Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Can you say amazing? The seventh installment in the Harry Potter series may just be the best yet. Although the characters are all grown up and facing not only the evil Voldermort but also their feelings for each other, the movie works and feels like a more grown up version of the original Potter movies.
Daniel Radcliffe's portrayal of Harry Potter is at its best in the new film. He and Emma Watson have so much on screen chemistry (even though the two aren't supposed to have any chemistry) it's crazy. The play off of each other's emotions and their characters seem to be more in love with each other than they should be if they are truly only friends. Rupert Grint's portrayal of the emotional Ron also works well in the new film and shows Ron's angst at Harry and Hermione's steamy relationship. The actors finally allow for their characters to grow and develop into well-rounded adults.
The cinematography also surpasses that of the other films. David Yate's take on the seventh Harry Potter works completely. The film is darker than it's predecessor's but with good reason. The seventh book is much darker than the earlier books and the problems faced by the characters are darker and worse than ever before. However, I do feel that the film may have been too dark for children. But this doesn't concern me much considering it was not made to be a children's film. With a solid PG-13 rating if parents decide to take there kids to see this movie than they will just have to deal with the subsequent nightmares. Because there will be nightmares. From a scene where a woman's decaying body crumbles into a snake and viciously attacks Harry to an animated sequence where Death stalks three brothers and causes one to hang himself because of a broken heart, the movie is much more adult than the earlier films.
Deathly Hallows may not have been the best Potter book, but it was by far the best Potter movie. The adult themes, character development, and dark imagery all create a beautiful interpretation of Rowling's novel. Also, for those die hard Potter fans, the movie stays pretty close to the book with no noticeable changes.
Hope you all go see the movie and enjoy it!

-H

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

When I started this post, I almost wrote Monsters Vs. Aliens in the title, instead of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. This mistake would have been understandable, given the similarities between the two. Both are 3d, family-friendly titles with a cast of excellent actors. Monsters had Seth Rogen and Reese Witherspoon, Cloudy has the more underrated, but just as good Bill Hader, Anna Faris and Bruce Campbell. Both movies have well done action sequences with slightly ridiculous elements, though Cloudy ups the ridiculous factor with man-eating chickens and a massive "foodalanche." Overall, the two movies are a lot alike, and almost equal. I would rate Monsters Vs. Aliens slightly higher, but only by a small margin.
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs' strongest point is its voice acting. All of the cast turn in strong performances, even with the smallest parts. Neil Patrick Harris is funny as Steve, the hero's talking monkey, Mr. T is excellent as an overenthusiastic cop, Bill Hader is wonderful as Flint. But voice acting, normally isn't what you go to see a movie for, so for the rest of the film, the 3d was enjoyable, but not really worth the extra money to see. I was surprised how much the studio downplayed the 3d in this movie. I was happy to see that they didn't use it as a gimmick in the film, intentionally making things fly at the screen, like so many movies do. Instead they used it more to just enhance the viewing than anything else. It reminded me of Up, which is just as good, and almost identical in 2d as it is in 3d. Perhaps movie studios are finally getting over using 3d as a gimmick and just maybe we'll see a movie that actually uses the format to its full potential. I'm still hopeful Avatar will be that movie, but I'm skeptical it will ever happen. 3d is most likely doomed to be a gimmick and to die a slow death like it did back in the fifties.
But back to the movie, coming out of the theater, I had a good time, but the movie was still a little forgettable. Apart from the 3d element, I would say that this movie is only a small cut above the average CG movie that comes out every week. Perhaps seeing Up earlier this year spoiled me, but I want something a little more in my movies, even if they are intended for kids. Up was amazing mainly because it was about something and it had a purpose. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is just there. I did enjoy this movie, but only as something fun to take my mind off of life for a little while, nothing more.

-J

Eraserhead

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of finally seeing the cult classic Eraserhead. I first became intrigued by this movie when I saw that it came in at number three on a list of the most disturbing horror films of all times. Released in 1977, Eraserhead is a movie that is far beyond it's time, in some since. Despite the fact that it was made in the 70's, it was filmed in all black-and-white and lacks the dirtiness and grittiness of most horror films from the era. However, it does not need that grittiness to be on of the most disturbing films I have ever seen.

The beginning of the film is very strange. It feels like a very bad acid trip minus all the bright colors. The film begins with the floating head of a young man and some sort of lumpy, rocky looking structure in the background. On top of that, there is absolutely no dialogue for the first 10 and a half minutes of the film with the only noises being odd, carnival-like music. Not that this movie needed much dialogue at all. IMDB's trivia section on this movie even stated that the film even had trouble with funding because the script for the entire film was twenty pages long. But for anyone who goes to watch this movie, do not be discouraged by the lack of dialogue and the weird beginning. This movie gets much, much, much better.

