Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone movie review

This first installment of the Harry Potter series was released in 2001. I hadn't read the book by then as I was only 7 years of age. However I remember the excitement of going to see the movie in the cinema. Harry Potter was one of the many books my Mother read us before bed. So I heard the story I just didn't appreciate it as much as I do now.


The Philosopher's Stone was directed by Chris Columbus. Based on the book by J.K Rowling. The movie is about a young boy who has suffered a tragic past who finds out on his eleventh birthday that he is in fact a Wizard. His Parents were killed by the evil wizard by the name of Lord Voldemort. For eleven years Harry has been living with his aunt,uncle and cousin at number 4 Privet drive. The relatives Harry lives with despise him with every fiber of their being and it is not an understatement to say that to Harry the feeling is mutual. On his eleventh birthday a Half-Giant called Hagrid gives him a letter inviting him to study at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.  Harry jumps at the chance to get away from his horrid relatives. He soon learns that
his stupid relatives are the least of his worries.


Life doesn't get easier for Harry at Hogwarts. Where he has things that he never had before such as friends and a place to call home.
J.K Rowling sold the film rights of the first four films to Warner Bros in 1999 for £10000. One of Rowling's conditions was that they keep the principle cast strictly British. 


The movie starts with a dark privet drive and Albus Dumbledore (Headmaster of Hogwarts), Professor McGonagall and Hagrid leaving Harry on the doorstep of number 4 privet drive the night Voldemort killed his parents. The Introductory scenes show how Harry starts to make things happen unexpectedly such as making a glass containing a Boa constrictor vanish setting the snake on the rest of the zoo. Not long after this specific incident Harry ( Dan Radcliffe) starts to get letters inviting him to Hogwarts. Uncle Vernon however knew what these meant and tried his best to prevent Harry from reading them. He tried everything from burning the letters to moving away from their house. However moving away just meant that Hagrid tracks them down on Harry's birthday and pays them an unexpected visit. He explains the truth of who Harry was and what actually happened to Harry's parents to a very confused and slightly scared Harry.


The movie was very entertaining and a good way to kick back. This was Harry's first year and in a way our as the viewers first years as well. One thing I enjoyed was the forming of the friendship of the trio (Harry,Ron and Hermione). The cast choices made in my opinion were pretty good. Alan Rickman as Severus Snape has to be one of favorites. I would say that this movie is not really fit for children at some points but then again I remember that 6 year old children watch this and don't wince at all. Its as the series gets darker the age restriction gets higher. It was a great way to start a great series of movies. 


I give it 8 out of 10
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Transformers: Dark of the Moon review.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon Review.

Firstly , I have never been a big fan of the Transformers. I remember watching the animated series once or twice in primary school but that was it. I knew enough to get by in conversations revolving around the show but I wasn't really interested in any of it. When I heard that Michael Bay was releasing a movie in 2005 I avoided it like the plague. Even when all my friends were talking about how cool it was I refused to watch it. For Christmas in 2006 however my dad had bought me the DVD. So I figured I might as well watch it. I ended up really enjoying it.

Now here we are two movies later. After the disaster that was Transformers: Rise of the Fallen I was truly not expecting much from this one. However as I've learnt you should never watch a movie with the I won't like it mentality for the simple reason that you will end up finding reasons not to like it. So despite what I thought I went in with an open mind. So when the movie started and Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen)did his normal opening sequence brief. Which as it normally is was long but fairly interesting. Then the next scene with the introduction of Carly to me was highly inappropriate. I know Michael probably wanted to introduce her in a BIG way but with the knowledge that children will be watching the movie he could've toned it down a bit.

So Sam Witwicky (Shia La Bouff) is now leading a normal life. He's living in DC with his new British girlfriend Carly. He is looking for job but what he really wants is the feeling of being needed again. The Autobots are helping out with missions for the Government but while they do so they are searching for something. The Decepticons are strategizing against them.

So the storyline was generally quite good. There were some aspects that I felt could have been explained in more detail like who the little smoky autobot was that was living with Sam. I felt that in a whole the story was told effectively. The characters weren't bad either. One of my favorites has to be Wang (Ken Jeong)pity he had such a small role in the film. The new Autobots weren't really introduced to us like all the others from the previous movies were. For instance the Scottish Autobot whose name isn't even mentioned or if it was I didn't catch it. True they did introduce some of the new Transformers such as Sentinel Prime and Shockwave. Megatron(Hugo Weaving)is back for a third round in this film but he has some serious competition for the ruler of earth role. 

