Hitchcock’s 10 Best

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TimesOnLine recently posted their choices for the Hitchcock’s 50 Most Memorable Moments. Using just their selections, I provide for your perusal, my Top Ten Hitchcock Moments:

  1. North by Northwest (1959) The crop-dusting scene: This is perhaps Hitchcock’s most famous scene: Cary Grant on the run from killers, finds himself alone in the middle of nowhere. A crop duster appears on the horizon. As it flies closer, we know even before the machine gun fire, that Grant has been found!

  2. Psycho (1960) The shower scene: If the crop dusting scene isn’t Hitchcock’s most famous, then this has to be. We still believe that Janet Leigh, the star of the movie, is going to come out okay. Once she takes a shower things will start looking up. Unfortunately they don’t, and she should have. Through the shower curtain we can see the murderer quietly sneaking over. Suddenly the shower curtain is thrown back, Bernard Herrmann’s score blasts and anyone who has ever seen the scene knows that taking a shower will never be the same.

  3. The Birds (1963) Climbing frame: When Tippi Hedren sits on bench and lights up a cigarette we see a single crow on the monkey bars behind her. As she begins to smoke a few more land. She’s oblivious to them and what they represent. Finally she takes notice of a bird that flies into frame and to the monkey bars. She [and the audience] see for the first time that dozens, perhaps hundreds of birds now cover the playground equipment.

  4. The Birds (1963) The “God” shot: This film is filled with so many memorable moments, and who can forget this classic scene? Hitchcock literally gives us a bird’s eye view of the carnage below… birds attacking, as the gas station explodes and the town goes up in flames… and as the camera looks in all directions all we can see are more birds!

  5. Psycho (1960) The discovery of “Mother” in the basement: Theater owners wouldn’t let people come in during the last minutes of the movie so as not to ruin the shocking surprise as we discover for the first time, the secret of “mother.”

  6. North by Northwest (1959) The amazing denoument: Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint have been chased across the country and find themselves trapped on, of all places, the presidents’ heads on Mount Rushmore. She is barely hanging on as Grant stretches to pull her up and suddenly…a happy ending. Like in Vertigo where we don’t see how Jimmy Stewart manages to get back to safety, it just doesn’t matter.

  7. Saboteur (1942) The Statue of Liberty dangle: Bob Cummings finally confronts the foreign agent at the top of the Statue of Liberty. During the struggle, the agent goes over the side, barley saved by Cummings’ grip on his sleeve. As Cummings struggles to bring him up the sleeve begins to slowly rip… one stitch at a time. Then comes the fall that seems to last almost as long!

  8. Lifeboat (1944) Starring Alfred Hitchcock: Alfred Hitchcock was the first director that I knew by name. I used to love looking for his cameos in movies and this was perhaps his most clever. He appears in a newspaper diet ad.

  9. Psycho (1960) Marion Crane’s car journey to the Bates motel: Poor Janet Leigh has gotten in way over her head, but she’s the heroine of the story so despite the bad weather and the worries so clearly seen from her expressions, we know everything will turn out okay in the end.

  10. Rear Window (1954) Lisa is caught in Thorwarld’s apartment: Grace Kelly plays Lisa, Jimmy Stewart’s girlfriend. Stewart is convinced that the neighbor across the courtyard has killed his wife. Lisa goes in to the neighbor’s apartment to search for evidence as Stewart watches from his window, immobilized with two broken legs. He [and we] are shocked when the murderer suddenly returns to find Lisa in his apartment!

Time Out

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I try to keep my ZONE posts geared to fun stuff [movies, television, novels, comic books, art, etc.]. For this post, I’m going to make an exception and write briefly about something out of the norm.

On Friday evening, one of my students who plays on our high school football team suffered a terrible injury. His neck was broken while making a tackle. He was rushed to the hospital and surgery started late that evening and went into the early hours of the next day. His mother, little brother and a couple of close friends were joined by the head football coach, the head and assistant basketball coaches, our athletic trainer, our principal and me. As the minutes slowly ticked off and the surgery continued, his older brother [he’s going to college out of town], a few more close friends and a former football coach arrived. At about 1:30AM, a doctor came out and said that surgery was going well, that all signs were good and they’d be operating for another hour or so. After surgery, the student was admitted to the hospital.

This morning all signs continue to be good. The student has full use of his arms and legs. He still has a ways to go to be fully healed, but the worst should be over.

