movie

<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373889/">IMDB Link</a>

Opened in Korea. 11 July 2007

How I saw it. CGV 3D IMAX

Plot. After returning to Hogwarts to begin his fifth year at Hogwarts, Harry Potter discovers that much of the wizarding world, including the Ministry of Magic, is in denial about Lord Voldemort's return. The Order of the Phoenix, a group sworn against Voldemort, is using its vast array of wizards and witches magical abilities to combat Voldemort. Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, suspects that Dumbledore is using these claims of The Dark Lord's return as a means to over-throw Fudge as Minister. In retaliation, a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is appointed by the Ministry in order to keep an eye on Hogwarts. This new teacher, Professor Umbridge, implies strict new teachings and rules, forcing a group of students, under the tutelage of Harry, to form a club, by the name of Dumbledore's Army.


Now for this review, I am going to assume that you have read the book. If you have not yet read the book, then stop reading this review right now! I will be spoiling the film and book for you.

I have no idea why they insist on making Harry Potter into a 2 hour film, the story is at the point where 3 to 3.5 hours is needed to tell his complete chapter. This is a good film but it could have been so much better and that's what is so frustrating about this film, What could have been.

Now let's talk about what went wrong with this film.

1. The aftermath of the Dementors attack. All we are shown in the film is the one letter sent by the ministry. We are not shown anything else. What was really missing was the fact that his Aunt Petunia knew what a dementor actually was. I just have a weird feeling that in the next book, this fact is going to be played out.

2. Harry's lack of anger at the beginning. The film never really lets him show just how alone he feels until the middle and the beginning  of the film really suffers from it.

3. The reduction of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Dumbledore in this film. If you have read the book, this will make sense. I do not understand why they are slowly being written out of the film when they all pay huge roles in the next chapter.

4. Cho Chang. Now I have no idea why this was done in the film but, in the book Marietta Edgecombe is the one who betrays Dumbledore's Army, but the betrayal is instead committed by Cho in the film, effectively ending her relationship with Harry, but is later revealed to have been under the influence of Veritaserum while interrogated by Umbridge, dropping the whole hexed parchment storyline altogether. This made no sense at all and I thought really hurt the film.

5. Sirius Black. Now I have no idea why his role was reduced, but the two parts that did not be removed were his argument with Snape and his talk with Harry about what Harry saw during his Occlumency. Both of these events lead to Harry's total hatred of Snape. This becomes very important in the next chapter.

6. The total removal of the return of Rita Skeeter. This is where Harry tells all about what has happened to him and what really went down last year. It also omits "The Quibbler" With this removal, Harry's main school enemy ,Draco Malfoy, is reduced to a petty bully and this will really hurt the next chapter.

7. The reduction of Twin Weasley's escape scene, what could have been a lynch pin to a great scene and a much better movie, we are given a 1 minute show.

Now Lets talk about what went right with this movie

1. Luna Lovegood. I knew this was going to be a hard role to cast but Evanna Lynch pulls it off very nicely. She soon becomes the one person that can talk to Harry and at the same time becomes a voice of reason. This was a great choice.

2. Neville Longbottom. It was nice to see that they are allowing him to grow and to show that he is slowly overcoming his self doubt.

3. Umbridge. You will really believe that she is trying her best to blindly follow orders. I loved all of the cat plates that were in her office.

Now for the 3-D part of the Imax film that I saw.

You will be told when to put the glasses and when to take them off. I am glad that they put the last 15 minutes into 3-D IMAX, when you see Sirius being hit and falling into a mist like vapor, with the 3-D, it looked like a real passing into the next plane. When you see the battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort, in 3-D it was just like you had a ring side seat to a great boxing match. The end of the 3-D was the best when Harry finally figures out that he can love and Voldemort can't. Harry wins this round of the larger battle.

The end was way too short. I wish that it would have had a longer talk between Harry and Dumbledore. It seemed rushed and too short. It did not show Harry dealing with the loss of the only family that he had.

In the end we are left with a good film, if you have not read the book. If you have read the book, you are left wondering, "What could have been." All of the pieces for this film to be a great film was there for the taking and David Yates,the films director, wasted a golden opportunity and instead gives us HP 5, The Lite Version.

Grade. C-

IMDB link

Opens in Korea. Unknown

How I saw it. Cam Copy

Opening Weekend in USA  $3,948,863   1,355 Theaters  June 22-24th 2007

Plot. The film is based on Mariane Pearl's account of the terrifying and unforgettable story of her husband, Wall Street Journal reporter Danny Pearl's life and death.

