A Series of Genres: Musical / Dance

My love for the theatrical arts rivals my love for the cinema, especially in high school and college. In high school I performed in my fair share of musicals, including Hello Dolly and The Wizard of Oz. In college, I work as a stagehand for the Honeywell Center, which is a local stage theater in central Indiana. While working at the Honeywell Center, I helped out with many performances including Annie and Cats. As you can see the theatre has left an imprint on my life, therefore I couldn’t skip the Musical / Dance genre. This genre typically doesn’t have sequels, so no real franchises have spawned out of this genre. Unless you want to count the bad sequels to classic Disney films. So, like before, I am going to do a top ten list, but this time around I’m going to put a bit of a spin on it. I’m going to do my favorite musicals throughout history. Let’s get started. 

2010’s: Les Misérables (2012) 

I know this decade hasn’t even reached the half-way point yet, but there have been a lot good movie to come out already. Les Misérables is by far the best musical film of the decade so far. Over the past five years or so, these are my favorite musicals to contend with Les Misérables: The Muppets (2011), Pitch Perfect (2012), and Frozen (2013). Even though Frozen and The Muppets had better songs (“Let It Go” and “Man or Muppet”) Les Misérables was a better film overall, which it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. 

2000’s “Modern Musical Era”: The Phantom of the Opera (2004), Moulin Rouge! (2001) 

The 2000’s was a great decade for musicals, just look at all these contenders: Chicago (2002), The Producers (2005), Rent (2005), Dreamgirls (2006), Across the Universe (2007), Enchanted (2007) Hairspray (2007), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Mamma Mia! (2008), and The Princess and the Frog (2009). There were a lot of choices from this decade. From a personal stand point most of these films came out while I was in high school and college, when my love for the theatre was at its peak. The merit of these film were also good. Chicago won Best Picture at the Academy Awards in 2002 and, Moulin Rouge was nominated for Best Picture in 2001. Dreamgirls and Enchanted both had three of their songs nominated for Best Song. I personally didn’t enjoy those films as much as The Phantom of the Opera. The factor that placed The Phantom of the Opera at the top of my list was it visuals. It was nominated for Best Cinematography, but was beaten out by The Aviator. 

1990’s “Modern Disney Era”: The Lion King (1994) 

The 90’s was the decade that housed a good amount of Disney movies with great songs, thanks primarily to Alan Menken. Here are the songs that won Best Song at the Academy Awards, that were produced by Disney: “Beauty and the Beast”, "A Whole New World", "Can You Feel the Love Tonight", "Colors of the Wind", and "You'll Be in My Heart". I’m going to lump in "Under the Sea" even though that song won in 1989. Both The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast had three songs nominated for best song during their respectful years. Beauty and the Beast one-upped The Lion King and earned a Best Picture nomination in 1991. Beauty and the Beast may have bested The Lion King at the Oscars, but The Lion King is one of favorite Disney movies, so it has Beauty and the Beast beat in my opinion. 

1980’s “Dance Era”: Footloose (1984) 

You couldn't have two left feet in the 80’s because there were a good amount of dance themed movies: Fame (1980), Flashdance (1983), Staying Alive (1983), and Dirty Dancing (1987). All of these films were good to groove to but some better than the other. The songs “Fame”, “Flashdance…What a Felling”, and “(I've Had) The Time of My Life” all won the Oscar for Best Song. The song “Footloose” was nominated, but was knocked out by “I Just Called to Say I Love You” by Stevie Wonder. I believe Footloose had the better story out of the dance movies in the 80’s. 

1970’s “Silver Age of Musicals”: Grease (1978) 

There were a lot of musicals released in the 70’s, three of which were recognized as great films by being nominated for Academy Awards, those are, Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Cabaret (1972), and All That Jazz (1979). Some of the other musical released in the 70’s that I thought were good: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), Pete's Dragon (1977), and The Muppet Movie (1978). Some of these movies had Best Song nomination with these songs: "Candle on the Water" and "Rainbow Connection". Grease is a classic movie musical with good songs. 

1960’s “Golden Age of Musicals”: West Side Story (1961) 

Musical movies in the 1960’s brought home the golden Oscar many times, four musicals won Best Picture in the 60’s. Those Films are as followed, West Side Story (1961), My Fair Lady (1964), The Sound of Music (1965), and Oilver! (1968). Other musical movies were nominated for Best Picture but didn't win: The Music Man (1962) was beat out by Lawrence of Arabia, Marry Poppins (1964) lost to My Fair Lady, Funny Girl (1968) was defeated by Oilver!, and Hello, Dolly! (1969) did make the cut verse Midnight Cowboy. If you have been counting that’s eight musical movies nominated for Best Picture. Marry Poppins may have not taken home the Oscar for Best picture, but it takes home the Oscar for Best song with “Chim Chim Cher-ee” I want to say Marry Poppins is second favorite musical of this decade, mixing animation and live action was spectacular, especially for that time period. 

