cult film freak: richard harris

Showing posts with label richard harris. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 11/16/2021 / No comments / alan badel , anne cunningham , british new wave , colin blakely , lindsay anderson , rachel roberts , richard harris , sixties , sport , vanda godsell

RICHARD HARRIS IN LINDSAY ANDERSON'S 'THIS SPORTING LIFE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj35Crnyo-L5y7h2Z-myHWz26dA2T_McgUG6L8nIzDlkseevj4zZfHyz_7qC53mKG7Ia-0H7x9RwSQeM8VevAD03bNgn-EEPdRHmshAsjWIHFIqxwQOenOjklUtTbQBtjrUSO_pSOuU7Kk3UdjDri_HM1m7-68848r0LjS_q4SOSMbiGshmhIYsrIl8ig=s1759" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="1759" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj35Crnyo-L5y7h2Z-myHWz26dA2T_McgUG6L8nIzDlkseevj4zZfHyz_7qC53mKG7Ia-0H7x9RwSQeM8VevAD03bNgn-EEPdRHmshAsjWIHFIqxwQOenOjklUtTbQBtjrUSO_pSOuU7Kk3UdjDri_HM1m7-68848r0LjS_q4SOSMbiGshmhIYsrIl8ig=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THIS SPORTING LIFE Year: 1963 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In the British New Wave/Kitchen Sink Drama THE SPORTING LIFE, non-famous extra Glenda Jackson can be seen singing at a crowded party... funny since, years before her macho co-stars Oliver Reed and Alan Bates wrestled naked in WOMEN IN LOVE, so did coal mining rugby player Richard Harris and teammate Colin Blakely... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Not for very long, and they're not fighting but celebrating a victory; yet the title sport's not seen enough given that everything centers on Harris, as Frank Machin, gifted with a prowess on the field that piques the interest of bigwig Alan Badel and his flirtatious wife Vanda Godsell, who can change the poor lug's life overnight...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

alan badel, anne cunningham, british new wave, colin blakely, lindsay anderson, rachel roberts, richard harris, sixties, sport, vanda godsell

RICHARD HARRIS IN LINDSAY ANDERSON'S 'THIS SPORTING LIFE'

Title: THIS SPORTING LIFE Year: 1963 Rating: ***1/2 In the British New Wave/Kitchen Sink Drama THE SPORTING LIFE, non-famous extra Glenda Ja...

