"I am going on an adventure" (not an epic quest Jackson!)

"Oh I still have a blog? On movies? Thats right...I should really post something on that sometime..." -my internal monologue

I saw the Hobbit yesterday, finally, after years of anticipation. Honestly, it was a bit of a let down.

Here's some backstory:

I was a bit of a black sheep in my family when it came to tastes in genre. My sister was into Nicholas Sparks romance type books/movies and horror (I really don't understand how someone could like those two things simultaneously). My mom likes comedies, mysteries, and romance type things. My dad likes comedies and action. Me? I was obsessed with fantasy.

Unfortunately, in that sort of environment growing up, I had never heard of Tolkien or Lord of the Rings. Then there was that fateful night I was over at my friend's house and her dad put on the Fellowship of the Ring. From that moment forward, I was riveted. I got my hands on a copy of the Two Towers a short while later. Then, I was able to see Return of the King on IMAX with some friends after it came out. That same year I borrowed the books from another friend and read the series.

I was a major fan. In high school, my friends and I would have marathon screenings of the extended editions of LotR. Twelve beautiful hours straight of, in my opinion, the greatest series ever (I swear, we were really cool people).

In college, I finally got around to reading the Hobbit (as well as a reread of the LotR books). It was a great book, full of fun and magical creatures. It was much lighter and nowhere near as dark as the other books.

Every time I heard of another delay in the filming of the Hobbit, I was a little let down, but like most good fans, I continued to await the release date with anticipation. I took the announcement that the Hobbit would be two movies instead of one in stride. I expressed a little skepticism when two movies became three, but that didn't diminish my excitement too much.

Finally, the long anticipated day came. I didn't go to the midnight screening, though I might have in the past. I waited for a late afternoon screening, and surprisingly the theater wasn't as packed as I thought it would be.

It started off alright. I had heard critiques of the 48fps projection and the 3D. Honestly, I hate 3D in general (I'm not sure if I've made it clear here before or not). The Hobbit's 3D was particularly bad. It didn't immerse you in the world like 3D is supposed to (I've never actually experienced that particular effect of 3D, but its what I've been told). It looked cartoonish and gimmicky.

Most critiques of this movie focus on the technical issues of the projection format. Yes, it was problematic, but it wasn't the fatal flaw. The biggest problem, to me, was the tone of the movie. The Lord of the Rings is an epic tale. One that is very dark and very serious. Jackson did an amazing job capturing that energy in the previous trilogy.

Conversely, the Hobbit is not epic. Or dark and serious. It is light and fun and, as is stated throughout the movie, an adventure. Jackson tries to emulate the tone of epicness in the Hobbit to an incredibly detrimental effect. The mishmashing of humor and darkness that is the combination of the light-hearted material with Jackson's attempt at replicating the Lord of the Rings leaves a bad taste. Its too cobbled together to make sense on an emotional level.

Of course, there is also the problem that comes from dividing such a simple story into 3 movies, nothing actually happens in the Hobbit. Yeah there are some major fight scenes and lots of running away from stuff, but really nothing major happens. Its entirely inaccessible to the majority of moviegoers. Only fans who have read the Hobbit likely had any idea of what was going on, or cared since I'm sure anyone who didn't have any vested interest probably tuned out sometime during the three hours and had no reason to tune back in.

If you aren't a big enough fan to have actually read the book, its probably not worth your time. If you do feel the need to see it, don't bother paying extra for the 3D. It looks so much better in 2D (I spent much of the movie with one eye closed comparing the visuals). I think, ultimately, Jackson's success with LotR became the downfall of the Hobbit.

PS. Who knew the new superman movie would look so amazing???

A Little Rant

I know I haven't posted anything in a while. It's not like I haven't watched any movies or anything;  it's just that I don't have the time to write about them. I've had a CRAZY, movie filled summer. And now, it is back to the grind of school and procrastinating doing my homework by watching movies.

Of course, my routine is going to be a little bit more difficult as I will be deleting the streaming portion of my Netflix account sometime in the next seven days. I know, there are probably already a million blogs out there on the Web bitching about Netflix's price increases. You are probably also thinking to yourself, "Aren't you a little behind in writing this. I mean the price increase was announced ages ago."

Well, you are certainly correct in thinking that. The thing is, it just now started sinking in that I will no longer be able to watch a movie or tv show whenever I feel like it. I will have to wait for it to come in the mail. 

You might then wonder why I am choosing to delete the streaming and not the DVD option, if I am not patient enough to get my movies in the mail. My response to you is that I have 300 movies on my DVD queue and only 11 of those I can watch streaming. Which seems like it is worth the $7.99 price tag to you?

I really don't understand why people are choosing to go with the streaming only option. That's where Netflix is screwing everyone over with this upcoming price increase.

Oh well, I will enjoy those $2 that I will be saving every month on my Netflix bill. Maybe when I graduate college and get a full-time job (maybe, hopefully) I will be able to afford that $16 price tag. But for now, I am going to have to make sacrifices.

Who knows, maybe now I will be more active instead of watching movies all day....Who am I kidding? I'm just going to start watching more of the crap on youtube. Thanks Netflix, now I'm going to be watching some fat guy and his family on youtube instead of watching classic cinema. 

Ok. End Rant.

