The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Movie Review

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Release Date: 12/14/2012
Rating: Not Yet Rated
Runtime: Not Yet Available
Genre: Fantasy
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Andy Serkis
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Much to the chagrin of the adults who caught Star Wars in 1977, or even the ones who grew up with the film in years to come, George Lucas designed his follow-up prequel trilogy with a different audience in mind. As he believed of his original films, the prequels would be crafted for children of the day. As we all know, the expansive, colorful, often-goofy escapade didn't sit terribly well with those who kept a place in their hearts for Luke, Leia, and Han.

With his first of three Hobbit films, An Unexpected Journey, Peter Jackson daringly attempts the same maneuver, aspiring to capture the essence of his Lord of the Rings trilogy while translating it for a younger crowd. Rightfully so — as W. H. Auden notes in his 1954 New York Times review of Fellowship of the Ring, The Hobbit "is one of the best children's stories of this century." What Jackson understands and gets wonderfully right in An Unexpected Journey (and that Lucas failed to understand with 1999's The Phantom Menace) is that kids dream like adults. They harbor different sensibilities, their concept of life's big challenges evolve, but children can be captured by the same iconography as their parents — they just needed it painted in broader strokes.
So Jackson splashes his brush in paint and goes wild. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey sports a lighter tone than its predecessors — comedic routines and a brighter palette making Middle Earth palatable to the youngsters — but the film doesn't lose any of the adventure or danger necessary for J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy. The film follows the titular halfling, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), enlisted by wise old wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellan) to accompany 13 dwarves on their quest to retake the Dwarven homeland now ruled by the nasty dragon Smaug. After surviving the dwarves' impromptu dinner party — a true display of Bilbo's neurosis and Freeman's knack for physical and linguistic comedy — Gandalf and the band of pint size warriors embark on their journey.

Life of Pi (2012)

Release Date: 11/21/2012
Rating: PG
Runtime: 2 hr 7 mins
Genre: Drama, Adventure
Director: Ang Lee
Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irfan Khan, Ayush Tandon, Tabu

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Review

There is a lot that could go wrong with a big screen adaptation of Life of Pi , the 2001 bestselling novel by Yaan Martel. Which may explain why the story of a young boy stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger — juggling deep themes of religion, family, nature, and human existence — has been developed and let go by many big names in Hollywood. For nearly a decade, filmmakers like M. Night Shyamalan, Alfonso Cuarón, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amélie) have grappled with the project, but it wasn't until Oscar-winner Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) that the film was fully realized.
Lee's Life of Pi is an inspiring film, sporting imaginative visuals and pushing the art of 3D in new directions. Even more impressive is what's underneath it all: a character-driven narrative that depicts the book's grand ideas with unexpected tenderness.

Life of Pi dreams big. Thanks to Lee's expert direction and a solid script from David Magee (Finding Neverland), the survivor tale avoids the pitfalls of such an ambitious effort, never straying into hokey melodrama. The film opens with a writer (Rafe Spall) visiting an adult Pi Patel (Irrfan Khan) at his home in Canada, after being told that the Indian immigrant had an amazing life story in need of capturing. "Amazing" may not be enough of a superlative. Young Pi (newcomer Suraj Sharma) begins his life as a regular kid in Pondicherry, India, growing up on his family's bustling zoo while attempting to fit in with the world around him. His major struggle is with religion — while his father resents faith and his mother is dedicated to Hinduism, Pi wants a little of it all. He's Hindu, he's Catholic, he's Muslim, he's a wanderer between all ways of thinking. When he attempts to feed the zoo's tiger, only to be caught by his father and disciplined for considering the beast to be anything remotely soulful. It's clear that his upbringing in the lush environment has seeped deep into Pi's way of life.

