Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (2009) starring Daniel Radcliffe, Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, Alan Rickman, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint.

Before...I was thoroughly looking forward to this film. The fact that I had to organise to go and see it with one of my fiancée's best friends as my fiancee wouldn't touch it with a barge pole made it all the more amusing. The reviews had not been kind but I still looked forward to it, mainly because the key grumbles about the film are the acting and that winds me up something rotten!! Anyway, I'll get onto that later.

In the sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft, and in both wizard and muggle worlds Lord Volemort and his henchmen are increasingly active. With vacancies to fill at Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore (Gambon) persuades Horace Slughorn (Broadbent), back from retirement to become the potions teacher, while Professor Snape (Rickman) receives long awaited news that he is the new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher. Harry Potter (Radcliffe), together with Dumbledore, must face treacherous tasks to defeat his evil nemesis. Ron (Grint) and Hermione (Watson), as ever, are there by Harry's side to help him when needed.

Where to start...the main issue I have with the film is the plot. It is unfortunate that the script writers have simply only taken the essence of the book into the film. There are some key plot holes that are present, which means that only people who have read the book will understand what is going on. This is a real bizarre decision in my view, I know for a fact that there are some people out there who haven't read the books because "I'm not a book sort of person", and so their only knowledge of the Harry Potter world is through the films, and because of that they lose some of the vital plot details that are present within the books, eg what exactly a Horcrux is! There is little new exposition, and they even leave a key section of the book out from the film, presumably they will put it in at the start of the next movie.

My earlier comment about the acting in my "before" section is present because time and time again it is the acting of the younger cast that is condemned by reviewers and my retort to that is...what do you expect? The casting people chose the younger cast nearly 10 years ago now, and they choose children who maybe looked the part and enjoyed acting. So condemning the actors for their lack of believability is ridiculous in my view. Take them for what they are, 3 children who got lucky being chosen for one of the biggest film franchises in the world. Yes they aren't the best actors in the world but then again few child actors come out good do they...see AI for my comments about Haley Joel Osment. The acting overall I think is good, the younger cast are ok and the elder actors are fantastic as always.

The use of CGI in the film is excellent, as it is with all of the series so far. Especially the opening destruction of the Millenium bridge. I really liked how they used the first person perspective flying through the city...I am told that in 3D it looked stunning. Also one of the final sequences in the film, the scene in the cave, is brilliant. All in all though, it seems that they simply have used this film as a stepping stone in preparation for the next movie.

Overall, I was stunned by the spectacle of the film and excited by what is to come in the next films. The darkness was at the right level and because of the amount of darkness it never should have been given the 12A certificate that it got. I look forward to the next films, though at the same time, I am nervous that they too will be given 12A certificates and therefore will lose the sufficient darkness that they should have. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this film, even though the plot goes haywire at some points, and for that reason I am going to give this film...

★★★★☆

A.I. : Artificial Intelligence

AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001) starring Haley Joel Osment, Frances O'Connor, Sam Robards, Jake Thomas, Jude Law, and William Hurt.

Before...I have a deep love for this movie...well...all apart from the last 30 minutes of the film. Hopefully I will watch it this time and it will change my view of it...I am doubtful but who knows!

In the not-so-far future the polar ice caps have melted and the resulting raise of the ocean waters has drowned all the coastal cities of the world. Withdrawn to the interior of the continents, the human race keeps advancing, reaching to the point of creating realistic robots (called mechas) to serve him. One of the mecha-producing companies directors (Hurt) decides to build David, an artificial child which is the first to have real feelings. Henry Swinton's (Robards) family, a worker in the company, is selected to be the first family to own one. Monica (O'Connor) is the woman who adopted him as a substitute for her real son (Thomas), who remains in cryo-stasis, stricken by an incurable disease. David is living happily with Monica and her husband, but when their real son returns home after a cure is discovered, his life changes dramatically. David goes on the run after an accident and meets up with Gigolo Joe (Law), he and Joe go off to try and find out how make him a real boy.

My fiancée's view..."Really scary teddy bear. Bizarre role for Jude Law. All a bit too dark for me. Not looking forward to having to watch it again. ★★☆☆☆"

Where to start...the films problem persists to be the ending for me. There is not much that I can say about it without ruining the film to be honest. The majority of the film is dark and sinister, and this is what I love about it. Unfortunately, however, the ending is the Spielberg happy ending that people have come to expect. It is highly disappointing, especially as this was meant to be Stanley Kubrick's next film. Spielberg turned it from being a dark masterpiece into being clichéd and sickly sweet. Cut the last 30/40 minutes of the film out and you have perfection in my view...It should have been dark and Spielberg spoilt it, in my view.

