2.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 

The Beloved prelude to Lord of the Rings is finally given the treatment it deserves on the big screen!

Before I go into what I thought about this movie, I just want to talk about about how it's kind of a miracle this movie even exists! Now this is probably the longest I've ever waited for a film to come out. I remember, after I saw Return of the King in 2004, thinking about this book becoming a movie and wanting it made...even though I didn't read the book until a few years afterword. When I did read it, I really, really wanted to see the movie. Now let me just say that "The Lord of the Rings"  is one of-if not my favorite movie trilogy of all time; and the best made cinematic films I have ever seen. But getting back to production: The Tolkien Family try to sue New Line, Peter Jackson was going to direct it, then he wasn't, and in fact, Guillermo Del Toro (Pacific Rim, Hellboy) was going to direct these films for a while and actually got quite far into pre-production until dropping out. So, in other words, this film went through a lot to see the light of day, and when it finally did, I saw it and wasn't disappointed.

It took you back to middle-earth! There are people who say "it was such a let down compared to Lord of the Rings!" Well, this isn't the Lord of the Rings, it's the Hobbit! It was based on a children's book from the 1930s' for crying out loud! And ..I don't like it as well as Lord of the Rings and didn't expect to, but the scope, the acting, the story, the characters were all there. I personally loved Martin Freeman as Biblo Baggins, he just embodied the character of Bilbo and totally knocked it out of the park in my opinion. Ian McKellen was amazing as Gandalf again, he brought a bit of a more light and humorous side to him this time around and I just loved him, I love all I've seen of Ian Mckellin's work so that's not surprising it was great to see Cate Banchett back as Galadrial and even though the Council scene wasn't in the book I loved it.  Now this is just part of the book, and even I was a little skeptical when I heard they were making it into three films, but hey it's Middle-Earth and Peter Jackson (kind of a Jacksonnite here)  the longer there the better, and the scenes that were from the book, magic, pure magic, from the scene where the Dwarfs show up at Biblo's Hobbit hole, the "Riddles in the Dark" scene (maybe my favorite scene in the movie)... that's the thing about this movie, it's the little scenes that turn out the best.

Now there were a few things I had a couple issues with, while I loved the Dwarfs and thought all the cast as them were great, I thought, maybe Thorin Oakinshield's back story, at least some of it was a bit unnecessary and they tried to add some darkness to it to make it feel more adult. It  kind of took away from "Bilbo" a bit. The CGI Orks I didn't care much for. I wished they used real people for more of them like in Lord of the Rings, and it did seem a little long here and there, but that's pretty much it. But overall I loved this movie and for the material they had to work with, it was brilliant. I loved this movie, a total must see!

10/10

3.

The Dark Knight Rises

Well, it takes place eight years after the events of "The Dark Knight" and the batman has not been seen or heard of sense. But when the terrorists, Bane shows up to reek havoc on Gotham. The Bat must emerge once again, as a defender of his city.

I'm not going to go into too much detail about this, sense I already posted a full review for this film last summer. But I still love this movie, much better then "The Dark Knight" and "Batman Begins" in my opinion
it had a lot more comic book like characters in it for one thing. Catwomen, Robin (sort of) .. and it was just so epic, sure they're were some plot holes (how did Bruce get back to Gotham after being trapped on some other place in the world and get back to the city. while it was under court martial!) but I can over look that I don't know I'm not even the biggest batman film But I'd have to say this is one of my favorite superhero films ever!

                                                                           9.5/10

4.

Wreck-it Ralph

Wreck-Ralph is a video game character in the arcade game "Fix-it Felix", he is the bad guy who terrorizes the citizens of the apartment complex that Fix-it Felix... fixes. Ralph smashes its widows and such, and at the end of the day Felix fixes it all and they throw Ralph off the roof. So, Ralph is, as you can imagine, pretty tired of being the villain and sets out outside of his game and tries to earn a metal in hopes of getting a house in the building and being accepted my the apartment dwellers. He goes to a dangerous modern game called "Hero's Duty" where he does in fact get a metal, but has to flee the game's evil cybugs. He eventually ends up in a cutesy racing game called "Sugar Rush" where he meets a glitch called Vanillope, who wants to be a recer.

