MOVIE REVIEW: HITCHCOCK

Fun fact: I've never seen Psycho. Nope, not once--I'm convinced I'll never shower again if I do--but that doesn't mean I have no idea what it's about. It's practically part of our collective pop culture consciousness…which is part of the reason why I've skipped it. And that's what made Alfred Hitchcock such a remarkable director: He could take something no one wanted to touch (in this case, a based-on-a-true story about a cross-dressing murderer) and turn it into an iconic piece of film history. That's also what makes Hitchcock, the new film that explores the making of the classic horror flick (out Friday, November 23), so engaging. There's the backstory to the making of Psycho--arguably the biggest hit in Hitch's career (yup, that's his nickname)-- but there's also Helen Mirren being her usual awesome-lady self, Scarlett Johansson giving her best Janet Leigh impression, Jessica Biel playing the actress used and then tossed by Hitchcock, and Anthony Hopkins looking not at all like Anthony Hopkins under layers and layers of prosthetics. Even if you know the ending--in Psycho, there's the shower scene, in Hitchcock, it's that the film's a success--it doesn't take away from the rest of the film. In fact, it only adds to it. Need proof? Now that I've seen an inside take on the horror classic, I'm seriously considering adding Psycho to my Thanksgiving holiday viewing queue. Time to start stocking up on dry shampoo.