Movie catch-up

As I said before, I'm not getting to the theater as often as I have in the past since my Studmuffin keeps me otherwise occupied. However, I have seen 3 movies recently and thought I'd better post my thoughts, rants, raves here....

First off:
EVAN ALMIGHTY
Yes, the sequel to Bruce Almighty, sort of. Yes, it focuses on Evan Baxter, who was Bruce's nemesis and, yes, Morgan Freeman is awesome as God (again), but that's about it. Here's the scoop...Evan is elected to Congress and then God wants him to be the next Noah. Instead of Jim Carrey's non-stop bathroom humor (which can be funny and, in all honesty, Bruce Almighty is my favorite JC movie), you have probably the cleanest non-animated film I've ever seen. Seriously. I've seen episodes of Little House on the Prairie that were racier.

Don't get me wrong, there is definitely an element of the absurd here. There are many biblical stories that could be retold as modern allegories, but Noah and the Ark isn't the first that would come to mind. I mean, there is this big boat....and all these animals.... You get the picture.

The thing is, it sort of works. Actually, I really enjoyed this movie...more than I probably want to admit. I will say that some may find it preachy if they aren't very religious, but I found incredibly sweet. And, if the filmmakers were hoping to inspire audiences, I think they did a far better job with Evan than they did with Bruce.

It's pretty obvious they were hoping to make this into a family movie. And it is to the extent that kids would be interested in US Government as the motivator of this movie is actually a bill becoming a law. Most kids under the age of 8 that I know would probably be bored to death with that....

Secondly, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
It took FOREVER for my Studmuffin to be willing to go see this movie. Frankly, I think he had so much fun seeing Evan Almighty the day before that he thought he might as well give this one a try. Now, I'll admit it...I loved the first 2 Pirates movies...swordplay, pirates, Johnny Depp...wonderful!

This movie, however, sucked! It's horrible. It's so bad that I actively go out of my way to tell people not to see this. You see, the first 2 movies had the formula: Johnny Depp, humor, swordplay, more humor, a very clear villain, more swordplay, fun uses of CGI (walking zombies, Davy Jones, etc) and maybe just a little plot. For some reason, the producers thought they should dump all that--except Johnny Depp who actually shows up in triplicate. Barbossa, who always was a villain, is now sort of a hero? Keira Knightly is a Pirate King? And, worst yet, they thought they might make up for the blessed lack of plot in the first 2 movies and crammed in enough plot for 5 movies in the third one. Honestly, I'm not sure exactly what the story line was....

So, do yourself a favor...don't go see it. If you must see it, wait till it shows up in a $3 theater that serves alcohol and get drunk first. It might make more sense that way.

Finally, to escape the heatwave last night (and, frankly, because I just couldn't wait!) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
So, with 5 movies out I have to give credit to the movies. For the 2nd, 4th and now 5th installment, I had more fun watching it than reading it. And this is a fun movie, but it still wasn't quite as good as I thought it could have been.

I will admit that, after accidentally seeing a full-body picture of Daniel Radcliffe from Equus (let's just say...that boy is NOT Jewish), it's a bit, well, squiggly to see him as Harry Potter. Maybe that's just me...Anyway, I tried to ignore that.

There is a lot of editing from book to movie and while this movie (unlike the 3rd one) makes sense, I can't help but worry that they may have edited out the wrong things and when it comes time to make the final film the producers may find themselves with more than a few holes to fill--but we won't know that for another week or so!

I was happy to see my favorite character from the 3rd installment (who had absolutely NO air time in that one) show up at least a bit in this one...Cruickshanks, Hermoine's orange cat. However, my favorite character in the 5th book--Tonks--is barely even there! Argh! And Emma Thompson probably has 5 minutes of airtime! That alone is a sin...but coupled with the fact that her character plays an incredibly important role in the book makes me wonder what the producers were thinking (I also noticed that Kenneth Branagh didn't show up at all--so the Ken/Em/Helena triangle never happened).

Speaking of Helena Bonham Carter. Best. Casting. Ever. Even on a good day, she's freaky looking...she is PERFECT for Belatrix!

Okay, maybe second best casting because, frankly, Imelda Staunton totally makes this movie. Yes, this a movie with an absolutely fabulous villain...and it's not Voldemort. I wouldn't be surprised if she actually gets an Oscar nom for this one.

Should you see it? Of course! Everyone should see it...just as everyone should read the books. It's gotten to a point where Harry Potter is so deeply ingrained in our culture that you really need to read the books and see the movies to be able to hold a conversation. But...and this is my hope...that people will see the Harry Potter series one work and not as a series of books and movies.

So, there you go....have fun!