When he wasn't rooting out Communists, cracking down on the mob and spying on civil rights leaders, FBI head J. Edgar Hoover toiled as a one-man culture warrior battling Hollywood decadence. He prevented Charlie Chaplin from reentering the U.S. because of his leftist political views, and he condemned Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life for its “rather obvious attempt to discredit bankers.” So what did he have to say about Alfred Hitchcock, who gave American moviegoers new and strange things to fear? Not a bad word.
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Quick, name your favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie and scene. With the Master of Suspense getting a lot of attention this fall, thanks to the HBO movie, The Girl, and the theatrical feature Hitchcock, which opens in limited release on Friday, Movieline decided these would be good questions to ask of the celebrity contingent that showed up for the New York premiere of the latter film on Sunday.
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"Please do not text during the movie because it makes everyone... Psycho." In a new anti-texting PSA, Alfred Hitchcock (by way of Anthony Hopkins, star of the upcoming Hitchcock) warns theatergoers against violating the tacit code of conduct implicit in any movie theater — using your darn phone during the film — or else.
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AFI Fest rounded out its 2012 program with films screening in its World Cinema, Breakthrough, Midnight and Shorts sections. Festival favorites The Angels' Share, Greatest Hits, Laurence Anyways, Nairobi Half Life, Pieta, White Elephant and Zaytoun are among the titles set to screen at the L.A. festival, taking place November 1 - 8. As previously announced, the festival will kick off with the world premiere of Hitchcock and will close with the the world premiere of Lincoln.
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Scarlett Johansson is channeling screen legend Janet Leigh in this depiction of the cult movie Psycho's famous (or infamous) shower scene. Johansson is, of course, portraying Leigh's character Marion Crane in the upcoming Oscar contender Hitchcock, which will have its world premiere as the opening night film at AFI Fest November 1st.
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Only weeks ahead of its world premiere as the opening film at AFI Fest comes a glimpse of Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren starrer, Hitchcock. Like the festival's closing night counterpart, Lincoln, the title will no doubt be an awards-season heavy-weight.
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AFI Fest released more details for its L.A. event. Selections in its Young Americans and New Auteurs sections highlight emerging U.S. first and second time global filmmakers. As previously announced, the World Premiere of Hitchcock will open the festival, while Lincoln will close out the event, which takes place November 1 - 8 in Los Angeles.
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Anyone who's seen Contagion (or, let's be honest, even just the trailer for Contagion) knows that Steven Soderbergh is not precious about keeping his biggest stars breathing for the duration of his films. And when you think about it, that is kind of an awesome against-the-tide trend that few directors -- okay, few studios -- have the wherewithal to attempt. Chatting with the UK's Independent about Contagion and Haywire, Soderbergh dropped some science on the art of manipulating the very essence of stardom in movies to great effect.
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