Discussing Film, Music, TV, Books, Video Games and More
Zac: Eleven years after we were first whisked away to Middle Earth, Peter Jackson is taking us back with The Hobbit. While it might not match it’s LOTR predecessors, it is still a joy to be back in this world and on another adventure through new and familiar corners of Middle Earth.
Lauren: …says Zac. [Read more...]
The Hobbit is going to be the first major release to ever be filmed and distributed in 48 FPS 3D this weekend, and we wanted to let you know if the format is worth your ticket (if that option is available to you). [Read more...]
Alright people, it’s almost the end of the year – which means some big releases are coming out. Some of the biggest albums, movies, and video games are slatted for release, making for one incredible last quarter in 2012. Enough of this, let’s get to our selections. [Read more...]
Peter Jackson’s latest adaptation is visually stunning but feels like a cliff notes version of the novel and on its own right doesn’t go deep enough into these characters relationships and feelings to connect us as emotionally as possible with the rich material.
The story follows the path of Susie Salmon a 14 year old girl that is murdered and raped (though the film leaves that last part out for the most part) by her neighbor Mr. Harvey and we follow her in the afterlife as she watches her family cope and hopefully find a way to lead them towards her killer. A little background on my connection to the source material, when I read Alice Sebold’s novel I was blown away for the first two thirds of the book or so and was a bit disappointed with the time jump and felt like things lost a bit of steam in the end. With that said I loved the afterlife stuff and the progression of these family members as they dealt with this horrible incident. And as a person that was hoping for the film to capture those connections and be a great look into these characters lives was disappointed with the skimming the surface approach the film seems to take. We only really get to spend a good amount of time with Mr. Harvey and Susie over the course of the picture and even with them we don’t really dive too deep into their psyche. [Read more...]
It’s obvious Bungie knows what they are doing when making commercials and can help produce a fantastic picture if they are creative and astheticlay involved, so why oh why do we not have a Halo movie in the pipeline?
Neil Blomkamp was picked by Peter Jackson to bring Halo to life a couple years ago but the studio’s didn’t deem him a big enough director to make the film and it all folded in on itself. Blomkamp and Jackson went on to make District 9 instead and have those studio execs shaking their heads as the movie quadruples its budget.Now for the release of Halo 3: ODST Bungie commisioned a new live action commercial and the results are stunning. Who isn’t going to love watching an epic film in this world! Bring back Blomkamp and Jackson and lets do this!
When it was announced that Peter Jackson, a small time and rather unknown Kiwi director, was going to be taking over the reigns of one of the most sought after and daunting film tasks in the history of cinema many didn’t expect a whole lot. But one came out of this man’s mind is an adaptation that Tolkien couldn’t have supervised much better himself and will go down as not only one of the greatest fantasy films, but flat out best films ever to grace our silver screens.
Now, let’s set the record straight right off, The Lord of the Rings is one film, broken up into three volumes for our butts and studio execs pockets pleasure. You will also note that my dates for the film is from 2001-2004, and that is because we didn’t have the full film experience in our hands until the release of the extended edition of Return of the King on DVD in 2004. (Though, don’t count out Jackson on making a couple changes and maybe even extending further on Blu-ray to coincide with The Hobbit)
The story takes place in the land of Middle Earth, populated by races of men, elves, orcs, goblins, dwarves, wizards, and most important to our quest hobbits. Hobbits are smaller people, not entirely different from men aside from their stature, state of leisure, and fascination with pipe weed. [Read more...]
Neil Blomkamp’s feature debut is another breath of fresh air to the sci-fi fans out there featuring a thought provoking story, interesting characters, and amazing special effects all adding up to one of the best films of the year.
Wilkus Van De Merwe is an official for MNU’s human and alien relations team and he is the focus of a documentary following the MNU’s inaction of a new plan to clear District 9 of all its residents. The thing is District 9 is a shanty town slum inhabited by aliens left over from a mysteriously stalled alien mother ship looming above Johannesburg. The MNU is relocating the aliens to District 10, two hundred kilometers outside Joburg due to increasing hostilities from the locals of the city who have had enough with their visitors and are getting more and more vocal in their protests. The documentary focuses on interviews with a number of people in and around Joburg and even more so focused on people in Van De Merwe’s life. Everyone seems to have an opinion on something he has apparently done. Some interviewees praising him, some calling him a traitor, leading us to wonder what exactly happened in District 9. [Read more...]
This is the first of a new column I will be writing for the remainder of the year culminating with a best of the decade list when it is all said and done. It’s almost hard to believe the first decade of this new millennium is almost over, but that just means we get to start debating what where the best films of this young century and why we think so. Over the next six months we will have a series of essays of my reflection and discussion on what made these films great to me and why I would love for you readers to seek them out. So sit back, take a gander, and let me know what you think. Agree, disagree, call me an idiot, but let me know in the comments why you loved it, hated it, or thought these films were just ok. So without further ado I give you my first entry into the series…
Peter Jackson’s – King Kong (2005)
After Peter Jackson finished the Lord of the Rings trilogy he could have made any, and I mean any, film he wanted to. He could have released a three hour film about a box of Cheez-it’s that cost 100 Million to make and it would have made its money back; well maybe. But Jackson choose to dive head first into another classic tale and one that he had held dear since his childhood, King Kong. [Read more...]
Here is the press release and lets all be happy that this film, or films, as it will be two as they add material from the appendices for the LOTR characters who are not featured in the novel The Hobbit, is one step closer to being made with the right people involved!
Very cool stuff, can’t wait till 2010!
Here is the official production blog, thehobbitblog.com, enjoy!
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