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tajna_rabota
Reviews
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
That was 3 hours? - Time flies when you are having fun!
After the disappointments that were Spiderman 3 and Shrek 3, I went into Pirates 3 with really low expectations. I was very pleasantly surprised to see how much fun it was, and really kept to the standard set by the previous two films. It wasn't introspective or thought-provoking, but that is not what these movies are intended to be, anyways. Captain Sparrow is one of the funnest (and funniest) movie heroes to come around in recent memory, and Kiera Knightly's character is not some typical female sidekick, there just to be eye candy. Knightly is stunning to be sure, but her character, Elizabeth Swan, is a true heroine in every sense of the word.
This movie was fast-paced and didn't take itself too seriously, making it the perfect popcorn movie. It didn't get bogged down in too much ridiculous duologue or long-winded explanations. When the movie finished, I couldn't believe that nearly 3 hours had passed.
I would recommend anyone go and see this and have 3 hours of unbridled fun this summer. One warning, though: if you haven't seen the first two movies, do that first before you see this one, or else I fear this movie will make little sense to you. That said, it will still be fun to watch, regardless of your Pirates "virginity".
Blades of Glory (2007)
Classic Farrell and Heder - which actually works out really well!
What can I say? The whole theater laughed during this whole movie. There were a few cheap laughs and some very obvious jokes thrown in, but the delivery was par for the course as far as Farrell is concerned. In other words, if Farrell is your kind of comedic character, you'll love this movie. If, say, Hugh Grant is your idea of a comic character, you'll probably hate this movie. Will Farrell's character was essentially Ron Burgundy on ice skates, which is a great idea. Ron Burgundy was, of course, the embodiment of the so-called "alpha-masculine" persona of the '70s and '80s. - unabashedly proud, sexist, and narcissistic. Put him into a sport that in many peoples' eyes in inherently effeminate and you've got a sure-fire crowd pleaser.
Jon Heder was a little less Napolean Dynamite-ish in this movie. He is still the same innocent, ignorant, nerdy, awkward person as in his debut character. That said, he is a little more image-aware in this character, and as the movie progressed I saw less Napolean Dynamite (a major problem in his career until now, IMO), and I saw more of this "other" character. Heder's character is hard to describe other than to say it is Napolean Dynamite combined with Derek Zoolander - a lovable ignorant narcissist. Put that on ice skates opposite Ron Burgundy the figure skater and you have 93 minutes of great fun.
What really makes this film work is Farrell's willingness to do anything in a movie and Heder's reluctance to do such things. They are polar opposites as far as comedic actors and their comedic emphasis are concerned. But those two personalities really work well to complement each other on screen in this film. 8/10
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
A great MOVIE
My wife and I saw it the other night. She has read the HP books several times, and was disappointed with the same things I've seen other HP faithful write repeatedly on this site - bad interpretation of Mad Eye Moody, bad direction of Hermoine, no Dursleys, such-and-such was left out, and the list goes on.
I, on the other hand, comprise what I am sure is a very small minority of people who has not as of yet been able to read the book yet - and I really liked the movie. I think it is about as good a movie as one can see right now, if you look at it as simply a movie. Good story, good special effects, good characters, and Moody and Ron's antics really steal the show (for me at least).
But, if you can only see this as a book adaptation, then it suffers the same fate as about 95% of all book adaptations: "The book was better, and I didn't like how they did (blank)." It's a shame, really, because this film is far-and-away better than most of the tripe spewing out of Hollywood these days.
PS: One thing we both agree on was that Voldemort was FANTASTIC. I thought Ralph Fienns did a great job acting him, and my wife felt he was a great interpretation of the character in the book.