Miss Liv's video reviews; Transformers

Five arguments in favouor of my little pony friendship is magic

Green Lantern review

Twilight video review

Muppets Wizard of Oz; Movie review, vidoe!

my second very serious attempt on doing this! I can honestly say I gave it my very best shot, but that I have an awful lot to learn, I honestly did not mean for this video to be this long! I was aiming at 20-25 minutes. Which I obviously failed, many points and even some jokes was left out doing the editing process as I realised how long the video was becoming!

any constructive feed-back would be deeply appreciated. Please enjoy.

Movie review; Dirch

Erh.. look. I know, there are probably none outside of me country who cares for this one, or have even as much of heard of it.

But it just so happens this is a movie that from the beginning was a subject matter very dear to me, and handled it in a surprisingly tragic-ironic way. And hell, this is my blog, I can do what-ever the hell I want.

Oh, and something more mainstream done as Video review should be get released tomorrow, done better than my top ten video for sure, I am actually spending time on it! any feed back would be appreciated!

Well, Movie, just came home from it, and it really was from the beginning a movie very close to my own heart.

"Dirch Passer." is probably the most famous name in all of Denmark, despite him being dead for over 25 years, we all know who he was, we all know his face, his voice.. his acts. He is probably the funniest man who ever lived in Denmark, and here, two and a half decades later, the entire country of Denmark still laughs of the old filmed theatre sketches and tons of old movies, which they keep on re-running in television to this date.
He was my first inspiration and idol when I was a child, I early on learned to mimick his words and faces, my dad had an old LP with him singing, and I could stand in front of the player with a wig on acting out the comedy numbers. All of my life, his work has made me laugh and has inspired him. The entire Danish comedy culture has been influenced. That is how big he is. Still today.

So all this put aside... who was he? How was he as a person? Was he as energetic and funny off stage as on stage?... Hardly.

The biographic picture of Dirch Passer, so simple just called. "Dirch." to keep it informal, shows a more tragic picture.
A vulnerable insecure man, who just happens to have the gift, that all he needs to is to walk out on that stage, open his mouth, and people will laugh of him.

"There are people out there willing to give their life to be able to do what you do!" a theatre producers exclaims to Dirch in one of the many scenes in the movie. And he is quite right, I for all of my life have pursued to be able to do what Dirch Passer did, and of cause I can't yet. But Dirch just sits there, and he asks the good question several times. "Why?" he asks. "Why is it they like me so much?" and the people he asks sit stunned back, lacking an answer. "Well erh.. because... because..."

People see Dirch, they only need to watch his face, and they expect to laugh. How-ever, he is not that kind of man who can take just being happy as it come and take in strives, he's insecure, about himself and his work.

A particularly heart breaking scene, which is ripped out of reality, this is what really happened.
Dirch wanted to make a break out of all the comedy, trying to do something more serious, so he went for it, and decided to play Lenny in the classic theatre play. "Of mice and Men." by John Steinbeck.
Now, if you know anything about litterature, you should know. "Of Mice and men." it's very much a classic, and a very serious play. Lenny is the halfwitted tragic giant who can't control his own strength, it's a story to be taken very seriously.
Dirch plays Lenny, he re-hearses and as always is very nervous if he is good enough, finally it's opening night, and the moment he steps out on stage... people laugh and applaud by the sight of him. As he starts on his dialogue, people keep on laughing. And it continues until Dirch breaks together and starts crying ten minutes straight on the middle of the stage. And this really happened, it's a true story.

The movie shows the story of this insecure man, who has been handed this position and of cause goes with it, doing the best he can't, but is i'll equipped to deal with it, he has trouble saying no, taking far more plays and movies than should be allowed, in real life, his thirty years in the profession, he made over 200 movies and stage plays.. that's a lot. It would not be unusual for him to do a movie in the day time and then two plays in the evening driving from theatre from theatre. As a result the private life suffers, and though he doesn't mean to do bad, he almost jumps from wife to wife.
And it all ends up in Dirch, slowly but surely burning himself out, he could never say no, he could never cope, he resorted to the wrong sort of ways to solve his problem, which lead to his early death of heart failure, which happened. On stage in the middle of one if his shows, he fell down, and he died.. this is true.

The story really got to my head, and I shed tears three different places, perhaps it's because I all ready know of the real person, and his work always meant so much to me, he made me laugh.

The movie has nothing but love and respect for "Dirch Passer." and goes out of its way to be as true to the real him as humanly possible, which is probably also why the story could have been just a tiny bit tighter. well, compromising some facts to get a tighter story would have helped.
Yet, it's such a good looking movie! it re-creates so many scenes from the most classic Dirch Passer perfectly.

Nikolaj Lie Kaas, who plays Dirch is.... nothing short of absolutely amazing. He nails it! he doesn't just play Dirch, he is Dirch. The way he movies, his face mimick, the was he talks, that constant look of vulnerability in his eyes and awkwardness shyness in his behaviour. The Sketches perfectly re-told second for second and you could sometime have sworn it was Dirch it, it's the same!

Everybody else, also great casted! We don't have that many excellent big stars Danish actors, does we do have tends to be hijacked to the US, but they collected them anyhow here.. or perhaps it's the direction that looks so bloody good. It really looks like we are back in the sixties and move our way up to the early eighties, as supposed to. Having recently seen Captain America which also takes place in the sixties.. it's kind of amazing. "Dirch." Doesn't in any way have a budget coming as much as close to Cap America, and yet they pulled it off with the sets and looks of the sixties. (Dirch must have cost like 30,000 Dollars, that's the biggest budgets we deal with in this country)

I liked the movie, I am glad they handled Dirch passer so well. I don't think the movie will go on outside of the country, it's not exactly another contender for "Best foreign picture." at the Oscar's.. but, it is kind of a national treasure, the subject was treated with much love and caring, with a little fright of ever getting something wrong.

If you want to know what kind of man I grew up with, and who inspired my comedy acts the most.. check this movie out. It's definitely not a waste of time.

X-men first class Review

And this is how you figure that you gained weight and your hair is stupid..
I have no idea whether to think it's sort of cool my hair is able to defy logic like this one a daily basis or if I should just go out and buy some styling products.. and I have most differently gained weight since my last video :/





If you got comment or a question, just ask I promise I'll answer.


...hm, maybe I should turn that into my trademark that my hair will always be a wild mess.

So honest thoughts.. I know I didn't go into how wild this movie is, but... should I keep on recording reviews like this or just write them?

Pirates of The Carribbean on Stranger tides review

Urh, why doesn't anything ever work for me?

It was yesterday I saw Pirates of the Caribbean on stranger tides, the first thing I did when I came home was smacking up a camera with the intention of just filming me making a review and then post it... but this temporarily computer wouldn't corporate with that, this morning I instead tried to record my review as in voice only.. neither Youtube nor Blogspot fancy posting that.. so I guess I will be writing.. again. Next time, I do believe it will be a filmed review though. That would be.. the Captain America Movie I think.

So Pirates of the Caribbean, let it be no secret that I adore this genre and I genuinely fell the is a lack of attention on it, the adventure Swushbuckler genre... unfortunately Pirates 3 did not succeed at being that and overdid it by a mile, becoming a muddle and no one knows what kind of movie it was supposed to be, how ever. This movie is right back on track again and does it right... mostly. It doesn't make the best of sense.. then again, neither the first movie which is still the best one of the lot.

Well, I know why most people are going to go in and watch this movie... how is Jack Sparrow this time around?
Let me be honest here, I adore his character in the first movie, but from that point of he changed.. The first movie was all about setting up that you can be a good man and a pirate, that Jack Sparrow is just that, he is the most honest of the lot.. just sometimes he doesn't tell the entire truth, only the partial but the truth none the less. as he said, "It's the honest ones you should watch out, because you never know when they are going to do something incredible stupid!" and then he does something incredible stupid X)

In the next movie.. he starts lying straight out of the back, and he is pictured as a dishonest character.. Jonnhy depp makes it work and he is at least enjoyable to watch... in the third movie.. he is hardly in it, and it's only barely he doesn't make his few appearences being obnoxiouse and annoying.. in my humble opinion, I don't even know what he does in that movie or why he is there.. other than comic relief.
In this movie, it's seventy percent Jack Sparrow doing cool shit and he does it really well, he is the definite star of the movie and he is never ever tiring, never ever obnoxious, he is just a whole lot of fun!
I like how in every movie they go out of the way to make Jack Sparrows introduction uniqe, grant and funny.. though there is no beating the first movie, the motherload of all funny introductions, though this one does it really really good as well, it was brilliant.

Actually, I even think the first ten or twenty minutes is the best of the entire movie, I love a good sword fight, I love it a lot, but there is something I love even more.. a good chase scene, and I don't mean stupid car chases, I mean on food chase scenes where you have to jump through buildings, swing in ropes, go over the roof tops, jump down some kind of whole.. yeah, that's the first twenty minutes of this movie! and he screws over the king of England and swings in a chandelier as well! He swung in a chandelier! YEAS! the cliché of all swushbuckler clichés and it's never ever going to get old or uncool! I am so happy he did that! And that's only the beginning of all the shit he did, and it tells what this movie is about... fun! it's fun. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense but neither the first one.