The acting in the film is simply sublime, I repeatedly forgot that Law and Osment were actors and was completely convinced that they were robots...which is a very bizarre thing to say. Osment is incredible in his part, he is cold when he needs to be cold and warm when he needs to be warm. Back when it first came out Osment was billed as being the next big child actor, yet 8 years later and he still has to produce anything of any merit as an adult. Who knows he may still yet come up trumps...Law is also fantastic. His role in the film is magnificent, slick and stylish, he plays a Fred Astaire type gigolo and he is utterly convincing in this role. Whether this should be worrying or not, all I know is that Law is brilliant in this film.

Another brilliant thing about the film is that it, like many other Kubrick films (yes I know Spielberg directed it but I will always see it as Kubrickian in essence, apart from the end that is!!) it looks at topics that provoke debate. The film looks at some weighty philosophical questions: what does it mean to be real? What does it mean to love? Does being able to love make us real? And the real tough one: Is there a price to love? Although some people like to disconnect when they watch films, I think that every once in a while it is good to watch a film that truly makes you think and that sparks debate, and this is certainly one of those films!

Another thing that is truly impressive about this film is the CGI. Most of the time it blends so well that you question whether it is real or not. The Flesh Fair and Rouge City are two of the most impressive pieces of CGI I have seen, and that includes some of the recent films I have seen. Terminator 2 was groundbreaking in way of CGI and it is the same, in my view it is the exact same thing with AI. There are few films even now that come up to the technical genius of this film. It is simply sublime. The final act of the film, even though completely disjointed from the rest of the film has it's merits through the CGI. I cannot praise Spielberg, ILM and the Stan Winston Studio enough for their work. You may not have heard of the Stan Winston Studio, but they are the people that created all of the models and animatronics used on set. Simply stunning!

Usually I try and have 5 key points about the movie, but I feel I am starting to waffle in this revew so I am going to end it here. This film is TRULY remarkable and I love it, but it still comes down to the final act of the film. That is what ultimate takes away that star, yes it provokes debate and conversation about the film, but also in my eyes it ruins the original vision that Kubrick had of this film. If/when you watch it you can see at what point it should have ended in my view. Spielberg, it seems, needs to learn that sometimes it doesn't have to be the fairy tale happy ending. So for that reason AI gets...

★★★★☆

Aeon Flux

Welcome to the change in ways blog readers. As noted in a previous post from now I my fiancee and I will be going through our collection in alphabetical order...and so the first film in our list was...Aeon Flux. Now to say fiancee was not impressed with this being the first film was an understatement. She does not do Sci-Fi...which will be interesting as we plow through the films...anyway...on we go....


Aeon Flux (2003) starring Charlize Theron, Marton Csokas, Jonny Lee Miller, and Frances McDormand .

Before...now with the films that are in our collection it will be difficult to do a before as I have seen most of them already...so I shall see if my previous watching experience is the same as my recent watching experience. So the first time I saw this film was at the cinema, I had gone into Southampton to do an evening double bill of film watching. This was the second film...the first was Brokeback Mountain. So after watching Brokeback Mountain I was pleased to get to see a less deep and heavy film. Aeon Flux was a fun, Orwellian/Big Brother style movie that was enjoyable to watch...will it have the same impact on me 6 years later....read on!

The year is 2415. 400 years after a virus wiped out half of the world's population, the people that survived the virus now live in Bragna, a fortified city that is surrounded by a wall isolating the people from the virus infested rest of the world. Living in Bragna City, Aeon Flux (Theron), a mysterious female assassin who works for a underground group of rebels led by Handler (McDormand). Aeon's latest assignment is to assassinate Trevor Goodchild (Csokas, a member of the council that controls Bragna City. When Aeon's younger sister Una is killed by government agents, Aeon disobeys orders and decides to protect Trevor, and suspects Trevor's brother Oren (Lee Miller) and the council members are plotting against Trevor. And when Handler learns Aeon failed the mission, Handler orders Aeon to be eliminated, and Aeon must risk everything as she not only protects Trevor, but also uncovers secrets and answers about her mysterious past and the government and all life in Bragna City itself.

