What Movie Did You Just Watch

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It probably felt childish because it was a children's book. It was written long before LOTR and for an entirely different audience.

Pretty much this. The Hobbit is NOT TLOTR, and it was never meant to be. It was always meant to be an enjoyable children's tale, and keep in mind that when it was written, Tolkien hadn't quite formulated that much of Middle Earth and its mythology, so any relation it had to the rest of his Universe was only really retconned in later on.

The bottom-line is that those more "childish" moments were the closest in tone to being like the original book, and IMO had Jackson just stuck with that tone throuought the entire adaptation, it would've been better (as in more fun) for it. As it stands, I do enjoy Jackson's darker take on the story, but it's definitely an inferior product to the original novel.

[Spark Of Spirit]

That's essentially the issue. Jackson is trying to make it just like LOTR in tone and direction, but it's not the same type of story at all. Heck, even Tolkien himself revised the original story after publication to make Gollum match who he was in LOTR because when the book was written he wasn't thinking about the trilogy at all.

People expecting a LOTR epic are not going to get what they want because it's not LOTR and was never written to be that way. It's a children's adventure story that's highly whimsical and extremely fun with some touching themes. Unfortunately, to me, those are the aspects Jackson seems to be having the most problems with and instead beefs up the action and darker aspects which were never heavy parts of the original story.

[talonmalon333]

But like I was getting at earlier, the novel of The Hobbit was still a mature children's fantasy story, in the same way that Disney films are mature children's films. With the first Hobbit film, I found some of the childish moments to honestly be immature, like the dwarves belching.

The bottom-line is that those more "childish" moments were the closest in tone to being like the original book, and IMO had Jackson just stuck with that tone throuought the entire adaptation, it would've been better (as in more fun) for it. As it stands, I do enjoy Jackson's darker take on the story, but it's definitely an inferior product to the original novel.

Just the same, I would've also preferred if he just made the adventure serious in the same vein as the Lord of the Rings film. I think Jackson could've pulled it off. Basically, I can agree that maybe it'd be better to keep it consistent with the novel's tone, but I prefer both ideas more than the "compromise" they tried with the film.

Either make it consistent with the original trilogy, or make it consistent with the novel. That's what I think. But ultimately, Desolation of Smaug picked a single tone and I think it was all the better for it.

[Avaitor]

And what did I watch during these last three months?

What?s Up, Doc?
Black Sunday
Carnival of Souls
Bride of Frankenstein
The Beastmaster
The Innocents
The Three Caballeros
Summer Stock
Time Bandits
Machete Kills
Dead of Night
High Society
Before Sunrise
The Usual Suspects
The Stuff
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Flesh for Frankenstein
Mark of the Vampire
Knife in the Water
Arthur
Re-Animator
House of Wax
The Tingler
House on Haunted Hill
Suspiria
The Mummy (?32)
The Little Mermaid
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Cabaret
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Damien: Omen II
The Abominable Dr. Phibes
Black Sabbath
Hocus Pocus
Nothing Sacred
We Need to Talk About Kevin
The French Connection
High Noon
Buffalo ?66   
The Nightmare Before Christmas (x2)
101 Dalmatians
Humpday
The In-Laws
Gigi
Planet of the Apes
Star Trek Into Darkness
Beauty and the Beast
Pinocchio
Soylent Green
The Celebration
You Can?t Take It With You
The Big Store
Only God Forgives
The Muppets Take Manhattan
The Princess and the Frog
Frozen
When a Stranger Calls
Flying Down to Rio
The Gay Divorcee
Brave
The Parent Trap
Emmet Otter?s Jug Band Christmas
Toy Story
Mary Poppins
Pi
El Topo
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Pale Rider
A Christmas Story
The Great Muppet Caper
On the Town
Empire of the Sun
Royal Wedding
Wagon Master
Les Enfents Terribles
Muppet Treasure Island
Airheads
Ben-Hur (1925)
Belle de Jour
Saving Mr. Banks
The Prince of Egypt
Little Women (1949)
Miller?s Crossing
Peter Pan
Swing Time
Hollywood Boulevard
The Young Girls of Rochefort
Jason and the Argonauts
Songs from the Second Floor
My Favorite Year
Before Sunset
Computer Chess

Damn. This is what happens when you have nothing to do during the holidays.

[Avaitor]

Oh hey, The Apartment was added onto Netflix. If you haven't seen it and want something to watch and/or a good introduction to classic Hollywood, I can't recommend it enough.

[talonmalon333]

Tonight I saw Vertigo for the fourth or fifth time. This movie really does get better over time, and I have no trouble calling it a masterpiece and one of my all time favorites.

[Avaitor]

I started a letterboxd. I'm only listing up which movies I've seen since the year started(although I might make a favorites list soon), but if anyone wants to add me or is interested, there you go.

[Avaitor]

Ladies and gentlemen, this year's Best Picture selection.

12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
The Wolf of Wall Street

And I've seen... none. Wow, I was behind this year.

And in case you wanted more of an idea of what might win, here's the selections for Best Director.

Alfonso Cuaron- Gravity
Steve McQueen- 12 Years a Slave
Alexander Payne- Nebraska
David O. Russell- American Hustle
Martin Scorsese- The Wolf of Wall Street

[Foggle]

And I've seen... none. Wow, I was behind this year.

Same, damn. But I really want to see most of them. (I'm always behind on movies, though. )

The Wolf of Wall Street must be at least 500 times better than the trailer for it to get a nomination. Seriously, music aside, that was one of the worst previews I saw this year.

[Avaitor]

I've heard mixed things, although the more negative stuff in relation to the film tends to come with people who aren't typically fans of Marty or watch movies of that length, which aren't great indicators of its quality. Otherwise I hear that it's one of his better ones in recent years.

But man, I can't believe we live in a world where Jonah Hill is a twice-Academy Award-nominated actor. Same with Bradley Cooper.

[Daxdiv]

Wow, I've only seen Captain Phillips on that list.

[talonmalon333]

How good was Gravity? I didn't see it yet.

And yes, Avaitor, Disney movies aren't the only movies I'm slow on.

[Commode]

I've seen Gravity, Captain Philips, and Wolf of Wall Street off that list.  They were all pretty good movies, but I liked Wolf of Wall Street the best.

[talonmalon333]

I can't remember many 2013 films I saw this year. Off the top of my mind, I can name Iron Man 3 and Desolation of Smaug. Neither was particularly incredible. So I'm sure they both wouldn't fit on that list.

[Avaitor]

I haven't seen ANYONE dislike Gravity yet. That's pretty rare, man.

That, 12 Years a Slave, and American Hustle seem like the most likely candidates to win.