Categories
Announcement

Theatrical Review: Django Unchained

For myself, a new Quentin Tarantino movie is always an event. I first saw Reservoir Dogs when it opened here in St. Louis at the Tivoli theatre before that theatre’s massive renovation, and just thought I’d seen one of the greatest films that I’d ever saw. Ever since then, I’ve loved each and every one of his films. Yeah, sure, there’s degrees of “love” for each one, but still I’ve found everyone very entertaining and always worth multiple viewings.

Thanks to Quentin Tarantino, I got a huge appreciation for B-movies and grindhouse films and still think those are often more fun to watch than the big-budget, star-driven Hollywood releases. Tarantino has chosen with this sort of subject matter for all his films- he embraces all of the conventions of B-movie and grindhouse films and yet he elevates them as well by virtue of his writing skills and being able to get his casts to embrace the subject matter as much as he does. It’s a hallmark of all of his movies and the same can certainly be said for his latest film, Django Unchained.

Django Unchained starts off in the year 1858 and tells us the story of Django, a slave who’s been sought after by a bounty hunter by the name of Dr. King Schultz. Schultz has gone after Django for his familiarity with a group of outlaws known as the Brittle Brothers. In exchange for Django’s help, Schultz has promised him his freedom once they’ve been found and killed. But Django has found that he enjoys working with Schultz and enters into a new plan with him; continuing to work with Schultz until he can raise the money that he needs to buy his wife, Broomhilda, out of slavery from a plantation owner named Calvin Candie.

That’s the basic premise to Django Unchained, but trust me, there’s a whole hell of a lot more to it than that. With this movie, Tarantino has chosen to mash-up the genres of Spaghetti Western with Blaxploitation films as well as tipping his hat to the classic slavery exploitation film (though it wasn’t exactly made to be an exploitation film) Mandingo. He’s crafted a nearly 3-hour epic here that’s driven with very rich characters, terrific dialogue sequences and over-the-top violence that to me makes Django Unchained just as satisfying as Tarantino’s last film, Inglourious Basterds.

Now this isn’t entirely perfect, but it’s one bit of imperfection, a scene that involves a hooded lynch mob, doesn’t really last too long and for me didn’t really detract from the movie as a whole. This scene basically goes for a cheap laugh and almost seems like it’s more suitable to something like Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles than it does for this heavy revenge film. As I said though, it’s relatively short and at least features a big ending that actually does a lot to quell it.

Tarantino has once again assembled a terrific cast. Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz play Django and Schultz respectively and they’ve got terrific chemistry together. Foxx is pitch-perfect for his part and almost always seems right on the cusp of explosion, but he’s constantly tempered thanks to the smooth skills that Waltz puts on display as his partner. As good as these two are, they’re totally outshone by Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie and Samuel L. Jackson as Stephen, the head man amongst the slaves at Candie’s plantation, known as Candie Land. Both are extremely over-the-top in their performance, but I think that’s what’s needed to really sell this to the audience, at least it certainly did the trick for me. Jackson in particular is just electric to watch on-screen. Yeah, some could see his performance bordering on the edge of parody, but once you think that’s the case, Tarantino pulls out something new around the character to tell you that there’s way more to him than just that. Jackson is lapping this up and obviously having a huge ball with the part.

It’s really fun to see who Tarantino casts in some of the background parts- look for folks like Bruce Dern, Tom Wopat, Don Stroud, Lee Horsley, Tom Savini, Zoe Bell, the great Michael Parks, John Jarratt and Tarantino himself in the smaller parts. One of the more rewarding bits of casting features Italian actor Franco Nero as a man gambling against Calvin Candie in Candie’s introduction. What’s rewarding about this is that at one point it’s literally a meeting of the Django’s as Franco Nero is extremely well known for playing a character named Django in a series of Italian Spaghetti Westerns.

If you’re a Tarantino fan, I have no doubt at all that you’ll enjoy Django Unchained. As with all of his films, it really is a big, profane and glorious ride from start to finish and again, it just leaves me in anticipation of Tarantino’s next big project. For those that aren’t as familiar with Tarantino’s movies, you’re in for an extreme sensation, some of which you might find off-putting due to it’s violence and it’s subject matter, but I say give it a chance and allow yourself to wallow in it just as Quentin Tarantino does. Don’t miss it… easily for me right up there with the best that I’ve seen this year.