Again I will say it annoys me a bit how much they screw up Jack's character.. he isn't the same character as in the first movie and hasn't been in a long while, but... in the first one he was all about that committing a mutiny is the worst sort of crime you could ever do, even for a pirate and he would never ever stoop that love.. and, erh well.. he commits a mutiny in this movie.. it could have been justified really easy, that he is not on the ship of own free will and never swore legiens to the captain, but the writing never goes there. I mean it is cool seeing Sparrow staging a mutiny and all, and again, then he serves a vital part to the plot.. but.. oh it's a detail it's not that important. I just can't stress enough Jack Sparrow of the first movie and Jack Sparrow in the rest of the movies is not the same dude.. he is still funny and enjoyable as hell but he is not the same dude, or at least a couple of moral values have changed on the way.

Anyhow, Penelope Cruz is the lady... because every movie has to have "the lady." and the lady always have more balls than any of the guys, wops ass in a fight, is brash and is only too happy to face danger yet will at some point need saving.. this is every main lady in every movie, and that's also her.. though there is one fact that makes her different than other lead ladies... she's a rotten egg.. you don't know at ones, and what would normally happens is that we figure by the end.. she's not that bad she just needs love.. no, this woman is rotten to the core, and what Jack does with her in the end is well deserved.. even actually making her a potential main villain in any sequels. Cruz herself is hot as hell, beautiful.. a bit obnoxious as is the case with most female leads, but all around decent.. and I gotta get myself one of those pirate outfits! That is hot!
Geffory Rush is back as Barbossa.. well, and he is great, just as great as the first movie.. we have a new cursed Pirate Captain.. black beard, but dude, the last two was so hardcore that there is no beating that, I mean he is great, but they are no skeleton pirates and he is no David Jones.. perhaps it's time to get away from the cursed Pirate villains and try something else, I don't know what else you can do with it.

The adventure works, it's fun, enjoyable. And all around a funny ride.
Will there be a sequel? To take a guess, it's all in the hands of Johnny boy, if he signs up, there will be a sequel, if he doesn't... they could make another pirate movie but I doubt they would. bummer. You can make pirates movie without Sparrow, the genre existed for just as long as movies as a medium in itself.
And here is what I would really like from a sequel... seeing Jack Sparrow actually being a captain of his ship! I mean, he goes around calling himself captain and the joke is, he is never in the position as one.. he's been that twice, in the middle of the first movie when he hired a crew for the Inceptor.. which he lost, and in the end where he got the pearl which tied over the beginning of the second movie.. where he lost it.. I would love to see him command a crew for an entire movie so we can see why he calls himself Captain Jack Sparrow, that would be great.

Anyway, doesn't make much sense, isn't deep, but is differently great fun and there isn't made to many movies like this.. and there probably wont be in any near future, what comes closet is the musketeer movie that will be released at December and it looks like shit, it's totally up to Depp if there is going to be a sequel. (please sign up.)

If you liked the first movie, I am positive you will like this one to! if you like swushbuckler and supernatural adventure, it's a nice little trip. It isn't perfect in anyway (Why are the Spanish even in this movie?)
But it's really funny and made me laugh plus smiling constantly.

Beastly movie review

Oh boy.
One hundred and twentytwo percent guilty Sofie pleasure.
Well, all though I try to hide it, I happen to be a girl, and there are romances I love to watch... as I first heard about this movie, Beastly, a modern interpretation of beauty and the beast happening in the big city between two high schoolers.. I was into it. I tried to convince myself that I wasn't but I was, I wanted to see the movie. Totally guilty.
And even worse, now that I've seen.. I really liked it.
Beastly is another movie trying to cash in on the major popularity of Twilight and is indeed yet again just a supernatural romance spending most of the time with two people falling in love and being.. well, romantic. ... I always thought Beauty and the beast was the most romantic tale in the entire world, I've seen lots of different interpretations of it and.. yeah I sort of like all of them, in each their way, some a pretty bad and yet they still have something.
And this, have at least three factors for it that works which is factors against Twilight.
1; The movie is about the romance and never tries to sell it as anything else, thus you will get what you paid for and can't be mad about that some sort of war plot that doesn't make any sense.
2; the characters are likeable and we get why we should care for them, the key part in any beauty and the beast adaptation is making the beast absolutely loveable, making the audience fall in love with the beast on the same time the heroine does. And it works here, we even like the heroine, she actually has personality is not vain and is not stupid in the least, the beast (Hunter) actually has to win her over, which he does wrong in the beginning as he tries to buy her with gifts, and she is just not that kind of girl, first as he simply starts being nice does she open up.
3; Chemistry! these two actors have chemistry, their characters are actually likeable, they are flawed, awkward, not afraid of laughing and look both alive and vibrant on screen, the most important aspect of this movie works. The romance works.
And.. that's all the movie exists for, all what it tries to be about, a self exploration about inner beauty, our place in the world and what love really is about it. And it works, that's all there is to it.
I blatantly admit this is as much a girls movie as it's ever going to be, and it's probably my biggest girly pleasure ever! I even adore the fairytale style there is over it, both in cinematography and soundtrack to how they just go with it that there is a witch among them.
I promise, I still don't like Twilight, you would never catch me watching Sex and the city, but this I like. It's what Twilight should have been.
God it's nice with a romance where I actually like both the man and the woman, often I only sort of like one of them while the other is simply to nice and cheesy. The beast is close here, but he is awkward enough to make it work.. and he has a great smile. That's another thing people should do more in Hollywood movies, smile! Chris Hemsworth smiled a lot as Thor and I totally fell in love with him, and not only for the body.. the guy playing the Beast smiles a lot and I bought it raw.
Well as I said, for girls, a little guilty pleasure not saying much and not doing much. Something for a very relaxing saturday with the girls, nothing more.
And I liked it. Now you can use that as a weapon against me for the rest of my life.

------------Edit----------

By the way, I just managed to get my hands on the book to, and it happens to be a very slim little book I just managed to read in the hour it takes for me to take the bus to work. Also I am a fast reader.
Well... the movie is better than the book... The book is pretty much shit and it's very obviouse that it's an inexsperienced young author who wrote it.
I like the issues the movie chooses to pick out that the book doesn't even mention, a moment that differently stood out to me in the movie is when the beast overhears his former friends talking about him.. the person he used to be, and as it turns out, none of them liked him, they were even intimidated by him and felt forced to act like jackasses to stay in his favour so they didn't have to become the bullied ones.. and it was so obviouse from his eyes that he didn't even realise this fact. Stories like this rings a lot truth to real high school life and was a great little moment in the movie, the book is far to busy being over the top cheesy, it's a poorly written poorly concieved novel with little to nothing going for it, and I would more compare it to does cheap monthly teenage horror novels I can buy in the local shop than an actual novel. The script really deviates only maintaining the actually good ideas.
So yeah.. for ones in my life I can say, don't bother with the book if you want to exsperience the tale, just watch the movie.

Thor movie review

Just came back from watching "Thor"
Who would have thunk, that it's the that has nothing at all to do with vikings other than some borrowed names, but about these knights in an alien city flying around in colorful capes, wearing silly helmets and use massive weapons.. who was going to get a very firm structured three act shakesperian story piece, allowing it to just be a movie not pretending to be anything else.. a tale, something I have been looking for.. and some scenes indeed just smell of Shakesperian court intruqes and emotions, sometimes mixed up with some fighting. And who would have thought that... it all fits. It works! this movie is.. good. Really good.
It's not groundbreaking or anything, it doesn't give us something new, but it does give us something rare.
It's a movie not ashamed to admit.. that it's a movie and a fairytale, structured and told as such. having the fell of the good old days in the fourtish and how you would structure and adventure movie back then. It's unashamedly the kind of super-hero movie all other super-hero movies shy's a way from becoming.
It is.. fun. And unpretentious. Who would have thought that Shakespearian Kenneth Brannagh would be such a perfect fit for this? the only other major hollywood film his done.. "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein." is not a movie I fancy. but this one I enjoyed.
It's by no means flawless, but it's straightforward has a firm grounding in a three act plot and it's a lot of fun. I think the major flaw is that it never raises above any of this, it never even tries.. but on the other hand, that also turns into a strength and a nice change of pace.. also before the super duper awesome avengers movie comes out next year. It's nice just so sit back and relax the story.
Many worries have gone out that it's to complex.. not a problem, it's not even a tiny bit complex, it's straight forward. And it really is its own movie and not a set-up to the avengers. "SHEILD" place its own part in the movie, having an actual purpose and there is a one liner hint towards "Iron Man." and a one liner hints towards. "the Hulk." and that's it. small snacks for the nerds to feast on.
I have to admit.. I never ever liked the Marvel Thor.. as I said, it has nothing to do with the Norse mythology other than borrowing some names. But I liked the movie regardless.
Christ Hemworth who plays Thor.. is a keeper! I swear, he has the best smile in cinema history, it reaches all of his face and his eyes, he is just so likeable! and got a... really good body.. I am sort of in love..
He is perfect casted most differently, and he could without a problem carry the entire movie on his shoulders.
Now.. we all know what exactly is always the weak point in all of these superhero movies, without any exception.. the lady love. This time played by the lovely Nathalie Portman.. well, she is not annoying, she doesn't come off as a card board cut out and she is kind of likeable.. not that interesting, but just the mere fact that she doesn't annoy me instantly grant her "Above average leading lady in superhero movies." status. It's a shame though.. but honestly, I don't know either what to do to write strong female love interests. now that I write myself and am really getting into it.. you realize how hard this really is.. I got no solutions on this.
Loki... oh boy Loki.. again, this Loki never ever had anything to do with the original Norse mythology Loki.. and even if they didn't shared a name.. this Loki has always been my number one most hated arch nemesis of all time. Because all he seems to be is being the powerful god who never grew up and all of his motivations is "Daddy and big brother never appreciated me." emo issues.
And yeah.. that is also what he is in this movie.. yet strangely enough.. didn't come off as annoying as Loki usually is to me.. he is still a wining bastard but there is something more going on here. plus the actor is just perfect and very enjoyable.. I don't know if this is intentionally or not.. but I love the tale about how in the beginning of the movie Thor looks like someone who seriously needs to grow up and Loki is the voice of reason, differently looking like the grown up of the two. and by the end of the movie, Thor has grown up and suddenly Loki seems like the child who needs to grow up. That's clever structure, I like that.
All though, I don't see how Loki is ever going to make a comeback without appearing like a whiner :/

