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The trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug promised me a dragon. Not only a dragon, a giant lizard with the silvery pipes of Benedict Cumberbatch. I was super excited. An Unexpected Journey left me underwhelmed, but a dragon! Awesome, right? Of course, in typical Peter Jackson fashion I was forced to wait well over an hour before the dragon even shows up. Continue reading
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My mom owns The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books, and I once tried reading the tale of Bilbo Baggins when I was 11 or 12. I abandoned the book about two pages in. My mom later confessed that the only reason she owned the books was because a guy she had a crush on in high school was into them. Continue reading
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This film is so against the norm, refreshingly so. Both of the leads are female and the film is R rated, but it is one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time. Mostly due to the great chemistry between Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy. Continue reading
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Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas is an absolute gem. I know it nearly by heart, singing along to the catchy songs and quoting the script right along with Boris Karloff. I am of course talking about the 1966 animated television special, not this live-action version that tries way too hard. Continue reading
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I don’t remember seeing Home Alone 2: Lost in New York when I was a kid, but that doesn’t mean I was not aware of the movie’s toy marketing. I am of course talking about the Talkboy cassette recorder. I wanted one so bad. Continue reading
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OK, so even I saw this movie as a kid. I might not be as well versed in Home Alone as most of my friends, but I saw it roughly when it was released. I take some pride in that, given how many kids’ classics I haven’t seen or am just now seeing for the first time. Then again, this is such a silly movie… maybe I should be embarrassed about that. Continue reading
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The Hunt for Red October does a great job of casting non-Russian actors as Soviet submarine officers. I don’t think any of the main characters are actually from Russia. Continue reading
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Hocus Pocus is good clean Disney fun– witches, talking cats, musical numbers. It’s the kind of Halloween movie that you can put on for kids and not have to worry that it’s too scary. You might get some questions about what a virgin is, but is that the worst thing ever? (Well, maybe for some parents.) Continue reading
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Catching Fire is an excellent follow up to The Hunger Games. It takes everything that made the first movie great– strong leads, political conflict, thrilling action– and expands upon it perfectly. Again, this is a near perfect adaptation of the book, and leaves me anxious for the next installment. Continue reading
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I love this movie so much. I know that’s a weird thing to say about a film revolving around children forced to fight to the death, but this is a great adaptation of the book, which I also love. A lot of the credit for this film’s success goes to the wonderful cast of young actors, lead by current it girl Jennifer Lawrence, but it also helps that the book’s author helped adapt the screenplay. Continue reading
From The Abyss to Zoolander 