Simon's Movie Reviews

  Looking back on the first movie in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings saga, my first thought is that people really need fantasy in their lives. The Fellowship of the Ring came out in 2001, a year when to say the least the news were pretty depressing. An escape to a fantasy land filled with wizards, hobbits, elves, and dwarves engaged in a fight of good versus of evil came at just the right time. You get a certain feeling when you sit in a theater, the lights dim, and you are swept away to the beauty of Middle Earth, via New Zealand. Given the length of Jackson’s movies, it is also a fairly long escape from reality. Prior to sitting down in that theater in 2001, my knowledge of J.R.R Tolkien’s fantasy work was fair at best. I believe I had read the books at least once before and has seen the animated movie from the 1980s, but I was no Stephen Colbert. Since watching that first movie my appreciation for Tolkien’s world has grown as I own the extended cuts of every one of the...

  Despite all the fantasy elements and the many battles, it would be reasonable to consider Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy a holiday tradition. All three movies all came out during the holiday season, feature family and friends joining together, and it is wonderful escapism to enjoy on a cold winter day. The Return of the King (2003) is especially joyous since it is the culmination of all the adventures the characters have gone through, even though there are about five different culminations as the movie winds down. Whether you are a fan of the fantasy genre or if you have read the books, seeing The Return of the King on the big screen is quite the experience. It is not with every movie that you get to see thousands of riders charge against an army of orcs on a battlefield only to get attacked by a battalion of elephant-like creatures. That is one of the most spectacular scenes in a movie filled with plenty of spectacular scenes over a two and a half runnin...

Here’s a fact that will make you feel older: it’s been 17 years since the release of the second chapter of the Lord of the Rings saga. Looking back it was one of those movies that signalled the permanent residence of fantasy blockbusters on the big screen. Whereas The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) was a bit of a road trip, The Two Towers (2002) becomes a war movie in the third act with armies fighting in the rain, exploding walls and the arrival of the cavalry at the last minute. However audiences had never seen before an army composed of an advanced breed of Orcs and the cavalry being led by a bearded wizard recently back from the dead. This is one of the rare movies that I have seen twice on the big screen and numerous times after on DVD, specifically the extended version. Director Kevin Smith may have a point by saying these movies are basically hours of people walking and that the one true trilogy is Star Wars , but I really enjoy watching those hours of footage directed b...

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) has a clever idea for a plot that is executed by a rather oddball crew of artists. In the director’s chair you have Michel Gondry, a French filmmaker whose creativity is always recognisable no matter the project. On writing duties you have Charlie Kaufman, known for writing screenplays that seem to take on a life of their own. Then in front of the camera you have Jim Carrey in serious mode, which doesn’t always work, but the results are always interesting. When the movie came out I was still used to the idea of Jim Carrey as a manic comedian since I grew up watching him in movies like Ace Ventura and The Mask . When he is in a drama you almost always expect him to eventually burst out and talk out of his butt. That might be why Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is not one of his biggest box-office successes, but even 13 years ago I could see this is a very smart movie dealing with deep ideas. Its characters are all convinced that ...