The fiancée's view..."The Matrix with a story, BUT seems really low budget and not really a film for girls (at least girls like me!!). Way better than I had expected though, but I expected it to be so crap I wouldn't even watch it. Bad acting, bad special effects, totally unbelievable and totally unmemorable. Ask me in 10 minutes whether I have seen this film and I will have forgotten I have even watched it. ★★☆☆☆ "

Where to start…this film is the first of many of the alphabetic ordered DVD film watching that my fiancée and I are embarking on, so sit back and enjoy! ☺ The film’s main problem for me is pace. At times it feels as though it is speeding through at break-neck speed, and at others it feels as though it slows down to a crawl, as if to help it’s audience to catch up on the “highly complex” plot. This stop and start attitude almost gives you motion sickness, though not as bad as the car chase in Bourne Supremacy, it's constant slowing and speeding up it's testament, I feel, to the roots of the film. Originally it was a MTV cartoon, and it seems fitting that the director thought that in order to keep it's audience watching he needed this pace, after all the MTV generation need constant stimulus...right?? Hmmmm maybe not!

Problem number 2, the plot isn’t complex at all, if anything it is very basic, you could tell there was going to be some monumental reveal in the movie. It doesn't take a genius to piece together this plot and it offers no real attraction to the viewer. Instead of enticing the reader in, the film seems to want to take a moral stand on cloning and living your life in the now. Surely the original cartoon was nothing like this. If I was the director I would be pretty sure that she got some good security, as she has changed it so much that the fans of Aeon Flux must be battering her door down with pitch forks and flaming torches.

It is a shame, I think that McDormand and Pete Postlethwaite were given such small parts, because they make the actors around them raise their game in way of acting. Any scene they are in seems to be ibrant and attractive. Although Theron tries her best, it is obvious that she does not feel completely comfortable in the role, don't get me wrong she plays her part very well, as do most of the cast, but there is that little something missing from most of the actors. As if they are holding back.

Time to move onto the good things that I like about this film. Firstly the low budget feel that it gives is done well, although just a shade under 70 million in comparison with most blockbusters this is cheap. This film is no Matrix in way of graphics but with the money available it has done a fantastic job. From the needle grass to the mobile bombs, from the character with hands for feet to the Hindenburg-esque relic, what we are given is a few quality pieces of CGI. The film, in my view, does not over use CGI, either that or it is done so well it doesn’t feel like CGI, and that is one of the things I love.

The other thing that I found appealing of this film was the Big Brother is watching/Huxley-esque slant to the film. I love films that deliver an alternative future reality, although this is not as slick and stylish as some done, it still gives a good stab and makes an attempt at a twist, which is relatively clumsy.

Overall I felt slightly underwhelmed after watching this film. The movie that I once remembered had it's bubble burst if I am honest...Slick and stylish it once was, but now it seems my tastes have matured and I have lost that loving feeling with this film. It has gone from a 4 star movie to a...

★★☆☆☆

Black Water

Black Water (2007) starring Diana Glenn, Maeve Dermody, Andy Rodoreda, Ben Oxenboul, and Fiona Press.

Before...this was a spur of the moment watch. Never heard of it before, never heard of any of the actors before and so took the plunge with the hope that something interesting and exciting would result. The film sounded intriguing, and though I haven't seen Open Water (which it is likened too) (the concept of getting left behind at a dive sounds too real and scary for my liking) I heard that it got good scariness ratings from people who saw it.

Married couple, Grace (Glenn), Adam (Rodoreda) and her sister, Lee (Dermody), have just spent Christmas with their mother (Press) and have decided to take a long trip back home. Along the way they stop off at a fishing station. They rent out a guide (Oxenboul) and a boat to do some fishing in the mangrove swamps of Northern Australia. All does not go to plan, however, when the boat is overturned and they have shelter in a tree in order to survive.

So where to start...the issue with this film is the pace of the film. The director of the film at times feels confused as to when he should keep the pace going and when he should slow the pace down to a crawl. I will freely admit that at 2 points I fast forwarded slightly until something actually happened. There are times when the slow pace is used to great effect to build tension and develop fear in the watcher, however too often David Nerlich and Andrew Traucki decided to use the slow pace route, which frustrated me.

This is a low-budget Australian horror movie, a la Wolf Creek. It is not a narrative, there are no long flowing dialogues here, it is all very natural and realistic. It is harsh and brutal, and this only helps to lift itself out of the mediocrity that I initially slid it into within the first 10 minutes of watching. I feared it would go the same way as most other low budget films and would fill out the film to pad it out. However the director trusts his instincts and is able to use the simplistic plot to create a decent film.

The acting in this is very understated, so much so that you almost feel as if you are watching a documentary. That is what brings the film up for me, the raw appeal of the actors means that we are getting very natural performances from them. The emotions that they show feel very real and it is because of their work you feel genuine sympathy for them.

