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Reviews
Eragon (2006)
It's alright....
First things first, I have never read the book therefore I am merely commenting on the film itself and not its relation to the book. After having been spoiled by Peter Jackson and his treatment of The Lord of the Rings, the bar has been raised for epic fantasy films. That being said, Eragon does not even come close in that area. All of the characters feel incredibly superficial and the only inspired performance is that of Jeremy Irons. While I love John Malkovich and think he's a wonderful actor, I felt like he was just going through the motions and not really giving it his all. Edward Speleers did give a nice performance but there was no real progression in the character his performance did not indicate any growth in the character, he was exactly the same as when the story started. In all fairness, the performance issues could be the result of poor directing and a so-so screenplay. Actors can only do so much with what they're given. The film was lacking in any emotion, I did not care what happened to the characters except maybe for the dragon which was cg. Eragon did not feel like a feature film it felt more like a SciFi channel original movie. That being said, I'm not upset that I spent the money to see it (although I'm glad that I was able to get a student ticket) however, like the acting performances I was uninspired.
The Fountain (2006)
Beautiful
This is a beautiful movie. It takes a little bit to get into it, but once you become aware of what's going on it transforms from a visually stun art house flick into a wonderful love story. The cinematography was breathtaking and the acting was well done. I went into this film not know what to expect except that it would be visually stunning and I was pleasantly surprised by the depth and beauty of the story. It reminded me a lot of What Dreams May Come in the visuals and the love story. I was sad to see that there were only four other people in the theater at the showing I attended. Of course, it doesn't have explosions or graphic sex scenes, it's just a beautiful film and that is obviously not where Hollywood is right now that's a shame. With this film, Mr. Aronofsky has thrown his hat into the ring as a worthy successor to Stanley Kubric.
Hans Christian Andersen (1952)
I love it....
This was the movie that caused me to fall in love with Danny Kaye. I still love watching this movie more than 20 years after I saw it for the first time on television. I love his gentle nature with the children, in particular the little girl he sings "Thumbalina" to. Fabricated or not, this is one of his best films showing the true diversity of an incredibly talented man. Danny Kaye was surely one of the last of a dying Hollywood breed.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
WOW!***(Possible Spoilers)***
***POSSIBLE SPOILERS*** This was one of the most beautifully shot films I have ever seen. Of course, you can't go wrong with the natural beauty of New Zealand. I honestly have never read the books, I only went to go see Fellowship because my boyfriend was so excited about it. I found myself getting excited about Two Towers. A few places seemed to drag, and I must admit the Ents were slight Wizard of Oz-ish. But everything else was fabulous. Gimli had me crying, I was laughing so hard. (Spoiler alert)During the Battle of Helm's Deep when Gandalf leads the charge of the Riders of Rohan, it is one of the most gorgeous shots, I think, in cinematic history. The valiant wizard on his snow white horse leading the righteous and piercing the heart of evil. Too cool! I'm going to see it again this weekend.
Hart's War (2002)
Not what I expected.....
After seeing the trailers and commercials, this was not the film I expected it to be. I expected a "Bruce Willis kicks Nazi butt: film, and that is not what this is. I'm not going to add any spoilers to this review, but Collin Farrell's performance isn't that bad. Willis' character was played in what has become his commonplace style as of late, but it worked. And Marcel Iures was a devilish but almost likeable Col. Werner Visser. This film is more about internal conflict within the US Army than it is about conflict with the Nazi's.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
I was impressed.....
Okay, I'm not a Tolkien fan. I've never read The Lord of the Rings or even the Hobbit for that matter. I went to the theater yesterday to see a matinee of this film. I had no high expectations of what I thought it should look like or be like or anything like that. I went in there with an open mind not knowing anything about Tolkien's world.
I was quite impressed. The film was able to capture my attention for the entire 3 hours and I was able to understand what was going on even though I knew nothing of the characters, places or events. Some of the editing was questionable, but it's not going to be the downfall of Peter Jackson.
I realize that something were left out and somethings were changed. I know that Tolkien fans can be very die hard and scrutinizing when it comes to their favorite characters. But in a normal adaptation of a book only five to ten original scenes from the book are used and everything else is created by the screenwriter. Taking that into account, I think Peter Jackson and the screenwriters did a fabulous job keeping the majority of the story together while getting rid of things that were not integral to the movement of the story.
I've heard some negative comments about the fighting. In a previous review a good point was raised, while we are use to high tech fight sequences like in the Matrix and Crouching Tiger the fighting style in this film is totally different. Think of how upset Tolkien fans would be if they used the same fight choreography in LOTR as they did in The Matrix, this would have been just another kung fu movie set in a time when there was no kung fu (anyone remember The Musketeer). The fighting was meant to resemble that of mideval style, basically the smash and grab tactic.
As a non-Tolkein fan I loved the movie and I will see many more times, and I might even read the books.