Almost done

As I'm sure most of you are aware, the first of two movies covering the final book in the Harry Potter series came out last week. I have now seen it twice (and will probably check it out at least one more time). It always takes me at least two viewings to get a handle on my opinion of the film. The first time through has me trying to remember what the movie has left out that was in the book. The second time through, I can just watch it as a movie on its own. David Yates, who has directed the last couple of HP's, is behind the wheel for both part one and two of the finale. When book 7 came out, I discussed with several people how difficult it would be to try and present that book as one movie. I was very excited when it was decided to be done as two movies. I'm still glad they did it that way, but I wish the pacing on this movie had been a bit more intense.

Don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed the movie. All three of the leads have become, at the very least, solid actors as they have matured. The tone of the final book/films is definitely the darkest of all of them so it's good that their acting abilities are up to meeting the challenge of the story. I loved seeing Ron get all mushy around Hermione. I loved seeing Ron and Harry argue. I loved seeing Ron get to have his big hero moment. I loved that the CGI used for Kreacher and Dobby (house elves if you are not in the know) improved. The combination of having Dobby seem not so Jar Jar Binks-ish (along with some excellent voice acting for the character) and Daniel Radcliffe's spot on acting made Dobby's death scene a genuinely touching and subtle moment in the film. I loved seeing Draco conflicted. I loved seeing the very, very, subtle hints at Snape's true nature (thank you Alan Rickman!). I love the twins!

The only complaint I have about the movie is the pacing. We start off with a bang. Voldy almost gets Harry. There's the quick escape from the wedding. There is the whole thing at the Ministry. But then we get...walking. In the book, Rowling lets us know that the threesome traveled from place to place for several weeks. They didn't stay in one place for more than a night or two. They had to sneak around and "steal" food (Hermione usually left money in the till or, in the case of snagging some eggs at a farm, under a chicken). I guess I would have liked a more intensely edited montage of some sort that showed more of their struggle. We saw them walking over some really cool bits of land and it's all very expansive and gorgeous and that's great. But, it slowed the movie down for me. It took out some of the tension that should have been built by the fact that they were on the run. Maybe I'm just too picky.

I went to see this the first time with my friend and her 4 boys. When it was over, her youngest turned to me and asked when they were going to start showing the second movie. He was rather disappointed when I told him he would not be waiting just a few minutes, but actually several months. The wait should be worth it as we have only 12 chapters left in the book to go through and it should be almost non stop action, adventure, and snogging (finally the smooch between Hermione and Ron...wonder if it will be as touchy feel-y as the "evil" snog that anti-Harry and anti-Hermione had before Ron crushed the Voldy locket...I sort of wish that intensity was present between Harry and Ginny...maybe they are trying to keep that one more chaste for now...perhaps I'm thinking too much on it...hmmm...). See you in July.

Ring My Bell

I've always wanted to ring the bells for the Salvation Army at this time of the year. Can't really explain why, just did. I got the chance to "live the dream" as it were this weekend. The group I volunteer with, Generation United, took shifts helping ring out in front of a Hy Vee grocery store.

Saturday didn't provide us with the best weather. It was cloudy, a little drippy, and a lot windy. Still, I smiled, rang the bell, said hello to folks as they walked by and thanked them when they donated.

I could tell when people weren't going to donate. Even more particularly, I could tell when people weren't going to donate and they felt bad about it. Usually, they would avert their gaze as they got closer to me. A couple of people told me they didn't have any change.

One little girl wanted to know why Santa wasn't ringing the bell here. I explained he was very busy making toys so he needed some help right now. I think she bought my answer, but she still had a slightly disappointed look on her face. Toward the end of my shift, an older gentlemen came over to talk to me. He asked that I talk to my supervisor and let them know that the guy working the bell at Kroger that morning BROUGHT A CHAIR AND WAS SITTING IN IT!

Apparently sitting down on the job is a big no-no...or at least that is what this guy was telling me. He was in the know because he had a friend who worked for the Salvation Army and sitting down was against the rules. I almost asked the guy if he knew if the person sitting down appeared to be elderly or perhaps injured in some way, there by explaining the evil chair. But, I couldn't get a word in edge wise.

