Avatar (9/10)

Gosh darn you, James Cameron! How did you do it? How were you able to suck out virtually every ounce of skepticism and cynicism that I desperately clung to before and during the first fifteen minutes of the movie? How exactly did you bowl me over with this wondrous new planet (technically, a moon) of Pandora and its cast of familiar characters and been there done that situations? How were you able to take the ordinary and ABRACADABRA transform it into something truly extraordinary? I don’t know how you did it, Mr. Cameron, but damn me if I ever question your status as a true movie magician again.

The Harry Potter Movies (And Why They Fail)

This past summer I, like millions of people worldwide, sat down to enjoy the sixth Harry Potter film. Upon leaving the theatre, I knew that I enjoyed it more than the fifth movie (which was basically David Yates’s “Harry Potter 5’s Greatest Hits”), but didn’t quite know exactly how much I liked it. I mulled it over for a few months, my unease about the movie growing, no longer sure I liked it as much as I thought I did. Now, I know, and knowing David Yates is going to direct the two-parter seventh movie as well, I am more than apprehensive – I’m downright pessimistic.

I’ve always said about book to movie translations: change plot, change characters, names, places, if you must. But keep the spirit of the original. Stay true to what the author was trying to say, because if you’re going to twist the author’s thoughts and ideals, make a different freakin’ movie, because that’s what you’re doing.

Essentially, this is the problem with the Harry Potter series (the last 3 especially).  I’m able to shrug off plot points easily, even if they’re huge holes (Dumbledore disapparating in and out of Hogwarts??), because let’s face it, adapting these big fat books is a monumental task, and as long as you keep the theme, you can’t be expected to include every single detail of JK Rowling’s fully realized world. But as the HP series has gone along, more cuts have been made, reducing the length of the films (apparently the studio doesn’t trust fans that can plough through a 700+ page in a week to sit still for more than two and a half hours), until, I am so sad to say, the point of the series, with this most recent sixth movie, has been lost completely.

Spoilers Ahead

Inglourious Basterds (9/10)

Nearly every camera shot and line of dialog in this movie is pure Tarantino – and yet, it’s probably one of the most mature and airtight films he’s ever directed, a masterwork (not a masterpiece) that weaves all the juicy dialog, larger-than-life characters, and gleeful violence that we’ve come to expect and love from this movie-loving director with a few subtle moral themes and winks to the audiece about violence at the movies and the nature of our response to it.

Top 15 Magic Babes From Movies & TV

My newest Screen Junkies is article is up, just in time for the new Harry Potter coming out this Wednesday. A tribute to famous magical cinematic and televised babes from years past all the way up through to Hermione. Enjoy and please digg!

Public Enemies (5/10)

“My name is John Dillinger, and I rob banks.” One thing that’s very important to understand about this character is that this isn’t just a statement of what he does. It’s his belief in who he is – Michael Mann’s latest pic focuses mostly on how much Dillinger wasn’t thinking about what he would down the line. He just did it, and did it like nobody else could, at the same time managing to break out of a couple of prisons and gain national acclaim and the public’s respect and sympathy. So if this is the case, why is so little of Mann’s epic devoted to prison breaks, bank robberies, or coverage of how much the public loved him?

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (8/10)

Michael Bay doesn’t so much make movies as try to figure out how to fit a plot in between his ridiculously bombastic action scenes. Some people love him for it, some people hate him, but, he really technically doesn’t make truly good movies. (The Rock and The Island are the closest he’s come). With ROTF, he seems to have outdone himself, both in the amount of action that overwhelms the screen and the head-scratchingly complex story crammed into the lulls between the booms.

11 Terminally Typecast Actors

A little belated with this link, but better late than never. From Screen Junkies, my list of 11 Terminally Typecast Actors.

Best and Worst Talking Movie Animals

Another list for Screen Junkies! This one details the absolute trash of the live action wisecracking animal world, as well as some of those classic babbling beasts that made us laugh and love. (Shoot me for that schmaltz.)

Enjoy the 5 Best & Worst Talking Animals!

Some Thoughts on Film Criticism

Talking back and forth with commenters around the web and in discussion with my friends over the past three or four years, I’ve been fascinated by all the different methods of film “criticism” that can go on – meaning everything from shrugging your shoulders at a movie and saying, “meh,” to deconstructing its plot in a two-hour discussion afterward. As a a critic, I believe there is something to be said for looking deeper into the movies we watch, beyond mere entertainment, and actually appreciating craftsmanship, and I try to express these thoughts in word when I write a review. I resent it when critics are all branded as one body whose only job is to be movie killjoys and pick apart movies that are “just meant to be fun” or enjoy “snooty, uppity, artistic movies.” There is a place for every single kind of movie, from escapist kid-friendly “Spy Kids,” to long, lovelorn epics like “Atonement.”

9 Most Obnoxious Movie Watchers….

….has now been dugg over 1,000 times over at Digg.com! Pop open the champagne, we gotta celebrate!

Oh yeah, and just in case you were wondering, here’s the article itself, courtesy of Screen Junkies. Enjoy, dear reader.