The reason that I wanted to post about this is that sometimes we forget about what’s really important in life. We also forget about how quickly events can change, sometimes forever. It shouldn’t take a catastrophic accident to remind us of what’s important… to let those we care about know it… to appreciate the blessings that we have.

Maybe it can be something as simple as a blog post.

All Time Best SciFi TV

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Entertainment Weekly recently posted their selections for the Twenty Greatest Sci-Fi Shows of All Time. You know how I love lists, so I decided to play along. Using just shows from EW’s top 20, I came up with my top five:

5. OUTER LIMITS (1963-1965) Truthfully, I don’t remember all that many episodes. Considering that I was just five years old when the show premiered and seven when it went off the air. What I do remember is that I loved staying up late [well, it was late to a five year old] to watch the show with my mom. And it had that classic opening… “We control the horizontal…” I’d love to re-visit some of the episodes again. RTN are you listening?

4. THE SIX-MILLION DOLLAR MAN (1974-1978) This was “must-see” tv for all kids my age. Who wouldn’t want to be Steve Austin? Who could forget that dramatic opening of the test flight gone wrong, the horrible crash, and then… “We can rebuild him. Make him stronger… faster” and cut to Lee Majors running in slow motion? I’m really surprised this show hasn’t been updated for the big screen. Of course they’d probably have to call it “The Six Billion Dollar Man.”

3. LOST (2004 – Present) I’ve been riding the Lost wave since the premiere and haven’t missed an episode. I’m glad the show has an end date in sight not because I’m not enjoying it, but because I want to feel that a definite story is being told. If too many mysteries keep being thrown at us and few are resolved, it would grow old. Now there’s little chance of that.

2. STAR TREK (1966-1969) I’ve talked about my love for the ORIGINAL Star Trek many times. In fact, I was a little surprised that I didn’t rate it number one. How can that be? It’s just not logical.
1. THE TWILIGHT ZONE (1959-1964) I was six years old when The Twilight Zone went off the air. It was another of those shows that I used to love watching safe on the couch. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve seen some of the classic episodes. Any time the SciFi channel runs a TZ marathon you can count me in!

Remembering 9-11

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It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that the 9/11 attacks took place seven years ago. The images, the shock and the horror are still all too clear.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of all impacted on that terrible day.

Photo credit: Naom Galai

The Zablo Lottery

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If you were trying to guess the country with the highest percentage of Zablo family members [and why you’d want to do that is fodder for another post]; what country would you guess? I would have thought Romania, or Italy. I would have been wrong. It’s actually the United States. But even in the good ole US of A the odds of bumping in to a Zablo are less than one in a million. Way less. According to this site, it’s more like .2 in a million.

So if you ever run in to me or one of my family members think of how lucky you are. It’s like hitting the lottery… without the cash pay off of course.

What’s the Worst That Can Happen?

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“What’s the worst that can happen?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe it’ll create a black hole that will devour our planet.”Does that sound like bad science fiction? It’s not.

Scientists disagree about what will happen when the world’s largest atom-smasher fires up for the first time. Most think that it’s perfectly safe and may give an indication of what conditions were present at the time the universe was created. A few men of science, however, believe that the process will create tiny black holes that will grow increasingly larger as they consume the Earth. These men even tried to get a court order to stop the experiment from going forward!

A tip of the brainiac covering to Jeff Parker for the original link.

Remembering Evan Tanner

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Evan Tanner was found dead yesterday. Tanner, 37, was a real free-spirit. A MMA fighter and former champion, Tanner seldom lived in the same place for more than six months. He didn’t have a lot of possessions, except for his books, which he truly loved. Tanner considered himself an adventurer and loved to travel and spend time with nature. Unfortunately, this may have contributed to his death.Tanner told friends that he was going deep into the desert… alone. He told some that he was going out for a “cleansing” and others that he was going to “hunt treasure.” These short trips into nature were nothing new for Tanner who loved his time alone in nature and the “great mysteries.” His friends became concerned when he stopped returning text messages. A rescue helicopter was sent out and his body was found miles from his camp. It appears that his motorcycle ran out of gas and Tanner began walking in heat well over a 100 degrees. The temperature became more than his body could take.