I'm sorry if you actually read all that. It probably wasn't all that interesting...

Midnight in Paris

I went to see Woody Allen's new movie Midnight in Paris this past weekend. I really LOVED it. It is probably my all-time favorite Woody Allen movie, and easily one of my favorite movies. I seriously can't wait to see it again (which may actually be a while because I'm not one to go see a movie multiple times in theaters).

I may be a bit sacrilegious here, but I'm going to be honest. I actually think that the newer Woody Allen films are much, much better than his earlier work. To be fair, I've only seen some of his films and not all of them. So I should probably just shut my trap, while I'm still ahead...

Thinking about it, I think I should probably rephrase my last paragraph to say I prefer Woody Allen films that incorporate the supernatural. Seriously, my favorite Woody Allen films (in order) are Midnight in Paris, Scoop, and The Purple Rose of Cairo. What do all of these movies have in common? The supernatural.

Getting back to Midnight in Paris, I should just say you should go see it. Seriously, I mean it. Especially if you know any major figures from the 1920s. If you don't thats ok, you might learn something interesting. If you do, the caricatures are hilarious.

I really never know how much to say about the movies I am writing about. I mean, I want to say what I think about them and justify my opinions, but I don't want to go into too much detail and give the movie away. This is the first "new" movie I am writing about, so I feel I should be extra cautious of this line.

I think I'll probably leave you with this. Owen Wilson does a superb job playing the "Woody Allen character," the setting is gorgeous (to be fair I am a total francophile), and the plot and dialogue were both brilliant. Seriously, find a theater near you that is playing it and go see Midnight in Paris. You won't regret it!

New Favorite Movie

There is something you should probably know about me. I do not have a favorite movie. If you ask me what my favorite movie is, I will stammer until you give upon getting an answer to the question.

I do have a list of favorite movies. When I see a movie I really love, I exclaim (usually in my head), "New movie added to the list!" Of course, about a day or two later I completely forget that there is a movie on this list. See, this list is in my mind and nothing really sticks in my mind. So therefore, I have no answer for people who feel the need to ask me what my favorite movie is.

Anyways, I saw a movie last night that immediately made it onto my (nonexistent) list of favorite movies.

This movie is a little flick called Illusion by Michael A. Goorjian (who is really hot by the way). Its basically the story of a dying film director who watches important scenes from his son's life. I don't really want to say anything more about it because I don't want to ruin it. Its truly superb, and beautiful. I won't go so far as to say masterful, but it should certainly be more well known.

Please. I beg you to go and watch this movie. I don't care how you get your hands on it, just watch it.

If anything, just watch it to see Kirk Douglas.

Blood, Gore and More

I know a guy who absolutely worships Quentin Tarantino. Like, seriously. He tried to make his thesis film as a rough adaptation of Reservoir Dogs (fortunately he ended up doing something else).

At the time, I hadn't really seen a whole lot of Tarantino films, so I just kind of went along with it. Well, if you didn't know, at the beginning of the month Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs were added to Netflix's Instant stock. So I figured I would watch them.

They are supposed to be some sort of classics of deconstruction, right?

Honestly, I got nothing of the sort from them. Both films simply seemed like they were the work of an immature boy who likes guns and doesn't really know what to do with them. They are chock full of violence, people being shot throughout the vast majority of the films.

I am clearly not a guy. I am a girl. An extremely pacifist girl to be exact. I did not get the appeal of either of these films. I will watch Kill Bill once my Netflix queue gets around to it, but I know I probably will not enjoy it.

Benny & Joon

Why have I never seen this movie before? Seriously, why?

It has everything I love in a movie all wrapped up into one:
-a quirky love story
-a young Johnny Depp
-a cheesy happy ending
-a young Johnny Depp
-lots of references to old movies
-oh yeah, did I say a young Johnny Depp already?

Its a wonderfully cute little movie that is so sickly sweet you can't help but walk away with a sugar high. I mean seriously, Johnny Depp portrays the most adorable illiterate young man in the history of the world.

There is only one question I have about this movie, that has really been bugging me since I watched it the other day. Was Sam (Johnny Depp's character) actually illiterate?

I mean, the first time you see him, it appears that he is reading a book on Buster Keaton. Then they say he is illiterate, and it is shown several times throughout the film. As Sam imitates Buster Keaton throughout the film, I feel this just might be another imitation. Does anyone know if Buster Keaton was literate or not?

This will probably bother me for a while, but it really does not detract from the movie. If anything it adds an additional layer of intrigue. If you like romantic movies, then I highly recommend this film to you.

Big Nothing

I just watched this little film called the Big Nothing.

The story is about a man who gets sucked into an endeavor to extort $100,000 from a local reverend. Unfortunately (for the characters, not the viewers), things quickly escalate to levels completely unexpected. Things quickly go from bad to worse, and it is an incredibly entertaining ride. Simon Pegg and David Schwimmer work wonders together.

This film is pretty amazing--if you like dark humor, that is. I'm kind of depressed that I had never heard of this film before.

I found it at my neighborhood Blockbuster's going out of business sale for a buck. I figured, "What the hell, it's only a dollar right?" I am so glad I spent that dollar on this film.

Is it the best movie ever made? No. Is it fun and a great way to spend an hour and a half? Absolutely.