Tag: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

Upcoming Movie Schedule (April 2011 – August 2011)

Hey there…

Considering that Summer Movie season (yes, I know it’s just Spring) will be starting up soon, I wanted to make sure I had my calendar of movie releases ready to go…

I’ll mark these with an asterisk (*) system…

  • * = Renter
  • ** = Film to see with my family (possibly)
  • *** = Film to see with my wife
  • **** = Film to see no matter what

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

  • X-Men: First Class, June 3****
  • Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer, June 10*
  • Super 8, June 10****
  • Green Lantern, June 17****
  • Mr. Popper’s Penguins, June 17**
  • Cars 2, June 24****

July 2011

August 2011

I find it interesting that there are more movies in April than in June or July that I want to see… Why is that?

Question: Did I miss any that you’re looking forward to? If so, what are they and why should I see them?

–Fitz

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Movies I’m Looking Forward to through August 2011

Hi there!

I saw this post recently and it inspired me to take a look at the movie schedule. Even now as we’re more than halfway through January 2011, there are numerous movies coming out I’m excited to see. If you go more than six or seven months into the year, the schedule gets a little murky, so I’ll just list them through August.

  • The Mechanic – January 28
  • Battle: Los Angeles – March 11 (see the trailer here)
  • Sucker Punch – March 25
  • Thor – May 6
  • Priest – May 13
  • X-Men: First Class – June 3
  • Super 8 – June 10
  • Green Lantern – June 17
  • Transformers: Dark of the Moon – July 1
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II – July 15
  • The First Avenger: Captain America – July 22
  • Cowboys and Aliens – July 29
  • Conan – August 19

Other movies I’ll probably see with my family at the theater or on DVD include:

  • Gnomeo & Juliet – February 11
  • I Am Number Four – February 18
  • Rango – March 4
  • Mars Needs Moms – March 11
  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules – March 25
  • Rio – April 15
  • African Cats – April 22
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – May 20
  • Kung Fu Panda 2 – May 27
  • Cars 2 – June 24
  • Winnie the Pooh – July 15

Did I miss any? Are there others you think I should add to my list? I hardly ever get to ALL of them, but I hope to get to MOST!

–Fitz

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Fitz’s New Rule of Thirds for Movie Reviews

Hey there…

Though I’ve seen a few films at the theater recently, I haven’t had much of an opportunity to write reviews of them. But one of the strangely consistent things I’ve found is that most of them aren’t complete. If there’s a weak beginning, middle, or end, I find myself not really loving a film.

Let’s take the last four films I’ve seen:

I’ll start with the one I saw today – Faster starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Billy Bob Thornton. After reading some of the great reviews, I was expecting to be blown away – and I was, for all but the last third. The beginning is amazing – setting the stage for Driver’s (Johnson) revenge road trip. After 10 years in prison, Driver is out to kill all of the people involved in the death of his brother after a heist. Even the middle is great as Killer (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) gets involved and we start to learn more about the the heist. But somehow in the last third, Driver loses site of the prize and grows a heart. It took the wind out of the movie for me.

Let’s move to Tangled, the latest animated feature from Disney. From the trailers, I was actually looking forward to this one. In it, we see Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) who’s been locked in a tower for years by Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy) so Gothel can stay forever young courtesy of Rapunzel’s magical hair. When Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi) hides out in the tower after a theft, it opens a big can of worms as the damsel in distress wants to see the world… With this one it’s the beginning that bored me to tears along with the fact that Murphy tries to sound like Ursula (Pat Carroll) from The Little Mermaid. Gothel as a character made me cringe whenever she was on screen. Once she was mostly out of the picture, I enjoyed the interplay between Rapunzel and Flynn – even the music!

Then there was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, which is the beginning of the end for the Harry Potter series. By far, this is one of the most action-packed of the series to date. The running and magical battles seemed to be non-stop… until we got to the last third of the film. I nearly fell asleep when Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) were hunting for the Horcruxes, teleporting from place to place and waiting for their magical batteries to recharge in-between. Though I understand that they’re teenagers and meant to wallow in self-pity or ego from time to time, I felt like I was watching any episode of Days of Our Lives or 90120… I suspect that the dip towards the end was due to the fact that they had to split the movie into two parts, but still – I was hoping for a little more excitement heading to the end of part 1 and didn’t get it.

Of all of these films, RED is the most complete. Though the beginning is a bit slow, it was a slow burn that led to a satisfactory middle and a fantastic end. I’ve heard from people who said they didn’t like it, but to me it was a perfect action movie with great characters and dialog that never went over the top.

So here’s my new rule… On a scale of one to four stars, I have to factor in the rule of thirds. If one third sucks, that’s a star right off the top. If the whole movie is horrible, that’s three stars off the top with one left for other things like the music, special effects, acting, and so on. But it’s not worth misleading anybody if one third or more of a given movie isn’t worth seeing.

Is this over the top? I don’t think so. Movies should be graded as a whole entity.

What do you think? Leave me some comments whether you agree or disagree…

–Fitz

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