The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Trailer

My Favorite Disney Movies, Part 2

So part 2 will cover Disney movies made from 1990 to the present. Hope this brings back as many good memories as it did for me making this post!

9. Tarzan (1999)

8. A Goofy Movie (1995)

7. Hercules (1997)

6. The Emperor's New Groove (2000)

5. Beauty and the Beast (1991)

4. Brother Bear (2003)

3. Mulan (1998)

2. Aladdin (1992)

1. The Lion King (1994)

My Favorite Disney Movies, Part 1

I haven't done a list/countdown in a while, so let's do another one! This one will be in two parts so the post won't get too long. These movies will all be my favorite Disney films made before 1990. Here we go:

8. Snow White (1937)

7. Pinocchio (1940)

6. The Fox & The Hound (1981)

5. The Black Cauldron (1985)

4. Peter Pan (1953)

3. The Jungle Book (1967)

2. Robin Hood (1973)

1. The Sword In The Stone (1963)

Colin Stokes TED Talk: "How Movies Teach Manhood"

The Hobbit Behind the Scenes #9- Post-Production

Facts You May Not Have Known About "The Lord of the Rings"

1. Gandalf's original Maiar name was Olorin, but has also gone by Tharkun and Mithrandir.
2. There are three more wizards in LotR besides Gandalf and Saruman that weren't mentioned in the movies. They are: Radagast, Alatar, and Pallando.
3. Every single character in LotR wears a wig, except for Peter Jackson's son Billy, who was a hobbit extra in Fellowship of the Ring.
4. There were 144 guests at Bilbo's birthday party in the book, but there were only 100 at the party in the movie.
5. The portraits of Bilbo's parents in Bag End over the mantelpiece are modeled after Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh.
6. In Peter Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring cameo, he's actually "smoking" a carrot because the pipe made him sick.
7. The goblin forges of Orthanc are real... they were built in a foundry and the goblins working it are actually foundry employees in costume.
8. The ringwraith's screams are based on Fran Walsh's scream with a throat infection.
9. The ring that is shown after Frodo drops it in the mountains is actually 6 inches across.
10. Bill the Pony is actually played by a pantomime horse in some scenes.
11. Glamdring (Gandalf's sword) is also supposed to glow in the presence of orcs like Sting, but because of budget cuts, never happened.
12. Orcs were originally elves that Morgoth (Sauron's master) corrupted.
13. The shot of the fellowship mourning Gandalf's death in Lothlorien was shot before Sir Ian McKellen had even arrived in New Zealand to work.
14. The Numenorean ruins at the breaking of the fellowship scene were actually re-purposed from Weathertop.
15. Aragorn wears Boromir's bracers throughout the second and third films as a tribute to him.
16. The warg attack in The Two Towers was originally supposed to be a night attack on Edoras, but since they couldn't light it properly they had to change it.
17. The young Rohirrim that Aragorn talks to at Helm's Deep in The Two Towers is Philippa Boyen's son.
18. When Gandalf returns to help at Helm's Deep, the Riders were supposed to be led by Erkenbrand, not Eomer.
19. The Fangorn Forest attacking Orthanc was Tolkien's response to his disappointment that the forest in MacBeth was fake.
20. The Black Gate is shown as two gates in the movie due to a typo in the script given to the art department.
21. 6 million feet of film was shot for the film... that's about 1,100 miles of film.
22. Howard Shore had to write 7 minutes of music a day to keep up the pace.
23. Christopher Lee is the only cast member to have actually met J.R.R. Tolkien.
24. Galadriel's gift to Frodo- the light of Earendil- is actually Elrond's father.
25. Elijah Wood had Alka-Seltzer tablets in his mouth so that it would foam when Shelob stabbed him.
26. Elrond's brother was the first king of Numenor, so that makes him very distant relatives of Aragorn's.
27. Arwen is Galadriel's granddaughter.

My Favorite Dreamworks Movies

So, to hopefully motivate/stimulate me into blogging more (sensing a trend here...), I thought I would continue with the last list series I started a while back: animated movies. Yes, I know I do a lot of lists on this blog, but it's what I do- I make lists... a lot. So here are my top 10 Dreamworks movies! Feel free to laugh, cry, or disagree in a comment.

10. Shrek Forever After (2010)

9. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)

8. Prince of Egypt (1998)

7. Road to El Dorado (2000)

6. Chicken Run (2000)

5. Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

4. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

3. Shrek (2001)

2. How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

1. Kung Fu Panda (2008)

My Favorite Pixar Movies

So to help me get back into the swing of blogging again, and since I have never really been the kind of blogger to have long, deep, pensive posts- here's a list of my favorite Pixar films in order:

12. Wall-E

11. Monsters Inc.

10. A Bug's Life

9. Toy Story 2

8. Ratatouille

7. Cars

6. The Incredibles

5. Brave

4. Toy Story 3

3. Up

2. Toy Story

1. Finding Nemo 

*Brave added 8/11/12

Bully (2012) Trailer

I really want to see this documentary, but I feel that I won't get the chance since it's only being shown in limited theaters. It's about a very important issue (especially to me) that I don't think gets enough attention these days. Yes, there is homosexual discrimination and bullying- which is a big issue as well, but don't forget about all of the other kids that are bullied at school every day in the U.S. and all over the world.

Foreign Films, Part 3

This set of films is for all of the Japanese films I want to and have seen. This doesn't include anime or Studio Ghibli films.

Have Not Seen




Biruma No Tategoto



Rashomon



Sansho Dayu



Shichinin No Samurai



Kumonosu-jo



Ugetsu



Akira

Foreign Films, Part 1

Due to suggestions from friends, and my own interests; I've resolved to watch more foreign films. I have seen a few, and I've liked all of them. Here is a list of films that I have either been recommended, or seem to interest me from their description. I'll split the list up into 4 posts, organized by nationality. Plus, I will add films that I have seen and would recommend to you. This one is for the French films!

Have Not Seen

Amelie

Tous les Matins du Monde

La Belle et la Bête

Le Journal d'un Cure de Campagne

Le Jeux Interdits

La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc

Have Seen

Les Choristes

 
Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles