What lies beneath (released in 2000) - A supernatural thriller starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford - a big hit

This movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford was one of the biggest hits of the year. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis and was highly influenced by Hitchcockian movies.
The movie starts with the troubles of Claire and Norman a well-to- do couple who move to Vermont. After her daughters departure for college Claire who suffers from memory lapses start feeling uneasy at their home. She spies one of their neighbors Warren dragging a heavy body bag and concludes that he has murdered his wife Mary. Claire confronts and accuses Warren of murder and is in turn proved false when Mary is found alive in the house. Norman, Claire's husband, a distinguished professor thinks that Claire is going senile.
Unconvinced Claire conducts a séance to channel the spirit with her friend. Soon mysterious things starts happening in her house, like things falling down, the doors slamming etc. Claire finds a missing report of Madison Frank behind one of the picture frames. She visits Madison's mother and finds out that Madison was Norman's student int the university. She comes back with a lock of Madison's hair and performs a ritual to allow the spirit to possess her. A possessed Claire seduces Norman and during the act he sees the change in her appearance. A scared Norman pushes Claire which makes her loose contact with the spirit. Slowly Claire's memory returns and she remembers her husband's affair with Madison.



Norman confesses of the affair; telling Claire that he told Madison her that he loved Claire very much and could not leave her for Madison. This forced the unstable Madison to commit suicide. Norman says that he had seen her corpse with a letter written to Claire which was burnt by him. He also acknowledges of pushing the body in to the lake to make it disappear. Claire asks him to confess everything to the authorities. Norman pretends to do so and is found out.
To get rid of Claire Norman gags and places her in the tub and fill sit up with water to facilitate her drowning. He leans forward to give her a kiss that Claire's face morphs in to Madison's corpse like face. A scared Norman hits his head on the mirror and is rendered unconscious. Claire escapes in her car to reach the authorities. Norman follows her and forces her car in to the lake where he had pushed Madison's body.
As they struggle to get out of the lake Norman Grabs Claire's legs to prevent her from escaping. But Madison's ghost appear to drag Norman down allowing Claire to surface. She escapes and Norman is drowned to pay for his sins. Claire pays her respects at Madison's grave and leaves for a new life.
This movie is so highly influenced by Hitchcock's dramatization that the critics have drawn several parallels to Hitchcock's various movies. This film was the first film for Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as a pair. Harrison Ford has gone on record saying that Michelle Pfeiffer's presence was the motivating factor for his signing the film. The movie went on to become the block buster of 2000. A good spooky horror movie for all.

The Age of Innocence (1993) - Directed by Martin Scorsese, and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder

The Age of Innocence (released in 1993) was a movie directed by Martin Scorsese, that won one Academy Award (Oscar) and was nominated for a total of 5 awards, but not the top awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor or Actress). Winnona Ryder was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress role, but did not win. The movie eventually won the Oscar for Best Costume Design (Gabriella Pescucci). However, the movie won awards in other places such as the Golden Globe, BAFTA, National Board of Review Award. The movie was based on a novel with the same name, written by Edith Wharton (winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize). The novel is set in the 1870's in New York City, set in the upper class (the distinction of the prize was that this was the first Pulitzer Prize awarded to a woman, based on her accurate depiction of the life of the upper class in the 19th century New York).
The name of the novel / movie is ironic, given that while the upper class was all genteel and published on the outside, inside it was all conspiracies and controversy. The movie was filmed in New York, with some portions being shot in Paris and the opera scenes being shot in the Philadelphia Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The movie earned positive reviews from critics.
Like some of his other movies, Marin Scorsese did a cameo role in this movie, as a photographer in a wedding scene.



The movie was dedicated to Martin Scorsese's father (Charles Scorsese, who died before the movie got released); both his mother and father made cameo appearances in the movie. Another surprise about the movie is that the lead actors in the movie were all the first choices of Martin Scorsese.
The movie is a tale of passionate love, never being consummated because of society and its bonds. The story is that of a young rich lawyer, Newland Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis), who is eager and happy about his forthcoming marriage with another member of society's elite, May Welland (Winona Ryder). However, his feelings start changing with the emergence on the scene of her cousin, 30 year old sophisticated Countess Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer). She is separated from her husband, who has cut her off, and to the horror of society and her relations, she wants a divorce (you can separate, but a divorce would be a huge scandal). Newland starts feeling a passionate attraction for her, and she for him, but because of the impact this would have on May, she backs off, deciding to keep a distance.
And then Newland finally marries May (he had asked May to get married sooner since he is not sure about his feelings for Ellen and whether they could make him change his mind); but his marriage is soon passionless, and he still longs for Ellen. Ellen finally agrees to have an affair with Newland, and Newland even decides to follow her for Europe, and then May tells him that they are having a baby; and now, because of the child, they again agree to not have an affair. But is this the end of their interactions ?