So as I said. I liked to movie, it isn't ground breaking and amazing, but it is fun and entertaining, it keeps a nice balance and a nice pace. Is a swell fantasy adventure not pretending to go out of scale, it's a great chance of pace.
Go give it a watch, it's cool.

Sucker Punch movie review

Man, I am not going to lie, this is one of the movies I was really really excited about this year and was just iching to get to see.

Zack Snyder is without a doubt one of the few actually really exciting things happening in Hollywood talent and especially because I was still not all that sure what kind of animal he is, what he is really about.

Watchmen is in my mind the best comic book movie made thus far, because that is not just a movie that happens to be based on a comic book (Every single batman movie, X-men, ect) no, Watchmen is a hands down comic book movie taking that extra step. I am not saying any of the other movies are bad movies, they are just not comic book movies merely movies based on comic books, I will say the other movie that come closest is Spiderman, to an exstent 300, which is also made by Snyder. but watchman is the only movie thus far actually reaching that point and becoming a Comic book movie, and I purely love it!

That is though also the only movie Snyder had made so far that was anything out of the ordinary.. though also proved that the man doesn't know what the term "Unfilmable." means, and he keeps on showing that point in sucker punch. everything else before that have been unremarkable, though I am sort of lead to believe now that is only because he was a no-name and controlled by the studious, he fought his way through the ranks by making all the re-make movies the studioes knew they could earn money on but no director with a name would want to touch, and then at last he got to adapt 300 which became a huge success despite being on a small budget (And if you ask me, I am impressed of what he did with that little he had.)

Sucker Punch is a totally different kind of animal though.. it's a hundred percent original film, written and directed by Zack Snyder, this is who he is, this is his style, finally I can identify what it is I am seeing when I see the name. "Zack Snyder" on a poster.

And dude.. Zack Snyder is my kind of film director, a director with his own unique style as a painter he creates moods and scenery using music and obscure beautiful scenary, each frame can be cut out and be used as a wall picture. I recognise Watchmen a lot, different just is in Watchmen I thought it was the comic book talking not the director, I was wrong, Watchmen the movie.. it's purely Zack Snyder. That movie is as much his as Sucker Punch is.

I all ready know now that Sucker Punch is going to take a lot of crap from a lot of people, lots of people are going to hate it, especially do I think some are bound to be pissed at the ending and call it a cheap cop out. I don't though, I really like the ending. the entire movie is kind of like Zack Snyder meets the comic book verse meets Brazil.. you know, the Terry Gilliam movie. Yeas the one about the man who dreams himself away from the horrible reality and in the end it all becomes so muddled that the line between reality and dream blures until the audience just don't know any-more. I wont go as far as saying that Sucker Punch is as good as Brazil, it isn't, it doesn't pull the evolution of a dream growing stronger and stronger while everything intensifies and leaves you breathless, quite as well, but it is good, and I love this concept.

Also, this is a girls movie dude, a movie with girls in the main who kicks ass but are not just empty shells with a face and some nice boobs. That is something I have been searching for (and is still searching for actually) a good comic book movie with a interesting female lead.

Personally, I think this movie is awesome. If this is any indication of how this movie summer is going to be, man what a blast.. the list of movies I want to see just seems to be endless this year. (Captain America, Pirates 4, Harry Potter 8, green Lantern, Thor, Tintin, Sherlock holmes 2 and even more!)

It's its own animal and is a very special movie creating it's own special universe, not trying to be anyone else, careful work is put into each frame and a story is actually being told. It told me who Zack Snyder really is and it have made me twice as excited about the upcoming Superman movie Snyder is going to direct, now I know it's going to be a Superman unlike any Superman I have ever seen before, and also totally different from the new Batman, it's going to be Snyder Superman and I can't wait!

Check it out and see it for yourself, this movie shouldn't be missed!

Gnomeo and Juliet movie review

God dammit in hell.

I just can’t help it! An animated movie gets released, and I just have to see it!
And it certainly doesn’t help that I figured how to get a massive discount on any children’s film and I can get in for virtually free.

So that’s my excuse, that’s my excuse for going in and actually watch “Gnomio and Juliet.” One of the first movies on my list of movies I wont support in the year.

And that being said.. I want to apologies and retreat my statement that it shouldn’t be supported.. because this movie.. quite honestly. I enjoyed it, I thought it was rather good. I was emotionally involved, I was shocked a couple of times and most of all, I laughed a lot.
So there really can’t be no arguing, I liked this movie.


Hm, I think we should try and make an experiment here, lets try and look at the things that got my warning lights blinking back in January when I made my list.

Well first of all, it’s about fucking gardening gnomes re-acting the tale of Romeo and Juliet.
What I expected at first would be all these gardening gnomes make really immature nasty jokes while occasionally making an Shakespeare reference, and of cause our two nauseating sugar sweet protagonist can’t have each other. And that would have been what I expected.

And actually.. they do indeed re-act Romeo and Juliet, following the same basic plot.. well simplifying it of cause, but the interesting issues are still there, and it’s done pretty well.
For crying out loud Tybalt actually dies! I am dead serious, well it shouldn’t be a spoiler that the character dies in the original play. But that the gardening gnome Tybalt gets smashed into a wall and breaks into a thousand pieces… That is harsh man. And then all the red gnomes chases Gnomeo for revenge until he lands on a motorway and gets stuck to a car, so all the remaining character are left to presume that he is dead as well, including poor Juliet, while he is stuck in the other end of town.

And then as he is stuck the two families (The red gnomes and the blue gnomes.) get ready for serious battle, and there are smashing in their eyes.. it actually gets pretty damn grim.

I mean, the movie actually builds it well, as the feud itself starts out being cruel but harmless but then it builds and builds and builds, until the ending battle where it’s very grim, where both side thinks they have lost a person (died for crying out loud.) As you can tell, the urge for Gnomeo to get back is very real.

Of cause, as this is a kids movie and we only need following the Don Bluth formula “Darkness and angst in children’s movies are okay, as long as you attach an happy ending.”

And as we all know, the real Romeo and Juliet does not have an happy ending.. and I don’t think.. No the families never get physically involved like that in the play, but that being said it is an effective plot device, it fells natural and further the story.

And it also really brought a smile to my lip, that before the ending battle, right before the start.. the movie actually addresses this ending issue, as when Gnomeo have been played football with by a bunch of kids he ends up on the top of the head of a shakespear statue. And he tells the statue his entire story.

And the statue goes. “Hey! That sounds like my story!”

And Gnomeo naturally response. “Really, well how did it end?”

“They all die muhahaha!” …. Well okay, shakespear statue didn’t say that, but he might as well could have, he just described the real Romeo and Juliet ending while gleeing over the beautiful tragedy.

And honestly, that right there seems to be a very good compromise to me.
See the problem with the movies as “The page master.” Is that they wanted to pay tribute to these litterare classics, but failed to tell why any of these things are classics. Never do the audience get an insight to captains Ahab’s obsession over the white wale moby dick, never did the audience get a glimpse of the duality in Long John Silver, the dreaded pirate whom no one can trust. What happened in that movie, was visual references not tributes, and chances of people getting curious and checking out the source material seems very slim.

Here however, it shouldn’t wonder me if some kids gets really curious and would want to check out the source material.
They would be disappointed of cause, as Romeo and Juliet by no means is light reading, but on that some note, that fact a lone makes me sort of happy that a younger audience can familirise themselves with the classic tale this way. Because now they would know it! What’s it about, even how it really ends.