1950’s “Classic Era”: Singin' in the Rain (1952) 

This decade brought with it a lot of classic movies in general, naturally the musical movie world followed suit release some classics of its own. Gigi (1958) won Best Pasture and Best Song, were as, The King and I was nominated, but was bested by Around the World in 80 Days (1956). A hand-full of classic Disney film also came out during this decade, Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland, (1951), Peter Pan (1953), Sleeping Beauty (1959), granted these films are less known for their musical numbers. Overall this decade produced many musical that are seen as classic films today. 

1940’s “Classic Disney Era": Pinocchio (1940) 

It could be argued that 1950’s is the “Classic Disney Era” because of the Disney film that came out during those years, but I’m going to make a case for the 40’s. Disney was making his mark in the 40’s with films such as, Pinocchio (1940), Dumbo (1941), Saludos Amigos (1942), The Three Caballeros (1944), Make Mine Music (1946), Melody Time (1948) and, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949). Again not all these movie are 100% musicals, per se, but they do have great music that is beatifically worked into the stories. I think Pinocchio dose this best with all of its songs, but most noteworthy with it songs, "When You Wish Upon a Star” and "I've Got No Strings.” For those of you who might be thinking, “He has spent a lot of time on Disney films”, well Disney has produced many movies and a large percentage of them have been musicals, and good musical if I may add. Tommy from Informal Talks might argue I didn't spend enough time on Disney movies. With that being said, I may do post on animated film in the future, keep your eyes peeled. 

1930’s: The Wizard of Oz (1939) 

Going to be honest, I have seen many films from this decade and beyond. I know that I really like The Wizard of Oz as both a musical and movie. The film was nominated for Best Picture but lost to Gone with the Wind. The Wizard of Oz’s song “Over the Rainbow” won the Oscar for Best Song. What else do I have to say about this classic timeless musical movie? That’s right nothing! 

What are your favorite Movie Musicals?

Road to the Oscars: My Picks

We’re smack dab in the middle of award season, so much so, the Screen Actor Guild Awards (SAG Awards) is happening as we speak, and will be wrapped up by the time this post goes up. The Producers Guild of America Awards (PGA Awards) were yesterday, here are the results. The road to the Oscars is shortening with only the British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA), arranging February 8th, and the various guild awards are left, before the big night in Hollywood. After seeing the results of all the awards so far who do you having winning the Oscars this year? See my ballot here. The only nomination, or the lack there of, that upsets me is not seeing The Lego Movie on the Best Animation Feature ballot. I would like to hear your opinion, hence why I’m writing this little post. Here are some of my predictions to get the conversation started: 




Best Picture: Birdman 

Actor in a Leading Role: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything 

Actress in a Leading Role: Julianne Moore, Still Alice 

Actor in a Supporting Role: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash 

Actress in a Supporting Role: Patricia Arquette 

Best Directing: Richard Linklater, Boyhood 

Best Visual Effects: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 



FYI: I’m planning the next post in the genre series, it going to be the Musical and Dance genre. Hopefully you all are ready for some musical numbers in the coming weeks. 

A Series of Genres: Horror

The horror genre is our next stop on the journey through the various film genres. This is a genre I rather skip because I have little knowledge of the films in this genre. Even with being a huge film fan, I haven’t seen that many horror films compared to other genres. What I’m trying to say is that the horror genre is my least favorite. With all things being equal, I’m going to give my best shot of putting together a top five list of the best horror film franchise.

Before we get to that list, let’s define fear, or at least paint a better picture of fear. I personally like how Stephen King breaks down fear. He explains that there are three types: The Gross-out, Horror, and Terror. The Gross-out are things that gross you out like blood, gore, or slime. The ooey-gooey and yucky bits, as it were. Horror is the scary “monsters” in the world, ranging from giant spiders to zombies. From my understanding Terror is the unseen monsters, the supernatural, or eerie things in the world. Have you ever had the feeling like someone or something is standing right behind you, but when you turn around there’s nothing there, that’s terror. Oddly enough Horror films follow that model fairly close, creating a few different sub-genres.

The sub-genres of Splatter Films or Torture Porn brings with it, a whole lot of blood and guts. These films tend to focus on the survival of a character or group of characters as they endure many tests, usually involving torture devices. These sub-genres best exemplify the gross-out because of the exorbitant amount blood and guts used.

Slasher films are in between the gross-out and horror on the “fear scale” Slasher films became very popular in the 80’s and 90’s with classic killers like Jason Voorhees, Micheal Myers, and Freddy Krueger. The films in this genre, usually deal with a killer running around killing teenagers, who are up to no good (those partaking in sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll). This genre uses a good mixture of gore and the fear of being chased by a killer to scare its audience.

Creature Features / Monster Movies I think best describes Horror on the “fear scale.” The classic horror film featured many of the common monsters that we know and love today, monster such as, vampires, werewolves, mummies, zombies, ghouls, ghosts, and Frankenstein. The monster genre has evolved over the years, sadly, into movies that aren't even that scary, Thanks Twilight. I’m glad that giant monsters and H.P Lovecraft-esk movies haven’t been glossed over by pointless teenage love stories. It is fun to see a kaiju wreck a city, every once in a while.

Terror best comes from the Supernatural and Paranormal films. This sub-genre has blown up in popularity in recent history with film such as Paranormal Activity. These films scares its audience to jump-scares that were built up via the film’s ambiance. Filmmakers in this genre achieve their scare tactics by making the “camera man” the most ominous person or thing, on screen.

