Hannibal Rising (2006)

Hannibal Rising (2006)
Peter Webber

This movie is a prequel to the extremely successful series revolving around Dr. Hannibal Lector. The story tells Lector's past, and gives insight into how he became the killer he is in the other films.

This movie was good, but it it difficult to watch it without comparing it to the other Hannibal films, and this one doesn't really stack up. The acting was decent, but it is very difficult to follow up the brilliant performances by Anthony Hopkins. The visual and audio techniques were the best aspects of the movie, they really encompassed the sick emotions of the title character. The Story was alright, but nothing special. An overall good film, but clearly the weakest in the series.

Acting: B
Visual: A
Audio: A
Story: C+
Other: B

Parney Points: 3

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Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
Hayao Miyazaki

Howl's Moving Castle, [Hauru no ugoku shiro] is an oscar-nominated, animated film by award winning director Hayao Miyazaki. Based on the novel by Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle explores the growth of several characters as they move through a world in the midst of war while living in a magical moving castle.

This film was wonderful. I don't know if i agree that it should be on Imdb's top 250 films of all time, but it is still a great film. One of the biggest problems with implementing Japanese film into the American Cinema is finding suitable voice acting, but this film hit the mark. Cristian Bale was great as the hero Howl and Billy Crystal, the comedic support, made a talking flame the best character in the movie. The music was perfect, and the classic animation style was a nice change from most modern computer animation. The story was an original fairy tale, different from most of the same-old same-old stories that we see in every movie these days. The biggest problem with this film, and the only reason it is not a 5 is that at several times in the film, plot events occur randomly. Since the story is taken from the book, there is not enough time to develop all the reasons for actions or build up plot points, and so it may take more than one viewing to understand the whole story. I highly recommend this film for anyone who wants to see an original film or who wants to remember how it felt as a child to hear a magical fairy tale.

Acting: A
Audio: A+
Visual: A
Story: B
Other: B

Parney Points: 4

To visit the imdb listing for this film, click here.