Life of Pi Movie

Oh my gosh, they finally turned this book into a movie!  I first heard that it was a possibility years ago, but when nothing really came of it I figured that the idea had been pushed aside by other projects, but now it has a trailer.

I read the book many years ago when it first came out and I absolutely loved it.  I've read it three times and even used it for a research paper in college.  This is one of my all-time favorite books and I am so excited to see it turned into a movie.  I'm incredibly curious to see how the ending is handled.  If you don't know why, go read the book.  I can't recommend this book enough.  If you do pick it up, I realize that the beginning is slow, but stick with it because the second part of the book is absolutely amazing. 

Here's the trailer.  Check it out.

Thoughts?

Prometheus

This weekend my husband and I went to see Prometheus.  I have to say I had high expectations for this movie.  The trailer looked awesome and it had so many great names attached to it.  Unfortunately, it was a bit of a letdown.  It felt like they put all of their money into graphics and special effects (which, admittedly, were awesome), but they forgot to put enough money into the story.  It seemed like they wanted to have a big ensemble cast, but they didn't develop the characters enough.  The characters would make random decisions that felt completely contradictory to how the character had been up to that point. 

The acting is decent.  Charlize Theron does a great job (when does she not?) and Noomi Rapace did a pretty good job too.  Outside of that you barely get to know any of the other characters so they don't really have a chance to shine. 

Like I said, the graphics are amazing and there are some really cool shots, especially at the beginning.  Also, the setting that they chose for the beginning shots is incredible (it turns out it's in Iceland).  That said, it doesn't make up for a weak plot and poor characters.  I don't recommend seeing this one in theatres.  Save your money and get it from Redbox in a couple months. 

Snow White and the Huntsman

Yesterday my husband and I wanted to get out of the house so we decided to go see a movie.  We checked out what was playing and picked Snow White and the Huntsman.  I was a little wary since I can't stand Kristen Stewart, but the trailer looked good so we decided to go for it. 

It's an interesting way of doing the traditional story.  She still meets the dwarves (though they have different names) and she eats the poison apple, but it happens a bit differently than in the Disney version. 

Chris Hemsworth plays the huntsman (who is never given a name) and he does it well.  I sort of expected him to play the traditional hero, but he's not.  He's a bit reluctant to help and he's a drunk.  As expected, Kristen Stewart is less than stellar.  I just couldn't get into her as Snow White.  She just seemed so useless.  It was partially the writing, I'm sure, because she wasn't really given a chance to do much until the end, but it seems like she should have had something to do other than just relying on other people to help her.  Charlize Theron is amazing as the evil queen, though.  She gives an incredible performance that left me with goosebumps more than once.  She was certainly the highlight of that movie for me. 

The movie was very well done, and there are some really interesting cinematic effects, but I just couldn't get over how lackluster Snow White was, both in the way she was written and in the performance.  I realize that Snow White isn't supposed to be the hero of her own story, but it seems to me they could have given her something to do or some sort of magical powers, since she's supposed to be the only one who can take down the evil queen. 

Overall, not my favorite movie, but still worth watching if for no other reason than to see Charlize Theron's scenes.  There's another Snow White movie out this year with Julia Roberts and I'd be curious to compare the two. 

The Avengers Review

My husband and I went to see The Avengers this afternoon.  It turns out just about everyone else in town had the same idea because it was packed. 

I will start this by saying that I've never read the comics.  I just happened to enjoy all of the other Marvel movies that came out.  So, if it's not entirely accurate to the original story, I wouldn't know.

The basic plot is that Loki (Thor's brother) is back and he wants to take over Earth and turn humans into his slaves.  He has some new friends, the Chitauri, who are going to help him do that.  In order to fight him and save Earth, the Avengers must learn to work together, despite their differences.  

The movie was awesome.  The beginning did spend a little too long reintroducing the characters again in my opinion (except for Hawkeye, which is the one character I couldn't place), but once the actual story got going it was really good.  The movie is just under 3.5 hours and it flew by.  Definitely not a movie where you're checking your watch.  I've seen a lot of action movies that just seem to be focused on explosions rather than plot, but this one has a good story behind it.  All of the actors did a fine job, not that that's a big surprise considering the list of big names that they have. 

I also liked that it let all of the characters shine.  Each of them has a story going on in this movie and no one was more important than the others so it truly felt like they were coming together.  It didn't feel like it was just another movie about any one character with some appearances by the others. 

The ending leaves an opening for more Avengers movies, which I will eagerly await. 

I highly recommend this movie, especially if you've enjoyed any of the other Marvel movies.