While I didn’t have quite the same reaction as Fili and Kili from Happy Hobbit, I did have to pick my jaw up from the floor. Let’s not kid ourselves. New Zealand scenery is breathtaking. Any excuse to see more of it is a good excuse. The Hobbit cinematographers deserve every cent they get, especially…
A title worthy of this film. As we tread on sticky floors in a noisy theater towards empty seats, our minds are filled with expectations. Sometimes our expectations are met, sometimes they are surpassed, and sometimes we are met with the entirely unexpected. When I found my seat, my own mind was expecting a journey…
Structure: One of the main problems with this movie is that it doesn’t start with the same excitement as the other two. Sure, when C. S. Lewis wrote The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, he didn’t start with the Germans bombing London, or when he wrote Prince Caspian, he didn’t start within Narnia, showing…
While The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe stayed very true to the original text, its sequel, Prince Caspian strayed from it. However, since Prince Caspian has been cited as among Narnia fans’ least favorite of the series, I suppose it is likely that the filmmakers thought it wise to take liberties to change the…
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe has long been one of my favorite movies, as it is based on one of my favorite books by C. S. Lewis, and I think the movie does the book justice for many reasons. Storyline: As the movie opens, planes fly in out of darkness. It makes for…
From the very beginning, this movie feels intense, like the open of the close that it is. Our first glimpse of Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour, with his unblinking stare (he actually blinks three times but who is really counting), starts the film, followed by the incredible music composed and conducted by Alexandre Desplat, underscoring…
Half-Blood Prince continues almost directly from where Order of the Phoenix ended, showing Harry and Dumbledore at the Ministry of Magic shortly after the battle with Voldemort. Reporters are taking pictures of them for the Daily Prophet. I love this opening. I thought it was brilliant. From there, the film continues in a muggle office…
I teach a class primarily focused on British Literature. One of the novels we read every year is The Hobbit, because J.R.R. Tolkien is a legendary British author. We started reading the novel in class on December 20, 2011. Little did I know that the announcement trailer for the new film would be released that…
Updated on July 22nd, 2011, after I saw the movie a second time, which I felt the need to do, because I missed so much the first time. A few points about the music were added, plus more about Dumbledore’s “turning a line” in King’s Cross Station, as well as a paragraph (the second) about…
The shortest film made from the longest book. For months prior to the film, perhaps even years, people asked, how are they going to do this film? Its novel counterpart is the size of a small refrigerator! I mean, honestly! And then David Yates goes and achieves the impossible: makes the shortest film. Goodness gracious.…