by Tara Knott | Jul 16, 2011 | News Slider
Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. Invisibilty cloaks. Butterbeer. These are the images most people conjure up in their minds when they think about Harry Potter. But as Neville Longbottom says in the eighth and final installment of the film series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” Hogwarts has changed. Before the title appears on the screen, the camera zooms in on Voldemort thrusting his wand into the air and casting the Warner Brothers logo into the sky, letting the audience know from the beginning that the tone of this movie is much more sinister. Most of the film takes place at night or on overcast, gloomy days, and the darkness hangs like a pall over the theater as Harry, Ron and Hermione hunt down Voldemort. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson turn in their strongest performances of the series in this film. At one point, Ron and Hermione share a passionate, relief-fueled kiss after a brush with death in the Chamber of Secrets. Grint and Watson’s comedic timing is so spot on, the audience can’t help but smile. And when Harry realizes he’s ready to die if that’s what it takes to save his friends, Daniel Radcliffe looks like he’s aged a decade in three minutes. But the trio can’t carry this movie alone, and the supporting cast complements them perfectly. Maggie Smith absolutely kills it as Professor Minerva McGonagall, adding some levity to the heavy film with her subtle, knowing smirk. As she works her magic to bring some stone guards to life and they begin leaping over her head, she says, “I’ve always wanted...
by Jadrienne Myhre | Nov 11, 2010 | Opinion
Connecting with the dead may have some appeal, but as far as movies are concerned, it is important to connect to the audience. And in this department, Hereafter is dead on arrival. Why? Because there is no climax or storyline, and no character development. Each of the characters is troubled, but instead of developing the characters or offering a moral lesson, after 129 minutes the movie simply, well, ends. There is nothing. The characters stay confused and simply leave once they get a psychic reading from Matt Damon’s character, George Lonegan. The three characters – Marcus, Marie, Malorie – are troubled by events from their pasts. Marcus’ older brother dies, Marie has a near-death experience, Malorie, who has unresolved conflict with her father in her past, drops out of the story half-way through the film and never surfaces again. Damon’s character is a middle-aged psychic who no longer wants his job, but seems to have no development and no resolution. In the beginning of the film, he is frustrated with his brother for exploiting his psychic ability, and confused about what to do. At the end, he leaves for England, still frustrated and confused. The movie as a whole lacked resolution. It felt more like a snapshot than a story. None of the characters get resolution, just readings. For George Lonegan, there is no indication that his struggle is ever resolved or even justified. Perhaps there was some subtle closure in George getting the “normal relationship” he wanted at the end of the film, but for the average audience member, this is hardly satisfying. Directed by Clint Eastwood, this film is rated...
by Tyler Lallathin | Oct 20, 2010 | Opinion
More than 500 million people have Facebook accounts, so it seems the new movie “The Social Network” would have a built-in audience. But even if you don’t do Facebook, you will probably still enjoy what I consider to be a great movie. The film focuses on the story behind the creation of facebook.com. I would not consider this a “based-on-a true-story” film as much as a “loosely-based-on-a-true-story-but-greatly-dramatized-for-Hollywood” film. The film tells the story of Mark Zuckerburg and his inspiration for the Facebook website. It follows the story from Zuckerburg, the site’s founder, sitting in his dorm room in college writing the code for the site, to moving its offices to California and growing it into the multi-billion dollar website it is today. The plot is not really about the website itself, but the confrontation between Zuckerburg and his colleagues. In the film, Zuckerburg is presenting his case in two separate lawsuits, and describes how the website came to be and how it grew. The film made an estimated $23 million on its opening weekend, despite much criticism about its factuality. While a Facebook account is not needed to appreciate the film, users would understand some jokes and references in the movie that others would not. Anybody can relate to the drama that the characters go through in this film. The film is 120 minutes long and is rated PG-13 for language, sexual content and drug and alcohol...
