Film: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

GENRE: Fantasy/Adventure

RATING: PG-13 for intense action violence
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 49 minutes

STARRING: Martin Freeman (BBC’s Sherlock & The Office)

Ian McKellan (LOTR, X-Men) Richard Armitage (Captain America)

DIRECTOR: Peter Jackson (LOTR, King Kong, The Lovely Bones)

WRITERS: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson (LOTR)

Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth)

PLOT: Bilbo Baggins joins a group of dwarves trying to reclaim their stolen home from a dragon.  

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:

1 I understand the complaints surrounding Jackson’s three film decision and the fact that the first film covers only six chapters, but the overall length of the first installment did not bother me as much as I thought it would. Sure, it does drag a bit in the very beginning when Bilbo is making his decision to join the adventure, but after that, it moves along at a pretty good pace.

2 Freeman does a stellar job as young Bilbo Baggins. I have always loved his work and it’s great that more people will see how wonderful he is. While Frodo got a little tiresome, Bilbo is a breath of fresh air. Hope it lasts.

3 As a Lord of the Rings fan, its fun to see all the familiar faces. I like that Jackson is trying his hardest to connect the two stories as much as possible. I don’t like the birds however. What a deus ex machina.

4 No surprise, Gollum steals the show again. His scenes with Bilbo make the whole wait worth it. I’ve missed that creepy little guy.

5 So I didn’t see it in 3D (bad eye) or the apparently infuriating 48 framerate version. It was great in 2D, except the camera movements during the opening exposition were a tad dizzying. I can’t imagine how the people watching the 3D 48 framerate felt during those scenes. Maybe that could account for some of the mixed reviews.

RECOMMENDATION: Of course, see it in the theatre

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Hitchcock, Jack Reacher

Film: Life of Pi

GENRE: Adventure/Drama

RATING: PG for some war violence and brief strong language

RUNTIME: 2 hours and 7 minutes

STARRING: Suraj Sharma (newcomer)

Irrfan Khan (Slumdog Millionaire, The Amazing Spiderman)

DIRECTOR: Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon))

WRITER: David Magee (Finding Neverland)

PLOT: A young man learns more about himself while stranded at sea with a hungry Bengal tiger.  

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:

1 What a gripping story. I never read the book so all of this was new to me. This is a wonderful tale of survival. It reminded me of Castaway, except it’s on water and this ‘Wilson’ wants to eat you.

2 While newcomer Sharma does an amazing job as Pi, it’s really the Bengal tiger, Richard Parker that steals the show. It looks so incredibly life-like. The CG folks deserve a standing ovation.

3 The visuals in this film are stunning. Lee makes the abandonment at sea a beautiful experience. I’m glad I didn’t risk the potential blurriness of seeing it in 3D. I’m sure it will look cool to 3D viewers as well.

4 The hyena is a real jerk.

5 One of the opening shots is of a sloth. I love sloths.

RECOMMENDATION: Beautifully shot, 3D unnecessary

UPCOMING REVIEWS: The Hobbit, Hitchcock

Film: Skyfall

GENRE: Action/Adventure

RATING: PG-13 for action violence, some sexuality & language

RUNTIME: 2 hours and 23 minutes

STARRING: Daniel Craig (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Munich)

Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), Naomie Harris (28 Days Later)

DIRECTOR: Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition)

WRITERS: Neil Purvis (Casino Royale), Robert Wade (Johnny English)

John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator, Hugo)

PLOT: MI6 is targeted so Bond must protect M at all costs.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:

1 This is another great chapter in the Bond series, and not only because Quantum of Solace was not that great. I still like Casino Royale better though. There’s something about that poker game. I am sad that Bond didn’t have time to play some cards this time around.

2 Love watching Judi Dench on screen. I was happy to see M getting a larger role. She works great with Craig.

3 I enjoyed Ben Whishaw (Cloud Atlas) as the new Q. I like that he was a younger tech nerd.

4 Even though I haven’t seen all the James Bond films, I still enjoyed the callbacks to previous films. This film contained both recalls and reboots. Well done writers!

5 I understand that 00 agents need to stay classy, but when you’re fighting on a speeding train, you can probably lose the flapping jacket that’s getting in your way. The shirt and tie should be good enough. Just sayin’.

RECOMMENDATION: Great Bond for the theatre

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook

Film: The Amazing Spiderman

GENRE: Action/Adventure
RATING: PG-13 for scenes of violence
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 16 minutes
STARRING: Andrew Garfield (The Social Network)
Emma Stone (Easy A, Crazy Stupid Love), Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill)
DIRECTOR: Mark Webb (500 Days of Summer)
WRITERS: James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, The Rundown)
Alvin Sargent (Spiderman 2 & 3), Steve Kloves (Harry Potter series)
PLOT: Peter Parker gets bitten by a spider while looking into his missing father’s former partner who has an obsession with lizards.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 The film isn’t awful but I also don’t think the Spiderman movies were in need of a reboot. There are some entertaining parts but it just seemed too emo for me. Sam Raimi’s trilogy was packed full of fun even if the third one faltered a bit. The story elements are very similar with slight variations however the bad guy still has really loud voices in his head.
2 I will say that this film is shot incredibly well. John Schwartzman (The Rock, Pearl Harbor) does a great job making certain scenes epic and other intimate. Also, nice job of swinging through the streets, even though this film had ten more years to perfect Raimi’s already stellar job of webslinging. Interesting to do some of it as first person, which I guess is awesome if you watch it in 3D (I didn’t.).
3 Emma Stone gives an awesome performance as Gwen Stacy. She’s the bright shiny light in this story. Actually Denis Leary also does a great job as Captain Stacy. I didn’t like the Stacys in Spiderman 3 but in this film they are golden. Martin Sheen is dependable as Uncle Ben but Sally Field seems misplaced as Aunt May, she looks too young. Points go to Raimi for the casting of Rosemary Harris.
4 Andrew Garfield does a commendable job of playing a teenager in highschool even though he’s 29 years old. He stumbles nicely and has the look of an emo kid. Unfortunately, I didn’t like him as Spiderman; his quips are a little too cocky and void of true fun. Tobey Maguire may not have had the look but he definitely had the right attitude when he donned the mask.
5 Speaking of masks. Leave the frickin’ mask on! What’s the point in making a mask if you take it off all the time? Does it itch or something? Or is the actor so vain that he needs more facetime on screen? Is it meant to be symbolic? We get it! You’re human. Leave the mask on!

RECOMMENDATION: Theatre for action, DVD for emo
UPCOMING REVIEWS: The Dark Knight Rises

Film: Hugo

GENRE: Adventure/Family/Drama
RATING: PG for mild thematic material
RUNTIME: 2 hour and 6 minutes
STARRING: Asa Butterfield (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas)
Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass) Ben Kingsley (Schindler’s List)
DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese (The Aviator, Gangs of New York)
WRITER: John Logan (The Aviator, Gladiator, Rango)
PLOT: An orphan who lives in a train station finds a key that will not only start an invention but also reveal a filmmaker’s past.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 The cinematography in this film is magical. The opening scene is mesmerizing as the camera winds its way through the train station. Scorsese captures so much on the screen, even the dust in the air.
2 This film should win for best art direction. The train station is practically a character with all its depth. The beautiful art direction is nicely shown in the bookstore alone. The stacks of colourful books are so carefully strewn about it’s a work of art. I also have always loved seeing gears turn inside a clock.
3 As a media teacher, the early movie references were a treat. The making of A Trip to the Moon and clips of Safety Last tie in perfectly to my class discussions. You can tell that Scorsese loves the history of film and film restoration.
4 Scorsese finally made a film his grandkids can enjoy. Unfortunately, he didn’t take their attention spans into account. As beautiful as this film is, the pace is really slow and the running time is thirty minutes too long even with all the Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat, Sweeny Todd) comic relief.
5 While talking to my wife after the film, we were trying to pin down why we didn’t find it as magical as it could be. We realized it was the music. It didn’t grab us like it should. Howard Shore (Lord of the Rings) has done so much better.

RECOMMENDATION: It's on DVD soon
UPCOMING REVIEWS: The Artist