WHAT WOULD TOTO WATCH? » Harry Potter

Are you wild about ‘Harry’ (Potter)?

cftoto — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 20:56:40 +0000

Unless you’ve been living on the moon, under a rock or in an oppressive religious cult you know the final “Harry Potter” film is almost here.

Yes, we’ve watched seven installments of the boy wizard’s life, a yarn leading up to the final showdown with Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes sans nose), “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2″

So, are you eager to see the final Harry/Voldemort smackdown starting July 15? Or, will you be glad to watch Harry fly his Quidditch broom off into the sunset?

I’ve always admired the “Potter” franchise more than adored it. Author J.K. Rowling’s imagination seems boundless, and the minds behind the series hired some of the best character actors around to flesh out Harry’s evolution from wide-eyed student to wizard extraordinaire.

What other film series boasts the likes of Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, John Hurt, Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith and Jim Broadbent in supporting parts?

But I rarely left the theater thrilled or even sporadically dazzled. And that last installment, a slog through tedious jealousies that barely advanced the narrative, cooled my ardor for the final chapter.

One issue with this kind of mega-franchise is keeping up to speed on all the characters, sub plots and motivations between the key players. I’ve seen every “Potter” film but can’t recall much about them beyond vague impressions. Am I really supposed to hole myself up and watch all seven – again – before July 15?

The “Potter” films print money as is, so there’s no need to tweak the formula to please one befuddled critic. But who wouldn’t love seeing each new chapter open with a recap prologue? It would leave longtime fans giddy with anticipation, and the rest of us could mentally prepare for the story ahead.

I can’t even imagine what a Harry Potter newbie would think wandering into the final feature.

Once Harry and Voldemort square off at the end of “Deathly Hallows” all the back story and context should fade away. It’s good versus evil, Rowlings style, and this film critic hopes those final franchise minutes are good enough to make me reconsider the series in toto.

(Photo: Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter and Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort in Warner Bros. Pictures’ fantasy adventure “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ – No breaking this spell

cftoto — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:26:33 +0000

Audiences lining up to see the latest “Harry Potter” feature should bring a healthy knowledge of the previous five films along with their ticket stub.

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” demands viewers have more than a passing familiarity with the boy wizard and his pals.

It helps to have written a thesis project on J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard.

If that’s the case, then expect more than a few rich rewards from one of the most consistent film franchises in movie history.

“Prince” opens with the movie’s most exhilarating sequence – a trio of Death Eaters strafing an English city and leaving a major bridge rocking in their wake. It’s the prelude to the threat facing Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and his pals this time around.

A plot is afoot to take out Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), Harry’s longtime mentor and one of the franchise’s sturdiest souls. But Harry and pals Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) must endure less deadly distractions.

Harry is caught between romancing Ron’s sister and fulfilling his destiny as the Chosen One. When Ron isn’t soaking in accolades as Hogwarts’ newest sports star, he’s fending off the advances of an aggressive school mate. And poor Hermione is left to ponder her own romantic feelings for the suddenly popular Ron.

Yes, young love is certainly in the rarified air of Hogwarts Academy, and screenwriter Steven Kloves makes every hand sweaty moment feel as real as if this were any other school setting. The humor is dry, the lines witty and true, making “Prince” far superior to anything seen in the teen favorite “Twilight.”

Kloves also excels at acknowledging the franchise’s scope.

Every Potter installment introduces a new professor to Hogwarts, and it usually means another veteran British actor who effortlessly anchors the supernatural material. Here, Oscar winner Jim Broadbent does the honors as the new professor of potions, and he steals just about every scene in which he appears.

That’s no mean feat given the visual wonders swirling around the production.

Even better, Broadbent’s character provides some necessary backstory to the young Lord Voldemort. Those flashbacks remind us of the wickedness at work here, even though the franchise’s ultimate evil doer doesn’t so much as provide a cameo role in the film.

“Half-Blood Prince” lacks a lip smacking villain, and action fanatics will have to look elsewhere for an adrenaline surge.

That leaves Potter fanatics and those who can appreciate a sublimely crafted franchise which only gets better with each successive outing.

(Photo: Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith add gravitas to “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.”/Warner Bros.)

Summer ‘09 Movies – The Sure Things

cftoto — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:49:05 +0000

You can never experience your first baseball game again, or the moment when you pedaled a bicycle without a parent running alongside you.

But the right summer movie can make you feel like a kid once more for two blissful hours.

It’s why the blockbuster season continues to draw movie goers away from those sun-drenched days and starry nights.

Even if, on occasion, they must suffer through a “Love Guru” or “Wild Wild West.”

WWTW kicks off its three-part summer movie preview with The Sure Things – films guaranteed to score big at the box office even if they don’t deliver the goods.

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (May 1) – Hugh Jackman’s hairy alter ego is first out of the summer movie gates, assuming you didn’t already watch him via that illegal download. The “X” franchise didn’t reach the heights of the first two “Spider-Man” installments, but it scored with its rogues gallery of mutants and socially aware subtext. But “Wolverine” director Gavin Hood (“Rendition”) has never helmed an action pic before. FUN FACT: The first “X-Men” comic debuted in 1963.
“Star Trek” (May 7) – J.J. Abrams of “Lost” fame boldly goes where no franchise reboot has gone before. His mission? Win over new Trekkies without enraging Trek Nation. Good luck with that. It doesn’t help that the early clips feel more like “Star Trek: 90210″ than the space opera we know and love. FUN FACT: The original “Star Trek” series featured television’s first interracial kiss between William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols.
“Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” (May 22) – More top flight actors (Amy Adams, Christopher Guest, Ricky Gervais), more comedy aimed at the kiddie set. FUN FACT: The short-lived “Ben Stiller Show” (1992-93) featured Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo and Bob Odenkirk of “Mr. Show” fame.
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (June 24) – Michael Bay. Sequel. Noise. More noise. Ka-ching goes box office. Scratch, scratch goes WWTW’s head. Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox return for another round of Transforming action and mayhem. FUN FACT: Co-star Megan Fox’s next film is “Jennifer’s Body,” a horror film scripted by Diablo Cody (“Juno.”)
“Terminator Salvation” (May 21) – Few people cared about a fourth “Termnator” film until Christian Bale signed on as its star. Bale’s talent – and penchant for picking quality material, pushed the film into the buzz stratosphere. FUN FACT: McG, the film’s director, was born Joseph McGinty Nichols.
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (July 15) – Isn’t Daniel Radcliffe 30 by now? The workhorse franchise returns, and while the HP films are remarkably consistent -and keep some of the best character actors employed – the series isn’t gaining momentum as it should. FUN FACT: Co-star Emma Watson will be attending Yale University in the fall.

Wednesday: Summer ’09’s Risky Business - films which could be great … or could get lost in the blockbuster shuffle.

Friday: Best of the Rest - The indie films which could spell movie goers from the sequel and remake parade.

(Photo: Hugh Jackman bares his claws in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” the first big summer movie of ‘09 – photo credit: Michael Muller)