Watched this Week The Good: Super, Hanna (review) In Bruges, Jurassic Park, Waterworld, The King of Kong, The Social Network, HP4, more Friends The Bad:The Bodyguard, The Ghost and the Darkness The Ugly: None Trips to the Theater: Captain America: The First Avenger, Midnight in Paris, Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2nd time) Actors of the Week: Ralph Fiennes, Rainn Wilson, Tommy Lee Jones, Owen Wilson Directors of the Week:Kevin Reynolds, Woody Allen Quote I've been saying all week: Insult my f--king kids! That's going overboard mate! I retracted it didn't I!
Trailers/Clips of the Week: Drive. Nicolas Winding Refn's last movie was the fantastic Bronson with Tom Hardy.
4 stars You can't judge Woody Allen films against other films. They aren't like other films, they're his films. They are who he is, whatever he is thinking about, whatever he is passionate about, whatever story he wants to tell at that particular time in his life. I mean, this is a guy who has made 1 movie per year for over 40 years. 1 a year! Actors don't make as many movies as he does. I think I've seen about 90% of them, and so every year one comes out and last year's was You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger with Naomi Watts and Anthony Hopkins. It was one of his worst. Really very bad. So much so that I had such a bad taste in my mouth about seeing Midnight in Paris. However, three friends mentioned it this week, I'm aware it's his most financially successful film, so why not go to the 9:50 show on a Wednesday night.
Believe the hype because Midnight in Paris is a wonderful film. Give me some time to declare it one of his best (as movies are judged best by time) but it's certainly one of his most enjoyable. Back to front enjoyable. Owen Wilson plays Gil, a screenwriter wanting to become a novelist who is engaged to Inez (Rachel McAdams). They have tagged along with her parents to Paris and Gil is in love. Not that much with her as much as he is with Paris, particularly Paris in the 20s. Drunk one night and wanting to walk back to the hotel, he gets lost but is graciously picked up by a group of people in an antique car. They insist on him coming to a party, and as the trailers show, Gil is suddenly in fact in 1920s Paris, meeting F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald as well as Ernest Hemingway. He is in heaven. It's his heaven, and he of course comes back the next night. This night he meets Adriana (Marion Cotillard) and it's easy to say he's very attracted to her, and over the course of the next few nights they get to know one another.
It's hard to say what is the one thing that makes this movie great. There have been many other time travel movies or even Pleasantville where the main characters are integrated directly into a different time period, but there's something so good about the restrictions here. It's only at night, he has to go back to the hotel and sleep in 2010, and like Gil, we really look forward to going back. What could happen this night? And time is also running out as they don't plan to stay in Paris forever.
Like the other great Woody Allen movies, the thematic material is very strong. Allen himself has been known to love everything in the past. The music he listens to, the movies, the books, it's all about some other time. He plays in a Dixieland jazz band once a week. I think there's a sense that Gil is not only getting to live out a fantasy, but Woody Allen is too, and it's always fun to live someone's fantasy with them. Well, as long as it's not sick and gross. The things he has to say though about the past vs. the present are unexpected and thoughtful. I myself have never wanted to live during another time, but I can see the appeal.
The movie isn't perfect and there are some things that don't work. Poor Rachel McAdams is given the thankless Woody Allen role of the woman the main character obviously should not be with. This is nothing new, and it's a staple of so many of his films. From her first lines of dialogue, we know they are doomed. It does work from the point of view that since she is so unlikable we just want to get back to the 20s. Also he loves to hit hard on Republicans (not that some don't deserve it). Also a joke involving Louis XIV fell flat for me.
Owen Wilson is a very strange yet inspired choice as the lead. He is playing the Woody Allen character, but at the same time he isn't. He can't help but be himself and with this and his great turn in How Do You Know, I've really come to appreciate how special he is. There is no one like him in movies, with his rhythm and energy. Marion Cotillard is still lovely as ever, but the cameos stick with me. Adrien Brody as Salvador Dali, Alison Pill from Scott Pilgrim as Zelda Fitzgerald, and Corey Stoll as Hemingway. Hemingway in particular is hysterically masculine. Every historical/celebrity figure introduction made me smile. I hope it did for others. Do people even know who Bunuel was? The fine actor Michael Sheen is also hilarious as the very definition of pedantic and I wanted to grab him by his pretentious beard and shake him. Even the first lady of France Carla Bruni ain't bad as a local museum guide.