WILL SAMPSON DOUBLE CREATURE 'ORCA' & 'WHITE BUFFALO'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><u>Poster for ORCA THE KILLER WHALE</u></td></tr>
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With a brooding soundtrack, composed by genius maestro Ennio Morricone, orchestrating the title killer whale seeking revenge on Richard Harris's Neo-Ahab, Captain Nolan, for killing the whale's pregnant mate, ORCA is more an oceanic Spaghetti Western than an outright "Creature Feature."<br>
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Once narrowed into the hunt, as Harris — like JAWS scene-stealer, Quint, played by Robert Shaw, did with his two-man-crew to the Great White —leads ORCA (the name of Quint's boat, which means "a large toothed whale") out to sea, or vice versa, it's an entertaining adventure. But in order to make the audience forget about the 1975 shark thriller, this campy whale tale throws it right into our face with a menacing Great White's dorsal fin heading towards a young crewman (Robert Carradine) — only to be saved, at the last minute, by the one monstrosity more powerful than even Spielberg's Carcharodon Carcharias...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Foreign DVD Artwork beats our own</u></td></tr>
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But it's the horrendously melodramatic revenge aspect, from the whale against the seafaring Captain, that shifts ORCA into camp-howler territory. One scene involving Harris, a hunter combination of Shaw (along with scruffy boat pilot Keenan Wynn) and Roy Scheieder, and an oceanographic Richard Dreyfuss in the exotic French starlet Charlotte Rampling, the whale actually sees (with a knowing, narrowed eye) his foe seconds after <i>actually</i> causing the sea-town, curved along the surrounding shoreline, to explode in massive flames...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Will Sampson, Charlotte Rampling and Richard Harris</u></td></tr>
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Here's when our doomed anti-hero is forced seaward, going deeper and deeper into the Killer Whale's territory and, straight from the brawny pages of Herman Melville or even Ernest Hemingway, the macho captain wants the whale dead too — what the giant mammal did to Harris's gorgeous friend (a pre-fame Bo Derek) adds fiery insult to injury.... Making up for overlong bouts of tedious arguments on board, the pivotal, entertaining "body count" occurs in the style of a violent and bloody 1970's horror/exploitation flick, and like JAWS, the suspense is channelled into a steady pulse when the creature, unseen, is anticipated within the dark waters — but not for long...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Great White Shark smack-down by ORCA THE KILLER WHALE</u></td></tr>
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During the third act, an iceberg becomes a HIGH NOON main street between man and beast. And, last but not least, along for the ride, to legitimize the picture and fitting within the theme of this double feature review, CUCKOO'S NEST Chief Bromden...<br>
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Will Sampson, taking a break from his role as a tortured Sioux with a WHITE BUFFALO chip on his shoulder, provides a hybrid of Dreyfuss style wisdom and Shaw experience — a moral compass swing vote, dead-set against the stubborn and determined Richard Harris who, the likes of Peter O'Toole, Oliver Reed and other intense British actors, whether in good, bad or downright ugly motion pictures, doesn't hold anything back.<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim-h3W0McGeOj5OqXT4X9hJPvB_Jx0751j3UpT3UX9fssqOUHcXlGKaHhgMOa5hNKvGiPp8PSXg7tf5hntNI4ayDx6a9rVSlRKSLnXxT4Z4gn8vdBnw37fk4tWcnEZvcwaCrCGIcI_FEtw/s1600/4.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="737" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim-h3W0McGeOj5OqXT4X9hJPvB_Jx0751j3UpT3UX9fssqOUHcXlGKaHhgMOa5hNKvGiPp8PSXg7tf5hntNI4ayDx6a9rVSlRKSLnXxT4Z4gn8vdBnw37fk4tWcnEZvcwaCrCGIcI_FEtw/s1600/4.jpeg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghjBI8a9Ejd8KUn7aVy7pm0mM2E95Pm-Qf3YNGLgXQzaESpxuwixiCVrS4UuXEMO4xAlDMY-h4QqMmusYTEoiEKg-81Gf6jDuU2z2871nxApkGu4Yz42-gZmKUNyNyx_7E-x7-TphXEjME/s1600/5.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghjBI8a9Ejd8KUn7aVy7pm0mM2E95Pm-Qf3YNGLgXQzaESpxuwixiCVrS4UuXEMO4xAlDMY-h4QqMmusYTEoiEKg-81Gf6jDuU2z2871nxApkGu4Yz42-gZmKUNyNyx_7E-x7-TphXEjME/s1600/5.jpeg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoabdhpie5SoCwc9TY_Nib4DVP_7Ud9qjNRON862ijUL56vZwRpOGG29ePhPR4D1VWbkr3vr8n1d7JOZ-3aEN-LXvZQKu6axHAuM3qtquYmstqzYHWseRD9qd9kQzy7-g_5q4u04-I7ue_/s1600/11.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="815" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoabdhpie5SoCwc9TY_Nib4DVP_7Ud9qjNRON862ijUL56vZwRpOGG29ePhPR4D1VWbkr3vr8n1d7JOZ-3aEN-LXvZQKu6axHAuM3qtquYmstqzYHWseRD9qd9kQzy7-g_5q4u04-I7ue_/s1600/11.jpeg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson ducks for cover in The White Buffalo YEAR: 1976</u></td></tr>
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A Charles Bronson cult film that, without the hilariously dated and 
contrived title creature, is a surprisingly decent Western in its own 
right...<br>
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Haunted by nightmares of THE WHITE BUFFALO, Bronson, as a retired, 
inconspicuous Wild Bill Hickok, wakes up with guns blazing, all
 his own — first on a train and then inside a gold mining town's hotel 
run by a gracious Kim Novak...<br>
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In-between we learn of the giant beast through the frantic, personal 
rage 
of the most sympathetic character, Will Sampson's Crazy Horse, who must 
go by the name 'Worm' until he avenges his family's death and, by
 the end, a stretch of terrain that resembles a neatly cut, treeless 
landing strip provides a showdown location for the killer Buff's
 three hunters — so let's cover the main JAWS similarities through the 
main characters...<br>

