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.

The Time Has Come....

Happy Halloween everyone. It's good to be back, and in the most wonderful time of the year! Now we have some news to get out of the way, firstly I have almost run out of movies to review. I only can carry so many movies with me, and I've nearly reviewed every movie I have with me currently so the reviews might be sparse, which I really hate but until I get a bigger place I'm stuck. Next, I regret to announce that this year is the last Monster Madness on Cinemassacre, the last marathon of horror movie reviews every day of October. It's depressing to see it go, even if it has been around for 10 years. I know I can't take up that monument, but hey we still got a lot of movies to review this month so I'm looking forward to it. It's time to let Halloween finally absorb me, in all it's creepy, awesome, and terrifying power. So tune in Monday for the start of my own little monster madness! Reader beware, you're in for a scare...

End Of Line Man.

Once more we must say goodbye. There is much to do, so many reviews to plan, so much school to go, but never fear. I always come back. I shall return the first week of October and then we can monster mash. Until then, watch some movies, have fun, and I shall see you in the future...again.

A Monster In Paris

A true obscure gem. And yes I will wave my Phantom Of The Opera flag proudly!

A Monster In Paris is a delightful family film, with a few nods to the novel Le Fantome De l'Opera by Gaston Leroux. I saw this movie on a sheer gamble and walked away with armfulls of reasons why I love this movie. The story follows a group of characters living their lives when one day through a scientific accident, a monster has been created. A monster with a passion and genius for music, that much like other monsters is a sad character hunted down by human characters. Where do I start with this movie? The plot while simple, just works. It has such endearing characters, beautiful art direction, lovely music, and so much more. Also major props to the climax, it is definitely something new and interesting. It has fabulous use of color, some good comedic moments but focuses on pure heart. And you are convinced of it, you get emotionally invested in the story just like in The Phantom Of The Opera. I kept track of all the nods to various versions of the book, because I'm a friggin' nerd for this stuff. Not only does it straight up use character names from the book, but even uses a line from the book. Bravo movie. And the costume the monster wears...hell yeah. He actually has two, one being this almost crime noir look to it with a long coat and a red scarf, while his other costume is a Phantom costume like to a tee! All white, gloves, excellent mask, and looks badass! What's an interesting choice is the fact the monster never speaks, but he does sing his heart out. Which is kinda clever, and the songs like I said are very lovely. High spirited, awesome dance choreography, just a sweet soundtrack. And the look of the movie is very well done. For everything they did in computer animation, they got it right. True, Paris doesn't look as unbelievably gorgeous as it did in Ratatouille but it still looks good. I'm not sure when the movie actually takes place, I think it's 1910, which is actually when the book was written. Clever. Man I got to tell you to check this movie out. It's different but amazing for what it tried to do. And that is it ladies and gentlemem, goodnight everybody!

Hotel Transylvania

Wow my first Adam Sandler movie and it's really good.

When I first heard about this movie, I really wanted to see it even though the actors in this movie aren't exactly my favorite. Hotel Transylvania is a pretty good movie with fantastic animation, a good story, and unique looking characters, all with things you've seen before and have never seen before. So what's the story? Dracula lord of the vampires has constructed a hotel for all the monsters in the world to get away from the humans and get some down time. During all of this he is keeping an eye on his daughter, who is approaching her 118th birthday and wants to head out into the big world and explore it all, but her dad is of course nervous for her safety. And it doesn't help that a human boy has actually stumbled upon the hotel. So the count must keep his identity a secret to prevent all hell from breaking loose, while being a good dad. Sort of a complicated plot but every aspect of it is done very, very well starting off with the animation. It is amazing. Not just in style, not just in color, but how fluid it moves! You never see animation move this quick and flowing it is truly a marvel, beautifully creepy look and feel to everything, major points to that. Another excellent aspect is the characterization, especially to Dracula and his daughter. Dracula is a almost normal guy with the exception of being a bloodsucking beast of the night! He's just trying to run a good buisness, hang out with his friends, and take good care of his daughter. The entire backstory and pivotal characterization of him I dare not spoil, but it has so much heart and very sad to hear but you can identify with him on a human level. The same goes for his daughter! She's a sweet girl, with a fun loving personality and has to deal with her overbearing dad even though she knows he has nothing but good intentions for her. And man I got to tell you, I know for a fact I'm going to be that dad. Like if I have a little girl, she is going to be MY little girl forever, no boys, no dating, no kissing, none of that. I know she will grow up but I really wouldn't want her to. So yet another aspect of Dracula's character that I stand by wholeheartedly. But anyway, the comedy is good, not hilarious but good because it delves into really derivative jokes but it's still salvagable mostly because it does focus on just visual gags and with the animation it really hits well. Now truthfully I have not seen the sequel yet, and with this movie I have high hopes for it. I think it will be very good! But one movie at a time, definitely watch this around Halloween time especially when you have kids, it has elements that kids can laugh at and for adults to appreciate. Definitely a great spooky family film.

Tune in tomorrow for one more movie. Very obscure but great nevertheless.