It is one of the best movies of the year. Certainly one of the best posters of the year. If you want to start watching more Woody Allen, I would personally recommend Annie Hall (his most popular film and it deserves to be), Bullets Over Broadway (with John Cusack), and Match Point which most people are aware of. You have to judge a Woody Allen film by himself, and Midnight in Paris is so much him. The jazz music, the opening titles always and forever in that same font, and the relatively still camera shot in masters. Paris is shot nicely, and it made me want to go, but I admit I've seen it shot in this golden light in several other films. Still, go see it. There are other movies out there this summer that have nothing to do with comic books or rock 'em sock 'em robots. Midnight in Paris, his 41st film. It was a great way to spend a Wednesday night.
The trailer is bad and unappealing so here's a clip.
3 ½ stars They tried their darndest, but that is one silly superhero suit. Robin comes a close second, but no grown man other than Uncle Sam should have to wear an outfit where the main theme is the American flag. Especially when he's supposed to be a fighting hero. Complaint aside, Captain America turns out to be a good movie. Even if his uniform isn't.
Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a 90 lb. weakling who desperately wants to enlist in WWII. He's tried several times, but his size and health ailments keep getting him rejected. During one of these tries a German scientist working for the U.S. Army (Stanley Tucci in a nice turn) witnesses his determination and decides to allow him into a special program. He is developing a serum that would create a super soldier.
This first half of the movie is so very, very good. What can so easily overcome the recent mediocrity of comic book movies is a good story with a great character and Steve Rogers is it. The Benjamin Button type effects are seamless and we completely believe Chris Evans is one of those puny guys where you can always see the outline of their ribcage when they have their shirts off. He's been bullied, picked on, stepped on, but he's a fighter. He doesn't lay down and his determination won me over. How can you not root for this guy?
He is eventually given the super soldier serum and BAM!, he's ripped to shreds, he's taller, and his metabolism has shot up to 4x the speed of a regular man. There is one fantastic sequence where he chases a taxi cab that really shows off what he can do. He runs as fast as the car, he leaps, he swims, and it is the best action sequence in the movie. The new Steve Rogers is quickly dubbed Captain America. Evans is surrounded by a good supporting cast with Tucci and particularly Tommy Lee Jones whose arrival on screen put a big smile on my face. He is perfect in the movie as Steve's commanding officer. He's been given some good dialogue, but it's his cadence that is so enjoyable to listen to. I would see the movie again just to hear him say this line, "...and they, will personally escort Adolf Hitler, to the gates of hell." At the same time Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) is forming his own splinter organization apart from the Nazi party called HYDRA, and he has discovered an ancient "artifact of the gods" which he converts into powerful weaponry. Schmidt himself has taken an early prototype of the super soldier serum and there have been some nasty side effects. It's not really explained, but one imagines his skin coming off rapidly in the shower one morning. ah, Ah, AH!
Of course Captain America will be the only one who can stop Red Skull and sadly the movie takes a dip in energy once Captain America fully goes into action with his completed blue suit. I think it's the helmet that I really don't like. The action in the latter half isn't all that interesting. It's a lot of punches and old guns and the occasional throwing of the shield, which may be a staple of the comic books, but it's not that cool in a movie. His crew includes Derek Luke and a very distracting Asian actor (were there really 2nd generation Asians fighting for our side in 1945?), but they don't have much to do. However, things do pick up toward the end, especially as Steve's relationship with British Agent Peggy Carter gets more serious. Hayley Atwell is lovely to look at, but I think she plays the role too straight. Steve isn't necessarily a wild man and it would've helped if one of them had a sense of humor.
Also, I think there is a lost chance of exploring this idea of a geeky guy suddenly becoming an Alpha male stud. There isn't much angst or conflict in the new Steve Rogers. Much is talked about in the beginning about keeping true to himself, but I think there could've been some scenes where Steve misses who he used to be instead of just accepting all the praise he's getting from people who would never have talked to him before he changed. Maybe it's the screenwriter in me talking. Maybe they'll explore that in the sequel.
In terms of an origin superhero movie, I really liked it. Most of these guys, you're just waiting for them to become the hero so we can watch them beat up bad guys. I enjoyed wimpy Steve Rogers more than the buff guy with the big A on his helmet. He does keep true to himself though, especially in the end, and not only is it fairly moving but it also sets up Captain America's new surroundings quite brilliantly. Btw, this upcoming Avengers movie better live up to all of this crazy pre-hype. They can't stop teasing it can they?
A lot of credit should go to director Joe Johnston (October Sky, The Rocketeer) and specifically Chris Evans who has now become a full on good actor and not the guy from Not Another Teen Movie and those blah Fantastic Four movies. Congratulations man. You were also great in Danny Boyle's Sunshine.
