Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Anthony Hopkins

Do you watch scary movies? Have you watched Silence of the Lambs? When I was younger and less aware of how scary the world could really be, I would watch any gory movie I could get my hands on. I even enjoyed watching older ones because it required more acting (if you want to consider running, screaming & crying acting) than technology. At this point in my life I can't and won't sit through a movie where the main goal is guts & gore (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). What I really enjoy is a psychological thriller.

Silence of the Lambs

Primal Fear is also a great example. Richard Gere plays a defense attorney who thrives on highly publicized cases. He watches a foot chase on television where a young altar boy (covered in blood) has been accused of a violent, grisly murder of a popular Chicago Archbishop. Gere is a an opportunistic attorney who is excited about representing someone where the case is assumed to be open and shut because of the press coverage he can get. Although the evidence is obvious, as the case unfolds, Gere's character begins to believe his clients innocence as he is diagnosed with multiple personality disorder. Evidence against the archbishop is uncovered in corrupt land deals and pedophilia behaviour where he has been molesting young parishioners. The cynical attorney begins to believe in his job and what it means to actually defend someone who may be guilty but was pushed in a corner to defend himself. But...you gotta watch it. The shocking twist at the end will make you cuss your Gramma.

Ohhhh. It gets good. Real good. Edward Norton is wonderful in the role of the mentally unstable defendant. The twists and turns kept my attention. It is one of the few movies I can actually sit and watch again. Hubby and I love to have a lazy weekend afternoon to cookout and sit down to relax and watch a great movie. Most of the time we would rent an older thriller where you had to play along with the twists.

Anthony Hopkins. SIR Anthony. He is an actor who can scare the hell out of me with his facial expressions. I love, LOVE to watch and listen to the man. I can watch guts & gore (I close my eyes in the worst parts) if he is doing the twists and turns. He is the ultimate psycho. The smile and turn of his head. The silent insinuations. He has an incredible emotional range as an actor and a LONG, LONG list of successful movies. He is a very convincing, calculating, manipulative and conniving in Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal and Red Dragon. His latest thriller is Fractured.

The tagline for the movie IS my idea of an Anthony Hopkins movie. The plot description...An assistant DA (Ryan Gosling) is caught up in a game of cat-and-mouse with a man (Anthony Hopkins) who tried to murder his wife and is set free on a series of technicalities .

If you look close enough, you'll find everyone has a weak spot.

But...He is to me an incredible actor. Because when I look at him I see Hannibal Lector. He is calm, cool and manipulative. But I also loved Legends of the Fall, Mask of Zorro and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (He was the narrators voice). I was watching The Tonight Show on NBC with Jay Leno interviewing him last night. I laughed out loud. While I absolutely love Sir Anthony Hopkins, I am not a stalker type. I do not systematically rent/buy/see movies strictly because an actor is in it. If I do not like the movie trailer or blurb, I won't waste my time. But...the Anthony Hopkins I envision was not being interviewed last night.

The man sat down and immediately you could tell he had a hyper nature. He always seems so calm and cool in the movies I have seen him in. He stuck his feet up in the air to show off his striped socks. He admitted to having ADD and fidgeted during the entire segment. He somehow got into a story about how he loves Donald Trump and The Apprentice. He kept saying "You're fired!" and had the attention span of my 4 yo. Then he started doing impressions of a dog barking and said how he enjoyed going out onto his balcony and barking so the entire neighborhood dog population would start up.

He is an INCREDIBLE actor. What kind of movies do you enjoy and why? Do you have a favorite actor?

2 comments:

Jennifer Shirk said...

I LOVE a good psychological thriller, too! I saw Silence of the Lambs in college and wanted to change by major to Criminology right after that. (I was obviously talked out of that later on)

And, of course, Romantic Comedies--or just a good comedy, I like, too.

Favorite actor? Hmm... I'm drawing a blank. But Sir Anthony is up there as well, and Harrison Ford.

Chelle Sandell said...

I liked the recent release 'The Holiday'. And I love movies with Sandra Bullock.