The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey dazzles mortal viewers
By Thomas Hair Opinions Editor It has been over a decade since Frodo Baggins defeated Sauron and the Ring to the amazement of moviegoers worldwide, magnificently concluding Peter Jackson’s mission to translate Tolkien’s written masterpiece The Lord of the Rings into visual masterpiece. As universally acclaimed as Jackson’s films turned out to be, directing The Lord of the Rings wasn’t his dream job. As early as 1995, Jackson aspired to oversee an adaptation of its prequel, The Hobbit, but was barred from doing so by incessant copyright restrictions…until now. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first of three movies in the planned Hobbit trilogy, was released to long-deprived Tolkien fans on Dec. 15. The storyline…
Benefits of space exploration worth the cost, Hair says
By Thomas Hair Staff Writer School is back in session, and as usual, the first day included much discussion of everybody’s summer vacation adventures. All students know the drill. The teacher awkwardly introduces themself to the new class and asks each student to talk about what they did over the break. This year, you probably listened with fading interest as classmates mentioned their stay at a tropical island, or a month long Science Camp. But in the not-so-distant future, students might just come to class on the first day of school bragging about their trip to the Moon or even to Mars. While the notion of space tourism may seem light years away, its roots…
I Am Number Four proves to be highly entertaining
Thomas Hair Staff Writer February isn’t exactly known for high-profile blockbusters and is occasionally viewed as a dumping ground for sub-par movies. Because of this, my expectations weren’t too high for the latest film from director D.J. Caruso, who is known for films such as Eagle Eye and Disturbia. Entitled I Am Number Four, Caruso’s latest work is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Pittacus Lore. I have a rough history with film adaptations of books, and although I have not read the book version of I Am Number Four, this factor only added to my suspicion that the film would be a dud. However, I Am Number Four turned out…
Tron: Legacy review
Staff Writer It should be noted that the author viewed the film in 2D as opposed to 3D or the Imax versions of the film. “The Grid: a digital frontier. I tried to picture clusters of information as they moved through the computer. What did they look like? Ships? Motorcycles? I kept dreaming of a world I thought I’d never see. And then one day… I got in.” So begins Tron: Legacy, Disney’s sequel of the 1982 classic Tron. Picking up some 20 years after the original, the film stars Garrett Hedlund as Sam Flynn, the original movies protagonists son. Hoping to find his long lost father, Kevin Flynn (reprised by Jeff Bridges), at the…