So this film is just brilliant- Diseny's best animated film in a like, well a long time, full gamer humor, beautiful and creative animation, and surprising heart. This is a gem of a movie that, even if your not a gamer, you can enjoy. I loved Felix in it as well, he is just so polite and awesome. This is one of the best animated films I've ever seen and if you haven't already seen it you have to check it out.

9/10

5.

The Hunger Games

 

In a dystopian future, what remains of North America after the devastating war is now the twelve districts of Panam, and is controlled by the malevolent government in the "Capitol". In order to maintain a stronghold on the rebels and as a reminder of the people's failure, the government hosts a live television broadcast each year, where one boy and one girl from each district, between the ages of 12 to 18, is randomly selected to fight to the death, until there is one lone survivor. They call it "The Hunger Games".

 

After Katniss Everdeen's sister, Primrose, is drawn from the reaping, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She then, along with Peeta Mellark, district 12's male tribute, is taken to the Capitol to prepare for The Games.

I read the book that this movie was based on a few months before it released and it was one of the most gripping intense novels I've ever read. It was truly a good book and I had high hopes for the film. I have to say that they did a pretty good job on staying true to the book, for the most part.

Jennifer Lawrence nails the role of Katniss: she is an incredible actress- I'll even go so far as to say she may be the best actress of her generation; she gives the raw, real feel to Katniss that she has in the books. I've got to say I'm not the biggest fan of Josh Hutcherson, and him as Peeta... he actually did a good job playing the character, though. But I think maybe they could have gotten someone better.

 

There were a few things that differed from the books that I wasn't too happy about... and the "Girl on Fire" part was probably the most disappointing scene in the whole movie, it looked fake and it was done so unimaginatively. I was also disappointed with the showdown, which is now with some hound beast things, instead of mutations that appear as the fallen tributes in the book. And where's Cato's armor? Most of these issues were due to the somewhat low budget of the film -low for a blockbuster, anyways- which the sequel is rumored to have doubled (from the looks of the new trailer, which aside from Man of Steel's may be the best trailer of the year so far, that seems to be true). So, despite some appointments, I still really liked this movie a lot and actually aside from the Avengers have watched it the most out of 2012 movies (about 7 times I believe).

Overall, great film. Can't wait for Catching Fire, which is my favorite book in the series, to come out!

8.5/10  

6.

The Impossible 

 

Following a family vacationing in Thailand for Christmas, caught in the wake a chaotic tsunami in 2004, based on a true story. Depicts the struggles and lengths they went to, after being literally ripped from each other, to find their way back to each other and to never give up hope. This was one of the most emotionally intense movies I have ever seen. Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts are magnificent in their roles as Maria and Henry, parents of three boys- the oldest boy, Lucas, played with surprising depth by young actor Tom Holland. This was just an amazing film and while you may not want to watch it all the time, it's something you must check out.

8.5/10

7.

The Amazing Spider-Man

 

The Reboot of the Origins of Spider-Man,

Takes Peter Parker back to high school, but this time his main squeeze is Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone, and Mary Jane is nowhere to be seen. Things get a little crazy when a scientist with one arm develops a growth serum with scaly results.

Despite the film's many similarities to the original Spider-Man- like a lot of similarities- its two stars did a noteworthy performance: Andrew Garfield does a memorable job of playing the Spider-Man, Emma Stone is amazing, of course, as Gwen Stacy... in fact their love story is probably the best thing about the movie, 'cause it was a little lacking in villain, who is basically Norman Osborn if he turned into a lizard. The visuals where, for some reason, a little cheap looking to me, but I guess I'm being overly critical of this film, because we just got "Spider-Man" in 2002, which is a film I'll always hold dear to my heart. But that aside, "The Amazing Spider-Man" is a solid superhero film, and I'm much looking forward to the sequel coming next year. I did post a film review of this movie about a year ago and you can find it on this blog, but some time has gone by since then so my review might be a little more sugar-coded. I still really like this movie but it didn't hold up quite as well as it could have.

