'The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim' Review

My suspicion is that not many folks know that a Lord of the Rings movie is out this Friday. It's an animated action-adventure inspired by a brief passage in one of J.R.R. Tolkien's books. For Screen International, I reviewed The War of the Rohirrim.

Sci-Fi's Best Imaginary Worlds

Oz, Pandora, the Shimmer ... for SyFy, we picked the best worlds in science fiction and fantasy. Hope you enjoy.

Looking Back at 'Lord of the Rings'

We're mere days away from the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. (You can read my review here.) For Deadspin, I decided to look back at the Lord of the Rings trilogy to marvel at how completely unlikely its success really was. (Interestingly, some commenters have said things like, "C'mon, everybody loves those books. Of course they were going to be huge hits." Then how come other big properties, like the Chronicles of Narnia, never quite took off?)

By the way, if you haven't read (or re-read) Gillian Flynn's 2001 Entertainment Weekly story about the making of the trilogy, it's definitely worth your time. Beyond being well-reported, it really does capture the uncertainty of this whole enterprise -- remember, the piece came out before The Fellowship of the Ring, back when no one knew if Rings would flop or not.

'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' Review

Two things I think are worth mentioning in regards to my review of The Hobbit. The first is that I wasn't the biggest fan of the Lord of the Rings films, save for The Return of the King, which was really tremendous. The second is that I saw The Hobbit in conventional 2D and 24 fps, which I think may have helped. (The reviews I've read thus far from 3D/48 fps screenings seem to be very down on the visual bells and whistles.) So, with all that said, I enjoyed this film just fine. OK, enough preamble: My review is now live at Screen International.

Where Does Orlando Bloom Go From Here?

Orlando Bloom will be starring in The Hobbit, reprising his Lord of the Rings role, but in the meantime, you can see him in The Good Doctor, a so-so psychological thriller. The Good Doctor made me think about Bloom's career and where it's headed. So, for Deadspin, I decided to speculate on five potentially interesting directions for him to go. You can tell me if I'm way off base.