It’s actually kind of brilliant.

I know, I know.. it sounds like I am praising the movie to the skies.. and of cause this isn’t bloody beauty and the beast.
But it’s also very harmless, have the heart in the right place.. and yeah. It’s actually really good. I personally liked it better than tangled.

And I know.. I know.. I am the only one in the universe not going nuts of “Tangled.” But I still just don’t like it. I just don’t.

Hell, a ton of people out there probably don’t like “Gnomeo and Juliet” in the least, me however. This was a very pleasant surprise!

___________________________________________________________________


In other news! Here is an animation movie I do look very much forward to!


Guillermo del Toro, working together with Jim Hensons puppet company, to create a version of Pinnochio that looks like something out of Tim Burtons early years! hell yeah!

http://www.deadline.com/tag/pinocchio/

This looks absolutely gorgeous to me! not the mention absolutely fascinating and my kind of movie!

That being said... Del Toro claims this to be darker than the Disney movie... my answer. Not bloody possible! the Disney version of Pinnochio is in my opinion the darkest childrens movie ever, and it honestly scared me out of my wits as I was a child, it honestly did made me cry and it honesly did give me nightmares.. And I still can't watch the scene where kids is turned into Donkeys while calling for their mothers without being incredible disturbed.

Okay, so the blue fairy is going to be a dead girls spirit, I honestly don't care, she's a magically being. have the kids turn painfully into donkeys as if it were a werewolves transformation, while they call for their mom, afterwards to see them be burn marked and kicked into the fold, as we are left the impression they are going to spend the rest of their life in labour as donkeys, wishing they had never given in to temptation.

Then Del toro, then we can bloody talk.

Green hornet movie review.

Urh.

Oh no, I am turning into one of those people who doesn't like anything! Shit!

No.. I did not like this movie, to be fair it's not downright bad, but I really didn't find it to be very good either, and lots of things annoyed me about it.

This was differently not what I would have expected of a Green hornet movie, the movie I had looked forward to is probably kind of like the british telyvision series "Sherlock." which I love, but with a side-kick who can do karate, that's the fell I had been hoping for.
It's nothing like it, what I do have is a weird sort of.. Superhero satire, spoof.. thingy.

Well, I am for making superheroes spoofs and satires, I do indeed believe it is time for that, with all of that serious shit out there that deals with super hero movies, to have a satire in the genre would be a relieved change of pace.. but this.. No, it doesn't work for me. First of, I don't really found it that funny, I know other people did, and if you did, good on you. we all have different taste in humour so I can't tell wether you should think it's funny or not, but as it is what the movie tries to do, that is a giant problem for me that I don't find it funny, and it never moves beyond the age, like movies as Kick ass, which made the movie that much better, but that doesn't happen in this one.

Another huge problem for me is the two main characters. Seth Rogen as Britt Reid/The green hornet and Jay Chou as Kaito.

Both the actors and the characters themselves annoys me.

The Character of Britt Reid aka the green hornet annoys me, he is loud, unlike-able, doped, and I can't take him seriously. Obviously the character tries to be like Tony Stark from Iron Man, but it doesn't work. Tony Stark was a pretty fun character because he was so doped and egocentric, and the movie never tried to convince us anything else, which made it a lot less pretentious and acceptable, plus fun.. here they try and give him salvation factors and it does not work. Seth Rogen playing him is just trying way to hard, and the idea is to make him sort of a looser, even in the hero's costume, which is a good idea, and what I would have wanted in "The spirit" for one, but it doesn't really work here.

Now, the joke is supposed to be that while the main hero is a incompetent looser, his sidekick Kaito is Batman and Q from James bond if they had a baby.. No seriously, nothing else cuts it here. He is super smart, knows kungfu and karate, can move so fast that cameras don't even see him, builds all sorts of way out there inventions, which are all super cool.. He comes off as nothing short of a god, which in my eyes.. equal extremely uninteresting, this guy have no weaknesses, and I am not sure what is supposed to be his big speciality, if it's the kung fu, or the inventions, or the science, or what the hell?
It would even have worked way better for me if you had divided it so Kaito could do the kung-fu stuff and the green hornet was the master mind with the machines, that would have worked wonders for me.

I can see what they are getting at, turning it into a joke that the sidekick is so much cooler, but it honestly don't work for me, the credibility for both characters is somewhere below zero for me. And I sort of find Jay Chou's acting to be kind of... wooden.

Seeing Seth Rogen as a superhero man was also kind of weird to begin with, he is an decent actor and comedian, but this just did not work for me, this movie didn't work for me.
I see where they are coming from, the series was aired the same time as Adams West's Batman series, and it was the sort of cheesy feeling they wanted to re-capture, only I think they sort of forget, The green hornet was actually at the time, the more serious side to Batman, while batman was about silliness and fun the Green Hornet was about the mystery and taking things a bit more serious, and it's really odd to see how's that very much switched around now.

The story is standard, thus predictable, the fights are fine, the love interest and female lead.. again just standard. the villain is... weird. I don't even know if it's a good or bad sort of weird, but neither is he to memorable.

Well overall.. I would have to say and a little below standard superhero movie and a little below standard satire, pretty darn forgettable, that's that.

Where the wild things are, Movie review

I actually was in cinema seeing this movie as it came out one and a half years ago.
First now have I bought it on DVD and re-watched it.
The reason why I took so long being, I was actually scared to see it again. yeah, scared.

The movie genuinly disturbed me to my core as I saw it in cinema, and it lingered with me long time after.
At the time, people kept praising how good the movie was, but I had so much difficulty getting what the critics were trying to say, and I had so much difficulty trying to put the movie into perspective.. It really really just disturbed me, once or twice doing the viewing in cinema I genuinly felt like crying I was that disturbed. And yet i didn't know why I was disturbed, it's not a tripy sad film like "Requim of a dream." it's not a gore horror movie, I have seen tons of pictures a thousend times more disturbing than anything that movie had to offer, and still I was sitting with a trembling lip and a strained look on my face, feeling like going home and cry in my pillow.



The critic finally to explain to me what I had gone through, was the critic looming on the side calling. "The escapist." who do weekly reviews of new released movies, for those who don't know him you should totally check him out, he is called "movie bob" and is both funny and informative!
And what he said was just so true, and finally I could get the movie. He said and I quote.

"This movie is not to scary, disturbing or cruel for kids, however. It is to scary, disturbing and cruel for adults."

And I went completely like. "Ohhh! I see!"

Then I became sad, because the one thing I had sworn to be in life, is to always be a child, and that I was that disturbed, it simply means that I am an adult.

Because he was right, of all the movies trying to depict how a child sees the world, this one is differently coming the closets. How every thing is just much much more big and scary, threatening to crush you even though not meaning to, to how the emotions are much simpler, much pure and thereby much more dangerouse as there is no "reasoning." to hold them back, that is the thing we adults drives on.

When I was very small, I was terriefied that the sun was going to go out all of a sudden, and they do really adress feelings like that in the movie.





I was confronted with not only the wonderful childlike imagination only children can really see in everyday life, but all the dark sides as well. All the immature though pure emotions that just leads to trouble because it causes the creature not to think things through, being lead by hopes and imagination as well as jalousie and pride. I faced all does things I have stuffed away in order to become a mature responsible person, though that doesn't mean I don't have them. And the movie forced me the confront all of that, I was scared at the monsters as their emotions were out of control, and yet. they behaved exactly like I remember children around me behaving when I was small, subcounciouse memories of the feeling of not being treated well by fellow kids. (And that happens to all kids, I am not a being bullied case more than any other regular nerd.) But that kind of emotions possible resurfaced for the very first time in a very long time. Just as I had started to understand my adult self, this movie came along and reminded me of my insecure scared child self who rule on emotions rather than reasoning.

What does it tell, when a movie is capable of doing anything like that?
It tells that it is a unique master piece and no movie like it have been made before or is likely to be made ever again.
Even looking away from the narrative and what it did to me, Gorgeouse is even falling a bit short describing how it looks.
I love good animatronics so much, and I am happy to see that instead of computer animated monsters, because of this, they indeed look alive, and I was fooled because I was so much into the story and the emotions.

This is not a case of. "Go watch it dude it's awesome." or. "If you like that and that give it a try."
no, this is a case of. "If you are any kind of film fan, doesn't matter what genre or type you like, you need to watch this."
It is the movie we should show children so they can learn a lesson about themselves through narrative of story telling, and it's the movie you need to show to adults so they can remember how scary it is to be a child, or just in general how it is to be a child.

Not to forget, you need to see it to remember what a movie can do when on it's highest.

My top 10 best cinema trips 2010.

.


