Geek of Oz

Over the years there have been numerous vidja games set in the Tolkien realm and just about every one of them has been worse than a Ring Wraith’s hand writing. Seriously, how are they supposed to have any sort of dexterity with those spindly, armour clad fingers? Anyway, just when you thought all hope was lost, along comes Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor from WB Interactive Entertainment and Monolith Productions. Set between the events of The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, you take control of Talion, a ranger of the Gondor garrison who, along with his family, are cut down by some of Sauron’s baddies before being rejected by death. You then find yourself bound to an amnesiac Elven Wraith and adventures abound. By adventures I mean lots of heads get chopped off. Those fiercely bound to Tolkien’s lore will have a bit of an issue with the story as it not only diverts from the general feel of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth texts by focussing on what is essentially a revenge ...

Deceptively simple in its construction (pun thoroughly intended), The Lego Movie is an immensely entertaining film with cross-generational appeal. Armed to the teeth with pop culture references and presented in jaw-dropping animation, the film struck a chord with me, much like 2001’s Shrek, in that beneath the visual wizardry lies an important message - that it’s okay to be different. Based upon the popular toy franchise, the film weaves the story around a basic concept. The world within the film is divided into two broad categories: those who build their Lego explicitly following the instructions and the more free-spirited builders who channel their inner architect. Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt) is just a regular Lego man who lives a safe and normal life following the rules. Every day he watches the same television show, drinks the same overpriced coffee, listens to whatever the radio tells him to and works at a construction site. He lives in a world secretly controlled by the...

Not much can be said to justify just how much of a spin the internet was in when the official trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug dropped however, that excitement seemed to drop a level when due to the lack of Benedict Cumberbatch. The second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduring popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug continues the adventures of the title character Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as he journeys with the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and thirteen dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens in Australian cinemas on 26th December 2013.