December 07, 2004
Entertainment Reviews
Recent movies we watched...
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:
I liked this one, for all the reasons I enjoy the Harry Potter stories. Unfortunately, having read the book, this movie fell short - not just for what they left out but for the whole feeling of the flick. Though still quite an amusing film it suffers in comparison to the first two - just not up to par.
Still; it's a Harry Potter movie, the young stars are great, the story is intriguing. If I was not familiar with the original story, or the first two films, it would be getting a higher rating.
Shrek 2: A movie that survives as a sequel. Loved all the references to other films, love Mike Meyers and Eddie Murphy, love John Cleese and Julie Andrews. Don't get why they needed Cameron Diaz in the part, let alone paying her $20 million to do it - she doesn't bring anything extra to the role. We laughed straight through, I would definitely watch this one again. And again.
And my most recent book read...
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold: How do you make a beautiful story out of the rape and murder of a 14 year old girl? You let Alice Sebold write it. I bought this book a while back but hadn't had the guts to dig in - just couldn't wrap my mind around the premise. I needn't have worried. Though there are a couple of missteps, or rather "unnecessary detours" which I will discuss in more since they are spoilers, all in all it is a wonderful ride. I have not yet decided whether to recommend this to my sister, as the Heaven presented here is not the one she believes in. But the way it follows the characters and their different grieving processes is remarkable. Those type of questions cost it on the word of mouth scale, which you may remember is based not on how good the product is but on how likely I am to recommend it to my family & friends.
SPOILERS FOR THE LOVELY BONES
Why did Susie's mom have to hook up with Fenerman? Especially where/when she did - didn't add to the story at all.
Why did Ruth & Susie have to switch? or Accepting that, why would Susie, who was killed at 14 and tells us she never grows up as she sees her sister doing, want nothing more than to have sex with Ray? What in her heavenly existence would lead her to that?
Saw Harry Potter & I loved it but you're right, the book is 100x's better. I read The Lovely Bones over a year ago and it remains one of my favorites. Hard to believe a book about rape and death could be a favorite...
Posted by: yayaempress at December 8, 2004 09:48 AMLovely Bones is an awsome book.
Harry Potter movie was obviously not anywhere near as good as the movie but as you can see her books are getting thicker and thicker. They wont ever be. However I did LIKE what they did with the movie even though it didn't follow the book.
Yeah, if it hadn't been for the fact that I read the book it would've been better because it was a good movie - just couldn't help comparing. You're right, too, that it will be harder and harder to stick to the book since they keep getting longer. Prisoner was 2 hours and 20 minutes - can't imagine what they will do with Golden Phoenix
Posted by: Vox at December 8, 2004 09:39 PM