Welcome back, and I forgot the last time around.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
to insert pleasant or unpleasant image in your head, depending on who you are, and dude I keep insisting I am not attractive, but hell, if people contradict why complain? I was freaking drunk in the night and tipped over in bed around four in the morning. so yep! I am writing this while sitting with a nice hangover, but also remember what a great party it was, me being just drunk for once, and trip around in high hells I can figure how exactly to wear while trying to figure how I can get a cleavage as nice as Natalie Portmans without looking to fat..
ah, the human emotions that makes no sense.
So yeah, the top ten best cinema experiences of the year. Lets jump right to it!



10; Harry Potter and the deathly hallows part 1

You knew it was supposed to be here, I knew it was supposed to be here, so I figured it was well worth just getting over with!
The reason why it also only have the number ten spot for me is, whatever I ever have to say about Harry Potter will be unfair, because this is the most personal franchise to me that will ever be, it's my thing and I refuse to see anything wrong with it.
Also, as I said in previous review. It's hard to judge this movie, simply because it is only half a movie, and therefor you just can't. However, I will be sourly disappointed if the next and last movie will not be on every bodies top ten lists in a year! And lets not talk more about this before we can see it in it's glorious place in the big connection.





9: Splice

ahh Splice, there's so many people who have complained about this movie, said it was to disturbing, disgusting and freaky.
dude! it's a horror! it's aiming at being disturbing, disgusting and freaky! and further more, it success! a lot!
ahh, just the kind of old school disgusting horror movie I like, drawing the sense of unease more from characters and situations than effects and plots. greatly scripted and executed. And I head a great horror thrill ride out of it, I was connected to the characters, I was emotionally involved. and I just like this movie, it's one of the actually good horrors.






8; Megamind

People are going to be so mad at me, because I put this on the list, but not. "How to train your dragon."
I did see that to! and I liked it to! I just liked Megamind a littlebit better that's all.
Urh, again. I have written an entire review of this, I don't think I have that much more to say to be honest. It's fun! and it's a throwback to the old 60's and 70's of superheroes, the time when James bond were actually fun.
Well crafted, you care for the characters.. I dunno if I want a sequel or not.. knowing Dream works there will probably be one on. "How to train your dragon." at least D:
Btw.. the setting of that movie, have nothing to do with how a norse country look! That is not vikings! those are some sort of fictional characters dammit.







7; Machete

Oh yeah! this is totally how The Expendables should have felt like, grim and gritty but just mindless macho fun! with knifes and blood and guns and terrorists and explosions and car chases where everything gets crashed! I don't care! this was a blood thrill ride from that to finish and I just had so much fun watching this.
It's so funny because the reason why this film even exists is because of a joke somebody took seriously, the trailer had just shoot as a stand alone thing as a part of a joke, and then some company said."That looks awesome, why don't you make a whole movie out of that?" and then the movie is crafted to fitt around that trailer, all though it is actually still tightly crafted and well written, and just so much fun and so much a thrill.




6; Valhalla rising

You want to know what a freaking Viking movie is supposed to look like? this is what a Viking movie is supposed to look like!
And nobody than me have seen it.... for me it's even kind of personal as it is a movie made on international scale, by a danish director, featuring the best actors Denmark have to offer and tries to showcase the fell of olden Danish vikings. Oh it is in English and had international release! as I said, it's a movie on international scale.
Yet more importantly than all of that, it is also very good.
It's a very unique and sarcastic movie which build way more on brutal experience than story and plot. honestly, Marvel Thor is going to look so much like a little twerp when sat up against this.
It is however a movie you would need to take time to, to just sit down go in a trance and watch from start to finish, and like "A Space Odesy 2000" you just sit with the weirdest psychodelic feeling afterwards. it is a master piece crafted by the best Denmark have the offer, and I don't think you would ever be able to find a movie like it.





5; Inception

we have now officially reached the part of this list where I am just listing movies up everyone have in their top ten lists. I wish I could diverse but I need to be honest, and they just genuinely are what I felt like was my best cinema experiences.

phew.. Inception.. dear lord. I know it would be here somewhere, you knew it would be here somwhere, this surprises no one!
And it's good, I could give tons of reasons and explanations why it's good.. people are probably wondering, why am I not putting it higher on the list?
It fells like I am the only thing thinking like this at all, but I need to put it out there, I don't think I am ever going to watch this movie ever again.
I know it's good, and I remember it, I remember the scenes. But dear lord is it dry and heavy, it's not ever what I would put on for a chilled evening watching movies. And I am not saying every single movie should be. "Just fun." because movies as a medium can be an art form!

Well, we have all discussed it to death! lets move on.




4; Toy story 3

I am so weird.. I am putting Toy story over inception!
Yeah. I am, for me the two movies maintain equally great emotional value, only I had a better time watching toy story and I had an easier time embracing that emotional value.
Plus the movie in general just had bloody everything I would be looking for in a movie I am not getting! This movie features a better "Mission impossible" sequence than any of the mission impossible movies! all of the toys collaborating to spring their `prison´working on a old school plan which is stuff that should be in movies today! but aren't... dude, no body does ensemble movies no more.. they are all just the same D:
Well, this was different, and it was great. Everything I wanted in any action movie, and everything I wanted in a toy story closure. It was just perfect in my mind.





3; Kick ass

I love this movie!
It was the funniest trippiest cinema trip of the year! I honestly can't remember the last time I was laughing this much and just had a sheer good time while being hyped on adrenalin and just enjoyed myself.
Darn is it hard writing about movies that I like, I like them! but I don't want to say anything bad about them.
Well, this had it all a superhero movie should have, trippy fights, gritty gore, chasing, intensity. and as I said it's just hilarious. Nicholas Cage finally going back to what he is really good at is gold, and who ever played "Hit girl." she is a new star.
They are actually doing a sequel, and I am actually just looking forward to that!




2; Black Swan


Sha, wauw was this just great.
I mean.. it's a.. erhm.. I have difficulty setting it into words. a psychological horror I guess, but then it's so much more.
A character study of what seems to be the perfect woman and the ugliness which she have been forced to keep inside, and is now just fighting itself out and is so strong as it have been bottled up due to her mother and her life filisofy, the sexual needs of women, just sexuality.. erh, the need for perfection with an artist, which you can't obtain by being correct cause it's art... stuff. this movie have so many layers and so much going on for it. Natalie Portman as the leading lady is giving the performance of her life, and is just showing what a magnificent actress she really is, the coolest lady of the year ladies and gents. It is by no means a funny movie, but the edge stays with me, far more than it did with inception, and it just facinates me to no end.
As I have written about before, "dual personalties." like in Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a subject that always fascinated me, but never before have it been so good depicted by a female character, and the plot only being a firm study of her. it's just brilliant, everyone should watch it.





1; Sott Pilgrim vs. the world.

I bet at least one saw this coming.
God this movie is so great! finally a teen movie that genuinely fells like a teen movie for our generation instead of somebodies ideas of what a Teen life / fantasy might be like.
Edward Wright, director and main writer, also the man behind. "Shaun of the Dead." and "Hot Fuzz" can do no wrong!
And this movie is both entirely new in so many aspects, and shows what kind of movies should have been made a long time ago.
It's a feast in stylish effects and fights, the characters despite being in a world of imagination are realistic and you fell an understanding and attachment to them.
This movie should not be explained, it should just be seen!




In honourable mention.

Unfortunately I couldn't put this in my top ten movie lists, because well.. it's a tely show not a movie, but I really felt like I had to adress it.
In all of my life, I think I have witnessed two things in entertainment being created, which were truly and honourable special, in a magical childish way. And I have been so honoured by witnessing stuff like that, being in a state of anticipation and not being dissapointed when it came out, but could watch it and fell it mere feeling rule me rather than the rules, knowing that this is special.
One is the Harry Potter books, the other is this years season of Doctor who, years from now people will look back at this and say. "Why can't they do Doctor who like when Steven Moffat was the head writer?" Because this is not only good, it's truly special and unique. And I am so proud to be a part of it whilst it is being made, looking so much forward to the next season.

And, good new year to all of you!

From Sofie!

Tangled, Movie review.

I suppose I can't hide it any longer.
yeas, I have a weakness of children's films and I have a weakness for animation. if I could pick what genre i should make movies and stories in, it would be children's.
I am a child of heart and proud of it.
I love older cartoons and I love good cartoons and animation.

Disney.. dear lord Disney. we can always talk about the trivias around you can't we?
Well, here's a piece of history for you before we go into the movie.

Disney animation have been on quite a downer the last.. many years. It all started going disatourus when they closed down the 2D department, but even then it was going dowhill, the last 2-D was "Home on the range" from 2004 which no ones remembers simply because it sucks.
It tries to be fresh and modern, sort of like "Emperors new grow." but have so little thought put into it that it is just sheer randomness so weird that it isn't even funny, and the quality is totally of, there fore it sucks badly.

