Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Yesterday I had the chance to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 with some friends here at Dixie State when they went with their whole apartment complex. Not only did I get to go but I also went for free. Nothing better than seeing a movie I've highly anticipated than seeing it for free.

I've been a huge fan of the Harry Potter series for some time now. I didn't start reading the books until after the first movie came out but once I did I was hooked. The seventh book The Deathly Hallows was hands-down my favorite book. With so much going on I was just hoping to see it done well on the big screen. And director David Yates did not disappoint.

The movie begins with a close-up of the new Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour (Bill Nighy) addressing the press. While he is giving his speech the screen changes to Hermione (Emma Watson) erasing herself from her parents memory and all the pictures in the house. We also see the Dursleys packing everything up and leaving with Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) watching. The scene also shows Ron (Rupert Grint) standing outside of the Burrow.

After Scrimgeour gives his address the scene changes to Malfoy Manor where Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) is addressing his death eaters. Snape (Alan Rickman) arrives late and is greeted like a friend by Voldemort. The scene plays out much like the book. The Muggle Studies professor is seen floating at the end of the table. Voldemort takes Lucius Malfoy's wand and kills the professor.

The scene changes to the Seven Potter's scene which is quite hilarious. Bill and Fleur are brought into the movie although if you hadn't read the books I get the feeling you would think he's just a cousin of the Weasley's. When they get ready to take off you can also see Fleur (who is disguised as Harry) cuddling up close to Bill on a thestral.

Things get intense pretty quickly. They are attacked and Hedwig saves Harry by taking a killing curse for him. Voldemort shows up and Harry's wand saves him just like in the book.

Just before the wedding scene, Scrimgeour shows up and gives Harry, Ron, and Hermione what Dumbledore left each of them in his will. Ron: The Deluminator. Hermione: The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Harry: The snitch he caught in his first Quidditch game.

The wedding scene brings some light into the dark world that they live in. Everyone is dancing and having a good time until Kingsley's patronus shows up to say that the death eaters are coming. Harry, Ron, and, Hermione disapparate to safety.

They arrive at #12 Grimmauld Place and soon learn who R.A.B is and also that Mundungus Fletcher (Andy Linden) stole the real locket from Grimmauld Place. Harry send Kreacher to get him and he shows up with not only Fletcher but also Dobby. Fletcher tells them where the locket currently is. They have to break into the ministry for it.

The ministry scene is one of my favorite scenes in the movie. Terrific acting on the other actor's parts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione have to disguise themselves with polyjuice potion as ministry workers. The scene plays out like the book where they break in and steal the locket back. They are chased out of the ministry and have to apparate to another place.

The rest of the movie is spent having them travel around trying to find out how to destroy the horcrux that they have. The scenery is beautiful and shows that they're really out in the real world now and no longer at Hogwarts. They take turns wearing the locket to keep it safe and each of them are affected by it. Harry gets angrier when he's wearing it while Ron gets more jealous of Harry and Hermione. Eventually Ron leaves. During one scene Hermione is listening to music on the radio and Harry takes the horcrux off of her and they dance together. This scene is both touching and comical.

Eventually they travel to Godric's Hollow to see his parent's graves and they are attacked by Nagini, Voldemort's snake and Harry's wand is broken.

When Harry is keeping watch he sees a silver doe which leads him to the sword of Gryffindor. The horcrux tires to kill Harry and he is saved by Ron. When Harry opens the horcrux an explosion of black smoke appears and it taunts Ron. Then it shows two silvery versions of Harry and Hermione making out topless.

After Ron destroys the horcrux they visit Xenophilius Lovegood (Rhys Ifans) and he tells them about the Deathly Hallows. They are betrayed by him and attacked by death eaters. They apparate and are chased and caught by snatchers. They are taken to Malfoy Manor and are imprisoned. Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) tortures Hermione for information in one of the most intense torture scenes imaginable. Hermione wakes up with the word "Mudblood" carved on her arm. Dobby rescues them and they all go to Shell Cottage where Bill and Fleur live.

Throughout the movie Harry has dreams and visions of what Voldemort is doing and the movie ends with Voldemort breaking open Dumbledore's tomb and taking the Elder Wand from him and shooting lightning into the air.

The split in the movies reminds me of the split between Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3: sort of random and leaves you hanging.

One thing that only made sense to me because I've read the books is the fact that Harry has the shard of the mirror throughout the whole movie. The movies didn't show Sirius giving Harry the mirror and yet he somehow still has the broken shard. Hopefully they will explain this in part 2.

The acting in this movie was phenomenal, especially compared to the acting in The Half-Blood Prince. The actors portraying the trio undercover did amazing jobs of not becoming different people but being Harry, Ron, and Hermione. David O'Hara played Harry and did a great job of walking around feeling awkward about being there and even looking upset when Harry looked at the files of the people in his life.

