The Hobbit

I loved reading the books as a teenager. Tolkien had a way of bringing me into a totally new world, with lovable characters and a fascinating adventure. The Lord of the Rings trilogy, by Peter Jackson, was amazing. It's actually one of the few movies that I have purchased and watched more than once – it's very rare that I would buy movies, and rarer still to watch a movie more than once. The Hobbit, however, is a disappointment. I will not be purchasing this one, well I guess it remains to the be seen how well the next two movies are presented. I think Peter Jackson should have stopped while he was ahead. He did try to stay relatively true to the original story, but unfortunately, the original Hobbit was much better as a book, rather than a movie. It took 49 min. before Gandalf the wizard, the 14 dwarves, and our hero, Bilbo, even started on their quest. Two hours later, I didn't feel satisfied. The characters seem flat, the story contrived. I was entertained however, and it was fun to watch, the movie just didn't live up to my high expectations. If you are a fan of the original movies, you of course have to watch this movie. If you're not a fan of the original movies or the books, you can probably skip it and not be missing that much.

Life of Pi

This move is now out on DVD, and I was really looking forward to watching it. I was pleasantly surprised, but also slightly disappointed. I was disappointed because the movie promised to be spiritual in breath and depth – it was, but in a shallow way. I enjoyed the little boy's attitude about God and religion at the beginning, he believed in everything. He was Catholic, Hindu and Islamic in his beliefs as a little boy growing up in a confusing world. But his father's words, "if you believe in everything, you believe in nothing" seemed to resonate through the entire movie. This tainted the all-encompassing spiritual feeling of the story, and it seemed that the boy only really believed in God because of the horrific adventure he survived. The main character of the story promised that in the end, the person who was going to write a book about his adventure, would believe and understand God. Unfortunately, I didn't get that from the movie. I think the connection could've been stronger. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased with the story as a whole – a story of adventure and survival, inner struggle and courage. The special effects were dazzling. I was totally engaged for the entire two hours plus. I sympathized with the character, and empathized with his setbacks and victories. A mystical and entertaining movie. I recommend it!

The Avengers

It took a long time for this movie to move to the top of my Blockbuster queue, I almost deleted it several times, but I was glad I didn't. It turned out to be two hours of comic book action fun and entertainment. I watched it this Friday night, morphed into my 12-year-old boy-geek mode, suspended my reality and sensibilities – and just enjoyed the show. Nick Fury had some pretty stupid lines and moments in the movie, but turned out to be a decent leader of the Avengers. I felt sorry for Samuel Jackson, but I'm sure he made a large paycheck. The Black Widow was slick, sexy and cool. Scarlett Johansson always looks good in black spandex. The Hawk, Jeremy Renner, a pretty decent actor was part bad and part good – same as the character in the movie. I don't understand where he kept getting the unlimited supply of arrows. The Hulk, I don't know this actor's name and I'm too lazy to look it up, was perhaps the most entertaining of all the superheroes. I like the way he is angry at everything and loves to smash the daylights out of whatever is in his way. Somehow, though in the end he turns out to be a reasonable green monster. Thor, also don't know this guys name, sorry, I have to do more research in the future before I start writing my reviews, was perhaps the most unbelievable and silly character of them all, but he had probably the best fight scene with the Hulk – they duke it out quite convincingly. Captain America was ridiculous, and he had worse lines to say than Nick Fury, but every comic book action movie needs a patriotic hero. He served his purpose. Iron Man was technologically, and in terms of substance, probably the most interesting and full-bodied character in the movie – too bad I dislike Robert Downey Jr. so much. He's just too arrogant for my taste, in life and on the big screen. So, did I like it? Yes I did. If you can suspend your adult sensibilities for a couple of hours and engage your 12-year-old comic book action imagination, you'll probably enjoy this movie as well.

Flight

This movie is not about flying. It's about alcohol and drug addiction. There is one fantastic, well choreographed plane crash, that's bound to scare the heck out of anyone who flies frequently. Other than that it's all about Denzil Washington's struggle with alcoholism. He uses alcohol to deaden the pain, and drown himself from the world – then cocaine to boost him up for the incredible task of flying an airplane. Washington's acting is superb, he makes a fantastic and unbelievable drunkard, and when he snorts the cocaine his courage, competence and bravado come alive. It's really difficult to watch some of the sad and depressing drug induced scenes, but very powerful. It's hard to imagine someone so addicted to drugs and alcohol, but I guess it's much more prevalent than we realize as a society. Washington's transformation throughout the movie is well written, though the end I found to be a little bit hokey. A great movie, but a hard look at this terrible problem. Not for kids, though I might like my teenagers to watch it with me. Could lead to some great discussion. Worth a rental.

Argo

Best picture of the year? I'm not sure I can't compare, as I haven't seen any of the other nominated movies, but this one was available on Oceanic Cable on demand for six bucks! Money well spent! A thoroughly enjoyable two hours of entertainment. I don't remember a lot about this event because it was 1980 and I had just graduated from college – didn't watch much news, was more interested in working, girls and having fun. However, it seems as if Ben Affleck and his crew did a great job capturing the 1980s and the Iran hostage crisis. Based on a true story, but embellished for sure. I particularly enjoyed the fashion and music. It even seemed like the film they use was Technicolor and vintage 1980s. The suspenseful telling of the events was also very well done, without any real explosions or big special effects, I was still on the edge of my seat (just a figure of speech, as actually I watch from my hospital bed, laying down). It was well-written and very well acted. If you're one of the few people that I haven't seen this movie yet, go ahead and rent it. Well worth the time.