Film: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part II

GENRE: Action/Fantasy
RATING: PG-13 for action violence
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 10 minutes
STARRING: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson Rupert Grint (Harry Potter 1 - 7)
DIRECTOR: David Yates (Harry Potter 5,6 & 7)
WRITER: Steve Kloves (Harry Potter 1 -4, 6 & 7)
PLOT: Harry and his friends find the remaining Horcruxes and try to defeat Voldemort once and for all.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 A very fitting finale to the Harry Potter saga. This film is very well paced and is filled with both intense action and emotion. I didn’t shed a tear but still felt very connected to the characters. Well done.
2 They do a nice job of referencing the past seven films. I love it when things when come full circle. However I did find myself confused a couple of times. It is good to refresh your memory at least with part one of the Deathly Hallows. I didn’t recall Hagrid getting kidnapped at any time, but there he was, held prisoner.
3 I absolutely love the way the Snape (Alan Rickman) story wrapped up. Truly a tragic hero. And of course, I too reveled in the glorious moments featuring Neville (Matthew Lewis). Everyone was great, but these two supporting characters were the most fun to watch.
4 It was exciting to see this film in London on its opening week. Harry’s King’s Cross comment made the audience laugh, and me as well as I now knew exactly what he was referring to.
5 Too bad about the epilogue. I wish there was a different way to pull that off without using different actors, but I guess that would be too difficult. There was definitely laughter in the theatre when each character appeared in such overdone make-up it really looked like a school play with teenagers playing adults. I know this scene is also in the book but maybe some animation or character updates would have been a better way to go.

RECOMMENDATION: See it in theatres
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Horrible Bosses, Cars 2

TV: My Emmy Dream Ballot

The Emmy nominations are being announced mid-July. I’ll be in Europe at the time, so I thought I would let you know who and what I would nominated if I had the ultimate Emmy power. These are not predictions, just my dream ballot.. Again I don’t do miniseries and I also thought I would add the fun category of Main Titles. Enjoy.

Drama Series
Boardwalk Empire; Dexter; Friday Night Lights; The Killing; Man Men; The Walking Dead

Comedy Series
30 Rock; Big Bang Theory; Louie; Modern Family; The Office; Park & Recreation

Lead Actor – Drama
Sean Bean as Ned Stark (Game of Thrones); Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson (Boardwalk Empire); Kyle Chandler as Coach Taylor (Friday Night Lights); Michael C Hall as Dexter (Dexter); Jon Hamm as Don Draper (Mad Men); Peter Krause as Adam Braverman (Parenthood)

Lead Actress – Drama
Kathy Bates as Harry Korn (Harry’s Law); Connie Britton as Tami Taylor (Friday Night Lights); Mireille Enos as Sarah Linden (The Killing); Lauren Graham as Sarah Braverman (Parenthood); Summer Glau as Orwell (The Cape); Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson (Mad Men)

Lead Actor – Comedy
Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy (30 Rock); Louis CK as Louis (Louie); Matt LeBlanc as Matt LeBlanc (Episodes); Zachary Levi as Chuck (Chuck); Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper (Big Bang Theory); Josh Radnor as Ted Mosby (How I Met Your Mother)

Lead Actress – Comedy
Courtney Cox as Jules Cobb (Cougar Town); Kaley Cuoco as Penny (Big Bang Theory); Tina Fey as Liz Lemon (30 Rock); Melissa McCarthy as Molly Flynn (Mike & Molly); Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope (Parks & Recreation)

Supporting Actor – Drama
Scott Caan as Danny Williams (Hawaii Five-0); Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister (Game of Thrones); Jackie Earle Haley as Gurrero (Human Target); Joel Kinnaman as Stephen Holder (The Killing); John Noble as Dr. Walter Bishop (Fringe); Steven Yeun as Glenn (Walking Dead)

Supporting Actress – Drama
Jennifer Carpenter as Debra Morgan (Dexter); Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones); Christina Hendricks as Joan Harris (Mad Men); Kelly Macdonald as Margaret Schroeder (Boardwalk Empire); Archie Panjabi as Kalinda Sharma (The Good Wife); Mae Whitman as Amber Holt (Parenthood)

Supporting Actor – Comedy
Creed Bratton as Creed Bratton (The Office); Donald Glover as Troy Barns (Community); Nolan Gould as Luke Dunphy (Modern Family); Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother); Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson (Parks & Recreation); Damon Wayans Jr. as Brad (Happy Endings)