After that the hand drawn animation studios was closed down and Disney tried to follow the trend with 3-D computer animation and tried to be as modern as possible.. which ended up in some pretty damn forced and badly executed films. ever since "Brother bear" from 2003 Disney didn't manage to spit out one single animated worthwhile film, they tried to be modern and tried to appeal everyone, and there fore appealed to no one. And with all the competition they got in computer animated movies, not only from Dream works and Pixar who are the two giants in computer animation, but also several independent makers as computer animation is also a cheaper and easier way to do movies and get them out. It is no wonder that the cash didn't get back to Disney.
So in the year 2008 and eight they decided to go along with a new plan. well, they had tried to be fresh and new and follow the times, being as hip as possible, and that was a bloody disaster. so know they decided to try and do the opposite. Be classic, go old, and try to draw on the good old days with "Snow white" "the little mermaid." and "beauty and the beast."

We saw the first product of that coming out last December, with the for the first time in six years hand drawn animation film "Princess and the Frog." a movie clearly trying to look like the olden days of little mermaid and beauty and the beast.
What that movie wins on is the pure nostaliga of it all. I had to see it just because it was Disney 2-D movie, and it's a very beautiful one of that. though all in all, it only holds up as an average childrens movie. not really coming close on the golden days of the early 90's sorry.

And the next product of trying to go back to the classic have just now come out with their interpretation of "Rapunzel." called Tangled.

I'm shocked. very shocked.

And not in a good way. this... is not a good movie.
At least it's entertaining and stuff happens and there is humour and colour and stuff.. but it is not good, not in the least, only to often I was left starring blankly at the screen not believing what I was seeing.

When you look at the posters and pictures of the movies, it does look like sort of the olden days girl princess movies.. or more accurately it looks like a barbie movie. Still fine, fairytale, classy. I can life with that. I love beauty and the beast which is a piece of very classic fairytale story telling.
But it's like this movie keeps bailing out and instead of going with the old tries to be new, and modern and fresh.
Quite frankly, from where I am standing classic fairy tale story telling is fresh, simply because no one does it.. the last one who did it was Steven Moffat in his last season of Doctor who.. before that I do have to go all the way back to Beauty and the beast.
And again, this movie tries to appeal to every soul on earth and then just falls flat on it's bum. the humour is just weird.. yeah so the thiefs are in reality just a bunch of granma's. you could not have told it in a weirder more abrupt and handpalm worthy way possible. At least our main just manages to stay light and likeable, though she is close at crossing the boarder. she just manages because she's so innocent. but damn it's close. our leading man and love interest.. well, supposedly he is just the sort of characer I have indeed been searching for in a long time. a true swush buckler who is manly, smuck and enjoys his fighting.. mostly. to bad he is not in a good movie and half his slapstick is so dump that I could hand palm himself.

Though the worst character.. is the villain. She is so god danm bland, and boring and uinteresting that it's ridicoulus! This movie, ladies and gents. feautures the worst Disney villain song in the history of Disney animated! look it up on youtube it is called "Mother knows best" if I didn't know better I would think it was made for a barbie movie.
Which lead us to the most mind numbing aspect of this movie. something that just shocked me out of my wits and left me flabbergasted long looong after the movie finished.

Alan Menken wrote the music for this movie. I freaking love Alan Menken, he wrote just about every single classic disney song known the man. he wrote songs for; The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, Hunch back of Notre Dame and Hercules.

You can say what you want about those movies, but the songs are awesome and have very much personality! Menken have never ever made a boring sound track or boring songs. he have so many sides and so many different genres he can write for. so many catchy classic songs he have written, there is a reason why there is six Oscars on his shelf.

The songs in Tangled sucks.
Every single one of them. they are bland, they are boring, they lack personality and they just suck. And Alan Menken wrote them.

I am shocked, I am beyond shocked. he doesn't have a history of going downhill, this just came out of bloody no where. I have never seen it before, he always write good songs.
I have no idea what happened, if he is going senile, if he was abducted by aliens to have an impersonator write his music. if his puke really did mutated to try and start write music. I am clueless. And I can't put into words how shocked I am.
Even in my mind I can't put the awesomeness of "Belles of Notre Dame" into the same category of "When will my life begin." urgh.. even listen to the title and you know it's not good.

I am not saying this movie is bad because it's a girls movie. I am a girl, and I loved my barbie dolls when I was smaller, I applaud the idea of being classy instead of trying to be fresh and new.
To be honest, I don't think Pixar ever have in mind to appear fresh and new, they just want to tell a story. and Dream works also success best when they forget all about being fresh and new and just have fun with their story, I know "Megamind." might sounds like an attempt of being fresh, but it is a tribute to the good old 50's and 60's James bond/Superhero movies when you come down to it, which just have fun, and that's why it works. And I know people who made it had fun and liked making it, in Tangled I am unsure anyone even wanted to tell this story, if it was what they wanted to do. if they had fun or an idea where they were going or what they wanted.

It has no focus, doesn't know what it wants to be. I see few glimpses of brilliance and what the movie could have been only to be bashed away as the movie knows it's only small kids who is going to see it, and therefore treats the kids like idiots.
Kids are not idiots! stop treating them like it! neither are they made of porcelain and they love a bit of angst. Hunch Back of Notre dame is like the darkest disney movie ever, it came out when I was seven and I came out all right without nightmares, it was just very fascinating to me... if I remember correctly I even saw it twice in cinema. Kids can handle it, it's not that hard.
And if you do wanna go classic fairy tale, I applause it! very much! so go on do it. now one ever sat out to "Be fresh" when they became it.. it just something that happens when somebody is so intense in making their story work that without knowing it they came up with something new.
Everyone keeps saying Harry Potter became a success because it was fresh, yet on closer examination it is build up around ancient old story telling techniques. same goes for every other widely acclaimed franchise or movie out there. I don't know, this movie is just bad. I doubt guys will go in and see it anyhow as they will be scared by the posters, but even little princess obsessed girls will proabably have a better time watching Megamind that this, because at least that movie wants to be ridicoules and have way more focus than this. plus it doesn't have stinking bad songs in it. I love musicals, I love the old disney animated musicals. so it hurts me that this is not a bad movie, and it hurts me even more that for the first time ever I have experienced a bad bland Alan Menken sound track.

And is it just me, or have the movie world gone "Blond-ophobic." This is the first blond princess in beyound a decade, looking every way as the classy picture of a princess is, but yet she is not a real blond because that would be racist or something -_-;
Blonds are only ever allowed to either be a joke on the "Dump blond." or the smart professor nowadays. never ever classy, because that is both racisme towards blonds that they can be more than just a princess and towards people who are not blond as it it claiming blondness is perfection.... idiots. no one thinks that. ... I sincerely hope.

From then to now, All the harry potter movies.

It sure has been a long ride hasn't it?

I mean Jesus. I was actually a fan of the books before the movies came out, but that is quite a feet, because I was bloody eleven as the first movie came out! Eleven, barely out of the diaper and still clutching to my teddy-bear at night.. actually I still do that now that I am twenty, but that's beside the point.

I was excited as hell when the first movie came out, and I enjoyed it to, I owed it all with potter, posters, video games, mugs, twigs I found in the wood and could call wands, plastic cups.. yep.

But now I am an adult and do reviews for a hobby, so I have my boring adult glasses on, bear with me for this one.

I actually re-watched all the movies in preparation for this article, so you can't say I am not doing my homework… or you can.. because I spend my time either writing or watching movies instead of doing school work.. what ever.

It all started back in the year 2001.

At the time, Fantasy movies weren't nearly as many as today.. that is to say. The genre was kind of dead to the world, same as superhero movies.

(try an imagine a world without at least two summer releases of super hero movies and a fantasy movie per summer, I dare you.. but that was how it was at the time.)

This meant two things for the movie upon the release date.

1; due to lack of comparison of the genre and lack of competition, the movie had an a lot easier time surviving the wrath of critics and movie goers a like. So though standard my not be the greatest, it could get away with it.

2; though quality wasn't so good it could get away with it.. and make lots and lots of sequels.

Today when a fantasy movie is being released, we can't be sure that it will have a sequel, even if it's a filmatising of a book series, it does not guarantee sequels (The golden Compass, Eragon, Vampires assistant.. pick one!)

That is damn lucky for the first harry potter movie, because it only works by the promise of sequels.

It spends three fourths of it's time setting up story and universe and only the last quarter is plot. That is usually inexcusable for a movie. And as I said, just because you make the first book into a movie doesn't mean you get to do the next one. That is a stupid assumption.

But having said that, the rest of the books did get filmed as well, and having that knowledge in hand, it would have been inexcusable not to set up the universe probably in the first movie.

There is no real answer to this, there isn't even any compromise clear to me.

The movie holds up as a fairly standard childrens fantasy movie, what it lacks in plot it thankfully gains in originality, there really isn't any franchises out there quite like Harry potter. you can say what you like about Quidditch, but it will still be original and unique to the potter verse.

However, I personally would have liked something a little more over the edge of normality, but that is a matter of taste.

And this movie gave us something that would be the dominate part of the next seven movies. Sets and cast!

Thank god those are right! The adult cast have always been and always will be superb, and the children cast is differently not the worst child actors I have ever seen, plus they grew into it later on and all grew into actually pretty damn good actors. that is pure luck!

There is only one casting choice I have any questions about what so ever, rest is perfection. And this might surprise a lot of you people..

