Reviews

I got to see The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies at the Los Angeles premiere December 9, 2014. I was hesitant to be enthusiastic about this film because I couldn't see how the ending of the Hobbit could be done well. I shouldn't have doubted Peter Jackson and company. From the opening scene, I was completely enchanted and mesmerized. I was taken into the story and laughed and cried along the way. Some of the scenes in TBoTFA are the best I've ever seen. One in particular featuring Galladriel gave me such chills that I can't wait to see it again. Anyone who has read the Hobbit and/or the Appendices to the Lord of the Rings or who has seen the first two movies should come away loving this one and feeling completely satisfied if sad. #OneLastTime

The Hobbit seemed like it would be a difficult book to make into a movie. In one way, it is a silly children's book with some silly characters. But the situations these characters get into are really life threatening and scary! Also, even though they are continuations of the same story, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have very different tones, with LOTR being very serious throughout.

I should not have worried, though. In Peter Jackson's capable hands, An Unexpected Journey, the first part of The Hobbit comes to life in a beautiful way! He captures the silly moments, but tones them down just enough that they blend with the harrowing and frightening situations encountered on the journey without seeming jarring. The acting is all top notch with Martin Freeman's Bilbo Baggins being completely lovable and charming! In this first part of the story, we are just getting to know all the dwarfs and their tales, but already we are rooting for them!

I've seen this movie in regular 2D and in IMAX 3D 48 fps and enjoyed it equally both ways. The movie was more visually brilliant in the 3D 48 fps, but that was offset somewhat by the distracting reflections I continually saw in the periphery of y 3D glasses.

I highly recommend it his movie!

I'm reading some bad reviews of this movie, and I don't think the criticisms are exactly justified. While many of the complaints are valid, I don't think they apply to a movie like this.

I saw Hugo and loved it. That movie is "art" in it's most beautiful form. I expected it to be. Hugo is caviar from Le Bernardin.

New Year's Eve is a big, sloppy, tasty chocolate fudge milkshake from Baskin Robbins. It isn't classy. It doesn't take a lot of talent to make it. But it is ultimately satisfying and puts a smile on your face. My daughter and I both really enjoyed New Year's Eve. For the first few minutes, we did feel a bit like we had ADD because the scenes changed so quickly from one story line to the next. But we soon got into the pace of it and enjoyed it thoroughly as a happy diversion on a Saturday afternoon. It's much better than last Year's Valentines Day and is definitely a feel-good movie for a Girls' Night Out.

Hollywood's idea of a fun movie circa 2011 seems to be one where people have mindless sex with each other or spend the entire movie talking about having mindless sex with each other. Love equals having a relationship that lasts more than one night, and cheating on your spouse or significant other is par for the course. How refreshing it is to find a jewel like "The Big Year!"

"The Big Year" is a delightful movie centered around three men at different walks of life who each want to have a "Big Year.". A Big Year is birdding terminology for spending the year counting each different bird species you see. The unattainable world record has been set by Bostick, Owen Wilson's character, several years before. But Stu (Steve Martin) and Brad (Jack Black) feel compelled to try to beat the record. This is something each man needs to do.

Stu is a hugely successful head of a large company who wants to retire. His minions feel that he can't retire or he will be letting his business (his life's work) down. Brad is a divorced man in a dead-end tech job who feels like this is his chance to give his life some meaning. Bostick is defined by being "the world's greatest birder," so can't let anyone beat his record. He has to have another Big Year as well.

Going along with these three men on their Big Years is an absolute pleasure. We have a lot of laughs together, and we all start to see a little bit more clearly the things that are important in this life. We also see the effect the Big Year has on those left at home (Bostick and Stu's wives and Brad's parents.)

Hollywood today feels that they need to always show us the Real World. To them, the Real World is the very worst of society. People who use only crude language and who can't be faithful or supportive to their wives and husbands unless their lives are going along in a perfectly smooth pattern. Any upset is an excuse for leaving and/or cheating. This movie shows a different version of the Real World where people can be supportive and faithful even when things get a little rocky. It's a joy to watch!

