The Deathly Hallows (Part 1) I can’t believe I didn’t write this after I saw it on opening weekend. Better late than never! If you’ve read anything I’ve written on here, you probably know I’m a big Potter fan, so I’m pretty biased on this series. With that said, Part 1 turned out much better than I thought it would. Reason being, there has been so much taken out of the book to make the films, I had no idea how they were going to address some of the most important and detail oriented scenes. For the most part, they made it work. The final book is where everything comes together, tons of background plots come back around to make certain things work. But there is so much left out, it leaves anyone who only watched the movies wonder what the big deal is.

Deathly Hallows was a huge book (as most of the Potter books have been). Many cried foul at the decision of splitting the book into 2 parts and considering the movie turned out to be almost 2 1/2 hours long, it was the right move. It’s the end of an epic story and it deserves as much room as it needs (and the fan base is all for it). I thought the movie flew by, it’s constant moving and actually cuts out a lot of the meandering that the book did.

Most of the film falls squarely on the shoulders of the main 3: Harry, Ron and Hermoine. The whole story is more of an “on the road” tale so most of the standard Potter trappings are gone. No school, no classmates and non-stop danger from the very start. It’s a Nazi like take over in the magical world and the stakes have never been higher. It’s a small miracle that all three actors have stayed through the whole series and have done nothing but gotten better with each chapter. Without them, this movie would have totally fell flat on it’s face. The high production standards stay right on target with Deathly Hallows, the movie truly looks fantastic. Sound direction and soundtrack with beautiful CG and set work.

I’ve heard a lot of people say that “nothing really happened”, which isn’t true. But it’s a clear comment of the flaws of the script that don’t adequately explain how important each event is. For example, Dobby is a big character in the books and he’s really a lynch pin to the story (as is Kretcher) but they are all but absent in the movies. The last scene Dobby is in has no where near the impact that it did in the book. It’s brilliantly done on film, but there is so little background to him that non-readers really don’t understand. Plus, the first half really sets up all of the payoff in the end. It sets up the dominoes to fall (like what the Deathly Hallows are) but nothing is going to be pushed over until part 2. The end of the movie is extremely abrupt, but I can see why they decided to end it there. The audience has most of the pieces in their hands (again, more so for folks who have read the book) but are left holding them until part 2 comes out.

It’ll make much more sense when Part 2 comes out in the Summer and there is no reason not to think it’s going to be fantastic. It’s a real treat the the series has gotten such a good movie translation.

Exit Through The Gift Shop instantly became my favorite documentary of the year. One of my favorite movies of the year really, regardless of genre.

It’s the story of Thierry, a Frenchman in LA who at a young age became obsessed with video recording everything. Around 10 years ago. he takes notice of the underground graffiti art scene and quickly befriends one of the bigger names (Invader). Making friends and involving himself in the process, he makes connections with many artists around the city with his camera with him at all times. He tells everyone that he’s going to make a documentary about graffiti art, but has no intentions to (he has no idea how to make a movie are really doesn’t want to). With a stroke of luck and diligents Thierry meets the legendary Brit artist Banksy. They become friends and partners in crime (as it may be) and all of these influences eventually turn Thierry into “Mr. Brain Wash”, a successful artists who circumvents all of the hard work that the others have done.

This is an amazing story and it’s all true. By the end you’ll be flabbergasted about how Thierry managed to become an ‘artist’. It seems like a joke, but it’s not. Thierry is just a goofball, an interesting personality that got kinda lucky. He seems like a genuine person with no ill will, but his child like attitude and behavior steps on a lot of toes. This movie is the by product of Thierry’s failed movie. He actually manages to edit his thousands of hours of footage into what’s basically an hour and a half random clip reel. Seeing that it’s garbage, Banksy takes it over and by turning the focal point to Thierry, Exit Through The Gift Shop was made.

I can’t push this docu to people enough. It’s just fascinating. It’s really well made, it has a clear and thought full path that ends up pointing out that the art scene is truly made by people. Hype and perception alone makes art (regardless of quality and content) monetarily valuable and thus, desirable.

It’s funny, sad, crazy and mesmerizing all at the same time. Plus, there is some really amazing art with amazing people on display here. Highly recommended.