Well… Alan Rickman as Snape.. no no. hear me out for a second.

In my mind, Alan Rickman is both the best choice ever and the worst choice ever, there is good and bad sides to this, so I guess we should talk about the good first and the bad second.

Well good thing, Alan Rickman is born to play parts like Snape. He doesn't sound nor look like something you would want to trust, yet he is so damn fascinating to just watch and listen to, the way he swoones around slick as a fox, he is made for swooning black robes, his deep hypnotising voice, he have a very unique presence and demeanour, just something about him you can't really explain, you just glance at him and knows there is more to the guy than what meet the eyes. When he steps into the room you know he is there, his presence is that great, he knows how to give an evil stare and he understands how to convey deep emotions without saying a word. Not anyone would be able to play Snape, it requires a very highly skilled actor, and Rickman is that. The part could easily have been horrible miss castet, it isn't.

Here's my conflicted reasoning, I think Alan Rickman is to old.

A lot of Snapes tragedy is lost on the fact that he were in his late fourtiesh in the first movie and is now.. well almost sixty. It does make a huge difference that a man is 31 or 48, especially when his reasoning is lost love. I kind of even want him to be younger in the books, and I fell he kind of is in the books, after all, Rowling keeps referring to both him, Lupin and Sirius as "young." Though they are the same age. But that was the age to make the story possible I suppose, hell what would you want? Making James and Lily having harry in the age of 17? That's a litte disturbing.

My other reason why I am a little vague about Rickman.

Snape is not a pleasant person, he is very unpleasant! Snape both looks and sounds unpleasant,you really don't want to be stuck with this guy. He is tall, gaunt, sullen.. you know, how people who have hated life the past twelve year usually looks like.. extremely unpleasant company. repulsive in fact.. he is a gian greasy bat in lack for better words.

Alan Rickman is hot!

You can't deny it, those smooth movements and his awesome voice sends shiver down any felines spine, it's nothing to be ashamed of girls. Though that does present our problem, I would love to be stuck in a room with Rickman, doesn't matter that he is mad at me, because he seems so fascinating and mesmerizing.. that is Rickman, not Snape.

But hell, he is the movie Snape now, there is no denying that, and I can enjoy his superb acting. So I guess I have chosen just to roll with it, and just wanted to point it out.

It only took a year for next movie to come out. "Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets." Which were released in the winter of 2002.

Now we are at a point where we have already seen the cast, sets and universe, so things aint as fresh and new any longer, and the flaws of the director of the first two movies, Chris Columbus gets a lot more glaring and obvious.

Of all things, Columbus's greatest flaw towards these two movies is that he was way to faithful to the books.

The first two movies is almost page for page re-cap of the books. And no matter how you put it, that is not the same as making a good movie.

Despite Chamber of secret being the second shortest book, it is the longest movie out of all of them, and it's a slow clunky ride. We should be able to quickly move on to the plot now that we spend an entire movie setting up the universe, but apparently not.

I am not here to diss the books, they are perfect in my mind! They are early childhood and my entire youth, so even if I wanted to I couldn't say as much as one bad word against them. However, movies are not books, movies only have that much time and needs to pick a focus and stay with it to have continuously flow that keeps up the excitement in each scene, and makes each scene lead to the next. The books have a lot of themes going on, so the movies actually have to choose and focus, the first two movies failed miserable at that.

That is not to say this movie does not have it's salvaging factors, as I said. It is extremely faithful to the book, I don't care, Gildory Lockheart always made me laugh, and Kenneth Brannagh is perfect in the part. most importantly, the magic is intact.

It's not a downright bad movie, but it's not that great either, it is a bit to close to be bad, it is for the most part.. average.

So, the problem with the first two movies was that they were way waaay to faithful, concerning themselves more about being as much like the books as humanly possible rather than standing as good movies in their own right, even to the point J.K. Rowling (god bless the genius!) were drawn a bit to much into the mess, even she stated she was more concerned about the movies being enjoyable than overly faithful, thought she looked forward to see the Quidditch!

In the year 2004 we have the next instalment, enter two new important people.

Chris Columbus did at this point decide to wave goodbye to the franchise and hand to steer to someone else, coursing our first change in director.

Enter the French film director Alefonso Cuaron. Known for his darker children's film.

Interesting choice, well he were known for children's fairy tales at the time so it seemed to make perfect sense, but still as he as a director is known for a very distinct expressionistic style and mood in all of his prior movies.

And the change of the director can be felt instantaneous.

Thank god, this is an actual movie and not a wannabe book.

At this point the books had started growing in plot and themes, and the movies would no longer be able to get away with trying to follow the books page for page, sentence for sentence.

Though the first thing to springs to eye is not the new found ability to have focus, but the over all changed style. Gone is the bright children's colours and in its place we have a dark stylish fogyish world. Cuaron is differently bringing his own style, but it's differently not devoid of childish magic, actually the misty mystical fog gives a lot more magic if you ask me, especially when comparing to later films, I love Caurons over all style, "A little Princess" and "Children of men." Both his movies are movies I enjoy highly, and the misty style suits harry potter a lot, I love it's not so clean any more, but a little dirty, if you leave things foggy and a little less see through, it does appear more magical really.

The other person we need to bit welcome at this is a bit of a controversy. Sadly Richard Harris who had played Dumbledore in the two first films, and had done so to perfection, had passed away and the part had to be re-casted. Entering Michael Gambon.

However, as I don't mind him to much in this movie, lets wait to talk about him until the next one.

Prisoner of Azkaban, at last picks a focus and stays with it, delivering a good paced picture that keeps the attention to the very end and entertains, it is all in all actually quite a good fantasy movie.. but.

Yeas, there is always a but isn't there?

The third book is one out of two books in the series which is not about Harry.

Yeah that's right, the third book is actually not about Harry, what it is about is what came before Harry, it's about his mom and dad, the Marauders and the events leading the Harry's current situation.

Without Lupins condition, Sirius's friendship.. Petigrews betrayal.. Harry's world would have seemed a lot different now wouldn't it? The entire world would have seemed a lot different, and this book is about explaining what happened.. The movie kind of fail to notice this at all.

The plot is kind of the same but the explanation and reasoning is gone. The map and nicknames are there, but not as much as one line of dialogue tells why it should matter. It doesn't mention the Fidilus charm and exactly how Petigrew supposedly betrayed Harry's parents.. they never talk about just how close the Marauders friendship was. And dude, they became freaking Animagi for Lupin, it would have to be a god damn close friendship!

So.. literately, this movie is a very beautiful figure sculpted by a capable sculptur, but missing a leg.

It's a nice experience which probably entertains most people, though then they would probably just go home and forget all about it. The book gave us so much to reflect about and imagine for us selves, it's the story of the story within the story.. urh.. Well it is! But sadly... the movie is not.

Though.. could be a hell of a lot worse.. sigh.. like the fourth movie.

Urgh.. excuse me while I go slam my head in the wall.

…

Thank you!

The fourth movie is a bloody disaster! All the way from what ever the hell Michael Gambon was on, to all the time spend on mindless action instead of plot to the stupid eighties hair cuts to Robert Pattinsons eyebrows.

The brightest point in the movie is that I got to see Voldemort freaking kill Edward Cullen by the sight of him.

Oh yeah.. and Doctor who on crackers.

Anyhow, lets at least try and be serious about this for a moment, though it would be way to easy just to pull a Spooney one on this one and take a mocking walk through about everything I don't like about this.

Again, it's not the book I am talking about. It's the movie, I like the book.

Well, the steer was once again passed on to Director Mike Newell.. this man was a disastrous choice.

As much as I said you need to steer a bit away from the novels in order to get a more focused movie, which is actually a movie, I didn't mean "Take an entire detour." You would need to balance it. And Mike Newell was suffering badly from the syndrome. "Need to make my own vision regardless of source material and what came beforehand" while making this movie.

He didn't even read the fifth and sixth book, which had been released at the time while making this! That is totally inexcusable!

I mean, I will always support film directors who actually have their own vision and stands up for it, that is a good quality. But this situation is rather unique, we are talking about a movie which had three movies coming before it and would have at least three movies coming after it as well, you just can't disregard that.

Apparently Newell had the idea of showing the life of school the way he sees and remember it, as a dark work camp where the teachers are evil and hit you over the head with a book..

Okay seeing Snape hitting Harry and Ron over the head with a book was pretty funny though out of character, but hell. Snape had nothing to do in the movie so it was a clever way to integrate him somehow.. still.

This is Hogwarts, we like Hogwarts.. we want to be at Hogwarts, read the book Newell, it's a magical place. And it brings us to the next problem which I know many is aware of.

Wtf is up with Dumbledore oO;

Gambons portrayal of Dumbledore in this movie frightens me.. it frightens me a lot.

Hell, to this date I remember the cinema experience, I was one month away from being fifteen at the time, so I had stopped using a pacifier… for the most part.

