Movie Ranking 2013

The year is over and with it goes by a great year with many good movies.  I watched around 15 of them and made a ranking of the best 10. See yourself if you have the same opinion or find something interesting to watch next year on blue-ray. 

[Image by Lilithia]

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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Movie Review

The „Lord of the Rings“ is the biggest fantasy franchise in history and even 10 years after it is unmatched by any of its competitors. No other series has such a spectacular world rich with fantastic creatures and epic battles. The expectations are high just because its such a beloved story. Once again after last years start of the Hobbit trilogy Peter Jackson returns to middle earth with the second part about the tale how everything begun.

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Thor: The Dark World - Movie Review

Some years ago Thor fought against Loki with his Avenger Friends destroying nearly half of New York. Now he is back again to fight a new evil villain with his beloved brother who tries to destroy the whole universe. What could possibly go wrong on the journey of these two gods? A lot of things and that’s why this movie is the best marvel one so far… and of course because Loki plays a major role. Actually its only because of Loki. They should have named the movie “Loki and a bit of Thor” instead.

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Lord of the Rings and other Fantasy as Post-Apocalyptic Tales

[A Guestpost by Larry Kollar / Image by JohnnySlowHand]

(Disclaimer: as a writer, I do understand that “apocalypse” is actually a revelation, but for this article I will adopt its common meaning of an all-encompassing disaster.)

Many classic fantasy tales have a post-apocalyptic element. Of course, as for most Western-based fantasy tropes, Tolkien is the standard-setter. (Tolkien’s ages of Middle-Earth parallel Greek mythology, which named the four Ages of Man: Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Iron. I’m guessing, given his background, that this was deliberate.) The backdrop for Lord of the Rings includes two former ages, each ended by their own apocalypse. The end of the First (Golden) Age, when Morgoth was defeated, was accompanied by great destruction—it was said the lands were broken, and Beleriand began to sink into the sea. The Second (Silver) Age ended with Númenor sinking into the sea, and the formerly flat world being made round.

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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Review

The Hobbit: An Unexpected is now in cinemas after  several years of yearning for it. It’s the prequel to the glorious LOTR Trilogy, which had a lot of problems on the way of production. Peter Jackson got ill through stressing himself, Guillermo del Toro dropped the position as regisseur, overcame a boycott of actors who demanded more, got a big budget for whole three long time running movie at a near bankrupt firm and a lot more that we never heard about. That’s a lot of problems for someone who just wants to enters the great world of Middle Earth once again. Is it worth joining him on his journey? Definitely yes, and here is why:

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