Lincoln (2012)

Release Date: 11/09/2012
Rating: PG13
Runtime: 2 hr 29 mins
Genre: Drama
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

The story is simple, but Kushner doesn't shy away from laying down lengthy passages of political discussion in order to show the importance of Lincoln's task. It's dense material, spruced up with Kushner's ear for dialogue. But even so, it occasionally meanders into Ken Burns documentary territory. Case in point: there are so many characters with beards in Lincoln, Spielberg even flashes title cards underneath their opening scenes just so we're not lost. The fact-heavy approach takes getting used to, but Spielberg and Kushner adeptly dig deep beyond the political gabfest to find a human side to Lincoln. He's a gentle man, a warm man, and a hilarious man. The duo's Honest Abe never shies away from a good story — at times, he's like Grandpa from The Simpsons, lost in his own anecdotes (much to the dismay of his cabinet). Day-Lewis chews scenery, as hinted at in the trailers, but with absolute restraint. That makes his sudden outbursts really pop. When Lincoln becomes fed up with pussyfooting politicians, like the quivering representatives played by Walton Goggins and Michael Stuhlbarg, Day-Lewis cranks the high-pitched president up to 10. He never falters.

The final months of the Civil War, a time when President Abraham Lincoln struggled to end slavery and bring the Confederate States of America back into the fold of the Union, are among the most important moments in Unites States history. They're also the murkiest. Eleventh grade American History tried to teach us — war, four scores, Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment, and a fateful night at the theater — but with a few hundred years' worth of events to process, most people leave school knowing that Lincoln made a couple of important moves that turned the world what it is today.

Through rousing superhero adventures and well-placed sneak peeks of their universe's future, comic giant Marvel has proven that nothing stands alone when it comes to a blockbuster brand. The Avengers set the pace for any future contenders, including Fox's own Marvel heroes (mainly, the X-Men), Paramount's Jack Ryan/Tom Clancy ensemble, and more obviously, the DC Comics slate of heroes.
So if the pressure wasn't built high enough for director Zack Snyder's upcoming reinvention of the Superman character, Man of Steel, imagine the prospects of knowing the movie would pave the way for Warner Bros. upcoming Justice League movie. Snyder's film flies into theaters June 14, 2013. WB's hope is to have Justice League in theaters by Summer 2015. A connection between the two isn't only inevitable, it's demanded by the timetable.
While Snyder is focused intently on his first entry in the cinematic Superman pantheon, a recent interview reveals that planning may already have been in the works for his vision to fuel the future of DC comic book hero movies. Speaking to the New York Post, Snyder addresses the continuation of Man of Steel by pulling out the "no spoilers" card, but teases that Warner Bros. has put their faith in him. "I will say, yeah, they trust me to keep them on course," Snyder says.
Snyder admits that the proximity of the two films could cause an issue if WB decides not to work the film's established setup into Justice League, telling the Post, "‘The Man of Steel’ exists, and Superman is in it. I don’t know how you’d move forward without acknowledging that.”
Henry Cavill is signed for three Superman films, and like his thespian counterparts over at Marvel, who were recruited for both stand alone movies and The Avengers, the actor could have both Man of Steel sequels and Justice League is in his future. The big question mark remains Man of Steel's success — 2006's Superman Returns, WB's last attempt to relaunch the character, flew under budget at the box office with a gross of only $200 million, while Green Lantern, their attempt to expand out with lesser known DC heroes, only took in $116 million. WB has found major success with Batman, The Dark Knight Rises having now grossed more than $447 million domestically. Not difficult to see why TDKR director Christopher Nolan was asked to supervise Man of Steel as a producer.
It may be too early for Snyder to reveal how influential Man of Steel will be for the future of DC movies, but his points focus fan speculation. There's only so much rebooting one franchise can take — for the foreseeable future, everything's riding on Man of Steel, even if we won't be told that in an after-credits scene.

'Star Wars: Episode VII' Has Treatment By 'Toy Story 3' Writer — REPORTS

Ever since it was announced that Disney intends to produce a new Star Wars trilogy starting with Episode VII in 2015, speculation has run rampant about who may write the movies. Well, now Vulture thinks they have an answer. The blog is reporting that Oscar-winning Little Miss Sunshine scribe Michael Arndt, who also made legions of grown men cry with his screenplay for 2010's Toy Story 3, was commissioned by Lucasfilm to write a 40-50 page treatment for the new trilogy several months ago, well before the merger deal with Disney was announced to the public.

