Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince July 24, 2009

So, anyone who knows me knows that I’m a total Harry Potter fan.  I’ve been to see every movie on the first day it has come out and I was totally there for the midnight releases of the last two books.  In fact, with the last book, we had to purchase two copies of it because neither my mom or I were willing to wait for one another to finish the book.  We had to read it at the same time. (I finished that last book in about… 8 hrs and did not sleep)

Of course, here in PR we had to wait a full week after it had been released in the US for the movie to come out for us.  I continuously griped about this on twitter.  But, like a good lil girl, I waited my week and then went to see it with my mom and gay hubby.  We were quite excited to see it.  Sure, after the last movie, I had my misgivings.  I will tell it to you like it is: I did not like the last HP movie.  I felt they focused too much on wangsty Harry and forgot to develop everyone else when they could have.  But… I take every movie as it comes and I try not to let my extensive knowledge of the books get in the way of my enjoying the movie. 

Now, no worries, I will give you no spoilers (although, if you’ve read the books, there are no spoilers to be had, really) but I will tell you the general plot.  This sixth installment of Harry Potter begins right before his coming Hogwarts year.  He’s 16 now and emotions are raging all around.  Is he or isn’t he the Chose One?  All around him, London is being attacked… not just the wizarding community but the muggle (non-magic) one as well.  People are afraid but trying to band together.  All the while Harry suspects Malfoy has now taken his father’s place as a Death-Eater and he seeks to prove whatever sinister plot may be brewing at Hogwarts.  Meanwhile, Dumbledore is trying to get Harry to help him obtain more information about Tom Riddle (ie: Voldemort)’s past in order to better understand the evil he has become and finally find the thing that will destroy him. 

Now, all that being said… I will have to indicate that the movie felt anti-climactic to me.  They left it sort of looming for what is yet to come.  The seventh book is to be divided into two movies.  The pace over all of this movie, in my opinion, left much to be desired.  The visuals were lovely as ever.  The actors have really grown into their roles and many have just plain grown when you compare them to movies past.  I think the one thing I did like about this movie was that it had some particularly funny and witty moments and that it really gave you a better sense of some of the relationships had between the characters.  There is romantic tension being flung all over the place as these young people truly try to mature and find their place with one another and in life. 

Final Review: I think for those who have not read the books, its a fine representation.  For those of us who have gobbled up every page might have wished they’d done a few things differently.  In the end, I think it is a must see.  You might come out of it feeling as if it was slightly lacking (like myself and my two companions) but you won’t want to miss it for all the world!

Movie Review: Sex and the City May 31, 2008

(Yes, scizor and zarishi, I know y’all are pissed at me because I saw the movie without you guys.  But I REALLY wanted to see it!)

I’m a true SatC fan.  I watched the series as it came out on tv, even though at the very beginning I was a bit too young.  The first season and a half I caught on reruns on HBO.  Then I watched faithfully.  I was so devoted to the show that for the final season, as they were given on Sundays and I missed them because I travelled back to my apartment on those days, my mother used to record them for me.  The final episode was watching in my SIL’s room, where we could squeal and cry as needed. 

So, without giving anything away, let me try to recap the story:

Carrie is a writer in  NYC and she has 3 great friends.  While Carrie has spend off and on with this gorgeous MR. Big for the past 10 years, it’s only been about 4 years since we last saw the ladies on the show.  Then there is Charlotte who married her Mr. NotPerfect and adopted a baby from China to find that she was getting her happy ending.  There is also Miranda who opened herself to family and love with a bartender and moved to Brooklyn so her family can have a house together.  Samantha, who always believed in sex and not loe, found a nice hunky man where she could have both of.

When we meet the ladies in the movie, it’s literally us seeing how things have moved on in 4 years.  Carrie and Big shall be getting married.  The girls are learning that sometimes you can lose sight of things, themselves and their happy endings.  Sometimes you have to stay true to yourself and the ones you love. 

I went to this movie with my mother.  We made it just in time to see one last preview before the actual movie started.  In that time we managed to piss off the people sitting behind us but only because they were sitting really slouched in their seats… and since we sat properly in our chairs, they couldn’t see the screen correctly.  They moved and we weren’t bothered by them anymore.  Throughout the movie both my mother and I had cried more than once.  As true fans we caught all the inside jokes and knew when every flashback was from which episode.  In the end, it was the perfect “ending” for the ladies.  The final scene was just beautiful and absolutely befitting. 

