Movie Review Monday: An Unexpected Journey

I took one for the team this weekend, kind readers. I suffered through a movie that I never thought I would watch again just so I could bring you a new movie review. (Okay, honestly, I only half watched it because I put it on in the background while I was cleaning. Don't judge.) 

I watched The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey for the third (and probably final) time. I realized I hadn't really talked about the new Hobbit movies on here so happy movie review Monday to all! 

When the announcement about the movies came out, I was thrilled. I've lost count of how many times I've seen The Lord of the Rings trilogy and figured if anyone could make The Hobbit great, it would be Peter Jackson. And when those cast announcements kept coming out, it was like Christmas every time: Martin Freeman! Richard Armitage! Lee Pace! Sylvester McCoy! Aidan Turner! Stephen Fry! Benedict Cumberbatch! Of course, it goes without saying that every time they confirmed an established character as coming back to production, you felt a little safer. Things couldn't be too bad if Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, and Ian McKellen were still guarding Middle Earth, right?

I saw all three films in theaters and I remember being excited every time. I tried to hold judgment until the very end, you know, just in case the last movie was so good that it retroactively saved the whole trilogy. But I think I knew that was never going to happen. The moment the White Orc came on screen in the first movie and I could tell he was 100% CGI, it was all over for me. I can hear you say, "Yeah, but Gollum was 100% CGI. What about him? Did that ruin the original trilogy for you?" And the answer quite simply is NO. He was perfect. They worked so hard on him that you forgot he was CGI most of the time. One look at the White Orc and man, you knew. From that moment, it felt like they were phoning it in. 

Don't get me wrong-- the costumes were astounding, like always. The shots through Bag End were perfect. Actually, the time they spent in the Shire is really the only part of the movie I loved. I love how Martin Freeman really captures the spirit of Bilbo, the hobbit who loves home, hearth, food and comfort above all else. This after dinner scene, in particular, gets me smiling every time. 
  

Singing is such an essential part of the book and I'm glad to have a few of those moments in the film. However, there just aren't enough! I think that was one of my biggest disappointments. Also I love the jolly dwarfs we are treated to in the beginning of the film, but hate that by the end, it's all doom and gloom and no one is happy. In the book, there is always this subtle witty banter in the way the dwarves talk to each other and about Bilbo. Even when they are being chased up the trees by the Wargs, Dori (hilariously) complains about having to carry Bilbo around all the time, "What do you think I am? A porter?"  Maybe that is my twisted sense of humor talking, but I love moments like this! In the movies, they end up creating a character from Lake Town to be comic relief at the end of the trilogy and he fails miserably. 

Was everything terrible? No, not everything. The Riddles in the Dark scene was brilliantly imagined. Even if there were flaws with it, seeing it played out still brings me joy. For all the problems I had with the movie, seeing Bilbo's brass buttons get ripped off his vest as he escapes the goblin's lair was wonderful. It was in those moments when you thought that the writers, directors and production team maybe really did care about the story and getting things right. 

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the late great Christopher Lee in this post. It was difficult to watch his Saruman part this weekend. It was hard to watch when the movies first came out, but in a different way. In The Hobbit, Saruman the White is head of the order and a good leader. You get hints of that that in the way the scenes are written, but with the full knowledge where his characters ends up in The Lord of the Rings, it is hard to fully trust him. I think that could have been written better, but then, so could most of the film. 

Overall, I was pretty disappointed with what Peter "Money-grubbing" Jackson did with The Hobbit story. I wanted to love the movies but just couldn't. 

Did you see any of the installments of The Hobbit? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.

I've been watching House of Cards again this weekend and I have one episode left. I have loved and hated this season, so you know, things are right on target.  I haven't been watching a lot of movies or really paying attention to movies that are coming out right now, so I am up for some recommendations! What should I be watching this weekend? 

(PS: I think this video interview with Smaug and Stephen Colbert was almost better than all three movies combined! Thoughts??)

Movies, TV Shows, & Miniseries-- Oh my!

Over the past few years, I have watched fewer movies and more TV shows. I think it might have something to do with long form story telling. Maybe it is also that I can fit in "just one more episode!!" before bed and it doesn't feel like a big thing. However, the idea of watching a WHOLE movie before bed is terribly daunting and I usually fall asleep part way through. I also really hate having to stop half way through a movie to sleep; it messes up the whole movie watching experience. 