To be honest I did not want to see this film. I have seen the actual video of Mr. Pearl being decapitated. I WILL NOT POST ANY LINK TO THAT HORRID VIDEO. Also, when Fox News was banned from the premier, it sent the wrong signals. After watching it, I came to the conclusion that we have 2 very different films in this one and because of that we are left with one huge mess.

For the part of the film that I liked, the Pakistani Police. The job that they did in finding the people who killed Mr. Pearl was a great step by step way how this crime was committed. Now if you are highly upset about police officers doing what needed to be done, then you might just want to skip this film all together. Irfan Khan does a great job as the Pakistani police Captain who is determined to find Mr. pearl alive.

Now here is where I find myself agreeing with Asra Q. Nomani.

(She was a friend and colleague of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was staying with her in Karachi with his wife Mariane Pearl when he was abducted and later murdered by Islamic militants in January 2002. She is shown in the film by standing by Mrs. Pearl and awaiting the news of his fate)

Nomani argued "...that Danny himself had been cut from his own story." Washington Post. <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/22/AR200706... Mighty Shame</a>

Thats where the film totally lost me, instead of focusing in on Daniel we are shown Mariane story and I kept asking myself why? Her story hurt the film and took away from the real focus of finding Mr. Pearl.

They do not show the video of his killing, they do show that they found the video and they do show the reaction to the video. I thought that was done with good taste. The film is dedicated to their son Adam.

Overall, the film is a mess and is not worth the 100 minutes time that it will take to watch it.

Grade D+

IMDB LINK

Opens in Korea. 19 July 2007

How I Saw it. Cam Copy

Opening weekend in USA. 33,150,000     3,408  Theaters  June 29- July 1,2007

Plot. When a criminal plot is in place to take down the entire computer and technological structure that supports the economy of the United States (and the world), it's up to a decidedly "old school" hero, police detective John McClane, to take down the conspiracy, with the help of a young hacker.

Well it is another Die Hard movie and once again John McClane, is the anti-hero.

The story is simple enough, a man wants revenge and the money that he feels that he is due and only one person can stop him, our boy John! One other thing that is different in this one is the rating. This one is PG-13. The other 3 have all been rated "R".

I did not think that a "Die Hard" film would work with a PG rating, to be honest I am glad that I was wrong.

SPOILER ALERT.......

The film is a typical Die Hard film. His life has gone to the toilet, he is divorced and his kids don't even want to talk to him. He is going home after an argument with his daughter and he gets a call to pick up a small time computer hacker, but as we know with John, nothing is ever that easy.

What I loved was the villain in this movie, Gabriel (played by Timothy Olyphant.) He was a computer programmer who told the Pentagon that their system was very unsecure and no one believed him. Then he decided to get revenge and in the process get rich. When you hear of his plain, it made sense. He and Willis have great chemistry and it shows throughout the film.

END SPOILER ALERT


The film deserves to be seen as spoiler free as possible so I will end the review by stating please see it, if you love action films then this is a good choice.

Grade B+


Gabriel: On your tombstone it will say always in the wrong place at the wrong time.
John McClane: How about Yippie-ki-yay- mother------. 

Evan Almighty Opens in Korea. July 26 2007 How I saw it. KVCD Cam Opening Weekend in USA. $31,192,615 3,604 Theaters Jun 22-24th 2007 Plot. The last time we saw Evan Baxter (Steve Carell), he was being tormented by rival Bruce Nolan on screen, live from their Buffalo TV station. But as time passed and Evan has made up with Bruce, he's gone onto bigger and better things. Newly elected to Washington D.C. as a congressman, Evan has left Buffalo, New York in pursuit of a greater calling. But that calling isn't serving in the illustrious ranks of America's politics, but being summoned by the Almighty himself (Morgan Freeman), who has handed Evan the task of building a new ark, much as Noah did before. With time passing by and his family belittled by Evan's newfound realization, Evan will have to do the work that God has given him in what promises to be an unusual adventure for a man who just wanted to serve his country, might actually be serving humanity. Well, once again, Hollywood has decided to make a sequel to a Jim Carrey film. Once again the sequel, does not include Mr. Carrey. Once again, the film falls flat on its face. It what is now the most expensive comedy film ever made (At a cost of 175 Million US $), the comedy film left me wondering where all of the $ went to because it sure did not go into the humor. I go to a comedy film, because I want to laugh, sad to say I did not laugh at this film much at all. One of the problems of the film was, what kind of a message is this film trying to send. Was it a "Faith" film, that would want to make you rededicate yourself to the glory of God? Was it a "Green" film, that wants you to protect the Earth creatures and its environment. Was it a film about how a man had it all and lost it all, or was the film a critic of the "Greed is Good" motto? The film had so many messages, that it was tripping over itself and the lack of humor in this comedy suffers for it. This film could be the beginning of the end for Steve Carell. He has a few more high project films coming up but will this be the film that scares everyone off his band wagon? In the end, it tries to make you laugh, but with a PC hammer attached, it just fails to connect and allot of $ will be lost because of that. If you have little kids, they will love it because of all of the animals, but after that, please pass on this one. Grade. D+

<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418279/">Transformers</a>

Opened in Korea 28 June 2007
Opens in USA    02 July 2007

How I saw it. CGV Digital.