Categories
Back Seat Box Office Shows

Back Seat Box Office #119

Picks:

Scott

  1. Les Miserables
  2. Django Unchained
  3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
  4. Parental Guidance
  5. Jack Reacher

Lena

  1. Les Miserables
  2. Django Unchained
  3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
  4. Jack Reacher
  5. Parental Guidance

There are no other movies in wide release this weekend.

Back Seat Art House picks:

  • Scott – Promised Land
  • Lena – West of Memphis
Categories
Announcement

Weekend Box Office: Dec 21-Dec 23

#1 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey from Warner Bros. held at #1 with a gross of $36.9 million (-56.3%) in 4,100 theaters (+55).  Total gross to date is $150.1 million.  Budget was unknown.

#2 Jack Reacher from Paramount opened at #2 with a gross of $15.6 million in 3,352 theaters.  Budget was $60 million.

#3 This Is 40 from Universal opened at #3 with a gross of $11.6 million in 2,912 theaters.  Budget was $35 million.

#4 Rise of the Guardians from Paramount fell from #2 to #4 with a gross of $5.9 million (-17.4%) in 3,031 theaters (-356).  Total gross to date is $79.7 million.  Budget was $145 million.

#5 Lincoln from Buena Vista fell from #4 to #5 with a gross of $5.5 million (-21.4%) in 2,293 theaters (+8).  Total gross to date is $116.7 million.  Budget was $65 million.

#6 The Guilt Trip from Paramount opened at #6 with a gross of $5.4 million in 2,431 theaters.  Total gross to date is $7.4 million.  Budget was $40 million.

#7 Monsters, Inc. (3D) from Buena Vista opened at #7 with a gross of $4.8 million in 2,618 theaters.  Total gross to date is $6.3 million.  Budget was unknown.

#8 Skyfall from Sony/Columbia fell from #4 to #8 with a gross of $4.7 million (-28.3%) in 2,365 theaters (-559).  Total gross to date is $280 million.  Budget was $200 million.

#9 Life of Pi from 20th Century Fox fell from #5 to #9 with a gross of $4 million (-25.8%) in 1,750 theaters (-798).  Total gross to date is $76.4 million.  Budget was $120 million.

#10 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 from Summit Entertainment fell from #6 to #10 with a gross of $2.6 million (-48.9%) in 2,000 theaters (-1,042).  Total gross to date is $281.6 million.  Budget was $120 million.

#11 Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away from Paramount opened at #11 with a gross of $2.1 million in 840 theaters.  Total gross to date is $2.3 million.  Budget was unknown.

#12 Wreck-It Ralph from Buena Vista fell from #7 to #12 with a gross of $1.8 million (-43.4%) in 1,444 theaters (-805).  Total gross to date is $171.7 million.  Budget was $165 million.

 

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $101 million.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

 

Categories
Back Seat Producers Season 08 Shows

BSP Episode 251: FLCL

Run date:  4/26/2000 – 3/16/2001

Funimation Entertainment (US Release)

Written by

  • Yoji Enokido
Directed by
  • Kazuya Tsurumaki
Produced by
  • Hiroki Sato
  • Nishizawa Masatomo

Music by

  • The Pillows

Cast/Voices

Barbara Goodson

  • Naota Nandaba

Stephanie Sheh

  • Mamimi Samejima

Kari Wahlgren

  • Haruko Haruhara

Joe Martin

  • Kamon Nandaba

 

The hosts review:

  • Someone paid major bucks to own this show, sight unseen.
  • We clearly do not have a consensus on FLCL.
  • It’s like a big conglomeration of cool stuff that they threw together… some worked, some didn’t.
  • It has a certain acquired anime-taste.
  • Naota IS Japan.
  • A coming of age story, but only half way through.
  • Juvenile sexual humor.
  • Tony wanted to punch Ta-kun (Naota) him numerous times during the episodes.
  • “Hey, I am sprouting robots from my head!”
  • Typical 12-year-old, or whiny little d-bag?
  • Eyebrows…
  • Hey, South Park kids!
  • Overboard emotions…so much emotions.
  • Discussions about what they’d like to see for a sequel.
  • David hates puns, except this time.
  • The guitar art is the physical manifestations of everybody’s soul.
  • If FLCL was live action, the dad would be a combination of Jack Galifianakis and Crispin Glover.
  • A bit of talk about Samurai Champloo.
  • The Walking Dead
  • Sons of Anarchy

 

Your Producers for this episode were:

  • Tony
  • Darrell
  • David

This episode was recorded: 12/5/2012

 

 

Categories
Announcement

Theatrical Review: Jack Reacher

In the city of Pittsburgh, an horrific mass-murder has just taken place. One lone gunman, a former army sniper, has just killed five supposedly random individuals. Thanks to quick police investigation, the shooter is soon found and identified as one James Barr. Before a proper interrogation can take place, Barr has been beaten to a point where he just can’t talk. The detective who worked this all out and the city’s District Attorney try to coerce Barr into writing his confession, but instead, Barr scrawls on the paper this message, “Get Jack Reacher.”