8/10

8.Life of Pi

A young boy survives a shipwreck at sea after his family decides to move from Inida to Canada. He is lost at sea with a dangerous Bengal tiger.

So when I heard of this film I wasn't sure what to think, I heard it was "religious" but what kind? Well, apparently, a little bit of everything... the kid's a bit confused about beliefs. That aside, this was a beautiful and touching film to me- just gorgeous, and the interaction between him and the tiger and what he does to stay alive... I really, really liked this movie.
8/10

9.

Brave.

Pixar Animations 13th animated film. 

This is set in Scotland in in Celtic times when there were kings and queens and the daughter was given in betrothal to the man of her parents' choosing. Merida is a headstrong tomboy who wants nothing to do with marriage, at least not arranged marriage, and would rather be exploring the woods on her noble steed or practicing her archery. But after an argument with her mother she stumbles upon something in the woods that could change her fate.

  

Now, I have not really been Pixar's biggest cheerleader as of late- I was very disappointed with Up and Toy Story 3... most people weren't, I know, but I was. And let's not even get into Cars 2!

So I thought this looked promising, but was still cautious about it. I never did make it to theaters to see it, but when I finally did get a chance to watch it, I was pleasantly surprised. It was beautifully animated and full of real humor. I loved the mother/daughter aspect- something animated films have neglected over the years, in my opinion. It wasn't the best Pixar film I've ever seen, but it was a large step up from where they were. 

A really good, heartfelt, humorous animated film that the whole family can enjoy!

8/10  

Top 10 Films of 2012

So I know 2013 is half over, but I've been really wanting to do a top 10 films of 2012 for some time, and never did. So I'm going to do it now. My biggest dilemma was trying to decide placement, because it was a really good year for movies! And some films I've seen 5+ times where others I've only seen once, I wanted to re-watch some before I did this but then it may never come out so I'm just going to start it and try to be as actuate as possible.

10.

John Carter

Based on the Classic Novel "A Princess of Mars" (should have stuck with that title imo) by Edgar Rice  Burroughs (which I still have to finish reading)

was considered the father of Sci-fi novels

and famous films today drew from its souces (Star Wars... Avatar).

So if people didn't know that they'd probably say that this film was unoriginal, when in reality it came first and in my opinion  is very original.

As for the film itself, it's probably one of the most underrated movies of the year. Don't get me wrong, it's not perfect and it's not as good as Star Wars or Avatar, but it is a solid Sci-Fi/Fantasy adventure in its own right. Starting off on Earth, John Carter- played by Taylor Kitsch, who if not perfect does a solid performance as the title character- is a war veteran of the civil war. He pretty much hates everything and everyone after losing his wife and child. He is arrested for assault and offered parole if he joins the army. He refuses and later manages to escape, and then he is transported to Mars by a strange medallion while seeking refuge in a cave. 

He encounters a strange alien race, called Tarks, green and ten feet tall, who "capture" him and sort of treat him as one of their hatchlings. The visual spectacular of this film is quite beautiful, and I was quite impressed with the CGI, which can so easily look fake; the Tarks look and seem real. One thing I liked about this movie was that it had nice character development of supporting characters, especially "Sola", a female Tark who takes John Carter under her wing- she's sad, funny and cute, and you can't help but care for her. He also befriends a giant bulldog/frog looking creature, which follows him everywhere and is just adorable. And then of course there the Princess of Mars herself, Dejah Thoris, played by the beautiful Lynn Collins who does a excellent job in her role as the kick-butt princess and is probably the best performance in the movie. The scope and feel of the film itself is very retro and feels like a Roman epic of the 1960s (only not nearly as boring) with the dessert setting and Romanesque dress and architecture. I was also impressed with the pace of the film, it set up nicely and was executed in a timely fashion. Not just a good film- a great film, and if you haven't seen it yet you should!

8/10