There is a movie that I'd be interested in seeing, which is coming out soon, either next week or in the New Year. It is called the Railway man, and it seems it is about forgiveness. Has anyone seen it yet, or heard about it?

Finally got around to seeing Frozen! I was really excited. I need to watch it again before I can give a proper review, but overall, I really liked it. The animation was gorgeous in every way possible--lighting, costume design, settings, the effects of the snow. I loved the design on the costumes, especially. The music was pretty good, too.
I really liked it! It gives me hope for Disney Animation since Tangled and then Wreck-It-Ralph. I know I'll be re-watching it many times when it comes out on video.

Frozen is definitely the best Disney movie since the 90s. Great characters, stunning animation, and fantastic songs. "Let it Go" (the Idina Menzel version) is sure to win the Oscar for Best Original Song.

I liked the fact that movie explored a sister dynamic as thats a very rare thing to see in Disney movies (or movies in general). In fact, the story took several directions that I didn't see coming. There were a lot of Disney cliches that Frozen played around with and presented in ways that made them original.

It's strange, over the past few years Disney has been getting better and better (With Tangled, Wreck-It-Ralph, and now Frozen), while Pixar seems to have lost their magic touch (with mediocre films like Cars 2, Brave, and Monsters University).

I think the story of Frozen was very strong. It seemed like they had ample time and resources to work on everything, compared to, say, Brave, which was kind of falling apart mid-production.
The sister dynamic is one of the most winning points of the film. I'm really glad it wasn't done in a shallow way.

It's strange, over the past few years Disney has been getting better and better (With Tangled, Wreck-It-Ralph, and now Frozen), while Pixar seems to have lost their magic touch (with mediocre films like Cars 2, Brave, and Monsters University).

Though I thought Brave was okay/good and Monster's University excellent, I have to agree with you. Tangled seemed to have offset a new chapter in Disney Animation. The new movies still bear the Disney theme, but they are fresh and interesting.
Pixar has its own theme, and it's sad to see its current condition. Monster's University was a great story, but it was a forgettable film. It didn't even get nominated for the Golden Globes. Hopefully some original work will bring Pixar back.

Last night I saw The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug with some of my friends. I enjoyed the movie but it isn't what you would call a strict adaptation of Tolkien's novel.

The quality of the script fluctuates dramatically. It's strong in places, good in others and sometimes rather average, even poor. I didn't even mind PJ and co's story inventions when they were true to the characters, the spirit and the world of Middle-earth but sometimes the ideas they had were silly, counter-intuitive, long-winded or just dull.

The pacing is better than the first movie, but the second is still overly-long (two movies would've sufficed).

This is my biggest peeve with the movie.

Everything else in the movie, I either enjoyed or deemed satisfactory. Overall, I enjoyed some parts of The Desolation of Smaug more than some sections of An Unexpected Journey and vice-versa. Finally, I will add that Smaug is beyond majestic! A real treat.

Warning: Recommended for mature audiences - contains moderate fantasy violence

7.5/10

Finally got around to seeing Frozen!

seems you got to it before I did

I saw Frozen yesterday and loved it so much

I still have this little wish that they would have just made an animtated film of the original fairy tale (The Snow Queen) cause it's one of my very favorite fairy tales and I'd be interested to see how Disney would have made it. But Frozen is a great cartoon and one that I enjoyed watching. I'll be sure to get it on DVD when it comes out

Desolation of Smaug...where do I even start.

I love the Lord of the Rings films. They continue to define the standard of the modern fantasy epic for me.

I didn't think An Unexpected Journey was as good, but I still found it to be an enjoyable fantasy film.

Desolation of Smaug was just bad. It took everything that was wrong with AUJ and drove it up to 11. Too much CGI, unrealistic over-the-top action sequences, scenes that dragged on forever, all that and more.

4/10

I somehow managed to fit in The Desolation of Smaug, Frozen, and Catching Fire over the past few weeks. They're doing a good job of hashing over the good and the bad in DoS in the Tolkien thread, so I won't say much, but I'll agree that the pacing was just way too fast; there wasn't any time to breathe.