I told you a little about Battlestar Galactica in my last post. You probably won't catch me saying anything bad about this show. To save yourself the trouble, you should probably just head to your local library and borrow it or heck, head to Amazon and buy the whole series. Trust me. It's that good. 
In a nut shell, humans created Cylons, humanoid metal machines. The Cylons rebelled against their makers and war broke out. A truce was reached, the war ended and Cylons all but disappeared from the world. Until they unleash nuclear warheads on Caprica, killing most of the world's population. And as an FYI, we learn most of this in the first few episodes. Battlestar Galacitca is the story of what happens next. 

I FINALLY finished Band of Brothers in April. It probably took me 6 months to watch, mostly because I don't like war stories. Look, I understand war is bloody and innocent lives are lost. I realize it is messy and painful and very hard to understand. I get all that. Those are all the reasons I don't like watching it in my entertainment; war isn't entertainment. War isn't a story device or construct of fiction. I struggle with watching war movies and realistically violent movies because to me, that isn't entertainment. 
Okay. I'm gonna try to stop the rant. 
Rant and all, I actually thought they did a wonderful job with the miniseries. At no point did they seem to glorify war; in fact, I think they did a remarkable job of portraying how hard it was to fight in World War II. Seeing it from the front lines changed my perspective and understanding of things. I don't regret seeing it, but I do wish some of the images wouldn't linger in my brain pan the way some of them are…
And hey, as Rachel said, "All of our boys are in it!" She isn't wrong! You've got Colin Hanks, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Damian Lewis, Andrew Scott, David Schwimmer, Jamie Bamber, Simon Pegg, and Jimmy Fallon. Wow. Just…wow. What a list. 
(There is no judgement if you decide not to watch this. Sometimes, I wish I had skipped it. On the flip side, it makes me respect our soldiers and war veterans a little more than I did. We see sacrifice as a beautiful thing when we view it from the home front; it means something totally different on the front lines.) 

Last month, I caught the ugly virus that was going around. It knocked me on my back and was a beast to recover from. I knew I wasn't going to die but part of me wished I would. The first day found me in bed; the second day on the couch, only because if I spent one more moment in bed I was going to scream. Recovering is a hard business. I watched two movies during the recovery process, so my perspective on them might be skewed. 

They were both kinda horrible. 

The first was My Old Lady. Kristin Scott Thomas and Maggie Smith. What could be better? 
Well, actually, quite a lot. 
Kevin Kline played a main character and honestly I hated him. I've only seen him in a few things before this role but probably couldn't pick him out of a line up. I'm trying to hold a good thought because he has been cast in the Beauty and the Beast re-make. I'm crossing fingers and toes that the re-make is as near to perfect as they can make it. 

The second movie was Magic in the Moonlight. Emma Stone & Colin Firth? Perfection. 
Or…not.
There is very little I have to say about this movie because I was really disappointed. I'm not even sure I had a favorite line or part. It was just a massive let down on all fronts. 

Okay-- now for some movies I loved!
What? I watch good movies as well as horrible ones!
A co-worker recommended The Artist. I don't know why it took me so long to see this gem! It was beautiful and bold to do in this day and age. (And boy do I feel old for using that phrase…) I found myself enjoying it immensely. If you love old film, new film, classic film and the occasional black and white, this is the movie for you. 

I also got to see Big Hero 6 which may have caused me to tear up. Look out, Despicable Me. There is a new animated super hero in town. Actually, six of them…
My parents are the real litmus test for good kids movies. If they actually giggle at it, you know you have a winner. I'm still waiting for their professional opinion on this one. When the research comes back, I'll update you. (Though don't take my word for it, really.) 

Ah and I promised didn't I? Hm. I too got caught up in the show that is taking Netflix by storm: Daredevil. I finished it against my better judgment and I'm very glad I did. The first 11 episodes have glaringly BAD dialogue. So bad I wondered if there was a scrip or if the actors were ad-libbing scenes. Bad. Our Big Baddie Wilson Fisk seemed so big, so bad, so larger than life that instead of being truly terrifying, he seemed to be a caricature of a big bad villain. Our superhero, Matt Murdock, lacked motivation and true direction. I think by the end of the show, these two things were still true; however, the last two episodes had such good story and drive that you almost could forget that the beginning of the show was horrible. Almost. 
Oh and the violence. Can we just pause for a second and talk about the violence? I do not love it. I don't mind any of the wars in movies like, say Lord of the Rings. In fact, 9 times out of 10 you will find me yelling things like, "Cut the head off that stupid orc! He is just going to..no! What are you doing? GET HIM!!" When I'm not yelling at Aragorn, I'm yelling at Legolas: "More arrows, you poncy blond elf! Come on!!" And blowing things up? I'm a huge fan. 
Violence that is hyper-realistic makes me sick. There were more times than I can count where I watched Daredevil through the gaps of my fingers covering the major violence on my laptop screen (and even a few where I closed my eyes completely). 
On the whole, I give the show a "meh." I was speaking to a friend and decided that I would happily take more episodes of Agent Carter (even though the 8 episode run was the intended length of the show) instead of a second season of Daredevil. I might try a few episodes of season 2, but at this moment, I'm not too worried about the future of Nelson & Murdock, Avocados at Law. 