I knew of Evan Tanner because of his career in the UFC where he won 10 of his first 12 fights. Tanner was a former two time high school wrestling champ and a former UFC middleweight champion. Although he was best known for his abilities on the mat and in the octagon, Tanner said about himself: “I always thought of myself as the poet, the writer, or the philosopher – I never thought of myself as a fighter.” That is why the picture at the top of this post is not of Evan Tanner the fighter.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.

 

Beatty Puts on the Blue Light

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Remember when I posted that my buddy, John Beatty, had opened up his commission list and created a special blog for it? Well, a few things have changed and if you were considering getting a commission, now is the time!

John decided to close down the sketch blog and post the commissions on his new site at JohnBeattyArt.com. Plus, and this is the biggie, John has decided to take 1/2 off of all commissions!

No, that doesn’t mean he just draws 1/2 the figure for the full price, it means you get the full figure for 1/2 the price! Click here for full details and remember to let us know if you put in an order!

 

UFC 88: Sugar Over Ice

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Before we get to the fight that shocked the world, let’s take a look at the other results of UFC 88:

Nate Marquardt won by TKO in round one over Martin Kampmann. Marquardt landed a shot in the early going that got Kampmann in touble and then he simply stayed on top of him landing shot after shot until Kampmann could take no more. I thought this would be a tougher fight. Marquardt is just rock solid and showed ring smarts by not getting over-excited and continuing to mix up his punches. I look forward to Marquardt’s next fight whoever his opponent may be.

Dan Henderson won a unanimous decision over Rousimar Palhares. Henderson surprised me by winning so easily. He came in with a game plan that worked and to his credit he stuck with it. His plan was to keep the fight standing up and avoid going to the mat with Palhares at all costs. It didn’t make for a very exciting fight, but it did get Henderson the win.

Rich Franklin won via TKO in the third over Matt Hamill. Franklin was just too ring savy. I really thought that he’d have more trouble in defeating Hamill due to Hamill’s strength and great wrestling ability. Franklin was able to keep Hamill at bay by mixing his hard kicks with punches in bunches. Franklin looked to be in danger of losing via a stoppage due to a deep cut by his eye, but before that could happen in was able to put Hamill down with a hard leg kick to the liver to end the fight.

“Sugar” Rashad Evans knocked out Chuck “the Ice Man” Liddell with a single punch in the second round! Yeah, I was as shocked as you… maybe more so. I didn’t see Evans winning that fight, and if he did somehow find a way to win, I wouldn’t have guessed it would have been by knockout. Sure, I know that anyone can be knocked out by the right punch, but I just didn’t see it happening. Evans fought a smart fight. He didn’t waste his time [despite being a superior wrestler] in trying to take down Liddell. Instead he bobbed and weaved and made Liddell miss. As Evans’ gained confidence, he stayed in front of Liddell for longer [though still brief] periods of time and threw shots of his own. And each time as he would dance away he’d add a little something to irritate Liddell. He knew what he was doing. Evans wanted Liddell to come in so intent on knocking him out, that he’d leave himself open. And that’s what Liddell did. He missed an uppercut and Evans landed one on his chin. Instant knockout. Evans now has a shot at Forest Griffin for the title and Liddell must contemplate his next move.

Some folks are calling for Liddell to retire. He’s lost three of his last four fights [to Rampage Jackson, Keith Jardine and now Rashad Evans]. Although he looked good in his win over Wanderlei Silva, many will say that Liddell just doesn’t have it anymore. I disagree.

Anyone who can mix it up with Silva still has it. But that’s what Liddell has to do, He has to mix it up. In his losses to Rampage, Jardine and Evans, he was pretty much one dimensional. He went in looking to trade punches with Rampage and Jardine, no doubt thinking that he could knock them out before they got to him. I really don’t believe that he respected Evans punching power and probably thought that Evans would want to rely on his wrestling skills. In all three fights, he was wrong. Rampage landed first and knocked him out. Jardine rocked him and then went on to win a decision. Evans caught him with one shot dead on the button. How different would those fights have been if Liddell had fought like he fought against Silva? Remember the surprise when Liddell repeatedly took Silva down? How many times did he try that against Rampage? Jardine? Evans? Liddell has excellent wrestling skills, good jiu-jitsu and we know he can strike. Maybe he should try combining all three in his next fight.


