Building Tension: The Deathly Hallows, Part 1

Wow! The Harry Potter series of films has gotten funnier with time. You go into Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 with high expectations, knowing the movies that came before and what they should be doing given it is the end of the series. The result is a fun and scary ride that does not disappoint. They actually succeed in making you smile in some of the toughest moments.

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) running for their lives in the busy streets of London. Keep up the pace, kids. The worse is yet to come.

Basically, Hermione (Emma Watson), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) have to stick together more than ever to find and destroy the Dark Lord’s horcruxes (items into which he saved portions of his soul as a way to live forever.) When the second act starts, they are already in deep doo-doo.    Read more »

Quick Review: Red

Red, the movie takes a lot of liberties from the comic. It’s an entirely different story simply based on the same premise: an unhappily retired CIA operative has been marked for elimination.

Bruce Willis teaches how to properly exit a moving vehicle. Probably the movie's signature set piece. A la Wanted.

Paul Moses, in the comic, Frank in the movie (Bruce Willis), is the main character of a short story about a former agent tormented by a past he is trying to forget. But in the movie, we get a group of targeted retirees trying to stay alive. They mention their past a some point or another, but beside Marvin (John Malkovich), the typical paranoid maniac, there are no nightmares. Maybe a few happy/sad memories.    Read more »

No Contest: Tron vs. Tron Legacy

Here is a double review: a parallel between the original 1982 Tron and the new, reheated Tron: Legacy. “Reheated” because it feels like nothing more: mostly the same story from an updated, 21st century angle.

When Tron came out, it was the state of the art, and it showed the world of computers as the young generation of the time knew it. Things have changed now, most of those terms are outdated now. Today, computers are “user-friendly” it’s all about social networking, cloud computing, mobile devices, etc.

Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), rescued by Quorra (Olivia Wilde), will meet his father after a long separation

Would the new movie reflect that? You would think so. But the reality is quite different.    Read more »

Characters That Feel Real: Unforgiven

One key to great drama is characters that can carry a story, characters with depth, complexity and a touch of contradiction. Unforgiven is an timeless classic, a tapestry woven with some of the best characters you have ever seen in a single story. They unwrap in layers, and the more layers you unwrap, the deeper those people get, the more real they feel.

The visit that sends William Munny (Clint Eastwood) on a manhunt for some much needed cash

Clint Eastwood plays William Munny, a reformed gunslinger trying to make it in his poor farm, a single father with two children. A reckless young would-be assassin makes him an offer one day and gets him to think about picking a gun again. Only, he is not so young, not so good any more.    Read more »

Character Agendas: Ronin

Ronin is a round up of balanced, tough characters for a simple heist. They’re all good at what they do. They are facing seasoned villains; so their job is not going to be easy. Worse, by the midpoint, everything goes south when one of them reveals his real motives and switch sides.

Ronin's Sam (Robert DeNiro) leads a band of mercenaries working to retrieve a silver case from another team

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Upgraded: Robin Hood

Not your mere family comedy anymore! The story of Robin Hood has been upgraded. This well executed drama is sprinkled with characters and agendas that we can relate to. Ridley Scott and the writing team created a new classic with this prequel. It is not the story we are used to, but the “birth of a legend”.

Before he became Robin Hood, Longstride (Russell Crowe) mastered the bow as demonstrated in the first act

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Pixar, I Bow to Your Genius: Toy Story 3

We are not worthy. 10 years after their first full-length animated movie, Pixar is at it once again with the second sequel, Toy Story 3. And it is an achievement. The artists have become the Yoda of the animation world. It was good to see the familiar characters and the much better version of the adults, like Andy’s mother (Laurie Metcalf), now in high resolution vectors.

Andy's (John Morris) toys land at SunnySide Daycare Center.

In this movie — which is also a tribute to the original classic — Andy (John Morris) is now 17 years old and getting ready for college. His toys are worried about their future; they are afraid to be thrown away.    Read more »

Despicable Me: Why Am I Laughing so Hard?

Despicable Me starts strong with an ridiculous crime: somebody stole the great pyramid and replaced it with a giant inflatable replica. This scene does not just end with a punch line. It is funny all the way through: the dad that cannot come out of the bus door, the kid on a leash, the pyramid is a balloon, the mom who miscalculates her son’s landing point; a good opening scene to wet our appetite for laughs.

The cutest line in the movie, and one of the funniest moments: Agnes (Elsie Fisher), "It's so fluffy!"

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It is All about Balance: Appaloosa

The western genre is certainly not dead. 2008′s excellent Appaloosa is a testament to that fact. Another notable movie is the Coen Brother’s 2010 True Grit, which we reviewed here. Appaloosa is a carefully crafted piece which all fans of the genre will appreciate for what it is: an instant classic, in the tradition of High Noon, Rio Bravo, Once Upon a Time in the West, etc.

Two against four. Both heroes face a runaway criminal and his hired guns (ground level); these last two are good.

This is the story of two gentlemen (nicely played by Ed Harry and Viggo Mortensen) who work as marshals of the United States. They have been called to rescue a small town succumbing to chaos and injustice, under the stronghold of a ruthless Rancher named Bragg (Jeremy Irons).    Read more »