Noah

Epics about biblical characters have been around as long as there has been cinema. And the list of actors who have played them is long, Charlton Heston as Moses, Willem Defoe as Jesus, Graham Chapman as Brian(?) Now to that list we can add Russell Crowe, a man who has long sought to corner the market on historical epics.

I'm going to keep my explanation of the plot to a minimum, partly because the story is so epic and partly because the story of Noah is so well known. After Man has become corrupt and evil from the power it has gained from fallen angels, called Watchers, God (known as the Creator) decides to punish everyone by sending a flood that will destroy all humanity. The Creator picks Noah (Russell Crowe) to build an ark that will carry all the animals of Earth, which the Creator deems to be innocent. Noah travels with his family to his grandfather Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins) who helps him in his task along with the Watchers. King of Men Tubal-cain (Ray Winstone) discover what Noah is doing and rallies Man to stop him.

Surprisingly for a movie based on a religious story, you'll find very little preaching going on. It is an interpretation of what is in the book of Genesis and I can only imagine a fair bit of creative licence. There is a sequence that I thoroughly enjoyed where Crowe narrates the story of Creation and a montage that includes the Big Bang and evolution is played. I thought this was a great merging of religion and science.

One aspect of this film that really appealed to the filmmaker in me was that up until the flood occurs, most of the special effects are done in a practical way and not computer generated images, well I think they were and if they weren't, it certainly fooled me. An example of this are the Watchers. These are huge rock monsters, reminiscent of the Rock Biter in The NeverEnding Story. To me, they looked like they were made with very advanced claymation techniques. Again, I could be wrong.

My feelings toward Russell Crowe have always been a bit tenuous. Everyone loves him for his roles in films like Gladiator and Romper Stomper, but I've never been able to get behind him. However, with this film I think I might have taken a turn. His gruffness turned to softness at parts and he wasn't putting on an affected accent that he does with all his other films.

Emma Watson has really been proving herself the last couple of years outside of the Harry Potter franchise, appearing in films like The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Bling Ring. Here she plays Noah's adopted daughter Ila and really showcases her emotional talents in the films more pressing scenes. Ray Winstone always is able to throw himself into his roles. He is a perfect pick for the earthy and somewhat demonic Tubal-cain.

Throw in some good performances from Jennifer Connelly, who must like being in Darren Aronofsky's films, and a berry-obsessed and humourous role from Anthony Hopkins.

Verdict: A good biblical epic that doesn't preach too much about the story's original message.

Hitchcock

I am convinced that someone has built and is using a time machine. My evidence for this wild allegation is the movie Hitchcock. They must have gone back to 1960 and convinced Alfred Hitchcock to get in some odd shaped car and act in a film about the making of his most famous movie Psycho. It's either that or Anthony Hopkins is the best celebrity impersonator ever (or close enough until you hear the legendary Ralph Garman). Either of these ideas work for me.

The story behind Psycho was an amazing one. His last film North by Northwest was a huge success. But Alfred dreams of his younger days, when he and his wife Alma (Helen Mirren) were making experimental movies and pushing the boundaries of can and can't be shown on the silver screen. He is under contract for one more picture with Paramount. So in the search for the inspiration for his next movie, Hitchcock comes across Robert Bloch's novel Psycho. It is about the owner of a mysterious motel who murders most of the young female guests who enters it's doors. Hitch, as he is known in this movie, is smitten with the story, he has found the film that will push the envelope in many ways. However, he cannot get anyone to finance it. So, in a turn that makes me to consider him one of the original indie filmmakers, he mortgages his house and tightens his bootstraps to make one of the most ambitious films of his career. Ambitious only because the head of the US censor board (That 70s Show's Kurtwood Smith) finds the film to be abhorrent. So through the ups and downs of the production he finally is able to make a rough cut that is satisfactory, although it isn't any good.

Meanwhile, Alma finds herself drifting away from Alfred and wishes to pursue her own projects. She starts work on an adaption of her friends new novel. She works on this for a considerable amount of time before realising it is unadaptable. This is just about the time when Hitch finds that he needs to re-edit his rough cut and Alma comes to the rescue. They spend a considerable amount of time in the editing room and end up coming out with a masterpiece. This time round the film is much more to Hitch's expectations, although only two theatres agree to show it, so they must rely on word of mouth. Luckily for them it is a success with the audience.

The cast in this movie is great. Anthony Hopkins, as I said earlier was a dead ringer for the master of suspense, and Helen Mirren were perfect as always. But they real joy of the cast is in the supporting roles. Scarlett Johansson is perfect as Janet Leigh (also known as Jamie Lee Curtis' mum, something I only recently discovered), the leading lady made famous by the iconic shower scene. Another doppelganger in this movie was James D'Arcy as Anthony Perkins, who plays the eponymous psycho. This guy was so convincing as Perkins, he had all the nervousness of the actor and character down-pat. Also a surprising supporting role came from a highly unrecognisable Toni Collette as Hitch's assistant. Jessica Biel also gets a bit part as Vera Miles, Hitch's former leading lady.

There are some interesting "dream" sequences in which Hitch's experience making this film is likened to that of the story Ed Gein, the serial killer caught two years prior to the making of the film and the model behind the character of Norman Bates. Here his played by Michael Wincott (we all remember him from Alien: Resurrection, surely).

Verdict: I found this movie to wonderfully enjoyable. I love Psycho and I find it to be terrifying (it's 52 years old as well). I also like to see movies about how Hollywood worked in it's golden age and this is no exception. Look out for a great reference to his next film, The Birds.