So let me start off by telling you that J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved tale, "The Hobbit" has a very special place in my heart and is my all-time favourite story. I first read it when I was 13 years old and it was the first time I was exposed to the fantasy genre. I was enchanted by the way Tolkien's words could paint a picture in your mind; he had a way of putting you right in the story and you felt that not only was it Bilbo's adventure but your's too. For half of my life I have waited for this story to be adapted into film. When I heard that a film version of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was being made I was puzzled. Why would someone make a film of Lord of the Rings without first making one of the Hobbit? It made no sense. At the time I had yet to read the Lord of the Rings so when the movie finally did come out, I was not excited about it. I had tried reading "Fellowship of the Ring" after I read the Hobbit but as soon as I figured out that Bilbo would be only a minor character in the story, I quickly lost interest. Besides, I think the Lord of the Rings would've been too much for a 13 year old anyway. However, after seeing "Fellowship" for a second time I completely fell in love with it. I immediately had to go to Barnes and Noble and get all of the books so I could find out if Frodo ever got to Mordor and have been a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy ever since. But what about the Hobbit? After the success of the Lord of the Rings naturally a film adaption of the Hobbit would quickly follow, right? WRONG. For years I kept hearing rumors of how the production of the Hobbit movie was being pushed back again and again. There was always some kind of problem and I worried that this movie would never get made. But then one glorious day news broke that Peter Jackson had finally come to an agreement with New Line and Warner Bros. and that production on the Hobbit was going to commence. With bated breath I waited to hear who would be chosen to play my hero, Bilbo. When Martin Freeman was chosen I was relieved. I had adored him in "The Office" and also in "Love Actually". I then had to know who was going to play Smaug (one of my all-time favorite fictional characters). When I read the name Benedict Cumberbatch I was confused. I had never heard of him. I quickly got on IMDB to find out who this mystery man was. That's when my life was changed forever. I saw that both he and Martin had been in a modern version of Sherlock Holmes on the BBC and no way! It was on Netflix! Most of you know the rest of this story, how I fell hopelessly in love with Mr. Cumberbatch and am now doomed to live my life as a spinster but I digress... Back to the Hobbit! For nearly two years I was overcome with excitement at the mere thought of seeing this movie. It was bound to be one of the highlights of my life. My dream of finally seeing this story on the big screen was finally coming to fruition! Suffice to say, my expectations were extremely high and I had put my full faith in the hands of Peter Jackson. There was no way this film could be anything short of a masterpiece, I was sure of it. Less than one week ago, the day had finally come. I was fully equipped with my ticket to the midnight premiere as well as my lovely Hobbit t-shirt that me and my girlfriends had all purchased in celebration of this momentous occasion. When the movie started I was a bit emotional and overwhelmed with happiness. There was my darling Ian Holm reprising his role as an older version of dear Bilbo and I was back in the Shire and everything was good. The first half of the film was Heaven, I will give P.J. that. I thoroughly enjoyed the back story of Thorin and how Smaug had overtaken his grandfather's kingdom. I reveled at seeing Frodo and Gandalf again and meeting all of the dwarves was a delight. But then...things got weird. And things slowly began to change from how they had happened in the book. Characters started to crop up who were only briefly noted in the original text (or not at all). I will say now that I am somewhat of a book purist and since this book was so well known and beloved by the world, I hadn't expected it to divert too much from the original story. When Balin went further into Thorin's back story and the character Azog was introduced my brow quickly furrowed. Who the hell was Azog and what the hell was he doing in MY story?! And furthermore, why does he look so retarded? I was dumbfounded that the WETA workshop had done such a crappy job with this character's design. He looked like he walked straight out of a video game, not a Peter Jackson film. At any rate, the addition of this character seemed superfluous and in my humble opinion did not add to the story. The Hobbit already had enough suspense, action, and drama without the addition of another villain.
But wait! There's another extraneous character to add to the the fray, Radagast the Brown. Radagast annoyed the bejesus out of me. I know that wizards can be a little "eccentric" but this guy looked and acted like a cartoon character. I found myself rolling my eyes during every scene he was in. I know that he was added to the story as a way to build up to Gandalf's side quest that will take part in the next film but I think they gave him too much screen time. And honestly, I think the whole deal with the Necromancer and seeing where Gandalf went when he parted with the company is unnecessary. Peter Jackson just wanted to have more Gandalf scenes. If Tolkien had wanted us to know where Gandalf went at this time, he would've put it in the story. It just makes me angry when directors make changes to stories that were already perfect the way they were written and it especially makes me angry when the author is dead and has no say in what goes into the film adaption and what doesn't.
