itchy_de
Lifetime Total
1+
IMDb Member
18 years
Reviews
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Disappointed, but not overly so
The Desolation of Smaug is not a bad movie and will certainly find its audience. But where I found the first movie to be refreshingly entertaining, because it took time to tell the tale of the dwarfs' undertaking, this second movie brought back everything I didn't like from the original trilogy. Legolas surfing on a shield on the stairs of Helm's Deep or on an Oliphant's trunk. I found these over-the-top action scenes childish and unfit for otherwise really great movies.
However, in this movie, there was simply too much of it. Peter Jackson's decision of bringing Legolas and Tauriel into play is not bad per se. But when these two characters add nothing to the story other than showing at least a hundred creative ways of how to penetrate orcish skulls, I could not help but silently pray for these scenes to just go away. It seemed that Legolas actually lost a lot of skill in the time between the Hobbit storyline and the Lord of the Rings story, because if he had kept up the same dead-orcs-per-minute rate, Gimli and the rest of the fellowship would have had a quiet vacation trip with Legolas enjoying his Orc genocide.
Which is disappointing, because Bilbo's and Gandalf's performances are just as one would expect: absolutely fabulous. Smaug is a beautiful creation of modern CGI technology. I really enjoyed the movie's more silent minutes.
However, in this movie, there was simply too much of it. Peter Jackson's decision of bringing Legolas and Tauriel into play is not bad per se. But when these two characters add nothing to the story other than showing at least a hundred creative ways of how to penetrate orcish skulls, I could not help but silently pray for these scenes to just go away. It seemed that Legolas actually lost a lot of skill in the time between the Hobbit storyline and the Lord of the Rings story, because if he had kept up the same dead-orcs-per-minute rate, Gimli and the rest of the fellowship would have had a quiet vacation trip with Legolas enjoying his Orc genocide.
Which is disappointing, because Bilbo's and Gandalf's performances are just as one would expect: absolutely fabulous. Smaug is a beautiful creation of modern CGI technology. I really enjoyed the movie's more silent minutes.
Französisch für Anfänger (2006)
A "must see" if you are German and took French in school
The story is simple: boy loves girl and to get her attention he must make some sacrifices - in this case that means traveling with her to France without knowing the language or the country. The acting is wonderful, Paula as Valerie and Francois as Hendrik are very credible.
The film is very romantic, with many vivid dialogs playing charmingly with both French and German clichés. Sometimes the story seems a bit too exaggerated but most of the time this movie is very enjoyable and does a great job in recalling the viewer of his own experiences with the French language and the country - if he has them.
However, if you don't know anything about France and never took French in school you will probably have a hard time understanding some aspects of the movie, unfortunately, those are the important aspects. Subtract those and the movie is only half as good, a romantic teenage love story with few differences to so many others. But if you have any connection to France or its language, you should see this movie, regardless if you like France or you hate it - there is stuff for both its lovers and haters.
The film is very romantic, with many vivid dialogs playing charmingly with both French and German clichés. Sometimes the story seems a bit too exaggerated but most of the time this movie is very enjoyable and does a great job in recalling the viewer of his own experiences with the French language and the country - if he has them.
However, if you don't know anything about France and never took French in school you will probably have a hard time understanding some aspects of the movie, unfortunately, those are the important aspects. Subtract those and the movie is only half as good, a romantic teenage love story with few differences to so many others. But if you have any connection to France or its language, you should see this movie, regardless if you like France or you hate it - there is stuff for both its lovers and haters.