Okay, so it's been a while. Things have been a tad crazy with work, life, travel, etc etc. But to the movies. I suppose I'll start with what was this post's original purpose three weeks ago - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince! That'll fulfill the "magic" portion of this evening's two part festivities followed immediately by the "space" installment. You ready? Let's go!
I have to admit, I've never really been a huge fan of the Harry Potter films (I just love the books too much, I guess), but with this latest film update, I have to say, I'm coming around. Perhaps because I haven't read the books in two years, I'm a little more open to the film. The special effects keep getting better and better, and I think the scenes involving the Quidditch matches prove just that. But like all the other films, my main issue lies in the fact that so much of the narrative is omitted. With The Half Blood Prince installment, obvious tweaks have been made, and in my opinion, the book should be at least perused in order to understand the characters' motivations. The film's climax occurs much too quickly, thus condensing the book's finale much too much. However, the kids keep getting better and better. They're aging too fast for the books' timeline, yet, they're still able to pull off the teenage angst and confusing hormonal changes that Harry, Ron, and Hermione undergo during their 7 years at Hogwarts. It's hard to discuss plot details without giving too much away. The main narrative involves Harry (shock) and 1) his relationship with the past owner of his Potions textbook and 2) Completing a task set forth by Dumbledore in order to unearth Voldemort's secrets. The movie deals with those pretty well, if not in their completions, but satisfactorily. However, while I was up North visiting the famiglia, I uncovered my HP set - yay! Instead of lugging all the books back, I decided to start with my favorite installment, The Goblet of Fire, and each time I return home, I'll grab another. Anyhow, I'm very excited to revisit Harry and Co. at Hogwarts little by little. It's all about pacing.
The next movie I saw which was really quite fascinating and thought provoking was Moon. I didn't know what to expect really, but the film deals with some pretty heavy ethical issues while maintaining a level of suspense that greatly meshes 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien. The idea of cloning people to maintain a space station seems pretty reasonable - at first - but when human emotion comes into play, all bets are off. It's by far not a perfect solution, and the film handles that struggle incredibly well. Sam Rockwell delivers a fantastic performance, or performances really, as he is the only actor on screen for 99% of the film. There is of course Kevin Spacey voicing GERTY - an updated,but somewhat less conniving and evil HAL, but really it's Sam, Sam, and well, Sam. David Bowie's son Duncan Jones makes his directorial debut with this film, and I'm pretty excited to see what else he comes up with. Moreover, the timing of this film's release coincided with the 40th anniversary of the Moon Landing, and for those of you who think NASA staged that event out in Area 51, I got to say, you're as crazy as those deniers of Evolution. And if you doubt both the Moon landing and Evolution, well then, you really scare me.
I have to admit, I've never really been a huge fan of the Harry Potter films (I just love the books too much, I guess), but with this latest film update, I have to say, I'm coming around. Perhaps because I haven't read the books in two years, I'm a little more open to the film. The special effects keep getting better and better, and I think the scenes involving the Quidditch matches prove just that. But like all the other films, my main issue lies in the fact that so much of the narrative is omitted. With The Half Blood Prince installment, obvious tweaks have been made, and in my opinion, the book should be at least perused in order to understand the characters' motivations. The film's climax occurs much too quickly, thus condensing the book's finale much too much. However, the kids keep getting better and better. They're aging too fast for the books' timeline, yet, they're still able to pull off the teenage angst and confusing hormonal changes that Harry, Ron, and Hermione undergo during their 7 years at Hogwarts. It's hard to discuss plot details without giving too much away. The main narrative involves Harry (shock) and 1) his relationship with the past owner of his Potions textbook and 2) Completing a task set forth by Dumbledore in order to unearth Voldemort's secrets. The movie deals with those pretty well, if not in their completions, but satisfactorily. However, while I was up North visiting the famiglia, I uncovered my HP set - yay! Instead of lugging all the books back, I decided to start with my favorite installment, The Goblet of Fire, and each time I return home, I'll grab another. Anyhow, I'm very excited to revisit Harry and Co. at Hogwarts little by little. It's all about pacing.
The next movie I saw which was really quite fascinating and thought provoking was Moon. I didn't know what to expect really, but the film deals with some pretty heavy ethical issues while maintaining a level of suspense that greatly meshes 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien. The idea of cloning people to maintain a space station seems pretty reasonable - at first - but when human emotion comes into play, all bets are off. It's by far not a perfect solution, and the film handles that struggle incredibly well. Sam Rockwell delivers a fantastic performance, or performances really, as he is the only actor on screen for 99% of the film. There is of course Kevin Spacey voicing GERTY - an updated,but somewhat less conniving and evil HAL, but really it's Sam, Sam, and well, Sam. David Bowie's son Duncan Jones makes his directorial debut with this film, and I'm pretty excited to see what else he comes up with. Moreover, the timing of this film's release coincided with the 40th anniversary of the Moon Landing, and for those of you who think NASA staged that event out in Area 51, I got to say, you're as crazy as those deniers of Evolution. And if you doubt both the Moon landing and Evolution, well then, you really scare me.
