Harry Potter

So I never got my Bruno review up....my bad. Midnight showings basically put me out of commission for a few days. It was hilarious. It would probably offend you.

Anyway, I decided to make up for it and post a Harry Potter review. Don't worry, i didn't actually go see it (I'm against seeing/reading the Harry Potter and Twilight franchises). Instead, I got a friend's, who saw the movie last night at midnight. Here's his review:

Wands at the ready. First things first, I didn’t read the 6th book before seeing the movie. So in other words I’ve read all of the books except for the last two. And I guess it makes a little bit of a difference, especially time line related (the movies do tend to skip around things here and there), but coming into this movie I knew less than 20% of the book’s plot.

And it didn’t matter one bit.

Putting the books aside and focusing on cinematic direction, David Yates is able to set an even darker tone than Order of the Phoenix early on and it really stays true though out the film. The first few scenes alone are reason enough to keep him around for the last movie(s).

Special effects are back in full force, especially during the jaw dropping scene in the cave with the massive fire spell cast by Dumbledore. The Quiddich scenes were shot perfectly with just the right touch of real versus computer made. And of course the music, sound design, and mixing were TOP notch. I still can’t get over the awesome cracking sound during spell dueling, an art form that has grown far more dangerous since the younger movies. Awesomely intense scenes.

But its the acting that truly makes Half-Blood Prince as smart and compelling as it is. You could have millions of dollars in special effects (cough cough… Transformers) but you can’t CGI charismatic, witty acting. And our three main characters are finally believable as young adults thanks to the much needed maturity of the script. The screen play is brilliantly adapted from the the book (which undoubtedly has a massive amount of dialogue), not afraid to surprise the audience with a laugh or two in between the serious, and at times intense for a PG movie, scenes.

There’s no denying that Daniel Radcliffe IS Harry Potter. A boy who knows he is bound for great things but is entirely unsure of his abilities and emotions at the same time. He does the whole “speak without speaking” thing well, especially during the one-on-one scenes with Dumbledore. Of course Alan Rickman is still genius as Snape, he steals nearly every freakin’ scene he’s in. My only regret is that Voldemort doesn’t make an appearance in this installment. It wasn’t a major set back, but it left out a little sliver of the overall “bad guy” feel from Phoenix. But none the less, this movie is immensely dark and eerie from start to finish.

Its safe to say I was satisfied. Not “I read the book and it follows the book-to-film rules” satisfied - I’m movie buff satisfied. I genuinely LIKED this Harry Potter movie. It might not be as action packed as the previous film, but it takes a greater emotional piece from your pie. And it definitely leaves you wanting more. Lets hope the final installment answers all our questions.


And if you're curious about who this other blogger is, check him out in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6Yz9sYSD38 (he's beatboxing)

I Like the sound of this...

Sorry dear followers I've been absent so long. Summer makes me extremely lazy. I'm going to the midnight showing of Bruno, so hopefully I can post my thoughts on that later.

Anyway, while I have time to spare at a certain internship, I started playing around on imdb.com and found some interesting news. Apparently Quentin Tarantino is already talking a prequel to Inglorious Basterds (woot) due out August 21. I'm all for it. Anymore film time with the Basterds, I'll be a happy camper. On a side note, Inglorious was a pretty long movie - 2:28 at Cannes. A few of us speculated that it might get cut, but the opposite happened. Yes, the final running time of the film is now 2:29. Wonder what last-minute of footage was thrown back into the mix....
http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/07/09/action-movie-sequel-time-the-expendables-2-and-more-inglorious-basterds-prequel-talk/

Badassery to the Max

So last night I finally saw Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. It was epic. Granted, the acting sorta sucked (Megan Fox really can't act), but it was still entertaining. I think my favorite parts of the film are the conversations between Shia LaBeouf with his parents, played by Kevin Dunn and Julie White (I mean besides every scene Optimus Prime is in).

I kind of wish we had a Jon Voigt appearance, but John Turturro was sufficient enough.

I don't know how I feel about the Transformers having legit personalities (the Twins anyone?)

And sorry to bust your bubble, but Peter Cullen, the long-time voice of Optimus also voices a very well known cartoon character: Eeyore. Yea, the donkey.

If you want to see a ton of shit blown up, and watch the sheer manpower of the U.S. Military and how extreme Badass Optimus Prime is, go see Fallen. If you don't, well sit at home and be pathetic.

Remake?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beastly_(film)

I don't think I like this idea...remaking a classic animated Disney film into a modern adaption with bad actors? Let's hope it's going to better than I think, but somehow, I doubt it.

Less than a year...

Disney finally released its teaser trailer for the long-anticipated Toy Story 3. Its not much, but we got a date and 3D confirmation. Waaahooo!
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3045851673/

Greatest Ab workout EVER

Tired of flabby abs? Fear not! I have a new workout for you. Go see the newly released Land of the Lost followed directly by The Hangover. My friend and I did a double feature last night of the two, and my stomach still hurts from laughing for 3+ hours. I thought both were ridiculously funny, to the point where I had tears shedding. I know a lot of people won't entirely love Land of the Lost like I did, but that's because people don't fully appreciate the genius that is the actor Danny McBride. Every single word he utters made me crack up. His character is exactly like his character Rico in Hot Rod and Kenny Powers in Eastbound and Down. Basically McBride has one character: Wicked Funny. Will Ferrell holds his own, but McBride just shines like a little star the entire movie. I cannot wait for him to star in a movie. 90+ minutes of DmB? Yes, Please!

I think most people will agree with me in saying that The Hangover was absolutely hysterical. I would even say Top 5 funniest movies ever (yeah I went there). It definitely holds against the super awesome Superbad and Pineapple Express (coincidence McBride is in both of those? I think not.) The character of Alan, played by Zach Galifianakis (Out Cold) is one of the funniest characters I have even seen onscreen. UHmazin. Sound it out. Emphasize the UH. You'll get it.
Every line in the film is awesome, every scene, every second. AHH!!! My friends and I are already planning a second viewing, it's that good. To quote a fellow filmgoer: You'll get a laughing hangover from this one. If you don't like joy and happiness, don't go.

And yes, we already memorized the song Stu plays on the piano.

Inglorious Glory

I'm finally back from Cannes and I saw a ton of movies. I think around twenty or so, which is a pretty high number for about 12 days of festival. I saw some you probably have never heard, nor will ever hear of (Ravenous, aka Burning Bright), but I also a lot of the well known ones.

Probably the most talked about film at Cannes that you've heard of is Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds starring Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger and Christoph Waltz. I loved it. I REALLY loved this movie. Some people weren't so excited about it. I just love how Tarantino took the history books and basically threw them in the trash can. The movie isn't as fragmented as other Tarantino films, and the scenes are pretty long. Almost every line out of Brad Pitt's mouth is hysterical, and Waltz is the Nazi you hate, but also love. Waltz received the Best Actor prize for the festival, well deserved in my opinion. Inglourious won't be out until August, so I'm excited to see if there are any editing changes.

One movie I did not like was Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell. A lot of the people I talked to really liked it, but I thought it wasn't scary at all. Sure I jumped a few times, but it was mostly just bad. It was campy horror, which is fine and all, but not well done in my opinion. Alison Lohman is the lead actress, and I just couldn't stand her, she was so unbelievable. If you want to watch good Raimi, just watch the Evil Dead trilogy and call it a day.