action, adventure, bo derek, body count, charlotte rampling, creature, exploitation, kim novak, richard harris, robert carradine, shark, will sampson

WILL SAMPSON DOUBLE CREATURE 'ORCA' & 'WHITE BUFFALO'

Poster for ORCA THE KILLER WHALE With a brooding soundtrack, composed by genius maestro Ennio Morricone, orchestrating the title k...

RICHARD HARRIS IN '99 AND 44/100% DEAD' W/ EDMOND O'BRIEN

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1974</u></td></tr>
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This crime/comedy curio has a crazy title and a quirky dark comedic intro reminiscent of the comparably underpar <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2011/05/gang-that-couldnt-shoot-straight.html">THE GANG THAT COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT</a>, here involving an underwater mafia burial ground on the waterfront dock where a young mob upstart is moving in on an old-timer...<br />
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With capable direction by capable director John Frankenheimer and starring Richard Harris as a freelance hit-man/problem-fixer named Harry Crown, sheds its silly skin pretty damn quick...<br />
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Harris, hired by Edmond O'Brien as a cigar-smoking Uncle Frank, is so ultra serious his cemented expressions alone force the film into submission, adhering to a severe and violent plot-line: he must stop the other side from moving in on Frank's territory, and to keep the old fella... and himself, a partner and a few ladies... alive in the process.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1qh7hexAaRWCvpAb7Gf2cZbNXq1pRJ8oYhS0LJ2cT9uNHg-4Yb06T7Apj0a4tqaN4-zAZKG6O0Cl8BOjD5ZeKGPRfWaHMsoIMEOYqsg3b7xLcyTeV4oYyGSd-C0gv6kkCyWHo9rJHYk/s1600/12.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1qh7hexAaRWCvpAb7Gf2cZbNXq1pRJ8oYhS0LJ2cT9uNHg-4Yb06T7Apj0a4tqaN4-zAZKG6O0Cl8BOjD5ZeKGPRfWaHMsoIMEOYqsg3b7xLcyTeV4oYyGSd-C0gv6kkCyWHo9rJHYk/s320/12.png" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>99 MOVIE SCORE: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Not like anything was wrong with the opening five minutes involving a cute whistling musical intro and an animated credit sequence, used on most of the poster artwork, but since edgy grit ruled the 1970's crime genre... and if you cut down an overlong love scene establishing good girl/love interest Anne Turkel and add a bit more to the old/young partnership of Harris and I DISMEMBER MAMA co-star Zooey Hall as the young, vulnerable but faithfully dependable Tony... this is a perfect fit for the always-intriguing Harris and serves as effective ammunition in the overall Frankenheimer crime canon.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLWWUGI4PmSpGbg9hB6OzE3jbYaUvqAL91LMXfIV8-Z231l8NZMmOkCc_YK7_lIjgfXhpSLzm-chj3mxxfh8fhtmD2zPx3P1ciYosCzfCKXpqWlOANmT5BHEmkvzQNPIaUya2BE0qEgbw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-06-30+at+1.14.14+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLWWUGI4PmSpGbg9hB6OzE3jbYaUvqAL91LMXfIV8-Z231l8NZMmOkCc_YK7_lIjgfXhpSLzm-chj3mxxfh8fhtmD2zPx3P1ciYosCzfCKXpqWlOANmT5BHEmkvzQNPIaUya2BE0qEgbw/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-06-30+at+1.14.14+PM.png" width="143" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>With Janice Heiden</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
While O'Brien, in his last feature-length role, was said (by Peter Jason in a Cult Film Freak podcast) to be in ill heath, and not so "with it," on the set of Orson Welles' unfinished THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND, he does a fine job as the kind of mobster – though bordering on obvious satire – the likes of an era where the man himself derived: you can imagine a young Uncle Frank sharing a cell with James Cagney (but not undercover) only here he's...<br />
<br />
Despite the situation of being bullied out of business by Bradford Dillman's intentionally overboard Big Eddie... having a fine life with one of the prettiest ladies of that decade, Janice Heiden as his favorite mistress, Clara, her wandering eyes glued on Harris's Crowne, older but not as old and also very fit, tough as nails and best yet, completely resilient.<br />
<br />
From a hotel room shoot-out to a dangerous bridge battle against sadistic chief goon Chuck Conners, Harry's an assassin more the creative likes of James Bond than those gun-wilding lug-heads he's pitted against. His impossibility to fail makes the movie less suspenseful, sure, yet the entire bloody romp becomes more enjoyable – seeing just how many corners he can sneak into and out of and, on the film-making end, those nifty zooms and quick-edits are all part of the terrific, underrated, under-appreciated whole.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmsH-6ylNMl1TBJ_TlZzqhxqogDowQaQcl63fGqW2biPkQbgThsdp8eO43xb5GD6AMxpgXzebjXZ1WYRWuiAdmyrBlQDeWk57tUN-vsjnN3h3oVcxs3GXYzNv2Rz2Fm1H95y2256x-N8/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-06-28+at+2.28.16+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmsH-6ylNMl1TBJ_TlZzqhxqogDowQaQcl63fGqW2biPkQbgThsdp8eO43xb5GD6AMxpgXzebjXZ1WYRWuiAdmyrBlQDeWk57tUN-vsjnN3h3oVcxs3GXYzNv2Rz2Fm1H95y2256x-N8/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-06-28+at+2.28.16+AM.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><u>Opening Title Sequence for Edmond O'Brien's last film in 1974 along with a review of a 1954 Film Noir</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg89DXpP35198IDB0lhONQi8fuHKfBpIF_7Cu-Hx6ApAPDJvwq8Y3A8t-EI6GdMiMIi5mn7YaiVoUjVWJfiumc4dLkb-bNMDifxJ_83MGRz-SGQsUp0bFzVX9NOZPIiFOYvo-ReaBb6gsk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-06-30+at+1.21.26+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg89DXpP35198IDB0lhONQi8fuHKfBpIF_7Cu-Hx6ApAPDJvwq8Y3A8t-EI6GdMiMIi5mn7YaiVoUjVWJfiumc4dLkb-bNMDifxJ_83MGRz-SGQsUp0bFzVX9NOZPIiFOYvo-ReaBb6gsk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-06-30+at+1.21.26+PM.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Edmond O'Brien talks to while Janice Heiden makes eyes at Richard Harris in 99 AND 44/100% DEAD</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>

