Courtesy photograph
Final ‘Harry Potter’ a fitting, crowd-pleasing conclusion
Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson star in “Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.”
Final ‘Harry Potter’ a fitting, crowd-pleasing conclusion
Helena Bonham Carter stars in “Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hollows: Part 2.”
Jason Wallis
- “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”
-
★★★ 1/2 (out of four)
Dir. David Yates, U.S./U.K., PG-13
- New films
-
“Cowboys & Aliens”
Director: Jon Favreau.
Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford.
The plot: In Silver City, Arizona, Apache Indians and Western
settlers must lay their differences aside when an alien spaceship
crash lands in their city.
Genre: Action, thriller.
Rating: PG-13.
“Crazy, Stupid, Love”
Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa.
Starring: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling.
The plot: A married guy tries to balance handling a crisis with
his wife, attending couples therapy, and maintaining his
relationship with his kids.
Genre: Comedy, drama.
Rating: PG-13.
- Film roundup
-
‘LARRY CROWNE’
★ (out of four)
“Horrible Bosses” is a hard-R comedy filled with more than its
share of boundary-pushing humor and, admittedly, lapses in logic
and plausibility. It is not concerned with filmic issues like
editing and cinematography. It has but two goals: to engage you
with its characters and their plight, and to make you laugh. That
it succeeds so thoroughly on both counts leaves one no choice but
to declare it some kind of mini-masterpiece of comic timing and
momentum. Plenty of these sort of movies fulfill their roles and
deliver the goods — “The Hangover, Part II,” “Bridesmaids” and (to
a slightly lesser extent) “Hall Pass” are recent examples. But what
sets “Horrible Bosses” apart is its sheer, delirious energy. There
is not a dull moment to be had here, and it’s a perfect example of
how top-tier direction, writing and performance can elevate even
the most base concept to the level of what can only be described as
art.
‘CARS 2’
★★★
Until now, Pixar was never in the sequel business — save for the
“Toy Story” films, which proved that with the right cast and crew,
animated follow-ups could be much more than a cash cow. But with
the release of “Cars 2,” and announced sequels to “Monsters, Inc.”
and “The Incredibles” (with a fourth “Toy Story” entry rumored), it
is clear that the studio is now embracing the idea with gusto. This
decision has caused a fair amount of controversy, as Pixar has
always been rightly viewed as a haven for creativity and
originality — words that aren’t exactly synonymous with
“sequel.”
‘SUPER 8’
★★ 1/2
Here is a film that is fashioned from the Spielberg model, from
the themes of childhood innocence right down to the director’s
trademark photography techniques. Director J.J. Abrams (the
television power player who has attempted to make the leap to the
big screen, with limited success, with “Mission: Impossible III”
and “Star Trek”) has aped Steven Spielberg so well that, sans
credits, one could conceivably mistake “Super 8” as being directed
by the master himself — that is, if you’re only looking at the
surface.
‘X-MEN: FIRST CLASS’
★★★ 1/2
Matthew Vaughn is no Christopher Nolan, and “X-Men: First Class”
is no “Dark Knight.” Vaughn does not completely reinvent the genre
here, nor does he dabble in philosophy and subversive themes, as
Nolan does. Vaughn plays things relatively straight (a little
homosexual subtext notwithstanding), but he assembles his
old-fashioned picture with deft precision and confidence. Nolan
wrote the book on how to completely retool a franchise from the
ground up, but Vaughn deserves his own accolades for providing a
template for how to resurrect a good-as-dead film series while
still remaining true to the predecessors’ tone and overall
style.
Posted: Friday, July 22, 2011 8:36 am
|
Updated: 2:22 pm, Fri Jul 22, 2011.
Final ‘Harry Potter’ a fitting, crowd-pleasing conclusion
The summer movie season, after a horrifyingly dull couple of
months, may come to a decent close after all. The impeccably
written and acted “Horrible Bosses” will be around for a few more
weeks (catch it if you haven’t, or face my ire), and the final
“Harry Potter” recently opened to great audience approval.
This weekend brings the promising “Captain America: The First
Avenger” (we’ll have a look at that in a couple weeks, along with
“Cowboys & Aliens,” as my next column will be focused on food
in movies, in order to jibe with the theme of the rest of the
special section). Following that will be “Rise of the Planet of the
Apes,” “30 Minutes or Less” and “Conan the Barbarian” (or the
“Fright Night” remake, depending on my fancy) to close out the
season. In the midst, expect a summer recap and a hopeful look
forward to the fall.
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Posted in
Jason wallis
on
Friday, July 22, 2011 8:36 am.
Updated: 2:22 pm.
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Olivia Morgan posted at 10:43 am on Mon, Aug 1, 2011.
I meant to say: Kal's deconstructed the Harry Potter stories pretty accurately over at http://www.clickok.co.uk/index4.html ; very good Hero's Journey analysis.
Olivia Morgan posted at 10:42 am on Mon, Aug 1, 2011.
Kal's deconstructed the Harry Potter stories pretty accurately over at oliviamysweetie@yahoo.com ; very good Hero's Journey analysis.
Chris Wallace posted at 11:31 pm on Mon, Jul 25, 2011.
I haven't even seen Part 1 yet. I'll have to give this a watch.