So thats what Johnny Depp is like when he isn't overacting. Its been so long I'd forgotten. Good movie, nice mystery twists, not the best score, but excellent acting all around. Even Josh Gad!

The finale, well perfectly fine, lacked some of the emotional punch of the previous movies.  I mean part of it is knowing several of the big "shock" deaths were coming.  But there wasn't a lot of connection with most of the deaths during the final assault on the Capitol.  I mean I know Katniss' new squad of Army pals had names, but I just thought ( Read more... )

Like all right thinking people I fail to see why this had to be three movies. But on the plus side the superfluous Necromancer stuff meant that we got a Galadriel/Elrond/Saruman vs. Wraith Kings rescuing Gandalf fight. Christopher Lee didn't really get to do a lot of ass whuppin' in the previous trilogy. Plus I really enjoyed seeing Billy ( Read more... )

PTSD Katniss is front and center here, as she is put up as the symbol of the rebellion.  Lawrence is especially good at swinging between angry hero and traumatized survivor.  Evil President Snow doesn't get to really push his super evilness, beyond ordering a bombing run on rebel hospital.  Though he does get revealed as having literally pumped out ( Read more... )

Really procrastinating on these now. *sigh*  Anyways, lets start with the free-range short fiction.  Seanan McGuire's IM is part of her "InCyrptid" series.  Sadly it feels more like a pro or post-logue than a full story. Her latest "Velveteen" story, Velveteen vs.Santa Claus, is a much stronger piece.  Even if it makes you want to punch Santa in ( Read more... )

The dragon looked great. And Tauriel was a pretty cool action lady. And despite all the padding the movie moves at a fast pace. And a bunch of that padding is letting the dwarves be bad ass instead of just getting captured by spiders, captured by elves, thrown into barrels and then sitting around while Bilbo talks to the dragon. But still such ( Read more... )

I like how they made sure to show that pretty much ALL the surviving Victors were some level of PTSD-crazy.  Even the District 1 & 2 Careerists.  Plus I forgot how much I'd liked Joanne.  And much props to Phillip Seymour Hoffman the most laid back mass murderer you'll ever meet.  Really strong acting all around...

Ah, they cut the convention sequence.  That had my favorite line.  Plus the whole erasure from time thing.  Still this was very much a movie version of John Dies at the End.  Also I should get around to reading the sequel...

The best description I can think of for this is..surprisingly cute. The movie version cuts out the odd zombie society/culture stuff. And downplays the whole zombies must feed on the living aspect a bit. And much of the humor comes from the incogruity of R's inner monologue vs. the external situation. But yeah, a cute and charming ZomRomCom...

So, not unexpectedly, the latest Tolkein/Jackson film is gorgeous to look at. And its clever and funny and heart-warming and thrilling and all to be expected. The question is, are all the extra bits worth it? In the sense of making one film into three. Bilbo does a lot more than he does in the book. Even at this early point. He decides on his ( Read more... )