Anyway, let's move on to more problems I had with the film! A MAJOR difficulty I had with the movie was how melodramatic it was. They added so many wanton suspense scenes that the film dragged on and on (and on). Not in my wildest dreams would I ever have thought that I would have wanted this film to be over. The whole film felt like the extended director's cut. There was absolutely no reason for a book that was only 317 pages long to be stretched into nearly 9 hours of film. NO REASON. UNACCEPTABLE. When I heard that the film was being split into two halves I was a bit troubled. When I heard it was to be a trilogy I was beside myself. I honestly didn't believe it when my mom first told me. I refused to believe that Peter Jackson would have such poor judgement; it was nothing more than a silly rumor. I was wrong.
The scene that solidified my displeasure with the film was the scene with the Goblin King. My friend described it as "a crappy version of Moria". I agree with this comparison. And again, all of the goblins looked so fucking DUMB! Tolkien even states in the book that goblin is just another word for orc, so why did these goblins look completely different from the orcs in the Lord of the Rings films? And why did the Goblin King have to look so grotesque? His design made me want to barf. Me thinks that Guillermo del Toro had some say in the design of the goblin king. On top of that, Gandalf doesn't even behead him like he does in the book. What the hell, man? I will say that the "Riddles in the Dark" scene was fantastic and Andy Serkis was magic but the things I disliked about the film overshadow the things that I did enjoy. However, I would like to end this review on a positive note. The performance that stood out the most for me in the film was Richard Armitage's portrayal of Thorin Oakenshield. He was bloody brilliant and I am now completely and irrevocably in love with him. If I do see the movie again, it'll only be for him. And I know what you're thinking, you only think that I favor his performance because of his sheer babeliness but that is not the case. It is because of his outstanding performance that I became aware of how unbelievably babely he is. Kili initially caught my eye but it was Thorin who eventually won me over. Too bad I already know Thorin's fate since I've read the book a billion times :(
In conclusion, I still believe this film is worth seeing even though I personally feel it could've been better (and shorter) and despite its flaws, it is still a thousand times better than any of the movies that philistines frequent. Hopefully the next two films will be better. I'll try to lower my expectations by then.
So I suppose you're wondering how many pugs I gave the movie, well, your wait is over! I deem "The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey" three pugs. No more. No less.
Yesterday I finally got around to seeing "Moonrise Kingdom". I don't think I'd been to the movies in months which is an ultra bummer. I had been waiting to see this film because I was hoping to find someone to go see it with but since that never happened I just opted to see it solo. I don't have that big of a problem seeing movies by myself but still, I'd rather have gone to see this particular film with someone so we could talk about it afterwards.
But whatever.
So yesterday, on a whim I decided that Mama was going to the movies. It was 4:50pm and the next showing of the movie was at 5:10pm. Map Quest informed me that it was a 13 minute journey from my apartment to the theatre so I figured I had plenty of time since previews are usually 15 minutes long. Not having really considered the time since I'm currently unemployed, (when you're unemployed you lose all track of time; I rarely know what day of the week it is nowadays) I wasn't anticipating the amount of traffic there was on 45th Street. For all of my Arizona readers, 45th St. is the equivalent to University and you don't want to be trying to get to the movies while on University at 5pm on a Friday.
Somehow I managed to get to the theatre by 5:20pm (with time to spare, right?). I was pretty unnerved when the dude at the ticket counter told me it was $11.50 to see a movie on Friday. What the crap? I thought I was being smart by going to see a matinee but I guess in the Magical Land of Seattle, there is no such thing as a matinee on the weekend AND they wouldn't let me use my student ID being that it was the weekend either. Bastards.
Anyway, so let's get to the movie. This movie was adooooorable. I will say that it wasn't my favorite Wes Anderson film but it was very enjoyable. When I first heard about the film I was kind of ambivalent about the casting choices (mostly Bruce Willis) but after seeing the movie I will in the future support all of Mr. Anderson's casting decisions. Bruce Willis turned out to be perfect in his role as a lonely policeman. Edward Norton was fantastic as well as the Khaki Scout Master. The children are the heart of this film though and I think all of them were wonderful, marvelous even.