Supporting Actress – Comedy
Mayim Bialik as Amy Farrah Fowler (Big Bang Theory); Eliza Coupe as Jane (Happy Endings); Mindy Kaling as Kelly Kapoor (The Office); Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate (Parks & Recreation); Sofia Vergara as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett (Modern Family); Kristen Wiig as Various Characters (SNL)

Writing – Drama
Boardwalk Empire – Belle Femme; Dexter – Take It; House – Bombshells; The Killing – Undertow; Mad Men – The Chrysanthemum and The Sword; The Walking Dead – Tell it to the Frogs

Writing – Comedy
Community – Cooperative Calligraphy; Episodes – Episode 107; Modern Family – Caught in the Act; The Office – Garage Sale; Parks & Recreation – The Fight; 30 Rock – Reaganing

Main Titles Boardwalk Empire; Game of Thrones; Luther; Rubicon; The Walking Dead

Film: Larry Crowne

GENRE: Romantic Comedy
RATING: PG-13 for brief language & sexual content
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 33 minutes
STARRING: Tom Hanks (Charlie Wilson’s War, The Terminal) Julia Roberts (Charlie Wilson’s War, Eat Pray Love, Closer)
DIRECTOR: Tom Hanks (That Thing You Do!)
WRITERS: Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) Tom Hanks (That Thing You Do!, From the Earth to the Moon)
PLOT: A middle-aged man reinvents himself by going to college and taking a speech course. Romance ensues with his teacher.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 The only word I could use to describe this film is cute. There’s nothing much to this film. Cute moments. That’s all. If I wanted to see comedy at community college, I would just watch Community on NBC.
2 Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts have both been in some of the greatest romantic comedies of all time (Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, Notting Hill, Pretty Woman), but for Larry Crowne, it really seems like they are just phoning it in. I really think they just wanted to spend time talking to each other between takes, because there is not much chemistry on screen. Disappointing.
3 Wilmer Valderrama (That 70s Show) is slightly fun as the jealous boyfriend but really he’s just playing an older mature version of Fez.
4 This movie is definitely for older audiences. A quick scan after the movie was over and we realized we were surrounded by white haired individuals. Scary.
5 The ending credits are awful. Even if you loved the film, the credits would make you raise an eyebrow at the corniness mixed with lame editing green screen shots. What was Hanks thinking?

RECOMMENDATION: TBS
UPCOMING REVIEWS: 2011 Emmy nominations

Film: The Tree of Life

GENRE: Drama
RATING: PG-13 for thematic material
RUNTIME: 2 hour and 19 minutes
STARRING: Brad Pitt (Babel, Inglorious Basterds)
Jessica Chastain (The Help) Hunter McCracken (newcomer)
DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick (Thin Red Line, The New World)
WRITER: Terrence Malick (Thin Red Line, Days of Heaven )
PLOT: A boy in the 1950s grows up under the stress of nature/nurture parenting. The creation of the world also factors in.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 This may very well be the most beautifully shot film I have ever seen. The visuals are spellbinding. If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve only seen a glimpse of what this movie has to offer. If this film doesn’t get a cinematography Oscar nomination, I’ll be dumbstruck.
2 Malick is able to get some great emotion out of his actors, even if he has to do some unconventional editing to get it. There are numerous scenes where Malick keeps cutting to a different take in order to experience the emotion he is going for.
3 There’s not much dialogue in this film, it makes you interpret through the visuals. Malick also shows the creation story through some mind-blowing sequences. Planet Earth series, eat your heart out. Malick’s storytelling in unconventional to say the least and some do not like his methods. This was evident in the 10 people who left the theatre near the beginning of the film. They weren't up for something different apparently; maybe they should see Transformers 3.
4 Brad Pitt is a jerk in this film. He does it well. His stern father character is despicable at times but you can’t turn away from him. McCracken who plays his firstborn is also pretty engaging as he slowly becomes unhinged as the tension at home increases.
5 There is such a strong sense of realism in the way the characters interact on screen. The three boys play so well together, you would swear the actors were actually brothers. Throw Chastain’s idealistic turn as the loving mother only makes the scenes even riper with family harmony. Amazing work.

RECOMMENDATION: Visuals – theatre, story - DVD
UPCOMING REVIEWS: 2011 Emmy nominations