10 Good Old Movies (Up to 1950)

Welcome to a new post (it's been a while). Below I'm going to list 10 good old movies from the year 1950 and earlier. I hope that those of you interested in classic films will use this list as a guide for what you may want to watch. I had to pick a cut off point in order to clearly define what I mean by an "old movie", so I chose 1950 as it seemed "old enough" to me. Here are the films in no particular order:

10 Upcoming Movies in 2013 that I'm Looking Forward to Seeing

I recently took a look at some of the movies that are coming out later this year in order to give you readers some ideas as to what films you may want to see later in 2013. I've picked 10 movies out of the ones that I saw which I think look pretty good. So, here are 10 upcoming movies for 2013 that you may want to look into:

What Are Some Really Good Drama Movies to Watch?

People always want to know what movie to watch next. Today, I hope to give you some ideas. I'll be answering the question: "what are some really good drama movies to watch" in the hopes that I can provide you with your next great Friday night film. Here they are below:

Pacific Rim – A Cool Sci-fi Action Movie

I went to see the new movie Pacific Rim yesterday and I must say that it’s a really awesome film. If you’re looking for a cool sci-fi action movie to watch, Pacific Rim is definitely something you should check out (an idea that I’ll try to convey below).

The story of Pacific Rim takes place in the near future (the 2020s if I remember correctly) at which time giant alien monsters called Kaiju (Japanese for “strange creature”) are invading Earth through a portal beneath the Pacific Ocean that leads to another universe. The citizens of Earth respond to this crisis by building giant humanoid machines called Jaegers which they control with a brain-computer interface. People are recruited to pilot the Jaegers and fight off the Kaiju in order to defend Earth.

A List of 10 Good Anime Movies to Watch

Today, I'm going to be giving you a list of 10 good anime movies to watch. Before I begin this article I must admit that when it comes to anime, I’m no expert. I’ve watched a few films from the genre in the past (the main one that I remember is Lupin the Third: Castle of Cagliostro), but not many. And that’s the main reason why I’m writing this article. It will serve as a “to do list” of sorts (or perhaps a “to watch list” is a better name for it) for myself, but will also serve as a list of recommended anime films for you readers. Another reason why I’m writing this is because anime movies seem to be different from the kinds of movies I watch most of the time (mainly Hollywood films) and I think that it could be interesting to partake of a new type of film that I’m not very familiar with. So, with those points in mind, here are the movies:

10 Good Greek Mythology Movies from 1963 - 2013

This is a video that I made today (Jan 3, 2014) which features clips from each film on this list.

The Greek myths of days gone by have enticed, and continue to entice, many people around the world. It's no surprise then that filmmakers have jumped at the opportunity to make movies about them. Below, I'm going to list 10 good greek mythology movies, both old and new, that I think you should watch. Here they are:

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Trailer Released

I just watched the newly released trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and I wanted to make some comments on it based on my first impressions. You can watch the trailer on Youtube here.

First of all, I must say that I've been waiting with great anticipation for this trailer for months. I loved the first movie of The Hobbit trilogy and this second one looks like it will be just as amazing. In the trailer, we get to see more awesome scenery from New Zealand, more of Bilbo and the dwarves, more of Gandalf and Radagast, more of basically everything you would want to see in a trailer for this film.

What Are Some Great Comedy Movies?

I've watched quite a few different comedy movies over the years and I know for a fact that some of them aren't all that good. However, there are some comedies that are really good for one reason or another. Today, I'll be answering the question "what are some great comedy movies to watch" by providing you with a list of 10 really funny films that I've seen which I think are worth watching. So without further ado, here they are in no particular order:

A List of 10 Good Superhero Movies/Series' to Watch

Over the next little while I'm going to be compiling various lists of movies on The Movie Storm that I recommend watching. Today, I'm going to list ten good superhero movies to watch. Some of these movies haven't come out yet (there are a lot of potentially awesome comic book films coming out in the next few years), but from what I've seen they look pretty good, so I'm listing them here anyway. Here they are:

What Does a Movie Producer Do?

About 2 weeks ago I wrote an article about movie directors and what their roles are during the making of a film. Today, at the request of a reader (+Levi), I'm going to be answering a similar question: what does a movie producer do?

