News Archive - July 2009
7-15-2009
Full Blooded!
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince may be the next to last film in the series but nothing about the film feels like things are winding down.
Last night Half Blood Prince debuted with midnight showings around the country and if the crowds at the local theater are any indication, this film is going to be huge. My theater had seven screens rolling and there were multiple sellouts. That's bigger than Transformers and all of the big May movies this year.
Those of you who have read the novels know that Prince is a dense book which contains a lot of important information for Harry and his battle against Voldemort. The film, which clocks in at 2 hours and 33 minutes, does a good job of getting most of the important info in but as always, some stuff is left out for time. Honestly, the film could have been 4 hours long and still would have left stuff out (FYI, I'd sit through 4 hours...).
All the characters that we've grown to love and hate over the course of six films are back. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson form our trio of heroes, Harry, Ron and Hermione. Michael Gambon returns as Dumbledore, Robbie Coltrane is Hagrid, Maggie Smith as McGonagall and Alan Rickman as Snape make up the teaching staff while Tom Felton is back as Harry's nemesis, Draco Malfoy.
Many of the characters from the previous films have much smaller rolls this time around while Bonnie Wright's Ginny expands her presence in the film and in Harry's life. Jim Broadbent joins the cast as Professor Horace Slughorn and we finally meet Draco's mother, Narcissa, played by Helen McCrory.
For those of you who haven't read the book, you know the drill...
I was planning on reading the novel again before seeing the film but ran out of time. After my experience with Angels & Demons that may have been a good thing. It's been two years since I read Half Blood Prince and while I know there are differences, it's been long enough that not all of them stood out. Because of that, the film was endlessly enjoyable.
One thing that this film delves into more than the previous films is relationships. Both personal, with Ron and Harry each finding themselves with girlfriends, and professional as the showdown with Voldemort comes closer and our heroes look for allies.
While Half Blood Prince has more dark overtones than the previous films, there was still plenty of humor to keep things light when possible. Much of that humor comes at Ron's expense as he deals first with Lavender Brown, played by Jessie Cave, and her near stalkerish attraction, and later as he finally realizes that Hermione is the girl for him.
The film kicks off with Dumbledore and Harry visiting Horace Slughorn to recruit him to Hogwarts. Dumbledore is chasing down information that will help defeat Voldemort and Slughorn has a memory that is key to unlocking the secrets of how Voldemort was able to come back from the dead.
As the film unfolds, Harry is tasked with getting Slughorn to give up that memory while Draco is on a mission of his own; help the Death Eaters invade the now protected Hogwarts campus, and kill Dumbledore.
Unlike other film adaptations of novels, what was left out of the main story this time didn't bother me. However, I was bothered by some of the locations in the film. The main Hogwarts campus, for example, was similar to what we've seen over the last three films but the castle had a different feel to it. We saw some new rooms, but even older rooms like the great hall seemed different.
The Weasley house was in a completely different location that previously depicted and the Hogwarts Express followed tracks through a desolate marsh land rather than the lush mountain and lake region we're used to.
Ultimately they aren't as important as the content of the film so I'm not docking the director any points for this. I do feel as if the film should be docked for not including some of the scenes from the novel where more of Tom Riddle's past is revealed via Dumbledore sharing memories he's collected with Harry. We do learn the most important information, about the Horcrux and how Riddle planned to use them to survive the death of his body.
Half Blood Prince does include enough set up for the final film, which will be split into two parts set for release in 2010 and 2011, so if you haven't read the novels you'll still get a complete story.
One other thing that stood out to me about this film is that Daniel, Rupert and Emma have really grown as actors over the course of the Harry Potter films. Half Blood Prince required acting skills that some of the earlier films could fudge due to the action sequences. While there is action in this film, as I mentioned, it's the relationships that take the forefront.
All of the Potter films are solid but I think each builds on the previous and is elevated for it, which has the side effect of always making the newest film the best in the series. Many will probably disagree with that as people will like other films for various reasons, but I think that Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is the best in the series thus far.
Oddly enough, while I've read the novels and have seen the first five films multiple times, this is the first Potter film that I've seen in the theater. Man, did I miss out. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince should be seen in the theater, possibly multiple times. It's a solid film and fans should be happy with how it turned out. It's both exciting to see a great film and somber knowing that there's only one installment left. I now feel the urge to finally sit down and read the novels again even though I watched the previous films in advance of this new release.
