Double Feature Time: Vertigo/Tightrope

Here are two films which I always felt had a bit in common.

For starters, these two films are thrillers in which James Stewart & Clint Eastwood, respsectively, play police detectives who have specific weaknesses which are exploited by the forces they find themselves combating. In Hitchcock's film, Stewart plays Scottie Ferguson, a San Francisco detective with a fear of heights who becomes obsessed with the woman (Kim Novak) whom her husband (an old friend) has asked Ferguson to keep an eye on because of fears that she may be suicidal. In Tightrope, Eastwood plays Wes Block, a New Orleans detective with a penchant for getting involved with the prostitutes of the world that he's supposed to be keeping in check, which makes his task of tracking a murderer quite difficult as the victims are prostitutes Block has been involved with. Soon, Block realizes that the killer is also targeting his two daughters, as well as the woman (Geneviève Bujold) who runs a rape prevention center whom Block has befriended. As these two films go on, the two detectives face their respective weaknesses head on, emerging as different people by the end. Both films are quite different from what audiences expected from Hitchcock & Eastwood by this point in their respective careers (I initially thought Tighrope was another entry in the Dirty Harry series when I first saw the poster for it), but both are loved by fans of both legends.

From Here to Infinity-The Ultimate Voyage (1994)

"Think of it: There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches and deserts of Earth." -Patrick Stewart This documentary about what lies beyond our solar system came at an appropriate time. Star Trek: The Next Generation had just ended its seven-year run (the show's finale, "All Good Things...," won the 1994 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation), so having Patrick Stewart host/narrate this opus was definitely a plus. While Sir Patrick's career has definitely thrived since then, the four subsequent movies TNG spawned-Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), while they certainly have their good points, overall failed to capture the magic of what made TNG itself work. For anyone who has already seen their share of documentaries about the stars, this film doesn't really say anything you may not have already heard. But for novices on the subject, this is a great introductary tool. But its nice pace makes it worth watching again and again, and, hey, how can anyone resist a documentary Sir Patrick narrates?