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Monday, July 13, 2009
Before the Potter storm - what are you watching?
Harry Potter and the Massive Juggernaut, AKA Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens this Wednesday (unless you want to see the IMAX/partly 3D version, which opens July 29).
Amusing aside: The way my screening pass printed out, it looks like the title of the movie is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Eric Robinette. Wow. I didn’t know I had it in me.
My review will post Tuesday, in advance of the midnight screenings, so that means there will have to be some shuffling on the blog this week. Today I’ll cover Tuesday’s DVD releases and ask the weekly What Are You Watching question.
DVDs
The Haunting in Connecticut: Even though I’ve heard the movie isn’t so bad, I’m still wondering if this is truly the best material an actress as talented as Virginia Madsen can find. Seriously.
12: My favorite court drama of all time is 12 Angry Men, so I was curious to see how this Russian version, an Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, would compare. The answer is, very well. This film follows the outline of the original pretty closely (12 jurors debate the fate of a young man accused of killing his father), but makes the dynamics between the 12 a bit different and takes some detours into the life of the defendant. Those detours distract from the jurors and make the film run a bit longer than it should, but it’s fascinating to see the story play out in a Russian milieu. GRADE: B+
What I’ve Watched
The Thief of Baghdad: If this isn’t one of the best adventure movies I’ve seen, it’s certainly one of the most vibrantly colorful. I saw it on TCM, and even there, the colors popped off the screen. I can only imagine how it must look on DVD. And it’s fun to see just how much material Disney pilfered from this movie when they made Aladdin; there’s even a dotty sultan character much like Princess Jasmine’s father. Great old-fashioned fun. GRADE: A
Waltz With Bashir: I missed this when it was in theaters earlier this year, and having seen it, I’m very sorry I missed it on the big screen. The visuals, composed with stylized flash animation are dazzlingly surreal, making this one of the most unique films I’ve seen in recent years. After all, how many animated war documentaries are there? A must-see for arthouse fans. GRADE: A
What have you seen lately, whether it’s in theaters, on TV, or on DVD?
