Season of the Witch

Movie: Season of the Witch

Cast:    Nicolas Cage        (Hehmen)

            Ron Perlman        (Felson)

            Claire Foy            (The Girl)

Genre: drama, adventure

Synopsis: The movie takes place during the crusades in the late 1200’s and early 1300’s.  Behmen and Felson are two knights who have been fighting in the crusades for many years.  Behmen finally has had enough when the church’s representative orders them to kill unarmed women and children.  So Behmen and his companion,  Felson, quit the crusade.  They are soon arrested and imprisoned for desertion.  A Cardinal (Christopher Lee) offers them a deal.  Europe is being ravaged by the plague.  The Cardinal has imprisoned a suspected witch that he thinks is responsible for the epidemic.  He wants the two knights (in exchange for pardons) to escort the prisoner to a monastery where the monks will put her on trial.  They alone possess the secret spell that, if she is found guilty of being a witch, will enable them to execute her and bring an end to the plague. 

The ‘witch’ seems to be a helpless young girl.  We soon learn that she is far from helpless.  The journey to the monastery is full of dangers – some normal, some supernatural.  The movie culminates with a battle at the monastery.

My two cents: A pretty decent medieval adventure/thriller/horror.  Ron Perlman was especially fun as the sidekick.  The entity they battle at the end was a true bad-ass.  It was nice to see Christopher Lee (although it was not easy to tell it was him).  I think this movie has gotten a bad rap from the critics.  Sure, it’s probably not going to get a Best Picture nomination – but a movie does not have to be Oscar material to be pretty enjoyable. Another thing I liked was the mix of humor, horror and suspense.  What it does not do is sell the idea that living back in the 1300’s was a lot of fun.  Everyone looked like they were a month overdue for a change of clothes and a good bath.  Lots of action, lots of humor and very few dull parts – I never caught myself checking my watch.

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Gulliver’s Travel 3D

Movie: Gulliver’s Travel 3D

Cast:    Jack Black          (Lemuel Gulliver)

            Jason Segel         (Horatio)

            Amanda Peet      (Darcy Silverman)

            Emily Blunt         (Princess Mary)

            Billy Connolly     (King Theodore)

Genre: Comedy

I saw it on: January 11, 2011

Synopsis: Lemuel Gulliver (a typical Jack Black buffoon) has worked in his company’s mail room for ten years.  For five of them he has had a crush on the travel editor, Darcy. He finally decides to tell her how he feels, but things go awry and instead she thinks he wants a travel assignment and sends him to the Bermuda Triangle.  There, his boat is sucked into a “reverse vortex” and he ends up in in the kingdom of Lilliput.

He is initially a prisoner, but eventually becomes a hero.  His reputation is helped along by a never-ending series of lies about who he was in his own world. He tries to help his best friend, Horatio, make some headway in his quest to win the heart of Princess Mary.  Things go seriously awry when the former general from Lilliput decides to help the enemy. Jack’s temporary exile (I don’t want to give away any more) was a really funny addition to the plot.

My two cents: A pretty enjoyable movie.  Jack Black now seems to own the role of the lovable buffoon who is all talk and no deed.  I have so enjoyed in him in non-comedic roles such as King Kong and especially The Holiday that I wish he would break out and do some more non-buffoon roles.  That said, he plays his character really well.  There really wasn’t any time when the movie seemed to drag – I don’t think I ever checked my watch.  Bill Connelly was really funny as the King and Emily Blunt was a great Princess.  I thought all of the dialogue involving the royal family was very well written.

My only real gripe is with the 3D version.  I thought it was a total waste of my money.  I never saw anything that I felt was made any better by being in 3D.

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