It’s soon discovered that jack Reacher is ex-military police and has basically taken himself off the grid, making himself difficult to locate. That doesn’t matter though as Reacher himself has watched the news,saw what has happened and once he’s seen that the suspected gunman in James Barr, he takes the trip to Pittsburgh. Reacher meets with the police and the DA, but before anything can come of it, Reacher is approached by Barr’s attorney, Helen Rodin, who just happens to be the DA’s daughter. Reacher is convinced to help Helen, and soon discovers that this case isn’t as open and shut as the police and the DA would like us to believe.

That’s the premise to Jack Reacher the latest action/suspense vehicle for super-star actor Tom Cruise. It’s also the second feature film for director and writer Christopher McQuarrie, who’s prior feature was The Way of the Gun with Ryan Phillipe and Benicio Del Toro and a film that I enjoy very much. McQuarrie is better known as the writer for Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects and another Singer/Cruise movie, Valkyrie which I also quite enjoy. In addition, McQuarrie was the creator of a short-lived series on NBC, Persons Unknown which had strong echoes of the classic TV series The Prisoner, and again, something that I enjoyed a great deal.

Jack Reacher is based around a book by author Lee Child called One Shot which in itself is part of a series about Reacher. I wasn’t aware of this before and I certainly haven’t read any of Child’s books, though I’ve heard that the character himself is quite a bit physically different from Tom Cruise. When I first saw the trailer for Jack Reacher, after doing the obligatory bad joke (“Reacher? I don’t even know ‘er!”), I thought that it looked pretty run-of-the mill, but I like Cruise and I mentioned my appreciation of McQuarrie’s prior works above, and so I was interested in seeing it. For me anyway, this turned out to be mixed bag.

I actually think the plot is a terrific idea and on a technical level, the film is beautiful. The first few minutes of the film which sets everything up with no dialogue at all is quite riveting and has you paying attention to the details. The way the film is shot, it emphasizes strong visual storytelling and it’s all punctuated with a terrific score from composer Joe Kraemer. On the down side in the technical aspects, this runs a little too long and could’ve easily benefitted by having about 15-20 minutes cut and/or shaved from the movie. One of the best scenes in the film, a terrific car chase that echoes the movie Bullitt, is hampered by a terrible ending, which has Reacher walking out from the moving car and then sauntering over to the crowd to blend in- it goes for a cheap laugh, but it’s hardly what really would happen in this situation.

Where the film really falls a part for me though is with it’s main character, Jack Reacher, himself. Reacher comes into this as a total enigma, but seemingly, he has all the answers and just projects an air of invincibility. There’s nothing wrong with that if your character is handled in a bit of a mythic way, but that’s not the case here, as Reacher is pretty quick to make his comments, have all the answers right in front of him and do it all without raising a sweat. He’s pretty much a costume short of being Batman and that, to me anyway, just doesn’t seem to fit here. Cruise is certainly intense in the part, but it all just seems a little too one-note in his intensity.

As the movie progresses, Reacher is sort of sexually “teasing” Helen Rodin, who we believe is supposed to be a competent attorney, but thanks to Rosamund Pike’s performance is pretty wide-eyed and acts like it’s her first day on the job. I’ve liked Pike in other films and I figure she’s doing what’s asked of her here (and she looks terrific), so I don’t want to come down to hard on her, but this part doesn’t exactly do her any favors.

Richard Jenkins and David Oyelowo play the DA and Emerson, the detective who works this all out, respectively and both are extremely solid in their parts. Less so are director Werner Herzog, who plays actor here as the villain of the piece, known as The Zec, and Robert Duvall, who’s brought in late in the game as Cash, the owner of a shooting range that Barr has frequented in the past. There’s a lot of promise in Herzog’s villain, but unfortunately, he’s only given a couple of scenes in order to play that out and it just doesn’t come together for me as it should. Duvall, it just seems to me is brought in to play another one of his “folksy” type of parts. That’s not meant as derogative, Duvall’s done great work in the past with these parts, but here he’s just played a little too fast to be convincing as the type of person who’s going to just go out and help Jack Reacher based on Reacher’s word alone.