action, bradford dillman, dark comedy, edmond o'brien, exploitation, janice heiden, john frankenheimer, mob, richard harris, seventies

RICHARD HARRIS IN '99 AND 44/100% DEAD' W/ EDMOND O'BRIEN

year: 1974 This crime/comedy curio has a crazy title and a quirky dark comedic intro reminiscent of the comparably underpar THE GANG THA...

Written by James M. Tate / 5/10/2016 / No comments / charlton heston , dalton trumbo , gene hackman , george roy hill , julie andrews , mako , max von sydow , richard harris , sixties , tina chen

GORGEOUS DOUBLE FEATURE OF HAWAII & THE HAWAIIANS

charlton heston, dalton trumbo, gene hackman, george roy hill, julie andrews, mako, max von sydow, richard harris, sixties, tina chen

GORGEOUS DOUBLE FEATURE OF HAWAII & THE HAWAIIANS

Twilight Time Blu Ray HAWAII Film Original Release: 1966 HAWAII : Max Von Sydow often played old men, even fifty years ago when he was y...

REVIEWS OF REVENANT & MAN IN THE WILDERNESS

john huston, leonardo dicaprio, remake, richard harris, tom hardy, western

REVIEWS OF REVENANT & MAN IN THE WILDERNESS

year: 2016 In MAN IN THE WILDERNESS, a 1971 Western, or, for that gritty, no-nonsense, ultra-realistic period, more of an anti-Western.....