Ed Hall: No Reference Needed

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The “Fatman” art above is by Ed Hall. Although I first met Ed five years ago, I’ve been a fan of his work for much longer. Ed is an award-wining political cartoonist with a wit to match his artistic talent. He also has the uncanny ability to draw caricatures from memory. I first saw him do this when I asked for a sketch for my Stallone gallery. Although I had reference available, Ed said that he’d drawn Sly before so the reference wouldn’t be needed. He then proceeded to draw this right before my eyes. Amazing.


You can check out Ed’s work here at his blog. You’ll find that he does a lot more than just political cartoons, and my guess is you’ll like it all.

UFC 88 Predictions

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Let’s take a look at tomorrow night’s UFC 88 Pay-Per-View Card.

Nate Marquardt vs. Martin Kampmann: This should be a good fight. Kampmann trains out of Randy Couture’s camp, and has a four fight win streak running back to 2006. Marquardt is a hard case whose only loses in the UFC have been to Anderson Silva and a split decision lost to Thales Leites [who Kampmann has beaten]. Kampmann may be a slight favorite, but I’m picking Marquardt to come out on top after a tough battle.

Rousimar Palhares vs. Dan Henderson: Six of Palhares’s wins have been first round submissions so you know he has mad BJJ skills. Henderson is a former two time MMA champion. He clearly dominated Anderson Silva for the entire first round when they fought, so you know he’s dangerous. Henderson has more experience, is bigger, hits harder and needs the win to get back into contention for a title shot. Everything should point to Henderson winning. Yet something says that’s not going to happen. I‘ll go for the upset and take Palhares.

Rich Franklin vs. Matt Hamill: Rich Franklin has moved up in weight after two devastating losses to Anderson Silva. He’ll face Matt Hamill who has less experience, but better wrestling skills and freakish strength. How that will play out all depends on how well Franklin can avoid being taken down. Hamill will want to force the fight to the mat and Franklin will look to knock out Hamill as he shoots for takedowns. I think that experience will prevail and give the nod to Franklin.

Rashad Evans vs. Chuck Liddell: This should be interesting. Up to this point, Rashad Evans has been able to rise to every occassion and keep his unbeaten streak alive. Evans is a skilled wrestler who continues to improve other facets of his MMA game. Liddell is the Ice Man. The Knockout King. Everyone knows that Liddell plans to keep the fight a standup slugfest — he will want to stalk Evans and throw bombs until one lands and puts him to sleep. So where does that leave Evans? He has two choices and neither are that great. He can try to beat Liddell at his own game by slipping punches and landing his own. I don’t see that happening for long. Or he can try to take Liddell to the mat and wear him down with his superior wrestling skills. The only problem is that Liddell is famous for avoiding takedowns. My prediction: Liddell by TKO.

Karo Parisyan was scheduled to fight on the card, but had to cancel due to a bad back. Funny that he pulled out on the day before the fight. I like Parisyan and hope it is nothing more than a bad back, but after listening to this interview, I have to wonder.

Couture vs Lesnar

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Wow. Really. Wow. Randy Couture vs Brock Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight Championship Title. Talk about a dream match.

Randy Couture is considered a MMA legend. Couture is the only UFC fighter to be a five time champion. [Never mind the fact that it means that he’s lost the title a few times along the way.] He’s the only man to hold both the UFC Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Titles. Less than a year after retiring and being inducted in the UFC Hall of Fame, Couture came back to win the UFC Heavyweight Title once again. [Never mind the fact that was over a year ago and Couture has been tied up in legal wranglings with the UFC.]

Brock Lesnar is 6 feet two inches and 280 pounds of solid muscle. He moves as fast as a middle weight. [Never mind the fact that he lacks depth in his MMA skills.] Lesnar is a former wrestling champion [NCAA and WWE] and now he is going to fight for Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight Title. [Never mind that he’s had just 3 MMA fights and lost one.]

Folks in the Couture camp think that his wrestling/MMA skills will be too much for Lesnar. They point out that Couture has fought bigger, stronger [?] and much more skilled opponents and come out on top. Those in Lesnar’s camp think Couture’s too old and that the year layoff will hurt him. Or that Lesnar is simply too quick and strong.

The funny thing is none of that is going to matter the night of the fight. It will probably be the biggest Pay-Per-View in the history of MMA. Fans and critics of both fighters will tune in. People who’ve never watched an MMA fight will tune in. It’s the fight people want to see.

So never mind the never minds.