You may remember that two years ago, I had very unflattering things to say about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, allegedly a “spin-off” from and “prequel” to the Harry Potter films, but more honestly an attempt at squeezing a few bajillion more dimes out of J.K. Rowling’s now-classic YA series. To paraphrase Sarah Silverman in Popstar: … Continue reading
Unsurprisingly, the second part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is one massive climax from start to finish. What else did anyone expect? Part one heroically bit the bullet and allowed itself to bear the weight of the novel’s filler, martyr-like, so that part two could act like an unrelenting, two-hour-and-change action scene in … Continue reading
The end has come, but not really so much at all, no. Seeing the first half of the two-part finale to the Harry Potter saga, I can fully appreciate the artistic need to break the book apart; even more, I can better admire J.K. Rowling’s gargantuan, overstuffed seventh novel and the scope of both the … Continue reading
If you didn’t know that you were watching the latest installment in the Harry Potter series, if you hadn’t bought the ticket yourself and sat through the opening credits, then the odds are good that you wouldn’t know what, exactly, you were watching in the film’s first scene, in which swirling black apparitions wreak havoc … Continue reading
A movie so thick with dialogue, kink, suppressed violence, period references, and sexy sex that I’m not sure I really got it all the first time around. Continue reading
What happens when a person doesn’t think their reality is their reality and that their actions have no consequences? Nothin’ good. Continue reading
Just gonna pat myself on the back for this headline, what a stroke of genius. Continue reading
Andy likes an Alex Ross Perry movie, and it’s all thanks to Independent Film Festival Boston! (Well: Also, it’s thanks to Alex Ross Perry.) Continue reading
I wonder if I’m being overly critical of Twilight here, suggesting that it’s Twilight‘s fault YA has apparently moved on from genre to more reality-based material; I do very much loathe Twilight, because I love hewing to popular opinion, but at the same time I’m grateful for it as a basis for the careers of Robert Pattinson … Continue reading
I’m sort of a career goof, and so I have a natural inclination toward characters who are also career goofs. Meaning, there’s more than one reason why I compare Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s Mary and the Witch’s Flower to Harry Potter. There’s the obvious reason – they’re both about schools for young witches! – and there’s the secondary reason, which … Continue reading
“Georgia Byng’s precocious literary moppet, Molly Moon, missed the boat with Harry Potter in the aughts and failed to make the journey across the pond to American shores. Many years later, though, she’s managed to get herself a ticket into U.S. theaters with Christopher N. Rowley’s Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism, which … Continue reading
Doubling up again on the show’s second season installments, this week I ponder and analyze the events of the fifth and sixth episodes of S2– including the shocking reduction in overall nakedness, the repercussions of poorly-employed authority, and the inexperience of youth. Continue reading
This week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled the entries for each of their twenty four categories in anticipation of this year’s 84th Academy Awards show. As is always the case, response among critics and film writers has been mixed, characterized by raised eyebrows, occasional high praise and pleasant surprise, and most … Continue reading
2010, as a cinematic year, left me somewhat cold. I distinctly remember having a difficult time choosing my annual top ten, for two reasons. One, this time last year I’d only seen about thirty-ish movies; that’s not a very wide range of movies to choose from, though I was certainly able to muster ten films … Continue reading
Another year, another film about films and the spirit of filmmaking itself. Leave it to the legendary Martin Scorsese, though, to take the opportunity to fuse together a picture of that persuasion on a grand, macro scale which spans more than a century instead of honing in on a more intimate examination of the craft. … Continue reading
…a movie based on a book you may not have read yet and might not be aware of if not for rags like Entertainment Weekly enthusiastically jamming the upcoming film adaptation down your damn throat at every opportunity. I’m not bitter, really. Color me more perplexed. If you ask EW— or any other major media … Continue reading
Well, I’ll say this for the marketing team behind Game of Thrones— they can’t be accused of false advertising. Baelor and Fire and Blood wrap up the first season of the series, and what a pair of episodes they are. I don’t think I need to warn anyone reading this of imminent spoilers, so with … Continue reading
“Quality” and “HBO original series” tend to go hand in hand, and for good reason. The Home Box Office has a well-established track record of excellence in its programming, from the iconic and hugely successful Sopranoes, to more short-lived but no less excellent shows such as Deadwood and Carnivale. So the idea of HBO offering … Continue reading
What makes the efforts of one director superior to those of another? If one person wins Best Director, does it stand to reason that they should also win Best Picture? I had these two questions– and sub-questions pertaining to both, as well as variations on each of said questions– rolling around in my head after … Continue reading
For me, 2010’s in the bag, but it’s not totally wrapped up until I take the time to ruminate over the upcoming slate of movies in 2011 that excite me, discourage me, intrigue me, or puzzle/offend me (and, of course, also post the rest of my top ten, which is, I promise, coming around the … Continue reading
A Constant Visual Feast 