The story follows Sam and Suzy, two young lovers who decide to runaway together from their New England home which causes a massive search party to track them down. I thought that the connection between these two children was very endearing. I'm a sucker for a good pair of misfits. Despite their age, you really felt like Sam and Suzy did truly love each other. It reminded me of the relationship between Ponyo and Sosuke in "Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea". Even though the logical part of my brain had to remind me constantly that this was just a movie, I couldn't help but think, "Gee, I wish someone loved me that much." Sam was completely dedicated to Suzy and would've done anything for her. I've never experienced that kind of devotion in my twenty odd years. Sigh...
There are a few things about the film that I would have changed though. I didn't think that there needed to be any kind of sexuality between the two main characters. I had wanted their relationship to be completely innocent and pure (they were 12 for Pete's sake). We all know that there's a big difference anatomically between a 12 year old girl and a 12 year old boy so I think that showing Suzy in her bra and underwear wasn't the best choice. And that wasn't even the worst part. Sam and Suzy jump in the ocean and get their clothes soaked so while their clothes dry, they have a little dance party on the beach. This scene got a little too frisky for my taste. Seeing two children clumsily kissing in their underwear made me a bit uncomfortable. But maybe, Wes wanted you to be uncomfortable. First love is very uncomfortable and awkward. I guess I just tend to live in a fantasy world where 12 year olds still play with Barbies and don't French kiss boys. Still, I think the film could have been just as strong if they would have simply danced in their undies and nothing more.
My other gripe, if you will, with the film was the music. I feel like there could have been more variety. The whole movie was mostly Hank Williams and although I do enjoy his music, I don't know...I was hoping for something more. Wes Anderson's films always have such great soundtracks and I feel like this film's soundtrack choices fell a little short. The music didn't really stand out or have that much of an impact (in my humble opinion).
On par with the rest of his films, the costuming in "Moonrise Kingdom" was magical. I'm never disappointed with the costuming in his films, nor the art direction. The colors are always so vivid and bright so they really stand out in your memory. One thing I can't forget to add was how delightful Bob Balaban was as the narrator. I didn't know he was in the film so that was refreshing. Jason Schwartzman had a small but significant part in the movie and was hilarious as usual.
In conclusion, "Moonrise Kingdom" is an enchanting film and I'll bestow on to it four out of five pugs.
I don't know if I just don't like romantic comedies anymore or if romantic comedies these days are just really bad. Or maybe it's that American romantic comedies have devolved into total crap. I could count the romantic comedies that I've enjoyed from the past five years on my fingers. In case you're curious what those movies are, here they are:
1.) (500) Days of Summer 2.) Lars and the Real Girl 3.) Tangled 4.) Knocked Up 5.) The Proposal 6.) Definitely, Maybe 7.) Away We Go 8.) Going the Distance 9.) The Ugly Truth (unexpectedly cute) 10.) Moonrise Kingdom (I haven't actually seen this one yet but I already know that I'm going to love it)
Anyway, back to the movie at hand. Anytime a movie comes out with an ensemble cast, you you can almost guarantee that it's going to be utter rubbish. This movie is no exception. To quote the film itself, "It's not the exception, it's the rule." You could pretty much deduce how this movie was going to end in the first 10 minutes (or even during the opening credits). Everyone who you had "hoped" would end up together, ends up together. I don't know about you, but I actually enjoy when a film surprises me and doesn't end the way I thought it would. It's refreshing and often delightful. I think it's insulting to the audience to give them the ending that they predicted. It's so uninspiring. Life is full of surprises and unexpected twists so I can appreciate when movies are able to translate that into film. In my experience, love is completely unpredictable and it never turns out the way you thought it would. That's what I loved so much about "500 Days of Summer". It felt real.
The only reason that I watched "He's Just Not That Into You" in the first place was that I'm such a big fan of "Sex and the City" (the show, not the movies...don't even get me started on the movies). Also, my roommate doesn't have the largest collection of movies so I didn't have a lot to choose from. I think I only laughed at one scene in this film. And here it is:
This scene was brilliant. If the movie had been about just these two women, I would've loved it. Seriously, they were fantastic. And again, it felt real. I wanted to say to them, "I know, right?"
