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Directed by Peter Jackson
For me still the best of the trilogy.
There's so much mystery going on, with the Black Riders hunting down the Ring set in the darkness of these forests and villages. Far away from the, admittedly very-impressive, large-scale battles of the later entries.
The second half continues this chase structure when Saruman's Uruk-Hai are chasing the Fellowship. Moria and Lothlorien are real highlights too, blessed with superb music in both segments.
Then I wish to highlighg one particular character: Boromir. I think this is the best character of the series. Most characters, if not all, are defined by which side they are on: they're either good or bad and they do good or bad things. Boromir is different, he's on the right side, but is corrupted by the Ring because he wants to do good. Not helped by high expectations from his father, and the burden of wanting the save his people. A tormented character, the most complicated of the entire franchise, who is desperately in search of solutions that he just cannot find. Inherently a good guy who regretfully is tempted to make a terrible mistake. The perfect metaphor of a real human being, and therefore very relatable, including the fallibilty that comes with it. Perfectly portrayed by Sean Bean.
Ana de Armas is great in this. Over the top, campy, and in a wet top too.
The rest of the film... eh. It was OK. Well directed and shot but it had a plot which ultimately didn't build to anything and I struggled with some of the characters.
Nice to see Jude Law do his best Jaws impression as well.
Directed by Peter Jackson
A minor step down from the first one, though still a phenomenal film. More time for Christopher Lee to shine here, which is always appreciated. Brad Dourif is also superb as the slimy Wormtongue, and David Wenham's Faramir is a superb addition as well.
The highlight here of course is the Battle of Helm's Deep, which is an absolute amazing piece of action cinema. Not enough attention goes to Haldir and his Elves coming to Rohan's aid, which I thought was goosebump material.
The extended edition is a real must though, the "Sons of the Steward" chapter should always have been kept for the theatrical release, as it is an essential scene to understand Boromir's internal struggle in the first film.
Looking forward to revisit the final chapter.
I understand your point of view, that's certainly where they belong but then again that goes for a lot of films, even for 007 entries like TB or TSWLM, I just love them so much I do need to revisit them once in a while.
My other half though loves them as well and wants to revisit them even more often than I do. Since I don't want to get bored of them, I often ask her to watch one of the Hobbit films instead :p
I never really got into the rest of the franchise either, as the Hobbit films are indeed overkill, the source material isn't made for a 9-hour film trilogy. I'd say one could make a perfectly entertaining 2-hour adventure film out of it though.
And then there's The Rings of Power, which I have seen the first season of. Felt like fan fiction to me, I wasn't impressed at all.
Haven't seen The Rings of Power, but I did read reviews about The Hobbit, that concur, that it was too much for a 9 hour trilogy!
Walking with Dinosaurs : The new series, focusing almost entirely on the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era. Learned a lot.
Maigret et l'Affaire Saint Fiacre (on TV) : The second movie where Gabin played Maigret. Although, when Gabin played somebody, he was just playing Gabin, a bit like when Bogart played Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe, he was just playing Bogart. Still, a very good movie, and the only one of the three which I hadn't seen yet. Maigret returns to the childhood town to investigate threats against the local countess, and has to investigate her murder.
The Revenge of Frankenstein : Peter Cushing (this time without Christopher Lee) directed by Terence Fisher, can't do any better than that for gothic horror. Plus, a Bond connection with the lovely Eunice Gayson.
But as usual, I fear I bought too many DVDs with me, and I probably won't be able to see them all during the short time I have left. But ain't that always the way ?
And then : Jurassic World : Fallen Kingdom : Okay, let's get it out of the way first : Neither Owen, nor Claire could have survived being so close to (very, very VERY) hot lava. There's even a trope for that : https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConvectionSchmonvection. But this said, that's a very good movie about the dangers of scienc and greed gone haywire, and the catclysmic consequences of that. Plus,
The last few nights, I havew been watching the Mission Impossible films, and having reached the halfway point last night, my current ranking:
1. Mission Impossible (1996)
2. Mission Impossible III (2006)
3. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)
4. Mission Impossible 2 (2000)
No major changes so far.
My first time rewatching this one since 2022 (not coincidentally, also on Halloween).
One of Tim Burton’s best efforts, for my money, and there’s a good case to be made it’s his best-looking too, thanks to the immaculate production design, costume design, and Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography. Depp gives a cracking performance here as Ichabod Crane: jumpy and almost effete, at times it feels like he and Burton strove to depict Crane as an inversion of typical action hero clichés. As typical of Burton, it’s laced with a cheeky streak of black humour throughout which had me cackling in my seat. Bond fans should also watch out for the appearance of two villains from the Moore era.
I consider Iron Man 3 to be when the MCU jumped the shark for me. It just explores themes from the other 2 movies. They advertised it wrong: the trailers made it look serious, but it had many puns and light-hearted moments, to feel like a con job. And the plot twist proves that the MCU rarely cares about their villains, and when in doubt, quip a corny joke. So, for me, Iron Man 3 was a sign of things to come with the MCU. On the plus side, it was Jenna Ortega’s first movie. And they cut her part down a lot. At least she recovered, and she chooses not to work with the MCU for now.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom feels like an arthouse family movie made with dinosaurs. The scene you described proves that for me.
So, 2 unique sequels for me. Nice reviews @Gerard I might have to rewatch them.
That is a great one. Love the costumes, set designs, and dark humor.
Tim Burton does great actors, costumes and production designs right, almost always. Also, keep your eyes out for the main three Star Wars prequel villains. One of which is a Bond villain.
THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933)
Those old Universal horror movies still hold up well, astonishing when you think of how long ago they were made. This is one of my favourites,Director James Whale creates wonderful atmosphere, and has terrific character actors supporting ( Una O 'Connor is a standout here, as the screeching busybody landlady!) Claude Rains, in his debut, is the scientist, who having discovered the secret of invisibility, tries desperately to reverse the process, all the while descending into madness, from a side effect of one of the drugs. Great set pieces, and clever effects, and a well staged finale. Wonderful stuff
CARRIE (1976)
Brian De Palmas excellent film of the Stephen King novel. Sissy Spacek plays the lead as the shy repressed teenager, with a mad religious obsessed mother , Piper Laurie. Carrie, bullied constantly in high school, discovers she has special powers, which she puts to spectacular use in a fiery climax at the prom, when a cruel joke is played on her! Well directed by De Palma, and with an excellent supporting cast, this is still probably the best adaptation of one of King's novels. Unless 'The Running Man' turns out to be a masterpiece!!!😃
Not of this Earth , 80s remake
Legend of 7 golden vampires
Okay films , I guess