"Snow White and the Huntsman"

      We all know the story. There's Snow White,  the dashing prince, the huntsman, the evil queen, and of course the seven dwarves. It's a tale filled with magic, true love, and of course another movie where Kristen Stewart has two guys who are in love with her. Spoilers..... Snow White eats a poisoned apple........

     This movie, directed by Rupert Sanders, stars Kristen Stewart as Snow White, Chris Hemsworth as the huntsman, Charlize Theron as Ravenna the evil queen, and Sam Claflin as the prince. This movie is a darker tale than the one most people are used to, but it actually has a lot more elements of the original German tale, compiled by the Grimm Brothers. These older fairy tales were not meant to console or entertain children, they were more used to scare children into making good choices and to show the consequences if they didn't make that good choice.

       My favorite character was most definitely Ravenna. The way Charlize Theron brought across the anger, pain, and vanity of her character was absolutely amazing. Now Kristen Stewart was a totally different matter, while I thought she was better in this than in the "Twilight" movies. She had little to no emotion throughout the movie and I think the other actors really carried the movie for her. Chris Hemsworth did a great job with his rough and tough character and Sam Claflin also did a good job, even though his part was pretty small in comparison.

     There is talk of a sequel coming, and most likely a spin off movie with the huntsman as the lead. These types of movies seem all the craze as a live-action Cinderella movie is coming out in 2015. Another live-action Disney princess movie based off of the Sleeping Beauty villain, Maleficent, played by Angelina Jolie is also coming out in the summer of 2014.

   This has to be one of my favorite movies of 2012, simply because of Charlize Theron's magnificent acting skills. I would rate this movie a 7.5 out of 10.

  Follow me on twitter @JacobHoffman86 to see what I'm currently reading/watching. Hope you have a good week!

Peace,
Jake

"The Village"

       In the heart of Pennsylvania, in the year 1897 there is a small, mysterious village.  In this village there are three rules; 1. Let the bad color not be seen. It attracts them. 2. Never enter the woods. That is where they wait. 3. Heed the warning bell. They are coming.

     Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, this movie stars Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, William Hurt, Adrien Brody, and Sigourney Weaver.  This movie is really good and it has an amazing twist at the end. I don't know why this movie got some bad reviews, but it just goes to show that you shouldn't always listen to the critics.

   This psychological thriller definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat and keeps you guessing the entire time. This is definitely one of the best M. Night movies I have seen. (I'm just gonna pretend "The Last Airbender" didn't happen!) Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix and Adrien Brody did masterful jobs portraying their characters, they made the story seem real and human.

"The Village" really made me think and I love movies that make you think! Like why was the bad color red? Is it because red is the color often related to hatred, passion, anger, aggression, heat and war, or is it that it is the color of blood. Also, why do the village people who patrol the borders wear yellow? Is it because yellow stands for light and reason or is it because it also stands for visibility and caution. I don't know maybe I'm thinking too deeply about it! Another thing I loved about the movie was how it portrayed that the monsters we create are the monsters our children will fear.

I would highly recommend this to anybody who likes a good psychological thriller. I give this film an 8.5.

Leave a comment below and tell me what you think! Follow me on twitter to get a hint on what next weeks blog is going to be about! https://twitter.com/JacobHoffman86

Peace,
Jake

"Big Fish"

    Edward Bloom told many stories about his life and many of them sounded like tall tales. His son, Will, now must find the truth in the stories he told him before his father dies. From going off to war to finding his true love, "Big Fish" brings you on an emotional journey that makes you laugh and cry.

     Directed by Tim Burton, this movie brings together, Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Buscemi and Marion Cotillard. This is an amazing movie with a great cast and a great story, about love and being who you are no matter the circumstances. I love, love love, this movie!

     This movie is based off a novel of the same name by David Wallace. John August, the screenwriter for the film, read the manuscript of the book six months before it was published and brought it to the attention of Columbia pictures who then acquired the rights to make the movie. Steven Spielberg was originally slated to direct the film but he decided to go with "Catch Me If You Can" instead, so they gave the directing job to Tim Burton. This movie held a lot of meaning for Tim Burton as he had just lost his own father in 2000.

      One of my favorite quotes from the film has to be this one said by Edward Bloom, "There's a time when a man needs to fight, and a time when he needs to accept that his destiny is lost... the ship has sailed and only a fool would continue. Truth is... I've always been a fool." I just love how he never gives up and I love his get it done attitude.