Now that you have a basic idea of the different fears and how they play into the horror genre, l can reveal my top five horror franchise.

1. The Evil Dead
2. 28 Days Later
3. Scream
4. Saw
5. Paranormal Activity

I have great respect for Sam Raimi and his filmmaking genius in his 80’s classic horror flick, The Evil Dead. The Evil Dead has an inserting backstory. Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi have been friends for quite some time, creating many short films together. Raimi, Campbell, and their close friends, and family made a short horror film called Within the Woods. They hoped this film would get enough buzz to make a bigger budget horror film. The film didn’t really impress, so Raimi and Campbell ask for donation from friends and family. Eventually the two of them raised enough money to make The Evil Dead. They took their small budget to a cabin in the middle of the woods near Morristown, Tennessee. The production had many issues because of its small budget, which included getting lost and hurt. Raimi found creative ways to achieve certain shots that would require equipment they couldn't afford. One of those shots was achieved by taping a camera to a bicycle. Raimi stretched his dollars by using his own arms and legs for close ups. Basically Raimi and friends endured the elements, to create a “realistic” horror flick, sounds a bit crazy. Their hard work paid off, the film is one of the best low-budget horror movies ever made. Critically, it has done well, Rotten Tomatoes have given the film a 96%, while another review site place the film above the 70% mark. The Evil Dead is only the beginning, Sam Raimi counted his legacy in the horror genre with Evil Dead II, and Army of Darkness. The franchise was rebooted in 2013 with a remake titled Evil Dead directed by Fede Alvarez. Even with Raimi and Campbell on as producers the remake didn't have as much charm as the original film.

28 Days Later brought to life a new way to look at the zombie genre. The classic zombie is a re-animated corpse with a healthy appetite for brains and human flesh. In 28 Days Later, humans are infected by a highly contagious virus that causes rage in its victims. The film follows the hero character, Jim (Cillian Murphy), who awakens from a coma to find a post-apocalyptic version of London. Jim is saved from a group of infected by Selena (Naomie Harris) and Mark (Noah Huntley). The rest of the film focuses on the three of them surviving this treacherous new world. 28 Days Later’s sequel, 28 Weeks Later, follows another group of survivors of the “Rage Virus”. Danny Boyle, the director of the first film, has shown interest in returning to this franchise but has been busy with other projects. I personally wouldn't mind seeing a 28 Months Later film, especially if Danny Boyle returned as director.

One of the Kings of Horror, Wes Craven, best known for the Nightmare on Elm Street / Freddy Krueger franchise brought us another set of successful Slasher films in the late 90’s. This film series changed the rules of the Slasher genre. For starters the film was more or less a satire of the Slasher genre. The film did this by making most of the main characters wildly familiar with “Scary Movies” and their clichés. The killer, Ghostface, broke the rules set forth by Slasher films, he loved, in doing so creating a new set of rules to kill by. The opening scene of the film set the tone of how the killer operates. His first victim’s death set into motion because a high school girl fails at a scary movie trivia question. I personally didn’t fall in love with this film like other Slasher film aficionados, but this franchise is one of my favorite Slashers. Friday the 13th, Halloween, and Nightmare on Elm Street may have paved the way for these films, but they weren't as entertaining as the Scream films.

Saw is another low-budget success story. Oddly enough, Saw’s beginnings were similar to The Evil Dead. Saw started out as a short film with the same titled with intentions to attract film studios. Unlike The Evil Dead, Saw had some success at this stage and caught their eyes of some producers at Evolution Entertainment. These producers decided to make a horror division called Twisted Pictures, allowing James Wan and Leigh Whannell to expand their short film into a feature length film. (Note: One of the producers at Twisted Pictures is Oren Koules, that such a good name.) The Saw franchise was born along with the “Torture Porn” genre. Saw isn't the first film to use gore and torture as the main element in a film, but it sure did popularize in the modern era of filmmaking. Saw was released on Halloween 2004, becoming a hit. Saw took its new popularity and created a fairly successful franchise spanning seven films, each taking the top box office spot of the Halloween weekend. To put this perceptive numerically: The seven films have made roughly 873 million worldwide (Highest: Saw III with 165 million, Lowest: Saw VI with 68 million, Average: 125 million) Compare those numbers to their budgets (Highest: Saw 3D with 17million, Lowest: Saw with 1 – 1.2 million, Average: 9 million). As you can see, the films did well at the box office. Critically the film was pretty bad. Saw has the highest review on Rotten Tomatoes topping the charts at 48% and the lowest is Saw V with 12%, giving the franchise an average rating of roughly 25%.

To be honest, I really dislike the Paranormal Activity franchise. One of the main reasons I dislike these films is the teenagers that made my job harder. I worked at an AMC theater throughout college and every new Paranormal Activity brought with it a list of problems from the crowd. Even if I didn't have those bad experiences, the films didn't really turn my crank. These films may have perfected the jump-scar, but I wasn't that scared. With all the negative remarks, you may be asking yourself; why are these films on your top five list then, surly there are better suited films? I wanted to make an effort to include at least one franchise from each horror sub-genre, also I have to give credit where credit is due. The Paranormal Activity franchise is by far one of, if not the most profitable horror film franchise. The average budget of these films is roughly 3.5 million and the first film was made for 15,000 dollars. The Paranormal Activity franchise has made just over 811.5 million. That’s a good amount of dough for a “found –footage” film. (Note: These films are directed by Oren Peli, such a good name.)