Basically, the producer oversees production of the entire movie from beginning to end. Specifically, he or she is responsible for managing the creation of a movie from the moment an idea for a film is presented, to the moment it hits theatres (and even afterwards they still have to work on advertising it, distributing it on DVD and Blu-Ray etc). They handle most of the business aspects of movie-making such as pitching ideas to studios (if the idea didn't come from within a studio), making sure the film doesn't exceed budget limitations and organizing salaries of cast and crew.

The producer is the person who hires crew members, a scriptwriter (if necessary) and other producers to work on the film under him or her. He or she also works with the director to pick cast members for the different roles of the movie.

A Good Fantasy Movie to Watch – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

If you've been looking for a good fantasy movie to watch then you've come to the right place. Today, I'll be recommending/reviewing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey which is probably the best film that I've seen in the past few months.

The Hobbit follows Bilbo Baggins, uncle of Frodo Baggins, who appeared in the Lord of the Rings trilogy played by Sir Ian Holm. In this film, Holm makes an appearance early on in the film as “old Bilbo” but Martin Freeman takes the role of “young Bilbo” for the rest of the movie. Without giving too much away, the story involves Bilbo being whisked away on a quest by Gandalf (played by Sir Ian McKellen) and a band of dwarves which brings him face to face with perils that he has never encountered before.

The actors in the movie performed brilliantly. Freeman did an excellent job as Bilbo and it was good to see Ian McKellen reprising his role as Gandalf the Grey. Another cast member who really caught my eye during the film was Richard Armitage who plays the dwarf leader Thorin Oakenshield. He definitely stood out as a powerful character, much like Aragorn did in The Return of the King. Some of the dwarves don't get noticed all that well mostly because they aren't essential to the story. However, Peter Jackson did a really good job of giving all of the dwarves as big of a role as possible so that the audience can develop at least some sort of connection with them. An additional character that I should mention is Radagast the Brown (played by Sylvester McCoy), a wizard who really adds some entertainment to the movie.

Movie Review - Star Trek Into Darkness

Star Trek Into Darkness hit theatres this week and I went to see it this morning. It was definitely a good movie with many positives, but it had one flaw that I seem to be seeing in a lot of movies these days: a lack of novelty.

Into Darkness brings back all of the cast from the 2009 Star Trek movie and introduces a few new people (notably Benedict Cumberbatch). This movie, like the previous one, was directed by J.J. Abrams who did a great job on this film. I recently wrote an article about movie directors that outlines what the roles of the director are. Abrams fulfilled all of those roles and more with this movie. The acting is top notch, the storyline progresses well and the cinematography is just great overall.

There are many things in the film that a Star Trek fan, such as myself, will love. For instance, humour from the previous movie is present in this film as well. There are even a few things (which I won't spoil) that hearken back to older Star Trek films like the Wrath of Khan. Of course the idea of the Prime Directive comes up during the beginning of the movie in a scene that makes several references to pop culture stuff like Ancient Aliens and Nibiru. All of these things liven up the movie and make it enjoyable for fans of the Star Trek lore.

What Does a Movie Director Do?

Have you ever asked yourself the question "what does a movie director do"? If you have, then this article is for you. I'll explain to you here what exactly it is that this person called "the director" does.

The director is one of the most important people that works on a movie. He or she is involved in the pre-production, production and post-production phases of creating a film. Basically, the director is responsible for making the movie enjoyable for the audience by organizing it's production at almost every stage.

The modern day movie director grew out of the historical play director. In general, directors of plays had (and still have) a lot of the same responsibilities as movie directors do today (e.g. picking actors, overseeing the production etc). Play directors were often the authors of plays, and they also acted in addition to directing. Movie directors today also have some responsibilities that play directors from centuries ago did not as you'll see below.

What is the Longest Movie Ever Made?

Have you ever watched a really long movie? Did you get bored or think to yourself “when will this movie be over”? Or perhaps you were glad that the film was long because it was really well made. You may have also thought of the question: what is the longest movie ever made? It's an interesting question and one which I'll answer for you today. 

Before answering however, it's important to clearly define what type of movie we're talking about. There are different kinds of movies out there and some of them are exceptionally long because they weren't made to be watched on a Friday night by the average person on the street. One example of this is the experimental film 24 Hour Psycho which was released in 1993. This movie is just an editted version of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho which was made to play at 2 frames per second rather than 24 frames per second like the original movie. The result is that the film ends up being 24 hours long.