(trailer review) - The Witches

I can honestly tell you that I haven't the foggiest to, if I remember reading the Roald Dahl book 'The Witches'.  I remember 'The BFG' and 'Matilda', I may have even read 'James and the Giant Peach' but The Witches, not a clue.  I liked his books too.  However, having watched this trailer, it looks like the book may have been a fun read as this trailer looks really really good.

First off for me was Chris Rock, it sounded like him narrating.  I actually don't mind his voice as a Narrator as he has been in animation with voiceover work and he IS really good.  Secondly, Octavia Spencer.  Having just recently seen 'Ma' which was decent but sinister and with voice work in 'Onward' and 'Dolittle', she's really getting some good roles.  Thirdly, last but not least, Anne 'you silly woman, why did you go for the data!?' Hathaway (I'm only now slowly forgiving her for what she did in Interstellar), she is looking and projecting something amazing.  The way she looks and the way she is portraying the character, I didn't even know it was her at first.  With the slits at the sides of her mouth, the accent AND the baldness, her character is looking a lot different from the Angelica Houston version from 1990, THIRTY YEARS AGO! However, I do feel I saw this back then.

This film looks like it's going to be very entertaining, it's just a wonder as to when we will ever see anything in the cinemas as everything is either being pushed to streaming or pushed to 2021 because of this pandemic.  What I might also add, with Kenya Barris and Guillermo del Toro as joint writers with director Robert Zemeckis, this may be a well put together project, I mean the trailer looks excellent.  I did't even recognise Stanley Tucci.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci & Chris Rock,

(film review) - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

So, it has been a year since I last did a review on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and it has come around again in which the sequel has just come out and I have seen it and it is absolutely great.

Just so you know from the get go, I liked the first hobbit film a great deal. One thing I didn't mention in my review was, although the film was beautiful and was at a steady pace, I did feel at a certain point that this film was dragging a little or possibly I was expecting a little bit more than just a steady pace. It might have been when my mind clock/stopwatch alerted me to the fact that this film has gone past the 2 hour mark, in which I'm sure this happens with a lot of people. But for the sequel in the Hobbit Trilogy, my clock/stopwatch may have done a single beep rather than alarm bells ringing for 5mins.

The film starts with Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) in a Bar and gets approached by Gandelf the Grey (Ian McKellen). They have a conversation which then takes us to where we last left off in the first Hobbit film. The Dwarfs and Bilbo (Martin Freeman) are still trying to make their way to the Mountain because they need to obtain the Arkenstone and potentially slay a dragon. However, as the adventure would go, they come across Spiders that want to eat them, Elves that want to kill them, a Bowman who is trying to hide them and a Dragon who is trying to burn them...oh, and everything else in sight.

There isn't any real point in going on about the film to be honest as I'd only be repeating what I had said before about the previous Hobbit film and the sequel trilogies. Peter Jackson is an epic storyteller and his direction is great. Yes, he is milking the book for all it's worth, but when you tell a story like this, to me, it only makes sense. A lot of people might feel disappointed with this film and/or pleased that this film has elements added to the very thin book which is the Hobbit or some "key" elements taken away from the book. Some might argue that some parts of the film is relevant to the story and are not needed, but sometimes in story telling, the very detail which is unheard of or not mentioned can also play a key role in some cases.

The cinematography, the acting, the flow of the film, in which I might add was much faster paced and laced with more action and tension than the first film. The action, like I said, the fight scenes, MORE majestic. As I mentioned earlier, I did think during the film, "this is a long film", but I knew it was and I stayed engaged, where in the first film, although I loved it, there was more of a sigh when I remembered how long the film was during watching it. And although I care not much for the Dwalfs, I absolutely love their dynamics and co-ordination. They flow like 1 constant conscience although they are all very different individuals. The comedy was there as well and not to mention Legolas. Legolas for me was the reason why I was more hyped about this film over the first film. Legolas drew me to this film as I absolutely love his character. Such a bad ass.

If you love the sequel trilogies and the first Hobbit Movie, you will love this sequel in the prequel Trilogy. When you get to the Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) part as well, you will be fuming at the very end. Yes, 365 or so days until the next film, There and Back Again. Enjoy!