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.

Here’s a great interview about one of my favorite films of the year. Easily the best documentary of the year, everyone needs to see it. I should have my review up by the end of this week.

The Expendables is the mother of all action movies! Cast wise anyway. Stallone, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundren, Bruce Willis and Schwarzenegger (in cameos) and few “new” action stars to fill out the rest.

Stallon built a movie around a team of bad ass dudes with a tip of the hat to 80’s action movies. These guys are mercs, ready to take off and bust shit up with the right amount of pay behind it. Off to South America where a dictator with a US FBI agent gone rogue cohort is kick starting a drug ring. Seeing a good reason to fight, Sly brings his team in.

It’s an easy action movie to digest, with some really cool moments. Everyone does their parts well, with some guys getting ignored more than others. But for the action pedigree behind it, how did this movie come out with such terrible direction and editing in the action scenes? The old crutch of “shoot close and cut as fast as possible” is out of control. Jet Li might have some fantastic choreography in his fight scenes but it’s cut so fast you don’t know what’s going on. The finale is a good 15 minutes of mayhem, but the scenes are shot so dark, close and fast that I couldn’t tell who was who. Doesn’t help that everyone is wearing the exact same thing. I was confusing Jet Li with dudes who are at least a foot taller than him. It just turns into a mess of people running around, with no sense of where are what anyone is doing.

Worth a rental and not much more. A sequel could (and should) be made a lot better.

The Karate Kid– Reboot! A well done one which is always good to see. Jaden Smith is on his way to being a star, I’m sure he’ll just get better with age. There are a few lines where his father posseses his body for a few yucks and there are a skant few eye rolling moments, but it was a touching fish out of water story. It was a huge move on getting Jackie Chan to take on the Mr. Miyagi role. I love him as it as and he brought a believable and soft touch to his mentor character. Looks like Jaden really worked his ass off in training, the action scenes were well done, if few and far between. Long run time though, more than 2 hours for this is really pushing it, but it was never obnoxious. The original is pretty dated now, I really don’t think anyone got too up in arms and yelled “blasphemy!” on this reboot. Helps a lot that it turned out well.

Green Zone– Director Paul Greengrass and the always enjoyable Matt Damon re-team to make a non-Bourne movie. This one takes place in the Middle East when US forces when on the hunt for the Weapons of Mass Destruction back in 2003. Here we see the false information “first hand” as the US Army whirls around looking for the shit that was never there. I didn’t see anything really wrong with the movie, Greengrass managed not to shake a hand held camera until it broke, so that’s a treat. Matt is one of the best actors in Hollywood working today and this movie fits into his resume nicely. It’s a fast paced movie with lots of running around, shoot outs, secrets and lies. Worth checking out.

Hot Tub Time Machine– Four long time friends take a retreat to their old ski lodge in the mountains hang out where they unwittingly take a ride through time thanks to the hot tube in their suite. They’re brought back to the 80’s and have a chance to relive and change what they did 30 years ago. It’s a goofy premise and a goofy movie. They wisely don’t take themselves too seriously and don’t fall on the old crutch of “Hey that cell phone is HUGE!” type gags. Nothing is beaten into the ground so there is nothing that’ll make you shut the movie off in disgust. It’s got a strong cast, but it’s a love it or hate it movie. Certainly helps if you were alive in the 80’s. I enjoyed it, funnier than I thought it was going to be, but honestly I thought it was going to be a complete bomb.

Clash of the Titans– Hollywood Summer Blockbuster. The less you pay to watch it, the better you feel by the end of it. Greek mythology generally entertains me and I like Sam Worthington as Perseus. He looks like a guy who could handle the gods wrath. There is more CG at play here than you can shake a stick at and it’s mostly very good. The 3D conversion for the theatrical run was reportedly a complete disaster, but that eye sore wasn’t at play here. Gigantic action set pieces, epic score, the stuff only Hollywood excels at.

Cop Out– More disappointing than anything. You would think Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan could work in a buddy cop movie but it’s…boring. Bruce Willis is just running through the numbers and Tracy Morgan is wacky. Terrific. Just no good jokes for them to work with. Seann William Scott is the best part of the movie and he has a tiny role. Kevin Smith directs and it’s nothing special there (shocking, I know). He’s got some terrible music choices that are so dated and cliche it’s silly. Can’t recommend it.

I’ve watched a lot of stuff in the passed 2 months or so, here’s the skinny.

The Last Airbender Based on the first season of the Nickelodeon cartoon, “Avatar: The Last Airbender” this movie probably shouldn’t have been made. Regardless of who was involved in it, I think the show is just too much to fit into a movie, even as a trilogy. That pretty much shows up in the final product. The movie got horrific reviews, but I didn’t think it was that bad. The problem is, the movie was the skeleton of the TV show, the bare plot points to get the story to the end. The show lived on the brilliant characters that you followed and learned to love. Everyone has a story arc and that was missing from this movie. You don’t understand who anyone really is, where they are from and how they interact each other. The first season is 20 episodes, the whole show is really an epic tale. That sense of grandeur, the time, the locations, the people were totally absent from the movie. Technically it’s a well made movie, it just comes off as hallow. Watch the show instead.

