“The content was, I felt, rather amusing and it was a big joke. I was horrified to find some people took it seriously,” said Hitchcock in 1964.

I think this is just a case of Hitchcock trying to be provocative. There’s no way that Psycho was meant to be received as a comedy, though it is much more funny than Russell Brand. (Daily Mail)

Making Jackson’s decision all the more conspicuous is the fact that he’ll be preceding the project with back-to-back Hobbit films. I guess he views Tintin as a vacation, much as we viewed the first one a vacation for Spielberg. Unfortunately, Jackson isn’t alone in tacking his name onto a tired or beaten property, as this list of great directors who tackle bad franchises would indicate.

Read this list, then bite your lip and imagine what they could have done.

Brett Ratner – Red Dragon

Red Dragon, though not a terrible film, seemed like a horrible waste of resources for many involved, mainly due to the tremendous dip in quality from The Silence of the Lambs to its sequel, Hannibal. Red Dragon was prequel to the series, and a remake of Michael Mann’s film Manhunter. Dragon starred Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ralph Fiennes and Harvey Keitel. While I would say that the film was didn’t maximize much of the talent involved, its most glaring shortcoming was in the direction by Brett Ratner, who serves as a pretty strong action-comedy director, but can’t seem to steer away from that genre successfully.

So this could prequel/remake was outside of Ratner’s wheelhouse, but even if it wasn’t, we would have probably enjoyed a different Ratner film more, provided it wasn’t Rush Hour 2.5 or something.

Gus Van Sant – Psycho

Gus Van Sant is a fine, fine director, and Psycho is an American classic. It’s for these two reasons that these two things should never have been close enough to touch. Van Sant went whole hog with the “homage” concept and directed the film as a shot-for-shot remake, adding virtually nothing to the story, save for some color and a new cast.

The film probably achieved exactly what Van Sant intended, which is the reason that so many critics and viewers alike were wondering what the purpose of this whole exercise was.

Ed Wood

Tim Burton‘s homage to the classically shitty director stars Johnny Depp in the title role. The film centers on Wood as he struggles to get his work made, be true to himself and his cross dressing, and his friendship with Bela Lugosi. I can only hope that twenty years from now, Tommy Wiseau‘s biopic is handled with the same class, wit, and decorum.

Just One of the Guys

What do you do when you lose the chance at a highly-coveted internship? Well, you automatically assume the world has it out for you because you’re so pretty and therefore disguise yourself as a member of the opposite sex and resubmit. What do you do when that doesn’t work? Assume the world has it out for you because your new Jo Calderone persona is so beloved, and disguise yourself in a gorilla outfit and resubmit.

Sidenote: Check out the picture above. Sucks to be Doris.

Shakespeare In Love

Way back in 1800 BC England, women weren’t allowed to act on the stage. The only way to do so was through the deceptive practice of disguising themselves unconvincingly as a man and strutting around with a sock in their pants. That’s exactly what Gwyneth Paltrow does in Shakespeare in Love. I think it’s also what Chris Colfer does on Glee.

However, skinning fat girls doesn’t earn the title of “Creepiest Man in Film.” For that title, I propose these nine gentleman who make Buffalo Bill seem like a Girl Scout.

That was hyperbolic. Buffalo Bill is still a really bad guy.

9. Dr. Frederick Chilton – The Silence of the Lambs

We didn’t have to go very far from the benchmark to get one entry on this list. While Buffalo Bill is by no means a charmer, his crazy, flesh suit-wearing ways are a sublime delight when held up to the head of the psychiatric “hospital,” Dr. Chilton. His smugness and sleazy demeanor cause the viewer to half-expect hair gel to start oozing out of his pores.

Remarkably, Hannibal Lecter was able to look past all his shortcomings and “have him for dinner.”

Oh. I just got that. That’s funny.

8. Norman Bates – Psycho

The title of the film says it all. This guy wears one face to the world, and another one in the confines of the Bates Motel. Like Buffalo Bill, this dude is straight-up crazy. Beyond the standard killing (which wouldn’t get you on this list). In terms of creepy actions, this guy takes the cake with conversing and keeping his mother’s decomposing corpse as a companion.

7. Sean Nokes – Sleepers

While the above gentlemen are creepier on a social level, Sean Nokes (Kevin Bacon’s character from Sleepers) is creepier on more of a “molests little boys and tortures them” level, which is one hell of a level. With the other guards at the juvenile detention center, he raped many of the boys, apparently unrepentant years after the fact.

Coupled with his appearance (which can best be described as “greasy as shit”) when confronted by one of the grown-up boys, he’s working creepy on two very palatable levels. I hope he enjoyed his dinner that night. It was his last.

Thanks to online consumer reviews on sites like Trip Advisor, we now know what to expect when traveling to fictional locations from popular movies.

The Dolphin Hotel, 1408

Overlook Hotel, The Shining

The Days Inn of Hillsboro, Bottle Rocket

Click ‘Next Page For More Reviews…

The movie is set to be about the period of Hitch’s life during which he made his most popular film, Psycho. You know who looks a lot like Anthony Perkins, the star of Psycho? Andrew Garfield. And it will take Spider-Man to make Alfred Hitchcock‘s boring off-screen life seem interesting. (via SlashFilm)