Norman Bates Reviews

97. Norman Bates

Posted : 1 year, 10 months ago on 27 June 2022 08:03

Appearance: The Psycho films (1960-1990), Psycho remake (1998)

Creator: Robert Bloch

Performer: Anthony Perkins, Henry Thomas, Vince Vaughn

Defining moment: With a superimposed skull, he says, “I wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Fascinating fact: Hitchcock always addressed Anthony Perkins on set as ‘Master Bates’. Ho ho ho.

Buy Psycho (1960) now on Amazon

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An average movie

Posted : 7 years, 6 months ago on 24 October 2016 11:30

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for Drew Barrymore, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, even though Drew Barrymore was incredibly cute back then, I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing. Indeed, in my opinion, I thought it in fact was one of the most basic and boring chick-flick I have ever seen. I mean, seriously, just check this title, it was just so unsubtle and this fake feminist vibe was just so annoying. Anyway, the whole thing was basically some kind of lame version of ‘Thelma & Louise’ which was in fact alrady rather overrated in my opinion. Eventually, I was rather surprised to discover that the damned thing was written by Don Roos. Indeed, I always had a weak spot for Don Roos’s work, especially because he usually delivers some rather sharp and/or edgy stories so it was rather disappointing that he would come up with something so cheesy and boring. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have seen worse, I thought it was pretty weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of the genre.

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The Head on the Door

Posted : 14 years, 6 months ago on 21 October 2009 09:02

The Cure’s The Head on the Door album picks right up where Japanese Whispers– an assortment of non-album singles and b-sides – left off. Which is to say that the Cure were experimenting with dance music and shiny pop hooks, but never losing their identity as gloomy existentialist New Wavers. On this they added a hint of Latin rhythm (“The Blood”), invented shoegazing (“Push”), and got in touch with the gloriously beautiful Gothic pop sonic landscapes they would develop even further on Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me and Disintegration (“Six Different Ways”), The Head on the Door shouldn’t work, at all really, but it’s a beautiful slice of British New Wave. There’s even a quick exploration of a semi-hard rock sound (“Push”).

“The Baby Screams” marries their alternative rock roots with their off-kilter pop song craft. And that bubbling musical note throughout probably kept most up-and-comers awake trying to figure out just what made that noise. Robert Smith also sounds like he’s whispering his vocals in a very large hallway and he’s on the other side of it. While “Close to Me” is a mope-rock classic. His demented cat-in-heat wail is restrained enough to be slightly unnerving, but sad enough to be inviting. I also prefer the album version not ending with the horn section. Instead, it ends abruptly and moves right on to “A Night Like This.” The experimentalism only adds more depth and texture to their great songs. Check the flamenco guitar on “The Blood” – a song about the blood of Christ paralyzing you. Obviously someone has a complicated relationship with their Catholic upbringing, or he’s really good at faking it. This is but one of the many reasons why I love the Cure – they could make you dance around, but they’re smart enough to give you a lyric or an image to stop and make you think.

The Head On the Door is just a literate, existentialist and flat out strange as any of the best Cure albums, in fact, this is one of the best Cure albums. Every single on here ranks among their best work, and the album tracks aren’t anything to scoff at. This definitely ranks with Disintegration, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Pornography and Boys Don’t Cry as one of their standout discs. DOWNLOAD: “The Blood”

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