Saturday, April 16, 2011

The Return of the King: Peter Jackson's Hobbit Video Blog

Usually, I'm not a fan of those pre-release Behind the Scenes video blogs. When I go into a movie, I like to see it fresh. I don't even like trailers that give away too much of the movie. What's the point of investing $10 if I already know the story and heard the major laugh lines? (Here comes the exception...)

BUT, I did cave and watch Peter Jackson's video blog from the first day of shooting The Hobbit. I am so freakin' excited about this movie that I couldn't wait two years to get a sneak peek of it. Luckily, Jackson was good about giving fans a sneak peek without revealing too much.

Jackson was an adorable narrator as he showed fans the costume design process, blocking one of the scenes, and a couple of the sets, some from The Lord of the Rings series and some new to The Hobbit. It also featured an opening day ceremony with speeches by Martin Freeman (Bilbo), Andy Serkis (Gollum), and Jackson.

This video has gotten me so pumped for the movie! Grrr why must I wait so long, Peter Jackson!??!

Video is below. You can also check it out on Jackson's Facebook page.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

His and Hers Netflix

Let me tell you a little about my Netflix situation. I share an account with Boyfriend because he's got the money and I've got great taste in movies. However, since I sometimes let a girly movie slip into the queue, we've decided (well he decided) to get two at a time -- his choice and my choice. This has provided some interesting match-ups. Last weekend was Glory and Love and Other Drugs and this weekend was The Last Castle and The Goodbye Girl.

Love and O
ther Drugs, and The Last Castle were delightful surprises that exceeded my expectations. I was dying to see Love and Other Drugs since it has two of my favorites in it -- the beautiful Jake Gyllehaal and Anne Hathaway. The two had great chemistry, providing both great laughs and heart-breaking drama. Also, the sex scenes are probably the best I've seen in any romantic comedy, toppling my old favorite The Notebook.


The Last Castle was also great, although very different from Love and Other Drugs. A heavy drama about a military prison and a showdown between the warden (James Gandolfini) and a prisoner (Robert Redford). Fantastic and clever. I highly recommend this for your queue.

I expected
Glory to be great although I was disappointed that it didn't have a more epic feel a la The Patriot or Braveheart. The acting was amazing, particularly Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman.

Finally, I'm going to dedicate a whole post to
The Goodbye Girl, since it is one of my all-time favorites, so keep an eye out for that one :)

All in all, I love the fact that Boyfriend and I have such different taste in movies because then I get to see movies that I wouldn't normally pick, like
The Last Castle. I can't wait to see what next weekend will bring...