Silence of the Lambs

Hannibal Lecter is a sick, deranged, psychopathic madman. He is a former psychiatrist and serial killer who cannibalized his victims. Held under heavy surveillance and security at the baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. He is brilliant, cunning, and most of all, psychotic.

Clarice Starling is a young FBI trainee who is asked to help in the case of a serial killer known as Buffalo Bill, who skins his victims. She is sent to interview Dr. Lecter to find out more about how the minds of serial killers work so that the FBI can get more clues on how to catch Buffalo Bill. Hannibal agrees to talk with her only if she will feed his morbid curiosity with details about her own life.

As time goes on, Clarice finds out more and more about how the Hannibal and Buffalo Bill are connected. But the FBI is running out of time...the daughter of a well-known politician has been kidnapped by Buffalo Bill, and according to the research of the FBI, they have three days before she is killed and skinned.

GREAT movie!! I, personally, find it fascinating from a psychological point of view. Hopkins delivered a creepy performance, and though it was more thanks to brilliant camera work rather than acting, he won a well-deserved Oscar. Jodie Foster was very good, as well, and her Oscar was well-deserved, also.

5 stars. 5 Oscars isn't nearly enough credit for this film.

Phone Booth

Stuart Shepard is a slick New York publicist who has a knack for dishonesty. He flirts with young, impressionable clients while he is married, he lies to get his way, he makes promises he knows he can't keep, only to lie his way out of those, as well.

Every day around lunch time, Stuart calls Pam, a particularly attractive young woman who's hoping that Stuart can get her noticed. On this particular day, he hangs up the phone, only to have it ring. He picks it up and hears a chilling voice at the other end of the line, telling him that unless he gives in to the demands set before him, disastrous consequences would occur. Thinking it was just some lame psycho who sits at home with nothing better to do than terrorize people, Stuart blows him off, but then things start to happen. The person on the other end seems to know a lot more than he should...like where Stu lives, where his wife works, Pam's cell number...also, the little red light from a sniper rifle right in the middle of Stu's chest proves that the man on the other end isn't kidding when he says that Stu will be killed if he hangs up.

It turns out that the man on the other line is an extreme moralist...he's noticed Stuart's habits and believes very strongly that his dishonesty is wrong. He slowly and painfully forces Stuart to reveal his sins not only to his wife, but to the world...on pain of death. It reminded me of a book I read by Ted Dekker where the main character keeps getting threatening phone calls and if he doesn't 'confess his sin' something bad will happen.

'Phone Booth' was...ok. I guess it really could have been better. Kiefer Sutherland delivered a brilliant performance as the moral extremist, and Colin Farrell did a good job, too, but the story wasn't all there. No matter how good the actors are, I don't think anyone could have made this one fly. It was just weird. Not much scenery or camera work were involved, because the entire story took place on one city block, but for such a setting, it was all done well. They didn't use very many of the same shots twice, which made it more interesting to watch.

3 stars. Meh. I still love you, Kiefer.

Troy

'Troy'...a marvelous adaptation of Homer's epic poem. This film tells the famous story of the brutal war and proves that long after the men involved were dead and turned to dust, their names and stories live on, no matter how twisted by myth and legend their real stories became.

The movie starts out in a time of peace. The Spartans and the Trojans are celebrating a newfound peace agreement and alliance of sorts. Things get complicated, however, when the 'oh-so-smart' Trojan prince, Paris, (who is played by the oh-so-nauseating Orlando Bloom) decides to have an affair with the Spartan king's wife and take her with him across the sea back to Troy.

Of course, all of Sparta is outraged and takes off in their ginormous fleet across the sea after the Trojans. Lead by the greedy Agamemnon, the Spartans are sure to win, if only they can get the help of Achilles, who is rumored to be partly immortal. The only problem is, Achilles is more interested in getting laid than serving under Agamemnon, whom he despises. Achilles is eventually convinced by his mother to go to war and be remembered rather than have a peaceful life and be forgotten.

Hector, Paris's brother, goes to work immediately to prevent any consequences of his brother's retarded actions. Of course, the peace talks are virtually non-existant, and the Trojans have no choice but to go to war with the Spartans.

I liked this movie a lot. Eric Bana, Brad Pitt, and yes, even Orlando Bloom, have excellent chemistry on screen and react well to the events and dialogue. The script was well written, the camera wrk was amazing, and I must say that the scenery was astounding.

I can't say much for the movie's histrical accuracy... For example, the Trojan War is said to have taken place over several years, and this movie made it seem like it took a few weeks at most. Characters that die in the poem live in the movie and characters that shouldn't die in the movie live in the poem. But, despite the many historical and continuity mistakes, I can say that this movie made for excellent entertainment.

4 and a half stars. I am a sucker for continuity, and this movie did not have it.