Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Harry Potter and the Three Hour Waste...

When it comes to Harry Potter, I'm a fan. I really am - but i'm not a disciple. I have read all of the books at least once and have seen the movies. That being said, last night I wasted three hours of my life watching a horrid representation of what was my favorite of the written series.
The first aspect of the film that was misrepresented was the charactors themselve. Slughorn, as depicted in the novel, is a somewhat dark many who himself is not sure with whom to side in the wizarding community. In the movie though, he is portrayed as much more loveable and jolly. While this is a not a major difference, the character of Dumbledore was. If moviegoers recall, at the end of "The Order of the Phoenix" Dumbledore admitted to Harry that he had been wrong in the way he tried to prepare Harry for the upcoming challenges. Dumbledore response in the "Half-blood Prince" novel was to be much warmer and closer to Harry. In the movie, however, Dumbledore comes off as being more cold and distant. This was a huge turnoff for me.
The second major area I took issue with was the speed of the movie. The film seemed very hurried. I understand that this is because of the sheer length of the books. However, the rush to move through scenes really distracts the viewer from the storyline. It also presents a horrible Catch 22 - If you haven't read the book then you have trouble following exactly what is going on in the beginning as no explanation is given. If you have read the books then you notice the many drastic scene changes and you really get a rushed feeling.
I believe, however, that the biggest disappointment was just the sheer lack of anything happening. Sure, there was an eventful scene at the end, but the only things before that were an overdramatic high school love story and a feable attempt at explaining what was supposed to be going on. The real problem with the sixth movie is the first five movies. So many details and characters were left out early on that now it makes telling the story (at a level those who read the books would like to see) impossible.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Bruno

Offensive, disturbing, obscene - these are only the first of many words that describe Sasha Baron Cohen's newest movie "Bruno." But really people, did you expect anything else? The movie follows Bruno, an Austrian born former German television host, as he attempts to rise to fame by various means. While this movie is filled with nudity, graphic sex scenes, and other lude acts, it still manages to capture some of the harsh realities of life.
As the film begins the viewer may think that this movie is simply going to be a series of random disgusting acts and full of debauchery. While there is plenty of stomach turning moments throughout the feature, it does have many moments that will leave the viewer in both thought and laughter. I would say more about this, but it would be difficult to do so without revealing specific parts of the film.
This movie is not for the faint of heart. But I hardly doubt anyone going to see this movie will expect anything less than what it delivers. If you choose to see this film, then enjoy it and then think about it.