grrgoyl

Time again for some movie reviews.

The opening act: Paranormal Entity I spent the first ten minutes of this movie trying to figure out if it was a spoof of Paranormal Activity. It still might be.

( ::My review at least doesn't suck up as much of your life as actually watching the movie:: )

An unpleasant waste of an afternoon. The cable access version of Paranormal Activity. These are the nicest things I can say about it.

~*~

Headliner:

While in California, I did break a 6-month drought of theater-going to catch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (or, as a geeky fanboy requested when he bought his ticket, "Harry Potter Seven Part One," enunciating clearly so as not to be mistakenly sold a ticket for Part Two, which will be released next July); yes, money is tight, but there's always room in my budget for Harry.

Of course, I ended up also paying for Nancy, which happened without her even asking. It's just always the assumption that Nancy has no money, and she makes no effort to dispel that assumption. Frankly, I would rather have spent that money on a second theater outing for myself.

Amy had confessed to me before the trip that she had only read and seen the movies up to Order of the Phoenix, and that she couldn't remember most of it, maybe should brush up a bit. "Well, you've got a week," I told her. "Put the kid in daycare and get to work."

She didn't, and it wasn't until the lights went down that I hurriedly thought to fill her in on some of what she missed. I only got as far as "Snape killed Dumbledore and we don't know why" (OMG SPOILER SORRY). Then halfway through the first scene it occurred to me she might need to know what a Horcrux was, but when I tried to whisper it to her she shushed me. Fine. Enjoy this movie where you'll have no idea what's going on.

I myself had already re-read the entire series in preparation for the movie, so I could make an informed judgment. ( ::And here it is:: )

The movie IS sort of slow, compared to the others. It very much feels like a transition, a placeholder before the real finale. I loved it, but I can see where lesser fans (or casual viewers, like Ryan who hasn't read a single book) might be left feeling a bit WTF??

However, I got a solid reminder of why I hate going to the theater anymore. Bad enough there was a row of teenagers way in the back, one of whom evidently could only follow every plot progression by announcing it loudly to the rest of us. But halfway through, I became aware of a full-fledged conversation going on behind me. I turned in my seat to see two teenage girls cupping a cellphone between them and talking at great length to the caller. I stared and stared and stared. Finally one of them noticed me and asked haughtily, "Can I help you?" I just kept staring coldly, didn't even blink. They slowly ended the call and put the phone away, with a disbelieving "Sheesh...."

Yes. I'm the rude one. I spent the rest of the movie ready for a confrontation at the end, but they either decided against it or, more likely, their tiny attention spans had forgotten the incident entirely.

~*~

Not sure what the third act is called:

Finally, a movie that I almost went to jail for downloading online: Catfish. Everyone will probably remember that it was released shortly before The Social Network with the promotion "Everyone who uses the internet must see this movie." No?

Well, it's a shame, because I've seen them both and think Catfish is better.

( ::More if you dare:: )