I really don't want to say much about the plot of the film because I feel that this movie is more entertaining when you are not expecting what will happen next. However, I will say that the movie tells the story about a young man named Henry and his struggle with parenthood and that it will make you never, ever, under any circumstances, want to eat chicken again. But, anyway, it's not just that the movie is better when you don't know what's coming, it's that I couldn't tell you what this film was about even if I wanted too. I have absolutely no idea! Director David Lynch has never revealed to anyone what the meaning of the film is and I doubt he ever will. He has, however, come out and said that no one has even come close with guesses about the meaning. If I had to make an educated guess I would suggest that film is promoting abstinence and displaying the common fear of parenthood. But that's just my guess.

The style of the film is incredibly artsy so if that's not your thing, don't even bother with this film. If you don't mind thinking deep and terribly disturbing thoughts then you may just enjoy it. Many of the scenes are shockingly thought provoking and will make even the most fearless person squirm in their seat. It's not that the images are truly terrifying, the concept of the film (or at least what I believe to be the concept of the film) is on a completely different level than most horror films. It is so much deeper and will truly make you think about life, love, and how sometimes mistakes are made that cannot be fixed and how they can haunt you for the rest of your life.

Eraserhead is by far the most disturbing film I have ever seen, but I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys deep, thought-provoking movies. But be warned, once you see this film you may never be able to erase it from your mind.

-H

Darkon

I learned something new this week. I have always been a little disdainful of documentaries. I considered them something that old people, like my parents, enjoy watching on PBS. But yesterday was the first time in my life that I watched a documentary purely for enjoyment. I learned that watching a documentary can be a very enjoyable experience, given that you are interested in the film’s subject.

The film that I watched yesterday was Darkon, a very enjoyable documentary centering on the grown men and women that play LARPs, or Live Action Role Playing games. The games are relatively simple in rules, yet complex in execution. All the players are split into nations and races, each player has their own character that they have personally created, and the nations form alliances, go to war with each other, or just peaceably live together. Basically, the game is like creating a separate life for yourself in a fantasy world that you can influence through your actions. The land of Darkon meets one weekend every two weeks with a continuous story and characters. The film Darkon, especially focuses on two men, the leaders of the two major imaginary nations in the play world . These two nations begin at peace, but through the course of the film, relations begin to strain, until it seems like war is the only option.

The first time I was ever introduced to LARPs was when I saw last year’s Role Models. At the time I thought it looked like a fun way to spend your weekends and wondered why I had never heard of it, being the nerd that I am. I’m not so much of a geek that I do not recognize the pathos of a grown man being immersed in a fantasy world like this, but that does not deter me from wishing there was a group around town that I could try out. That is what makes this film so endearing, it is intelligent enough to recognize the humor in the game, yet does not make fun of or in any way look down upon its players. The film shows us both the real life and the in-game lives of the players in such a way that we see them as people, not some caracatures of friendless nerds living in their parents’ basement.

The story in this documentary is compelling, I found myself rooting for the nation to win their battles, even though I had never met these people and had never played any kind of game like this before. The drama in this film is more compelling than anything a writer could dream up, and it’s all the more compelling since it’s real. The camera work was excellent, getting all the action at all the right angles. The music especially stood out as well done. Normally, a documentary has little music, and if it does have some, it’s the kind that you barely notice as being there. In Darkon, the music complimented the action well and I found myself humming a few bars long after watching the film.

Overall, I thought this little film was endearing, emotional, and excellent for those people who don’t enjoy documentaries.

The Best thing about this movie is that you can enjoy it for free online, at snagfilms.com

-J

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

The second Chronicles of Narnia film, directed by Andrew Adamson, isn’t quite a disaster, but it comes pretty darn close. If only this film had come in a world without Harry Potter, I think it would have been loads better. Harry Potter was the beginning of the edgy books and films for young people and everyone has been trying to copy their success ever since, with the Chronicles of Narnia films being one of them. The book, Prince Caspian, by Christian theologian C. S. Lewis, was a charming little book, like all of the series, except maybe The Last Battle (I want the series to survive just so I can see what they do with that book). There was danger, but nothing a young child couldn’t handle, and a happy ending was always assured with Lewis’ version of God, Aslan. Now, with the new edgy Harry Potter teens, the film-makers had to make a darker version of Prince Caspian than was necessary. With extra battles and lots of throat cutting and a couple beheadings, the film is an odd mixture of darkness and the light happy ending of the book.

In Prince Caspian, the Pevensie children; Peter, Susan, Edmond, and Lucy, return to Narnia to find that hundreds of years have passed and the Narnians have been nearly exterminated by the evil Talmarines who, in probably the worst decision of the movie, all look like Mexicans. The good Prince Caspian is the rightful heir to the throne of Narnia, but his throne has been seized by his evil uncle, Lord Miraz. Now the Pevensies must help Prince Caspian reclaim his throne and bring peace and prosperity back to the land of Narnia.