While I sometimes find it hard to give a film all five wheels of cheddar, even with it's changes from the novels and odd adjustments to established locations from the previous films, I'm gonna go ahead and give this film a full load of cheese. Five out of five.
7-12-2009
UFC
Last night was UFC 100 and there were three hot cards including two title bouts for the welterweight and heavyweight belts.
In a non title middleweight bout, Dan Henderson took on Michael 'The Count' Bisping in a battle of The Ultimate Fighter 9 coaches. Henderson was looking to shut Bisping up after the smack he was talking during TUF and leading up to the match. In round two he did that with a devastating right hand that put The Count out on his feet. He was done before Henderson put a final shot on him while he was on the canvas. Yamasaki put an end to the match and Henderson had is revenge. Henderson is now 25-7 while Bisping drops to 18-2. That bout should also help put Henderson on track for a title shot against Anderson Silva.
One of the two top cards was the welterweight title fight between Georges St-Pierre and Thiago Alves. Alves came into the fight at 22-4 and had just come off a big win over Matt Hughes. He's probably the bigger of the two fighters but that didn't help him. St-Pierre dominated the match which went the distance, five rounds. In the end, GSP's domination, especially on the ground, got him the unanimous decision. GSP retained his title and improves to 19-2.
The top card of the night was the heavyweight title match which was also a unification bout. Brock Lesnar came into the fight with the heavyweight belt which he'd taken from Randy Couture but Frank Mir held the interim heavyweight belt after beating Nogueira back in December.
This was only Lesnar's fifth fight in the octagon and was 3-1 with his only loss to Mir, who beat him in his UFC debut. In that match Lesnar fell victim to a knee bar, but three fights and a lot of training later, it would be difficult for Mir to catch him like that again. And he didn't. The first round went by with Lesnar scoring a lot of points while tiring Mir out. In the second round Lesnar took Mir to the mat and pounded him out till Herb Dean stepped in at 1:48 to stop it and give Lesnar the TKO. Lesnar improves to 4-1, with the united title, while Mir drops to 12-4.
Some of the other undercards included a Jon Fitch, Paulo Thiago fight. Fitch got a three round unanimous decision and improved to 23-3 and looks to get back on track for another welterweight title shot.
Mark Coleman had his second fight in the UFC after returning from Pride, and he got his first UFC win in 12 years by getting a unanimous decision over Stephan Bonnar.
Mac Danzig, who won The Ultimate Fighter 6, took on Jim Miller in a lightweight matchup but came up short as Miller got a unanimous decision after three. That gives Danzig three straight losses, the previous two to Josh Neer and Clay Guida. Danzig is now 18-6 while Miller improves to 14-2. The fight was exciting with both getting in their shots and submission attempts and was probably a closer match than the 30-27 scores the judges handed to Miller.
Another matchup of former The Ultimate Fighter contestants included CB Dollaway (TUF 7) against Tom Lawlor (TUF 8). At only 55 seconds into the first round, Dollaway stuck his neck out and Lawlor made him pay. Sinking in a guillotine choke, Lawlor put Dollaway out at 55 seconds of the round to improve to 6-1-1. This was Lawlor's first bout at middleweight and he looked good last night.
7-9-2009
MyTube
Although it's summer, the various networks, including cable, have several offerings that have been worth checking out this year.
CBS
CBS has a summer show called "Harper's Island" which follows a bride and groom, and their wedding party, as they return to an island off Seattle where they first met. Unfortunately, a serial killer that had terrorized the island 7 years in the past may be back, and he's taking revenge on the guests. The show stars Christopher Gorham, Katie Cassidy, Elaine Cassidy (no relation), Cameron Richardson, Gina Holden and a few others, including guest turns by Richard Burgi, Harry Hamlin and Callum Keith Rennie. It's a limited series, 13 episodes, but it's been rather good. CBS hasn't picked it up for a second season which, I would believe, would be more concept than a direct second season. You really can't jump into this one but if you head to CBS.com they may have episodes on-line, and it may be worth picking up when the inevitable DVD release drops.
