Archive for Peter Jackson

Movie Review: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Posted in Reviews! with tags , , , on 12/16/2014 by Taylor Holt

battle

Stars: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Richard Armitage, Luke Evans, Lee Pace, Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom, and Benedict Cumberbatch

Rated PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images, 144 minutes, Fantasy/Action/Adventure

Compare to: Thor: The Dark World (2013), Dracula Untold (2014)

The third and final installment of The Hobbit trilogy, it’s a bit tough to leave out the adaption changes certain Hobbit/LOTR fans have put in my mind. While many adaptions tend to leave out details that are important to the written story, The Hobbit trilogy has opted to add in many original subplots to the tale.

That being said, adaption changes aren’t relevant to the quality of a movie but based on fan preference and any movie should be judged as it’s own work if the story itself allows it. And with Five Armies being the third in a trilogy, how does it stack up to the first two? Continue reading →

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Four Things a Tolkien Fan Appreciates in The Hobbit Film (Besides Everything)

Posted in Top 5 Lists, Whatever with tags , , , , , on 12/20/2012 by Taylor Holt
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“I want da gold!”

Written by Bryce Waller

Nine years.

That is how long I was forced to wait for another LOTR movie. And every day I was forced to wait was as long as a life age of the earth. I have to admit when this project was initially starting to gain attention, I was upset that Guillermo Del Toro was attached to direct and not Peter Jackson. I love Del Toro but LOTR fans claim only one man as the heir to the throne of Middle Earth – Sir Peter Jackson. If he has not been knighted, I just did it. Continue reading →

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Movie Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Posted in Reviews! with tags , , , , on 12/17/2012 by Taylor Holt

thehubbit

Stars: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Andy Serkis

Rated PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images , Running time 169 minutes, Fantasy/Adeventure

Compare to: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Telling a 16 year-old version of myself in 2003 that I would have to wait nearly an entire decade for another of J.R.R. Tolkien’s middle earth-based stories, I would have thought (in my bottomless impatience) “Why even bother making it it’s going to take that long?” But now that the first installment of The Hobbit films is here, I’m glad they decided to do it.

Director Peter Jackson’s return to the series that not only helped reignite people’s love of the stories and launch multiple careers, but change the way movies are made altogether; specifically the technology of motion capture. But aside from anything technical or what went on behind the scenes, this movie is great. Continue reading →

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You Gotta See This: The Frighteners

Posted in You've Gotta See This with tags , , , , on 02/13/2012 by Taylor Holt

Rated R for violence, some language, terror throughout, 110 mins, 1996

Compare to: Zombieland, Idle Hands, Evil Dead 2

I really don’t know how popular this movie is. I’ve loved it since it came out in ’96, but a friend recently told me that in his film class, nobody but him could name a Peter Jackson movie before Lord of the Rings. And after he named it, these kids still weren’t familiar with it. What are they teaching kids these days?

The Frighteners is the story of Frank Bannister (played by Michael J. Fox in one of his last roles), an all around strange guy. He’s in the business of ghost busting more or less, barely getting through life by exorcising ghosts/ spectres who just won’t leave suburban homeowners alone. While some think of him as a fraud, the catch is that he is a fraud because he actually works with the ghosts he’s supposed to be getting rid of, making a sweet, albeit rare, paycheck. Trouble starts when familiar murders begin happening around town and Frank might be the only one who can stop them. That is, if he’s not the one who takes the blame first. Continue reading →

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