Hannibal

Would you hate me if I said I kinda, sorta like this movie? This a very divisive movie so I get where both parties are coming from.

Hannibal is the last chronological film of Anthony Hopkins' outstanding run as our favorite cannibalistic psychiatrist. How does this movie hold up? Eh, it's not bad. It's a decent movie, it doesn't end very well, but I don't hate this movie. You can tell Anthony Hopkins is having fun, Julianne Moore isn't horrible as Clarice she does fine work, Gary Oldman is always a damn fine actor and he does really well as the villain here. Oh yeah and Barney is the friggin' man! I love Barney in all these movies, he is awesome. Frankie Faison, my God man. Rock on. So what is the story in this possible trainwreck for you of a movie? Hannibal is still on the run, Clarice has been disowned from the F.B.I., and Mason Verger is on a revenge hunt for Hannibal. Clarice figures if she can catch Hannibal first, her career as an agent will be saved. One of the things I enjoyed was seeing exstensive location shooting in Florence, it is a beautiful city and Ridley Scott really got a good feeling of the city. Oh yes, Ridley Scott directed this movie. Strange that. But it works well, he's a competent director in this so no harm done there. The way the story is told is a bit of a mess, it's not completely unfollowable, but you got to pay attention. It's a busy movie, so take note of several of the events in the movie. The ending is...difficult to explain. It's not a horrible piece of garbage, but it isn't all that great either. Some may call it a mixed bag. Actually the more I think about it, the less I like this movie. It's just adequate. Everything is passable, not good or bad, just...eh, okay. I'd take this movie with a severe grain of salt, it is without a doubt the weakest of the Hannibal Lecter movies. Oh, and for those of you wondering why Hannibal Rising isn't on here.....hahahahahaha! That movie is stupid and doesn't exist, and anyone who likes it is stupid. I know it's just my opinion but, I'm right.

Well, one week down. Tune in next week for some more classic horror movies.

The Silence Of The Lambs

It's a psychological thriller! Sorry Academy, I know you don't like to use the 'H' word but this is a horror movie. It's horrifying!

Academy Award winning film, The Silence Of The Lambs and well worthy of those awards! The introduction to one of the most famous movie monsters of all time, this film is still excellent. What can I say that others haven't already? It's a great movie, you should see it if you haven't already! One of the things you notice as you watch it more is the use of editing in this movie, the editing is what makes it a cut above the rest. It almost decieves the audience (and in one scene totally does), because of how they cut this movie. There are many scenes where you think it is just several little tidbits of film spliced together, but it is not! The movie may seem cut but that's the allusion, several scenes are literal long running shots, just edited together for it to be more fluid. Some may complain the film is choppy, I highly disagree. The camera placement works, and it works well. There is a lot of dialogue scenes, almost 90% of the movie is just talking, now you're probably saying that would kill the film for you, but it is so interesting and certainly engaging enough to the point where you don't really care. Also, I have to give props to the camera crew of this movie. I could not stare down Anthony Hopkins for ten seconds, let alone several minutes. You notice that a lot, the camera is settled dead center, close up shot of the character's faces. Now this is an excellent way to convey a mood of uncomfortableness, the sense of pressure, and claustrophobia. Well done camera crew! Story wise, it is very good but the way the movie tells the story makes it so much better. Clarice Starling is an F.B.I. agent sent to question Dr. Hannibal Lecter to try and hunt down serial killer Buffalo Bill. Simple plot, excellent movie. Really it's Jodie Foster that holds this movie together, she does a damn good job in this movie, and this movie was filmed in a time where the F.B.I. was just starting to accept female applicants, so it's great to see that she can put her big boy pants on and kick heinie like one of the boys. Awesome. Anthony Hopkins of course, is a joy to watch. He's more creepy in this movie than threatning like in Red Dragon, but that in no means diminishes his character. Ted Levine...you magnificent son of a mother, you want to talk about a scary performance? Boy, oh boy does he deliver! Excellent, excellent serial killer. Oh, and I may be really sick but I like that scene. You know that scene. Q Lazzarus Goodbye Horses. Don't watch it if you haven't seen the movie cause you may find me crazy. But the best scene in the entire movie, is where the title of the film comes about. Chilling, well paced, well acted, well directed, fantastic. Watch this movie again, it's more than worth it. Great horror movie!

Okay, this is where I could lose a few people but we must touch base on Hannibal, the last Hannibal Lecter movie with Anthony Hopkins. What do I think about it? Until tomorrow.

Red Dragon

Hell of a way to start the month.