I had never heard of this movie, but I just came across it on a movie channel on TV. Wow! I was in 7th heaven with all the wonderful music! I've always been curious about the big band era and have listened to quite a few of the bands (or orchestras, as they were apparently called back then), and the sweetest sound by far comes from The Glenn Miller Orchestra. This movie has the actual Glenn Miller Orchestra and Glenn Miller himself playing the band.

The interaction among the wives is interesting in that it seems that at least that part of life hasn't changed. Women were always their own worst enemies and still are. You can see updated versions of the back-biting and gossiping in the current (2011) reality shows on TV. And the parts of the movie set in Connie's home town show a glimpse into 1942 small-town America.

This movie is well worth watching for the amazing music.

This movie couldn't have been any more perfect. I seriously can't think of anything I would have changed. The writing was GREAT! The casting was perfect. Zachary Quinto and Simon Pegg are amazing! And Karl Urban as McCoy is priceless. Eric Bana made a very convincing villain. The directing was excellent! This movie is what the new Star Wars movies should have been and weren't. From scene one, you're captivated in by the characters (read this, George Lucas: the characters were actually DEVELOPED!), the visuals and the action. All three of those things need to be there for a good sci-fi movie or it won't satisfy. And this one satisfies in a big way.

I'm trying not to give spoilers here, so I can't say exactly what happened. But the writers and JJ have created a story line that will keep you immersed in the movie from scene one to the last scene. I LOVED that the central theme was the developing relationship between Kirk and Spock. I'm very familiar with the Trek universe, so I really enjoyed that they put in little shout-outs all over the place to us fans. "I'm giving her all she's got!" "I'm a doctor, Jim, not a physicist!" LOL But at the same time, they made a movie that non-fans can enjoy as well. My 20-year-old daughter went with me. She's hasn't really watched any of the Star Trek series except maybe an odd episode or two caught on TV, but she loved the movie as well.

And can I say that if the role of Sylar on Heroes isn't making Zachary Quinto an actual Hollywood star, his turn as Spock in this movie should do it. His Spock really makes the movie. He completely captures Spock's battle over his human, emotional side and his vulcan, non-emotional side with every little slight change of expression.

This may not be your father's Star Trek (as their ad said), but father, son, mother and daughter will all enjoy this one!

I'll state my credentials up front: I'm a chick. I have read X-Men comics in my past, but it's been years. I don't remember every detail of every relationship and back story, so I'm not a huge X-men expert. I LOVED the original X-Men movie and X2.

I was so excited when I heard they were making a Wolverine movie. He and Gambit were my two favorite characters from the comics, and Wolverine was by far the best written and one of the best acted characters in the X-Men franchise. I thought, "This should be good!" I counted down the days until it came out. And I went to the theatre, and came out not disappointed, but not excited either. It was a middle-of-the-road movie, which seemed to not know what it wanted to be. But I would say go see it if you're an X-Men or Hugh Jackman fan.

The main crime committed in Wolverine is in the writing. I always say writers don't get enough credit on a good movie. But no amount of good acting (pretty much everyone in Wolverine does well with what they're given) and okay directing can cover up crappy writing like this. The script was all over the place. It didn't have any of the jaunty yet edgy feel of the first two X-Men movies. Wolverine's wisecracks and smart wit were all but forgotten. That would've maybe been okay if they had chosen to make Wolverine the dark, nearly evil character that he was supposed to have been before he lost his memory. But they didn't. He was neither good nor evil. This was ambivalent Wolverine. Kind of Emo Wolverine. Not above doing bad, but not really into it because it made him Feel Bad. No really interesting lines or plot points either way. The writers didn't seem to even know how to develop the relationship between Wolverine and Sabertooth. And was the love story put in by the studio just to satisfy us chicks who wouldn't go a see a comic-book movie without it? If so, the studio did us a great disservice, because if you wanted to make a story about Wolverine the lover (which, hey, I would go see), this movie wasn't that either.

And when I saw in the trailer that Gambit was in the movie, too, I was thrilled! Gambit in a movie, at last! But here he is, the underdeveloped and kind of confusing Gambit. Couldn't he at least have had his New Orleans accent? The cards were cool, but he was mostly underutilized and didn't feel like Gambit that much.