What are you watching these days? Let me know in the comments! 

Labor Day Weekend Movie Reviews

Last weekend I had four beautiful days off. All in a row. Hello vacation!!

I finished a book (more on that later) did a lot of NOTHING and watched some movies. Ever since I finished the show Chuck (in like...a month? Don't judge!) (But seriously, if you haven't seen this show yet, do yourself a favor. You will thank me. Trust me!) I've been having trouble watching TV that doesn't make me laugh. My sisters always yell at me for watching dramas and serious shows and I've just kind of realized that they are right. I like watching high drama, suspense type shows most of the time. But I'm finding that I love smart and funny TV shows and that I love to laugh at my television. GO FIGURE. So I've been trying to find something new and funny to watch. Suggestions? Leave 'em in the comments!

Okay but back to my vacation weekend. Yeah. It was NOT filled with funny movies. But lets just dive right in and you can judge me later.

My friend Rachel emailed me one day to tell me she had seen Blade Runner, Harrison Ford was in it and through the course of the movie, he says "Rachel". Obviously I needed to see this movie! It wasn't until after I saw the movie that I was told there were like 16,000 different versions out. I ended up seeing the Directors Cut because that was the only version we had at the library. Generally, my thought is "Weird. Lots of weird." I love the concept of the film and the questions it raises, mainly what does it mean to be human? In an age of increasingly smart AI, who decides when it is time to pull the plug? I'm not sure I'm fully qualified to comment on the movie as a whole, since I saw a very different version, but what I saw was very ... odd. And I know that's a weird word to use and I've seen a lot of weird movies that I've loved and found other ways to describe but I'm afraid that is all this movie gets. It was hard to see because apparently it ALWAYS rains in the future. (Though I do want one of those umbrellas/light sabers they have. If someone wants to buy one for me I promise to use it.)
And I'm sorry but I have to comment on the scene with Deckard & Rachel. So something big has happened and they end up in Deckard's apartment. He is attracted to her and goes to kiss her. She says, "No." He doesn't listen; in fact, he seems to get angry. He tries again and is greeted with the same. It isn't until she is up against a wall and he is telling her what to say that they "mutually" kiss and, in my version, the scene ended. Now. I don't know if there would have been a point in my life where that would have been hot and a little sexy. If there was, that time has passed. All I heard was her "No" and apparently, as Lorelai Gilmore says, he was listening with... not his ears. I don't know but something about the scene didn't sit well with me.

Moving right along...
I have seen a bunch of Hitchcock movies (from memory, my favorite was Notorious) and a bunch of Jimmy Stewart (too many, but my go-to is The Philadelphia Story)movies over the years.  I have actually seen Rear Window before and hated it. On second viewing though, I found it really enjoyable and decided to fully redeem the movie from The Hate List. Jimmy Stewart is a photographer with a broken leg in week 5 of his recovery, which happens to be in the hottest summer New York has ever seen. He spends his days sitting by the open window observing his neighbors, who are living their lives loudly through open windows across the back of an apartment complex. From Miss Torso (the dancer), the musician (arty type, throwing mad parties), the Newlyweds (who draw the shade over the open window as soon as they move in) and Miss Lonelyhearts (single woman desperately alone), Jeff is never lacking for entertainment. His own life has a small cast of characters: Stella, the insurance nurse who comes to see him every day; Lisa, his incredibly beautiful girlfriend (played by the always lovely Grace Kelly); Tom Doyle, an old friend in the NYPD.
One night, in the haze of the heat and sleep, he thinks he hears a fight between one of the married couples and then later is sure he sees the husband leaving the apartment multiple times in the middle of the night, in the rain. Oh and the wife? Yeah, he doesn't see her again. Was it murder? Jeff is sure of it. But he can't convince his friends, or the police department, without sufficient proof. At first all his friends think he is crazy. Too much time off work, too much time staring out the rear window of his apartment. But eventually they start to believe him. What if it really did happen? 
Right, like I said. I hated this movie the first time I saw it. This time though, I really loved it. I even did the whole sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat thing toward the end. 

Next up is Ocean of Pearls. I was shelving this at work and decided to read the back of the box. Always a bad idea. I need to learn that if I'm working, I just need to put things back and NOT actually look at them. When I look at the items too closely (books, DVDs CDs -- whatever) I usually end up bringing them home with me. This accounts for the 5 DVDs, 1 TV series, 2 CDs, and 17 books that are currently taking up room in my apartment. I digress. 

