The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Jordan, Morgan, Amberly

Epic. Man what a day, that last stretch is the hardest. Mainly because of all the fade to blacks where you are sure it's going to end but then it continues on. There's a lot added to this extended edition too, the film is over 4 hours long now.

But I had an awesome time watching this through again and discussing with friends and making some hilarious discoveries along the way. They all look great on bluray and watching them projected on a big screen again was neat too. But I think we have all overdosed on sugar so I'm about to crash pretty hard.

Bring on the Hobbit!

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Jordan, Morgan, Amberly

Wow there's a lot of this film I blended in my memory into one of the other two films. Besides the epic battle at Helms Deep there's just a lot of filler in this one, probably why I can't remember all of it.

But this one has the introduction of Gollum. And he's great. I also like the additional moments with Treebeard. We imagined what a Treebeard stand-up set would be, it was the cause of much amusement.

Time for some dinner and on to part 3!

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Jordan, Morgan

Time for another marathon! I've held off getting he blurays until they released these extended cuts. I've just grown used to them now and it seems strange to have all those incidental scenes missing when watching the theatrical cuts.

Man, It's been a really long time since I've last watched these all the way through though. So great to sit and watch them all together, in a row for the first time. They really are bloody fantastic films. The actors, the design, the sets, the locations, the effects, the sound and music, it's all great.

Fellowship probably has the most iconic moments though, it's a lot of peoples favourite and probably mine too. I really love the whole sequence in the mines with the cave troll and the watcher and the balrog. And Gandalf the Grey > Gandalf the White. Another reason I'm excited for The Hobbit. I just love the look of Hobbiton.

But enough writing, on to part two.

Jaws

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Amberly, Jordan

Classic, Good to watch through again. I love ol' Bruce.

It's strange showing this to people for the first time. It really doesn't seem that spectacular now even though many of the sequences still manage to create tension or excitement and the performances are great.

It's another one of those notorious films I've probably read and seen more about the making of than I have of the actual film itself. It's been billed as the first blockbuster by some and been responsible for a number of peoples fear of the ocean.

Last year I watched through all 4 in a row and this is definitely the best of them, the get progressively worse. But really this is the only one anyone really cares about. It's an amazing accomplishment.

Return to Oz

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

After Watching The Wizard of Oz yesterday I couldn't resist watching this one again. This one is just a much better fit for my sensibilities. It's much darker, there's no singing and there's some very adult themes woven in. I love the idea that Dorothy is probably just completely insane and the debate over if it was a dream, insanity or actually took place are much more vague in this instalment.

Anyone that watched this as a kid will remember being traumatised by the horrific screeching and manic laughter of the wheelers. But even more scary is Mombi and all her heads. Stuff of nightmares.

I also really love the gnome king and his gnomes. The traditional animation that brings them to life fits so perfectly for the characters. And the utter seriousness in which they proclaim the arrival of a chicken is hilarious to boot. Jim Henson's workshop created several amazing puppet creatures for the film including Tic-Tok and Jack Pumpkinhead. I've read a little about how they had to bring them to life and it sounds extremely uncomfortable but it absolutely pays off. They are great characters.

David Shire's score is to my mind one of the best things he's ever written. It's absolutely gorgeous. Give it a listen! It's such a wonderful fantasy score and one of my all time favourites. I find myself humming it all the time.

This was probably the first time I saw Fairuza Balk too. I haven't seen her in anything for a while be she does do the crazy well. Although in this film she's perfectly innocent. I have a little trouble with Piper Laurie as her mother but only because I know her mainly as a crazy psychotic bitch from other films.

Much love for this one.

Red

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself

Yeah this one is alright but didn't blow me away. I find the music a little grating, it just seems to be trying so hard to be quirky and fun and it just ends up being annoying. Same goes for the whole film really.

But I do appreciate Helen Mirren with a machine gun. And John Malkovich is rather funny too. Some alright action stuff. But one the whole I found it an average effort.

