Bitten by Books
Watchers, this week we will discuss some of the movies in theaters this summer. There may be spoilers for the movies with titles in bold, so please be aware of this if you haven’t seen them yet but plan to. Also, please do not include any spoilers in your comments about any other movies not featured in the column, as there are some I haven’t seen yet.
Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter
This movie gives an alternate-history version of the life of Abraham Lincoln, and does so with great success, I think. As a child, Abe witnesses the death of his mother, though he doesn’t understand until much later the nature of the creature that killed her. Once Abe meets Henry, who offers to train him to kill vampires, his life becomes more complicated. Contrary to Henry’s advice, Abe falls in love and eventually marries.
What I really enjoyed about the movie was the way historical events and facts were taken and tweaked, adding the “what if” factor that good urban fantasy does so effectively. I also liked the film’s stylized violence, which made the fight scenes seem not quite so gory.
What did you think of the movie?
Snow White and the Huntsman
I loved this take on the classic story with its gorgeous set and imagery, and the queen was really pretty scary. I thought the movie had the feel of fairy tales at their most grim (sorry for the pun, but I couldn’t resist), and that it was enough of a departure from recent versions of the tale. I really enjoyed Mirror, Mirror, also, but that was a completely different approach to the story.
What did you think of Snow White and the Huntsman?
Dark Shadows
Despite the fact that as a kid I used to race home from school to see the show every afternoon (yes, when it was originally on), I am not a Dark Shadows purist, so the new interpretation did not upset me. In fact, I quite enjoyed this slightly skewed take on the original. Many people were upset with the humorous tone, but the movie did not get played as a comedy, in my opinion. I thought Johnny Depp made a good Barnabas, and he really seemed to be enjoying himself while doing so.
What about you? Did you like the movie, love it, or hate it?
The Avengers
Typically I am on board with whatever Joss Whedon does, and this movie was no exception. I can best describe the film as a great superhero character study adventure. Did you have a favorite character? On a related note, is it wrong of me to like Loki?
Please chime in with your thoughts on any of these films. Which movies that are already out do you still need to see? Which ones not out yet are you really looking forward to?
I have yet to see Men in Black 3.
Next week we will return to discussing television shows. Happy viewing!
I haven’t seen any of these yet. My son was even in The Avengers but I will wait until he lends me the blu-ray. Of those above the only one I wanted to see in the theater was Huntsmen but hubs wouldn’t go. Again, I will borrow the blu-ray from my eldest son when he gets it.
That’s awesome! What scene(s) was/were your son in?
Not keen on seeing Snow White and the Huntsman only because of a certain actress. There are certain actors/actresses that repell me. I might make an exception when it comes on HBO/STARS etc to watch it.
Hubby wants to watch the Lincoln one. Just not really sure if I want to or not. Seems a bit odd to me.
BUT the whole entire family went to see The Avengers. My two youngest had been watching Hulk (1 and 2) endlessly. Poor little guy was so impatient to see the Hulk but fell asleep. Needless to say every one of us liked it. Tony Stark had me giggling. We have readmission tickets to see it again if we ever get to go because the AC in the theater broke during the movie. But yes, it had humor in it.. and yes Loki is a bad guy you can’t help but crush on. We can’t wait until it’s on DVD. Hubs said that would definitely be bought and owned.
I’ve only seen Snow White and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a lot of action and it had a pretty good storyline all in all. I plan to see the rest of them shortly. My daughter just got married so not much spare time to see any movies recently but I free as a bird now!
I have not seen one movie this summer. So far all I do is take care of grandchildren and they keep multiplying so now I have 5 and tonight my youngest went back into surgery to have all of the dead tissue cut out and was cold packed and left open until her white count comes way down. Then they will put another type of drain in her. She had another c-section baby is fine and she will be too in about another week. It’s 60 miles to the hospital so someone will always be with her. Thank God for cell phones. Anyway back to the subject, EJ. and I will go to any one of these movies when she is able and thank you for letting me talk.
I haven’t seen any of these yet, only MIB 3, which was great. I’ve seen the trailers to all though. The Avengers seemed to me sos-so from the trailer so I decided to wait until it comes out on TV, and I’m not sure if I’ll like ALVH enough to pay money for it. I loved the trailer of Dark Shadows, it will be a fun movie, but I’ll wait for it on TV. And I’m still thinking about going to see Snow White, it should look great on the big screen.
I’ve only seen The Avengers this Summer. I too love Joss Whedon and am a self-appointed comic book geek. So that being said I LOVED this movie! I was so jazzed to see this, I’m pretty sure I did my embarassing excited muppet impersonation!
As for favorites, don’t make me choose. They really did a good job of blending all of these huge characters. And after changing with two different actors, I really liked Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk.
And if it’s wrong to like Loki, then we are in the same boat!
As for the others, I’ve heard a lot of mixed reviews about Snow White and the Huntsman. I’ll hold out to make up my mind when it comes out on DVD.
I’ve seen the old Dark Shadows too and I was surprised at Tim Burton’s version when I saw the preview. But I wasn’t upset over the interpretation, but I’ll still be waiting for t on DVD too.
As for Abraham Lincoln, I actually wanted to see it. I like the director at least from watching the movies Nightwatch and Daywatch. And I intentionally didn’t read the book when I heard it was being made. So hopefully I’ll manage to get to go see it before it leave the theaters.
OOh I loved The Avengers! For some reason I really enjoy the comic book movies, still need to see the new Spider Man! And yet, I’ve never read the comics themselves!
Saw Dark Shadows and it was good. Typical Tim Burton!
The others I haven’t seen. As much as I love Chris Hemsworth I couldn’t see Snow White and the Huntsman because of the other “actress”. She is not someone I enjoy watching. So I had to forgo seeing that one despite Chris!
The only one I’ve seen from that list is Abraham Lincoln, and it was very good. I listened to the audio book, and the movie did the book justice but of course the books are always better. You can just never jam enough of the book into the time frame. I really do want to see all the others, so hopefully I’ll catch them before they leave the theaters. I will not be upset about the Dark Shadows thing, I usually think Tim Burton always adds a unique twist to everything he touches.
the Avengers was my movie, loved it Captain America is my fav……
MIB3 was soooooo good, I really liked it hope they make another one