Wednesday, November 20, 2002
It's that time again! Time when I review some of the current films in the theatre and tell you what to see and what not to see. First up: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
I saw it opening night, at 8:15 last friday. Got the tickets the evening before, still plenty of seats left. I arrived at the theatre at 7:30 to an already long line with eager ticket holders waiting to see the movie event of November. Not surprisingly, at least to me, most of the audience were college kids, with a healthy spattering of high schoolers, a few kids with their parents, and even the occasional adult on his own. A nice mix. So we are allowed entry into the actual building around 8, after the line has doubled (at least).
So we're in the theatre for about 30 minutes before the lights go down, and then we are treated to a lovely 20 minutes of commercials and previews. I like having a lot of previews, but the commercials NEED to go. I dislike them greatly. The previews were alright. The Two Towers was awesome of course, and will be the movie event of December. The Nickelodeon preview was stupid because it ruined the entire movie in the preview. There was one funny looking movie that was promising. Two guys get a hold of a big chunk of money and then go to Australia, where their money is stolen by a kangaroo. Yeah yeah, stupid comedy. It became the epitome of stupid when the kangaroo started rapping with an Australian accent. Ridiculous. I won't even talk about the Jungle Book 2. Disney is pissing me off. GET SOME NEW IDEAS!
So finally the movie begins. With the first notes of the melody, a chill rushes down my spine, I get all giggly, and I cannot help but grin like a fool. This should be good. And oh was it ever. Harry certainly has grown a lot. Dobby actually wasn't as anoying as I thought. I laughed when he started banging his head against the dresser. Ron and the twin's rescuing of Harry was a very cool scene. Nice flying car. The Weasley's house was very cool. Very wizardish. What you would expect from a cooky wizarding family. Ron's father does an okay job. Not exactly how I pictured him, but he did alright. Malfoy's dad though, damn is he evil. PERFECT casting. Absolutely perfect. And Branaugh does a superb job as Lockhart. Amazing. Perfect role for him. On to Hogwarts.
I didn't like the Whomping Willow. Not what I pictured at all. Colin Creevey was a good casting. And the work with the howler was great. It would have been good to see everyone laughing at Ron, but it was still done nicely. That brings me up to two points. First, transitions. The transitions were choppy, rushed, and not at all smooth. But they had to be. As it is, the movie was almost 3 hours long. They couldn't afford to make it smooth. Oh well. Second, the acting. Harry has gotten better. But Ron. Ron is one of the best actors in the film. he is absolutely amazing. Watch this kid. Hermione is excellent as well. And you just have to love Alan Rickman. Basically everyone is awesome, except Harry, who is okay, but getting better.
The feel of the who-dunnit was very well done. Great movie. The scene with the spiders scared me. Which was surprising. Tom Riddle was done PERFECTLY. And the Basilisk, damn was that ever scary. Overall, a great movie. But it was scary. I'd be cautious about taking my kids to see it. The young ones at least. But a great fantastic awesomely wonderful movie. It was MUCH better than the first. So don't listen to the critics.
Overall rating: A
The second movie on the list is White Oleander, which I will get to at a later point, perhaps today.
I saw it opening night, at 8:15 last friday. Got the tickets the evening before, still plenty of seats left. I arrived at the theatre at 7:30 to an already long line with eager ticket holders waiting to see the movie event of November. Not surprisingly, at least to me, most of the audience were college kids, with a healthy spattering of high schoolers, a few kids with their parents, and even the occasional adult on his own. A nice mix. So we are allowed entry into the actual building around 8, after the line has doubled (at least).
So we're in the theatre for about 30 minutes before the lights go down, and then we are treated to a lovely 20 minutes of commercials and previews. I like having a lot of previews, but the commercials NEED to go. I dislike them greatly. The previews were alright. The Two Towers was awesome of course, and will be the movie event of December. The Nickelodeon preview was stupid because it ruined the entire movie in the preview. There was one funny looking movie that was promising. Two guys get a hold of a big chunk of money and then go to Australia, where their money is stolen by a kangaroo. Yeah yeah, stupid comedy. It became the epitome of stupid when the kangaroo started rapping with an Australian accent. Ridiculous. I won't even talk about the Jungle Book 2. Disney is pissing me off. GET SOME NEW IDEAS!
So finally the movie begins. With the first notes of the melody, a chill rushes down my spine, I get all giggly, and I cannot help but grin like a fool. This should be good. And oh was it ever. Harry certainly has grown a lot. Dobby actually wasn't as anoying as I thought. I laughed when he started banging his head against the dresser. Ron and the twin's rescuing of Harry was a very cool scene. Nice flying car. The Weasley's house was very cool. Very wizardish. What you would expect from a cooky wizarding family. Ron's father does an okay job. Not exactly how I pictured him, but he did alright. Malfoy's dad though, damn is he evil. PERFECT casting. Absolutely perfect. And Branaugh does a superb job as Lockhart. Amazing. Perfect role for him. On to Hogwarts.
I didn't like the Whomping Willow. Not what I pictured at all. Colin Creevey was a good casting. And the work with the howler was great. It would have been good to see everyone laughing at Ron, but it was still done nicely. That brings me up to two points. First, transitions. The transitions were choppy, rushed, and not at all smooth. But they had to be. As it is, the movie was almost 3 hours long. They couldn't afford to make it smooth. Oh well. Second, the acting. Harry has gotten better. But Ron. Ron is one of the best actors in the film. he is absolutely amazing. Watch this kid. Hermione is excellent as well. And you just have to love Alan Rickman. Basically everyone is awesome, except Harry, who is okay, but getting better.
The feel of the who-dunnit was very well done. Great movie. The scene with the spiders scared me. Which was surprising. Tom Riddle was done PERFECTLY. And the Basilisk, damn was that ever scary. Overall, a great movie. But it was scary. I'd be cautious about taking my kids to see it. The young ones at least. But a great fantastic awesomely wonderful movie. It was MUCH better than the first. So don't listen to the critics.
Overall rating: A
The second movie on the list is White Oleander, which I will get to at a later point, perhaps today.
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