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pallenbrown
Reviews
Hannibal (2001)
Anybody but Ms. Moore as Agent Starling
The entire film was nearly a masterpiece, but for the weak performance turned in my Julianne Moore. Any of the other actresses considered for the part would have done better. It's a shame, but this film suffered for her presence. The performance of Sir Hopkins makes it worth watching aside from that.
Better perhaps would be to watch Red Dragon. Solid performances from both Hopkins and Norton make it a film worth watching more so than this supposed 'sequel' to Silence of the Lambs.
That said, any of these movies is better than the later release "Hannibal Rising" which was a terribly acted, poorly produced, piece of third-world celluloid trash unworthy of the "Hannibal" moniker.
Minority Report (2002)
Outstanding example of the power of free will. . .
They say the greatest gift that God gave us is that of choice, of free-will. This film does an excellent job of illustrating that point, by highlighting the fact that just because the future is seen, it is not certain.
The visual effects, futuristic devices, and portrayal of a world with no murder is stunningly well done - even for a Spielberg movie. I was reluctant at first to watch this, thinking it's just another movie exploiting Mr. Cruise, but I was pleasantly surprised to be entertained and intrigued for the two plus hours it played.
To recycle an old line from the Terminator - "There is no fate but what we make." Ten Stars.
Anamorph (2007)
Just Too Bad - a.k.a. Really Not Very Good
This film is basically two hours of Dafoe's character drinking himself - nearly literally - to death. The only surprise in this film is that you didn't have enough clues or character knowledge to be surprised. It was just a grim, sad waste of time.
Willem Dafoe is excellent actor. Peter Stormare is an excellent actor. But this film just sucked. Slow doesn't make the movie bad, it was just bad. The sketchy plot mixed with artistic ramblings of anamorphic detail aren't cohesively drawn together in a meaningful way for a plot except to highlight some gore which is illustrated from several perspectives, finally at the end. I really appreciate the artistic vision, but as entertainment, it put me to sleep. (Seriously, I fell asleep and had to re-watch the film - which was even more disappointing.)
I generally don't like to make negative comments or reviews on the works of others, even when they suck, but this film warranted one. It's just too bad that these great actors were shamed with this end result.
Diary of the Dead (2007)
Pretty good for a "Dead" movie (pseudo spoilers)
This movie was pretty good for a Romero film, and excellent for a CAM zombie movie. It was immediately involving and sucked me in for 55 minutes before I realized that I was again just watching a movie.
Unlike many other reviewers, I liked the Land of the Dead, and felt this movie was at least on par with that, but in a different way, given the roving cam method of production.
The acid head dissolving effect was great, that was a new one for me. What wasn't new are the same old cliché idiot behaviors of the main cast members (ie wanting to go home, lock themselves in a small room, etc.) When are we going to get some characters with brains that seek out someplace secure or defensible? If a zombie outbreak does occur, head for the top of the Space Needle with a bunch of goodies from Butch's gun shop, or perhaps a houseboat on Lake Union. Maybe commandeering a cruise ship? And speaking of ships and zombies - would the fish come back to life after you pulled them out of the water? Could you still eat them without incident? That's what I'd like to see in a Romero movie - some people that actually (and pragmatically) get away and get setup in a reasonable fashion. Overall, this was entertaining and not a complete waste of time.