The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

This movie should not have existed.

I'm not a big fan of the decision to split this story into 3 movies.

That being said, I still enjoyed this movie.

For me, any time spent in Middle Earth is time well spent.

SPOILERS AHEAD

First off, it looked good: sometimes too good. The CGI is evident in every scene, and though it's not a bad thing all the time, some battle scenes look too glorious and bright. The lighting is a little weird.

I am glad that the trilogy is confident in its style; it goes all out on CGI.

Computer generated orcs look cool and all, but sometimes I miss seeing real people with disgusting orc makeup. 

Dain, Thorin's brother who comes to the aid of the dwarves, is ENTIRELY CGI. I think it had to do with the actor portraying him having Parkinson's. 

The fighting was epic; the movie earned its title. There was a real sense of danger when Thorin fought Azog. 

On the flip side, there was no sense of danger when Legolas defies gravity and runs up falling rubble.

Here are some problems I had with this movie:

At times, there was comedic relief where it didn't need to be. In the open of the film, after seeing Smaug completely decimate Lake-town, and feeling extremely sad and fearful, it cuts to Bombur the dwarf making a funny face. Then it switches back to a sad tone as if nothing ever happened.

Alfred. This annoying, unibrowed jerk had way more screen time than he deserved. He keeps coming back again and again, and every time the movie focuses on him doing something cowardly. How does it end? Does he get what he deserved? Absolutely not. The last time his character is unnecessarily seen, he leaves with gold-stuffed fake breasts feeling great about himself. For the rest of the movie I waited patiently for Alfred to be stabbed or stepped on by a giant orc, but it never happened.

He had more screen time than Beorn and Radagast combined, who both deserved more of the spotlight. How unsatisfying.

Thranduil shoved an Aragorn reference down my throat. Way out of place.

There was hardly any closure for Tauriel. The last time we see her, she is mourning Kili's death.

Come to think of it, Bilbo, Gandalf, and Thorin were the only ones with a satisfactory amount of closure.

The ending was strange. It rapidly took me on a roller coaster ride from the happiness of the Shire to the doom and gloom of the Ring. Then in a blink of an eye, Bilbo is an old man, Gandalf comes to visit, and the Shire is happy again. I didn't know what to feel.

Speaking of the ending, I had way too many questions after the credits rolled.

Who lives in the Lonely Mountain now?

Who is next in line to be king of the dwarves?

Where the heck is the Arkenstone?

What happens to Tauriel?

My biggest complaint of this movie was that it didn't end by cutting back to the dwarves, burying Thorin deep in the Lonely Mountain, singing the Misty Mountains song one last time. 

The fighting proved an acceptable ending to the Hobbit trilogy, but it was far from perfect and barely near acceptable.

But alas, any time spent in Middle Earth is time well spent.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

This movie blew me away.

Without a doubt the best cinematography I've seen all year, Birdman is shot in such a way that you can't tell when one shot ends and another begins; it all looks like one big shot for the most part.

When I left the theater after this one, I couldn't really gather my thoughts. I still can't very well. This is a movie that demands to be seen again to delve into its meanings and symbolisms.

I got parts of it; the commentary on the movies and art of today, the symbolism to Keaton's own career, and the human desire for approval, but I almost didn't feel smart enough to completely understand this movie after the first viewing.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't leave the theater unsatisfied.  I loved what I saw and understood.

I just know I'll be seeing it again, which I have no problem with.

In addition to the mind-boggling camerawork, the soundtrack is also spectacular; a jazzy drum sound that is constant through the movie, fading in parts and intensifying in others. It's really catchy and it's a shame it was disqualified for Best Original Soundtrack (you can read about that here - http://goo.gl/0DpB2b).

This movie is dialogue based, and Oscar-worthy performances by Keaton, Norton, and Emma Stone bring the clever writing to life.

Much of this movie is up to interpretation - the ending especially. This is another reason I can't wait to see Birdman again.

Go check this one out; it's interesting and definitely worth seeing.

Interstellar

“Do not go gentle into that good night…” - Spoken by Michael Caine’s character in this movie.