The special effects will blow your mind and send chills down your spine. The snake, Nagini, is a terrifying replica. The scene where Harry's wand somehow saves his life and shatters the wand Voldemort borrowed looked really cool.

If you are a Harry Potter fan go see this movie. It's as true to the book as could possibly be. If you never read the books still go see it. If you're not a fan of Harry Potter I can guarantee that you will still enjoy this movie.

Megamind

A couple weeks ago I went to go see Megamind with some of my friends here at Dixie State. We didn't see it in 3D (because we're poor college students) and yet the movie was still amazing. This movie is a must-see for people of all ages.

The movie begins with shots of Megamind (Will Ferrell) being sent away from his home planet as a baby. The world is being sucked into a black hole and in order to save their son his parents ship him out of harm's way. Accompanied only by Minion (David Cross) he sets off in journey of a new home. On his journey he encounters another baby being rescued from the same fate. This baby grows up to become Metro Man (Brad Pitt). The rivalry between the two begins when they both land on Earth. Metro Man grows up with a rich family with glory and fame while Megamind grows up in a jail. The two of them go to school where Metro Man is the center of attention while Megamind is seen as an outcast. Battles between the two begin that grow more sophisticated with time.

In the present day the movie shows Megamind in jail for him multiple life sentences. He breaks out with the help of Minion and heads to unleash his latest evil plan. Meanwhile in Metro City, the citizens are gathered to see the unveil of the museum dedicated to Metro Man. Megamind's droids show up and kidnap Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey). A rather comical confrontation occurs between Megamind and Metro Man and when the battle is over Megamind stands victorious. Metro Man is blown up and his skeleton flies towards Megamind and Roxanne.

Megamind, Minion, and the droids run through the streets causing trouble now that Metro City belongs to Megamind. With no hero to stand in the way Megamind can do whatever he wants. After time passes Megamind gets bored. There's no one to oppose him and he regrets defeating Metro Man. Eventually he comes up with a plan to create a new hero. This plan backfires when Roxanne's assistant Hal (Jonah Hill) is given the powers. Megamind tricks him into believing that he was always meant to be a hero and gives him the name Titan. Hal tries to impress Roxanne with his powers and she turns him down. Titan sets out to destroy the world and Megamind along with it causing him to become the hero.

Megamind is a great family film and kids of all ages will enjoy it. Dreamworks movies tend to provide some sort of them/life lesson to their movies. This movie shows that heroes aren't born, they're made, as stated a couple times in the movie.

One of the element of the movie that I really enjoyed was what is called the Pygmalion Effect (thank you Coach Neal). While it's not directly stated it is shown in everything that happens to Megamind. The Pygmalion Effect is when a person is treated in a way that someone wants them to turn out. One example of this is the 1983 movie Trading Places starring Eddie Murphy. Snobby millionaires make a bet that they can switch a con artist and a big time investor places. In Megamind the beginning has Megamind's dad saying "We know you'll do..." and the lid to the rocket closes but you can see him mouthing "...great things." Megamind, by nature, isn't evil. When he and Metro Man land on Earth they end up in opposite places and are treated differently their whole lives. Megamind is even made fun of for trying to do good things which causes him to become a villain.

Megamind also had a lot of humor in it. I thought it was a really funny movie. My favorite forms of humor was the fact that Megamind mispronounces words throughout the movie. Others included funny references to other movies and strange things that were done by characters.

This movie is worth the money.

The A-Team

A few weeks ago I went with some friends to see the movie The A-Team brought to us by director Joe Carnahan. As many of you know this movie is based off of the older television show with the same name.

I have never seen the older A-Team but that doesn't change the fact that I was kept laughing through the entire movie. The movie was hilarious with incredibly funny dialogue, and for those of you who read my review for The Last Airbender you'll know that well-written dialogue is important for a movie in my opinion.

My favorite character was definitely Murdock. Murdock was originally portrayed by Dwight Schultz in the TV series and was portrayed by Sharlto Copley in the movie. This character was basically insane. The other characters first meet him in a hospital's psychiatric ward where he proves to be quite useful.

The next two characters were rather normal and still awesome: Hannibal and Face portrayed by Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper respectively. Hannibal's the leader who seems to have a way to get out of every sticky situation. Face was the same way. He observed Hannibal and, by the end of the movie, was the same way.

I've seen Mr. T on TV before but I hadn't seen him play B.A. Baracus so I knew what he was like but not his character. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (who incidentally is one of the only other people I know who spells his name the same way I do) portrayed B.A. in this movie. I personally only found his character funny about half of the time. Those times were when he wasn't saying "fool" after everything. To me, that's a Mr. T thing and can't really be copied. He seemed like he was trying to hard. However, he was still funny.

