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Friday, 11 October 2013

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | Review

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Rank 8 as of 1/1/13)
Age Rating 12A
Year 2003

DISCLAIMER: this is NOT my review. I have put this review on here as I do not think that my review of this movie will be ok. Due to the fact that on the way back from a school trip, they put on Lord of the Rings 2. It was a 16 hour coach journey and something I really did not want to watch. I kept being woken up by swords and magical words. Grh. So therefore I HATE Lord of the Rings. Sorry.

This is the 'most helpful' review from IMDb:

The journey comes to an end. For me the final installment ensures that the Lord of the Rings replaces Star Wars as my favourite fantasy movie franchise. In time the film will look dated, but the story and characterisation far surpass that of Star Wars. The Empire Strikes Back is the only one of the Star Wars films that is in the same league as LOR.

As with Two Towers, the Return of the King doesn't recap the story so far, so don't even think of seeing this film if you're unfamiliar with the story. It starts with a flashback to Smeagol and means Andy Serkis gets to appear on the finished print. Frodo, Sam and Smeagol then continue on their quest, whilst the remaining members of the fellowship are briefly reunited at Isengard before taking different paths to Minas Tirith.

The action is unrelenting and most people will not notice the running time is over 3 hours. As with the previous films the combination of sets, models and cgi brings middle earth to life.

I suspect quite a few of the performers will be in with a chance of Oscar recognition. Miranda Otto is the stand out performer and is outstanding as Eowyn and surely deserves the Best Supporting Actress honour. I'm sure that Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, and Orlando Bloom will all have their supporters for acting honours and rightly so, as they all put in fine performances. I'm not sure whether Andy Serkis is elligable, but I suspect the success of Smeagol/Gollum owes as much to him as the animators. Bernhard Hill should also be in with a shout for recognition for his performance as King Theoden. My guess is that it'll miss out on the acting awards with the exception of Miranda Otto. It's absolutely certain to take Best Director, Best Picture and a string of technical awards though. My guess is that it will be nominated for about 12 categories and take 8 gongs.

Return of the King isn't flawless however. Saruman was cut entirely from the theatrical release of the film. We therefore missed out on the final face off between Gandalf and Saruman at Isengard. This was certainly filmed and will no doubt be on the extended edition. When the Hobbits return to the Shire it looks remarkably like when they left. No sign that Saruman has arrived back before them and taken over. In the book Merry, Pippin, Sam and Frodo help rally the rest of the Hobbits to retake the Shire, but at some cost to both the hobbits and the environment. Merry, Pippin and Sam become heros to the rest of the hobbits who are largely unaware of Frodo's adventure and exploits. I'm not sure if any of this was shot, but it would be a welcome addition to the extended addition. Personally I would have followed Tolkien and got rid of 7 minutes of Arwen footage and kept Saruman in. Bearing in mind Christopher Lee's passion for the trilogy it is also sad to see him removed from the final episode. I'm quite sure Peter Jackson must have had a few sleepless nights over that decision.

If Saruman's exclusion was the biggest blunder of the film, Gimli's consignment to comic interlude was also a bit disappointing. I'm not against a bit of light hearted relief every so often, especially in such a long film, but it seemed that every time Gimli appeared on screen it was for light entertainment. The "That still only counts as one" line to Legolas was very funny though.

Despite these gripes Peter Jackson can certainly be very proud of the Lord of the Rings. Very few people thought it possible to do justice to the book. He has crafted a film that many people will enjoy for many years.

By,
Andrew Marshall (United Kingdom)

You getting used to this yet? Ha.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | Review

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Official Trailler

IMDb Page

Rank 21 as of 1/1/13)
Age Rating 12A
Year 2002

This is the 'most helpful' review from IMDb:

We have been waiting an entire year for this one!!! The Two Towers picks up right where last years Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring leaves off. The director, Peter Jackson, did not include a recap of the last movie, so if you don't remember what happened in the first movie you better rent it and refresh your memory before you head off to the theater.

When we last left our fellowship, it had splintered apart. Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and Sam Gamgee (Sean Astin) continue there quest to return the all powerful and evil ring to Mordor where it can be destroyed. They take on the creature Gollum (Andy Serkis) as their guide to Mordor despite Gollum's obsession with getting `his precious' back. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) begin by trying to find the kidnapped Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd), but end up getting caught up in a battle to save a race of humans. The evil wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee), controlled by Dark Lord Sauron created a grand Uruk-hai army that is sent to destroy the race of Humans at the fortress Isengard. The presumed dead Gandolf (Ian McKellen) also returns to lend his assistance in battling Lord Sauron's troops.

