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TheZane
Reviews
Le pacte des loups (2001)
Can anyone honestly say they didn't like this movie?
I don't know if there is anything which could be considered a spoiler in here, but I wanted to be safe....The only reason I'm writing this review is because I recently became aware through the marvels of IMDb that there are actually people who hate this movie! How is that possible? >lol< This is perhaps the best film I have ever seen, and for some inexplicable reason I feel duty-bound to defend it. So here goes. For one thing, the inability of narrow-minded movie-goers to pigeon-hole this film (a lot of hyphens there...might be a personal record) is evidence of its brilliance. Action, historical, mystery, martial arts(wait, I'll get to that--be patient), horror, Gothic romance, "period" piece, espionage (well, sort of), all done to perfection in my humble opinion. OK, now for the martial arts: Fronsac and Mani are world travelers. It is made clear that they have had numerous adventures in several countries. Is it that far-fetched to think that perhaps two open-minded, fairly intelligent adventurers studied chop-socky somewhere in the Orient? As suspension of disbelief goes, I find that fairly nominal. Besides, the fight scenes freakin' rocked, which covers a multitude of sins. As to the characters being arrogant? Most of them are aristocrats or church hierarchy, so...yeah, they're arrogant. And Fronsac is such a bad mofo, how can he help but think he's better than everybody? And since when is it strange for old men in the 1700s to woo young girls? Creepy, yes, but far from abnormal for the era. I'll admit that it is a long movie and probably could have been streamlined a little, but I have to say, any film that is shot so beautifully...well, I can forgive some superfluousness (look it up, it is so a word) just for a chance to see more of the cinematographer's purty pictures. Someone actually said this movie was gory and shocking...Oh you naive child! Go watch a film like "Hostel" or "High Tension", then tell me this movie is shocking or bloody! Anyway, to make a long story short (TOO LATE) this film simply CANNOT be dismissed with a flippant "it sucked". Well, technically it can be, but it's WRONG.
The Hobbit (2003)
Give it a try
Reminiscent of the Tomb Raider games, this title gives you a lot for your money. The quests and puzzles are challenging without being impossible, which made it perfect for my two boys who are 8 and 6 years old. I found it was also a game that can be played more than once without the boredom factor setting in. As to the story, the basic "Hobbit" tale is there. Yeah it does take some liberties with the Tolkein version, but (being a big fan of the Hobbit book) I found that these liberties actually fleshed out the original story and gave some background to some of the characters and situations. The music is folksy and catchy and I didn't get annoyed with my kids playing levels over and over again. (If you're a parent you'll know what I mean!) All in all, if you are a fan of Tolkein or of adventure/quest games, this one is well worth it. The only reason I didn't give it a 10 was because once in a while the camera angles freak out on you, but not enough to distract from overall enjoyment of the game.