Best and Worst Films of 2014

It’s that time of year again. I want to give you my best / worst films of 2014, followed by the films I’m the most excited for in 2015. My list is going to be based off films I have watched. Since I live in a smaller town, my local theater doesn't get many low-budget or independent films, so my list may not have some of the greatest of the year.

Best:

1. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
2. Gone Girl
3. Boyhood
4. The Theory of Everything
5. Guardians of the Galaxy
6. The Lego Movie
7. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
8. X-Men: Day of Future Past
9. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
10. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Worst:

1. Transformers 4: Age of Extinction
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
3. Lucy
4. 300: Rise of an Empire
5. The Legend of Hercules
6. Hercules
7. Divergent
8. Dracula Untold
9. Maleficent
10. The Amazing Spider-Man 2

2015:

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
2. The Avengers: Age of Ultorn
3. Ant-Man
4. Jurassic World
5. Inside Out
6. Mad Max: Fury Road
7. Tomorrowland
8. In the Heart of the Sea
9. Pixels
10. Hitman: Agent 47

A Series of Genres: Fantasy

We are back to the old regiment. This week I’m going to explore the magical lands set forth by various storytellers throughout history. These lands provide many opportunities to rise as a hero. Riding shotgun through the hero’s journey we, the audience, empathizes with the hero; experiencing the vast unknown world yet to be explored, together. On our journey we may be joined by a company of friends and allies compose of the following: a wise old mentor, a brave warrior, a man of the cloth, or a charismatic scoundrel. Our company of adventures will be tested both physically and mentally on the perilous journey head. If fate is in our favor we will return home unscathed, but as change individuals with inspirational stories of heroism.

For those of you that have been following this blog recently may recognized this anecdote as an adventure, and may be wondering why I’m not talking about fantasy as the title suggest. Let me recall my adventure post where I said “…adventures are usually paired with other genres. Personally, I think adventures pairs nicely with fantasy and sci-fi films.” Most people, including myself, lump fantasy and sci-fi together, because they tend to share themes and motifs. This week I want to focus just on fantasy. So what separates fantasy from sci-fi? The primary thing that separates the two genres is setting. Science Fiction (sci-fi) is rooted in science or scientific theory that usually has an outer space setting where as fantasy is set in an imaginary world, ruled by magic and mythological beast. Those descriptions are not hard definitions of the two genres, but good generalization that both genres usually follow.

Now that you know what basically separates fantasy from sci-fi, let’s delve into some of my favorite stand-alone fantasy films. I’m going to start off with some classics and then move into the modern ear.

First off is one of the first fantasy film, The Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of Oz is based loosely off the book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The Wizard of Oz follows Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) and her dog, Toto, as they explore the colorful Land of Oz in an attempt to find a way back to their home in Kansas. Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (a fairy godmother type character), and the Munchkins (jolly halfling people) instructed Dorothy to follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City, were Wizard of Oz resides. This would be their best bet on finding their way back home. On her way she encounters a scarecrow, who want a brain, a tin man, who wants a heart, and a lion, who wants courage. The road isn’t easy because the Wicked Witch of the West, foils their plans by sending her flying monkeys. Dorothy defeat the Wicked Witch and save her friends. Upon returning the Wicked Witch’s broom, The Wizard of Oz “grants” their wishes, in the form of tokens of gratitude. Modern fantasy film uses an exuberant amount of CGI to create their fantasy world, were in 1939 they used color and detailed set piece to distinguish the difference between the dream world (Oz) and reality (Kansas). That level of filmmaking give me great respect of how they did things back then.

The next two films on my list also have that same level of respect because the films were made primarily with puppets. Those two films are The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. In the 1980’s, Jim Henson had a crazy idea to make a film with nothing but puppets. His first attempt was The Dark Crystal. The film did decently at the box office, taking home a little over forty million. What would happen if they made a film like The Dark Crystal but bringing in star power? Jim Henson’s next non-Muppet film was just that. Labyrinth brought with it David Bowie and, newcomer, Jennifer Connelly. Even with the star power, Labyrinth tanked at the box office, making less than thirteen million, about half of its budget of twenty-five million. To make matter worse the critic ate the film up saying things like, “it was awful.” Labyrinth didn’t gain its popularity and cult following until its release on home video.

Fast-forward a few years past Labyrinth to the year 1988. A little gem of a film titled Willow, came out that year. This was Ron Howard’s first full length high-fantasy film. The film was written by George Lucas (Star Wars) and screenplay by Bob Dolman. Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis) is a humble farmer who stumbles upon a human a baby girl, which he places in his protection. The village is attacked by a hound during Willow’s ceremony to become the apprentice to the village wizard. Willow is then tasked with returning the baby to the humans. On his journey he allies himself with a human swordsman named Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), a sorceress named Fin Raze, and two brownies named Franjean and Rool. This company all join forces to protect this baby, named Elora Danan, from the evil Queen Bavmorda, and her armies lead by her daughter, Sorsha. What I like the most about this film is it light heartiness, and fun spirit.