I thought Jack Reacher was certainly watchable in the end, and I certainly admire the fact that McQuarrie is trying to make something here that echoes movies of the 60s and 70s, but due to it’s characters, it just didn’t satisfy me the way that it should. Reacher’s invincibility just doesn’t leave this open to any sort of suspense or any sort of real danger for it’s main character at all. As I said above, I haven’t read any of the books, and so I don’t have any sort of affection or prior knowledge of them. If you’re a fan of the series, then this very well may be satisfying for you but for me, I thought it was only average at best and think there’s better things out there right now that are more compelling to see.

Categories
Back Seat Box Office Shows

Back Seat Box Office #118

Picks:

Scott

  1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
  2. Jack Reacher
  3. Monsters, Inc. (3D)
  4. This Is 40
  5. Rise of the Guardians

Lena

  1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
  2. Monsters, Inc. (3D)
  3. This Is 40
  4. Jack Reacher
  5. Rise of the Guardians

Jeff

  1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
  2. Jack Reacher
  3. This Is 40
  4. Monsters, Inc. (3D)
  5. The Guilt Trip
There are no other movies in wide release this weekend.
Back Seat Art House picks:
  • Scott, Jeff – Zero Dark Thirty
  • Lena – Not Fade Away

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Categories
Back Seat Quickies Shows

Back Seat Quickies #74: the Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey

in the seat:

  • Scott

recorded 12/18/12

Categories
Announcement

Weekend Box Office: Dec 14-Dec 16

#1 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey from Warner Bros. opened at #1 with a gross of $84.6 million in 4,045 theaters.  Budget was unknown.

#2 Rise of the Guardians from Paramount held at #2 with a gross of $7.1 million (-31.3%) in 3,387 theaters (-252).  Total gross to date is $71.1 million.  Budget was $145 million.

#3 Lincoln from Buena Vista rose from #4 to #3 with a gross of $7 million (-21.1%) in 2,285 theaters (+271).  Total gross to date is $107.7 million.  Budget was $65 million.

#4 Skyfall from Sony/Columbia fell from #1 to #4 with a gross of $6.6 million (-39.2%) in 2,924 theaters (-477).  Total gross to date is $272 million.  Budget was $200 million.

#5 Life of Pi from 20th Century Fox held at #5 with a gross of $5.4 million (-35%) in 2,548 theaters (-398).  Total gross to date is $69.6 million.  Budget was $120 million.

#6 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 from Summit Entertainment fell from #3 to #6 with a gross of $5.1 million (-43.9%) in 3,042 theaters (-604).  Total gross to date is $276.8 million.  Budget was $120 million.

#7 Wreck-It Ralph from Buena Vista held at #7 with a gross of $3.2 million (-33.8%) in 2,249 theaters (-497).  Total gross to date is $168.7 million.  Budget was $165 million.

#8 Playing for Keeps from FilmDistrict fell from #6 to #8 with a gross of $3.1 million (-45.3%) in 2,840 theaters (+3).  Total gross to date was $10.7 million.  Budget was unknown.

#9 Red Dawn (2012) from FilmDistrict fell from #8 to #9 with a gross of $2.4 million (-43.1%) in 2,250 theaters (-504).  Total gross to date is $40.9 million.  Budget was $65 million.

#10 Silver Linings Playbook from Weinstein Company rose from #11 to #10 with a gross of $2.1 million (-2.9%) in 371 theaters.  Total gross to date is $17 million.  Budget was $21 million.

#11 Flight from Paramount fell from #9 to #11 with a gross of $1.9 million (-39%) in 1,823 theaters (-608).  Total gross to date is $89.4 million.  Budget was $31 million.

#12 Argo from Warner Bros. rose from #14 to #12 with a gross of $1.2 million (-21.1%) in 667 theaters (-277).  Total gross to date is $105 million.  Budget was $44.5 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $129.9 million.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

Categories
Text Reviews Theatrical Review

Theatrical Review: Skyfall

While it seems that the last three Batman films and Inception had been overwhelmingly influenced by the James Bond series that Christopher Nolan grew up with, it seems that now perhaps the opposite has happened: Bond writers are being influenced by the Nolan movies they grew up with. This is a good thing. As they say in the film “Almost Famous,” “If Bowie’s doing Lou (Reed), and Lou’s doing Bowie… Lou is still doing Lou.”

