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

To see the imdb listing for this site click here.

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.

United 93 (2006)

United 93 (2006)
Paul Greengrass

I haven't updated in a while because I have been busy with exams and haven't really seen a movie in a while but here you go.

United 93 was pretty much split into two parts. One part of the movie featured the air traffic workers around the country dealing with the confusion of the morning's events on September 11, and the other half of the movie featured actors portraying the passengers and terrorists on the flight. The part on the plane was great, the actors really captured the emotion on the plane, and the actors who played the terrorists did an exceptional job. However the part in the air traffic control centers did not feature trained actors and used real air traffic workers. Personally I think this was a bad idea. The dialouge was absolutely horrible, I actually had to stop the movie and come back later because no one could deliver a single convincing line. Here is how I see it, if you choose to make a movie about September 11, and choose to make it a feature film, not a documentary, then you are open to the criticism that comes with it. Luckily the acting on the plane saved this movie from being a terrible film.

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

Parney Points: 2

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

Serenity (2005)

Serenity (2005)
Joss Whedon

Based on the TV-series Firefly, this film is a science fiction adventure that manages to stimulate almost all the different emotions one movie can; happiness, fear, sadness, laughter, etc.. While different than Star Wars, the theme is similar; the crew of a spaceship crosses the galaxy, while running from the government, to uncover a mystery that changes them all.

You know that movie that you know you have heard of before, and every time you see it at Blockbuster you say "maybe I should get that one night" but its not tempting enough to actually rent? Well I finally rented Serenity and boy was I glad that I did! I have never seen the show Firefly, but after only a few scenes, I already loved most of the crew, and once the movie ended I wanted to go watch the show. Every minute of this movie I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next. The acting was great, I really connected with the characters. The visual and audio effects were decent, but could have been a little better. The story was also great, and even though this movie probably won't be on any historic lists, it is entertaining enough to earn 5 Parney Points. Definitely give it a chance.

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

Parney Points: 5

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

The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Usual Suspects (1995)
Bryan Singer

Sometimes referred to as the greatest mystery/thriller of all time, The Usual Suspects presents the viewer with a crime and a handful of suspects at the very start of the movie, but it takes the entire movie, and then some thinking afterward before the viewer really solves the mystery.

This is one of the few movies that actually lives up to the high expectations I had for it. Even if you figure out the mystery before the end of the movie, it is still a pretty good ending. Each and every one of the actors did a solid job as did the audio and visual editors. The writer's should get the most credit though for coming up with such a thrilling story. Other than the small fact that I thought the ending was pretty obvious the whole movie, I was pretty impressed. Definitely a movie worth seeing

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

Parney Points: 4

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