COMPLETE MAGIC BAGFUL OF ALL HARRY POTTER FILMS

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiibCoq5-HVy08oFiX8quX3pXeT78o0H2kUer3G9LW3jVibRsWJcGeqHHKPuGrocdhejduQA47WHrhLEVUeN1gYZ0bax4KcC_PKP2K3VdOs_OWw1OJb3MklM69oWjR_1be75U3MY95aXYM/s1600/1harry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiibCoq5-HVy08oFiX8quX3pXeT78o0H2kUer3G9LW3jVibRsWJcGeqHHKPuGrocdhejduQA47WHrhLEVUeN1gYZ0bax4KcC_PKP2K3VdOs_OWw1OJb3MklM69oWjR_1be75U3MY95aXYM/s320/1harry.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2001 rating: ****</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE:</b> </span>Who would
 ever think timeworn clichés like broomsticks and magic wands would work
 for a popular modern fantasy franchise, but it all seems brand new.<br />
<br />
Based on the first Potter novel by J.K. Rowling, here’s a movie that 
takes you to another world, which is still part of this one. Harry, as 
an infant, is left with his abusive aunt and uncle and by eleven years 
old – aided by their fat spoiled son – he’s treated like a spectacle-wearing male
Cinderella.<br />
<br />
But his lot lies beyond this particular suburban hell since,
 being branded with a scar on his forehead, he’s very important. For we 
learn that a really bad character… whose name is not to be spoken 
(although it is several times)… had killed Harry’s wizardly parents but 
couldn’t kill him.<br />
<br />
Well that’s the backstory, placed nicely within the 
linear introducing our put-upon hero. But it’s when a train-bound Harry,
 joined by underdog Ron Weasley and a brainy girl Hermione, go to a 
castle called Hogwarts to become wizards, that the movie takes charge.<br />
<br />
Actually, wait... Scenes involving Harry and big-bearded caretaker Hagrid 
(Robbie Coltrane) shopping for essential "school gear" in a mystical 
outdoor mall is when the initial spell takes over. Reminiscent of Luke 
Skywalker going from his dull farmland into Mos Eisley, we’re catapulted
 into a strange new setting with the protagonist.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Sq8ckd1jV60bLJ9v_9ldVD7LfCUoXJn_j1sObbFnpnQxlvYD96VTd5LFaYnj5WLVxLWqlPXm8wAyk7sfmuCVcXIOk9kC1AIxJrBqMhqybttrpcotGwory8GMelXBB3fssm2ZMf1vx7w/s1600/Picture+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Sq8ckd1jV60bLJ9v_9ldVD7LfCUoXJn_j1sObbFnpnQxlvYD96VTd5LFaYnj5WLVxLWqlPXm8wAyk7sfmuCVcXIOk9kC1AIxJrBqMhqybttrpcotGwory8GMelXBB3fssm2ZMf1vx7w/s1600/Picture+1.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I know everything!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So by now, most people
 have seen this movie, but for those afraid that anything this popular 
must be overrated, it isn’t. The child actors are good to great: Daniel 
Radcliffe displays the right amount of awe for the audience to share in 
the unfolding odyssey and Rupert Grint, as the sidekick, provides far more 
than filler...<br />
<br />
But it’s Emma Watson who, as a know-it-all that really 
knows it all (having studied spells much needed as the film veers into 
dangerous territory), is reminiscent of the British child actors of the 
sixties and seventies, seeming like an adult shrunk into a kid’s body.<br />
<br />
The first half, as the trio learn the ins and outs of the giant castle 
Hogwarts… full of murky, mazy surprises (including a big mean troll and a
 broom-riding outdoor sport)... exceeds the fledgling mid-section, 
where the character’s get a bit lost in exposition. But once we realize 
their goal: to get that titular stone before a mysterious bad guy does, 
things pick back up.<br />
<br />
Director Chris Columbus wields the right amount of 
Spielberg-inspired gliding camera to give the feel we, like the 
