Tag Archives: Movie

The Legend of Tarzan

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I just went and saw The Legend of Tarzan.  It’s gotten mixed reviews and I will say that it isn’t the greatest movie I’ve ever seen.  But it may be the best Tarzan movie.  It’s pretty impressive.  It achieves where some 45 Tarzan movies have failed in the following areas:

1. Accurately portrays Tarzan.

2. Accurately portrays Jane and their relationship.

3. Weaves the story into believable (in fact, real) events, and story elements seem plausible.

4. Connects the Man/Nature themes.

5. Uses real Burroughsian settings and themes.

If you like action movies, maybe you should see this.  If you like any of the five headline actors, see it.  They all do really good jobs – especially Margot Robbie.  If you love Tarzan and Edgar Rice Burroughs, get out and watch this movie!

The Hobbit – Not a Review

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My son and I went and saw The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug this week.  Both of us are very big Tolkien fans and big fans of Peter Jackson’s vision of Lord of the Rings.  After watching the first film of The Hobbit, we weren’t expecting to this one to be great, so we weren’t too disappointed.

(Spoiler Alert)

I enjoyed the movie more than my son did.  There was a lot of padding added to the story, but as it was mostly stuff that was actually going on off the screen, as it were, in the book, I didn’t have too much problem with it.  I was more bothered by the stuff that was taken out.  The long conversations between Smaug and Bilbo turned into one soliloquy by the dragon.  On the other hand, there was one scene which just make my son really angry.  It involved a wheel barrow and a river of gold.

(End Spoiler Alert)

Anyway, it’s great that somebody finally made a film of The Hobbit.  However, if you’re not a fan of Middle Earth, this isn’t the place to start.

Much Ado About Nothing

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For those of you who love Shakespeare, like me, or for those of you who just think Joss Whedon should direct every movie made, like me, check out the trailer for the upcoming Much Ado About Nothing.  It looks great and has practically every actor who has ever worked for Whedon.

The Hunger Games

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I just saw The Hunger Games.  Fortunately we have a theater that shows movies that have been out for a while, because I missed this one when it first came out.

I haven’t read the book, though many of my students have of course, and they love it.  I really enjoyed the movie.  There were some really great scenes and some excellent actors.  I guess I’ll have to read the book now.