Karry
Best movie of this year hands down!
Actuakers
One of my all time favorites.
Pluskylang
Great Film overall
Anoushka Slater
While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
dannysokov
I've heard a spectrum of descriptions when it comes to this film, even to the extent of it being labelled masturbatory - however if I could, I'd give it an 11.Bob Dylan and Larry Charles, two phenomenal storytellers in their own right, soak their self- contained dystopia in the kind of metaphor that would leave Wes Anderson and Tarantino stumped.Coen brothers favourites Jeff Bridges and John Goodman, Pre-AHS Jessica Lange and Angela Bassett, Penelope Cruz and Mickey Rourke with award-worthy performances, Val Kilmer and Giovanni Ribisi with the monologues of the decade. All that and the man himself, winding his way through his visual lyric, singing songs and just trying to make sense of it all.It's a weird one that triggers all sorts of reactions, and certainly raises a lot of questions - whether reflective of our own world views, or simply "why are we watching this at 2am?" Personally, I'd call this the cinematic equivalent of "Waiting for Godot"; a perfect reflection of the irrationality of 20th century dogma.By no means casual viewing, but a great one for moments of existential crises.
Aaron Louis Sqaat Lombard Arnold
MASKED AND ANONYMOUS has potential to attract viewers as a curio. Don't let yourself be one of them. Bob Dylan may very well have had more impact on the music and poetry of the last forty years than any individual. Since sound movies began, it has seemingly been assumed that anyone who makes it in the music business has a good chance of making it in movies. Of course, there have been several exceptions, and when is anyone going to figure out that Bob Dylan is one of them? It doesn't make him less of a creative legend, and besides, he recently received an Oscar as a songwriter, so perhaps that's his cinematic forte. In 1973, his abysmal performance almost single-handedly sunk the movie PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID. He went on to "act" in two majorly poorly received movies, RENALDO AND CLARA and HEARTS OF FIRE. For some reason, it seems many of Hollywood's finest jumped at the chance to appear in a movie with him, and once again, he's awful as an actor!! He plays it entirely one note, he seems forced, and he has no understanding of his character. That's not hard to conceive, as very little of anything about this mess of a movie makes any sense. It seems to be about a now separate post-revolution nation, in the southern California area, that is being ruled by a fascist leader. A sleazy promoter, John Goodman, and his partner, Jessica Lange, decide to put on a televised concert to raise money for the impoverished, although they may have ulterior motives, and they track down a fallen folk music legend, Dylan, with mysterious circumstances of his own. From there, a wide bevy of rather high quality actors filter across the jumbled screen doing seemingly improvised bits that are supposed to be political satire, and are just confusing. It goes off in confusing directions in the lives of a few of them, like Penelope Cruz and her religious fanaticism, and Goodman's bad choices in business. Luke Wilson plays a musician who tries to impress everyone, especially Dylan's character, with his high level of literacy. Might have worked in another film. As Dylan plays with a band, a few moments of relief start to occur, although each song is interrupted, and it's actually no better than any concert video he may have out there. The movie almost comes alive for about a minute, as a young girl named Tinashe Kachingwe turns up to sing an accapella version of "The Times They Are A-Changin'," which is both endearing and uplifting. Just not enough to save this disaster. It had played in the trailer anyway, so if you ever see the trailer, you'll truly see all this movie has to offer. Smart move on the advertising department.
lafilm
Get in the right frame of mind to watch this movie. Bob Dylan has a unique ability for understatement, while at the same time doing broad irony. Here he stays in character. At least he looks right at the camera. Like a Dylan song. Don't look for the standard movie structure. Much seems to be about the doing rather then the getting it done. It's great fun watching the characters. They never looked better then in this film. Bob always attracted the best backing group. And then there's the music. It's the songs that make little sense that really set the tone. Those who don't get it never will. While it's not Dylan's greatest moment, it still holds interest since it's born of his determination and the draw of his energy.
chinaglenn
I watched "Masked and Anonymous", and really thought it was going to be good. It had to be good, it had Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Jessica Lange, Bruce Dern, Ed Harris, Cheech Marin, Chris Penn, Luke Wilson,Giovanni Riblisi and Bob Dylan! This movie was awful and all sorts of levels, it did not make sense, it was disjointed, and the only decent thing about it was the music of Bob Dylan. After a brief period of time (about the time they introduced Cheech Marin's character, I just FF to Bob Dylan. All I can say is don't nus this piece of crap.Next time you assemble all these great actors together, call the Coen Brothers, P.T. Anderson, myself, a fourth grader or a crack smoking monkey with a pen and vengeance in his heart. Has to be better than this.Senor