Ben-Hur

I’ll give it 7 white horses out of 10

Memorable Quote: by Quintus Arrius: “Your eyes are full of hate, forty-one. That's good. Hate keeps a man alive. It gives him strength.”

What can I say that hasn’t already been said about Ben-Hur? Probably not much so I will only give my own opinion and a little of the plot and movie history. Ben-Hur is the 1959 epic Action/Adventure/Drama directed by William Wyler and most notably starring Charlton Heston. It takes place along the same time scale as Jesus Christ (so roughly 1-33 A.D.) and also makes several prominent cameos.

The movie starts off with the birth of Jesus, marking the similarities with Judah’s and Jesus’s lives later on in life. Jesus makes many brief appearances in the film and most of the time it’s just the cast talking about his miracles and powerful message. The movie mostly centers around Judah’s fall from grace as he constantly wants revenge against Messala (his former best friend and governor of Judea [played by Stephen Boyd]) and his later redemption. There is also a secondary plot about his mother and sisters (Miriam and Tirzah [Martha Scott and Cathy O’Donnell, respectively]) getting leprosy, Judah finding out and revealing that he knows their lepers. They are later healed by the blood of Jesus as he “dies” on the cross.

Now, all that’s left is my own opinion. I personally view this movie as an epic drama that can take hold of one at times. I, being an atheist, cannot truly be completely enthralled by the spectacle of the story of Jesus. I can understand the joy, sorrow, weeping, and teachings of the Christ, but I have never been able to fully grasp the fullness of the tale (I can see why the Vatican approved this movie). Overall, I really enjoyed the scale and epic-ness of this film and my favorite parts are the revenge story against Messala, the leprosy, and the awesome chariot race in the Circus Maximus (or what I believe is the Circus Maximus). I would recommend this to any Christian who wants a better understand of the start of their religion and many of the teachings it holds; also, I would recommend anyone else of other faiths and non-faiths to watch it just for the sheer power of this movie.

Psycho

I give this movie 9 stuffed birds out of 10

The 1960 film is a classic in the Horror/Thriller/Mystery genre. It was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Anthony Perkins as Normon Bates (the motel owner), Vera Miles as Lila Crane (the banker on the run), John Gavin as Sam Loomis (Lila's boyfriend), and Janet Leigh as Marion Crane (Lila's Sister). I really enjoyed this film and (thankfully no one told me) the suprise ending. I was genuinely scared of this movie. Not so much from the shower scene or the deaths but more from the psychological aspect. I want to go somewhat into Bates’s psyche and explore around a little.

From the beginning, one gets the feeling that this movie will be about Lila Crane and her escape from the law with the $40,000, but the movie takes a sharp turn as the focus is shifted to the other characters instead. This includes one of the most interesting of them all, Normon Bates. The quote “a boy’s best friend is his mother, never rang more true than with the twist ending with… well, I wouldn’t want to give anything away to any non-Psycho viewers, but one must watch from beginning to end. I really felt for Bates, and I don’t know how many would say that. It seemed to me that his behavior stemmed from a lot of psychological abuse and dependency issues. It’s not so much that he was a bad guy as he was a tragic case of mental breakdown.

I would recommend this movie-just like my Kane review-to any fan of subtlety and suspense. This movie deserves to be among the greats of film classics. i would also like to note that... don't be afraid of black and white films, they are very well done and offer something that color just can't reach.