Throughout the 1990’s there were numerous Sci-fi film, and handful of fantasy films. In the early 90’s, 1991 to be exact, the film Hook was in theaters. Hook stared Robin Williams. The film takes place many years after the original telling of Peter Pan. Peter Banning (Robin Williams) is fairly neglectful father to his children, Jack and Maggie. While visiting their grandmother Wendy in London the two children are kidnaped by a mysterious figure and taken to Neverland. Tinkerbell shows up and tries to convince Peter that he is Peter Pan. He doesn’t believe so Tinkerbell has to forcibly take Peter to Neverland. After seeing his children with Captain Hook, he decided to fight for them by remembering that he is Peter Pan. With the help of the Lost Boys and Tinkerbell, Peter becomes Peter Pan. Peter fights Hook and wins the hearts of his children. The three of them return home and live happily ever after.

In the 2000’s many films were experimenting with visual effect, making many breakthroughs in CGI. One of those major breakthroughs was Motion capture (Mo-cap). Mo-cap allows the visual effects team to capture an actor’s motions / performance and use that as the framework for a CGI character. During this era movies were filming full scenes with nothing but CGI, blanketing sets in green screens. Then came along a Mexican filmmaker named Guillermo del Toro, who become known for using a healthy mix of practical effects and CGI. I believe that the film, El laberinto del fauno ( Pan’s Labyrinth) is the best example of Guillermo del Toro’s style. The film was beautiful, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences would back me up on this, awarding the film Oscars in the Art Direction, Cinematography, and Makeup categories. Apparently, Pan’s Labyrinth didn’t make the mark in the Visual Effect category that year, instead the category was filled with the following films, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Poseidon, and Superman Returns. Taking home the prize was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Pan’s Labyrinth merit, not only lie in its visuals, but in it story as well. Pan’s Labyrinth follows a little girl named Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and her quest to become the rightful princess of the Underworld. To do so Ofeli must complete three tasks given to her by a faun. These tasks lead her into a dark fairy tale world filled with eerie monsters. The reason why I spent the so much time on Guillermo del Toro and Pan’s Labyrinth is because del Toro has a connection to one of the franchise in my top five list.

I don’t need a better segue than that, here is my Top Five Franchise in the Fantasy Genre that you all have been waiting for:

1. Tolkien Film Franchise
2. Star Wars Franchise
3. Harry Potter Franchise
4. The Chronicles of Narnia Franchise
5. Shrek Franchise

• Honorable Mention: The Neverending Story

The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films bring Professor Tolkien’s classic novels alive. J. R. R. Tolkien is known for elaborated histories and world building. Tolkien started his work in the early 1930’s with his first tale in Middle-Earth drawing inspiration from many mythologies, including: Finnish, Norse, Greek, and Christianity, among others. What I like most about Tolkin’s work is he gave each race in his stories their own history, culture, and language. He not only does this for the normal fantasy races like dwarves, elves, and men, but for the monstrous races like goblins, trolls, and orcs. This attention to detail can also be seen on screen, in the story and in the craftsmanship. Peter Jackson utilized a native New Zealand special effects and prop company named WETA. One example of their detailed work is the armor they crafted for the film. They hand crafted each piece of armor and weapon in the film, bring aboard blacksmiths and leather-workers. The film also uses quite a bit of CGI, creating creatures such as the Balrog. Some of the CGI creatures, one in particular, came to life via motion capture. Andy Serkis brilliant mo-cap performance brought the creature Gollum to life. The level of acting talent doesn’t stop at Andy Serkis. The cast list in The Lord of the Ring is fantastic: Elijah Wood, Sir Ian McKellen, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Bean, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan. All their hard work didn’t go unnoticed either; The Return of the King alone racked up 11 nominations at the Oscars. Roughly ten years after the release of The Return of the King, Peter Jackson would return to Middle-Earth and produce The Hobbit, with Guillermo del Toro at the helm. Guillermo del Toro left the project because of filming conflicts, passing the reins back to Peter Jackson, but he retained a writing credit for his conurbation to the film. I could talk about the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films all day, but it is time to move on.

Star Wars is seen as Sci-fi because of its setting and its use of scientific looking things like the lightsaber. Personally I would classify the films as a space fantasy. The themes and motifs line up more with fantasy. George Lucas drew inspiration from many different sources, including old war and samurai films. Examining the heart and soul of Star Wars, its story, one will realize that it’s modeled after Joseph Campbell’s theory, the hero's journey. For a better explanation of the hero's journey, check out this diagram. The original trilogy did a lot to advance the technology of visual effect, which spawned a company. Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is one of the large visual effect, if not the largest. ILM has worked on many film over the years, averaging about 8 to 10 films a year. ILM has worked on most of the films I have mention in this post. What I’m try to get across is ILM has been a big part of the visual effects world. Star Wars in general didn’t really see a lot of love from the Academy, except for A New Hope, winning 6 out 10 of their nomination. All three films in the original trilogy won a Special Achievement Award for visual effects. I personally love Star Wars and I can’t wait for The Force Awakens.

