Psycho, Zorro, Walk the Line

I've never been much of a horror move fan, but I had a chance to watch Psycho tonight. This was the second time I've watched Hitchcock's classic, the first coming maybe 2 years ago.

Now as you may or may not know, when the film was out in 1960, Hitchcock demanded that nobody be admitted into the theater after the movie started. He said it was "most enjoyable when seen from beginning to end." Well, I actually tuned in about 18 minutes after the film started. Now should I feel guilty about that?

I've been in a movie theater maybe 5 times in the last 6 years. No particular reason, it's just I haven't been willing to spend 8 dollars. And that's just for the Coke! I'd rather get the DVD and get all the extra features. But I definitely plan on seeing the next Zorro movie and then Walk the Line, the movie on Johnny Cash.

The last Zorro movie I thought was awesome. I saw it about 15 times, 14 on TNT because for a while, they played the thing every other Saturday night. I watched it so many times, I think I memorized the Spanish dialogue. I did see one thing in the trailer that caught my eye. Now in this film, Zorro (Don Alejandro, played by Antonio Banderas) is married to Elena, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. At one point, they're fighting the bad guys together. You know how Zorro always uses his sword to carve a Z. In this one scene, he carves a "Z" while she carves an "E." I mean come on now. A "Z" makes a statement. But an E? No no no. Blasphemous. Something about carving a vowel just doesn't have the same punch.

I really wonder about Walk the Line. It really looks like it's going to focus on Johnny and June Carter's relationship. I hope I can watch this film and really look at Joaquin Phoenix's character as Johnny Cash. Because when I watch the trailer, it looks like an Elvis and Priscilla Presley ripoff. I hope it doesn't focus too much on Cash's bad side and at least looks deeply at the man, his faith, his music, and so on. I could see this as being a great movie or a total disappointment. The thing is Cash is such a distinctive man and personality it just would seem strange to see someone else portraying him. But Ray Charles seemed to be in that inimitable category and Jamie Foxx pulled that one off about as well as any actor could. I hope Phoenix at least came close.