Plot. (HUGE SPOILER PLOT)A long time ago, far away on the planet of Cybertron, a war was being waged between the noble Autobots (led by the wise Optimus Prime) and the devious Decepticons (commanded by the dreaded Megatron) for control over the Allspark, a mystical talisman that would grant unlimited power to whoever possessed it. The Autobots managed to smuggle the Allspark off the planet, but Megatron blasted off in search of it. He eventually tracked it to the planet of Earth (circa 1850), but his reckless desire for power sent him right into the Arctic Ocean, and the sheer cold forced him into a paralyzed state. His body was later found by Captain Archibald Witwicky, and before going into a comatose state Megatron used the last of his energy to engrave a map, showing the location of the Allspark, into the Captain's glasses, and send a transmission to Cybertron. He is then carted away by the Captain's ship. A century later, Sam Witwicky, nicknamed Spike by his friends, buys his first car. To his shock, he discovers it to be Bumblebee, an Autobot in disguise who is to protect Spike, as he bears the Captain's glasses and the map carved on them. But Bumblebee is not the only Transformer to have arrived on Earth - in the desert of Qatar, the Decepticons Blackout and Scorponok attack a U.S. military base, causing the Pentagon to send their special Sector Seven agents to capture all "specimens of this alien race," and Spike and his girlfriend Mikaela find themselves in the middle of a grand battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons, stretching from Hoover Dam all the way to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, within the depths of the Pentagon, the cryogenically stored form of Megatron awakens...



HUGE SPOILER REVIEW...............................................................


To be honest, I was never a fan of the 1980's version of the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086817/">Transformers</a> 1980's TV show. To me it was just too over the top and nothing really interesting even happened in the cartoon. So when I heard that Michael Bay was going to direct a movie of this. The first thought that occurred to me was this film going to be another <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399201/">Island</a> or would it be another one of his mindless popcorn film with a stupid love triangle thrown in. (AKA <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213149/">Pearl Harbor</a>. I am glad to report that it was neither and, for once, Michael Bay actually does a good job with this film.

The film is what you would expect from a summer blockbuster. It has great special effects, a hero that you can cheer for and a villain that you want to see die. It has the geeky hero, a hot babe and just some parents that just don't understand. It also has a secret government agency that almost destroys the day by getting into the heroes way.

Now lets discus the 2 main heroes in this film, Sam 'Spike' Witwicky (played by Shia LaBeoulf)and Captain Lennox (Played by John Duhamel. What I liked about their story is that they are both heroes but they showed how they achieved it using very different means. You see the Captain wanting to save his men lives, so they can all return home. You will also see that he wants to go home and hold his little girl for the first time.

Sam's story it the a-typical geek story that we have seen in prior films. He is a geek, who is secretly in love with a hot girl and he does not know what to do. Watch the first 25 minutes of the film and you will see how his transformer car helps him out with the love of his live. I was laughing, because it was funny how the cheesy love songs were used to win the heart of the young lady.

I think that it is safe to say that these 2 actors (LaBeoulf and Duhamel) are taking the next step into becoming great actors and their next films should be interesting to watch.

I really liked how they selected some of the smaller roles in the film, You had Bernie Mac as a used car salesman, you had Anthony Anderson as a computer geek who you knew would be funny. You also had John Turturro as the head of a secret government association and Peter Cullen as the original voice of "Optimus Prime"

What really worked for me were the roles of Sector 7 agent Banachek (Michael O'Neill) and the Secretary of Defense (John Voight)When they appeared on the screen you could actually believe, by the way that they were acting, that they really were who they said that they were.

As of today, they are plaining at least 2 sequels to this film and during the credits they leave that part wide open for the next chapter in this story.


END SPOILER ALERTS...................................................

Overall if you want to see a good "popcorn" film, then this one will work for you, please see it in digital if you can. It really helped to improve the sound of the film.

Grade: A-

Sam 'Spike' Witwicky: I bought a car. Turn out to be an alien robot... who knew?