Rewatched "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" a few days back. And it's still one of my favorite films. The acting by Russel Crowe and Paul Bettany is phenomenal and the whole movie feels like you've been transported to a 1700's frigate.
A very underrated movie.

Interesting about The Princess Bride: the first time I watched it, I wondered what the big deal was; it just seemed far too silly. But I have watched it a couple of times since, and it is definitely growing on me. Now it seems more clever than silly, in a very dry way. "Inconceivable"!

Master and Commander is a favourite of mine, aragorn2. *agrees about Crowe's and Bettany's acting in the film, wow!* Even though it is slower-moving, for the most part, it keeps your attention, and you really get drawn in to the characters. Now knowing much about naval battle, I found some of the strategies fascinating. Pity it came out the same year as The Return of the King, because I think it had a good chance at Best Picture.

Rewatched "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" a few days back. And it's still one of my favorite films. The acting by Russel Crowe and Paul Bettany is phenomenal and the whole movie feels like you've been transported to a 1700's frigate.
A very underrated movie.

I really enjoy that movie as well. Of course I'm kind of a sucker for any flick that has Age of Sail things going on, but I have to concur that Crowe and Bettany really bring the movie life. I'm not familiar with the source material but it's supposed to be as good as the film.

I love the Master and Commander movie! I saw it for the first time several years ago. I recently got into the books, (20 finished, and 1 unfinished). I've read the first 4 and must say they are terrific.

Master and Commander is a family favorite, even older sister Scarlet has watched it and liked it. That's pretty amazing, believe me.

We aren't going to watch SH:AGoS until next Friday. My brother wants to wait until after his classes are over to watch it. Oh well, I guess I can wait another week, it hasn't been that long since we watched it.

SnowAngel

I have seen Master, and Commander several times and it only gets better each time. they did an excellent job of depicting life on board a warship at that time. If you ever get an opportunity to buy a DVD be sure to get the extras that include how they put the scenery together.
Just finished sorting our VHS, and DVD collection. We are most likely to be veiwing the traditional Christmas favorits of the houshold. Namely A Muppet Christmas Carol, and the Nativity. With a possible showing of Home Alone 3, which in my humble estimation beats the first two hands down.

Master and Commander is a family favorite, even older sister Scarlet has watched it and liked it. That's pretty amazing, believe me.

Scarlet is apparently the family barometer for films in the Angel household. And what types of films does Scarlet generally approve of?

Master and Commander is a family favorite, even older sister Scarlet has watched it and liked it. That's pretty amazing, believe me.

Scarlet is apparently the family barometer for films in the Angel household. And what types of films does Scarlet generally approve of?

The types most approved of by Scarlet are 1930s and 1940s romantic comedies such as Love Crazy, I Love Again, The Palm Beach Story; murder mysteries like Sherlock Holmes (any SH movie), The Thin Man movies, Charade; Jane Austen movies, and Sherwood Pictures movies.

Scarlet doesn't usually watch movies like The Hunt for Red October, The Bourne Trilogy, etc. As a matter a fact, she use to fall asleep watching The Hunt for Red October until she was like 18, it was crazy! It might still put her to sleep if she would watch it and not knit. If she is in the room when we watch a Bourne movie or something like it, she just knits and doesn't watch the movie at all.

Been watching some Hallmark Christmas movies, the usual Hallmark fluff, but it's fun to watch a few of them in December with my Mom and sisters. We have always laugh a lot when we do.

SnowAngel

Last night, we saw that The Adventures of Tintin was on Instant Play on Netflix, so guess what we watced?
It was one of those movies where, because of Narniaweb, I was interested in it but didn't know exactly what to expect and didn't mind if I didn't like it or not. Of course, those are always the movies that end up being brilliant. I really enjoyed it. Out of 5 stars, I'll give it 4.

Fantastic! It's great to hear that you enjoyed The Secret of the Unicorn movie. It's based on several of Herge's The Adventures of Tintin comics. It comprises roughly half of The Crab with the Golden Claws album, most of The Secret of the Unicorn and the last few pages of Red Rackham's Treasure (each of which were published during World War 2). Naturally, some elements of the movie were purely the scriptwriters' invention (for example the chase through Bagghar).

As a long-time Tintin fan I really enjoyed the movie but also recognised aspects that could've been improved upon (for one - Captain Haddock has more of a temper in the comics and is, as a result, funnier). Also, some of the movie original elements worked well, while others didn't. Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg used a modern form of film-making called 'motion capture'. It's essentially the same process WETA Digital used to create Gollum for The Lord of the Rings but the performance-capture process is applied to the whole movie. The result is something with realistic textures (face, clothing etc.) but with the proportions and designs that are recognisable from Herge's original albums.

See some WETA Digital's work on Tintin here:

Thanks for the information on the books, Warrior! The one I put on hold was Red Rackham's Treasure, but I think I'll get The Secret of the Unicorn and read it first. Maybe this is for the books thread, but what's a good one to start on?

Yeah, I can see that there were things that could have been bettered. I was seeing past reviews on NW on Tintin and I think it was you who said that the first 2/3rds were great, while the last 1/3rd was merely okay. I think that's how I'd put it, too, even though I'm not at all familiar with the comics themselves. The first 2/3rds were really captivating, but towards the end, it could have been better.
Ah, okay, I had suspected they used that method. (The visuals reminded me of like Mars Needs Moms, which I believe used a similar process.) Thanks for the link!

Yes, that NW review was written by me. What's a good Tintin book to begin the journey? Most of the stories are very good but it depends on what you're looking for. Something like Cigars of the Pharaoh is mysterious and adventurous but the story isn't as cohesive as later adventures. If you want a quality story with historical context, try The Blue Lotus. My favourites are The Seven Crystal Balls and Tintin in Tibet, but they should be left for later on. Really, you could try any of the adventures. I hope this helps.

I was wondering if anyone has ever seen the animated version of Hobbit that came out in the 80s?
It was much edited, and condensed from the book. But I still rather enjoyed it. If I recall one of my favorite actores Richard Boone was the voice of the dragon Smaug.
I know everybodys doing computer animation these days, but I think there is a great deal more artistry in the older animation that is lacking in much of today's work.

Ah, you mean the 1977 Rankin/Bass musical interpretation, right Puddleglum?

I actually have the old VHS tape of that special and have watched it... maybe 4 times at the most? It's a decent adaptation of the book if you can get past the rather irritating musical numbers. The animation is nice (fun fact: it was animated by the group Topcraft that would later go on to be Studio Ghibli once the first studio dissolved) and the voice work is good, especially John Huston as Gandalf.

It's MUCH better than the later Rankin/Bass abomination of Return of the King (1980), but not a "cherished gem" by any stretch of the imagination.

Score: 1 1/2 out of 5

Sounds right. Though it has been many a year since I last was able to see it. Thank you for reminding me of Huston's contribution, I cannot believe I had forgotten.
Did you by chance also see the rather blundering attempt at the The Fellowship of the Ring that came out before Return of the King? If I recall correctly, it attempted to make use of drawing animation over scenes initially filmed in live action. An experiment doomed to failure from the start. The greater shame was it had to involve such a classic story.