characters, are being welcomed to this mystical setting as insightful 
newcomers. And John William’s score, although reminiscent of that far 
away galaxy, provides a dreamy, magical vibe keeping everything in 
place.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1K4dXOosk2Cm7YbO-r7Py02GwXUxRci7fm4K0X1ggjAKUTeK2BeRsERUv7UTFwrkaz1SHJXYwq1N2uRttRNzY24kfusQtS32PgQhTa2gRtdj6nMmREbv7c9iMDnak_OybfcX5aujYgU/s1600/2harrypotter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1K4dXOosk2Cm7YbO-r7Py02GwXUxRci7fm4K0X1ggjAKUTeK2BeRsERUv7UTFwrkaz1SHJXYwq1N2uRttRNzY24kfusQtS32PgQhTa2gRtdj6nMmREbv7c9iMDnak_OybfcX5aujYgU/s320/2harrypotter.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2002 rating: *1/2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS:</b> </span>Just as bad as the first movie is good, this, the second 
in the Potter series – although creatively providing the main 
villain’s backstory – feels like a bad sequel.<br />
<br />
New characters like 
Kenneth Branagh as a charlatan wizard who can’t live up to his 
ego-driven fame, or Malfoy’s father, an Arian sorcerer who wants to rid 
of all “Mudbloods” (wizards with muggle i.e. lamen's blood, providing a 
banal class envy storyline), prance around like part of a stage play, 
and there’s simply too much dialogue explaining what happened or what’s 
about to happen, and not much adventure.<br />
<br />
The titular Chamber of Secrets 
holds a power to kill all Mudbloods, and that includes Hermione, 
incapacitated throughout most of the film. In one part involving a giant
 spider, one of the only scenes worthwhile, Ron turns to Harry and 
says, “Where’s Hermione when you need her?”<br />
<br />
That’s a great question. 
Without the best child actor of the lot present, the two boys don’t have
 that spark needed to carry things through. And a computer animated slave 
elf named Dobble, the Jar Jar Binks of the series, doesn't help matters, while a car that 
flies Harry and Weasley around takes the viewer out of the fantasy 
element right quick.<br />
<br />
There's a whole lot of magic here, though few spells actually 
work… But worst of all, this CHAMBER is boring and a downer to boot.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBesUX2LUP5kQnoT2izHhhVgSdDwdQRVPfnV9uNnlPFONAZA6Xw-hBQGIXeS8dTKlfEO1_RH6GlYjyw0PlUYUUB9oQ5_XV1r-ob3XC1S31OuJrQNeOhe6iqJPbdL9bxJz-KUnfn94ZOQ/s1600/3harrypotter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBesUX2LUP5kQnoT2izHhhVgSdDwdQRVPfnV9uNnlPFONAZA6Xw-hBQGIXeS8dTKlfEO1_RH6GlYjyw0PlUYUUB9oQ5_XV1r-ob3XC1S31OuJrQNeOhe6iqJPbdL9bxJz-KUnfn94ZOQ/s320/3harrypotter.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2004 rating: ***</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN:</b> </span>Things
 get back on track after the lackluster second movie. Harry finally 
leaves his abusive home life, which seemed kind of forced to begin with,
 and is picked up by a speeding bus, providing some action to kick 
things into gear.<br />
<br />
Much of the storyline, after he returns to Hogwarts, 
is a bit confusing… but eventually, during the imperative third act, as 
he and Hermione go back in time to relive events from the first half, it
 all makes perfect sense.<br />
<br />
Gary Oldman plays a seemingly sinister 
convict, escaped from Azkaban for turning in Harry’s parents to 
Voldemort, with the right amount of frantic fervor. David Thewlis is a 
new professor with a secret of his own: but both characters aren’t what 
they seem, and like any of the Potter films, each scene, and every bit 
of dialogue, brings a new piece to the ongoing jigsaw... so pay attention.<br />
<br />
Michael Gambon, replacing the late Richard Harris as Dumbledore, 
provides far more energy than the ailing icon. And Daniel Radcliffe really 
