It’s been a good year for Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer. Both Davis and Spencer toiled through bit roles and pieces in some of Hollywood’s biggest movies over the years but never quite got the credit or shine either actress was due. This especially holds true for Viola Davis, an exceptional talent who always managed to make minimal roles memorable (you might not have noticed her turn as a lawyer on certain episodes of the show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit back when it was still relevant because Stabler was on there or as the fed-up mayor of Los Angeles in the Jamie Foxx-Gerard Butler flick Law Abiding Citizen). Spencer, on the other hand, was most known for playing comic relief roles. She technically still is.
2011 was crucial for both of them, however, as it propelled both actresses into the spotlight through the motion picture adaptation of Kathryn Stockett’s surprising best-selling book, The Help. Now, I admit, I haven’t yet had a chance to read the novel in full yet, so I hesitated about writing this blog until I did that. But the more I wait, the more Davis, Spencer, and The Help itself continue to garner accolades, to be rewarded and awarded… and I’m not entirely sure how to feel about that. Read the rest of this entry »
This weekend, moviegoers will be treated to a seventh serving of the Harry Potter series (I’m sure you’ve heard of it) in film form with “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” The film, based on the final book of the series will actually be split into two movies, with the conclusion of the film hitting theaters in July. While most of the critics have been singing the praises of director David Yates’ latest installment, some say that splitting the movie has made Part I of “Deathly Hallows” a bit slow. I find that hard to believe. For starters, the book was awesome all the way through. Also, as someone who has had a love/hate relationship with the film adaptations, it has been amazing to see the cast come of age (literally) and begin to nail their characters. With the exception of Daniel Radcliffe as Harry (who really sucks, and I personally wouldn’t mind if they replaced him this late in the series), the casting, which was much maligned by the masses originally, has really come into its own.
No one is a better example of this than the suddenly stunning Emma Watson. Not only does she have sex appeal by the bundle (if I do say so myself), she is also the best actor of the entire cast in my opinion, and does justice to Hermione, (arguably) the best character in the series. She literally carries every scene she is in, and does a great job capturing the changes in mindset and personality that the character experiences throughout the series. We got mad love for Ms. Watson over here…
Also, as the series gradually gets darker and more adult, moving further and further from the children’s books that began the series, the movies get better and better. The director and writers have done an amazing job capturing this shift in style and presentation, and I can’t wait to see this spectacle for myself. Like many of you, I’ll be lined up at my local theater to check out the newest JK Rowling blockbuster. Let me know what y’all think and I’ll do the same. Check the trailer below.
Shout out to Maxim for the pics.
UPDATE: (SPOILER ALERT) So, I got a chance to check out HP7 this weekend, and it was AMAZING! As I talked about before, the performances were amazing, especially by Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley in the series. In my opinion, Ron is the hardest character to portray in the series because has the most rapid mood changes. One second, he’ll be making some smart-alec quip, the next he’ll be trying to hide his love for Hermione, and the next he’ll be pissed off at Harry and accusing his two best friends of being lovers. The scene where Ron leaves the tent was very well done. As I said before, I’ve always thought that Emma Watson was the best actor of them all, but I’ll have to say that in HP7 part I, Rupert hit the home run.
I do have one gripe though, and its not minor. Most critics are griping about the fact that the movie was split and where the writers chose to end it, but I felt that the death of Dobby was a great way to end the film. My gripe has to do with how the scene where Hermione was being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange was done. In the book, this was easily the most powerful scene in the series to me, not just because my favorite character was being tortured, but because of how Ron reacted from the cellar below. In the book, Ron went nuts listening to the love of his life get tortured while in the movie, this was downplayed alot. I have no idea why this is so, but it really gutted one of my favorite scenes in the series.
However, the rest of the film more than made up for this. They did a great job illustrating the new direction of the Ministry of Magic with Umbridge at the helm, showing alot of anti-muggle materials that were strangely reminiscent of Hitler’s Germany. Scary stuff. Also, the animated illustration of the “Tale of the 3 Brothers,” which is the source of the the namesake of the 7th Book, was very well done.
Overall, I’d say this is the second best movie (so far) of the series (behind The Half-Blood Prince and just in front of The Goblet of Fire). However, the way that the movie is ended in July is crucial. The last fight scene at Hogwarts can potentially rival the amazing war scene in the last Lord of the Rings movie, and the film’s cast and writers have already shown they are capable of epic fight scenes, as seen in the Ministry of Magic fight in The Order of the Phoenix. Just sad I have to wait until next year to see it. Hope yall enjoyed the flick. Feel free to comment.
