Curiously, the Warner Bros. 50 Film Collection includes all three Lord of the Rings films. Despite the fact that there are several other films in the collection that come from multi-movie franchises, LOTR is the only such franchise that gets more than one entry.
Prior to re-watching them for this review, I had only seen these movies once, and not in a theater. I wanted to see them due to their cultural significance, so I asked for and received the Extended Editions for Christmas 2004 or 2005. I watched them once over the course of a four-day weekend, thought they were ok, but never felt the need to revisit them.
Now, nearly 20 years later, let’s see if the non-extended versions are perhaps more compelling. Continue reading
As I move forward through the 
Continuing my strong stretch run through the 
In accordance with 
Way back in 2014, I set out to review every film in the 
The Last Duel, Ridley Scott’s latest effort, has much to like. The cinematography is very strong. The focus on the legal norms of the day, including the loophole of sorts exploited to arrive at the duel itself, is highly interesting. The action scenes are excellent. In particular, the titular duel is so well-choreographed that I actually wasn’t 
If it’s been a while since you’ve seen it, it may come as some surprise that Full Metal Jacket is part of a sub-set of films that include an iconic first portion, followed by a middling or flawed remainder that nobody really remembers because oh my God that first part! Other examples might include Stripes or Superbad, not that those films are anything like FMJ. Nor are they part of the 
NCAA Football, long a staple of the EA Sports gaming line-up, will cease to exist after the current version—a least under that name.
The Axis of Ego 
Untimely Movie Review – Warner Bros. 50 Film Collection: 2004-2009
At long last, after eight years, I’ve reached the home stretch of the Warner Bros. 50 Film Collection. The list below covers all but the very last film in the collection, which I decided to save for a final post. This group continues the “wildly uneven” phase of the collection, with some very strong movies mixed in with some selections that probably made sense when they originally sold this set, but seem a little curious in hindsight. Here we go.
Million-Dollar Baby (2004): I like Clint Eastwood a lot. I like Morgan Freeman a lot. They’re both great, as is Hillary Swank. But what begins as a much-better-than-usual underdog sports movie turns into bummer Oscar-bait. Granted, it worked like a charm, as Million Dollar Baby took home four major Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Eastwood, Best Actress for Swank, and Best Supporting Actor for Freeman. All three of them were deserving. But there’s a difference between tackling difficult subjects and emotional masochism, and I think this movie crosses that line. Like, to the point where it comes off as a Simple Jack-type parody. To cite one example: Maggie’s cartoon-character mother, wearing attire from a trip to Disney earlier that day, trying to get Maggie to sign over her fortune (by placing the pen in her mouth, since Maggie is paralyzed), but nonetheless stopping to remind Maggie “you lost!” This is bad. Bad. Flat-out. Over the top. To say nothing of the fact that she wouldn’t have “lost” the match in real life. And that’s before we get to the suicide attempt and, ultimately, the case for euthanasia. That doesn’t mean the movie doesn’t have great performances (it does), but it’s absurd and eyroll-inducing.
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