Recently , Pete and I watched the Blu Ray of North by Northwest.

I like NxNW, I don’t love it. I think it is a fine film and the high-def transfer is really something to be admired, but the film itself doesn’t compare to some of the other masterful pieces Hitchcock directed. It’s a little long and the humor is a little dated. However, the last 20 minutes of this film are really something exciting. It’s Hitchcock doing what he does best, keeping you on the edge of your seat, and on top of a national monument!

But I didn’t start writing this to talk about the movie. I came on here to talk about the special features on the Blu Ray. Unbelievable. There is a piece on Cary Grant, commentary (with the screenwriter, obviously not with Hitch), a making-of, and the real treat, “The Master’s Touch: Hitchcock’s Signature Style”. It’s an hour long documentary, all in HD, about Hitchcock’s filmmaking. It’s really worth the purchase of the Blu Ray by itself. I’ve read about Hitchcock, and he is a fascinating (yet fucked up) man. This packs a lot of info about him and his style into an hour, with interviews with all types of random people and contains all of the following:

• Pursuing the Perfect Image
• Hanging in Suspense
• Embracing the Darkness
• Corrupting the Innocent
• A Few Laughs Along the Way – including many of the director’s cameos
• An Object of No Importance – an articulation of the McGuffin plot device
• The Object of Desire – focuses on his use of blonde characters
• Captivated By Glamour – a discussion about the director’s use of wardrobe and art direction sensibilities
• A Symphony of Sound
• Ghosts from the Past – Hitch’s famous fear of incarceration plus the religion symbology he used
• Facing Our Fears
• The Artist as Confessor

Seriously check it out. You will not be disappointed.