And if Bond is doing Nolan’s Batman, Bond is still doing Bond, baby! Only, once again, the rebooted Bond offers a darker, more stylistic approach to “Bond-ness,” while also retaining–perhaps more than ever–the spirit of the original films.

(Spoilers)

“Skyfall” is probably the best spy film since “The Good Shepherd” (which a lot of people hated, in my opinion, only because it was actually really really good) only it is a complete opposite of that film: The Good Shepherd was a complex film a lot of people did not understand, but Skyfall is very simple. It works with the basic premise of any hero film: there is a villain within, and the hero must find him and catch him. Only, the villain within was created by the system of justice that the MI6 put in place. If you go rogue, the MI6 abandons you–as it abandoned our aforementioned villain. Bond sees the villain’s old ways as a spy in himself, and after having taken literally a bullet for the greater good without the least bit of hesitation of command from his boss M, Bond perhaps wonders if he is just as expendable.

“Skyfall” finds Daniel Craig and Madame Judi Dench reprising their key roles as Bond and M respectively. But “Skyfall” also offers top-tier supporting cast members in Ralph Fiennes (Schindler’s List, The English Patient), Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), and Naomie Harris (28 Days Later), as well as Ben Whishaw (I’m Not There) as a brand new Q. This gallery of characters, as well as others, create a decent sense of mystery about who the ultimate villain behind the inside jobs may be for the first hour. However close to the vest this is or is not played, it mostly just serves as a plot for Bond to get from exotic action scene A to exotic action scene B, and so on and so forth, but each one is spectacularly filmed and completely suspends one’s disbelief. And “Skyfall” does all of this, with a wink and a nod to both older Bond films and Bond films that are not really Bond films (enter Lucas/Spielberg’s Indiana Jones movies, the Bourne movies, and especially Nolan’s “Batman” trilogy.)

For example, when we find out that Daniel Craig’s Bond is an orphan of two parents whose tragic deaths (we’re not sure what happened to them) force him to abandon an old mansion for the foster home (an old memory that haunts him to this day) and the end of the third Bond comes full circle to where his life began: that very mansion–complete with Alfred-type guardian, only Scottish–we know that Nolan’s Bond-ish Batman reboots have affected the Bond reboots themselves.

Skyfall even comes with its own laughing psychopathic villain. Again, a good thing. Javier Bardem’s Joker-like personality and seemingly chaotic but overall calculated and complex machinations (like wanting to get captured on purpose, a la “The Dark Knight”) put him near the top of the longest rolodex of quality villains in a cinema franchise.

But dare I say it, Skyfall is probably better than all of the Batmans. Why? Because this is James Bond, fools! And at the end of the day, Bond’s character is more complex because his lack of emotion actually is his mask… so when we see 007’s various reactions to all sorts of various emotional stimuli from his past and present render the same visage from Daniel Craig, we know that this guy is tough. But we wonder if he is even human. What would make him crack? Is there anyone he truly cares about? Or did he dispense with all that caring nonsense after exacting vengeance for the death of his love Vesper Lind in the last film?

Believe it or not there is an answer to that question, and that’s the brilliant thing about Skyfall. Wearing none of its themes on its sleeve, the Bond film that takes us to the evanescent heart of the character somehow is the most bombastic and stylistic of the most recent three, and also the most rewarding. While Nolan’s Batman films took the Bond-style film, Q (think Lucius Fox) and everything with it to new heights, it takes a Bond film itself to take Bond films where they need to go. Thus, as far as the spy-action-stop-terrorists genre goes, Skyfall is as good as it gets. It takes a formula that has been improved upon outside the franchise, and brings it back within, taking it again to the next level. Skyfall’s plot and intentions can often be predicted, but not it’s soul. And that is the beautiful and unexpected treat of 007’s latest adventure.

Yes, I do believe this is the best “Bond film” not directed by Christopher Nolan, and probably also the best “Bond film” including those directed by Christopher Nolan which (stay with me!) are not actually Bond franchise films.  I cannot wait for the next Bond film, whether it is a 007 film or not (does that make sense?) It is going to have to beat “Skyfall,” the best of the ever-expanding lot.