This week we shall be covering the Hannibal Lecter movies, chronologically, so Red Dragon first. Damn good movie in my opinion, certainly one of the best examples of a modern crime thriller, with great acting, excellent writing, truly horrific scenarios, and all with one of the most beloved movie monsters of all time Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Dare I say, Anthony Hopkins is better in this movie than Silence Of The Lambs. Yeah. I mean it. That might be considered blasphemy but really compare performances, he is much more scary in this movie in every way. But of course, either way you slice it Anthony Hopkins is a brilliant Hannibal Lecter. Yet, you can't have a good villain if you don't have a good hero, enter Will Graham played very well by Edward Norton. Now in the case of Will Graham it is a drastically different performance than in the television series Hannibal, now I'm not bashing Edward Norton in this role, he does very good work, he is believable to see he works with the F.B.I. to catch serial killers, it's very easy to describe and yet difficult to describe. He has a history with Hannibal, he does not take his nonsense, he does not do the little dance Lecter and Starling do in Silence Of The Lambs, he wants answers immediately which is very true to his character at this point in the story. I do not get the sense he really hates his work, almost very tortured in his method of finding killers, like in the series Hannibal or hell, even in Michael Mann's Manhunter which adapted Thomas Harris' novel sometime in the 80s, it is kind of subdued but not to the point where it breaks your suspension of disbelief. In fact, the whole movie like the others is fully rooted in real, hard reality so the film works incredibly well in the crime drama factor. Christ that's a whole nother comparison between Manhunter and Red Dragon but we are sticking to Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal movies, but Ralph Fiennes nails it in this movie. He perfectly conveys the right mix of truly sadistic and entirely sympathetic almost at the same time. Bravo Mr. Fiennes. Now in terms of story the movie follows the book very well, although it does take some liberties to have more Lecter in it and really, is that a bad thing? I don't think so. I know some people complain about Hopkins' age but really you hardly notice it because of his performance, it is great. You feel genuine menace in Red Dragon that was slightly lax in Silence Of The Lambs, you feel he wants to kill Will Graham, he despises him, tries everything to hurt him all while never once leaving his cell! That's a villain! You can lock him away and he can still plague your life. Now I know I could go on forever with comparisons between the different media around this particular chapter of the story so let me sum up for you. Red Dragon does the story much better than Hannibal, Manhunter gives a bit more depth to Will in this story but of course the show nails the characters down to a science, so all in all if you haven't seen Red Dragon it is well worth your time. As far as comparison notes go, watch Manhunter because you need to get through two and a half seasons of Hannibal to reach this story, if you feel up to it though give the show a whirl. Well that's all for tonight, stay tuned tomorrow for the next movie.

Hannibal: Season 1

Oh yeah, here it goes. First television review. Woohoo!

I have actually decided to review television shows, specifically in a season by season format. Because there are many television shows to be talked about just as much as movies, and I think it would be rather fun. So with that comes the review of an exquisite television show, with murder and cannabalism for all. So Hannibal is the hit TV show that proved 3 things: One, Mads Mikkelsen is an amazing Hannibal Lecter if not the best. Two, you can have a different kind of police drama that makes you want more because of the vastly different cases. And three, it proved me entirely wrong. When I first heard about this show being made I thought it would be a disaster. Come on the main villain from Casino Royale is going to be Dr. Hannibal Lecter? You people have lost it! But I bought this show on a pure gamble near Christmas time years ago, and I was a devoted fan after the third episode. This show combines mystery, horror, atmosphere, and great characters all set in the world that Thomas Harris created. It follows behavioral scientist, Will Graham as he is hired by Jack Crawford of the F.B.I to hunt down various psychopaths and killers. And he has a partner in crime-solving that follows too closely in the footsteps of the people they apprehend. Dr. Lecter has been assigned to analyze Will and see if he is fit to work for the F.B.I but has an ulterior motive to help drive Will over the breaking point. And I have to be honest, I enjoy the series almost more than the films with the exception of Silence Of The Lambs. Through nothing more than how the characters interact and the choices they make which shapes the future of the entire series, plus the dialogue is friggin' awesome too I find myself more invested as to what is going on and what could, and will happen next. The series does take notes from the novels but mainly follows it's own story and I highly applaud them for that because they didn't just make a straight up television series of the novels. This show is freaky man, like you cannot be faint of heart or sheltered when it comes to blood and horrible murders. Like it shocked me that they included so much gore in a public televised series. This was not made for HBO or Showtime or something like that, this was made for NBC! That took some guts and they pulled it off. If you are a fan of crime shows, or anything Hannibal Lecter you might really like Hannibal! It's for a specific crowd but anyone can join. Give it a watch and see if you are hungry for more.