And still I cringed back in the seat and tried hard not to cry while calling for my mommy, seeing Dumbledore looking that grumpy and evil while yelling at Harry traumatized my childhood at the same time as it gives reason to all of the "Evil Dumbledore" fan fics out there.

And it did not happen by chance or because if Gambon, it was Mike Newell's conscious decision to make Dumbledore the cold distant head master… dude.. at least read the fifth book! One of the important themes in that one is that Harry fells betrayed because Dumbledore keeps his distance.. well why the hell would that matter if Dumbledore was an evil gitt in the first place? Honestly.

And why even put so much effort into making the teachers into cold unpleasant shells of the characters they are based on when it really doesn't matter in the movie, plot wise it means nothing! It does nothing! It does nothing for reflection either.. there is simply no reason nor explanation given! The movie spend all of it's time on the Triwizard tournament anyhows, and as I said, spends far to much time on the tasks and to little time on the overall plot, the red threat is missing here and it gives a clunky weird picture where it's hard to find what anyone is trying to say.

At least the highlight of the movie is the finale. It is actually even so good that movie audiences at the time totally forget how bad the rest of it was and left we a good feeling in their stomachs.

I am of cause talking about the church yard scene and Voldemorts resurrection, and it is kind of awesome. Also because there have been build up to this specific point for three movies, the audience had spend so much time just hearing about Voldemort and see various shadows of him, but they were nothing more than that, just shadows. And there he is, in full glory… killing Edward Cullen.

I'm sorry the joke is to obvious.

And I have to give credit where credits due, all people who are actually cool already knows that Twilight is a brain dead franchise for the sort of girls who are giving fanfiction a bad name because they only like graphic slasher fics that only they can read because they have no brain left to burn out from the just wrong mental imprints.

But Robert Pattinson is not that bad an actor, he can be good. In fact, as usual with harry potter, the entire new casting wich includes Moody, Barty crouch junior and of cause Voldemort himself. Is excellent!

So if for nothing else, we have that. Lets please move on to talk about more pleasant things, like the next director who took the steer with the fifth, sixth, seventh and eight movie.

Where the bloody hell did you spring from and where have you been all of my life?

David Yates. As he was announced I had just begun actually getting into stuff like this.. you know, directors and production of movies and shit.

And I was worried, because. Well.. he was unknown. The man had never ever done a cinema movie in his life, all he had done was a couple of television movies and some BBC episodes of TV-shows.

I had a great difficulty understand why you would put a man who so far hadn't moved beyond television behind such a big movie, wouldn't that be quite a gamble?

Apparently somebody in Warner Brothers knew what he was doing, because out of all of the directors, David Yates is in my opinion the best match for the franchise. He both honours the books but also manages to keep a strict story line that interpretates rather than copy, not his own vision of school, but the books them selves, he understands them! more than any of the other directors.

The fifth book can't have been easy to make into a movie, it is the largest book of all of them, and a lot happens. Not only that, the psychological aspect of Harry's journey is not an easy one to convey.

The fifth book is the heroes breaking point, it's where things are now really dangerous and on the edge, but not quite out in the open and Harry suffers the greatest strain, it's the point where he either breaks or learn from mistake and rises to face the real battle.

Every hero in any good story breaks at some point, they must in order to rise again and win the fight. And Harry both breaks and rises simultaneously here in the fifth book.. a rather unique breaking point actually, but well made Mrs. Rowling :D

The movies does not quite get that, but hell how could it?

Dolores Umbridge is possible the scariest female book villain ever! You would not be able to put her probably on screen, by they are making the best out of it anyhow, and what we are getting is one hell of a creepy scary aunty with that sugar smile of hers and evil sweety giggle D:

Scenes like the Umbridge montage where she takes the school, the Weasleys flying around Hogwarts with their fireworks and the battle in the department of mysteries are great fun sights to behold. And on the same time as we keep the story as simple as is possible with such a complex book as Harry potter five (not easy task, which is probably why it doesn't succeed entirely, though it tries.) Yates gives lots of small visual treats to hardcore fans in the back ground, like Nevielle actually caring around a Nimblus Nimblotonia and Luna reading the Quibbler upside down.

That is not to say the movie is perfect, it isn't.. hell, search me I have no idea what the hell Voldemort did at that train station wearing a business suit (the hell? Can anyone explain?)

It gets a bit cramped and a bit bumpy on the way, but my god it actually tries, and it tries to maintain the fine line in between "vision" and "Faithfulness." Quite admirably. It's a job well done and an actual above average movie though not amazing.

And this brings us to the last movie I can talk about right now.

Harry Potter and the half blood Prince.. Seriously I could kiss David Yates, and I am not to shappy looking if I might say so, so he need not run away in horror because of it.

Harry Potter and the half blood Prince is hands down so far the best movie of all of them!

It was also here I became aware of how good Yates is at transcend meanings that was before described with words into visual pictures. Don't say it, show it. That is the difference between a book and a movie.

There are three instances that jumps into the front of my mind while thinking of this concept in the movie.

One is the over all look, of Diagon Alley and Hogwarts.. it made my mid life crisis arrive around twenty years early.

I mean Jesus! The set of Diagon Alley.. empty, devoid of colours.. magic and any kind of happiness.. empty.. before filled up with people.. now empty.. and sad.

I don't ever want to grow up.. what he does with moods and set designs is incredible, it is really telling without saying or using words, just showing... using the same sets, but now so damn empty and cold.

The second instant that spring to mind is when Harry and Ron stands together in the hall of Hogwarts and observes all the small eleven year old kids below them.

Wauw, the symbolic picturing here you know. The eleven year old kids were our starting point, but now they are so big and stuff.. and stands there… and I am missing my pacifier now.

Unlike the third movie it is not misty dark with magic hidden in the corners.. no.. it is dark dark.. devoid of happiness dark.. the kind of dark you get from war and despair, and growing up.. dammit.. absolutely amazing. And so sad! What happened to the colours! same sets just empty as I said, I am having mid life crisis here! And I am only god damn 20!

The third instant in mind, which I think, shows an amazing gift in interpretation and craftsmanship of the director is the scene by the tower in the finale act.

Instead of hiding beneath his invisibility cloak Harry hides beneath a sort of half roof, he have clear view to Dumbledore and he stands by the only entrance to the tower where Dumbledore is.. he is not body binded or anything so he can act if he chooses to do so.

Dumbledore stands up there and is confronted by Draco and the death eaters.

Then Snape arrives, and he is standing right next to Harry.. they are literately inches from each other. Snape signals to Harry to keep quiet by hushing him… and Harry nods, choosing not to act.

That is wordlessly and visually showing Harry choosing to trust Snape, they are that damn close, only inches. The deatheaters has not seen Snape, they have not seen Harry. Harry is not body binded, he could Hex Snape if he chose to do so. But he chose to finally trust Snape… And then Snape kills Dumbledore betraying Harry's trust. wauw.

It is not how it happened in the book, you could not have written it like that in the book. But it is a magnificent movie interpretation, using the medium, as it is, visual. The mood is so extremely intense, even though I naturally read the book and knew what would happen, my heart was still in my throat, and the emotional pay off of Snape's betrayal extraordinary.

That was visual movie beauty!

The sixth book is the other book that is not about Harry, the fifth was his breaking point and uprising, the seventh is the finale stand.

And the sixth is just there in between.. so what do you do with such a book? Well, you reflect on what have happened so far, why it happened, and what will probably happen in the future as well as why.

The sixth book is not about Harry. It's about Voldemort and Snape, and in a way that makes it about Harry to, as Voldemort and Snape is reflections of Harry in different ways.

Voldemorts, Snape and Harry's early childhoods are identical, as eleventh year old children they are identical. They were all raised by the muggle world, and hated it. They all grew up without love, they are all very powerful and intelligent and they are all half bloods. The only thing dividing them and making them different, is the choices that they made.

Voldemort did choose the dark, he did choose to become the dark lord, Harry consciously choose the light, he chose love.. and Snape.. Snape chose something in between.

That is what the book is all about and reflects upon, all though it first became really clear after reading the seventh book and then re-reading the sixth one. Hell, lots of stuff in prior books first made sense after the seventh book! Who would have known Snape spend his childhood scaring Petunia with ghost stories of Dementors? Who would have guessed?

And more importantly, the movie understands that! It uses it and does indeed reflect. The title "Half blood prince." Is not just a reference to Snape, it's a reference to the entire half blood trio of Voldemort, Snape and Harry. And the movie acknowledge that fact. Unlike the third movie which walks around lacking a limp the sixth movies not only honours it's source material, but understands it as well, something the other directors kind of didn't, and on the same time it has the guts to stand on its own as an independent medium.

David Yates.. you are amazing and I salute you.

I can't wait to go in a watch your next movie Thursday!

Oh, and for those blasphemic people who doesn't know of it yet, you should totally go to Youtube and watch the legally uplouded. "A very Potter Musical." that thing and it's sequel is a work of geniouse and features some of the best lines ever written by men.

Remember, you might think that killing people makes them like you, but it doesn't! it just makes them dead.

Thanks, see you with next update or review of the new movie.