Great Credit Sequences: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"

I just recently rewatched Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte and was really knocked out by the opening titles.

They come fourteen minutes into the movie, after the opening prologue in 1927. The entire credits sequence, about two minutes in length, plays with Bette Davis' face in closeup on the right edge of the screen, the credits slowly flashing up in white on the completely black left side of the screen.

It's a quiet and understated bit of acting from Davis, looking into the darkness for her murdered lover, and a quiet and understated two minutes in a film in which nothing else is at all quiet or understated.

Reallly great.

 

A lot of people expected camp from that movie, since it was the successor (if not sequel) to "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" Perhaps because Joan Crawford withdrew and they replaced her with Olivia de Havilland (with whom Davis got on quite well), Davis tried acting, and the movie is unexpectedly moving at the end. I think it was Kenneth Tynan (?) who described her as a 'wasted Duse' in this film. Mary Astor has a small role, too.

 

I agree. I was surprised, watching it again for the first time in years to find that I think I prefer it to Baby Jane. It's certainly the more artistically satisfying. Plus, it has an actual ending, unlike Baby Jane which just sort of peters out.

Davis is pretty unnerving in the film, but you're right that she has some sort of real character at the heart of her performance. In the ending scene, you really do feel that she has reclaimed her dignity and prison or hospital or wherever they're taking her, you feel that she's found peace at last and she'll be alright. And, yes, that is oddly moving; you feel real affection for her in that scene and hope she's going to be okay.

De Havilland, I really liked as well, mainly because the film has her play a perverse riff on Melanie Wilkes. She's utterly sweet and good and kind and loving and a little corny, such a saint she is; except, oops, she's actually a vindictive, cruel and malicious person pretending to be all those things.

Atmosphere the film has; southern gothic with all the wheels clicking: sex, lust, madness, murder, shame. And, yeah, Mary Astor was really good too; she just has something like two scenes, but she's great.

It's also been years since I saw Baby Jane, so perhaps after rewatching it, I might think I like it better, which is what happened the first time, I saw these two movies. But right now, I definitely feel like Sweet Charlotte is actually the superior film, even if its not nearly as famous or as iconic.

 

I much prefer this film, though "Baby Jane" has its moments.

DeHavilland didn't play nasty very often, unfortunately. She's memorable when she did.

 

Two of my favorite movies. I saw them both when I was about twelve years old, and they shook me to the core. Even now, I still enjoy them as pieces of art, and simply very enjoyable films.

 

"Zombieland"

 

The credits integrate nicely with the survival rules. I can't think of another movie that does anything exactly like that, and it adds a lot to the whole film.

 

The credits or the survival rules? Because Watchmen has similar credits 7 or 8 months before Zombieland was released.

 

No the integrating of the credits style with the survival rules. 3D text that interacts with the environment.

 

Gotcha. I remember Panic Room had some interesting 3D credits that floated among the skyscrapers of New York but it didn't do any interacting beyond casting shadows.

 

City Slickers (1991)

I remember this one as being an homage to the Pink Panther title sequences with the sight gags. In this case it's the cow vs the Cowboy.

 

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

This reminds me of James Bond, a bit.

 

It's a great sequence that perfectly evokes the pulp noir style that the film is both mocking and paying homage to. John Ottman's score is really perfect and totally sells this sequence, IMHO. This is one of the greatest comedies of all time.

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

Serenity Opening Titles

Captain: "Define 'interesting'."
Pilot: "Oh, God, oh God, we're all gonna die?"

HEE!

 

Some of the best opening titles in the entire gorram history of moviemaking.

 

And the fact that it's all one shot (except for a splice as Mal and Simon are entering a hatch) makes it even more impressive. I love how it ends with a close-up of River lying on the walkway as Joss' director credit comes up. This movie should have made a billion dollars and they should still be making sequels right now this very instant!

 

It didn't make as much as the ordinary slasher movie. I just could not understand it.

 

The ordinary slasher movie is better-promoted.

 

Yeah, I only knew about it because the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema showed some of the interviews from the Firefly DVD in front of, oh I think it was Dukes of Hazard. The Firefly cast charmed me, though I had never seen the show, and I decided to see the movie when it came out a couple of weeks later. Instant love affair.

But yes, I never saw any TV ads for the film, or heard anything about it except for those interviews, prior to the movie's release.

 

I love the credit sequence for Serenity. It establishes the main characters and gives you a summary of their personalities in one shot through the ship in about 100 seconds. Very well done.

 

An article on the wonderful title sequences of "Catch Me If You Can"

 

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" Title Sequence

 

I've seen a lot of people complaining about the credit sequence, but I thought it was pretty good. Strange and arresting.