Harry Potter hold a special place in my heart. I read all the books. I was one of those Potter nerds that stood in line for hours on end waiting for my copy of the newest book. I repeated that process for every movie once they started making them into films, except for the years I work at a movie theater. Harry Potter is a coming of age story with magic. Harry goes from being a “normal” boy to a great wizard powerful enough to take down the big bad wizard named Voldemort. In the Harry Potter world, magic is real, but its usage has been hidden from us Muggles, those lacking in magical abilities. Harry Potter’s only picking up Academy Award nominations in many of the artsy categories like Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, and Best Costume, but where it lacks in prestigious awards it make up in finances. The Harry Potter franchise has made just under 8 billion dollars worldwide, placing it in the top three most successful film franchise, financially.

The Chronicles of Narnia is another special childhood / teenage memory for me. The Chronicles of Narnia was the first time I was exposed to a fantasy world. In the books and later in the films, the audience follows a group of children as the journey to the Land of Narnia. This land can only be entered by magical means, the first of which was through a magical wardrobe. The first time I watched The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe I was impressed with how they handled the Christian undertones that C.S. Lewis wrote in his books.

Sherk is one of those animated films that works for both children and adults. I personally thought Sherk was clever and fun, but then it turns bad, with all its sequels and spin-offs. Shrek is produced by DreamWorks Animation. I jokingly say DreamWorks Animation put out one good film for every ten films. Form my personal tastes, that statement is kind of true. From that production company I enjoyed: Sherk, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon. There maybe a few more that I liked, but not love. I’m a Pixar guy through and through. I haven’t really seen a bad Pixar film, well in my opinion. With that being said I’m excited for Pixar’s newest movie Inside Out.

Now for my Honorable Mention: The Neverending Story. I haven’t had an honorable mention before because the race wasn’t as close as it was this week. Sherk barley made it in my top five because I didn’t like its sequels and spin-offs. The Neverending Story is based off a novel with the same name written by Michael Ende. The Neverending Story brings out the same love I have for the other fantasy films from the 80’s. I like how the story comes to life as the boy reads the words. It’s just one of those films I have a special place for, even though it’s not the greatest films cinematically.

This post should be going up on Christmas Eve, so I would like to wish my readers a Happy Holiday. I will end by asking, what films is everyone planning on watching this Holiday season? Maybe, Into the Woods, would be fitting because it is a fantasy film opening on Christmas Day.

Review: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

IMDb

Title: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Director: Peter Jackson
Writer(s):  Fran Walsh (Screenplay), Philippa Boyens (Screenplay), and Peter Jackson 
Starring: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Other Dwarves, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lily, and Benedict Cumberbatch as the Voice of Smaug / Necromancer
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images
Running Time: 144 min
Synopsis: Bilbo and Company are forced to engage in a war against an array of combatants and keep the terrifying Smaug from acquiring a kingdom of treasure and obliterating all of Middle-Earth.

What Others Are Saying?

Rotten Tomatoes: T-Meter: 59% "Rottenh", Top Critics: 54% "Rotten", Audience: NA "Like It"
Metacritic: Critics: 60 out of 100, Users: NA out of 10
MRQE Metric: 68 out of 100

My Review

Source Material: Based off The Hobbit, and other "Middle-Earth" books written by J. R. R. Tolkien.   

Entertaining Value:

• Action Elements: The title of the film is called The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. It delivers an epic battle.    

• Comedy Elements: This film has more of a serious tone, a tone much like the Lord of the Rings films, being a war film after all.     

• Dramatic Elements: I liked that characters inner struggle drove most of the drama in the film. A lot of the film's tension comes in the form of trying to stop the inevitable battle from starting.

• Sci-Fi / Fantasy Elements: "This film is set in a high fantasy world called "Middle-Earth" with humans, dwarves, eleves, hobbits, and dragons.       

Cinematic Value:

• Acting and Dialogue: 7: A lot of the greats are back, performing at adequate levels. Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, and Hugo Weaving are all fantastic actors. It was exciting to see their characters actually live up to their names. Even the "new comers" did a fine job. Even if you don't agree that some of the characters don't belong. Overall the performances were fine, they may not be Oscar worthy like we got in the Lord of the Rings films, but this isn't the Lord of the Rings.

• Art Direction: 8: "New Zealand is the best backdrop for high fantasy worlds." I said that very thing for the last Hobbit and it still reign true. I also would like to add that the ruin city adds a new depth to the film.       

• Cinematography: 7: I really liked that the battle sequences were focused on. I felt the scope of the battle without being overwhelmed. The fight sequences were well choreographed, making for better shots.          

• Direction: 7: I believe this film has the shortest running out of the three the Hobbit films with a running time of 144min ( 2hrs and 24mins). For the most part every minute of the film was entertaining. I think Jackson did a fine job, like the performance, he did an adequate job, but not Oscar worthy, Good not Great.                       

• Editing: 7: For me the editing was fine. I felt that most of the scenes had enough time devoted to them. There were only a few scenes I would have cut, but primarily those pertains to the character development.    

