Movie Review: The Hobbit The Battle of Five Armies

So here we are, the end of the second Middle Earth trilogy, and what can I say?  If you loved the previous films, this one will be right up your alley, but if you didn't, there are plenty of other things you could go see at the theatre this weekend.

Taking place almost entirely in the last few chapters of the book, the film has almost 45 minutes of straight combat (which depending on the reader may entice or warn them away from the film).  The image is spectacular, the story works by moving back and forth from the epic (a battle with five armies) to the personal (a friend trying to help another) seamlessly and paying close attention to all the little moments fans will be hoping for.

Was it as good as Return of the King?  Yes and no, the original film worked on a much grander scale, but this film only has one ending.  Much praise must be given to the actors, as they humanize (or hobbit-ize, drwarf-ize, or elf-ize, whatever the case) the story and really draw the audience in.

If you plan on seeing it, absolutely attempt to do so in theatre as the story works best on the big screen.

Now all I have to figure out is what my Christmas movies will be for the next three years...

Book Review: The Riddle of the Wren

The first novel by Charles de Lint, The Riddle of the Wren (1984) follows a teenaged girl, Minda Sealy, who begins the novel suffering from a series of terrifying nightmares and after the appearance of a strange man crying for help in one of her dreams, attempts to rescue him on an adventure that takes her to many strange worlds and places.

To me, the book felt liked it borrowed a lot from both The Hobbit(1937) and The Chronicles of Narnia (1949 – 1954), as the book has much of the structure of The Hobbit and the large talking animals from The Chronicles of Narnia (although I’m sure large talking animals have been around in fiction for a long time in lots of places). What actually surprised me was (sorry for the mild thirty-year-old spoiler) the world-travelling that Minda does throughout the book, wherein she uses henges travel between various worlds on her quest to stop the book’s villain, Ildran the Dream Master.

The book feels a lot like Young Adult (YA) fiction, and the world descriptions are really fantastic – my personal favourite, Darkruin, seems to be less a fantasy setting and more one in my favourite subgenre. The story, although fairly familiar to those who have read a lot of fantasy, involves a quest, terrifying armies and some magical items.

Well worth the read, and although I wish Minda was a little more developed as a character, it left me looking forward to my next book by the author, Moonheart: A Romance.

 

Things I've noticed: The trouble with Extended Editions

So here I am, a huge fan of the recent Hobbit films - I mean no, not quite as big a fan of them as I was of The Lord of the Rings, but definitely a big enough fan I would like to have them for my own collection (singing dwarves and all).

The problem comes down to the whole extended edition/complete collection box set issue.

When we first saw The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, back in 2001 I knew I wanted to own it on DVD; luckily enough, my wife had heard there would be an extended edition coming out so we might want to wait until it became available, in case it was better than the theatrical release (not necessarily better, but for long-time Tolkien fans like my family, a beloved edition).

Fast forward a few years and after The Return of the King: Extended Edition, came out, there was an inevitable boxed set including all three films - so we sold off our copies of the first two films, and bought the boxed set (which sits very nicely on our shelves to this day).

Now that the first Hobbit film has released its extended edition, the question gets a little more complicated - do we wait until all three extended Hobbit films come out on DVD to purchase them as a boxed set?  Will there be an even bigger Hobbit/Lord of the Rings boxed set if we wait?  Should we be getting it on Blu-Ray rather than DVD?

It's pretty tricky, so for now we're waiting to see, and who knows, by the time the last film comes out all extended-like, maybe there'll be a new medium to purchase it on - micro-Blu-Rays or some kind of crystal?

Genre Character of the Week: Lady Amalthea, The Last Unicorn

One of the best parts of writing about a different genre character each week is that it gives me both an excuse to keep reading new Fantasy, Horror and Science Fiction, and it allows me to revisit some of my favourite genre books from my youth.  This week’s character comes from Peter S. Beagle’s 1968 fantasy novel The Last Unicorn, in fact the Unicornherself, sometimes called Lady Amalthea is one of my helped lead me to my later love of vampires, zombies and ghouls.

The Unicorn is first introduced to the reader from the point of view of three hunters, who after spending several days in a forest having found no game, decide that they may be in a Unicorn’s forest, which would keep all the animals safe from harm.  As they leave one of them calls out to the unseen Unicorn that she may be the last of her kind.

The Unicorn, disturbed by this information begins a quest to find where the rest of the unicorns have gone.  The story (mild 44-year-old spoiler) then involves her adventures with a magician, in a traveling circus, and eventually in the realm of King Haggard, where she finds her answers, but not in the way she expected.

Although I can recall reading a number of stories featuring magical creatures, even having them as main characters before this (The Hobbit immediately comes to mind), I can’t recall reading anything earlier with a supernatural creature as the lead.  Later on I would find many stories with sympathetic views of Vampires, Aliens, and yes even Zombies, but this was the first time I can recall reading a story where I could identify so well with a creature of legend.

5 Things about Me and Reading In no particular order

1. The first piece of mythology I can recall reading is the story of Theseus, but even though he is much more famous for his adventures in the labyrinth with the minotaur, what interested me the most was his dad telling him; “I’ve put a bunch of stuff under this big rock, when you’re old enough to move it you can take what’s there and go make something of yourself”, which is pretty much exactly what happens and was the first moment I understood the concept of “not until you’re older”
2. Like many children of the 70’s, my favourite preschool book is The Monster at the end of the Book by Jon Stone and Michael Smollen.  If you’ve never read this 4^th wall-breaking story I am entirely jealous of the fact that you will get to read it for the first time.
3. When I was eight years old, my third grade teacher Mr. Murray read the entire class the novel The Hobbit, a chapter at a time for a month.  I think I can honestly say that every time I read a fantasy novel I’m trying to recapture the state of awe and wonder I felt in that classroom almost thirty years ago.
4. Each month I set out to read at least seven books, and even though I don’t quite make my quota every month (with comics, course readings, family time, etc.), my punishment is I get to read eight or nine books the next month, which is pretty much the best punishment ever.
5. As many readers eventually do, I have tried my hand a few times at creative writing – netting me a couple rejection letters and one short story which can still be found online related to a role-playing game I was really into at the time, and honestly, I still like it!

Genre Character of the Week: Bilbo Baggins

 So after looking over the many different characters I have enjoyed throughout the genres of Fantasy, Horror and Science-Fic... Oh who am I kidding - I just saw The Hobbit and today we’re looking at Bilbo Baggins.

Here’s what I love about Bilbo (whether played by Martin Freeman in the new film, or by Orson Bean in the animated 1977 TV Movie I grew up with), he is a small kind person who also has great courage in his convictions.  Also I love the fact that he lives a quiet, comfortable life and yet also answers the call to adventure when it comes.

Although I actually find The Lord of the Rings to be a more engrossing story, I was introduced to The Hobbit, when I was in the third grade, and Bilbo ended up as one of my favourite childhood heroes.