The action was intense! Especially in the final battle. It was a lot more action packed than the previous movies. I did enjoy the angles and camera movements used in the battle sequences. The use of the background music in these sequences were also very effective.

Speaking of the music. I found that I enjoyed the music in this film way more than I enjoyed it in the previous films. For example in Revenge of the Fallen in most of the scenes they had the backtrack to New Divide playing in the background.

What did disappoint me in the movie was the 3D. It was post-production and I don't have a great history with post-production 3D movies. However even I have to admit that the 3D wasn't badly done. I just thought because it was Transformers you want something fly out at you or Optimus to swing his blade and it to fly straight at you to really increase the feel of the movie. If they had made the movie 3D from the start and paid careful attention to the action scenes things might be different. This was one of those watch a few scenes in 3D but the rest you can watch with or without glasses it doesn't matter type movies.

The visual effects in these movies are normally very good and this one was no exception.

I never thought I would but I actually enjoyed the Dark of the Moon. However I really do not want a fourth movie. In my opinion they have ended of the trilogy well and it should stay that way. Transformers:Dark of the Moon was a great way to just sit back and relax. I would give it about seven out of ten.

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Insert Title here....

Hey so I haven't posted in a while so I got a few things to talk about....

First the Oscars.
It has for the past few years been a tradition to watch the Oscars. This year it was no exception. We all watch movies during the year that we think should be nominated and we want to see where that movie excels. For me this year it was Chris Nolan's Inception. The Hosts for this years oscars were Anne Hathaway and James Franco. I must say as far as hosting or presenting the Oscars goes they weren't that great. They were dull presenters in my opinion and tried to hard to get a laugh or two. My favorite Oscar presenter so far has been Billy Crystal. This years Nominated films that I have seen were deserving of their nominations. The winners even more so.. I haven't seen all of them yet but as soon as I can I will.
Movies like:
The Kings Speech
Black Swan
True Grit
The Fighter

Second:
All you Pixar fans are you ready for another sequel?
Yes it's true Pixar is releasing another Sequel. Monsters Inc 2 will be coming soon. The movie is a prequel. It's about Mike and Sully's university days. The movie will be called Monsters University. So Mike and Sully were in Uni? Whats so interesting about that? Thats what i thought as well but Mike and Sully haven't always been the good friends we saw in the first film. Monsters University shows them as bitter rivals training to become Scarers. Well we'll see how that works out for them...

Some of you might be thinking " What about Boo? ". The movie being a prequel does mean that Boo isn't in the movie. So we don't see the adventures that Mike,Sully and boo go on after film 1. Which in way is a good thing because then the ending of the first movie isn't spoiled. When i get more Info on the movie i will let you know.

Harry Potter 7 Part 2....
So all the Potter fans are getting ready to say goodbye to the wizard they know and love. On July 15th 2011 the final chapter in the Harry Potter series will hit the Big Screens all around the world. With the Harry Potter movies for me it's been a love-hate relationship. I hate the fact that they took stuff that might've been important in the movies and added stuff that never happened in the book. When i went to see Deathly Hallows part 1 last year I was full of doubt but I  was pleasantly surprised. Part 1 was the best Potter so far and I have high hopes for Part 2.

Part 2 is where it all comes together. The Finale should be action packed and intense!! The battle for hogwarts is getting closer. For those who haven't read the book, you will finally know how it ends.

Heres the poster for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2.

    

      

Inception Movie Review

I can't say that much about the film without revealing a few spoilers.... So if you haven't seen the movie be warned. However i shall try to stay away from those pieces of information...

So Christopher Nolan gets a whacky new idea for a movie about dreams. Not just dreams but people who infiltrate your dreams and steal information from your subconscious. Pretty weird concept right?
Well, this idea soon turned into a very successful movie. It won 4 of it's 8 Academy Award nominations to be exact.

The skill of stealing information from a persons subconscious is called Extraction. Dom Cobb
( Leonardo Di Caprio ) is the most skilled extractor. Him and his team failed at a mission trying to get information from Mr. Saito ( Ken Wantanabe ). He later offers them a job. He wants Inception which is the planting of  an idea in someone's head. They have to try and get Robert Fischer to give up his fathers company.
They now get a new Architect named Ariadne ( Ellen Page ) because Cobb is unable to create the dreams ( Someone is preventing him from it ). They set to work. To see exactly how the whole thing comes together you must watch the movie.

