Mrs. Glennk played hooky yesterday and dragged me to Ice Age 3. I have never been able to get into animated movies and this was no exception as I feel asleep 3 times. The 3D was cool in some scenes but overall I found the glasses and the experience distracting from the actual movie. For what it’s worth, Mrs. Glennk gave it a C+ and she normally loves animated movies…

White Heat

quote:

Originally posted by Board-O:
The theater went wild in this scene

A little extra cheese on the taco...

18 seconds into this clip, Jim Carrey turns into TBird!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Excellent. Wonderful audience to see it with, too. 400 people second night of release for a late night screening (they had a 10:45, 11:30 and a midnight showing -- guess which one I went to). Everyone clapped as the lights went down, then "sssshhhhed!" as the previws started. Not a word was spoken by anyone in the audience until the credits started rolling.
By far the funniest of the movies, and the most well acted. They could have extended the movie a bit to include more, but the movie did flow quite well.

I was considering whether people whove never seen a 'Potter' movie or read the books would enjoy this, and I think the would. Yates (director) did an excellent job with the camera and staging to show you exactly who was going to be important in the movie as those people were introduced, even if they had no lines at the time. There is also enough exposition in the film that if people are paying attention, they'll "get it". (eg. it is mentioned that Snape used to be the potions professor and is now Defense Against the Dark Arts.)

I was surprised by how genuinely funny some of the movie was, particularly the teen romance parts. You could also tell exactly where Rowling had to cut Dumbledore's line about a girl in his youth.

Everyone's acting has improved. I was particulary taken with Emma, who stumbled through HP4, seemed more on track in HP5, and really came together here. Rupert has always been good, and Dan really came into his own in HP5. Michael Gambon, who also stumbled through HP4 (Mike Newell butchered the Hell out of that movie) was at his very best in this endeavor. Tom Felton, who plays Draco Malfoy, really showed that he actually can act and gave a more nuanced performance then he's ever had to give. And Jesse Cave, who plays Lavender, was a delight to watch.

But the movie also had plenty of action, suspence, drama, fantasy and darkness.

I will certainly be buying the DVD and probably see this in the theatre again. This is easily my second favorite Potter film behind genius director Alfonso Cuaron's brilliant Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

As a movie, I agree witht he vast majority of critics that this is a 3.5/4 star or A- movie. But as a person who is both a fan of the genre and particularly of Harry Potter, I absolutely loved it.

Highly reccomended, if you couldn't tell!

P.S. There is no logical reason that this is PG whereas he last two films were PG-13. This was in no way 'toned down' so that parents would feel comfortable taking their 7 year olds. (Probably not a wise idea.)

P.P.S. David Yates did an excellent job directing this and, after directing small fare such as The Girl in the Cafe it will be interesting to see how his career proceeds post 'Potter' (he is also directing Deathly Hallows parts 1 and 2. I imagine he will be able to take on any poject he wants.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince- saw this last night with my son. My opinion will differ from winetarelli's as I have not read any of the books but have seen all of the HP movies.

I thought it was good, but not great. For the first time I thought there was a lack of development in both character and storyline, as if one needed to have read the book prior to seeing the movie. I enjoyed some of the special effects as usual. I thought where the movie lacked more action/adventure than previous, it made up for it with a more mature story and I enjoyed the juvenile romance and the humor that went along with it.

I agree with winetarelli that you could piece it together without reading the book, but IMO, this was about the movie being more predictable than having previously read the book. The ending was predictable; I will withold comment to not spoil any details.

Overall- both my son and I enjoyed the movie and it is definitely worth seeing. I would recommend not expecting too much or getting caught up with "hype".

winetarelli/MJ-

Mrs. Gigabit is a HUGE Potter fan. She and her mother went yesterday, and she is going again today with friends.

She mentioneded that the director took many liberties with the storyline, and also said that the movie is dark is some places - just to reiterate the comment about taking younger kids.

Overall, she enjoyed it quite a bit. I will probably join her for her 3rd, 4th, or 5th viewing.

MJ and Gig...

My friend had a very differing view of the movie from mine and after reading her very long review, I have many negative things I'm adding to my review. This doesn't change the initial review, and I loved the movie, but there were A LOT of problems with it I now realize.