Responding to Hollywood.com's request for confirmation, reps for both Lucasfilm and Arndt himself replied with an official "no comment." However, The Hollywood Reporter says it has confirmed Vulture's original report, that Arndt has written the treatment and is likely to write a draft of the screenplay for Episode VII.

The idea of Arndt being tapped to help construct the story for the long-rumored sequel trilogy makes sense for several reasons. First of all, he's an in-house pick. Arndt wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay for universally-adored Toy Story 3. He'd be hopping from Disney subsidiary Pixar to Disney subsidiary Lucasfilm. Second, Arndt is a Hutt-sized Star Wars geek, having talked at length about his admiration for George Lucas's saga, and even giving lectures on what he admires so much about Lucas' storytelling in Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope at the 2009 Hawaii Writers Conference and the 2010 Austin Film Festival. Third, his current projects are mostly completed. He's written the screenplay for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, already in production and due out next year, and it's rumored he's completed at least a draft — if not a finished screenplay — for Pixar's upcoming 2015 head-trip film about the innerworkings of the human brain for Up director Pete Docter.

Of course, Arndt could be one of several writers whom Lucasfilm have tapped for treatment ideas, and there's no guarantee that he'll get to write the final screenplay. Still, if he is the scribe to take Lucas's saga into the future, the Force feels strong with Disney and Lucasfilm's choice.

Transformers 4 Recruits Michael Bay, Bombards Your Senses in 2014

Signals of a fourth Transformers installment were broadcasting through the galaxy as early as October of last year, but now it's official: Transformers 4 will invade theaters in 2014, with franchise mainstay Michael Bay once again behind the wheel.
Speaking to press at the New York City Toy Fair, TF producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura hinted at Bay's return, while speculating what might be in store for the next outing in the mechanical mayhem series:
"We're going to try to do a hybrid there where there will be some characters that come forward--we think, we're still in the process of figuring it out--and some characters that don't, but it will definitely be a different story."
But it was Bay himself who made the announcement official, taking to his personal website to announce his involvement with the fourquel. The director revealed to eager fans his two-picture deal with Paramount Pictures, the studio behind Transformers. The action-oriented Bay will first shoot Pain & Gain for the studio, a true story drama starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson, then segue to the yet-to-be-subtitled Transformers sequel to hit a June 29, 2014 release date.
The return of Shia LaBeouf or Dark of the Moon's replacement damsel-in-distress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is unclear, but with Bay back in the director's chair, there's no question that another metal-clashing blockbuster that clicks with (and melts the brains of) the masses is on the way. The original Transformers trilogy grossed $3 billion worldwide — why stop there?

'Die Another Day' The Novel: We Try Our Hand at Ian Fleming's James Bond Book Series

Ever since the start of the character's big screen prowess with Dr. No in 1962, James Bond has taken many forms. The super spy has found himself in the capable hands of Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and, presently, Daniel Craig. But without Ian Fleming, none of these men would have had a Bond to bear. The late Fleming was, himself, a decorated intelligence officer-turned-author who created the character of James Bond in the 1953 novel Casino Royale. With 13 additional books to follow over the course of the next decade and change, Fleming crafted adventure after adventure for his now classic action hero. And from each of these novels and short story collections sprouted a movie — just about every one of James Bond's 23 big screen forays (that number includes the new release Skyfall) is adapted directly from one of Fleming's tomes.

Just about.

See, the 1990s gave the world a Bond in the form of Pierce Brosnan, whose missions were, moreover, original concoctions of the screenwriters, rather than derivations of Fleming's plots. Brosnan's pictures (GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, and that wacky icecapade, Die Another Day) were unique in their independence from the literature, never drawing more than a subplot or a minor character arc from one of Fleming's stories. But that doesn't mean they don't have that same storybook flare as their predecessors. Sure, our favorite Bond flicks might be plucked from the realms of Timothy Dalton (Matt Patches picked The Living Daylights as his top choice), Roger Moore (Kate Ward opted for Live and Let Die), and Daniel Craig (Kelsea Stahler chose Casino Royale), but Brosnan is an important member of the team. His movies deserve our attention, and they deserve their place on the bookshelves.

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