Repo Men– In the not too distant future, replacing human organs is a routine procedure. Paying for them is the real challenge. Jude Law and Forest Whitaker star in this gruesome look at the future. Health and finances are on everyone’s minds these days, Repo Men is like an extreme take on where we could be headed. Repo Men are the ones who come for the companies property….you don’t own that new heart/living/kidney/other until you pay for it in full. What happens when a Repo Man becomes the person he usually cuts open? It’s a pretty cool idea with a mixed result. It’s hard to recommend to everyone (the uncut version I saw is pretty graphic) and the end leaves something to desire. It uses an old bait and switch technique to set you up for a twist, but it comes off as more of a stupid trick than anything else.

Predators– Predator has a really odd legacy to it. Everyone loves the first one, not much (cinema wise) has ever really lived up to it. From a decent sequel to some rather unconvincing spin offs with Aliens it seems like Hollywood has a hard time coming through with a solid monster movie with one of the coolest ideas for a monster around. Predators is a step in the right direction, it wasn’t as good as I hoped but there was some real fun to be had. The local is taken back to the jungle where a group of dangerous strangers are dropped into a battle ground foreign to them all. Team up to survive, or get picked off one by one. The movie retains a lot of what made the original so cool; the isolation, the uncertainty, the thrill of the hunt and the strategy to survive it. A fun cat and mouse game with a rather needless character twist near the end.

Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief– I actually abbreviated the title from it’s way too long title just so I would be able to write less about it. This is kind of unfair to say, but this book turned movie is just trying to be the next Harry Potter but it just feels like a pale imitation in everyway. Instead of magic there is a Greek mythology angle to the proceedings (which, to be fair HP pulls a lot of ideas from) but I couldn’t find a paper thin character to really like. Maybe Brandon Jackson’s character Grover who actually has personality and does manage to be funny sometimes (which is pretty clutch for the comic relief). Feels really generic and uninteresting.

The WolfmanThis one had a rough time during production and wasn’t really received well. It’s a straight up monster movie. Just take the old werewolf story you know, the same location you know and put in some characters you don’t know. Benicio Del Toro (I’m a fan) get’s bit by a werewolf that’s he was called in to investigate which basically ruins his day. They went with the gory horror route as this Wolfman is a rough individual who doesn’t go easy on anyone. You don’t see people get attacked, you see them get straight up mauled by a hell hound. That’s the long and short of it, you’re going to be interested in that or not. Anthony Hopkins holds it down as Del Toro’s father which was another treat. It’s unoriginal, but it was made well and it kept me entertained.

MacGruber– Yeah, it’s stupid. That’s why it was good. Don’t get me wrong, more jokes than not hit the dirt with a thud, but there is some really funny shit here. The movie started as a skit on SNL that’s obviously a spoof of the 1980’s TV show MacGyver. It’s pretty surprising it took so long for someone to make that movie, but here it is. It doesn’t take itself seriously, it just parodies everything it can and flings curses out every chance it gets. If you’ve got nothing better to do, you could do a lot worse than watching this. I’m a fan of what Will Forte does, so that makes me a bit biased on this one.

Prince of Persia sits near the top of video game to movie translations. Normally that’s not saying much, but PoP: Sands of Time is a really fun movie. An adventure in the desert, PoP is one of the better summer movies this year.

Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) was just an orphan on the streets when he was picked by the King after defending his friend. He was given a home,love, a family. Growing to be a man, Dastan’s real troubles begin when he’s framed for the King’s murder. Dastan’s destiny is intertwined with princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) who together must stop the villian bent on using the godly power of the Sands of Time to take over the world, which means armaggedon. It’s in the same vain as The Mummy which is another movie I really like (we won’t mention the sequel though).

It’s a really well made movie, it exceeded my expectations in pretty much every category. The writing is really well done, they captured the relationship of the Prince and Princess from the 2003 game that shares the same name (I highly recommend playing it, it’s one of the best games from the Xbox/PS2/Gamecube generation). They even have subtle nods to the game sprinkled throughout that don’t seem out of place or distracting if you know the source material or not. The plot, it’s twists and resolution were all really thought out and work without insulting the audience (hey Transformers). I really can’t think of anything to complain about. The FX are really good, action scenes are grandiose and the stunt work is done exceptionally well. Maybe I’m a sucker for sword fighting, but that mixed with the parkour action work really well together. Careful direction and editing keep things clear and moving along with a great soundtrack and cast (I think I have a crush on Gemma now) to round things out.

It’s a fun movie that I recommend to anyone looking for some easy to digest action. Sit back and enjoy!