So what did I think. Well, I went in not knowing what to expect as I didn't see any trailers, didn't read any reviews or even a plot. So I walked into the cinema completely clueless about what I was about to see. The movie started and it hooked me from Scene 1. As they say on the poster for Unstoppable " We'll sell you a seat but you'll only use the edge of it" that was me while I was watching Inception. The story is so captivating you find yourself leaning so far forward that you're basically on the floor or that was me at least. The quick scene changes during the dreams and reality were used so effectively that if you blinked you would miss one and not know what the heck is going on.

This movies one of those that you can't predict the rest of the story. You think you know whats going to happen next and then it just blows your mind when something truly unexpected happens. How was the acting?
Well, Leo does an extremely good job as Cobb during the intense scenes and emotional scenes ( Watch the movie! ) And Ellen Page as Ariadne was quite a good casting call. Visually it was awesome the special effects within the dreams is absolutely amazing. Audio well two of the Oscars were for Sound Editing and Sound Mixing.

All in All Chris Nolan made a great film. Excitement, Intensity and a lot of thinking are elements of this epic experience. My advice find a way to watch this movie. You won't be disappointed.

*****
( 5 out of 5 )

      
    

Annie Remake...

So I was on Screenrant a few minutes ago and saw that Will Smith ( I am Legend) is planning to do a Remake of Annie. So I thought ok cool. Will Smith's daughter Willow could end up playing the role of Annie. We have all heard Willows song " I whip my hair back and forth" and I must say I'm not a big fan. However the worry doesn't stop there. Jay z is apparently lending his musical "talents" to the movie. Also not a big fan of him.

Annie is a musical about an orphan girl who is looking for her parents and stays with one of the richest people in NYC. She slowly comes to terms with the fact that she'll never find her parents and she is indeed a true orphan. However in the end it all works out for the better in a Big way. The music is memorable. With songs like " The sun will come out tomorrow" and " It's a hard knock life". I just fear that the hip hop versions of the songs with Willow Smith and Jay z will ruin them.

Let me know what you think but for me I see this as a bad move. A very bad move.

Clash of the Titans (1981) Movie Review

If you are in South Africa and were watching Dstv and on channel 109 (TCM) you would have seen Clash of the Titans was on. I sat down to watch this one to see what the original was like. I haven't seen the remake yet and I want to but thats another tale for a rainy day. I can't give to much information about the remake other than it was a post-production 3D, Avatar and Terminator Salvation actor Sam Worthington is in it and the tag line is "The Titans will clash".

The original 1981 version was Directed by Desmond Davis and is based on the Myth of  Perseus son of the God-king Zeus. His quest to save Andromeda from the Kraken and defeat Medusa. I had to bear in mind that this is a rather old movie while i was watching because i couldn't believe how bad it looked visually. There were literally some moments where i couldn't stop laughing because of the bad CGI. So it did make for a good comedy which i suspect wasn't Desmond Davis's original intentions. You got to understand as said in The sound of music " I am 16 going on 17 " so i grew up with movies like E.T and the Disney Classics (Robin Hood, The Rescuers) so i was taken by surprise at the Visuals having never seen anything like it. I did enjoy the story. I am fascinated with Greek Mythology. So the movie did spark an interest when i saw it was coming on next.

Sound wasn't that great either I must say. The were a couple of times where i had to turn the volume down because the sound was so sharp. The acting wasn't bad though. The main Actor did remind me of someone i know which was really strange.

The movie did have some memorable characters like Perseus, Pegasus, Calibos and Booboo the robotic owl.
The action scenes were gripping. When Perseus was battling Medusa or even the Kraken I was at the edge of my seat!
So overall I really enjoyed it and I probably will watch it again. Now i really want to see the 2010 version and see how different it is.

So I give Clash of the Titans (1981) Three out of Five ***
I also give it the rank of a classic in my personal movie viewing history.


BooBoo the Robotic owl.