I would recommend this movie very highly. Just know that you may start to cry at the end of it! This definitely goes into my top ten favorite movies. I would rate it 9.5 out 10!

Leave a comment down below and tell me what you think! I would love to hear your feedback! Follow me on twitter @JacobHoffman86 as I will be dropping hints here and there on what I am doing next on my blog!

Peace,
Jake

"Eragon" by Christopher Paolini

   When Eragon, a boy of fifteen who lives with his uncle and cousin, finds a smooth, round stone while he was hunting; he thinks he found something to buy his family meat for the winter. What he doesn't know is, that he holds in his hand one of the last dragon eggs in existence. His simple, normal life comes shattering down around him, and he is thrust into a world of magic and dragons, good and evil. Now he must find it in himself to take up the mantle of the legendary dragon riders and defeat the evil king, Galbatorix, once and for all.

    A big thing for me, when I read a book is that I want to connect to the characters(and dragons too in this case). I want to feel what they feel, their anger, their passion, or their love. Christopher Paolini does a masterful job at doing this with the book and it's other counterparts. The way he describes the places in this fantasy world is amazing. From the deepest cave to the highest mountain, each was described beautifully and made you picture them in your head.

           This book, along with the three others in the saga, is so good that I have actually read the whole entire series about six times! I know crazy, right? The more I read it the more I get out of it and the more I enjoy it! Just so you know there are some pretty amazing plot twist in this series. You were warned!

      Now I know some of you are going "Wait, didn't they make a movie off of this??" Yes, sadly they did make a movie based off this book. Just know that the book is nothing like the movie. Though the movie had some good actors in it such as; Jeremy Irons and Ed Speleers it still had a pretty bad script. I don't care how good the actor is, if the script is bad.... well just look at "Daredevil" to know what I'm talking about.

    I would definitely recommend this book to anybody and everybody!  If I were to rate this book and the series I would give it a solid 9.5! If you want to tell me what you think of this book/movie or if you have any suggestions for book/movies that you want me to review, please comment below! I would love to hear your feedback!

Peace,
Jake

"The Avengers"

© 2012 Marvel LLC. All Rights Reserved.

    When the world is threatened, Nick Fury, the head of S.H.I.E.L.D, assembles a team of superheros to defend the world from its greatest threat yet, the Chitauri. Led by Loki, the Chitauri plan to subjugate the earth using the power of the tesseract, an ancient piece of Norse god technology. Only with the combined might of the Avengers can they hope to defeat the invaders and save the world.

    Directed by Joss Whedon, "The Avengers" brings together Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye in an explosive collaboration of the Marvel franchises. With an all star cast of the ever brilliant Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hiddleston, and Samuel L. Jackson. That is naming only few members of the amazing cast in this blockbuster film by Marvel.

  Well, sadly this movie is not based on a true story. I know it's such a shock to all of us. What I will tell to those of you who don't know, is that "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" was announced and will come out May 1st, 2015. The cast is already ironed out and sad to say they will not be adding in Ant-Man to the second installment. In the comics the villain in the film, Ultron, was created by Hank Pym, also known as Ant-Man, Giant Man, Yellowjacket, Wasp, or Goliath depending on what comics your read. Ant-Man's stand alone film is set to release November 6th, 2015, which will start off "Phase Three" of the Marvel franchise.

  Now, for those of you are wondering what happened to the purple faced guy at the end of the first Avengers, here is that story. First off the purple faced guy's name is Thanos. Thanos is huge character in the Marvel universe but most people who didn't read the comics had no idea who this alien even was. Now you are probably wondering why he isn't going to be in the second avengers movie. Well that's because he is going to be the lead bad guy in the new movie "Guardians of the Galaxy".  There are rumors however that, Thanos is going to be the main bad guy in the third Avengers. I am so psyched for "Guardians of the Galaxy" and it is set for release next year on August the 1st.

  Something that I thought was small but great about this movie, was how they talked about the destruction of the city. I always thought about that in superhero movies, like who pays for all of that. Especially in Man of Steel, I was like wow that's going to take a lot of time money to rebuild, but then its all magically repaired by the next installment. I don't know, maybe its just me.