The movie does have some good moments in it where you actually say, "Yes!" I'm not putting spoilers, so I won't tell you what they are, but for me, they made the movie worth seeing. While I wouldn't put it anywhere on my worst-movie list, I wouldn't rank it with X-Men and X2 on my favorites list, either.

**This review may contain spoilers**

I usually hate movie version of books I love. The ONLY two exceptions I can think of are "The Shining" and "Jurassic Park." Otherwise, it seems to be impossible to bring a book to the screen credibly. Twilight will be number three on my list.

The screenwriter and director have done a really good job bringing difficult material to life on the big screen. All the characters and basic elements of the story have been translated beautifully. Edward's love/hate of Bella at first, before he decides to actually love her, was portrayed perfectly by Robert Pattinson. If looks could kill, his would have done so. All the other characters were spot on as well. Alice, Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie couldn't have been better portrayed if some magic had brought the actual words from the book to life! Jacob seemed a little bit polished. He never quite looked like the scruffy kid from the rez who just walked out of his garage. But he did have the warm welcoming that Jacob is supposed to have. And the three bad vampires were EXACTLY right! The movie really came to life when they were on the screen.

The only two problems I had with the movie were these: Kristen Stewart's acting sometimes lacks any emotional range. Her line delivery is really choppy, and she physically seems twitchy in many scenes. But the bigger problem was the score. Music is SO important in a movie. The choice of music can completely change the tone. And the music in Twilight for the most part wasn't that good. The songs that Pattinson sang were probably the best in the film. The music behind the beloved meadow scene sounded like it had been pulled right from a B-movie based on a sappy Harlequin romance novel. The scene itself, if you could keep the music out of your mind, seemed well done. But the music sets such a B-movie tone that it makes you feel like you're watching a worse movie than you actually are. Director Catherine Hardwicke will have a bigger budget for the next movie, so I hope she hires Alan Shore, John Williams, or someone of their substantial abilities to score the next movie. She can still throw in the "hip" songs here and there.

These problems didn't make me dislike the movie, though. I would still say go see it and have a good time

If you're looking for a fun Saturday popcorn movie, this is it! I loved all the action sequences, especially the one in a luggage sorting area of an airport. I want to ride that ride! You will feel like you're along for the scary/exciting ride through the whole thing.

Don't try to think too much about the plot. I guess this could happen, but not really. But the acting is all top notch, so you can almost believe that the events could happen. Shia is definitely heading for superstardom. He's a bit alike a Johnny Depp in that he completely immerses himself in his roles so much that you forget who it is your watching.

I say go see this movie, buy some popcorn, sit back and have fun!

I just finished seeing Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and all I can say is "Wow!" This movie was so unexpected. I've seen both of the first two Pirates movies multiple times and own the DVD's. I love those movies. I went into AWE expecting more of the same kind of fun, but what I saw was a whole new Pirates universe.

The acting was great again by those you would expect: Johnny Depp, Bill Nighy, etc. But surprisingly Orlando Bloom showed real depth in this one compared to the other two (which seems strange since it was filmed along with Dead Man's Chest.) The visuals were great again, and the score moved the movie along at a nice pace.

But what is most surprising in this movie are the writing and directing. There were still lots of laughs, but this movie is deadly serious at its core, and very trippy-art-house in the way many scenes were written and executed. It wasn't the just sit back and enjoy the ride type of experience that the first two were. Instead, you actually need to pay attention and think in this one. And sometimes what you will think is that maybe you took some hallucinogens before entering the theatre, because this can't really be a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. But it is.

This is a great movie. But be warned that you are not going to see more of what you saw in the first two Pirates movies.

I was really pleasantly surprised at this movie. I thought it would just be a light Saturday diversion, but it was very well done. The dark tone of the movie was offset by those little moments of humor at which Nicolas Cage excels.

Every performance in Ghost Rider was dead on. Nobody over-dramatized like they were doing Shakespeare, but they all brought the right tone of realism which you need in a movie of this type.

The special effects are absolutely first rate. We've all seen the blazing motorcycle in the trailers, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. I don't want to give any spoilers, but there are scenes where the special effects will give you chills.