The other thing that I applauded the directors for is the need not to immediately leap towards creating CGI monster crocs or even CGI normal-sized crocs. The directors have crudely edited together clips of real crocodiles to make the action work, and although done crudely it works very effectively. The attack scenes interspersed with the human focused dramatic scenes works really well and it is a credit to the directors that they wer able to do this.

The other thing that impressed me about this movie was the genuine fear and tension that was running through my body throughout the film. With minimal budget, a small set and only 5 actors they have created a movie that stands up very well to a lot of the big money horror films that are out there. In future, I think I will be looking out for more Australian horror films, as that is two low budget horrors that I have thought were fantastically tense and fear-inducing.

Overall I was very impressed with the film. I think all that would need to be done to improve it would be to sort the pace of the film out in some places. Other than that, this is a great film that is well worth a watch, if you can find it that is! This is why I have given the film...

★★★★☆

Heat

Heat (1995) starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, and Diane Venora.

Before...this is the first in a series of films I have already seen that I am reviewing and so I knew what I was heading for when I started watching this film. I have always loved Michael Mann films and so this films holds a special place in my heart...what I feared however though was that I had remembered it incorrectly and that it wasn't as good as I remembered. However if I am honest I doubted that I was that wrong!

Neil Macauly (De Niro) is a professional thief who lives by a strict code. Vincent Hanna (Pacino) is a cop who has picked up Neil's trail. Macauly and his team, Chris Shiherlis (Kilmer) and Michael Cheritto (Sizemore), go from job to job that is organised by Nate (Voight) only to be followed on every step by Hanna, whose life is collapsing around him with the failure of his marriage to Justine (Venora).

So where to start...first things first, the characterisation in this film is incredible. The depth to which Mann has gone with each of the characters is simply amazing, although not overt Mann is able to deliver the audience a series of different characters and balance them all perfectly. Each one is given there time, and enough for the audience to feel they know each and every one of them. There is even a character who seems to have little to do with the story that is given an in depth look at, that is the heights that Mann goes to so to ensure the depth of knowledge for his audience.

The acting is another thing that is incredible about this film. Each of the characters is utterly believable. The limelight is basically shared between Pacino and DeNiro and there is very little time where the screen isn't graced with one of them at any time. Even though it is their film, the supporting cast also shine, and what a supporting cast they are. There are some big names in the film, most that you will recognise from some quality tv shows and also quality films for that matter. The one name that will immediately jump out at you and really worry you is Val Kilmer, however do not be worried about this. His part to play in this film is incredible. He puts in a performance that, if I am honest, should have been recognised by a nomination for an acting award.

The plot, although seems so similar, is written in a way that makes it completely original. The cat and mouse tale has often been done, with the focus being on the cop. However, this film steps out of the mould, it focuses on both the lead characters. Hanna, the cop, and Macauly, the thief, are both looked at equally and it is fascinating for once to see both sides of the story. The plot that develops between them is brilliant and wonderful. The other subplots in the film also show the brilliance of the acting on show. Kilmer and Ashely Judd, who plays his wife, are an excellent pairing and it is amazing to see them act their hearts out.

As with quite a few of his films, Mann assures that the setting of the film is like another actor. The visuals of LA are the background for the duel and battleground that Pacino and DeNiro are set against. LA is sumptuous, it's moody landscape is incredible. The pastel colours that Mann always chooses to shoot in gives his movies a definite feel. He does more than just create an environment for his characters, he pushes it to the forefront of the film. The landscape and scenery are gorgeous as is always the case in each of Mann's films.

The final thing that I love about the film isn't one of the obvious things, the stunning thing about this film is the rigour and the focus that the actors go through to make the film so realistic. In order for the film to seem so realistic the actors had to go through a lot of gun training, and in fact Andy McNabb was a consultant for this film. He helped to train the actors in using the guns in the film. Although you may think it a small thing, it is one of the areas that helps the film to be so slick and seemless in it's portrayal.

Overall the ebb and flow of the film is simply fantastic. People could say that it is a bit too long, but I feel that it is the length that enables Mann to develop the characters of his film to perfection. It also allows for the audience to get deeply involved in the characters, which in my view is key. Overall there is nothing that I can fault this film for. It is, and will always be one of my all-time favourite movies.

Change in focus...

So this website over the coming months will have a change in focus. You who follow me on Twitter or you who have found my blog by accident and have enjoyed reading it will know that I only review films that I have never seen before. The first change is that, from now, I am going to make is that I will start to review some old classic films. The second change is that my fiancée and I will soon start to go through our entire DVD collection in alphabetical order one by one. Through doing this I will review each and every film we have. It will take a long time to do, but we both think it will save us some money and plus it will be awesome to watch through all of our DVDs.