Ocean of Pearls is the story of a Sikh doctor, Amrit Singh, and his struggle to live an authentic and devout Sikh life while trying to advance his transplant research in a world that only sees the turban he wears. I'm not sure if that was a good enough description but I really enjoyed this movie. I have found that I enjoy any movie or TV show (Little Mosque, I'm looking at you) that teaches me about other cultures/religions and some of their every day struggles to live in a different culture and thrive. I think it is also a good commentary of religious belief. No matter what you believe, there will be times in life when you will be asked to sacrifice what you value and hold dear for success or fame. The compromise might be small; the success might just be for the day. While compromise is necessary in life, I think we might get too used to comprise that when we are asked to compromise our values or beliefs, we seriously consider the pros and cons of doing so. 
Amrit begins to question the outward signs of his faith and begins to wonder if his faith is outdated. Isn't it the invisible belief that is more important than the outward signs of belief? Can you have one without the other? 

On the whole, I'd say I had a pretty stellar weekend for movies. Have you seen any of these? What did you think? Are you watching anything good these days? 

I'm hoping to have a book review up soon. Also, all you Divergents out there: the trilogy review is in the works. Get your comments for or against the books ready. I can't wait! 

PS: This weekend I did a stupid thing. I started a movie shortly after I got home from work Thursday night WITHOUT checking to see how long it was. Rookie move. I was up until like 5am watching Bugsy. On the one hand, it was really fascinating; on the other hand, super long. I have to check with Sherlock to decide if he was a psychopath or a sociopath, but which ever he was Ben Siegel was nuts. It was a great (but LONG) mobster film, oddly void of much of the drugs, sex, and blatant violence I've come to expect from movies like this. I'm guessing this is due to 1991 release date. Anyway, yeah. I liked it but whoa long. It took me all weekend to recover. 

Six months and counting

June. Is. Almost. Here. 

I can't even process that. 

I lost most of April (long story involving a car accident that I don't want to relive, thanks.) and I'm just getting back into the swing of things. That has involved a lot of TV/movie watching and not so much reading. So here is what I have been up to/what I'm up to right now. 

I recently saw Cat on a Hot Tin Roof for the first time and I was BLOWN AWAY. The sass! The simplicity! The relationships! I loved everything about it. I also think it was possibly my first Elizabeth Taylor movie and I am impressed (and I'm sorry, Liz, that it took me this long. You are wonderful!) 

I watched Avatar for the first time last weekend and LOVED IT. I mean actually really loved it. I vaguely remember there being some type of outrage over it when it came out, but I really don't remember why. The CGI was beautiful and not too over done (a la The Hobbit. Sorry guys. It's the truth.). I loved the story. I loved the philosophy in it-- can something artificial be "more real" to us than reality? Is that worth fighting for or should the fight be adapted and put into reality? What is integral to being a unique human being? For Jake Sully, it was the use of his legs. That seemed to be more important than anything else. And of course, underneath it all is that Beauty and the Beast love story. Sometimes we need to shut up and listen, sometimes we need to adapt and make compromises. Learn something outside your comfort zone. It might just do you some good. 

Anyway, I'm a big fan of this movie. I watched the theatrical release on DVD, but I might go back and watch some of the extended scenes. Or I might just watch it again. 

I'm watching one old and one new series from the BBC. Hurray! I'm almost done with Inspector Morse. The beginning of the series was a little rough, but by the end of the 1st season things evened out. I am super excited that Endeavor (prequel to Morse) season 2 will be on Masterpiece Theatre this summer! I loved the movie & season 1 of Endeavor so much. I love a good mystery…

And speaking of mystery, let's talk Broadchurch for a second. DAVID TENNANT. OLIVIA COLMAN. ANDREW BUCHAN. ARHTUR DARVILL. It is the best fun you will have watching a small town police force solve the murder of a young boy. (Am I allowed to say that? Oops.) I am only 3 episodes so DON'T SPOIL THIS FOR ME. I think I know what happens (thanks, internet) but I am pretending I know nothing. It's good writing, good acting and basically each episode makes you think the murder is a different townie. Makes me never want to live in a small seaside village. EVER. 

I love the relationship between David Tennant and Olivia Colman's characters. She is full of sass and he is full of snark. It's the best thing about the show.

I'll catch you up on the books I've read next time. 

Have you been watching any good TV recently? 

Currently reading:

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

Is it just me? by Miranda Hart

North & South by Elizabeth Gaskill