As I'm a bit late getting my thoughts about this movie The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug written up, you may have already seen it, but if you have not, here is my thoughts.
First of all for some reason, I do not enjoy the Hobbit series as much as I did The Lord of the Rings. After saying that, I saw this in 3D and thought it was one of the best 3D movies I had seen, and if you have the choice, then choose 3D, the background, the Orc detail is magnificent.
There is no doubt that Director Peter Jackson, has woven his magic as he brings middle earth alive once again and his cast of Ian McKellen as Gandalf, Martin Freeman as Bilbo and Richard Armitage as Thorn do their roles justice, although I thoroughly wanted to see more of Aidan Turner who plays Kili. No wonder Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel is drawn to him. Her role was created so that a woman's presence could be seen in a male-driven cast. I thought she was spectacular!!!
I also enjoyed seeing Orlando Bloom as Legolas once again. To me the movie lights up when he and Evangeline Lilly appear. Then there is the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch as the Dragon. That is wonderful to hear.
All in all, you need to travel the journey of the Hobbit, - concentrating on the dwarves - most of which I find uninteresting -- oh well. I know I will be there when the last installment is released next year, if only to see a few of the characters I love, and the scenery which is great and the wonderful sets. Plus as I have never read the book (although I attempted to several times) I want to see the end.
3 1/2 out of 5. (Most of my friends who have seen it enjoyed it to at least a 4 to 4 1/2 -- unfortunately for me the dwarves don't inspire me).
Showing posts with label Benedict Cumberbatch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Benedict Cumberbatch. Show all posts
Monday, December 23, 2013
Monday, November 18, 2013
12 Years a Slave - movie review
Making the drive north to see 12 Years a Slave, I was sure of what I had heard I would be in for a 'treat' of a movie. Well treat may not be the word, but my oh my, what a movie. The acting of Chiwetel Ejiofor, is definitely an Oscar winning performance, with everyone involved, and to mention a few Michael Fassbender (phenomenal performance as the slave owner you love to hate) and with Benedict Cumberbatch, (making another movie appearance this year) as a more benevolent slave owner.
This movie, with graphic demonstrations of the cruelty that went on in the south with some slave owners. It is a hard movie to watch at time, and I came away with the thought of "how can we do this to another human being", and as my friend pointed out "they did not think they were human". Thank goodness we are past that. But we still have on our planet inhumanity acts being done to another human. My respect of one another was certainly brought to the fore. Time to realize no matter the color of a person's skin, or the religion he follows, he is still human.
This is a story of a black man, a wealthy black man, who was respected and had a 'position' in his community and how he was lured to Washington, D.C. and then kidnapped and for 12 years until a kindly builder, played by Brad Pitt, (who was also on the production side) let his family and friends in the North know of his plight and he was rescued. Apparently many people found themselves with this fate. Never to be rescued, but to live their lives out in slavery, after being free men.
But Solomon was rescued and returned to his family, and although he learn from the transcript at the end, he tried to sue the people who kidnapped him and the person who beat him until he would admit he was a slave, only to met defeat, he did write a book 12 Years a Slave.
This movie is impactful on so many levels, with great acting and editing, which means great direction by Steve McQueen (oh by the way. The audience was so stunned, they did not move to leave as the credits rolled and when the name Steve McQueen came up a man behind me said 'he's dead'. I think the whole audience had a response to the name Steve McQueen. He did a great job here, bringing out the 'dark side' of the actors so you believed them.
This is a movie everyone needs to see to remind us of a part of world history where we did not respect one another. It is bound to solicit an emotional response, especially with some scenes, so this movie is not for the faint of heart. Still worth seeing.
4 1/2 out of 5.
This movie, with graphic demonstrations of the cruelty that went on in the south with some slave owners. It is a hard movie to watch at time, and I came away with the thought of "how can we do this to another human being", and as my friend pointed out "they did not think they were human". Thank goodness we are past that. But we still have on our planet inhumanity acts being done to another human. My respect of one another was certainly brought to the fore. Time to realize no matter the color of a person's skin, or the religion he follows, he is still human.
This is a story of a black man, a wealthy black man, who was respected and had a 'position' in his community and how he was lured to Washington, D.C. and then kidnapped and for 12 years until a kindly builder, played by Brad Pitt, (who was also on the production side) let his family and friends in the North know of his plight and he was rescued. Apparently many people found themselves with this fate. Never to be rescued, but to live their lives out in slavery, after being free men.
But Solomon was rescued and returned to his family, and although he learn from the transcript at the end, he tried to sue the people who kidnapped him and the person who beat him until he would admit he was a slave, only to met defeat, he did write a book 12 Years a Slave.
This movie is impactful on so many levels, with great acting and editing, which means great direction by Steve McQueen (oh by the way. The audience was so stunned, they did not move to leave as the credits rolled and when the name Steve McQueen came up a man behind me said 'he's dead'. I think the whole audience had a response to the name Steve McQueen. He did a great job here, bringing out the 'dark side' of the actors so you believed them.
This is a movie everyone needs to see to remind us of a part of world history where we did not respect one another. It is bound to solicit an emotional response, especially with some scenes, so this movie is not for the faint of heart. Still worth seeing.
4 1/2 out of 5.
Monday, October 21, 2013
The Fifth Estate - movie review
The Fifth Estate is based on the true story of WikiLeaks, from books written by Daniel Domscheit-Berg (played most adequately by Daniel Bruhl - I loved his eyes when he took his glasses off). Benedict Cumberbatch, plays the founder Julian Assange and does a wonderful job as this South African who wants freedom of speech, no matter what the cost.
The interesting way in which these two men Julian with the vision and drive and Daniel as the tech get WikiLeaks up and running and then becoming a world wide name. I remember when the news became full of WikiLeaks and what it was up to. It is the results of their work that we did not know, and now after this movie, which keeps you totally engaged right to the last moment, we know a lot more.
I enjoyed this movie, I liked the pace of the movie, the scenes created to show how the two men's minds were working (and this was not over done) and also how when you believe in something and won't let anything stop you (like exaggerating the truth), you can achieve. It is also a story of how two men both had different agendas but did not realize it until the end. Communication of ideas right at the beginning of any partnership is important. But what is more important is to be sure that you are actually both on the same page.
3 1/2 out of 5. A worth seeing.
The interesting way in which these two men Julian with the vision and drive and Daniel as the tech get WikiLeaks up and running and then becoming a world wide name. I remember when the news became full of WikiLeaks and what it was up to. It is the results of their work that we did not know, and now after this movie, which keeps you totally engaged right to the last moment, we know a lot more.
I enjoyed this movie, I liked the pace of the movie, the scenes created to show how the two men's minds were working (and this was not over done) and also how when you believe in something and won't let anything stop you (like exaggerating the truth), you can achieve. It is also a story of how two men both had different agendas but did not realize it until the end. Communication of ideas right at the beginning of any partnership is important. But what is more important is to be sure that you are actually both on the same page.
3 1/2 out of 5. A worth seeing.
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