This week, Bates Motel was a lot more low-key than last, but it was no less strange.  I gave most of the kudos to Vera Farmiga for her wacky, totally creepy performance as Norma, but already Freddie Highmore is really starting to find his own inner creep, from his nascent violent tendencies to his obsession with snuff manga.  In fact, there are very few things about White Pine Bay that aren’t creepy, and this is where the Twin Peaks comparisons start to gain traction (ever so slightly, or did I confuse that with Top of the Lake? So many creeper shows on right now).  The town is described by Deputy Shelby as being fake (how could people without real jobs have such fancy homes and drive such fancy cars?) with a vigilante underground.  Will the Bates fit in, or will they be targeted?  Hit the jump for why “I’m your mother, it’s not like it’s weird or anything.”

A&E has gathered together some formidable talent to creates its Psycho prequel series Bates Motel, with Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Kerry Ehrin (Friday Night Lights) producing, and Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air) and Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland) as Norma and Norman Bates.  The series is billed as a “contemporary” prequel to Hitchcock’s 1960 classic, and while the show does take place in that familiar setting with a few winking call-backs to the original film, it’s clear that it wants to be its own thing.  The show is seeking to straddle that difficult line of basing itself off of very familiar material (which guarantees an audience, if just from the curiosity) — though which also burdens it with the fact that things have to end up at a certain place at a certain point — and doing something new with the story.  Things have started off slowly and strangely in the first hour, with the show seeming to not quite find its tone, but there are also some legitimately promising elements.  Hit the jump for why “we belong to each other.”

The new A&E drama series Bates Motel gives viewers an intimate portrayal of how Norman Bates’ (Freddie Highmore) psyche unravels through his teenage years.  This contemporary prequel to the genre-defining film Psycho reveals the dark, twisted backstory and shows first-hand just how deep the relationship with his mother, Norma (Vera Farmiga), truly goes, as she helps forge the most famous serial killer of them all.  The show also stars Max Thieriot, Nicola Peltz, Olivia Cooke, Nestor Carbonell and Mike Vogel.

During this recent exclusive interview with Collider, show star Freddie Highmore talked about why he was intrigued by the show and the character, why it’s alright to identify with Norman Bates, who this version of Norman is when the story picks up, working with co-star Vera Farmiga, what it was like to see the sets for the house and the Bates Motel, how throwing a brother (Thieriot) into the mix affects things, and just how dark things will get with the show.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Last night, the Mondo Gallery in Austin, Texas threw open the doors on their final gallery show for 2012, and—as expected—it was about as fitting an end to the Mondo Gallery’s first year in operation as anyone could have imagined.  Tina’s Mom’s Boyfriend—a show composed entirely of creations from the mighty Australian-based team known as We Buy Your Kids—was a celebration of the bizarre, a colorful explosion of “WTF?!” that (from where Limited Paper’s standing) courageously refused to offer up anything even remotely obvious, safe, or easily-digested.

Infinitely stranger than this summer’s Adventure Time showcase and twice as inexplicably disturbing as Jay Shaw’s Don’t Go Out Tonight, Tina’s Mom’s Boyfriend is certain to be remembered for being the Mondo Gallery’s most divisive show (in 2012, anyway).  Wanna know what we thought, hear a few interesting tidbits about a few of the featured prints, and see a video walking tour of the entire show?  Meet me after the jump, folks.

Director Alfred Hitchcock is having a pretty big year.  Two feature film iterations of the iconic filmmaker will have been released by 2012’s end—the Toby Jones-fronted The Girl and the aptly named Hitchcock with Anthony Hopkins—and this week a massive collection of Hitch’s films hits Blu-ray.  Just in time for Halloween, this convenient box set includes 15 of the most revered features from The Master of Suspense’s career in glorious HD, with special features and extras galore.  From Psycho to Family Plot, this swell collection will make a fine addition to the home video libraries of cinephiles aplenty.  Hit the jump for our full review of Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection on Blu-ray.

Jessica Biel is set to join Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, and possibly James D’Arcy in Sacha Gervasi‘s Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho.  According to Deadline, Biel is set to play Vera Miles who played Lila Crane, the sister of unfortunate Bates Motel guest, Marion Crane.  Johansson is set to play Janet Leigh (who played Marion), Hopkins will play Hitchock, and Mirren will play Hitchcock’s wife, Alma Reville, and if D’Arcy signs on, he’ll play Anthony Perkins (who played Norman Bates).

Hit the jump for more.

The long gestating adaptation of Stephen Rebello’s book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho looks like it’s finally coming to fruition. Not only has Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs) signed on to play the famous director, but Helen Mirren (The Queen) has joined the cast as Alma Reville, Hitchcock’s wife. With the behind-the-camera casting set, it’s now being reported that Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation) will step into the shoes of Psycho star, Janet Leigh. James D’Arcy (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) will co-star beside Johansson as Anthony Perkins/Norman Bates. Hit the jump for more.

The first Alfred Hitchcock film I ever saw was Psycho. Teenage me scoffed at the notion that a black and white movie that was made during the Eisenhower era could be as scream-inducing as “real scary movies” like A Nightmare on Elm Street or Leprechaun (that little green guy scared the hell out of me). Of course, I quickly realized that my initial impression of the film was 100% wrong. Not only was Psycho genuinely frightening, it’s also an exquisite piece of filmmaking. Even a layman like me knew I wasn’t just seeing a bunch of scenes that were randomly cut together; it was the first time I realized that there’s a true art to good filmmaking.

Hitchcock had a knack for telling incredibly rich and layered stories that appealed to both the wide masses and the deeper-thinking cinephiles. Now, arguably five of his best films have been remastered and boxed together in one glorious package that includes Psycho, North by Northwest, Rear Window, Vertigo, and The Birds. Hit the jump for our review of Alfred Hitchcock: The Essentials Collection on DVD.

Artist David O’Daniel has recently created some stunning, limited edition posters for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, The Evil Dead, Psycho, Robocop, and The Terminator.  The hand-made silkscreen posters were created for the Castro Theater in San Francisco.  All of the posters are $35 plus shipping ($9 for US, $15 for international).  Hit the jump to check them all out.

When the Lumiere brothers made “Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat” in 1896, audiences famously left the theater, afraid that a silent train might kill them. At least, that’s what the history books tell us. For modern audiences, a shot of a silent train in black and white would have no such weight. Such is partially the dilemma of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. On one hand it was the master at his subversive and transgressive best, on the other hand so much has changed in fifty years of cinema that it’s virtually impossible for an audience to find the film without knowing the big reveal or having a familiarity with its set pieces – if only from the pop culture unconsciousness. The shower scene from Psycho is so well known that it’s possible some people know it only from the parodies (done by The Simpsons, Jackass, etc.). In Psycho, Janet Leigh plays Marion Crane, a woman who steals money from work and spends a night at the Bates Motel as run by the troubled mother’s boy Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). Regardless of whether you know what’s waiting for you in the fruit cellar, Psycho is still a great film – at least it is once it’s removed from the amber it’s been encased in. My review of Psycho on Blu-ray after the jump.