shows his stuff here, growing into a fine young actor while Rupert Grint 
becomes less of a relevant sidekick... Emma Watson wedges into the 
secondary position with finesse, and Hagrid’s flying pet Buckbeak is a 
far better computer animated mascot than the last film’s horribly 
annoying elf.<br />
<br />
All and all a good film, making one yearn for the next 
outing yet feeling like a solitary story on its own.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSWLny0Zq5xcWwcdOGC4PrQk7ux8x1MvUFxbG5Ho6pUD3wXlY3pC8O9tFS23HpVMT0AYS_7kNflKoEzLWngOb1h7s8ptOJJedr-J1X9xjUqDtdDcnzVAv__A_OTcEV9uatSV1RxSf_tAI/s1600/4harrypotter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSWLny0Zq5xcWwcdOGC4PrQk7ux8x1MvUFxbG5Ho6pUD3wXlY3pC8O9tFS23HpVMT0AYS_7kNflKoEzLWngOb1h7s8ptOJJedr-J1X9xjUqDtdDcnzVAv__A_OTcEV9uatSV1RxSf_tAI/s320/4harrypotter.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2005 rating: ****</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b>HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE:</b> </span>The
 best so far of the Potter films. Unlike parts two and three, it 
doesn’t seek an 11th hour plot while divulging exposition about things 
happening or about to happen or what could be happening till it’s 
happening, but there’s an interesting mainline throughout: the Tri-Wizard
 Tournament, consisting of three students from various locations, and at
 first – since the starting age is seventeen – this<span style="font-style: italic;"> doesn’t</span>
 include Harry Potter.<br />
<br />
Until the Goblet of Fire, which spouts out the 
selected contestants, chooses the fourteen-year-old. The rest of the 
film consists of Harry surviving three dangerous tasks including 
fighting a dragon; staying underwater for an hour against some 
nasty-looking mermaids; and running through a mysterious hedge maze 
(without Jack Nicholson wielding an ax).<br />
<br />
While Hagrid is thrust into a 
silly romance, Harry’s burly mentor role is taken over by Brenden 
Gleeson as Alastor “Mad Eye" Moody, a former bounty hunter type who’s a 
formidable, but ultimately resourceful, new teacher at the school.<br />
<br />
The 
mentoring between Mad Eye and Harry takes most of the peripheral from 
even the faithful sidekicks Ron Weasley, who whines and squeaks 
his way through another outing, and Hermione, seeming even more uptight 
(and thus, intense) than ever.<br />
<br />
But the real significance is the 
introduction of Valdemort himself (Ralph Fiennes) – appearing after 
Harry plummets from the final maze into a fog shrouded cemetery, thus 
witnessing his vile aggressor’s ominous, stage-like diatribe perhaps a 
bit too lengthy… Then again, since previously appearing in various 
shapes and sizes with little to say, he has plenty of time to make up 
for.<br />
<br />
GOBLET also includes the death of a side-character and ends with our 
heroes glancing into an unclear future that, with a tangible evil now 
placed in the forefront, is of much greater risk and significance.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmRhvm6C_01_kHFq3U06E2uTtG_bEXH3N2Wp9g162pLWerBIbn_rkcJM7oAD56OPe5zf_O2YTBpuU8fOfo3P8WQXhEuZvnQe2GF7uwLi_dGVYUjRluY6IJ4DEeCbNR4HhznGXd8PnDm0/s1600/5harrypotter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmRhvm6C_01_kHFq3U06E2uTtG_bEXH3N2Wp9g162pLWerBIbn_rkcJM7oAD56OPe5zf_O2YTBpuU8fOfo3P8WQXhEuZvnQe2GF7uwLi_dGVYUjRluY6IJ4DEeCbNR4HhznGXd8PnDm0/s320/5harrypotter.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2007 rating: **</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="background-color: white;">HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX: </b>"Hermione,"