This whole movie just felt like the first season of "Sex and the City" (the worst season btw). Anyone who's a fan of the show can tell you how obnoxious it was when the people talked directly to the camera so I don't understand why they would use that tactic again in this movie. It didn't work 10 years ago, why would it work now?
In order for me to get invested in a film, I have to care about the characters but I didn't care about a single character in this film. They were all so boring and just...bleah. I didn't care if any of them died alone, in fact, I hoped they did. Nobody would want to be with any of these people. If Richard Curtis (Love Actually) had made this film, I think I would've really enjoyed it. With the right cast and the right director, this could have had some potential to be a good movie. But it didn't and it wasn't.
In conclusion, I'm going to give "He's Just Not That Into You" one (sad) pug because I'm just not that into this movie.
I originally saw "Atonement" in the theatre back in 2007 (by myself I might add because nobody wanted to see it). Having not read the book prior to seeing the movie, I really had no idea what the film was about except that it was a love story set around the beginning of WWII.
So I had no idea what I was getting into (and I doubt the rest of the world did either). Don't get me wrong, this is a BEAUTIFUL film and extremely well made. The acting is superb, the costuming is fantastic, the cinematography is breathtaking and the art direction is amazing. But the story will rip your heart out then stomp it to a bloody pulp. Don't believe me? Go watch the movie! No, really, go watch the movie. I dare you.
I rarely, if ever, cry at movies whilst in the theatre (I bawl like a baby in my own room) but I will admit that my eyes were CRAZY watering when I saw this movie. Luckily I did go see it by myself because I do have my reputation for being a badass to uphold. There have only been a few movies in recent memory that have spurred such a reaction in me. The ones that come to mind are: Up (I was sniffling after the first 5 minutes) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (the Mirror of Erised scene) 50/50 (oh, man, that's a great movie) and then this one. To say that this movie upset me is an understatment. It fuggin' traumatized me! You just want to strangle Briony so bad! She successfully ruins two people's lives by telling a massive lie that ultimately leads to their deaths. But the thing about this story is that you don't know what really became of the two lovers until the very end of the film. My friend Heather put it best, "Yay, they got together! PSYCH! They're actually dead."
Everything you see in the second act of the movie is all fiction but you don't know that until Briony reveals in an interview in the third act (as an elderly woman) that Cecilia and Robbie both died before they could ever reunite. It was total ballz. Then the last scene just killed me because Briony says that in her book she gives Cecilia and Robbie what they weren't able to have in life, their happiness (insert sob). This movie isn't a tear jerker, it's a tear extractor.
So you're probably wondering why I watched this movie again after being so devastated by it the first time I saw it. Well, again, it was completely out of my hands. See, my darling Benedict Cumberbatch has a very very small part in the film, one so small that I had no memory of him even being in the movie. And having seen the movie before and knowing how the story ends I thought, "I can watch this again. I can handle it!"
Nope.
Briony made me just as angry this time around and the ending was just as painful (if not more so). That very end scene on the beach caused a complete emotional breakdown because you want it to be real and being the hopeless romantic that I am I couldn't help but think, "I want that too." I want that kind of happiness. Le sigh...
Despite all of my bitching, I'd still recommend seeing this film. Like I said, it is a beautiful film. And Kiera Knightly is stunning as Cecelia (she's stunning in every movie she's in) and James McAvoy is absolutely brilliant (not to mention dreamy as hell). I had forgotten that Saoirse Ronan from "The Lovely Bones" played Briony and although you hate her character, her performance was also bloody brilliant. Too bad my Benedict had to play the perviest character in the film :(
In conclusion, I'd give "Atonement" four out of five pugs.
So you're probably thinking, "Out of all of the movies Courtney could pick to write her first blog about she chooses THOR?!"
Ok, Ok, I know Thor really isn't a "Courtney" movie but that's what makes it so bloggable! And it's not like I wanted to watch it. I never had a choice. See, when you love someone and they're in a movie that's on Netflix, you watch it right? It doesn't matter what it is. You have to be supportive. And let me also note that this is all Heather's fault. Heather just haaaaad to go and tell me about a young man by the name of Tom Hiddleston. Like I didn't already have enough problems knowing that another young man, a certain life ruining chap who answers to the name Benedict Cumberbatch exists. So if you want to post blame on anyone, blame those who are really responsible for me having to watch Thor.
