Fellowship of Filming(s)

The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers [Extended Edition] (2002)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a 2002 epic high fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair, and Jackson, based on 1954’s The Two Towers, the second volume of the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. The sequel to 2001’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the film is the second instalment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It features an ensemble cast including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Bernard Hill, Christopher Lee, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban, and Andy Serkis.
via Wikipedia

This is my favorite movie of the trilogy. Absolutely 100%.

1 – The Two Towers

To explain: There is absolutely nothing wrong with the third installment of this trilogy and it will get it’s own post. Having said that, there is a lot going on in this movie. The party is split, and some of them are reunited and then split up again.

There are more character introductions. We meet the Riders of Rohan, the second son of the Steward of Gondor, Gandalf the White, and one of my favorites, the Ents. There is quite a bit of progression here, several pivotal battles and alliances made.

Its a very involved movie where we actually see the plot moving along and I love it so much.

My Rating: ★★★★★

More Movies to Watch:

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring [Extended Edition] (2001)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a 2001 epic high fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Jackson, based on 1954’s The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. The film is the first installment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It features an ensemble cast including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, and Andy Serkis.
via Wikipedia

Okay, alright. I really don’t need to be reviewing a movie that’s part of my all-time favorite trilogies. A movie that shaped the majority of my young adult life. A movie that has connected so many friendships. A movie that continues to this day to make me smile every time I watch it. A movie that I have the extended edition on DVD along with the other two in the trilogy.

So, what I’ll do for you is rank the trilogy from 1 to 3, with the caveat that I love all of these movies, but for different reasons, and without the others none of them would be as good as they are on their own.

2 – The Fellowship of the Ring

To explain: I have said multiple times that origin stories are my favorite, and that still continues to be the case here, which is why it’s at #2. However, this movie is more about character introductions, the hobbits, and well (spoilers?) some death. Yeah, we get some lore (which lore is what Tolkien is all about), but we don’t get a lot of action or adventure. It’s a good opening, for sure, but the other movies have more appeal for getting the plot moving along.

Stay tuned to find out which movie I’m ranking as #1 – comment below for your guess, and let me know your thoughts on this trilogy!

My Rating: ★★★★★

More Movies to Watch:

Taboo (2002)

Taboo is a 2002 American mystery thriller film directed by Max Makowski, written by Chris Fisher, and starring Nick Stahl, Eddie Kaye Thomas, January Jones, Amber Benson, Derek Hamilton, and Lori Heuring. It was released by Columbia Tristar Home Videos on January 14, 2002.
via Wikipedia

Not to be confused with the more popular adult film of the same name, though the theming is similar…

It starts out like most movies with a group of friends playing a game that seems mostly harmless. Answering questions in a fun social card game, that turns very personal and somewhat criminal, one for each friend.

A year after this fun game is played, the group of friends is back together again, and the game is brought to the forefront again, this time with fatal consequences. It’s a lot like one of the previous movies I’ve watched lately (I mean look at any of the ones based on the Truth or Dare game, it’s basically the same thing here, but with a bit more anonymity).

Honestly, I will give this film a bit more credit as it does have a slightly better way of playing out the plot. I like the twist (I’ll admit to a morbid and twisted sense of humor) and the ending.

My Rating: ★★★

More Movies to Watch:

Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)

Beyond the Poseidon Adventure is a 1979 American disaster film and a sequel to The Poseidon Adventure (1972) directed by Irwin Allen and starring Michael Caine and Sally Field. It was a critical and commercial failure. Its box office receipts were only 20% of its estimated $10 million budget.
via Wikipedia

Okay, so I watched this movie mostly because of Michael Caine, but I’ve also seen the original movie. It’s been on regular TV several times during my childhood and it’s a movie my mother likes. It’s similar to Titanic, but it’s based on a book of a similar experience. One of the famous scenes is the people trapped in the dining room, but the boat is upside down, so the survivors are suspended by the tables that are now on the “ceiling”.

This is not that movie. Michael Caine is a salvager that arrives shortly after the disaster and another salvager quickly arrives right after they do. What ensues is a salvaging mission, that evolves into a rescue mission, and spirals into a daring escape from a sinking vessel and a small gang of criminals.

I actually quite liked it as I’m a big fan of “closed room” escape situations. I like the closeness of the environment and the danger it provides and possesses. Maybe I’ll get around to rewatching the prequel to this movie so I can link them together.

My Rating: ★★★

More Movies to Watch:

Sands of Oblivion (2007)

Sands of Oblivion is a 2007 Sci-Fi Channel original movie starring Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, Victor Webster, George Kennedy, Richard Kind and Dan Castellaneta. It was directed by David Flores and premiered July 28, 2007 on the Sci Fi Channel.
via Wikipedia

This is kind of a fun take, as it’s a film based on a film based on a film? The whole plot is an elderly actor looking for a treasure he buried as a child while on the set of The Ten Commandments. The film set was buried after the film wrapped, and is now being excavated by another group.

They do indeed find the buried treasure, but it turns out to be a real artifact that brings to life an ancient deity. And it’s mad. So… there’s that.

Honestly, this is not the most well done movie. It has a very good premise, but it’s not implemented well. It could have been so much better, but as it’s a “made-for-tv” movie it does what it says on the tin. I probably won’t be watching this again.