Interstellar didn’t “go gentle” by any means.

It was perhaps the most ambitious movie I’ve seen all year; and I can’t get enough of it. 

First things first, this movie was out of this world. Please keep reading. I’m sorry. That pun made itself. If you haven’t seen it, go see it without knowing anything about it. I’m so glad that’s how I did it. That's why I didn't include a trailer in this review. Go. Shoo.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Seriously though: there were so many fantastic aspects of this movie. It looked beautiful, from the dust bowl-esque Earth to the depths of outer space. When the Endurance (McConaughey’s ship) entered the wormhole, my jaw hit the floor. Nolan harnesses the sense of wonderment of space and captures it beautifully, with many nods to Kubrick’s 2001: “A Space Odyssey”. In some of my favorite shots, the Endurance is a tiny blip on the screen, sailing alone through “the final frontier”. Nolan knows how to make his audience feel small.

I was also impressed with the lighting; in lieu of the futuristic, bright white spaceship the movies typically portray, the Endurance comes off as a more realistic, gritty, dim spacecraft. In this aspect, the ship isn’t too different from the world it leaves behind. 

I had the honor and privilege in seeing this masterpiece in 70 mm IMAX film, and it looked beautiful…

One thing I really appreciated was that Nolan emitted all the space stereotypes; Interstellar is way different than “Gravity” in that no time is spent focused on the absence of gravity or the view of Earth from above. Nolan makes this space movie his own and doesn’t depend on space gimmicks to keep it interesting. Even the takeoff sequence is unique and original; the sound of the ship and the countdown can be heard as Cooper driving away from his farm crying is seen on screen. It cuts right to the chase. 

I loved the sound in Interstellar; Nolan combines great sound effects (like having no sound in space) with an incredible soundtrack by Hans Zimmer.

Hans Zimmer is a genius. The soundtrack to this movie is right up there next to the greatness of “Inception”. Zimmer uses the organ to make an iconic sound for this movie.

One of my few complaints for this movie had to do with sound; across the nation there were numerous claims that at some times the dialogue couldn’t be heard over the music and bass. For the majority of the movie this wasn’t a problem for me, but in one particular scene with Michael Caine on his deathbed I couldn’t make out what he was saying. This will most likely be buffed out for the DVD release.

As for the acting, everyone was spectacular. Caine is perfect for the poem he recites multiple times, and Hathaway and McConaughey (McConaughey especially) were able to bring some unexpected emotional moments into the film. Matt Damon’s surprise cameo was very well done; I was very surprised both at Damon’s appearance and performance and that Nolan was able to keep that a secret. 

As for the plot, there are always going to be minor plot holes in a movie about black holes and wormholes and time travel and inter-dimensional beings. However, as confusing as the premises of the plot are, the plot itself is not difficult to follow at all. Small plot holes aren’t easy to see unless you’re looking for them. 

A brief tangent - the robots in this movie were insane cool; the design was awesome and they were a fantastic source of comedic relief. 

Though the whole “love transcends spacetime” thing was pretty cheesy, I still liked Hathaway’s speech. Love is a big theme in the movie; for Brandt, it was her love for Edmunds. For Cooper, it was his fatherly love for Murph. At is essence, this movie is all about the relationship between father and child. I got a little choked up at the end when Cooper asks Murph, “How did you know I was coming back?” and Murph replies “Because my Dad promised me”. I’m a sucker for happy endings. 

The only thing I really had a problem with was Cooper stumbling upon NASA’s top secret base and immediately being instituted as the captain of the ship that is the only hope of saving mankind. But after the rest of the movie, this was the least of my worries. 

This movie isn’t perfect, but it was pretty close for me and it will win an Oscar for something. Interstellar will be a classic in the future, something I’ll show my grandkids. 

For now, I’ll be happy to buy it on Bluray and proud to hang a poster on my wall.

p.s. The film has a lot of biblical symbolism. Google it if you get a chance.

“Do not go gentle into that good night, 

Old age should burn and rage at close of day; 

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”




REDDIT TIME: my favorite comments of an Interstellar discussion thread.