Now that that's out of the way, let's move on. Going in to this movie I was already in the mindset that I was going to hate it (minus the lovely bits with my dear dear Tom in them, of course). After the first 15 minutes or so I already wanted to punch Thor in his stupid face. He was such a pompous, arrogant douche bag that it was all I could do not to fast forward every scene with him in it. If I had though, I probably only would've had 10 minutes of movie to watch. Just everything about him annoyed the bejesus out of me. His hair, his clothes, his voice...When his old man took his powers and his giant hammer away I was like, "Nyah Nyah! Jerk! Serves you right!" If I was Loki, I would've tattled on his ass too.
So then he gets banished to Earth or whatever and Natalie Portman runs him over with her Winabago. I don't know about you, but those two did NOT go together at all. Thor was like, HUGE and Natalie Portman is a tiny little pixie, I mean c'mon! He'd crush her! So at first I was like, "She'd never like him. He's too much of a meathead!" But I don't know what happened, when I saw him in normal clothes and he started acting like a semi-normal person and he was explaining the star chart thing to her, my attitude towards him changed. It turned more into a, "Haaaaay, guuuurrrl!" Which was weird because Chris Hemsworth is SO not my type at all. After that every scene they had together I found myself yelling at the tv, "Just make out already!!"
When little Loki became king I was like, "Awww...look at you with your little horns!" <3 I don't know why, but I often find myself being on the bad dude's side in movies. Bad dudes are usually more interesting. And Loki seemed so misunderstood and troubled. I'm a sucker for that. I always fall for the troubled dudes. I guess I think I can fix them because I see myself like a modern day Snow White. I'll just sing at them and then they'll be happy or something. I dont' know. And besides, you feel bad for Loki. The guy's been lied to his whole life. I know the king meant well by taking him in but kids are smart and they can tell when you treat them differently.
The scene where they're fighting on Rainbow Road I couldn't help but giggle. I kept thinking, "Just throw a turtle shell at him! Jeeeez!" I wonder if any other Mario Kart nerds giggled at the Rainbow Road scene...
Anyway, so Loki lets go of Thor's hand at the end and it was sad and stuff. I know he doesn't die since he's in the Avenger's movie but I was still like, "Hang in there, baby." Poor Loki. I have yet to see "The Avengers" but I can already tell you that it'll be harder for me to get through than "Thor". "Thor" really didn't have as much action as I expected it to. Action movies just don't do anything for me. My brain just goes on cruise control whenever anything "actioney" starts happening. But at least I got through it. Now I can feel less crazy for being obsessed with an actor whose movies I've never seen.
Since giving "stars" out is too mainstream, I'm going to be using a pug scale. Out of a scale of one to five pugs, I'd give "Thor" two pugs (I would've said two and a half pugs but a half of a pug would be gross).
Ok, so...this is a blog about the movies. No, it's more like a blog where I write about my interpretations of movies I've recently watched. Hmmmm...no that's not it either. This will be a blog where I simply write silly comments about movies I've watched for my own amusement. There will be no synopsis-es (synopsi?) about the movies that I review. You have the whole internet for that. And be prepared for mad spoilers. If you haven't seen the movie that I'm babbling about, then don't read the "review", dummy! I don't want to be responsible for spilling the beans that Mufasa dies. I'll put the title of the movie as the title of the post and that's all the warning you'll get. We cool? Good.
Most of the movies that I'll be blogging about will be movies I've watched on Netflix so if you have a recommendation of a movie I should watch, leave a comment fool! I'll probably review TV shows that I fancy as well. This is my blog and I DO WHAT I WANT!
On occasion I might even review a current release but don't hold your breath for those. I can barely afford $7.99 a month for Netflix right now so it's a pretty big deal when I get to actually go see a movie. In an ideal universe I'd go to the movies at least once a week but times are tough for dreamers.
I will end this brief intro with my top 5 Desert Island movies! YAY!
1.) Amelie 2.) The Big Lebowski 3.) Howl's Moving Castle 4.) The Royal Tenenbaums 5.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
