Hobbit Anniversary, Firefly & The Maze Runner Review

Gonna start this blog with a Happy 77th Anniversary to one of my favorite novels of all time, The Hobbit. It was first published on this date back in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald Tribune for best juvenile fiction. The book remains popular and is recognized as a classic in children's literature.

I read The Hobbit back when I was in middle school and enjoyed it but I wasn't a huge fan. I attempted to read Lord of the Rings and just couldn't do it, that was until the Lord of the Rings movies came out back in 2001. Before I saw the movies I was determined to read Lord of the Rings again and when I did I fell in love with it. I then purchased the audio books and listen to them over and over. I also purchased The Hobbit audio book and listened to it after all these years and appreciated it much more now. And of course I am loving The Hobbit movies and can't wait for the final chapter in that movie trilogy. Now the world of Middle Earth is one of my all time favorite universe to escape to. I've read the Similarion and currently going through the untold stories of Middle Earth. And it all started with "In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit"...

I doubled up on my "pic a day" until my 44th Birthday. Today is day 41 & 42 so here I am at age 41(left) and age 42 (right). I look pretty much the same since turning 40, a bit less hair on top and maybe more gray in the beard but for the most part it's the same face. My age 42 picture I'm wearing my freshly washed Hobbit hair wig. I cosplay as a Hobbit and part of that costume is my long curly hair which I don't have naturally anymore.

I was in a Firefly mood today and I knew if I started watching them that I wouldn't be able to stop and of course I was right. I started with the pilot episode titled Serenity. This has to be one of the best pilots of any TV series. I've seen it so many times but it still continues to impress me every time I watch it. After that was Train Job, Bushwacked, Our Mrs Reynolds and finally episode five Jaynestown. I would have continued to watch more Firefly but during the late afternoon/evening I picked up friends Jes, Dallas and Robert and we headed over to the 20th Century Fox lot for a screening on a new movie called Maze Runner.

I had never heard of this film until seeing trailers a few weeks prior. So if you're like me and know nothing of this movie here's a brief synopsis: The story follows sixteen-year-old Thomas, who awakens in a rusty elevator with no memory of who he is, only to learn he's been delivered to the middle of an intricate maze, along with a slew of other boys, who have been trying to find their way out of the ever-changing labyrinth — all while establishing a functioning society in what they call The Glade. It's based off a young adult novel of the same name. It's actually a trilogy and one day after this movie was released, and made over 32 million dollars they announced the sequel The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, set to be released on September 18, 2015

Overall it was a fun movie, entertaining and adventure filled. I do wish there was better character development but that's tough when the actual characters have no memories of their own. The effects were pretty awesome and the movie is suspenseful at times. You do have to wait the entire movie to actually be told what is going on and then of course it leads into the next movie. 

If this was a single movie and there was not going to be a sequel then it would have been a bit disappointing as this movie didn't feel complete with a beginning, middle and end.

I'm glad I didn't pay to see this and I don't think I'll be buying it on blu-ray but if you're looking for a fun popcorn movie with a good amount of action then The Maze Runner might be for you. I give The Maze Runner a B-

Afterwards the four of us headed to The Habit for some burgers. It was a good evening.