So the plot of the movie is pretty simple. The group is accused of stealing the plates used for making money (that's as simple as I'll put it). They are then broken up and put in separate prisons. They break out and try to clear their names by catching the person who really did steal them.

I would recommend this movie to anyone. Especially if those people aren't planning on taking little kids or young teenagers to see it. The jokes that were made aren't exactly appropriate for those age groups.

So if you are looking for an awesome, funny, and action-packed movie to see I would definitely recommend The A-Team.

Inception (May contain spoilers)

So last night I went to see the movie Inception brought to us by director Christopher Nolan. Now Christopher Nolan is the one who brought us Batman Begins and The Dark Knight which are two of my favorite movies, so of course I was excited to see Inception.

One of my friends saw this a couple days before me so I was somewhat prepared for whatever might happen. As a bonus for me, I have always been fascinated by dreams and the human mind and that's what this movie's about.

So what did I think of the movie. It was awesome! It totally blew my mind with its awesome special effects and amazing plot.

Jay Leno pointed out that the movie made $60 million the first week and it's guaranteed to make $60 million the next week because everyone will go back and see it again to figure out what the heck just happened. Here's what happened:

Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an expert thief when it comes to ideas. He's one of the best when it comes to the art of extraction. Extraction is when you enter a person's dream in order to remove an idea or thought from their subconscious. In the beginning you see him performing this act. He hooks himself and his "victim" (that's what I'll call it) up to a machine that sends him into someone's mind while they both are asleep.

For some reason (I won't ruin it for you) Cobb isn't allowed back into the United States. When someone approaches him with an opportunity to change that he accepts. All he has to do is place an idea inside of someone's mind. This is the idea of inception. The only problem is inception is almost impossible. Placing an idea in someone's subconscious will put the idea in there but the person will know that it wasn't their idea. It's impossible unless you go into their dreams deep enough. A dream within a dream within a dream.

The person who hires Cobb is the founder/CEO of a major energy company in Japan. He asks Cobb to enter the heir of a competing organization and place the idea that he should dissolve his father's empire. So Cobb forms a team to help him penetrate this man's mind.

When they enter into his dream they get attacked by what appears to be an army. Oh, and a giant freight train. These things attacking them are the man's defenses against people sent to extract ideas. He had an extractor teach him how to defend his mind from extraction and the guys with guns is just the manifestation of this skill.

Now, normally for them to exit a dream they could be woken up in real life or killed in the dream. However, in order to buy themselves enough time to go deep enough into the dream they are all heavily sedated and they wouldn't wake up from this. They would be trapped in limbo for a long time.

So they enter the guy's dream, find him, enter his dream again (in the dream), find him, enter the dream again (in the dream within the dream), and try to plant this idea. That's the basic idea.

One thing that I really liked about this was Leonardo DiCaprio's character. You see his character develop and you also discover more about his past as the story goes on. You also figure out what happened to his wife. Personally, I think it's pretty dark, and that's after the movie when you find out even more at the end.

One thing I didn't like was the ending. I'm not really into those types of endings and that's all I'll say so I don't ruin it for anybody. Let's just say there could easily be an alternate ending and all they would have to do is change about 2 seconds of it.

Anyway. If you like movies involving fantasy worlds, amazing subplots, and suspense that will keep you on the edge of your seat waiting for more, then you will love Inception.

Thank you for reading this. Thanks to my friends for inviting me to see this with them. Please comment and email/comment me the name of a movie you want me to review.

The Last Airbender

So for my first movie review I decided to pick M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender.

Now, I am a huge fan of the Nickelodeon show Avatar: The Last Airbender and I was excited when I found out it was going to be made into a movie. I was also somewhat excited when I found out that it would be directed by M. Night Shyamalan. I'm a fan of his movies except for Lady in the Water and The Happening. So, with his last two movies not doing so well I was also a little nervous. Then again, he wasn't coming up with this movie from scratch. It was an existing source that he couldn't change too dramatically.

I read the reviews of the people who were able to see it before opening day and was shocked to see how terrible the reviews were. 9 out of 10 reviews were saying "Don't go see it." Well, of course, I have a mind of my own so I still went and saw the movie. I would also like to point out that I went to the midnight premier of a movie for the first time when I saw this one. That's how excited I was to see it.

What did I think of M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender? I liked it.

M. Night has a style of directing that captured a feeling in the tv show that no one else could've done. Of course there were some things that bothered me about it. I'll talk about them first.

The Bad
Dialogue: Poor dialogue between characters is something that has always bothered me. The worst thing about bad dialogue is when it feels like two characters are reading directly from the script to each other (which is also part of the acting). Katara's (Nicola Peltz) character and dialogue was, in a word, annoying. She was kind of whiny and too soft compared to the show's Katara (at the end of season 1 that is).

