Over the course of the year, I wrote a few movie reviews on this blog (though not as many as I had hoped). However, I also watched a few other movies that I didn’t get around to reviewing. So, as 2013 closes, I still want to give my two cents on each of them (though…
Category: Movies
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Movie Review
Despite a prologue scene that tries to fill in some backstory (and remind viewers about this big quest that the main characters are on), there’s no fooling anyone about The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug being the middle segment of a movie trilogy. Still trying to live down comparisons to its more-epic older brother, The…
Frozen – Movie Review
When I heard that Frozen was going to be based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, “The Snow Queen”, I was excited because I think Disney movies are at their best when they are adapting famous folktales into family musical adventures. After Tangled was a success at reinventing that Disney formula using computer animation instead…
Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Movie Review
Missing hardly a beat from the conclusion of the first movie, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark (played again by Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson) are living in the aftermath of their victory in the 74th Hunger Games, the fictional arena sport where teenagers fight for their own survival, for the benefit of their home district,…
Riddick – Movie Review
After nine years of waiting, is it a disappointment that Riddick is more of a reboot than a sequel to the trilogy of movies that began with the well-crafted Pitch Black in 2000 and sort of fell off the cliff in 2004 with Chronicles of Riddick? As before, Vin Diesel plays the ex-con, murderer, and…
The World’s End – Movie Review
It’s not hard to see how The World’s End is meant to be an unofficial sequel to 2004’s Shaun of the Dead. Featuring the same lead actors (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) and the same writer/director (Edgar Wright), The World’s End also features the pub as a backdrop for a bunch of ordinary British blokes…
The Wolverine – Movie Review
Take Wolverine, arguably the most popular of Marvel Comics’ X-Men and give him a story set in Japan, full of ninjas, samurais, and swordplay and it would seem like you’ve got a great combination — perfect for a second solo adventure. Unfortunately, when Logan-san (played again by Hugh Jackman, who seems almost as ageless as…
Monsters University – Movie Review
Being a huge Pixar fan, I’ll pretty much go see anything they put on screen. Nevertheless, I had really enjoyed Monsters Inc. so I was excited to see this prequel — Mike and Sulley: the College Years. Now, it’s no stretch to the imagination that there was going to be some element of Revenge of…
Man of Steel – Movie Review
This umpteenth retelling of the Superman story had a whole lot going for it. Directed by Zack Snyder (one of my favourite directors, despite his penchant for stylish and flashy visuals over dramatic substance) and written by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer (two of the men behind the highly successfully and recently concluded Batman…
Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture 