"Journey to the Christmas Star" (2012)

At first, I thought the dubbing was a little out of sync.  (That happens on rare occasions for streaming at my house.)  It wasn't until the credits rolled that I realized it wasn't out of sync or bad dubbing.  It was dubbing English over onto a movie initially made in another language.  Since the credits read "Disney Studios Norway", I'm assuming that's Norwegian.

There's just enough fancy to keep this fun--"just give blueberries to the bear and say hi"--and who wouldn't find it fun to hop onto the North wind for a ride--and yeah "jump onto what?" kind of adventurous-scary, too.  The "bad guys" are bad but the one bumbles just enough that it's a "safe" bad.  And as I said, there's enough magic and whimsy to keep it a lighter movie.  The lead is a girl.  That's nice.  I'm taking the character "Mose" (sounded like "Moss") as one, too, but I'm not entirely sure there.  (My apologies if I'm wrong there.)

So, this story could be subtitled a Christmas Cinderella Adventure.

And if you do decide to watch this movie, hang in there through all the credits.  :)

Also known as Reisen til julestjernen.

"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" (2013) [extended version]

I liked it.

I usually try to watch the theater version first before the extended, but that didn't work out that way this time.  With the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I have found that my personal preference was for the director's cut.  I like pacing of the story much better in the director's cut versions.

I read somewhere to the effect that Peter Jackson felt he let Tolkien fans down because there wasn't a fresh take on the films, that new ideas were brought, by having a new director.  Personally, I am glad for the continuity.

I don't have any criticisms or accolades to express with this first viewing.  I just thoroughly enjoyed myself by allowing myself to be immersed into the world of "The Hobbit 2".