Source Code 2 starsSource Code is a limp noodle. Scripts that hang their quality on a single clever concept rarely work out. For every Memento there's The Nines or Buried or Cellular.
Gyllenhaal is Colter Stevens (c'mon is that your real name?) who is an Army pilot in Afghanistan but for reasons unknown he finds himself on a Metra train heading toward downtown Chicago. 8 minutes go by, and the train explodes. He then finds himself in a cramped capsule with an Air Force Captain (Vera Farmiga) on a monitor asking him about the location of a bomb and possible bomb suspects. He has no idea what she's talking about, but she sends him in again. And over the course of the short 93 minute film, this repeats and repeats.
Gyllenhaal's mission is to find the bomber or other potential terrorist attacks will occur that day. How he gets to go back to those 8 minutes during that morning is still a puzzle to me. An explanation is given at some point by a scientist played by Jeffrey Wright but it's not interesting nor very plausible. And so Stevens goes back to that train, sitting across from Michelle Monaghan who 5 years after Mission: Impossible 3 has still yet to make any sort of impact on me in a movie. She's a rather bland brunette who spends most of Source Code smiling with an annoying grin. The rest of the train passengers are equally irritating and every time the train blew up, I felt happy that I could stop spending time with these commuters.
The revelations and plot twists that happen later on are underwhelming. There is a subplot about Gyllenhaal and his father but I don't care. And the ending isn't satisfying, it feels like a cop out. As if the screenwriter didn't know how to resolve the movie within the constraints he gave himself and decided to go on a completely unnecessary direction. A better version of this movie is Tony Scott's Deja Vu, which has better characters, is better shot, and the science is much more compelling than this sci-fi Groundhog Day. A disappointment from Duncan Jones who directed Moon with Sam Rockwell a few years ago. Skip it.
Super 3 starsIt is the indie version of Kick-Ass. Kick-Ass in that fry cook Frank D'Arbo (Rainn Wilson) decides to become a superhero and fight crime by himself. His wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) has left him for her drug dealer and Frank is massively depressed and lost. He receives a vision from up above that he should become the Crimson Bolt and he sews a red costume together and starts going around town hitting criminals with a pipe hammer. He's not bad, and despite trailers that would indicate this to be a stylized comedy, Super actually wants to be a darker look at superheroes and about Frank's life purpose.
Rainn Wilson is pretty wonderful as Frank. He's completely real and identifiable and absolutely not Dwight Schrute. His performance is the best thing in the movie and he gives Frank such a good heart. Libby (Ellen Page!) works at a comic book store and puts it together that the Crimson Bolt is Franks and she convinces him that she should be his kid sidekick. Boltie! LOL. Libby has problems though, and soon her crime fighting gets out of hand with too much hardcore uncensored violence. One scene involves her almost killing a guy who she believes keyed her friend's car.
Some of the plot is predictable like the last battle at the drug dealer's mansion, but what is not predictable is the strange places this movie wants to go. The third act I feel is a bit unfocused and I'm not sure what the movie wants to be. It's certainly not a comedy about some doofus in a red jump suit. It's maybe about a guy dealing with a divorce and discovering that his wife may be better off without him? The resolution at the end is unsatisfying, and yet so much of the rest of the movie is good. Who wouldn't want to clobber a guy who cut into a long line at the movies? Who wouldn't want to throw a pipe bomb at a thug who has beat you up several times. Those scenes are very satisfying. It's a weird one. Shut up Crime!
The Silence of the Lambs 4 stars Wow is The Silence of the Lambs well directed. I never noticed how much director Jonathan Demme is doing in every scene. There is so much going on in terms of shot selection, composition, lighting and point of view. Demme's signature shot of characters looking straight into camera is terribly effective here.
If you don't know, Clarice Starling is a trainee with the FBI and is told one day to go see Hannibal Lecter. Please tell me I don't have to explain to you who that is. A serial killer named Buffalo Bill has been very productive and the FBI believe Lecter might be of some help. And what could be a thriller procedural about clues and forensics really becomes a psychological drama about these two characters: Starling and Lecter. It's the best of the Lecter movies because of this relationship. It's between a man and a woman but it's far from romantic. It's not father/daughter, it's a little teacher/pupil but because Starling is a woman and because Lecter is a hyper intelligent sociopath, it does not and cannot fall into any familiar territory.
Foster is very strong in the movie, quiet and decent, she is someone with fierce morality and yet a lot of inexperience. It's the subtler of the two roles and the movie doesn't work without her vulnerability and our belief that she could really be the one to take down Buffalo Bill. However, it is the first real introduction of Anthony Hopkins to American audiences and Hannibal Lecter is one of the most well known and greatest movie characters ever. Author Thomas Harris deserves so much of the credit as Lecter is his creation. A cannibalistic psychiatrist who does seem like the next step in the evolutionary ladder. Possibly one of the smartest movie characters in history?
