#23: Entrapment

Another classic Sean Connery film for you. Entrapment reminded me a somewhat of The Rock, maybe it's just because Sean Connery plays a lead role in that movie as well. Katherine Zeta-Jones plays a sexy, sophisticated, world-class thief. Sean Connery leads with his tactical training skill set and his wise ways of beating the system of thievery. Entrapment has a whole lot of twists and turns that will keep you on your seat the entire movie. Until the very end, character roles start to unfold and you eventually see who's good and who's bad, or whichever way you want to look at it. Director, Jon Amiel really did a fantastic job putting this movie together, especially with a little bit a help from fellow screenwriters, Ronald Bass and Michael Hertzberg. Ving Rhames and Will Patton add on to this supporting cast to help make Entrapment an exhilarating film. I didn't expect as much going into the movie but the outcome was far greater than anticipated.

Overall Rating: 8.4/10

- Josh Berg

#17: Hannibal

Hannibal is actually one of the most sadistic and fiendish movies I've ever seen. Anthony Hopkins is purely genius in Hannibal; if you've seen Silence of the Lambs, I wont have to tell you that you can expect nothing less than spectacular. Julianne Moore is brilliant as well, while Ray Liotta plays a fellow agent. Surprisingly, Liotta is really funny.

Getting back to the movie, director Ridley Scott helped continue the great tradition of Silence of the Lambs. I think the only other films so malicious and inhuman and so well done are the Saw series. Hannibal may not be as great as Silence of the Lambs, but this is a great follow up and is definitely worth seeing if you've seen the first, shortly after, watching Red Dragon will also continue this gruesome tradition of sadistic killing. Hannibal is just one of those movies you kind of have to see.

Overall Rating: 8.0 / 10

- Josh Berg

Watching Hannibal, I had only ever seen Silence of the Lambs before, so Red Dragon and the other parts of the series are unknown to me. Anthony Hopkins, as Josh said, nails the role. Other than that, I thought the plot was somewhat weak and there was no "holy !@#$" moment in the movie for me.

Hannibal leans on gag-factor to survive, which just doesn't cut it for greatness in by book. Unless you're going to throw a character into a pit of needles or force them to cut off their own leg (as in Saw), that doesn't cut it. So despite a great performance by Hopkins and good work by all of the other actors involved, I didn't love this movie, and it definitely wasn't as good as Silence of the Lambs. It's very possible that--as it fits into the series of Hannibal Lecter movies--this movie is brilliant in ways that I simply didn't notice. This wouldn't be a fault of the movie, but me as the viewer.

Whatever the case, I'm not a huge fan of Hannibal, but it wasn't terrible either.

Overall Rating: 7.2 / 10


-Taylor Dobbs

#9: The Machinist

The Machinist is a strange film. Christian Bale, a big name in movies with big guns and big budgets, takes on a different role here. After losing what looks like more than 50 pounds for the part, Bale is barely recognizable. But this movie shows that he doesn't need a Batsuit to hold an audience. The Machinist is slow and subtle, but not half bad in its execution. It's very neat to go back through this movie (this was my second time seeing it) and pick up on the little pieces that the director (Brad Anderson) slipped in to make it all more real.

It didn't blow my mind like Inception or The Matrix when I saw them, but The Machinist is a solid, makes-you-think thriller that I'd definitely recommend to anyone who likes dark movies with good acting.

Overall Rating: 7.8 / 10


-Taylor Dobbs

Christian Bale is so completely different from any role he has ever played. He does not look like himself whatsoever. If you saw The Dark Knight, Bale is a totally new character. The Machinist was a mind game. I'm all about the psychological thrillers. I loved Inception, Shutter Island, Fight Club and other insane and complex films. This was a little less complex but it still had a great premise, and it's not going to be so easy to understand. The Machinist in general was very riveting and a solid film. It was actually a fun film to watch once it got underway. I'm glad to have watched this movie because it was on my "to see" list. I thought Christian Bale was exceptional for playing such a different role, which - compared against American Psycho - really showed how complete his acting ability is. Good performance overall.

Overall Rating: 8.0 / 10

- Josh Berg