Hollis Films

With Disney starting their big "100 Years of Disney" campaign, I though I's start a mini series talking about my most favorite Disney films. "Aspiring musician Miguel, confronted with his family's ancestral ban on music, enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer." -  IMDB Watching this movie hits the same as did that day I saw it theaters. Right from the first 2 minutes, the movie has me in the palm of its hands. The music is enchanting from start to finish. That flute followed up by the guitar.... bruh. This soundtrack is magical and emotional and is such an amazing asset to overall story. Music is always important to any film, but it has such a different essence in Coco. Coco is an emotional love letter to Mexican culture and is masterfully depicted in stunning animation and art design., The colors are as vibrant as the characters. The celebration of family and ancestry is core to Miguel's journey as he experie...

"As Harry, Ron and Hermione race against time and evil to destroy the Horcruxes, they uncover the existence of the three most powerful objects in the wizarding world: the Deathly Hallows." - IMDB No easy way to say this - but Deathly Hallows Part 1 is my least favorite Potter film. It's just a dramatic camping trip. No Hogwarts. Sure there a couple of good moments here and there, my favorite scene being the dance between Harry & Hermione - 2 friends on this perilous isolating journey bonding together in a rare moment of positivity. The Seven Harrys are iconic. And Harry's moment at his parents' grave always makes me cry. But overall, it's boring to me and is just a set up for Part 2. I usually try to give a shoutout to the amazing cast & crew, but I have trouble thinking of new additions. Of course, the Davids - Heyman & Yates - are back. J.K. Rowling is credited as a Producer in these final installments. Steve Kloves, Mark Day, Fiona Weir, Stuart...

"True story of Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountain climber who became friends with the Dalai Lama at the time of China's takeover of Tibet." - IMDB Discovering this movie excited me when seeing that the main cast included Brad Pitt, David Thewlis, BD Wong, & Mako. Even with Pitt's questionable accent, I rather enjoyed watching all of them in this movie, Pitt & Thewlis especially. I also enjoyed watching Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk as the Dalai Lama.  This is a film based on a true story of a couple of Europeans making a life in Tibet. The first half of the film is the journey there and the other half of the film is focused on Heinrich Harrer's personal growth & relationship with the Dalai Lama. I loved learning about the Tibetan culture in this film. Tibet has interested me in the past. It's such a unique culture, very distinct form other Buddhist or Chinese cultures. Even thought it's a part of China, I always saw the region as separate just be...

"Five years after the events of The Last of Us, Ellie embarks on another journey through a post-apocalyptic America on a mission of vengeance against a mysterious militia." - IMDB Sequel?  My thoughts before starting the sequel the first time? I was very interested in the story. I might've been the only one, but I still thought Abby was Ellie's mom going into the game, so her story seemed promising at first. I thought Dina was going to die & that's what would set Ellie on this revenge quest. Plus, it may have been my excitement, the misleading trailers, or ignorance to details, but it definitely seemed like Joel was set up to play a bigger part so I was fully expecting him to join Ellie on her quest. I totally expected him to die at some point, at least in the final act or in a scene that leads to the final act. I wouldn't have cared as long as they had all those years together as a family. No matter what my expectations were, I went into the sequel fully ...

"Explores the early relationship between renowned psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter and a young FBI criminal profiler who is haunted by his ability to empathize with serial killers." - IMDB I’ve seen Silence of the Lambs several times. It’s definitely one of my favorite films, at least top 100. Hannibal Lecter is an interesting character, and as a Mads Mikkelsen fan, I just couldn’t pass on the opportunity to watch this show.  Spoiler Alert. Season 1 Starting with season 1 – While the show is called Hannibal, this show is more about Will Graham’s relationship with Hannibal more than anything else. Hannibal actually acts as a side character, at least at first, which is really genius. In fact it takes a very long time to actually see Hannibal attack or kill anyone, though we know what he’s up to. The show didn’t waste time in letting Hannibal pull a Mrs. Lovette to feed Will his “special sausage” with some breakfast egg scramble. That’s it, that’s the series. Hannibal making friends...