The Wizard of Oz

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Leith

I went to see Wicked tonight so I thought it would be a good time to watch the nice cleaned up bluray version of this projected on the big screen. You can see some of the colour flicker in and out a little here and there but there's not a scratch or bit of dust anywhere to be seen. All painted out and looking good as new.

Good to see ol' Hans from Freaks again. And even though I prefer Return to Oz to this, you can't deny it's a timeless classic.

The Mummy

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

Great way to start the day. If you aren't a purist, and I certainly have no particular affinity for the original Mummy, then this film is a lot of fun. Stephen Sommers does make very entertaining popcorn movies. His script is funny and is filled with delightful characters and some cool action and effects.

The cast is great together, ILM's groundbreaking visual effects are still pretty good today and Jerry Goldsmith's score is awesome. This is a great comfort movie. This, Twister and Dante's Peak are my go to films. It's just pure fun. Love it.

The Last Exorcism

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler, Geoff

If not for the last 7 minutes of the film this would probably be one of the best exorcism/mockumentary style horror films in the past few years.

The acting is just phenomenal. Rev. Cotton Marcus is a character that just pops off the screen. He's so believable and effective for the story. Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell and the rest of the cast really manage to sell the reality of the world.

The structure of the story also manages to position the audience and greatly helps suspension of disbelief. By actually denouncing the act of exorcism and showing how it's faked upfront it eases the scepticism and creates a nice false sense of security for when things start to get a little too real. It's a great device.

The scary stuff in the middle section works very well, there are some great sequences, but it's really actually a very small part of the film. The very realistic drama of this family and the girl with possible mental problems is actually quite engaging by itself, without all the supernatural stuff. If the film had ended with one of these revelations I would have been perfectly happy with it.

But there is a twist at the end that seems rather abrupt and doesn't work for me at all. It's still well worth checking out because the rest of the film is so strong, but I think they went for a big finish and dropped the ball at the end.

The Dark Crystal

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

Big clean up from Harry Potter Marathon. So what better way to wind down from the high fantasy of those films than with this classic gem. It's a film that is told so much through the music it makes the perfect background cleaning movie.

That's not to do a disservice to it's amazing visuals and Hensen puppetry, but I do know this film off-by-heart so I can see it all in my head whilst vacuuming and washing dishes. It also makes it hard to judge objectively, again more heavy nostalgia. I can admit the storytelling can be a little clunky at times, but I won't ever have a problem with it.

Good to have on again and the bits I did see projected in HD from the bluray look great.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Michael, Jess, Jim, Kim, Paul, Tyler, Matt, Amberly, Aden, Ichina

Holy fuck that was satisfying.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Michael, Jess, Jim, Kim, Paul, Tyler, Leith, Amberly, Aden, Ichina

I haven't watch this at home yet, Good to have the opportunity to see it at the cinema again right before the last part, they do need to be watched together. Unfortunately the projector bulb wasn't that bright and the whole top of the image was very dark. Either that or it has the same problem as part 6, too much digital grading and vignetting.

This is the calm before the storm and the best character building of the leeds in the series. While it does have some good upbeat sequences it's mainly more to do with the character relationships. And they start cavalierly dispatching main characters. Some of them you barely notice and some of them hit pretty hard.

There's also a few good creepy bits too.

While it's really laying the stage for an epic finale, it manages to be one of my favourite parts. And as I think back on it now it hardly even feels like it's own film, watching them all in succession like this it becomes merely part of a whole. That's pretty impressive.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Michael, Jess, Kim, Paul, Tyler, Matt, Jordan, Amberly

Here's my pervious write up.

Just have time for dinner then off to the theatre for 7.1 and 7.2

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Michael, Jess, Kim, Paul, Tyler

Previous review.

I think this one and 7.1 have my favourite looks. This one really is one of the better films isn't it? It's really good.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Michael, Jess, Kim, Paul, Tyler

Here's my previous write-up.

I like all the character developing stuff and the underwater stuff in this one. Cedric's death is done well but so soon after they are laughing off the end of another year, I don't like that. I like Sirius in the fireplace more from this film than in number 6.

Well, Gotta go enjoy some butterbeer and get started on the next one!