Ghost Rider comes by its PG-13 rating honestly, so don't take little children to see it. There are scenes which could definitely give nightmares to your little ones.

But any of you 13 or over, run out and see this one for a great, fun movie experience!

I really enjoyed this movie as far as it goes. I haven't read the book(s), but I had the distinct impression that they were skipping and hopping through the story. It's only 1 hour and 39 minutes, so why didn't they flesh it out? Oh, well, maybe in the next movie. But even with it being a bare bones story, it's worth seeing. I loved the dragon. She was beautiful, and Rachel Weis did an excellent job on her voice. You really fall in love with her. And I thought the actor playing Eragon was sweet and had an endearing innocence. Jeremy Irons is always worth watching, and this movie is no exception. All in all, it was a pleasant but short afternoon at the theater.

I will make my comments without spoilers so that people who haven't yet seen the movie can read it.

One of the worst things that can happen in a sequel to a successful movie is that audiences will feel like they're seeing the same movie again with slight variations on the theme. Dead Man's Chest gives us all the characters we loved in the first movie, but puts them in a refreshingly original movie. The action sequences will keep you on the edge of your seat. And there are more laugh-out-loud moments in this movie than in most comedies. I felt entertained from the beginning right through to the special scene after the closing credits. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I and my entire family will be going to see it again today.

For parents with young children: This movie is more violent than the first movie. There is a lot of killing, though none of it is shown close up or in a grisly manner. Davey Jones and his gang are very gross. In the screening I attended, there were a lot of "Ewwww!"s from the audience. If you have sensitive young ones, you should probably leave them at home.

I definitely said "Wow" more in this movie than I did in the first two X-Men movies. It has a lot of unusual and spectacular scenes in it that will keep you excited throughout the movie. However, it sacrificed somewhat in the character development.

In the first two, we really came to love or hate each character. In this one, the new mutants such as Angel weren't fully developed, so we didn't come to care for them one way or another. It's a shame, too, because Ben Foster seemed to be an excellent addition to the cast. What little we saw of him made us want to know more. Also, this movie focused a little too much on Storm. She is one of the less charismatic of the mutants (sorry "Oscar- winner-Halle-Barry",) so it makes the movie feel a little dull at times. Wolverine is still exciting and Ian McKellan as Magneto is magnificent as always.

The plot of a "cure" for mutants is interesting. But mutants are killed or cured so quickly throughout that we're not given much time to care one way or another. Maybe fewer deaths and curings would have given each one more meaning.

Overall, I'd say this is a good ride for X-Men fans. I have a feeling that if you weren't already a fan of the franchise, you probably wouldn't enjoy it as much.

Pirates of the Caribbean is perfect! It is so much fun for people of all ages, genders, ethnic and racial groups! So many movies just appeal to one group, but everyone loves this one.

Johnny Depp should get an Academy Award for his hilariously charming portrayal of Jack Sparrow. And Orlando Bloom is the perfect innocent caught up in the scandalous behavior of the pirates. If you haven't seen this movie, go now.

This movie has potential, but it has so many actors with no charisma whatsover that you never really care about them. (If Shane West had little time on screen and Stuart Townsend more, it could've made a big difference.) And the directing gives us long, slow, boring scenes that really make you want to nap instead of watch.

Skip this

After seeing this movie, I had mixed emotions. The actors did a much better job than others in movies based on video games. The characters were people that you actually cared about and who seemed real enough to feel like they could be people you know. James Purefoy as Spencer was especially interesting, adding layers as the film progressed.

Unfortunately, the main plot of Resident Evil revolves around zombies. In this day and age, that shouldn't be difficult to make interesting. A little imagination on the part of the makeup and wardrobe departments and some creative directing could've made this quite exciting. Instead,

I felt that I was teleported back to the 1950's, with slow zombies walking stiff-armed and looking less scary than those in Michael Jackson's Thriller. At the screening I attended the audience actually giggled at some places in the movie which were supposed to be scary.

I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone who isn't either really bored or a big fan of the video game. And if you do go, please don't take your young children, since the blood and gore