Hopkins choices are unbelievable, from his introduction where he stands perfectly still in his cell to the infamous sound he makes after talking about liver, fava beans, and a nice Chianti. He's in the movie maybe a total of 20 minutes but every scene is so rich and memorable. So much so that we forgive the movie for becoming another movie for 15 minutes as we leave Starling's story completely to watch Lecter attempt his escape in Memphis. I never noticed how odd the inclusion of that scene really is. But what a great sequence. Ingenious.
I can watch Hannibal Lecter over and over again. He's consistently fascinating. A genuine predator. He's helped a lot by the stunning production design by Kristi Zea who created that hallway of cells and came up with that genius choice to forgo the traditional prison bars and encase Dr. Lecter in fiberglass. Seriously, how much scarier is he in that thing? Yeesh. The Silence of the Lambs is streaming on Netflix right now. 20 years old and it's still amazing. (and still surprisingly shocking and violent) A classic.
4 stars Back in the summer of 2007 I had heard of a small documentary about classic video games that was doing well on the festival circuit. I was unemployed at the time so I decided why not, and I went to a matinee show in Pasadena. There were 3 other people were in the audience.
The lights went down, and I thought it was just going to be about random 30 to 40 year-old nerds who like arcade games better than today's games, and it did start off that way. That's not a bad thing, not at all. It was very funny. It wasn't completely making fun of these guys, but the quote from Walter Day the founder of Twin Galaxies still makes me roar:
"I wanted to be a hero. I wanted to be the center of attention. I wanted the glory, I wanted the fame. I wanted the pretty girls to come up and say, 'Hi, I see that you're good at Centipede.'"
No one could possibly write a line that good. No way. Yet I think the movie has so much affection for their passion. When they talk about the difficulty of certain classic games, when they talk about the level of skill and concentration you need, I gained a lot of respect for them. A lot of those games are really hard. I don't I've ever gotten passed the third level in Donkey Kong. There is one famous sequence where a player uses chalk on the screen and tries to explain the strategy of jumps and the timing of barrels and it's a really beautiful scene. It cuts from him playing, to close-ups of the joystick, to close-ups of Mario, and back and forth while he plays the drums. Pretty great.
That player is Steve Wiebe, a science teacher in Redmond, Washington who has a Donkey Kong machine in his garage. He was formerly a Boeing engineer, he was laid off, and during his unemployment he played a lot of Donkey Kong. Steve Wiebe is one great guy. He is maybe the nicest main subject of a documentary I can remember. He's a father of two, and he's had a great deal of disappointment in his life. His wife and others talk about his sizable talent but that talent has come up short so many times. There's some heartbreaking footage of Steve trying to pitch during a baseball championship game, a game which he ended up losing. But one day at home, with his kid screaming in the background, Steve breaks the Donkey Kong record. He then sends his video in to Twin Galaxies, a website that keeps track of classic video game records.
However, the current champion, and champion of many classic video games, is Billy Mitchell. Billy Mitchell with his long brown hair, a purple button down, and a tie with the American flag on it. He is known as the best classic video game player of all time, and I think he's truly one of the greatest movie villains of all time. Once he discovers his record has been broken, and despite his proclamation that records should be broken live and around people, he goes ahead and covertly sends a video of his own to Twin Galaxies that night. And the crown is taken away from Steve.
I don't want to give too much else away, but what started as silly documentary about Ms. Pac Man and Q*bert becomes a thoughtful, engaging, and totally enjoyable movie about two guys. Steve Wiebe the average joe, and Billy Mitchell the huge a--hole. And the supporting players are so much fun. There is one guy Greg Bond who seems so nice and supportive of Steve and is impressed when Steve takes away 2 of Billy's titles. Billy Mitchell also has his sycophant goons like Brian Kuh the guy in the brand new orange shirt who retired at 30 and spends his golden years at Funspot Arcade in Laconia, New Hampshire. The film is filled with great characters and story twists and a lot of heart. So much heart. I was so invested in Steve Wiebe and his quest to be the best at one thing in his life. Let's also not forget that it's often hysterical. Some big laughs.
An absolutely fantastic documentary, one of the all time best. If you haven't seen it, you gotta go rent it. It's another movie that if you ask for it, I will send you a copy right now. I tried playing Donkey Kong after seeing the movie, but exasperated and frustrated by the difficulty, I did not come close to any sort of Kill Screen. F you Billy!