This film was better paced than the first in the trilogy. There were still some breaks in the action that were a little dull, but the dialog was necessary to further the story. With three separate stories going on simultaneously between the three groups of the splintered fellowship, the film kept the action moving quickly. Clocking in at 179 minutes, it is just one minute longer than the first film. This time, I didn't mind the length. The battle for Isengard comprised about a third of the film, and it was very intense.

The rest of the film had a lot of the same excellent cinematic shots as the first movie. The shots tracking the actors from above (done by helicopter) with the beautiful New Zealand mountains and countryside in the background were just amazing. The landscapes helped to keep me involved with the story when the action slowed for dialog intensive scenes.

The creature Gollum played a very key roll in this movie, and the computer-generated character was very lifelike and amusing. He reminded me of Dobby the `house elf' in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Gollum and the Dwarf were the two main comic relief characters in this very serious film.

To conclude, we had to wait a year for this film, and it lived up to expectations! A final reminder…this is the middle film in the trilogy so you can expect another ending that leaves you wanting more! Not to worry though, the third and final film is due out next Christmas.

By,

Justin Chan (Philadelphia, Pa)

Sorry (not sorry) again for it not being my review. :)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | Review

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

IMDb Page

Official Trailler

Rank 13 as of 1/1/13)
Age Rating PG
Year 2001

This is the 'most helpful' review from IMDb:

The reason why this first part of Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings' is superior to his latter two parts is because of restraint. Jackson was restrained from over doing it with the CGI and "epic" battle sequences, which in my opinion does not make a story epic. Part of the reason was simply because Tolkien did not have very many battles in the first part of his book, which thankfully forced Jackson to focus on creating a believable world rather than a believable hack-n-slash action movie.

I don't find much entertainment in watching people mutilate each other, but I love it when a movie engages me in a world, and 'The Fellowship of the Ring' does just that. Certainly the most breathtaking scenes in the movie are the moments of patient observation, when the camera pans around and captures the beautiful settings of Middle Earth. I must give Jackson credit. He did hire some very extraordinary artists that have envisioned one of the grandest interpretations of Tolkien's world.

There are about five particular moments that stick out in my mind and gave me that tingle of goosebumps down my spine when I saw them for the first time. The first is the introduction to Hobbiton. After the somewhat awkward prologue, I was beginning to have my doubts to whether the movie would live up to the book. But the movie surprised me. Hobbiton is perfect. The houses have flower patches and old fences, the roads look worn and made through decades of travel, and the Old Mill spins with the laziness of a quiet town. Every color is vibrant and every moment looks as through it was taken out of a picture book. Although I still don't agree with the particular look of the Hobbits, I believe everything else in Hobbiton is worthy of Tolkien's words.

The second moment comes after Frodo's awakening in Rivendell, and the third, during the exploration of the Halls of Moria. In both moments, the camera pans away from the characters and outward into a static shot of their surroundings. The moments make us feel like we're turning our heads and gazing at the world around us just as the characters do. The golden waterfalls of the elven city mark an interesting contrast with the dark halls of the dwarfish mines, but each are inspiring in their own ways and add to feeling of being engaged in a living world.

My other favorite moments come during the exploration of Lothlorien and the passage down the Anduin. And while I won't go into detail about the scenes, since they really should be experienced without any prior expectations, they are monuments in imaginative cinema. 'The Fellowship of the Ring' is one of those rare movies that I always wish I could reexperience for the first time. Unfortunately, Jackson turned away from exploring Middle Earth in his next two movies, and instead, turned to fighting and warfare. He seems to take a lot of pride in the love story and battle sequences he created in 'The Two Towers' and 'The Return of the King,' but it is was in his first movie when he really got it right. In 'The Fellowship of the Ring,' it's okay if the characters are uninteresting and have silly dialogue. Middle Earth is the star, and the characters are the ones seeing it for the first time.

By,
David D Lowery (Chicago)

Sorry for my absence and not even writing a review but I was not gunna watch LOTR. Oh and FYI i'm not watching the others either. Soz.