First and foremost, at the end of the 6th book there are two major unanswered questions. Questions that make you absolutely yearn for book 7. Through camera angle and a flourish of music, one of those questions is deffinitively answered at one point in the movie. Through direction and acting, the other question is deffinitively answered in the movie. There is absolutely no possible way any sentient being could possibly be confused or kept guessing -- real problem... since those are what the final movies are SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT! (I mean, seriously, these questions are answered so deffinitively that MJ having only seen the movies might not even know what I'm talking about!)

Second, you'll notice in my initial review, I did not mention Bonnie Wright's (Ginny Weasly) acting. That is because it was not particularly good and the chemestry between hr and Dan was not believable.

Third, you'd have to be deaf dumb and blind not already to know that a major character dies in this one. The death did not make me tear up or tug at my heart strings at all.

Fourth, the scene in the cave is a rip-off of The Lord of the Rings in the book, but in the movie it is almost *shocking* how much it is ripped off. Like, Tolkien/Peter Jackson should sue.

Fifth, there should have been more (*A*) fight with the Death Eaters / students / professors at ^some point in the movie I won't say when^

All of that said, I still loved it. But those are all serious problems I had, upon reflection.

Gran Torino

Schindler's List

quote:

Originally posted by winetarelli:
MJ and Gig...

My friend had a very differing view of the movie from mine and after reading her very long review, I have many negative things I'm adding to my review. This doesn't change the initial review, and I loved the movie, but there were A LOT of problems with it I now realize.

First and foremost, at the end of the 6th book there are two major unanswered questions. Questions that make you absolutely yearn for book 7. Through camera angle and a flourish of music, one of those questions is deffinitively answered at one point in the movie. Through direction and acting, the other question is deffinitively answered in the movie. There is absolutely no possible way any sentient being could possibly be confused or kept guessing -- real problem... since those are what the final movies are SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT! (I mean, seriously, these questions are answered so deffinitively that MJ having only seen the movies might not even know what I'm talking about!)

Second, you'll notice in my initial review, I did not mention Bonnie Wright's (Ginny Weasly) acting. That is because it was not particularly good and the chemestry between hr and Dan was not believable.

Third, you'd have to be deaf dumb and blind not already to know that a major character dies in this one. The death did not make me tear up or tug at my heart strings at all.

Fourth, the scene in the cave is a rip-off of The Lord of the Rings in the book, but in the movie it is almost *shocking* how much it is ripped off. Like, Tolkien/Peter Jackson should sue.

Fifth, there should have been more (*A*) fight with the Death Eaters / students / professors at ^some point in the movie I won't say when^

All of that said, I still loved it. But those are all serious problems I had, upon reflection.

I just spoke with someone who has a friend who has seen the movies but not read the books. He loved the movie and, according to my friend, she did not detect that he had picked up on the incredibly non-subtle hints in the movie for the two mysteries that lingered after book 6. So maybe it is just because we already knew...

The Dark Knight

Not bad, good acting by Heath, a little incredulous what the Joker was able to do, but hey its taken from a comic book.

Gerry

quote:

Originally posted by dannyk8232:
Gran Torino

And?

Took my son to Ice Age 3. He enjoyed it.

Highlander
One of my favorites. Too many commercials on AMC though.

The Proposal. Fun and entertaining.

quote:

Originally posted by Primordealsoup:
Highlander
One of my favorites. Too many commercials on AMC though.

He just brought over the brandy bottled in 1783. Imagine that: being immortal and enjoying an eternity great of vintages- when they are at their peak!

Rented "Elegy" with Penelope Cruz and Ben Kingsley.

Of course, Ms. Cruz is gorgeous. Seeing her naked in bed with Kingsley......I turned it off.
I don't care for science fiction flicks.

And now: Dick Tracy (Beatty version).

I'm not a Madonna fan by any stretch, but I liked her music in this one. Good soundtrack. Liked the strong primary color palette used in this film too. Campy, but ok for what it is.

Gran Torino

I enjoyed it quite a bit. If that is indeed Clint's last movie as an actor, I think he went out in style.

Two Lovers (pretty good, but I'm a sucker for Gwyneth Paltrow anyway)