[P.S. The film also looks great, with fantastic cinematography quite atypical of this genre. But if it has one weakness, it hits you if you’ve seen Taken 2, because it seems that the two films may have chosen the same Istanbul, Turkey locations for action and you’re seeing the same movie you just saw a few months ago–or maybe they just look the same to me, I’ve never been to Istanbul! Anyway, lucky for us, after the first ten minutes, the location is no longer important to the Bond film.]

Categories
Announcement

Theatrical Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

60 years before Frodo Baggins goes on his epic quest with the wizard Gandalf and the Fellowship of the Ring, his uncle, Bilbo, went on a similar journey. The young Bilbo Baggins, living his life of predictability and leisure in The Shire, is invited by the wizard Gandalf to join a group of dwarves lead by their prince, Thorin, in a quest to take back their home from the dragon Smaug. On this epic quest, Bilbo first encounters Gollum and the ring of power, that of course starts an even greater story already told by director Peter Jackson in his epic Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey marks Peter Jackson’s return to the world of Middle-Earth and is the first in another trilogy of films that seems a bit much at first, but if the following films are made with the same great care and zeal as this first one, then I know I certainly won’t mind making my own journey to theatres to see them.

To be honest, it’s literally been decades since I first read J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit so I’m a little fuzzy on all of the details being right in this first part of the adaptation, but they certainly feel right. Bilbo’s first encounter with the party of dwarves as they gather in his home seems right on the money with what I remember, as does their meeting with the trolls and Bilbo’s first encounter with Gollum. These are truly magical moments in the film, in particular Bilbo’s meeting with Gollum and it was truly wonderful seeing them all brought to epic life.

Jackson’s film is, as expected, utterly gorgeous, looking like it’s bringing to life the paintings of The Brothers Hildebrandt. It’s visual effects are truly amazing and I have to admit to always being amazed at just how Jackson and company show the size relationship between Gandalf, the Elves, the Dwarves and the Hobbits and keeps it all seamless. I didn’t see the film in it’s 48 frames-per-second version, but I did opt to see it in 3D and I thought the 3D worked out extremely well for the film, more bringing a huge sense of immersion more than in-you-face effects. Composer Howard Shore has returned to the series as well and his music for the film certainly adds to the picture’s drive and scope.

I do think it’s run-time is a little bit too long, seeming to me to drag the most when Gandalf has his meeting with Galadriel, Elrond and Saruman in the Elven land of Rivendell. But honestly, it’s a moot complaint, and when the action picks up, it really is a thrilling ride.

Returning from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, you have Elijah Wood, Ian Holm, Sir Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis and Christopher Lee all reprising their respective roles, and of course, they’re all spot-on perfect with McKellen and Serkis being the real standouts amongst the returnees. The greatest addition to the new cast is Martin Freeman playing the younger Bilbo Baggins. At first it might seem that maybe Freeman is going to bring a little too much of his comic sensibility to the part, especially in the early scenes, but as things progress, you start to see a few more facets that he brings to play. When Bilbo decides to join the company on their quest and runs through The Shire, saying “I’m off to have an adventure!” (I’m paraphrasing), it’s genuinely infectious and you can’t wait to see what happens next. To me anyway, it seems that Freeman is sort of combining aspects of the prior performances of both Elijah Wood and Ian Holm in this younger version of Bilbo making it even apparent why Frodo is Bilbo’s favorite nephew. It’s truly a terrific performance from Freeman and I cannot wait to see how he advances further in this new trilogy.

Other new additions that stand out for me are Richard Armitage as Prince Thorin, Ken Stott as Balin, and Jekyll star James Nesbitt as Bofur amongst the dwarves. It’s also a real pleasure to see former Doctor Who, Sylvester McCoy in the movie as the wizard, Radagast, bring a lot of life and energy to the part. Really, all of the new cast are truly wonderful, but these are the standouts for me anyway.

So, we’re off to a great start with this return to Middle-Earth. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is really quite a bit of fun to experience and though it does drag a little in a couple of places, it’s quick to pick back up with it’s thrilling action and terrific characters, especially with Martin Freeman in the lead. While I chose to see this in 3D and totally enjoyed it, I don’t think it’s necessary to experience it that way (though I have to admit, I’m certainly curious to see it in it’s High Frame Rate version)), though I also don’t think it hurts it in the slightest, as long as you’re receptive to 3D- if not, then just go see the 2D version and you’re still bound for a terrific film. Very much recommended…