"Am I watching a movie or a video game?" This is what I thought to myself back in 2013 partway through The Desolation of Smaug as our dwarf heroes barreled downriver like they were on a Soak City ride, all while evading capture from elves and orcs who kept jumping out and shooting at them. Everything is a spectacle in the second of three (uggghhh) Hobbit films, but nothing is particularly interesting or meaningful to us poor audience members trapped…
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Song of the Sea 2014
Song of the Sea reminds me of a Studio Ghibli movie, with its casual pacing, visual symbolism, emphasis on familial relationships, and open-hearted manner of introducing international audiences to mythical figures from Irish history. It's also a weeper of a tale in which all things must come to an end, like a mother's comforting presence or the fairies' time on the mortal plane. It is the responsibility of the old to guide the young through these periods of change and…
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Alien 1979
What the hell was I thinking, giving one of the greatest films ever made a mere four star rating?! Was I daft? Actually, I think I was disappointed that the bloodshed didn't commence until the sixty minute mark. But that's the beauty of Alien, I've come to realize: it never rushes the plot along or shows its hand too early. The story unfolds slowly but organically, first taking the viewer on a tour of the Nostromo to establish the dank,…
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The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim 2024
Finally, some delicious fucking Lord of the Rings content. I had my concerns about War of the Rohirrim being a trite "girl-power" movie, but thankfully, screenwriter Philippa Boyens has crafted an epic tale worthy of a Tolkien hero--who just so happens to be a woman. Hera, the clear-eyed princess of Rohan, is as well-rounded a protagonist as you could ask for, driven by a deep affection for her people and a desire to honor her family, yet independent and true…
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