Trailer Tuesday: Hitchcock

-

*Sniff sniff* Do you smell that? It's that time of year that cinema output segues from fat-budgeted, CGI-heavy blockbusters to pedigreed fare, where the main drawcard is the cast and performances. Sure to be of interest in 2012 in this regard is Hitchcock.


Yup, we're heading into the end of year awards season, and Hitchcock looks to be this year's My Week With Marilyn. In other words, we get to watch today's actors impersonate some of the greatest icons of the silver screen from years gone by. As the title suggests, here we'll be focusing on legendary, macabre-obsessed director Alfred Hitchcock, as played by Anthony Hopkins. If that wasn't enough, Helen Mirren is at Hopkins' side as Hitchcock's filmmaker wife Alma Reville. And the Academy Award winning duo is supported by Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh, Jessica Biel as Vera Miles and James D'Arcy as Anthony Perkins, while Toni Collette, Danny Huston, Kurtwood Smith and Ralph Macchio all also appear. How's that for Oscar bait?

Biopic Hitchcock is based on the non-fiction book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. Stripping out everything else, the film maintains a pinpoint focus on the behind-the-scenes trials and tribulations associated with the making of Psycho. While Hitchcock's personal and professional relationships came under strain, the gamble on this twisty, graphic psychological thriller was to eventually pay off. Despite belief that he was past his prime as a filmmaker, Hitchcock's Psycho was a massive change in direction that shocked the world and went on to become arguably the director's most famous and most influential film.

Whoops, I hope I haven't spoiled it for anyone, but the "Making of Psycho" story is a pretty well-known slice of cinema history.

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how much mainstream appeal Hitchcock has. Certainly there's the curiosity value in seeing stars playing stars, but perhaps only the cinephiles are interested? I know I'm very keen to see these famous people and events depicted onscreen.

Hitchcock releases in North America in 25 November. The film's South African release date is currently unknown, but I would expect it in the first 3 months of 2013.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is the rebooted Lara Croft gay? Evidence for and against...

-
Image
As some of you know, I’ve been fangirling hard over the new Tomb Raider , the first entry in the video game series since 2008, and ostensibly a reboot for the entire franchise . Taking the form of an origin story, Tomb Raider 2013 depicts the events that transformed a beautiful, if bookish, archaeology graduate into a pistol-packing adventurer with a devil-may-care attitude. We meet Lara Croft as a pretty, fairly ordinary 21 year old, brooding over her work notes, listening to her mp3 player and very much confined to the shadow of her male mentors. By the end of the game, however, she’s taken charge – she’s had to! – and, battered, bruised and bloody, she’s both a survivor and hero, right down to rescuing the princess and carrying her away in her arms. Yeah, this is probably the best point to mention that there will be some Tomb Raider 2013 spoilers in this post, so read ahead with caution. Anyway, I loved the game. Technically it’s near faultless, it looks beautiful, the ov...
Read more

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Queer Icon (Part 4)

-
Image
Part 4: The mystery of Lara Croft’s sexuality “Now what’s a man gotta do to get that kind of attention from ya?” – Larson Conway (Tomb Raider, 1996) Despite being an icon for many queer pop culture consumers, Lara Croft’s own sexual orientation remains ambiguous. Outside of the Top Cow comics and live-action films – where Lara is blatantly heterosexual, with a fondness for slightly scruffy bad boys (who keep betraying and hurting her) – the character comes across as primarily asexual. Kurtis Trent is the only male figure who even comes close to being a love interest in the game series. Lara's apparent sexual disinterest is despite the adventurer appearing very sexually attractive herself; a figure of desire with bee-stung lips, voluptuous breasts, toned stomach and impossibly long, athlete’s legs. Yet Lara is never dominated by sexual yearnings or romantic affections. She is very much in control of herself at all times. It’s worth noting, however, that over time th...
Read more

Ladies I Love: Part 2 - Rhona Mitra

-
Image
Following on from the first post in this series , you may realise that I have a very definite type. Anyway, today we profile model-turned-actress Rhona Mitra . This 36 year old Briton is of English, Irish and Indian descent. You'll have seen her pop up on the big and small screen multiple over the past decade and a half, although Mitra's claim to fame is that she was the second ever model (some say first if you rule out "unofficial"  Nathalie Cook ) to play iconic video game character Lara Croft . From 1997-1998, Mitra could be found in PR material, as well as at trade shows, events and conventions as a flesh-and-blood embodiment of Tomb Raider 's kick-ass archeologist lead. There have been many official Lara Croft models over the years , but as far as I'm concerned Mitra remains the best. In my mind, of all of them, she most closely resembles the video game character in terms of facial features. Plus she comes from money and had a rebellious boarding...
Read more