Who would you like to see direct it or star in it?

Wow I could not imagine watching North by Northwest without Cary Grant.

@lantzn said:

Who would you like to see direct it or star in it?

Good question...

I'd like to see someone with a vision make their own interpretation of it... maybe one of the better horror/thriller directors like Karyn Kusama, Alexander Aja or someone who will not just copy Hitchcock (what's the point? The original is classic), but rather make their own movie that is inspired by the older one... but please give them final cut (or something close to it)... otherwise, a big director who has the weight to not have it turn into a garbage cash grab...

I think John Hamm would be great it in. They'd have to overcome the whole Don Draper thing.... or just go with it!

Remake? What the hell for?!

A lot of people don't even know about it... It might even inspire a new generation of viewers to seek out he original...

It doesn't have to be a carbon copy... Maybe an homage like Distrubia was an remake of Rear Window... Or how A Perfect Murder is a remake of Dial M for Murder... You know, you can see some of the same DNA there, but it's a different movie...

@Renovatio said:

A lot of people don't even know about it... It might even inspire a new generation of viewers to seek out he original...

It doesn't have to be a carbon copy... Maybe an homage like Distrubia was an remake of Rear Window... Or how A Perfect Murder is a remake of Dial M for Murder... You know, you can see some of the same DNA there, but it's a different movie...

Reminds me of music. I've always been open to listening to new music. My kids and grandkids will occasionally want me to hear one of their favorite new songs and I'll immediately start singing along to their astonishment. Then I'll proceed to pull up the original on my iPhone.

there

There have already been many films which play like an homage of NBN, Silver Streak for one. What more is needed?

@movie ghoul said:

There have already been many films which play like an homage of NBN, Silver Streak for one. What more is needed?

Silver Streak? OK yeah I get the Grant and Mason vibe with that one. LOL

@lantzn said:

Who would you like to see direct it or star in it?

Clooney to star. Still thinking about who to direct.

Yeah, I could see Clooney starring in this if we stick to the original's period...

Needs a good cinematographer... Luckily there are quite a few good ones around...

Would love to see them shoot it on film and take some risks with the visuals instead of the usual thriller-look that a lot of the smaller budget genre movies are subjected to.

Who to direct? Who would you cast as actors? Would you set it in contemporary times or in the 1950s?

@Renovatio said:

Yeah, I could see Clooney starring in this if we stick to the original's period...

Needs a good cinematographer... Luckily there are quite a few good ones around...

Would love to see them shoot it on film and take some risks with the visuals instead of the usual thriller-look that a lot of the smaller budget genre movies are subjected to.

Who to direct? Who would you cast as actors? Would you set it in contemporary times or in the 1950s?

I'm (finally) going to watch this movie (for the first time) tonight! Let's see what director jumps to my mind after a viewing :-) Will circle back later.

Get some popcorn!

Make sure you're not interrupted and turn your phone off... it's worth full attention... So much fun!

I could see Joaquin Phoenix play Martin Landau's part.

https://silkpathdiary.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/north_by_northwest_02.jpg

http://tonicgossip.com/wp-content/joaquin_phoenix3.jpg

Y'all are going to hate me. Just watched this last night. Here's my take on it...Meh!

Each director is has a particular skill. For me, Hitchcock's grand contribution to movie-making was his eye - his screenplay, angles, what he did with light, wide shots...it's arguable that, to this day, there's no match.

But, story-wise, I too often get to the end of a movie thinking "what just happened?"

There are so many "WTF" moments in this film pushed at the audience to force a story that should not have been there.

I didn't quite get enough backstory to understand how this guy, on one hand, could be sooo concerned about "mother", and then just ditch her when the chase was on - for all he knows, she was taken hostage. We NEVER hear him wonder or worry about dear old mom again. Really?

A guy throws a knife into another man's back in, of all places, the UN, and NOBODY sees him? Not one person from behind him to say "that guy didn't do it, this guy did."

And what does our man do? Get his finger prints all over the knife, instead of stepping back and looking in the direction from where the knife must have come.

And, after the man falls dead, the alleged perp is, who poses for a pretty picture, murder weapon in hand, then manages to just run out the front door with a nifty helicopter view angle showing not one security guard giving chase?

Seems to me that, if the FBI wanted the bad guys, getting the black-gloved knife thrower on murder would have been a fine place to start, then offer him a deal to roll over on the head honcho.

The plane crash into the truck scene, I can't even.

The list goes on and on and on...

Yes, visually, from NYC to Chicago to the wide open vistas of the midwest then to the rugged Mt. Rushmore - stunning. But, story-wise, hardly compelling to warrant another watching.

I will quickly concede, had I gone into a movie theatre in 1959 to see this, within that socio-historic milieu, I might have come out thinking "that was a lot of fun". But, given all the movie making we've enjoyed since then, how I see movies now, after all that has been done, has changed. There are classics that still stand up, for me, after all this time, so I know I am not just dismissing an old movie out of hand (Double Indemnity 1944 is still among my all time favourites. The Apartment 1960, The Seven Year Itch '55, Sabrina '54 also, and it's not just because I'm a Billy Wilder fan; Breakfast at Tiffany's '61 is also still fun; etc.)

Now, a remake? Heck, yes! Please!

Clooney (our modern Clark Gable, actually) is the man to play Thornhill. 10 years ago, I'd have said Michael Douglass (NBNW has a The Game desperation feel to it...)

It must be set in the late 50s...we need more establishment of what kind of business man he is - barking orders at a secretary isn't sufficient (think of how they established Pierce Brosnan's Thomas Crown Affair with the own the building comment at the elevator, and the business deal, and how he surveys his kingdom from his spacious office through lots of big windows).

Director's gotta be David Fincher. He does well with screenplay (even on TV, how they shoot House of Cards is utterly gorgeous, the opening credits alone are among the most sumptuous ever), and he's got some edge. This film thrives on suspense, but needs a real edge to remain compelling.

That's where I am at this point.