Deathly Hallows Part 2 Review Watched this Week The Good: War Games, The Incredible Hulk, The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 2, HP 1-2 and 6-7 Part 1, Lots of Friends The Bad:Source Code, HP5 The Ugly: None Did not get past 10 minutes: The Eagle Trips to the Theater: None Actors of the Week: Dan Radcliffe, Lisa Kudrow, John Wood Director of the Week:John Badham Quote I've been saying all week: Tim Roth with his cockney accent in The Incredible Hulk, "Is that all ya goht?"
Trailers/Clips of the Week: The Dark Knight Rises Teaser. How come these Chris Nolan Batman teasers are so good? Hardy is going to rock as Bane.
It's all over and it's sad. Let's look back on the best of the films. Tons of spoilers.
Best Picture:Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireMy favorite of the books, my favorite of the films. Along with Deathly Hallows Part 1, I think it's the most different of the movies. The Triwizard Tournament was another stroke of JK Rowling genius. It was so obvious but none of us really thought of foreign wizarding schools. The Yule Ball is so much fun, and the movie as a whole is the funniest, most energetic, and most enjoyable to watch. And the first spectacular appearance of Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort. Director Mike Newell delivered.
Best Director: David Yates Yates directed the last 4 movies starting with Order of the Phoenix, but he really got the Half-Blood Prince just right. It's the best of the movies in terms of showing us a whole school year at Hogwarts. We really get a sense of what it would be like to attend. Sure Katie Bell gets cursed by an evil object, but that doesn't mean Ron can't make the Quidditch team and Hermione can't get a little tipsy from Butterbeer. The romance subplots could've been very bad, but they are so very good. The one in the series with the best pure character moments.
Best Actor: Dan Radcliffe We just think he is Harry Potter. He's British, he has dark hair, but this is a performance. It's a layered performance, especially in the last two movies. Harry is a lot more complex than Luke Skywalker or even Frodo and Radcliffe never misses a beat. So much of what he's asked to do is look and react as we have to digest a lot of the story through Harry and therefore Dan. His moment at the end of Deathly Hallows Part 1 with Dobby and his revelation after seeing Snape's memories in the Pensieve are his best moments. Why can't he get nominated for an Oscar for this one. It's a major performance.
Best Supporting Actress: Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange She has so little screen time but she steals nearly every scene she's in. In Order of the Phoenix I think she has less than five lines of dialogue but she's the most memorable thing in it. Her accent is so specific. I particularly love how she said, "Swear to it" when egging Snape on to make the unbreakable vow. And she has a few scenes as Hermione too that are pretty hysterical. They certainly cast the right Brit. She did Alice in Wonderland, The King's Speech and Deathly Hallows in the same year. Amazing.
Best Character: Hermione Granger Hermione is my favorite character. I wish she had more to do in this last movie but overall she is one of Rowling's best creations. A type A know it all who ends up being best friends with two guys (she doesn't seem to have any real girl friends). And because of her knowledge, they survive almost anything. Emma Watson is a little too pretty to be Hermione but her intelligence and emotional availability is right on the money. Hermione has the biggest heart and some of my favorite scenes involve her caring for other people (fixing Ron after he gets Splinched, telling Harry she'll go with him when he's about to go to the forest to see Voldemort).
FAVORITE SCENES: Harry and Hermione Dance Ron (somewhat influenced by a Horcrux) leaves their mission in Deathly Hallows Part 1. Harry and Hermione are sad and confused and in order to cheer her up, Harry dances with her. It's a scene not in the books, and I think it's one of the best in the series. Rarely do we see friendship between a guy and a girl in movies. We see thousands of couples, but I think a reason why Harry Potter is so special is because of this genuine friendship between Harry and Hermione. It's an absolutely lovely scene.
Voldemort Reborn It so exceeded my expectations. It's disgusting and gruesome and fantastic with that little body thrown into a filthy cauldron. Goblet of Fire was the first pg-13 Harry Potter and they pushed it even back in 2005. Ralph Fiennes is a great choice for the big baddie V and he gives Voldemort such elegance and ferocity. He had been talked about for three movies and in four he makes his first appearance. It does not disappoint. Harry and Ron at Christmas In Sorcerer's Stone, Harry and Ron have stayed back at Hogwarts for the holidays and they open presents. One thing that kind of gets lost in the latter movies is that Harry has no family and before he discovered he was a Wizard he really had nothing. It's his first happy Christmas in a long time and he actually says in disbelief, "I've got presents". Ron showcases his first "R" sweater and Harry receives his invisibility cloak.
