a riff on the "Cloverfield" experience, only without the found footage approach and produced on a smaller budget that keeps the FX within reason. It's basically the same premise: uncharismatic twentysomethings with insipid soap opera problems are faced with extraordinarily destructive extraterrestrial visitation, forced into escape attempts and survival mode while military forces assemble their pathetic efforts. Toss in ingredients pilfered from innumerable alien invasion features of similar ilk, and "Skyline" is one derivative motion picture that is unable to rise above its origins.

The film marks the return of Greg and Colin Strause to the directors chair, a few years after their disastrous turn at the helm of the Aliens vs. Predator franchise with the loathsome 2007 picture, Requiem. A major force in the special effects industry, they decided to play to their strengths for a follow-up, shunning Hollywood to make a low-budget creature feature on their own, allowing them to slash costs and dictate tone without studio interference. It's a laudable idea, yet the siblings fail to make a compelling thrill ride with this would-be franchise. The Brothers Strause have no sense of visual tension, trusting ineffective actors to communicate end of the world panic. Unfortunately this bland group is not up to the task. The siblings seek to amaze with their budget bonanza, staging flaccid action as the aliens chase the humans around the complex every 15 minutes or so, offering cheap thrills sans excitement. The CG elements are satisfying in a SyFy Channel sort of way, but the pursuit is drab, again requiring these unappealing actors to sell the enormity of the effects. A sense of grand scale just isn't there, and for a film like "Skyline", reminding the viewer they're watching a second-rate product isn't the brightest idea.

Early Morning Broadcast News

I find this poster so cute.

"Morning Glory" has a welcome spring in its step, supplied visually by director Roger Michell ("Notting Hill"), lending the antics a wonderfully crisp appearance with careful composition that adds a certain whimsical feel. "Morning Glory" is part comedy, part romance, and sprinkled with some biting satire on the morning news biz. It's a tricky tone to sustain and it's amazing how well the director spins the plates for the first two acts of the film, bringing the audience into the situations.

Selling the humor with tremendous comedic timing is McAdams, who gives an atypically impassioned performance as the center of the producing storm. Registering fear, compassion, and Blackberry-engrossed distraction, the actress makes for believable television wrangler, using her diminutive size to reinforce the impossible task ahead. McAdams also makes an unlikely sparring partner with Ford, who turns his bewildering growl into a refined comedic instrument, portraying a pigheaded newsman facing a dire future of cooking segments and celebrity interviews, counting on booze and his acidic put downs to keep him going. Ford is exquisite at creating a battle of wills chemistry with McAdams and Keaton, who's mostly pushed into the background.

When "Morning Glory" catches a wave of satire and farce, it's an engrossing, amusing feature. The romantic subplot between McAdams' Becky and the vanilla Patrick Wilson bears little fruit and stops the movie dead in its tracks. More convincing are the young producer's battles with Ford, working a subplot that slowly reveals a vulnerability to the veteran, tenderly paying off their bickering relationship. The film's ending is a contrived movie convention and if the filmmakers taken a different approach to the same conclusion the movie would have been even better. 

Twelve Cabins, Twelve Vacancies

Hitchcock broke innumerable rules with his first entry in the horror genre. The film's lead abruptly changes from Leigh to Perkins, with early scenes of a foolish rich braggart and a suspicious policeman proving to be red herrings. The film opens with an unmarried couple in a sleazy motel room (very risque in 1960) and was the first film to show a flushing toilet. Touches of Hitchcock's black humor are spread throughout the film. There's also the shop customer who doesn't want her garden insects to suffer from poison. Norman makes endless double-meaning references to his mental condition and relationship with his mother. All of this adds to the pleasure of seeing the film again. You know all the surprises but you notice the bits of business in the background. Plus Anthony Perkins performance is among the most amazing in film history. Perkins had previously made a mark in "Friendly Persuasion," "Fear Strikes Out" and "On The Beach" but he will be forever identified as the twitchy motel owner Norman Bates. When the car stops submerging halfway in the swamp,the audience sees Norman's nervous indecision and is breathless for a moment until the car continues to sink. Bernard Hermann's iconic score is unusual as it consists entirely of strings.

"Psycho" was a major change from recent Hitchcock films, which were big budget Technicolor films featuring major stars such as James Stewart and Cary Grant. In contrast, "Psycho" was a low budget movie filmed on the Universal back lot using crew from Hitchcock's television series. However, it became one of the biggest grossing films of the year and was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Leigh), Best B & W Cinematography (John L. Russell) and Best Art Direction. It failed to win any Oscars, which were largely swept by Billy Wilder's The Apartment (1960). 

Random trivia: Hitchcock tested the shock value of the mummified remains of Mother by placing them in Janet Leigh's dressing room, strategically placed to be seen when she first turned on the light. John Gavin, who plays Leigh's boyfriend, later became the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. Perkins was not present for the filming of the shower scene. As it was among the last things shot Perkins had finished his part and was appearing in a play on Broadway so an unknown stand-in replaced him as Mother Bates.