Movies I've seen in the week 43

Fingers
Directed by: James Toback
Starring: Harvey Keitel, Danny Aiello, Tisa Farrow, Jim Brown
Harvey Keitel was a dirty, dirty man long before Bad Lieutanant. Here he plays a small-time gangster who dreams of becoming a concert pianist. The fun is, he won't even consider doing a reform to accomplish this. In fact, he plays a lot better when he does despicable things. The movie starts as a love letter to all sorts of music. But in the end it has a slightly cynic and misogynist world view. My favorite fingers in this one belong to the doctor who shoves them up Keitel's ass.
****

Enter the Ninja
Directed by: Menahem Golan
Starring: Franko Nero, Sho Kosugi
Not the best ninja movie around, but works as a cure for a bad day nevertheless.
***

North By Northwest
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Martin Landau
I wish there was a Bond movie as ridiculously entertaining. The purest Hitchcock-plot of a wrong man goes to ridiculous lengths here. Grant shows a talent for giving a good straight-faced tongue-lashing to everyone no matter how deep is he in trouble. Has some of the greatest set-pieces in motion picture history.
*****

Rope
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: James Steward, John Dall, Farley Granger
Hitchcock seems to feel that the feelings of moral superiority by the intelligentsia are getting out of hand. The movie is experimental more in its execution rather than its story. Nevertheless, the plot about how the guilty are going to be caught works for him as well as always.
*** 1/2

Psycho
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Vivien Leigh, Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles
Movies don't come much better than this. A multi-layered play with audience expectations. Ground-breaking, the first modern horror movie. A masterpiece in filming, lighting and editing. A great mystery if someone hasn't spoilt it for you yet.
*****