Voldemort as Capone Like The Untouchables, there is a scene where Voldemort meets with his lieutenants. It's a beautiful long black table where he is at the head and everyone else is worried about him taking their heads. I always wondered how he met with them and at the beginning of Deathly Hallows Part 1, there it is. He's at the peak of his powers. A dark, sinister scene with a Muggle being tortured in plainview. Awesome.
Meet the Weasleys Early in Chamber of Secrets we get to see the Weasley home for the first time. It is the most warm and welcoming of places. Mom serving breakfast to all of the boys and then Ginny comes down and freaks out when she sees Harry. No one really talks about how good Julie Walters and Mark Williams are as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. They are two fantastic actors.
Ron kisses Lavender, Harry comforts Hermione It is a big part of Half-Blood Prince, Ron's hilarious relationship with Lavender Brown. Ron for some reason would rather be with the British equivalent of a Valley Girl nightmare and he kisses her after a big Quidditch match. Hermione can't take it and leaves the room and Harry goes to find her. Unlike the book which is more humorous, it becomes a touching scene where Hermione is overwhelmed by how she feels about Ron. It's the moment in the movies where she and us realize how strong she likes him. It's also a nice moment with Harry and Hermione when she calls him her best friend. I never thought about this but the screenwriter Steve Kloves said that it's actually a sad statement because Ron is really Harry's best friend. I think Hermione is a lonelier character than we think she is and as much as she loves her two friends, it's probably not the same for her if she was close to some of the girls who probably still reject her. Notice that all of the major female characters are outsiders. Luna, Tonks, even Bellatrix.
Things we lost in the movies: Quidditch, House Elves, the significance of Dumbledore's sister, Dumbledore's quest for the Hallows, Neville's grandmother and his whole backstory, Pettigrew's awesome death, Tonks and Lupin's death just doesn't mean as much in the movies, Seamus, Percy Weasley.
Things we gained in the movies: Cooler wand battles, a more emotional storyline for the Malfoys, less Fleur (thank you), great composers like Alexandre Desplat and Patrick Doyle, the best visual effects around, the best British actors around, Alan Rickman as Snape, a series that grew in quality instead of diminished.
Best Teacher: Professor Horace Slughorn. Maybe not the best academically but he's a lot of fun to watch. The great actor Jim Broadbent also played Harold Zigler in Moulin Rouge.
Best Performance that came out of nowhere: Tom Felton in Half-Blood Prince. Draco was an albino bully for five movies. He really gave us something in movie 6.
Actress who came out of nowhere: Kelly MacDonald is a fine Scottish actress (Boardwalk Empire, Trainspotting) but it was very strange so suddenly see her pop up at the very end of the last movie.
Most Underrated: Director Chris Columbus who directed the first two movies. He cast brilliantly from the main three to the teachers to even supporting characters like Malfoy and Neville and Ginny Weasley. How bad could any of the subsequent movies have been without his eye for actors? If you can watch the making of Sorcerer's Stone, you will see how much he had to direct these kids. He deserves so much credit.
Best Death:Dobby taking a knife for Harry Potter. Stupid CGI characters making me cry.
Best Ending: That last shot of Harry, Hermione, and Ron in Deathly Hallows Part 2, when the Hogwarts Express pulls out of Platform 9 3/4. The worst is behind them, and they can just be happy for their kids. I love that Harry doesn't end with a smile. It's not who he is. Also worthy is the end of Goblet of Fire with the Durmstrang boat going underwater and the Beuxbatons carriage flying away. It's a wonderful image.
Worst Ending: Applause for Hagrid at the end of Chamber of Secrets. It means nothing!
3 ½ stars This review is going to be spoiler filled. There's just no way around it.
IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE DO NOT READ
It all ends is the perfect tagline because it is all about the end. That's all The Deathly Hallows Part 2 is about, the end. I was and still am happy about the decision to split the last book into two movies. There's too much story, and unless audiences were willing to sit through a 3.5 hour movie, this was the only way to do it.That being said, the reason the movie is in my opinion a strong good, not necessarily as great as Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows Part 1 is because of that decision. If there was such a thing as 3 ¼ stars, I would've given it that. Something inevitably got lost by splitting it. There's a reason JK Rowling put all of this material into one last book. Even as the last part, the book has a beginning, middle, and end.
