Movie Review: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies

Mark Pokorny/Warner Bros. Pictures
Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in “The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies.”

It doesn’t take very long while watching “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” to get the sense that this was the film Director Peter Jackson has been itching to make all along.

Hi-res pictures of “The Hobbit – The Battle of Five Armies”

Warner Bros. Pictures
Smaug, played by BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH,

In anticipation of the final chapter of Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit” saga, check out these pictures featuring the characters and battles from the trilogy’s most action-packed installment.

Review: “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”

Mark Pokorny/Warner Bros. Pictures
MARTIN FREEMAN as Bilbo in the fantasy adventure “THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG.”

In the liveliest and arguably best scene of “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” Orlando Bloom’s Legolas deftly navigates across a river, bouncing along the heads of this trilogy’s protagonists while being the arrow-slinging, goblin slayer that made him such a fan favorite in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

Mark Pokorny/Warner Bros. Pictures
Orlando Bloom as Legolas.

It’s a somewhat fitting statement indicative of the series thus far. Despite Director/Co-writer Peter Jackson’s grand intentions, “The Hobbit” trilogy is but a mere stepping stone to his fantasy genre-redefining LOTR series. Two films into “The Hobbit” trilogy, the majority of the best scenes have heavily featured LOTR characters or foreshadowed events of major significance.

It’s almost as if Jackson is saying “Stay tuned! This whole Middle Earth saga is about to get a lot more interesting!”

Review: Fast & Furious 6

Universal Pictures
Han (Sung Kang), Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), Gisele (Gal Gadot), Dom (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul Walker) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) reunite.

After a blockbuster-packed summer movie season that was rapidly plunging further and further into the category of “most depressingly disappointing summer movie season ever,” the summer’s first must-see film has arrived as “Fast & Furious 6” shifts the series to a higher gear and easily leaves every other summer film choking on its exhaust.

Here’s a first glimpse at “Fast & Furious 6”

Oddly after I posted my flashback on “Fast 5,” here’s the first look and a plot summary of “Fast & Furious 6.”

Giles Keyte/Universal Studios
Brian O’Conner (PAUL WALKER) and Dom Toretto (VIN DIESEL) reunite for “Fast & Furious 6”, the next installment of the global blockbuster franchise built on speed.

Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson lead the returning cast of all-stars as the global blockbuster franchise built on speed races to its next continent in Fast & Furious 6. Reuniting for their most high-stakes adventure yet, fan favorites Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Elsa Pataky are joined by bada$$ series newcomers Luke Evans and Gina Carano (“Haywire“). [Evans and Carano will fit right in with the series]