The other highlight of the experience was sharing the space with a dude I referred to as "The Cranberry Guy." Cranberry Guy, or CG as I will call him, was someone hired by Ocean Spray to stand out in front of the store promoting their cranberry juice. He had on waders and an outfit similar to the guys in the commercial. He had a decent sized rectangular wooden box that was about half full of water. On top of the water were cranberries. He had a rake and would move them around and explain to folks how cranberries are harvested, etc.

You would have thought this guy was Elvis or something. Cars stopped so drivers could take photos of him. He posed for pictures with people. CG even had his own camera and had people take pictures on it. I asked him what the pictures were for and he said that they would show his boss that his was mingling and they get sent to Ocean Spray who might put them on their website. CG had got there around 8 and had to work till 5. He came over twice to ask me to watch his display to make sure no one messed with it while he went inside to warm up. The big concern seemed to be people putting something disgusting in the water or some kid drowning in it.

I got to watch a mini soap opera unfold as a trio of teen age girls hovered around where CG was standing. It took them a good 10 minutes (and much pushing) before they went over to talk to him. There was a lot of giggling, hair flipping, and photo taking. After they left, CG came over and told me that they were quite flirty. He said they asked if he was cold. He responded, "I was, but then you came over and my heart started beating so fast I warmed up."

Yeah, I know.

Anyway, it was a worthwhile couple of hours of my day. I'll definitely sign up again. If you have the chance to volunteer in your area, I really recommend it.

'Tis the season after all...

Boo.

I had every intention of watching the two scary movies I'd gotten via Netflix BEFORE the 31st. This of course means that, as with everything else in my life right now, I fell behind and just watched them last night. First was The Human Centipede. I'd been reading about this movie in one of my British mags. It's a riff on the mad scientist who wants to create a monster. In this case, a mad Nazi-esque scientist who wants to make a centipede using 3 people. The gory draw is that the people are sewn to each other via their mouth and well...the behind of the person in front of them. I told you it was gory. The guy who plays the surgeon is darn creepy and I give props to the actors who spent the last third of the movie on hands and knees in a position that had to be interesting at the least. Otherwise, the movie was just sort of run of the mill. I was too busy trying to figure out how certain things were done and trying to work my way through the issues I had with the plot to really get scared. The director made the ending really dark so I guess it was more depressing than scary.

Next up was Trick 'r Treat. It came out in 2008 and was directed by the guy who wrote X-Men 2. Bryan Singer produced and there is even more X-Men connectedness with Bryan Cox and Anna Paquin appearing in the film. I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. It nice some really nice creepy moments. There is plenty of dark humor and some great ironic touches. The little "kid" with the sack over his head walking around in the orange footie pajamas was a nice touch. There are multiple stories that sort of loosely connect. The movie plays off of some classic Halloween motifs, but brings in some fresh blood as it were. It's a short film, only about 1:20 in length, which is perfect. Next year, plan on checking this one out...or be a rebel and watch it over Thanksgiving!

In theaters, Due Date came out this weekend. Directed by Todd Phillips (The Hangover), it stars the fab-I-want-to-have-your-child Robert Downey, Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. Zach and Robert made a great pair. Zach as a weird, man-child sort of guy and Robert as an uptight, somewhat angry man. They don't meet under the best circumstances. Zach gets Robert tossed off a plane and put on a no fly list. Because Robert has lost his ID, he can't rent a car so he ends up having to ride with Zach across country. Robert needs to get back to L.A. in time for the birth of his first child.

While there are funny moments in this buddy/road flick, there just didn't seem to be enough of them. I will say seeing Juliet Lewis as a "pharmacist" (she sells medicinal pot out of her kitchen) was very funny. Also a high light are the bizarre conversations Robert and Zach have. Hearing Zach's character claim that the Hoover Dam was built by the pilgrims was pretty flippin' funny. I enjoyed the emotional and serious moments more. I was impressed with Zach's range and the monologue where Robert describes a traumatic childhood event was really touching. Overall the script felt sort of unfinished, almost like they were rushing it out to keep us occupied while waiting for The Hangover 2 to come out. Still, it wasn't a bad way to spend the afternoon.

Hopefully this week I will get to Buried, starring Ryan Reynolds. I've read a lot about it and I'm curious to see how the director handles keeping the character and the audience in one very small space for the length of the film.

Then it's Harry Potter and the renewal of my moderately inappropriate crush on Daniel Radcliffe!