Movie Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)

I must admit, I enjoyed the books more than the movie.  I think the movie is not going to be a trilogy like the books.  It did not follow the books true to form, but does give us the world, three level of beings in addition to regular humans, peculiars, wights and hollowghasts.  The wights are determined to seek immortality, but to do so they must harness the force of embrynes (a peculiar who can make time loops, and turn into birds.)  Hollowghasts are primitive creatures, who were once peculiars, but a failed experiment turned them into monsters.  However they eventually develop into wights.  Each peculiar was their own skill which is very interesting.  Jake (Asa Butterfield), who can see hollowghasts, but didn't even know what they were a few days ago, finds the loop of Miss Peregrine (Eva Green), at the request of his grandfather, who informed him of the peculiars, his friends, just before he passed away.  Jake does find the loop, and the peculiar children.  However an evil wight has followd him, Barron (Samuel Jackson), who is also a shape shifter.  He had pretended to be the psychiatrist, and then a bird study man, and followed Jake to the peculiars.  He sets in motion the collapse of the time loop, and kidnaps Miss Peregrine.  Jake befriends Emma Bloom (Ella Purnell) who is lighter than air, and can control air.  (This is different than the book where he falls in love with the fire girl.)
The group of peculiars follow Barron to rescue their embryne.  Samuel Jackson plays his character too light hearted.  Their are classic struggles, and Barron makes fun of them.  I didn't find his character believable.  This show features direct fighting, unlike the book.  The hollowghasts are invisible to all except Jake.  However the throw snow on them and make them visible.  This way they can have a fair fight.
Even though the movie is not as well done as the books, it is entertaining none the less.  Based on the books by Ransom Riggs.  Tim Burton directed.

Movie Review: ****^Ender's Game

Any movie with Harrison Ford is going to be good, and this is no exception.  Ford portrays Colonel Hyrum Graf and Ender Wiggin is portrayed by Asa Butterfield.  I read the Ender series some time ago, and this movie captures the essence, but it is impossible for a movie to capture the depth.  Instead of many games in the arena, we see only two, but we do see Ender progress, to where he is given command of the entire fleet, without really knowing it.  Many years earlier the formics invaded earth, and now the humans are making sure it never happens again by attacking them.  Ender thinks he is only doing simulations, and practice for the real battles to come.  The animated computer game plays an intriguing part in the movie, because the Formaks have infiltrated it, and are trying to use it to communicate with Ender, before the end of their species. 

The last battle of the war, sees Ender make the decisions needed to destroy the formic planet.  In doing so he loses many men, and their cruise ships.  It is after the destruction of the planet that Ender realizes he has been used to kill a species.  But maybe he has a second chance, as do the Formak race. 

The relationship between Colonel and Ender is key to this movie.  He drives Ender, and then backs off, manipulating him to get what he wants.  Ender confronts him at the end, and they stand toe-to-toe.  It would be hard to stand up to the Colonel or Harrison Ford for that matter.  Ben Kingsley portrays Mazer Rackham, the hero from the first war, who becomes a tutor to Ender.
I found this review in the Deseret News and thought others might find it interesting
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865590187/The-fatal-flaw-of-the-Enders-Game-movie.html

Movie Review: ****Hugo

Tony and I watched this movie at the theater.  Hugo 2011 is a movie directed by Martin Scorsese and with Ben Kingsley who of course is better known for playing Ghandi.  It features a couple young actors, Asa Butterfield (future Ender Wiggin) and Chloe Grace Moretz, Hugo and Isabelle in the movie.  The story is very intriguing.  It never developed into the all powerful revelation I was expecting, but was surprising in the revelations and conclusions it did make.  The show is more about relationships of the boy with those around him.  He is living in a train station watching the clocks.  This is in fact his Uncle's job, who took him in when his father died.  However his uncle has disappeared.  There is an inspector who likes to grab kids and send them to orphanages.  The boy's father left him an automotron, which together they were trying to repair.  An automotron is essentially a wind up robot.  Tony liked the robot, even though he only moves and works properly once.  This once is enough however to provide the clue that leads to the adventure for Isabelle and Hugo, and in the end changes everyone's life.  This is a feel good movie, which has a happy ending for everyone, even the inspector.  I enjoyed myself, as did Tony.