Peace,
Jake

"Dracula" by Bram Stoker

   The Gothic thriller, Dracula, written by Bram Stoker, has to be one of the best written books I have ever read! It is written in the epistolary format, as a series of letters, diary entries, shipping logs, and newspaper clippings. Bram Stoker wrote all of these from either the protagonists point of view or an outside source, such as the newspaper clipping and shipping logs. The events that are portrayed in this book took place in both England and Transylvania.

It all starts when Jonathan Harker, an English solicitor, goes to Transylvania to Count Dracula's estate to give legal help for a real-estate transaction overseen by Harker's employer. Soon Mr. Harker is trapped in Dracula's estate and only in a last ditch effort, in which he climbs down a sheer cliff out of his window,  is he then able to make his way back to England. So began this long dark journey, in which he will never be the same again. Then comes the other main characters such as Wilhelmina "Mina" Harker, Jonathan Harker's wife, Lucy Westenra, the first victim of the Count's, then there is Arthur Holmwood, Jack Seward, and Quincey Morris who were all Lucy's suitors. Of course no one can forget Abraham Van Helsing the leader of this motley crew.

  Alright here is some of the back story on Dracula. Dracula is actually a work of fiction with some historical facts mixed in.  Many believe that the idea of "Dracula" came from Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Dracula, the king of Wallachia in Transylvania, who is said to have killed anywhere from 40,000 to 100,000 Europeans during his reign. Now the meaning of the word Dracula means the son of dracul and dracul means the devil or the dragon. You can easily see where Bram Stoker got his inspiration.

   Now vampire lore had been around for a long time before Bram Stoker ever decided to write Dracula. Back in the 18th century, in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, there was a huge influx of vampire superstition which created a mass hysteria. This hysteria caused some corpses to be staked and for others to be accused of vampirism. The myth that you can't see vampires in the mirror was actually started by Bram Stoker.

 The 20th century started the trend of the vampires who are the tragic heroes. This totally departs from the original myths and superstitions in which vampires where basically the devil incarnate. We have moved into an era where the idea of vampires have become teenage fantasies instead of unspeakable horrors.

 One last nugget of wisdom..... Vampires don't sparkle they burn to ash when the sun touches them. Thank you and goodnight!!

Jake

The First of Many to Come! "Gladiator"

    When the Roman general, Maximus is betrayed and his family murdered by an emperor's corrupt son, he finds himself captured by slave traders and made to fight as a gladiator. He soon proves himself a fierce fighter and is sent to Rome to fight in the Colosseum where he can finally get revenge for his family.
  
    "Gladiator" is directed by the brilliant Ridley Scott who got inspired for the movie by the painting by Jean-Lèon Geròme Pollice Verso. The film stars Russell Crowe as Maximus, Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus, Connie Nielsen as Lucilla, Djimon Hounsou as Juba and Richard Harris as Marcus Aurelius . This film has to be my #1 favorite movie of all time! The acting is moving and heartfelt and the music, composed by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard, is beyond genius!
   
     This action packed drama is filled with everything from a sadistic king to government conspiracies to bloody fights in the Colosseum. Joaquin Phoenix does such an amazing job playing Commodus, the mentally unstable king, that it's scary!! While Richard Harris (when I first watched the movie I said  "it's Dumbledore" haha) does a masterful job being Marcus Aurelius, the old king and father of Commodus and Lucilla. While Russell Crowe brings an amazing strength and vulnerability to his character.

    Alright here is some back story on this film. It's actually loosely based on historical events. *Spoilers* Though in the movie Marcus Aurelius was killed by his son Commodus, in real life Marcus died from the plague. Also unlike the movie where Marcus tried to give the throne to Maximus he actually allowed his immoral son to become emperor, even while knowing of his moral faults. Maximus's character is actually fictional though he does hold similarities to Narcissus, who was actually Commodus's killer in real life. 

     Another amazing part of the film was its script written by David Franzoni! My favorite quote from the movie is "What we do in life echoes in eternity". It means that someones action whether they be big or small can and will effect you, those around you and even the world for the rest of your life and beyond. It's about making the right choices and its about dealing with the consequences when you get it wrong. It's about doing something good in the world and not just sitting still waiting for someone else to take a stand.

      I would highly recommend this movie!! Although I wouldn't watch it if you are at all squeamish when it comes to blood and guts..... Its Rated R for intense, graphic combat.

I give this movie a 9.5 out of 10 stars.

Peace,  
Jake