A problem with the movie is that it has no beginning. The beginning was the last movie with Harry, Hermione, and Ron off on their quest to find Horcruxes. We learn what they are, we follow the three on the road, and they did pick a great place for that first movie to end (poor Dobby). But this second part has no beginning. It can't. It has to start in the middle, there are a couple of Horcruxes left, and then there's the final battle. So it felt to me like the last half of a movie, and not really a full movie. This won't matter eventually and people will think of the Deathly Hallows as one whole. They'll just have to pop in another disc. But because the end is so much about the big battle and going against Voldemort, there isn't much time to spend with the characters as characters. I missed that. They don't have time to talk. They have to find the last Horcruxes and defend the castle and it's a lot of running and hiding and protecting and you go there and I'll stay here. Lots of movies finish with events that tumble into the final action scenes. This movie is nearly all final action scenes. I don't mean this as criticism, it's what they had to do, but like I said, I think something gets lost. Ron and Hermione barely seem to have any dialogue in the movie. They are rightly fighting to the end and don't have time for chit chat, but it's something I missed. From the moment the movie starts we're off to the races. They reach Gringotts much earlier than I expected, and as soon as they're done, they've already decided to go to Hogwarts. I was very surprised at how fast things were moving, but of course they have to since there is so much to pay off. There's so much to end. We have to see this as Part 8 of 8. That's what it is. If you've come this far, there's no point in trying to catch you up. It does all end.
That being said, it is a satisfying ending. Particularly satisfying is Harry's final journey toward his end. The movie focuses in on the hero that is Harry Potter and for a 17 year-old kid, he's been through a lot. The weight of his final actions are handled so well. We feel their impact, and we love this character who is bravery and courage to his core. We want him to win. The movie does a great job of making us feel how long it has been Voldemort vs. Harry Potter. It's been years for them, it's been years for us, and it's time for the conclusion. One of them is not leaving the movie alive. Daniel Radcliffe was absolutely the perfect person to play Harry Potter. His performance is one of the best things in the movie and it's mostly reactions and silent moments where he has to make huge decisions about his life and everyone else's. Harry's choices are not simple, they are complex and rich and dramatic. This last movie is almost all about Harry, which is good as it is his name in the title of all of the movies, but I guess I wish there was a little more of the trio. Then again, Part 1 was all about them so what can you do.
The battle is pretty spectacular. That force field of spells they put up is uber-cool and there are great crowd shots of Voldemort's army descending on the castle in enormous numbers. When they charge down that hill I got chills. One thing that's hard though is that I know the book so well so I knew what was going to happen. That's going to be hard for any reader of the books. We're just not going to be that surprised. But they have pulled out all the special effects stops here. That cursed fire that rushing through the Room of Requirement is awesome. First time we see Hermione on a broom in the movies? Possibly.
Other thoughts:
- I saw it in glorious 2D. There is no reason to see this in 3D.
- Even though it's Hermione as Bellatrix, it's really Helena Bonham Carter playing Hermione in those scenes and she does a pretty good job. Who was Ron supposed to be though? Medieval Ron.
- It was such a nice reunion of all of the Harry Potter characters. It was great to see them again. Cho Chang, Lavender (so sad), Seamus, the teachers. Even Cormac and Trelawney make brief appearances.
- I wish Voldemort wasn't as campy as he was toward the end. The Voldemort in Part 1 was frightening. I felt like he was a little too light in this one and his demise was less sweet because of it.
- One thing that got lost was the Deathly Hallows themselves. No one even refers to the fact that Harry's cloak is one of them. It's ok, no big deal. But they are in the title of the movie.
- My favorite moment was when Harry tells Hermione and Ron that he's going to give himself to Voldemort. It's a moment not in the book, but it's the best scene in the movie. The look on Ron's face, then Hermione hugging him and saying, "I'll go with you" really got to me. To me, the books are about this friendship between the three of them.
- Second favorite moment is when the Death Eaters start to flee after realizing Voldemort has not killed Harry and that he can't win. That shot of the Malfoys walking away from the castle is for some reason very powerful to me.
- Third is when Ron screams after Malfoy, "That's my girlfriend you!..."
- The victory was less emotional than I thought it would be. I didn't cry, I was more relieved for Harry that it was finally over for him. Geez this guy has had a lot of responsibility. He was chosen to save the world. Relief may arguably be more appropriate than the mass group hug in the book. People will nitpick at certain moments that were left out but I don't care. I don't need to see Harry repair his old wand.
- I've said it before but what if one of three got really fat. Or too tall. Or just became a troubled young actor. Dan Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint. They all turned out to be very good actors and handsome ones at that. They're a good looking trio.
