Review: Hitchcock (2012) thinks you can't handle the truth.

Hitchcock

2012

95 minutes

rated PG-13

by Scott Mendelson

It is telling that the opening frames of Sacha Gervasi's Hitchcock don't even give us the usual 'based on a true story' text as its allegedly non-fiction story begins.  It's the only honest moment of the entire picture, which is so gloriously full of shit that it can't bear to even pretend that the story it's presenting is remotely truthful.  Technically based on Stephen Rebello's 1990 book, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, the film alters history, dilutes the contributions of talented individuals, commits outright libel against others, while basically ignoring its central subject (the, um, making of Psycho) in favor of a contrived would-be romantic conflict between Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) and Alma Reville (Helen Mirren).  Worse yet, the story is told in broad, on-the-nose strokes that resembles the kind of writing found in bad childrens' cartoons and the picture revolves around hindsight-superiority that renders it potently obnoxious.  It plays less as an adult drama and more like a Hitchcock biography blandly written for first-graders.

Hitchcock (IE - The Making of Psycho) gets a trailer.

Well this looks like good fun, even if it tries to sell the making of a popcorn entertainment as an epic "Us vs. the World!" underdog story.  Based purely on the cast alone, this is one of my top must-sees of the Oscar season, as I can't imagine it not being a gold-star acting treat.  I could carp that it follows the standard biopic trailer, even to the point of trying to sell the story of the world's most famous director making his next pulp fiction as a grand David vs. Goliath story.  But the actors all look grand and this looks like a good bit of inside-baseball fun.  I don't know how much general moviegoers will care about this one (when I was twelve, would my friends and older relatives flocked to a film about the making of The Treasure of Sierra Madre?), but if it's cheap enough if should be a solid investment.  I do wish we had gotten a glimpse of Michael Wincott as serial murderer Ed Geinn, but I hope his apparent absence doesn't mean he's but a cameo. Anyway, Hitchcock debuts on November 1st as the opening film of the AFI Film Festival before debuting in limited release on November 23rd.  As always, we'll see.  Your thoughts?  

First look at Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock.

I wrote a piece last month detailing ten films I was eagerly anticipating post-Dark Knight Rises.  Had I waited just a few weeks, I damn-well would have included Fox Searchlight's Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho (or Hitchcock, as its allegedly been renamed).  The film is an adaption of the Stephen Rebello book detailing um... Alfred Hitchcock's making of Psycho back in 1960.  It's a fascinating bit of old-school film history, and its lined-up one of the coolest casts in recent memory.  You've got Anthony Hopkins as the 'master of suspense' himself and Helen Mirren as his wife.  You've got Scarlett Johansson (as Janet Leigh), Jessica Biel (Vera Miles), Toni Collette (Peggy Robertson), Danny Huston (Whitfield Cook), Kurtwood Smith (Geoffrey Shurlock), and James D'Arcy (as Anthony Perkins).  And that's not including my two favorite bits of inspired casting.  Aside from the much-appreciated hiring of Michael Wincott to play infamous serial murderer Ed Gein (essay), they've also brought on Ralph Macchio as Psycho screenwriter Joseph Stefano (no word yet if the author of the novel Psycho, Robert Bloch, will show up). Wincott and Macchio are both highly under-appreciated actors who have struggled to get steady work over the last decade, and neither of 'obvious choices'.  The film has no release date as of yet, but it's easily one of Mendelson's Memos' most anticipated films over the next couple years.

Scott Mendelson

Coolest casting news of the year: Michael Wincott to join Fox Searchlight's Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho as Ed Gein! Dare we hope for a comeback?

Variety broke the story, but since they have a pay-wall, I'll link to The Playlist.  I'm not one to comment on every bit of casting news as it happens, but this one is personally exciting so I'll share.  Most of the hub-bub about Fox Searchlight's Alfred Hitcock and the Making of Psycho has focused on the casting of Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh and Jessica Biel as Vera Miles, with Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren as Mr. Hitchcock and his wife.  But buried in the flurry of casting news is what I can only pray is a comeback role for one of my favorite character actors.  Among those joining the cast is none-other than Michael Wincott, who will be playing real-life serial-murderer Ed Gein, who allegedly served as the inspiration for Norman Bates (arguably more-so in the original Robert Bloch novel than the Hitchcock movie).  Anyway, I won't go into Gein's sordid history here (although he's only confirmed to have murdered a few people), but I will say that if you feel like spending $9 to buy the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre  on blu-ray, there is a fine documentary about the man.  He is the loose inspiration for Norman Bates, Leatherface, and Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs, so I suppose it makes sense that he would play a role in this making-of-a-movie story.

