The Offbeat Marquee: Film and TV Reviews

Well then, this is new... INTRODUCTION So I am an insane fan of Bernard Herrmann. I will watch a crap film just to hear one of his scores, and I can be sucked into a brilliant film even deeper through his brilliant sense of "musical psychology," an odd term I'll use to describe how Herrmann suggested ideas and spun narratives solely through the power of the film score. And to celebrate the legend's birthday, I thought we would tackle the big score of Herrmann's iconic collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock, Vertigo . I call this one the biggie as, while Psycho definitely is a masterpiece in and of itself, Vertigo is one of the most complex and highly regarded film scores ever. And, it serves as just one of the great elements of the twisted tale of obsession woven in such a way as to create one of the most highly regarded films of all time. The man of the hour, American composer Bernard Herrmann BACKGROUND First, I believe setting the stage migh...

Just wanted to also say a few words about the magnificent composer Lalo Schifrin on his birthday. Schifrin is a phenomenal talent who has contributed to some of the most well-known and beloved cult classics, such as the knockout crime thriller Dirty Harry , the martial arts classic Enter the Dragon , and the iconic horror film The Amnityville Horror.  Schifrin, through various works in film and his legendary theme for the TV program Mission Impossible , Schifrin championed writing challenging works that employed jazz and general avant-garde technique that have always worked well with the films they sit behind. But now, let's celebrate with a personal favorite of mine by Schifrin: the Main Title to 1968's Bullitt .  Happy Birthday Mr. Schifrin! 

INTRODUCTION I've decided that for my first giallo on the site, I would choose a somewhat lesser known title. This is not a work of Bava's, Argento's, or even Fulci's. This is a twisted tale of an alcoholic journalist trying to piece together a string of seemingly unrelated murders. This is Luigi Bazzoni's The Fifth Cord . THE PROS My god is this one a real gem. I honestly don't think I have ever been more pleasantly surprised before in my history of viewing gialli. The Fifth Cord was the kind of late-night thriller you would probably pop in to go to sleep watching. But if you actually throw it on to view it, you are treated to a rather impressive work. Franco Nero is grand as our drunken reporter, Displaying competence, humor, and rage between his moments of unadulterated inebriation, Nero is easily the star in terms of acting prowess. But there is one very worth runner up: Rosella Falk, who also starred in Fellini's masterpiece 8 1/2 and Dar...