The past few weeks have been a great time to catch up on the always dubious Netflix Instant and getting some films via mail. I enjoy reading the critics' reviews although I always ignore them when actually choosing what I may want to see. So here's my own cheap and easy review groupings for the month:
The Biggie - THE HOBBIT
The Hobbit is the film I was most excited about as far as going to the theater to see. About three times a year we pick some to see on the big screen, usually something that we are already fans of or decide needs that big screen treatment. This was it. I had read the reviews, the complaints about the newer faster film techniques that bothered some people, I had read the complaints that there weren't enough female characters (ugg..why does every author have to cater to any one particular gender?? Why do we expect some British man from the first half of the century to write For Women..why do these complainers not see that some of the most important characters in the LOTR books are in fact Women? Ugg. ) Anyway, we went with three hours of free time and open minds, ready for action and fun.
This is the bottom line - this was a great film. I mean great in the sense of bigness, of writing, of character development and story. I read the Hobbit when very young and dismissed it as too young for me. Of course later I knew better. It does not have the edginess and darkness as the LOTR trilogy or The Simarillion but it's main message it clear all these decades later- little people can do big things - and what a great message for today's world.
I won't bore anyone with a story retread. I will suggest you see it while it's still in theaters. The vastness of the Shire and the lands Bilbo Baggins enters into are rich with detail, and I never once got bored during the long film. The adult themes of good vs evil are just sophisticated enough to remind me that although the book was really made for young adults, the heart of the story is something an older person can appreciate without feeling silly. It is also full of very good humor and moments of relief during intense action and adventure without feeling too "Disney" (not a huge Disney fan).
I give The Hobbit Two Shakes of Salt and a Big Chunk of Lime - the best rating one can ask for.
The Dark Knight Rises
Ok so the hype on this was incredible. So we finally rented it. I have adored Christian Bale since his days in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun (one of Spielberg's best films ever and it had a fine performance by John Malkovich). So in short order, this movie has some great actors - a roster of "greats" like Gary Oldman, Michael Cain (as the butler again), Morgan Freeman and Anne Hathaway as a not so believable Cat Woman. Yes she's leggy as hell but she reminds me too much of Julie Andrews so be Cat Woman, even Angelina Jolie could have been a much better choice for this role.
The movie was Big. I mean Big as in very very long stuffed with many many stories. Halfway through it, I turned to my husband as said "it's only halfway !" That is not good. Everyone acted well in it, and the plot made sense ( in Batman world) but it just seemed like an overstuffed baked potato, taking away from the nice simple main course of sesame crusted tuna. Christopher Nolan is an excellent director, and he made it a worthy journey into Gotham, but it just seemed like as an audience member I felt the way that Batman does in the beginning, just wanting to go back to retirement and leave Gotham for a while.
I give it One Shake of Salt and One Lime Squeeze - worth an evening viewing but if you have better plans
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