Wednesday, 28 August 2013

The Bourne Ultimatum | Review

The Bourne Ultimatum

IMDb Page

Trailer

Rank 175 as of January 1st 2013)
Age Rating 12A
Year 2007

I wasn't expecting this to be on the list at all. Especially as this is the last in the Bourne Trilogy (The Bourne Identity | The Bourne Supremacy), the last ones are always meant to be the worst right? But no, this was the best one. Apparently very good in sound editing and stuff (it won Oscars for it)!

It follows the story of a man who lost his memory and is trying to find out who he his and why he lost his memory and who he really is. The storyline did get a little ridiculous. But it's exciting and action-packed, it is an action movie after all.

I do I have a bit of a soft-spot for Matt Damon after watching Good Will Hunting (review) I love him, yes he's like 40 but I don't care. Anyway! I'm glad to see another of his films on list. He deserves it. It was another great performance from him, Go Matt.

Remember everything. Forgive nothing.

By Georgina,

28/08/2013

Tuesday, 27 August 2013

Stand By Me | Review

Stand By Me

IMDb Page

Trailer

Rank 175 as of January 1st 2013)
Age Rating 15
Year 1986

I apologise in advance for the non-goodness of this review. Its 2:42 in the morning, I can't really see my keyboard and most importantly I haven't wrote a review in over one month, oh dear.

So, Stand By Me. Well, what a film. It's so good. Everything about it, its perfect almost! The 'child' actors, I think, did the best job that any child actors have ever done, giving the movie so much depth and feeling.

It's based around 4 friends in the summer of '59 who, when finding out where the body of a boy that had gone missing is they go on a search to find the body as to become famous for being the people who found it.

Stand By Me is about friendship, apparently the best kind is when you are at the age of 12, which they all were. But these four friends all do have things, that would hold them back lets say. Gordie, who when he is an adult, narrates the film. He lost his older brother 4 months before the search of the body. He had become 'the invisible child', ignored by his parents. Vern is the fat kid of the group and of course he always gets teased and the mick taken out of him. Teddy's father is abusive, yet Teddy still always stands up for him, much to the others amazement. He often makes remarks on how his father fought at the beaches in Normandy (WWII). Chris, the leader of the group as such, comes from a family who are all 'bad'. He wished that he can get somewhere in life, but his family's reputation disallows him to do it.

This movie is timeless, it can be enjoyed by all generations. Not to mention the perfect soundtrack.

Fuck writing, I don't want to be a writer. It's stupid. It's a stupid waste of time.

By Georgina,
27/08/2013

Thursday, 25 July 2013

Shutter Island Review

Shutter Island

IMDb Page

Official Trailer

Rank 234 as of January 1st 2013)

Age Rating 15
Year 2010

What is it with all these mindmessingup movies on this list?! But mind you, they are great! Shutter Island is scary, scary without being to gory. It's plays with your emotions. It even makes you question reality, weird uh?

Of course the famous Leonardo DiCaprio is in this movie, and of course, he is fabulous! Portraying his two (sort of) characters. His supporting actor Mark Ruffalo is also great, along with the rest of the cast. Especially Ben Kingsley, he makes you distrust him, hate him, trust him and then distrust and hate him again! Wow. My emotions are everywhere.

The storyline was great and really original, (I know that was because of the book but you know what I mean) I thought I knew what was going to happen and etc etc and it was going to be a big fight and etc etc! But NO! Oh NO! I did not see the twist in the tale that I expected. Watch out for it!

By Georgina,
25/07/2013

Monday, 8 July 2013

Black Swan Review

Black Swan

Official Trailler

IMDb Page

Rank 177 as of January 1st 2013)

Age Rating 15
Year 2010

I don't know what it was about this film, but, my god, it really really creeped me out. I don't know why! After it ending I had to watch some light-hearted comedy to clear my head (The Inbetweeners FYI), it was so weird. I think it may have been the sort of self-harmy, hallucinations side of it that weirded me out so much, My nonetheless, it really was fabulous.

Natalie Portman, my god girl, you were incredible! The Oscar was very well deserved. Infact so was everyone, Mila Kunis stole the... screen!? When she was in the scenes, so did Vincent Cassel. All were amazingly weird and fantastic!

The story was excellent, as well as creepy! How do you people come up with such things, it amazes me!! Beautiful directing - Just a really great movie with an incredibly dark undertone! Thank you for giving me nightmares.

By Georgina,

8/07/13