Michael Gildea (mjgildea)

Not a great movie. The title Ghost Ship kind of makes you think you're in for some atmospheric tale of the supernatural, right? WRONG! The Ghost Ship is just some metaphor for a life of lonliness at sea for a half-assed take on Mutiny on the Bounty. A few of the characters were colorful enough to keep my interest for a few minutes but this wasn't Val Lewton's crowning achievement. Its a quick watch if you feel you need to watch that entire Warner Bros Val Lewton set but nothing anyone should actively seek out.

At the beginning of The Wrong Man, Alfred Hitchcock informs (more like warns) his audience this movie is a departure from his other movies. What follows is a beautifully photographed and incredibly dull story about a case of mistaken identity. Hitchcock spends most of the first hour introducing Henry Fonda and Vera Miles as a struggling family thrown into a tedious nightmare based almost entirely on circumstantial evidence. While Fonda and Miles' performances are great, their characters are boring despite the fact that Hitchcock gets you to sympathize with them. And speaking of Hitchcock, his direction is fantastic (that nervous courtroom scene and the shot of Fonda in the holding cell were brilliant) even if the story is far from. The Wrong Man is definitely worth the watch for fans of Hitchcock but there's definitely a reason you don't hear this title thrown around in the same breath with his name too often.