The problem with this movie is its contradictory mix of darkness and lightness. Some parts of the movie are all dark, like the failed invasion of the Talmarine fortress; High King Peter must retreat and leave behind half his army to be slaughtered by the Talmarine archers. Other parts of the movie are all lightness, like Lucy’s search for the god of Narnia, Aslan. If the makers had elected to go one way or the other, it would have worked much better. If they had decided to go the darkness route, they could have thrown in some moral ambiguity, you saw a hint of that anyway. Instead, the movie skips over the “wrongs” that Peter commits, instead of arguing whether they were really wrong. If the movie had gone the lighter route, they would have ended up with something more approximating the original story, without half the epic battles, but a lot more heart. The movie would have worked either way, but with choosing neither and trying to walk the line between them, the film-makers spelled the doom of this movie.

The first movie was charming, but this one veers from that to make something a little more adult than its PG rating would imply. Many have said that the Narnia franchise should have died when it lost its distributor last year; I’m more willing to give the series a second chance, but only one. Voyage of the Dawn Treader had better impress me.

-J

Dragon Hunters

Lian Chu and Gwizdo are the heroes of the French CG movie, Dragon Hunters. They are small-time adventurers who are never taken seriously by any of their clients, until they are hired by a blind king to rid him of The World Gobbler, the largest dragon in history. Accompanied by the king’s niece, Zoe, the adventurers set off for the end of the world to confront the village devouring monster.

Seeing as I watched this movie dubbed into English, I can’t really criticize the voice acting in the movie. I always try my best to watch movies in their original language, as I much prefer subtitles to dubbing, but this time, the dubbed version was the only copy available to me. However, all the voice acting was adequate, with two exceptions: Rob Paulson worked well as the small Gwizdo, but Forest Whitaker was not the best choice to play the massive Lian Chu. I have nothing against Forest Whitaker, personally, I think he’s an excellent actor. Lian Chu however, is a massive guy, but the voice coming out of him is the soft spoken Whitaker, which could have been what they were going for, but just doesn’t work for me. Keep in mind though that perhaps the original actor for the role was a better fit.

The voice acting is the only complaint I have about this movie though. Overall, I loved the film. This is the first French animation film that I’ve ever seen, but I saw many differences between this movie and what you would see made in America. All of the differences were for the better. Though Dragon Hunters is a small story with a small cast of characters, the tale feels massive in scope. Not because of the story, but because of the world that the film creates feels so real. When the movie starts, you’re thrown into this brand-new fantasy world that you have never seen before, that you know nothing of its history, yet it feels real.

Everything in the movie is beautiful, especially the landscapes. I really wasn’t expecting much when I started the movie, but one of the first scenes involves a floating cabbage patch and a fight with a giant slime-squirting slug. When I saw that scene, I was blown away. Everything about the movie is creative and well thought out. The world features floating islands in the sky unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The characters and monsters in the movie look great and are all unlike what I was expecting. In a word, this was different. From the ghost village in the sky, to the monster made up of birds, everything looks great and new.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves good animation and who wants to see something entirely new. I would say five stars, two thumbs up, excellent show.

-J

Lesbian Vampire Killers

Director Phil Claydon’s Lesbian Vampire Killers is a work of genius. I never thought I would say that about something with such a lurid title, but I will say it again, Lesbian Vampire Killers is amazing. Freshly dumped Jimmy and his friend Fletch go on a hiking holiday in order to have some fun, and maybe get laid. Unfortunately, they pick Cragwich as their destination, a small village that happens to be overrun by the titular lesbian vampires. Apparently, the evil vampire queen Carmella has placed a curse on the village, that when every village girl turns eighteen, they are turned into vampires, until the last of the line of Carmella’s archfoe vampire hunter family is prophesied to return and end the curse once and for all. Unfortunately for Jimmy and Fletch, Jimmy happens to be that last heir.

I wanted to see this movie as soon as I saw the trailer a few months ago. Go ahead, just say the title aloud and see how many heads pop up. Who wouldn’t want to see a movie with that kind of title. That aside though, the movie was better than I thought it would be. I was laughing aloud every other minute while watching, it was so funny. The writing especially was excellent, with many witty one-liners, especially from Fletch, and excellent dialog and story. Stuart Williams and Paul Hupfield really did an exemplary job on this script, I want to see anything else these guys write. David Higgs did a really great job with the camera work. Being a lower budget movie, the cinematography could make or break it, and here it really was excellent. Everything looked crisp and bright, the opposite of what you normally see in a movie that takes place largely at night and in a graveyard. Phil Claydon’s directing was brilliant. The acting was another place where this movie shown. Though I had never heard of any of the actors in this movie, I want to see anything else they make. Every single person in this film put their heart into their job as an actor, putting in outstanding performances. James Corden as Fletch is especially worth a mention. The style of this movie reminded me greatly of another brilliant horror-comedy, Shaun of the Dead. Both movies are brilliant and combine horror and comedy perfectly.

What else can I say? If you love horror or comedy, you must give this movie a look. Don’t pass it over just because of the title. There are only two things wrong with this movie. The first is that I’m probably not going to go around proclaiming it as one of my favorite movies of the year, just because I’m too embarrassed to say the title to anyone’s face. The second, and even bigger thing wrong is that there is too little of it. I want more, much more.

-J