- The King's Cross scene I was really scared about before the movie came out. I thought it was going to be silly. Age make-up is so hard, particularly on actors in their early 20s, but it was well done. Very well done. Radcliffe's make-up looked the best. He genuinely looked like an adult. I do wish the epilogue was more about Harry, Hermione, and Ron and less about their kids, but I know I'm in the minority on that one. Life goes on for the Weasleys and the Potters, and it makes you feel happy that they're alive and that the worst events happened a long time ago. The last shot of the three of them looking at the train as it leaves the station, the Harry Potter theme playing, it's a beauty.
10 years, 8 movies. I've said it before but I think it is the franchise with the highest overall quality. An amazing series of movies and it's sad that it's over. The latter sequels aren't supposed to get better but they did. The actors and their characters aren't supposed to become more interesting but they did. The movie aren't supposed to grow in artistic and visual ambition but they did. It's an astonishing achievement, held together by producer David Heyman and the fine screenwriter Steve Kloves who have both been on since the beginning. Our kids and their kids will watch these movies for a very long time. My favorite is still Goblet of Fire. Followed by Half-Blood Prince and then Deathly Hallows Part 1. The worst is Order of the Phoenix. Hate that one.
However, no matter what, nothing can really compare to the books, and I'm a person who loves the movies. Reading them and re-reading them as I have is the genuine Harry Potter experience. It's been so much fun watching them on big movie screens and on Blu-ray, but alone on my couch with a hardcover is what I'll probably do every year for the rest of my life. Thanks JK Rowling. It's been a great decade of Harry Potter.
Watched this Week The Good: The Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon, Forgetting Sarah Marshall x10, Knocked Up, Funny People, Meet Joe Black The Bad:In the Land of Women, In Good Company (although I liked it a lot more this time), Hannibal, The Fugitive Kind The Ugly: None Did not get passed 5 minutes: Rio (I am officially scared of birds) Trips to the Theater: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (will post review today) Actors of the Week: Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, Mila Kunis Director of the Week:Jonathan Demme
Trailers/Clips of the Week: Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Clunky title. Good trailer.
The recent trailer for Jack and Jill with Adam Sandler and Katie Holmes reinforces my theory: If you’re an actress and you want your movie career to start heading downwards, be the female lead in an Adam Sandler movie. Not that you would have anything to do in that movie other than be the girl he wants, or the wife who tells him, “Don’t do that”.
It’s no secret how much I don’t like his movies. I like him, and have enjoyed when he acts in movies he doesn’t have any part in the writing of like Spanglish and Funny People. But the movies he himself produces, they are terrible. I’ve made a promise not to watch anything he has taken a behind the scenes part in like Grown Ups or Chuck and Larry. They’re a waste of time and his talent. And I've noticed they seem to take out the careers of the women in them. Their careers take it in the shins, no blame on them, I blame Adam Sandler. Here are some examples of women who’ve been hit hard once they did an Adam Sandler movie.
Billy Madison – Bridget Wilson. Billy Madison, Sonya in Mortal Kombat, married Pete Sampras, and that was it. Little Nicky – Patricia Arquette was going strong with True Romance and working with Scorsese in Bringing Out the Dead. Then she did Little Nicky.
Punch-Drunk Love – This one makes me sad. Emily Watson is still a tremendous actress but she was in Red Dragon, then she did this, and then...? I barely remember her in Synecdoche, NY. She’s in Spielberg’s upcoming War Horse aka Snore Horse, but I hope things turn up. The Waterboy – Fairuza Balk made a brief but memorable appearance as Edward Norton’s girl in American History X (1998) and as a groupie in Almost Famous (2000), but what happened to her? Vanished. Mr. Deeds – Winona Ryder took a plunge after this one. The shoplifting didn’t help. 10 years after Mr. Deeds she shows up in Black Swan. Click – Kate Beckinsale. She followed working with Scorsese on the Aviator with Click. That was a good choice. She’ll be doing Underworld sequels forever since she’s married to the director. Whiteout is one awful, awful movie.
Big Daddy – Joey Lauren Adams is unbelievable in Chasing Amy. Then another disappearing act after this one. Gone.
Happy Gilmore - Julie Bowen was in Happy Gilmore. 14 years later she got Modern Family. That's a little scathed.
Bedtime Stories – I doubt anyone has seen this one. Keri Russell was doing so great with M:I 3 and August Rush. Then after starring with Sandler she starred in such huge hits as Extraordinary Measures (extraordinary is not the right word) and The Girl in the Park (straight to DVD). She’s not done yet, but Bedtime Stories didn’t help.
The only ones that kind of survived unscathed were Drew Barrymore (The Wedding Singer, 50 First Dates) and Marisa Tomei (Anger Management). If they offer you the Adam Sandler girlfriend/wife role, you say no and run.
Watched this Week
