Percy Jackson-- Lightning Thief

Time for a quick review! I went to see Percy Jackson and the Olympians-- The Lightning Thief in theaters with some family friends. The books were enjoyable. They had a nice twist on the Greek mythology, and I found myself thinking back to the books this year as I have been studying Ancient Greece. I haven't read the books in awhile, though.

The main premise is that Percy Jackson finds out he is a half-blood, a demi-god. His father is Posiden, the god of the seas. The gods are still alive and powerful in our world. They move with world powers-- currently living on the top of the Empire State building. Someone has stolen Zeus' thunderbolt and Zeus thinks it is Percy. Won't say much more. :) Read the books, they are very fun though not genuis.

If you know me at all, you know I am a book purist. Movies rarely live up to my expectations. I am fine if they want to take creative liscene, or what have you, but too often the movies stray from the meaning of the books. Percy Jackson and the Olympians was just what I exspected. A good movie in an of itself, but nothing like the book.

Changes in character were my biggest pet peeve. The protagonists are no longer 12 year olds, but 17 year old teens. Grover, a saytr, is very girl-struck in the movies (so is Percy, for that matter). Annabeth is no longer a grey eyed, tomboy strategist who wears a magical Yankees ballcap and calls Percy "Seaweed Brain". Instead, she is a very pretty teen girl who might/might not be in love with Percy and is quite the warrior. Other characters were messed with, too.

The plotline was changed around, and some major points left out. (These points affect the later books, so if they plan on another movie, I don't know how they will do it).

But it is an enjoyable movie if you don't mind the changes. :) I would write about the good parts, but I really don't want to give away the plotline (READ THE BOOK).

Born of Hope

Do you remember the Lord of the Rings fanfilm The Hunt for Gollum that I mentioned? There is a new film out by the same people.

I have found another Lord of the Rings fanfilm! It is called Born of Hope (see the movie, and the website, HERE). 

It is the story of Aragorn's parents. The story is not told in Tolkien canon (aside from a reference to the gravestone of Aragorn's mother).

I don't have time for a proper review, but I enjoyed this video very much. If you are a Lord of the Rings fan, you must watch it.

Pride and Prejudice

It goes without saying that Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, is one of my favorite books. (Most girls will agree with me on this, but those strange males never seem to realise the genius of it). Fine Linen Drama is going to be preforming a play of Pride and Prejudice this spring. Poor, poor, poor me, I shall be moved, and I shall miss the oppertunity to act in a non-musical preformance of my favorite book.

We recently watched the latest version of Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightly. It was very enjoyable, but I think they could have done better. First off- its impossible to do a good interpretation of this book in a two hour movie. Just like Lord of the Rings, it demands good time to tell the story properly.

The characters and their development in the movie were very good and fairly true to the book. However, the casting left much to be desired. The actors did a wonderful job, but some of them just weren't right for their part. Lizzy and Wickham were cast fairly well, but Bingley... Not how I imagined him. At all. Mr. Darcy, at first, does not seem like a Mr. Darcy at all, but as the movie goes along, you can really see him as Mr. Darcy. Mr. Bennett just wasn't right- they messed up his character.

Most movies are very vague interpretations of their story, but this version of Pride and Predjudice followed the storline nicely. One of the best things about it was the dialogue. Jane Austen chose the perfect words, and the makers of this movie kept the original wording (except at the end). However, alot of the words are little-known, so I suggest using subtitles.

Its a good version to watch if you just want to get through the story quickly, or you love dazzling cinematography (the lighting, effects, and costumes were amazing). But if you want to see justice done to the book, watch the 5 hour BBC mini series.

 

Its been awhile since I've seen it, but it is worth the 5 hours. It is not as dazzling but does a much better job with the storyline. Plus you can follow it even if you've never read the book or a synopsis. (My brother watched the Keira Knightly version with us and was totally and utterly lost. Well, I guess he also hated it because its a love story)

The Hunt for Gollum

So I finally got around to watching this!

The Hunt for Gollum is a fanfilm based on the Lord of the Rings. It is set between Bilbo's birthday party and Frodo leaving the Shire. Gandalf was worried that Sauron might have knowledge of the Ring, and Aragorn was sent to find the creature Gollum.

Overall, I was pretty impressed. The script was good, the actors resembled the actors in the real movies, and the CG was amazing! All of the landscape shots were CGI (computer-generated images, CG for short). And the music, costumes, and props were wonderful.

The fight scenes left some to be desired. Maybe its just my personal taste, but I thought that the choreography could be better, and the gore could be less. :)

And this was my favorite bit- SUBTITLES! Yup! It had subtitles! Which makes it much easier to follow. (not that the sound quality was't good- it was great- but its easier for me to understand stuff visually)

You can watch it here. Make sure you have time- its forty minutes long. There is supposed to be another one coming out!