• Screenplay: 6: (Note:I know I'm hurting my credibility here a bit when I say I haven't read the Hobbit. With that being said, I have limited knowledge on how accurate the films are to its source material. I do have access to a friend who is a BIG Tolkien fan, who is very well educated in all things Middle-Earth. I tend to refer to his knowledge, when I need validation on lore.) From my understanding a lot of this film was fabricated but with good tasted. Presumably, most of the interaction added to the film can be found either in the appendixes of Tolkien's other works or in Tolkien's personal notes. I know some are still "butt-hurt" with the additions of Legolas and Tauriel. Legolas makes sence. I'm even fine with Tauriel as a strong women elf, who is an orc killing machine, even thought her character was 100% fabricated. It was absolutely unnecessary to make her Kili's love interest. Personally, I don't think there love story is coherent with Tolkien lore. Secondly, there love story didn't add any to the overall story, if anything it detracted from it. Kili already has enough motivation to fight. I think that's only the tip of the "nerd rage" iceberg pertaining to Tauriel and Kili's love story.

• Sound and Music: 8: I have always love the score to the Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit.

• VFX: 10: It visual effect was fantastic, I see an Oscar nomination if not win in the future.

Overall: 7: I really enjoyed this film overall.            

A Series of Genres: Epic

This blog is going to take a turn for the epic, or at least its contents will. That’s right, we are going to talk about Epic and Historical films this week. A genre that could be renamed, Sword and Sandal, for the attire the characters wear in these films. An Epic film is a story that is larger than life, even if the story was embellished upon. Most Epic films are rooted in historical events and follow a hero with an extraordinary life. That is the type of Epic films we are going to explore this week. Epics can come in many forms; Adventure films can reach epic proportions like in The Lord of the Rings. Even some War film can have an epic scope like Saving Private Ryan. Even though these are good films in the Epic genre, I want to focus more on the Sword and Sandal style of film. If you want to see my opinion on the Tolkien films, check out my top five franchises in the Adventure genre, here. For my opinion on Saving Private Ryan and other War films, stay tuned to this blog because I plan on writing about War films near the end of my genre series. This week I’m going to break away from my format because of the nature of Epic films. Epic films tend not to have sequels, so I can’t really give a top five list in the Epic genre. Instead of skipping the Epic genre entirely, I decide to compile a top ten list. One of the lists, I drew inspiration from is, WatchMojo’s Top 10 Sword and Sandal Movies, seen here. Let’s compare their list to my list:

1. Gladiator
2. Ben-Hur
3. Spartacus
4. The Ten Commandments
5. 300
6. The Passion of the Christ
7. Conan the Barbarian
8. Troy
9. Clash of the Titans (1981)
10. Jason and the Argonauts

• Gladiator follows the life of Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe). Maximus is Roman General in Marcus Aurelius’ army that becomes a slave because of Commodus’ scheming plot against him and his family. While in slavery, Maximus used his military training to rise in fame as a gladiator. As a famous gladiator, Maximus was presented with an opportunity to fight in Roman Colosseum, which impressed Commodus himself. After learning that Maximus is the identity behind the gladiator, Commodus arranged a fight between himself and Maximus in the arena that ends with Maximus restoring his honor as a good man. This story is mixed with a healthy amount of epic gladiatorial battle sequences that were obviously inspired from other film on this list, including Ben-Hur and Spartacus. Both Russell Crow and Joaquin Phoenix showcase Oscar worthy performance.

• Ben-Hur follows the life of Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston). Judah Ben-Hur was a rich Jewish prince who becomes a slave at the hands of his childhood friend, Messala (Stephen Boyd), who happens to be the newest commanding officer of a Roman Legion. Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins) offers to be Ben-Hur’s personal trainer as charioteer because he admires Ben-Hur’s determination and self-discipline. Three years later Ben-Hur becomes a free man learning Roman rule from Arrius, his now adopted father, which leads to him becoming a champion charioteer. Ben-Hur longs for more than fame and fortune so he travels back home to Jerusalem. On his way through Judea, Ben-Hur learns about a chariot race being held in honor of Pontius Pilate from an Arab sheik named Balthasar. Ben-Hur declines the offer to compete even after hearing his friend, now rival, Messala would be attending. In Jerusalem, Ben-Hur meets with Messala, in an attempt to free his mother and sister from prison. The two women concreted leprosy while in prison and were sent out of the city. The women didn’t want Ben-Hur to find out about this truth so they asked Esther, Ben-Hur’s love interest, to cover for them. Esther tells Ben-Hur that his mother and sister have died, which in turns changed his decision to compete in the chariot race.

• Spartacus follows the life of a gladiator named Spartacus (Kirk Douglas). Spartacus and his fellow slave buddy’s lead a slave uprising against Roman rule during the events known as The Third Servile War. Spartacus and Ben-Hur paved the way for most of the film on this list.