            








The Kraken coming to claim Andromeda

Batman : The Dark knight rises

We all have heard the name "Batman" and most of us have seen "The Dark Knight". Not only did that movie bring so much excitement to movie goers in 2008 but it also brought sadness aswell. When we read in the papers ,internet,watched the news,E entertainment etc. That Heath Ledger (28) the man who played the Joker had died of an overdose. May he R.I.P. However thats not important right now. What I'm really talking about is the next movie in the Batman series The Dark Knight Rises.

There have been plenty of Rumors around this movie. Like the main villain will be the Riddler and he will be played by Johnny Depp. Which would have probably have been a solution to the Girls who are no doubt be trying to avoid going to this movie with there relationship partner. It has been confirmed that The Riddler and Johnny Depp are not in this film. Sorry Girls. Another rumor is that the villain will be none other than Killer croc.
Yet another rumor which we all thought was plausible is that the movie will be in 3D which is not the case. Chris Nolan is wise in my opinion for the simple reason that if a Batman movie is in 3D then you want it to be AMAZING 3D otherwise the experience is just wasted. One of the biggest rumors is that Chris Nolan was planning to use unused footage and CGI to put Heath Ledger's Joker in Dark Knight Rises as a cameo. However Nolan states that he made no plans of that sort and Joker will not be in the next film.

So what is true? What can we expect from the next Batman? Well,... Harvey Dent A.K.A Two-Face ( played by Aaron Eckhardt )will not be in the movie. Christian Bale will return as everyones favorite Bat. It won't be in 3D.
Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan have both confirmed that this is the end of Batman for the two of them . The Dark Knight Rises and after he Rose he left. You can almost be certain that someone is going to pick up where Nolan and Bale left off and make a couple of new Batman films. My hope is that Tim Burton picks it up again and does at least one more Batman film but that could just be me. Whereas the movie will not be shot in 3D or be converted into 3D. Nolan is sticking to what he did in The Dark Knight and shooting in IMAX. Michael Caine ( Alfred ) says that Production is said to start in May and be finished by November.

To be honest i don't know who the Villain is going to be so i fell for all those rumors i mentioned earlier. It is said though that Dark Knight Rises will be based on the graphic novel Batman: Prey. Just as The Dark Knight was based on a Graphic Novel. Which one I'm not sure but i would love to read it.  Which means that Hugo Strange is possibly the villain and thee rumor goes on saying that he's being played by Tom Hardy.

Also as the Batmobile (Tumbler) was destroyed in the previous film. Will Batman be getting a new Batmobile or will he stick with the Batcycle? Although it seems I'm the only one asking this question.

Hans Zimmer is doing the score or so it seems for the Dark Knight Rises.... All i can say about that is What else is new?.
Now that Rachel ( Bruce Wayne's love interest) is dead. Bruce/Batman and Commissioner Gordon are getting new love interests. Neither of which is Selina  Kyle ( Catwoman ). I must say i would like to see Harley Quinn included in the movie. Once again I'm probably the only one that would.

The big question is will Dark Knight Rises be as good as its predecessor ? Hopefully it is... In my opinion though is that whoever the villain is in the next film has to put on the best performance of his/her life to come close to Heath Ledger's Joker. Christopher Nolan gave up Superman Reboot to focus entirely on Dark Knight Rises. So we know it's going to be good. I'm really looking forward to this and it's absolute agony not knowing exactly who the villains are! We can be sure that until we get confirmation on who the villain(s) are rumors will be coming in almost daily. It's just a matter of sorting out Fact from Fiction...

So if all goes well and there are no surprise explosions, fires, people getting fired, problems with funding we should expect Dark Knight Rises in 2012. Along with a good few other movies.... Seriously can't wait (why so serious?) sorry just had to!.

















     

In a store near near you....

We all have heard something similar to that line... " In a Galaxy far far away". Star Wars probably one of the most popular series in movie history. The first movie was released on May 25 1977 and the final film was released on the May 19 2005. It is the 3rd highest grossing film series with aprox. $4.27 billion behind James Bond and the Harry Potter series. Now that the Series is finished the franchise has released Video Games, Toys, Television Series and Comics. With the two Dvd box sets " The Original Trilogy" and " The Prequel Trilogy". As most of us know... Episode 4,5,6 were released before episode 1,2,3.

