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The Return of the King

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  • Title: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
  • IMDB: link

lotr-return-of-the-king-posterAlthough the final entry in director Peter Jackson‘s The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the one which took home the Academy Award for Best Picture, I’ve always felt The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the most problematic of all three films (and not only because of the 18 or so separate endings).

We begin with the film shoehorning a big section of The Two Towers into this film (while ignoring more than half Tolkien’s final novel) by including an extended sequence of Frodo (Elijah Wood), Sam (Sean Astin), and Gollum‘s (Andy Serkis) journey along Cirith Ungol before even reaching the giant spider Shelob‘s lair (all of which actually takes place in The Two Towers), and finally to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring.

The rest of the film focuses on Gandalf‘s (Ian McKellen) return to Minas Tirith to unsuccessfully rally the Steward of Gondor (John Noble), Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) finally accepting his destiny and journeying through the Paths of the Dead, and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields between Mordor and the combined forces of Rohan and Gondor.

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The Two Towers

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  • Title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
  • IMDb: link

“There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.”

lotr-two-towers-poster

The second film from director Peter Jackson‘s Lord of the Rings trilogy is, in my opinion, the best and most under appreciated film of the series.

Although Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam‘s (Sean Astin) slow journey to nowhere with Gollum (Andy Serkis) grows a bit tedious at times (as it does in the beginning of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King as well), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers provides many of the trilogy’s best sequences including the battle at Helms Deep and introduces several new characters in Gollum and the warriors of Rohan who will play important roles not only in this film but in the upcoming final battle with Sauron and the armies of Mordor.

The film begins with Frodo and Sam striking out on their own for Mordor and Mount Doom. Meanwhile Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) hunt down Peregrin Took (Billy Boyd) and Merry Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan) who were taken by Saruman‘s orcs, who mistakenly believe one of the two Hobbits to be carrying the One Ring.

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The Fellowship of the Ring

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  • Title: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
  • IMDB: link

“One does not simply walk into Mordor.”

lotr-fellowship-of-the-ring-posterThe first film in Peter Jackson‘s trilogy adapting J. R. R. Tolkien‘s The Lord of the Rings is most viewers’ favorite of the series (although not mine). Despite being made more than a decade ago The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring holds up pretty well beginning by introducing the various races of Middle Earth as well as our main cast of characters who will volunteer for the suicidal mission of marching to Mount Doom.

Jackson slowly builds the story which begins by introducing us to the Hobbits of the Shire, particularly Bilbo (Ian Holm) and Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood). The occasion of the wizard Gandalf’s (Ian McKellen) journey to the Shire for Bilbo’s 111th birthday and the discovery of the true power of the ring Bilbo found on his previous adventure leads young Frodo and his best friend Sam (Sean Astin) on an adventure with Peregrin Took (Billy Boyd) and Merry Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan) which will cause the Hobbits leave the warmth and safety of the Shire for adventure and to prevent the return to power of the dark wizard Sauron.

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V/H/S

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  • Title: V/H/S
  • IMDB: link

vhs-blu-rayLike most short film anthologies V/H/S is something of a mixed bag. Structured around a story of a group of criminals hired to retrieve a videotape from what they believe is an empty house, the group of thieves stumble upon the owner’s dead body and an insane collection of videotapes each with a different found-footage-style horror tale captured on film.

As the robbers search and plunder the house for what they’ve been sent to find, along with anything else of value they can steal, one member of the group starts browsing through five of the tapes giving us our five separate horror shorts.

In “Amateur Night” a group of frat boys attempting to make their own amateur sex tape get far more than they expected when one of the women (Hannah Fierman) they pick has a violent episode as the camera starts to roll. Although the set-up is far too long, the payoff works well and Fierman is certainly capable as coming off as creepy as hell on-screen when called upon.

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Beasts of the Southern Wild

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  • Title: Beasts of the Southern Wild
  • IMDB: link

beasts-of-the-southern-wild-blu-rayWriter/director Benh Zeitlin‘s Beasts of the Southern Wild is an unusual film set in the Louisiana bayou in the fictional locale of “Isle de Charles Doucet,” commonly referred to by its residents as the Bathtub. Adapted by Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar from Alibar’s one-act play “Juicy and Delicious,” the film is centered around a six year-old girl named Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) whose world is threatened by her father’s (Dwight Henry) sudden illness and an approaching storm which causes the outside world to encroach on the tightly-knit community.

Although the Bathtub doesn’t actually exist it was inspired by several small fishing villages along the bayou constantly threatened by hurricanes, a rising sea level, and erosion. Zeitlin gives us a fully-formed world without judgment or bias. The community of the Bathtub is an uproarious bunch who refuse to leave their homes even if doing so might save their lives from the oncoming storm.

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