My Rating: ★★

More Movies to Watch:

Wish Upon (2017)

Wish Upon is a 2017 American supernatural horror film, directed by John R. Leonetti, written by Barbara Marshall, and starring Joey King, Ki Hong Lee, Sydney Park, Shannon Purser, Sherilyn Fenn, Elisabeth Rohm, and Ryan Phillippe. The film follows a teenage girl who is given a magic musicbox that grants seven wishes, but kills someone close to her each time it does.
via Wikipedia

I actually quite liked this movie that was recommended after watching a few other horror movies. What happened was I fell asleep watching a different movie and woke to find this one playing. I finished watching it, and then rewatched it.

It reminded me a bit of the Wishmaster series as it has the same plot device. Which I’ve found is a plot device I like to see played out. I also like the ending of this film, traditional horror films are meant to be tragedies, and I do enjoy seeing that played out with good effect.

I did like seeing the plot device being played out with teens, but I’m not sure we needed all the dark background. There are discussions and a history of ***cide, that while it does make sense for the story, but seems a bit heavy for what the movie is trying to do.

My Rating: ★★★

More Movies to Watch:

Truth or Dare (2018)

Truth or Dare, also known as Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare, is a 2018 American supernatural horror film directed and co-written (alongside Michael Reisz, Jillian Jacobs, and Chris Roach) by Jeff Wadlow. The film stars Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane, Hayden Szeto, Sophia Taylor Ali, and Landon Liboiron as a group of college students who play a game of truth or dare while on vacation in Mexico, only to realize it has deadly consequences if they do not follow through on their obligations. Jason Blum produced through his Blumhouse Productions banner, and Universal Pictures distributed the film.
via Wikipedia

As the introduction implies, another group of college kids meet up with a stranger in Mexico and start playing a game of truth or dare. However, this game has already been ongoing, and is influenced by a supernatural entity.

The group returns home only to find that they are still playing the game and the consequences of not playing are even more horrendous than the actual dares themselves. After several members are eliminated from the game, the group finally trap the supernatural entity and learn the truth of the games rules.

Hopefully, this is the end of the Truth or Dare movies that I’m able to watch now. There seems to be far too many around, and probably more in the works, and I can’t say that I believe that they will be any better than what I’ve seen so far. This one isn’t terrible, but I’m not exactly sure on the ending.

My Rating: ★★

More Movies to Watch:

Truth or Die (2012)

Truth or Dare(released in the United States as Truth or Die) is a 2012 British psychological horror film directed by Robert Heath and written by Matthew McGuchan. The film stars David Oakes, Tom Kane, Jennie Jacques, Liam Boyle, Jack Gordon, Florence Hall and Alexander Vlahos. It made 2.5 million at the box office against its budget of 1 million.
via Wikipedia

A group of college kids are having a fun graduation party, and decide to play Truth or Dare. In the process, a young man named Felix is humiliated and later (trigger warning). A year later the group of friends is invited to rich friend’s birthday party as a college reunion of sorts.

If you’re following along and have a good sense of how traditional horror movies work, then you know exactly how things play out from there.

But, I’ll give a brief summary anyway. Felix’s older brother is insanely angry and wants to know the truth of what drove his brother to those actions. He ties them all up and plays a new game of Truth or Dare with increasing amounts of brutality.

There are weirdly enough, several low-budget films have been made around “Truth or Dare”. Finding the correct information for the correct movie I watched had me sifting through a decent list on Wikipedia.

And with that- watch it or don’t.

My Rating: ★★

More Movies to Watch:

The Lighthouse (2019)

The Lighthouse is a 2019 film directed and produced by Robert Eggers, from a screenplay he wrote with his brother Max Eggers. It stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson as nineteenth-century lighthouse keepers in turmoil after being marooned at a remote New England outpost by a wild storm. The film has defied categorization in media, and interpretations of it range among horror film, psychological thriller, or character study, among others.
via Wikipedia

I usually enjoy psychological thrillers, such as Gothika, The Cell, and others. However, I do not know why, this film could not keep my attention. I frequently found myself finding something else to do, such as picking up a hobby, checking the laundry, and getting a drink or snack. I think I even had a nap during one attempt to watch it all the way through.

That’s not a dig on the genre, as I typically do quite like it. I really don’t know why I couldn’t get into it. I don’t have any issues with the actors, the setting, or the idea that two isolated men with complicated backstories slowly start facing their inner demons and lose their minds. In fact that’s what drew me to the movie in the first place.

I might try watching this movie again at a later date, but it’s not high on that list, and not a priority.

My Rating: ★★

More Movies to Watch:

Nine Lives (2002)

Normally I give you guys a quote from the corresponding Wikipedia page for this movie, but I shit you not all it says is “Nine Lives is a 2002 horror film starring Paris Hilton. The movie was shot in England and was low budget.”

I’ll give you a short plot synopsis instead. Nine college friends spend a night in a Scottish mansion to celebrate someone’s 21st birthday. One of them awakens a vengeful spirit and it goes on a killing spree by possessing them. That person is killed in self-defense, but the spirit just possesses someone else and carries on getting revenge.

What follows is the college friends trying to figure out what is going and how to escape with their lives – because of course there is also a raging storm outside and since theses are rich kids in Scotland only about half of them can actually drive.

I do like the ghost mechanics portrayed here, and the mansion itself is beautiful, but I can see why this never made headlines, and is mediocre at best. Maybe if they had a better budget they could have really done something here, but they spent it all on Paris Hilton which was not the best choice.