Acting: As I already mentioned, the acting was kind of bad. Then again that's what you get for using Nicola Peltz (I don't have anything against her she just couldn't seem able to get in to character), one of the Twilight cast (Jackson Rathbone who played Sokka), and a kid based solely on his martial arts abilities (Noah Ringer who played Aang).

Pacing: Oh my gosh the movie was fast-paced. That's all I have to say about that.

Appa and Momo: Creepy... Enough said.

In-Between: These are the things that I didn't really like but I was ok with.
Fire Lord Ozai: He didn't seem to be the give off the evil overlord vibe that was given during the tv show, but at the same time you could see him as a fire lord. He was calm, cool, and collected and maybe he'll be more evil in a sequel.

Pacing: Yes I'm bringing this up again. The movie was fast but something was always happening. I. Hate. Long. Boring. Movies. You know, the kind of movies where you're sitting there forever just either waiting for the movie to end or for something exciting to happen. This movie was faster than planned because of the fact that a lot was cut out at the last minute. For example: the Kyoshi Warriors were casted, filmed, and even shown before the movie was made. However they weren't in the movie because they made it too long for the age group they were targeting.

Name Pronunciation: This thing has been blown way out of proportion. I've seen/heard people say the movie sucked and this was the only reason they could come up with. The name pronunciations are as follows:

Aang: Aang with a long A sound (TV Show). Ong (Movie).
Sokka: Sock-a (TV Show). Soak-a (Movie).
Iroh: Eye-roh (TV Show). Ear-roh (Movie).
Avatar: Avatar with a short A sound (TV Show). Ovatar (Movie).

Now, Aang was the only one I was really bothered by, and it still didn't bother me that much. I knew going in to the movie that the names would be pronounced differently than the American version of the TV show. It was just weird hearing it at first, but by the end of the movie I had gotten used to it. Sokka sounded cool to me. Plus, since Katara was always soaking him with her waterbending it kinda fits (yes I know that was a bad pun). Iroh... I have no comment. Avatar... That's the way it should be pronounced if you ask me.

Slow Bending: I really don't have much of a comment on this "problem" either. The benders looked to cool to worry about the fact that their elements weren't corresponding that well with their bending.

The Good
Storyline: Great story. In the show Aang had trouble accepting his role as the Avatar but that was resolved and then brought back up and then resolved over and over again. That was one of the main stories in the movie. Then, of course, there was the "get Aang to the north pole so he can learn waterbending storyline." But the Avatar-acceptance plot was a nice touch and I think M. Night did an amazing job at it.

Noah Ringer - Aang: Like I already mentioned, Noah isn't that good of an actor, yet. He is, however, amazing at martial arts. Holy crap was he awesome! That totally made up for his inexperience with acting. Again, that's kind of what you get for casting someone because you saw them at a martial arts tournament.

Dev Patel - Zuko: Ok. So Dev Patel is pretty much my favorite actor now. Zuko was my favorite character in the show. He was such a deep and complex character that during his roller coaster of character development you just had to connect with him at some point. Well, I did. So seeing Dev Patel as Zuko was awesome. I mean, he was Zuko. This was probably my favorite part actually. I saw Slumdog Millionaire before this so that I could see Dev Patel's acting. He's phenomenal.

Bending/Special Effects: The special effects of the movie were really cool. Some of the problems that M. Night was trying to avoid was having firebending look like someone was holding a flamethrower or that it just looked like fake fire. Both of these problems were avoided. Well done.

Ok. So here are just some of my opinions for The Last Airbender. Please do not over-analyze both the movie and my review. I do want to address, now, the concern that people had about the movie not being as goofy as the TV Show was. I guarantee that the movie would've been torn apart worse by critics. The setting of the movie is in a time of war. The silliness worked for the TV Show but it wouldn't have worked for a movie.

If you are on the fence about seeing this movie I recommend at least giving it a chance. I, for one, can't wait to buy this movie when it comes out. Hopefully it will have an extended edition to it slowing the pacing down a little bit.

Thanks for reading!

New Blog

So I've always been a fan of movies. Almost every movie I've seen has either been on opening day or within the first week that it was in theaters. A lot of people actually rely on this and ask me my opinions of a movie before they go see it, and, for the most part, they agree with my opinions. So, I started this blog so that I can let other people know my opinions about movies. The only advice I would like to give is for my readers to go see a movie for themselves and form their own opinions. I will just be giving my opinion and somethings for all of you to expect. If I give a movie a bad review you may in fact enjoy the movie, and vice versa, I may have enjoyed a movie that you didn't enjoy.

Please enjoy my opinions and let me know if you agree or disagree.

Also, if there is a movie you would like me to review please feel free to email me the title of the film.

Thank you!