• The Ten Commandments follows the life of Moses (Charlton Heston). Moses was a Hebrew boy born during Pharaoh Rameses’ decree, to kill all firstborn Hebrews males. Since Moses matched that description, his mother decided to place him in a basket and float him down the Nile River. Pharaoh's daughter finds the basket with the baby Moses and raises the child as her own. Moses is seen as a “Prince of Egypt” and equal to Rameses II, his brother and rightful heir. Moses discovers his heritage and realized he belonged with his people. Moses defends the Hebrew slaves and is banished out of Egypt by the new Pharaoh, his brother, Rameses II. Moses and his family move to the desert and settle in the land of Midian. While attending to his flock Moses is contacted by the Hebrew God via a burning bush. God requires of Moses to save his people from Egypt. Moses returns to Egypt and kindly asks Pharaoh Rameses II to free the slave, he refuse. God answers his refusal in the form of ten plagues. In the final plague, God sends the angel of death to take the life of all first born males, not protect by the blood of the lamb. After finding his son dead, Rameses II free the Hebrew people, but only for a moment. Rameses and an army of chariots pursue Moses. They meet at the impassable Red Sea. Moses raises his staff and the Red Sea parts, allowing the Hebrews to cross on dry land. Rameses and his army follow, but are washed away by the sea. Moses climbs Mount Sinai to receive God’s laws, while away the Hebrew’s create a golden calf. Moses returns down the mount with God’s laws, The Ten Commandments, and see the calf. Out of anger he smashed the tables on the calf. After this event the Hebrew’s wander the wilderness for forty years, finally stumbling upon Canaan, the promise land. Not being able to enter this promise land because of his disobedience, Moses appoints as the new leader of the Hebrew people. Moses life has been told many times on the silver screen in films such as The Prince of Egypt, and Exodus Gods and Kings but, I personally think The Ten Commandments is the best rendition.

• 300 follows the life of King Leonidas (Gerard Bulter) and his 300 Spartans as they battle King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his massive Persian army. This story is rooted in history, but heavily embellished upon. This film is based on the graphic novel with the same title written by Frank Miller. Frank Miller took the main players and events in the Battle of Thermopylae and created a story fitting for a graphic novel. One aspect of the film I like the most is the panel by panel accuracy.

• The Passion of the Christ follows the life of Jesus of Nazareth (Jim Caviezel), or at least the last 12 hours of his life. The film focuses primarily on Jesus arrest, trial, and crucifixion. The film does a decent job at compiling the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) into a signal narrative. The film also sprinkles in references to other religious text in the Judeo-Christian belief, to paint a picture of Jesus as Lord and Savior. The film is fairly accurate in historical science. It does this by showcasing the Romans meticulous facilitation of crucifixions and the choice to use regional and historical languages, making The Passion of the Christ a quasi- Foreign Language Film.

• Conan the Barbarian follows the life of Conan (Arnold Schwarzeneggere). Conan is a barbarian who witnessed the savage death of his parent's by the wizard Thulsa Doom. Conan becomes a strong man by working in the slave pits. He earns his freedom by winning numerous gladiatorial battles. As a free man Conan set out on a quest to avenge his parent death. Taking up a sword he finds in an ancient tomb, Conan cuts down his enemies, unless they are female then he may sleep them for information. If this classic 80’s sword and sorcery film doesn’t spark your fancy, then maybe the remake starring Jason Momoa will.

• Troy follows the life of Achilles (Brad Pitt) as a hero in the Trojan War. Troy is loosely based on Homer’s Iliad, which is an epic that tells the story of the quarrels between King Agamemnon and Achilles during the Trojan War. The Trojan War is a great war in Greek mythology between the Achaeans (Greeks) and the Trojans. This war starts at the hand of Paris, a prince of Troy, abducted King Menelaus’ wife, Helen of Sparta. The Greek’s retaliate by setting in motion a siege upon the city of Troy lead by King Menelaus’s brother King Agamemnon, king of Mycenae. King Agamemnon recruits many heroes to fight along his side, including Achilles and Ajax the Greater.

• Clash of the Titans follows the life of Perseus (Harry Hamlin). Clash of the Titans is another movie rooted in Greek mythology. In this story, Perseus is sent on many quests to fight monster including Medusa and the Kraken, in doing so, winning the heart of Princess Andromeda. To complete his missions, Perseus is guided by the gods and gifted a sword, a helmet, and shield. Zeus himself gives Perseus a flying horse named Pegasus. After Perseus victories the gods, honor him and his companions in the stars. What I like most of this film is the stop-motion animation used for the monster.

• Jason and the Argonauts follows the life of Jason (Todd Armstrong) and his Argonauts on their quest to find the famous Golden Fleece. Yet another story from Greek mythology, Jason is tasked from Pelias to find the legendary Golden Fleece. Jason assembles a crew to help him sail the ship Argo, among them is the hero Hercules (Nigel Green). On their journey the men fight many monsters including harpies, a giant bronze Talos, a hydra, and an animated skeleton army. Another favorite Greek mythology, film caulk full of stop-motion animation.

I’m sorry that it has taken some time to post this epic blog. I plan on focusing on Fantasy film in the upcoming weeks. With that being said, I will talk about the Tolkien films again, because they made a great impact on both the adventure and fantasy world. I will wait until after the premiere of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies this coming Tuesday (December 16), to post. In the meantime, give me your thought on either epic movies or the Tolkien films, since that’s where we are going to next.