I think fans of the series would be very satisfied.  I think even those what aren’t fans should go and see it.  It’s a quintessential chick flick.  Go with your girlfriends and then go and get a meal together.  That’s just the sort of thing this movie inspires.  My mother and I went for chinese food and went over the movie.  Not bad for a pair who have been having such a rough patch lately. 

 

Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull May 27, 2008

So, I admit that I am not an Indiana Jones fan.  I have not seen the movies before this one and even now after having seen the latest installment do I think I will be bothered with them.  I’m sure they are interesting and good and whatever, but I thought that this movie stood out decently all on it’s own.  Something a dear friend CJ wrote about on his own blog when he reviewed the movie and had me leaving comments on it, was that I might just enjoy the movie all on its own, which I actually did. 

So, not to give anything away, here’s the general premise of the movie:

It’s 1957 and Indy is beginning to feel his age.  The Commies are the big bad enemy at that time to the US and they seem to be looking for artifacts that might help them win the Cold War.  So, like, Indy gets totally caught up with them as they try to get to the City of Gold and this cool crystal skull that has to be returned there.  Along the way he meets his long lost son whom he did not know existed and finds some family bonding time while punching out the bad guys. 

Duncha just love the way I summarize things?

No smoldering looks from Shia written up here.

Luckily I set my lil bro between myself and my aunt and I was spared her running commentary.  That allowed me to just see it for what it was.  My best mental moment was when they showed Indy looking at a pic of his father, who was played by Sean Connery.  What did I say?

“Oh wow!  Indy’s dad is 007!”

I was joking.

I think…

But, yeah!  I think if you like action movies and are totally into the Indiana Jones series, you’ll like this movie.  I thought it was pretty cool and enjoyed it far more than I thought I would.  I would gush more, but lordy will I be giving our spoilers.  So I will just say that Harrison Ford has still got it.  Him in that hat is the stuff that hotness it made out of!  

 

 

 

 

Movie Review: Forbidden Kingdom April 26, 2008

I have no idea why we ended up going to the movies again.  But we did, this time to see this semi action packed movie.  While I’m all for Jackie Chan and Jet Li, it’s obvious when I say that I’m not all that into action movies.  Still, I didn’t wished to be left home alone so I tagged along with the guys.

Going into the movie, I hadn’t really any clue what the movie was about.  So let me enlighten you.  You see, there’s this dorky kid (He was that same dorky kid from the movie Transformers) who is really into KungFu movies and keeps going into Boston’s ChinaTown in order to get some new flicks from this ancient pawn dealer.  There he finds this weird stafff he’s been dreaming about.  As it turns out the staff must be returned to it’s rightful owner and, of course, the teen is the one who ends up having to do so.  He ends up in another dimension and has to embark on the journey.  Not only to return the staff but to get in touch with his true self.

The story is easy to follow and can be very funny at times.  I felt some of the action/fight sequences were a little too long but the guys were really into it.  A friend of ours said he found the movie to be just amazing.  While I can’t really agree with the “amazing” part, I have to say the movie wasn’t all that bad.  It was fun and entertaining.  Not to mention full of heart.  I’m not entirely sure if this movie is supposed to be a family flick.  I think some of the nuances of the relationships are a little too complicated for small children.  But I think pre-teens, teens and young adults alike will enjoy the movie.  Even if it’s not your sort of thing, like me.

Movie Review: Forgetting Sarah Marshall April 26, 2008

It almost came down to using rock-paper-scissors in order to decide which movie to see. We were between this movie and “Baby Mama” and we’d decided to go to the midnight showing. There were 4 of us and we were basically split down the middle. While the other half didn’t entirely mind if the other was seen, we were sticking to our top choices. After trying to pick random numbers written secretly, we took it down to setting scizor’s iTunes to random and guessing before the song came on if it was in English or Spanish. With only one mistart because the first song played turned out to be instrumental, I won out in guessing the song would be in English. Actually, I had no choice since Benji had already decided his choice would be Spanish.

I’d read pretty great reviews about “Forgetting” and not to mention the lead character is in the show How I met your mother, one that we’re practically addicted to. Needless to say, I was pretty happy to have gotten my way. So, off we went.

In the end, the movie was worth the 6 bucks in the first 10-15 minutes. I won’t give it away, but you certainly catch an eyeful and it’s truly not expected. It’s not something you see in every movie. But it’s nice to see something different for a change. The movie itself is very sweet. It’s about this music composer in LA who is dating the lead actress of the series he composes for. They’d been together for 5 years when she decides to dump him for someone else. All angsty and hurt, he decides to take a vacation in Hawaii only to find his actress girlfriend there with a rocker named Aldous Snow. Aldous is the typical rocker who used to have a druggy past but had found spirituality and still fills his time with lots of sex. A compassionate desk clerk helps Pete out and he does everything to get over his ex and of course falls for the new clerk in his life, all while learning his life has new meaning.