I went to see Frozen with a classmate who really wanted to see it and it was okay. I wasn't a huge fan of the songs; "Let it Go" has been lauded a lot, but it sounded far too much like Idina Menzel and not at all like Elsa, which jarred me out of my tenuous place in their world (in addition to reminding me too much of "Defying Gravity" from Wicked). To my sisters' surprise, I did find the troll scene and song funny simply because

Spoiler

they're trying to convince Anna to marry Hans by listing out all his bad points.

Spoiler

If you can convince the head that it's not hurt by making it forget that it's been hit, how does true love erase the freezing of a heart? When has ignorance ever been healing, and how does true love remove the frozen head streak too? And how did Elsa, after a lifetime of trying to control her power, instantly figure out how to control it and defrost everything at the end? And it wasn't "letting it all go" since she still wasn't able to control it when Kristoff and Anna showed up. My other problem had to deal with Hans: there were already enough sources of conflict (Count or Duke of Weaseltown, tension between Anna and Elsa, Anna's frozen heart, the frozen town, the people's distrust and fear of Elsa) that Hans was really unnecessary. I knew that he and Anna wouldn't be together (because of comments about how the true love at first sight plot wasn't going to be what you thought it would be ), but I was really hoping he would be a good guy, just not a good match for Anna (kind of like what they did with Charlotte in The Princess and the Frog). It also made his earlier actions a bit confusing, especially when he took such concern to make sure Elsa wasn't harmed while it would've been a lot easier to let the Weaseltown soldiers ensure a little accident. I did wonder what was going on with him mentioning his 12 older brothers, but I was thinking/hoping it was a red herring because it was very obvious; apparently not, though.

I'd heard that Catching Fire was a good adaptation and movie, but I was still pleasantly surprised. It was great to see

I thought the pacing was fine. I usually drift off if the pacing is way too slow. I loved that part with bilbo jumping up and down on a floor opening.

The Book Thief.

I thought this was everything a movie should be! It was very aesthetically pleasing but understated, culturally nuanced (all non-essential dialogue was in German) and a very fair portrayal of an often ill-judged piece of history. I really appreciated the way the personal, familial narrative quietly wove its thread through a much larger political narrative that was often eluded to (in scary ways) but never really revealed.

It's a tad dark/suspenseful in places (unsurprising, given the history) but definitely tends towards the heartwarming too. A nice balance. A very fresh look at Nazi Germany and the innocence or passivity of many of its citizens (showed them hiding in fear from British ariel bombings, reminiscent of the countless times we've seen that for London). Having been to Germany many times before, and heard the people there talk fondly about their grandfathers and uncles that died in WWII, it was good to see that perspective again - alongside the necessary condemnation of the Third Reich (at one point Liesl and her little boyfriend desperately shout to the unhearing wilderness: "I hate Hitler!"). Again, this movie really humanises "the Germans".

Great acting too.

You've got to be patient with the plot and just enjoy the pace at which it unfolds. It's worth it. Its this approach that really made me feel like I've read a book, the story seems to have lasted with me like that.

I'd give it a 9/10.

The Hobbit the Desolation of Smaug has been out for a month and I finely found time to go see it and well...

5/10

Go and see "The Railway Man". It's the most moving film I've seen in twenty years.

I just watched Her by Spike Jonze today. I consider it to be an absolute masterpiece, with brilliant performances and a truly visionary story. Watch it watch it watch it.

Trusty: Your review was exactly what I thought of the book thief. The only thing that stopped me crying at the end was the thought of having my mascara leak down my face and having to walk around town after. I liked how the point of view was from general citizens of Germany. Showing that they were just as innocent as the general citizens of England who were bombed during the war.

Just saw "God's not Dead". Excellent! Given my personal experience with philosophy teachers in collage it was entirly believable.
The acting was well done, as was the script.
Only one of the scenes was a little contrived, ( sorry, I'm am bad at figuring out how to do spoiler black outs ).