Blu Ray Review: The Rite (2011)

The Rite
2011
114 minutes
rated PG-13
Available on DVD, Blu Ray, onDemand, and iTunes on May 17th from Warner Home Video

by Scott Mendelson

The theatrical review can be found HERE.

The Blu Ray:

Well, this won't take long.  The film looks relatively sharp, although the muted palate won't make this demo material.  But the details are rich and the film seems an accurate representation of its theatrical presentation.  A standard-def DVD is also included, but like most Warner DVDs, it is an overly saturated, yellow-tinged presentation with heavy macro-blocking.  The film sounds pretty solid on my English 2.0 set-up, as dialogue is always audible and cleanly seperated from the sound effects and the score.  As for extras?  Uh... well, you get a DVD of the feature, as well as a digital copy.  Other than that, you get an alternate ending (it's more 'scary' but less credible), twelve minutes of deleted scenes (I wish Rutger Hauer's scenes had made the theatrical cut, as he underrepresented in the feature), and a seven-minute EPK about the exorcism school that I wish the film itself had focused on.

So, mediocre film, great video and audio, but a near-complete absence of extras.  This is the very definition of a 'rental-only' release.   

Review: The Rite (2011)

The Rite
2011
114 minutes
rated PG-13

by Scott Mendelson

Mikael Håfström's The Rite is a case where the true story that the film is seemingly based on seems far more interesting than the movie that got made.  The opening act of the picture seems to be setting up a story set in a relatively new Vatican program to teach modern-day priests how to perform exorcisms.  Sounds neat, right?  But the film quickly discards that idea to focus on a couple token case studies that, while interesting, too often feel like toned-down variations of any number of exorcism genre entries.  To its credit, the film is far more of a drama than an outright horror picture.  The third-act dovetail into the overtly 'scary' feels more like a test screening demand than an organic filmmaking choice.  But the film is creditably performed, looks polished throughout, and contains worthwhile insights about maintaining faith in an era of intellectual doubt.

The Mask of Zorro finally arrives on Blu Ray today.

Nearly two years after the Blu Ray release of the less-successful (but still pretty darn good) sequel, The Legend of Zorro, Sony finally feels fit to release the original modern classic on Blu Ray today. It's no secret that I probably love this film more than anyone else on the planet. Heck, it's probably my favorite film of the 1990s and perhaps my all-time favorite superhero adventure. Before I got married, The Mask of Zorro used to be the litmus test. You didn't have to like Batman, Star Wars, Airplane!, or The Silence of the Lambs. But if you couldn't see the obvious quality at work in this Martin Campbell reinvention, then it just wasn't going to work out.

This film is why I'm such a hardcore Martin Campbell junkie. Everything about it just works. The action is full of real stunt work, and it's shot in long, fluid takes. The special effects are mainly practical and you can see the blood, dirt, and sweat on each and every actor. The swordplay is copious and varied. And while the film is pretty violent (especially in the first act), the body count is just low enough for it to be shocking whenever a life is lost (like all Martin Campbell action films, the violence stings and the dead are mourned).

Although there are four major action set pieces, the 135-minute film is long enough to have ample heapings of plot and character development. Even the villain (Stuart Wilson) is given shadings and moments of empathy, and his grand scheme is both brilliant and logical. Eleven-and-a-half years after its release, The Mask of Zorro remains Antonio Bandaras and Catherine Zeta Jones's finest hours, and it contains one of Anthony Hopkins's best performances. If by some fluke you haven't seen this one yet, you now have absolutely no excuse. If you value my opinion at all, you'll buy or rent The Mask of Zorro today.

Scott Mendelson