NBC
NBC is the only other major network running a show that I'm watching right now and that show is "Kings." I think I touched on this show back in April when it kicked off but haven't mentioned it since. It's an alternate reality type show where a US-like country is a monarchy rather than a democracy. The show uses that, along with religion and prophecy, to tell a modern tale of love, betrayal, political intrigue and war. It's only getting a 13 episode run, however, and NBC has already cancelled it so nothing to look forward to next season. It's another show you can't jump in the middle of but there are 3 or 4 episodes left so it may be worth it to catch up on-line and then finish it out on Saturday night's at 8:00.
Basic Cable
The rest of the stuff of note right now is all on basic cable. USA and TNT, especially, have some good things going on. FX, which really turned up the heat on serial TV on cable is running "Rescue Me" right now and it's on top of its game. A half hour of that show is more interesting that the full season of most shows. If you aren't watching, you should be.
TNT is really full of girl power right now with both "The Closer" and "Saving Grace" currently running. "The Closer" is one of the smartest procedurals around and has hints of classics like "Columbo," and even "Perry Mason."
TNT is also running another show, in its second season, called "Raising the Bar." I didn't watch much of the first season but have watched a few of the current episodes. It's a decent courtroom drama.
My favorite right now, however, is "Burn Notice." That show rocks. It's smart, well acted, fast paced and has a perfect mix of drama and humor. Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar and Bruce Campbell, along with Sharon Gless as Donovan's mother, click perfectly on this show. Following Donovan's Michael Westen as he tries to find out who burned him and get back into the spy business has put this shown in the top 10 shows of all time IMO.
New to USA this year is "Royal Pains" which stars Mark Feuerstein and Paulo Costanzo as brothers who find themselves living in the Hamptons as Feuerstein's Dr. Hank Lawson starts up a concierge doctor practice to the rich and famous. Jill Flint, Hank's love interest Jill Casey, and Reshma Shetty as Divia, Hank's assistant, form the quartet at the center of the show. It's not your standard doctor show, its quirky humor mixed in with the medicine makes it a lighter version of "House."
SyFy (no, it's not "siffy")
If you really want to get in on the ground floor of a fun show then you should tune in to the newly re-launched SyFy Chanel's (formerly Sci Fi) "Warehouse 13." It started this week with a 2-hour pilot and will run through the summer. It stars Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelly as Secret Service agents tapped by another top secret government agency to help find and obtain dangerous magical and cursed items and store them in the titular warehouse. CCH Pounder is the agency boss, Mrs. Frederic, and Saul Rubinek is Artie, the somewhat flustered caretaker and new mentor to McClintock's Lattimer and Kelly's Bering. It has sort of an "X-Files" vibe to it with some "Sancturary" and "Friday the 13th: The Series" mixed in.
ABC Family?
I have to admit that ABC Family has been a frequent stop on the cable dial for me over the last couple of years. I still miss "Kyle XY" and "The Middleman" but "Greek" is still going strong (on mid season break right now) and they've just added a new show, "Make It or Break It." "Break It" follows a group of gymnasts in a Colorado school as they experience the requisite amount of angst, set against the backdrop of balance beams and pommel horses. Let's face it, you really watch it for the hot broads in leotards.
And FYI, ABC Family, your show "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" is disgusting, slimy, poorly written, terribly acted and a complete waste of air time. It's a shame people are watching this as some sort of social statement on the current youth in our country. You should be ashamed and disheartened that this succeeds when smart, funny, insightful and endlessly entertaining shows like "The Middleman" get the ax. People, if you're watching this show, doom on you. Doom!
Actual Reality TV
I don't watch a lot of "reality TV," the nonsense that is shows such as "Big Brother," "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here," or "The Bachelor" but I do like real life TV shows that can be found on Discovery or TLC. I'm a huge fan of "After the Catch" and "Dirty Jobs" and I try to watch "Mythbusters" when I get a chance. Right now "After the Catch" is holding down Tuesday nights and it's always a fun show to drop in on. And if you get a chance, stick around for the "After the Catch" shows where an interviewer sits down with the captains of the boats and talks about what we've seen in the series.
7-4-009
Independent!
Happy 4th of July everyone!