hawk ledge (hawkledge)

Frenetic thrills, melodramatic performances and impressionistic design, boasting a script true to the structure of the novel. Stellar cast with John Cleese almost unrecognizable, Kenneth Branagh complex, strangely likable in the title role, and Helena Bonham Carter wonderful, though Robert De Niro steals the show.

Lush, romantic texture and visual richness, complex yet rewarding, awash in heart-rending emotions and gorgeous images, with superb performances from an ensemble cast, particularly Scott Thomas and Juliette Binoche. A tour de force of poetic grace, an epic sweep, and luminous screenplay faithful to its source.

Classic comic fantasy-nightmare and psychedelic wonder of sustained imagination portraying a 1984-esque future, and boasting a retro style that gives it an ominous timelessness. Robert De Niro plays against type as the hilarious terrorist Harry Tuttle.

Classic comedy from Mel Brooks, respectfully honoring the old Frankenstein films rather than skewering them, serving up a film that is a cinematic achievement, losing none of its hilarity to the passing of time.