While it can almost be slow and predictable, the movie does have it’s surprises. It’s actually pretty insightful with some of the characters and I was particularly happy to see that the rocker character didn’t end up villainized. He seemed almost human and provided us with a lot of laughs, when that is we were gawking at him in skimpy little clothes. Overall, I thought the movie was very feel-good. I felt very bubbly and happy afterwards. The can’t be said about the other guys who said the movie was far too long. Apparently these sorts of romantic comedies, according to them, weren’t supposed to last that long. I didn’t feel all the time passing by because I was delightfully entertained.

Movie Review: 27 Dresses January 27, 2008

  This is another personal opinion review:  So, for some strange reason I felt very compelled to see this movie in the theatres.  Usually I wait ontil these romantic comedies are on HBO or something before I bother to watch them.  But, I was at the mall with my housemate buying fabric for a mattress cover he wants me to make for him (heaven help him for asking me to do it!), when we checked the movie listings for this movie.  We had half an hour before the next showing and thought we had nothing else to do for the afternoon.  So, we cleaned out Wal-mart out of several dozen yards of fabric, and crossed over to the theatres.

The movie started with the film screen backwards and without sound.  It took the theatre full of irate women making snarky comments for them to realize, and about a half dozen of said women to demand their money back before it started up again and right.  Then it went through some colorful fun.  The story is about a woman, played by Katherine Heigl, who loved weddings.  She felt it was her call to help out all her friends make it the best day of their lives and to be a part of them.  But, she soon realizes that it’s not so great to live the saying of “Always a Bridesmaid… but never the bride”.  When her sister is about to marry the man she’d secretly been in love with for many years, she goes into meltdown.  Pitted as the hunky hero of the movie is played James Marsden, who is a cynnical writer looking for his break from having to write about the wedding section in the paper.  He opens her eyes to realize that she can say no and let go of all 27 of the bridesmaids dresses that she’s had to endure so far in her life. 

In the end, its a happy ending for everyone.  It has to, that’s the sort of movie that this is.  But I actually enjoyed it immensely.  The characters were quirky and the dialogue seemed real.  Heigl and Marsden played wonderfully off one another.  This isn’t the sort of movie just anyone can get into, but those who enjoy romantic comedies will find the characters likable.  The ending is just spectacular and appropriate.  It makes me want to get married and have a wedding with plenty of bridesmaids and such.   

Movie Review: Sweeney Todd January 20, 2008

Rubba-dub-dub 3 weirdos in a tub…

they didn’t have a Sweeney Todd cardborard display, so we had to settle for this one.  We’re such dorks!

 

Personal opinion review of Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street:

So, I had never read the whole tale of Sweeney Todd.  For those who don’t know it’s a tale of a barber who was put in jail for life for the simple reason of another man’s lust for his wife.  Since the man is a judge and powerful, he sees no justice and he loses his wife and daughter because of this.  When he returns, he’s a changed man and seeking revenge.  Aided by Mrs. Lovett, a woman driven by her infatuation by him, he ends up going on a sort of killing spree until the right time in which he can face the judge again and slit his throat with the straight razors he weilds so cunningly in his craft.  I went to the movies just because I L-O-V-E Johnny Depp.  He’s just handsome and gorgeous and a total dreamboat.  And few people can do dark and deranged like he can.  I’d seen the trailer and I just couldn’t believe it was him.    

With an open mind and no real expectations, we settled in to watch.  It was a musical and I had no idea Depp could sing.  It was… entrancing.  His voice carried such intensity, his character so much tormented depth.  I wept for him towards the end as I was utterly horrified by the scenes and bewitched by his performance.  The man truly deserved his Golden Globe.  Helena Bonham Carter played Mrs. Lovett and she had the dark vulnerability and reserved practicality that was needed for her role.   I wasn’t crazy about her singing though. 

The cinematography and the colorized stylings that are so very much Tim Burton were very right for this tale.  The blood was shocking but not sickening, the deaths precise and not overglorified.  It was gory but tasteful.  Though I did spend a good amount of time flinching and there was a point where I had to hide my face against my best fried and screech, it wasn’t more than I could handle.  I’m just very sensitive to these sorts of things.

In the end, I highly recommend for everyone to see this movie.  The songs are catchy and you’ll begin to want to belt into song while walking out of the place.  The ending was dark but justified.  I didn’t find it depressing at all but more stirring and profound.  Hopefully you could appreciate it as much as I did.