So there you have it...changes in the future to come....but hopefully interesting for you all!:) Let me know what you think on twitter or through commenting! :)

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) starring Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello, John Hannah, and Michelle Yeoh.

Before...although I had initially heard bad things about this film, I hoped that they were all very very wrong. I have a soft spot for Rick O'Connell and his amusingly mummy-filled adventures. They are tongue in cheek and in my view a VERY clever take on the Mummy franchise that was long lost to the depths of horror mythology. So with a whole variety of magazines, and more importantly for me, friends that felt it was rubbish I went into this film with a whole lot of fear and a wee bit of hope.

It’s 1947, and retired adventurers Rick O’Connell (Fraser) and his wife Evelyn (Bello) are summoned to China for one last job. But things get complicated when they turn up to find that their archaeologist son, Alex (Luke Ford), has found the mummified remains of Emperor Han (Li), a despot who wished to rule the world. And when he is resurrected, the O’Connells have to save the day with the help of Jonathan (Hannah) and Zi Juan (Yeoh), guardian to Han's tomb.

So where to start...first things first plot...a film that has already had two prequels surely should not need 40 minutes of introduction until you first get to see a Mummy. Although we are in a different country and have to be introduced to new characters surely that amount of background knowledge is just not needed. I know how I have moaned in the past about character exposition but this is a film that requires minimal brain processing, like the other two, and therefore delaying the excitement of seeing the Mummy by 40 minutes...YES 40 minutes is ridiculous. I felt thoroughly annoyed and if I had seen it in the cinema I would have been tempted to try and get my money back...once I had sat through the whole film...which is not possible but it would have made me feel better for trying! I particularly disliked the last visual line of the film, onscreen they put "And they found mummies there 1 year later". Wasn't it obvious from the way he said it, do they like treating their audience like idiots...grrrr! I hate films that treat me like an idiot!

Another problem I have with this film was the overuse of slapstick comedy. My first example is from the character of Jonathan. Although he was always the comic relief in the other two films, in this film he took it to new heights of stupidity. Until 40 minutes into the film, I was seeing myself giving it a higher mark than I have ended up doing but then Jonathan got his bum caught on fire and he remarked “SPANK MY ASS, RICK! SPANK MY ASS!!” My second example is when a yak later throws him up on and he then comments, “The yak yacked!”. His then bizarre conversations with the Yak further confirmed my disappointment in his part in the film. My third is when he has to say goodbye to his beloved yak, yes by this time he has had conversations that involve him saying something like I wish I had made you earlier in my life” “Go girl, Go on Geraldine! (the Yak) Live free!” Dear oh dear…it was a bad mistake to bring him back maybe! Then again who could have replaced him!

*SPOILER*




My fourth example is the Yeti’s (Yes you saw that right Yeti’s!) use of a touchdown celebration when they kicked a man over an arch.




*SPOILER*

My fifth example is...well I think you get the idea. This film severely disappointed me in way of humour.

Thirdly the acting in this film was truly atrocious, some of the line delivery was over the top to the point of cringe worthy and just felt completely out of place, and the shameful thing about it is that it is the Western actors who let the side down, specifically John Hannah. His comic timing and altogether delivery of lines in this film is atrocious. Bello is an awful replacement for Weisz. You can see why Weisz decided not to return, particularly after reading the script no doubt! Anyway back to Bello, there is none of the warmth that Weisz had. Admittedly it is a hard job to do to replace someone who has been a character in two previous movies but surely the better thing to do would be to write the character out, rather than replace them.

So good things now...although a small thing I thoroughly enjoyed a change of scenery. Having seen Egypt in the last two films it was a pleasure to be shown around China. The use of the different locations around China for me made a real big impression on me. Seeing the Terracotta warriors Museum, filming in Dongguan...all of these are beautiful locations and it is fantastic they got to film there. Not surprising when you have one of China's most famous exports, Jet Li.

The other stunning thing about this film that I couldn't fault was the CGI. It was a MASSIVE improvement since we had the AWFUL CGI of the Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns. I really couldn't fault it. There were times when I was questioning whether it was CGI or not, and yet part of my brain told me it was impossible for it not to be CGI.

Set against the stunning backdrops, and the CGI it makes this film one that I would recommend to you. However on the other hand I was truly truly disappointed with it. Just goes to show that if you change directors you run the risk of really messing up on a franchise. With this film I feel that a franchise has died. For the first forty minutes I would give the film 4 which is impressive as there aren't any mummies in it yet. The really unfortunate thing for me was that it was when the mummies were introduced that we were shown the true likeness of this film. It was awful, which was a real shame and that is why this film gets...

★★☆☆☆