The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

Man, I'd last seen a Hobbit movie before I started this blog more than a decade ago. The threequel was reputed to be the weakest link in a pale imitation of The Lord of the Rings, hence my lack of hurry to see it. Nonetheless, it looked like the most promising DVD I hadn't watched in my local library, having better ratings from general audiences than from critics.

The Desolation of Smaug ends with halfling Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) accidentally inspiring the titular event. Not long into TBotFA, human archer Bard (Luke Evans) slays the rampaging Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch), but that's not the end of the dragon's evil influence. One of Bilbo's dwarven companions, King Thorin (Richard Armitage), finds Smaug's trove almost as corruptive as the One Ring and refuses to share any of it with the humans of newly burned Lake-town, despite his prior oath and their obvious need. When elven King Thranduil (Lee Pace) comes with an army to claim a family treasure, Thorin is undaunted, and the other dwarves obediently prepare to fight. Perhaps fortunately, before the first casualty, the arrival of two armies of darkness induces the other three to team up.

Horror of Dracula (1958)

Originally just called Dracula in its native UK, because Hammer Films was big on remaking Warner Bros. classics from a generation earlier. Normally I don't watch horror movies outside of October or November unless they're about to stop streaming on Netflix, but people keep associating the late Christopher Lee with this role (as opposed to a different Count D.), so I thought it my best choice for paying respect.

Unsurprisingly, Lee is the best thing about it. Sure, he doesn't have a non-British accent, but maybe he didn't want anyone to accuse him of trying and failing to imitate Bela Lugosi. Too bad he gets only 13 lines and not a whole lot of screen time -- and while not seeing a monster can ratchet up the fright factor, it doesn't work so well when we've already seen him at his nastiest.

The Wicker Man (1973)

It seems fitting to start with this film, since I was talking about it when a listener recommended that I launch this blog. (That could have been a subtle way to get me to stop running at the mouth, but I prefer to think otherwise.)

If the title puts a bad taste in your mouth due to the 2006 Nicolas Cage remake, let me assure you that the original is much more popular, despite the condemnation by a producer at the time who might have had something to do with the poor theater distribution and the suspiciously lost negatives. I have not seen the remake to compare, but at least this time there are no bees. Partly, I suppose, because they did the shooting well into fall in Scotland, a fact that might be most discernible when more than half the outdoor "nudes" are in body stockings.