New news is that George Lucas is planning on releasing the complete Saga in 3D but first the Complete Saga is coming to Blu-ray. In September of this year all Star Wars fans will get the chance to own the complete saga on blu-ray. You not only  get all six episodes in Amazing quality but also 3 additional discs with over 30 hours of special features including never-before-seen deleted scenes and alternate scenes and more! There are the Three types of boxsets to cater for all fans needs.    Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray (9-disc Set includes all six films. Star Wars: Prequel Blu-ray Trilogy (3-disc set includes Episodes I-III). Star Wars: Original Blu-ray Trilogy (3-disc set includes Episodes IV-VI). September 2011 is when the will be in a store near near you. 

The trailer is strong with this one...

The Muppets are releasing a new movie!

The Muppets are returning!! It's true that The Muppets are releasing a new movie this year. For those of you who don't know who the Muppets are ( I don't know how that's possible but there's bound to be someone). They are Puppets. The main characters are Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy the Pig, Rizzo the Rat, Fozzy the Bear, Animal the Animal, Gonzo the Great ( or Whatever). They were a Tv show that started in 1976. They released 5 seasons and a couple of new shows like Sesame Street, Muppets Tonight, America next top Muppet and a Web series called Statler and Waldorf.: From the Balcony. Another muppet everyone is familiar with is the Jedi master Yoda. He is a muppet for those of you who didn't know. Voiced by the same guy who voices Fozzy the Bear. Frank Oz. 

Muppets have released a few movies such as The Muppet Movie, Muppets Christmas Carol, Muppets Treasure Island,Muppets Wizard of Oz and Muppets from Space. Now the latest is The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made! (That's the name not my expectations... Although i do expect it to be awesome!). The Muppets are putting on a show to save their old Theater ( watch The Muppet Movie). Jason Segal wrote the script and James  Bobin is the Director. The Muppet movies always have Cameos like Muppets from Space had Two of the Dawson's creek characters or Muppet Island with Billy Connoly. A few of the Cameos for this film are said to be Jack Black, Amy Adams, Jane Lynch and Lady Gaga! 

I grew up with the Muppets so this is like my Childhood returning to me. My 6 year old brother likes them, aswell but out of the two of us I'm the bigger fan. So far my favorite Muppet movie is Muppet Treasure Island (based on the book by Robert Louise Stevenson) . The story is for kids but the jokes are aimed at the older audience. Also the Music is rather catchy. It's a good retelling of a classic story. 

The two oldest Muppet Characters are Statler and Waldorf. They are Sarcastic and have seriously bad jokes. In the Muppets from Space movie Miss Piggy walks out the house during breakfast. Waldorf turns to Statler and asks if breakfast is over. Statler say no and asks why. Waldorf says the bacon just ran out. Then they laugh. They also often refer to themselves being lucky that they're in the movies and not watching them.

I for one am looking forward to this Movie. I will see it in Cinema! It'll be weird seeing a teenage boy sitting in the cinema for a kids movie. Actually it won't I do it all the time.    

The Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody.... Awesome way to introduce new People to the Muppets!

Parodies!

So here we come to the matter that is Parodies. Movies to make fun of other movies. Movies made for a laugh but most end in disappointment. Not only is the acting usually terrible but the jokes are pretty much the same. They all lack originality aswell and most if not all of them can be labeled a waste of time. So why do we watch these stupid films? The trailers make the film look amazingly funny and we fall for it. We watch it and get extremely disappointed.

A few examples... All the Scary Movies,Dance Flick,Date movie,Disaster movie and Vampires suck.
I'm glad to say that i've never seen one in cinema but I have seen all of them on Dvd or on Tv. Some I have to admit i can tolerate and sometimes enjoy. However most i can't. The worst of the lot has to be Vampires suck. I myself am not a Twilight fan and proud to say that i never will be! No matter how much the fans among my friends try to persuade me. So when i saw the trailer for this i thought to myself that this would be one worth watching. Boy was i wrong!! The acting terrible and the jokes were worse. Sorry to anyone who has seen the movie and enjoyed it. Disaster movie did have it's moments like the Alvin and the Chipmunks scene (scary stuff).

Vampires suck was probably one of the worst movies of 2010 if not the worst. Hopefully one day they will learn. I do like the scary movies though. Some parts you just groan and are tempted to skip to the next scene but others are quite enjoyable.

Looking forward to a good year in movies with the release of new movies like Pirates of the Caribbean 4,Rio,X-men first class,The Muppets,The Green Hornet,Cars 2 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2!
One movie i will not be seeing this year is Justin Bieber: Never say Never.