While we know that some monsters are decidedly not lovable, the creature in Mexican director Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, like many humans who roam the planet, is more of a lonely outcast seeking connection than a life-threatening presence. Performed by Doug Jones (“The Bye Bye Man”) underneath all the prosthetics, this monster…
Crimson Peak is one of the most beautifully crafted visual experiences I’ve had in a movie theater in a while. Guillermo del Toro certainly knows how to put together beautiful imagery, whether it’s a fantasy masterpiece like “Pan’s Labyrinth” or a comic book adaptation like “Hellboy.” His movies are amazing to just *look* at, and…
Thirteen years after Peter Jackson first introduced us to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, we find ourselves at the conclusion of the prequel Hobbit trilogy, and thus our last foray into Middle Earth. As a result, cinemas are bound to be packed with fans both fierce and casual, all reluctantly saying farewell…
This is it. The final trailer to the final installment of Peter Jackson’s epic telling of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classics. Whereas the first trailer for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies hinted at little to come, this trailer heavily invests in the buildup to the war that is to define the start of The…
Treasure is a mighty influencer. And with so much of it available after the fall of Smaug, everyone — the dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield, the Wood Elves led by Thranduil and the Men of Long Lake led by Bard — are willing to scrap alliances for a piece of it in Peter Jackson’s final…
Even bearing in mind that this film was always going to be fighting the uphill battle of the “middle film” curse, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug still didn’t quite live up to expectations. Perhaps it’s because “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” — Peter Jackson’s last “middle film”, from The Lord of…
While I certainly enjoyed the first trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, I like the second one even more. Warner Bros. and crew have raised the ante with this trailer, hinting at alliances and double-crosses, hidden adorations and resentments, and of course fantastical conflicts waged within a finely crafted world. As the dwarves,…