 Harry says at one point, "it's not that simple." An understatement!<br />
<br />
Well the film starts pretty good with an attack by those vicious Death 
Eaters... in the suburbs. Then we learn Harry's been expelled for 
practicing magic in the presence of a Muggle. It's here, through a 
courtroom scene as our put-upon hero faces expulsion, we're introduced 
to the Order of the Phoenix, a fascist group of tyrannical political 
types wanting to turn Hogwarts into their own structured school, and not
 believing that Voldemort has returned.<br />
<br />
But old Stocking Face isn't the 
main antagonist here. An uptight and darkly efficient underling of the 
Order's chief, Delores Umbridge, prancing like a finicky church lady 
born from the depths of hell, takes that position.<br />
<br />
With a snide giggle 
and a heart of stone, Umbridge attempts to keep Harry and friends from 
forming a secret student army against Voldemort, which is a more 
involving premise than it turns out to be.<br />
<br />
There's a montage of the 
young wizards training, but nothing really comes of it. All leading to 
the climax taking place in the maze-like "Department of Mysteries," 
visually resembling a music video more than an important battle... And the
 very end, within one conversation, Harry learns from Dumbledore what 
could have been stated in the beginning of the next film, making this 
not only bland, boring, and much too complicated, but a waste of time.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-4XID-uo5hTrpBNu7EITBvfO-ZWRbHibR2C-TDh8Lq0otHFM1tWwXV1EwRHMlhTIJCaBKN_eSkIF2cwDS6SFixaFAfKzgsBzMsb6_E580yedVOKjqYBzeRZDfupE5dynYJO5CJPgkkpk/s1600/6harrypotter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-4XID-uo5hTrpBNu7EITBvfO-ZWRbHibR2C-TDh8Lq0otHFM1tWwXV1EwRHMlhTIJCaBKN_eSkIF2cwDS6SFixaFAfKzgsBzMsb6_E580yedVOKjqYBzeRZDfupE5dynYJO5CJPgkkpk/s320/6harrypotter.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2009 rating: ***1/2</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b>HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE:</b> </span>Edgy
 darkness abounds as the Harry Potter series nears an end, and we learn 
the ways to finally rid of Voldemort (for the last two films) and it 
probably won’t be easy.<br />
<br />
The cinematography is liken to a fantasy 
rendition of THE GODFATHER, cast in darkness and shadows, murky moods 
permeating a suspenseful, cerebral odyssey.<br />
<br />
Harry has become a pop icon 
of sorts, and before he can hook up with a beautiful "Muggle" groupie, 
he’s taken by good old Dumbledore to meet our newest special guest: Jim 
Broadbent as a reclusive Professor Slughorn, holding key memories of 
former Hogwarts student Tom Riddle.<br />
<br />
The entire film plays like a moody 
mystery/thriller, spending little time with spells, games and 
camaraderie between the kids: although there’s some light shed on Ron 
Weasley, who’s unintentionally stolen the hearts of both a love-struck 
chippie and his good pal Hermione.<br />
<br />
But the entire movie truly belongs to
 Harry: dogging the heels of Slughorn and a grownup Malfoy: the latter 
in-cahoots with the Dark Lord. And while the third act’s finale is more 
flash than substance, we finally experience Dumbledore and Harry banding
 together, reminiscent of Bilbo and Gandalf in J.R.R. Tolkien’s THE 
HOBBIT.<br />
<br />
This, the beginning of the end, is a successful bridge leading 
to an unknown future.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjL8qLKQR56KgIx8w_8Ju4VADicUYHYsASBHUm65L7HWhyphenhyphentoEGbAhY-ENH1_i97jKfCuaJ4uIxeNWgzRQtnlsn6vzImOhyQsX2jy36X1TgOUI6QZyBKZQBbAgcOEV6-KqvokyiQ4s2T5g/s1600/7harrypotter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjL8qLKQR56KgIx8w_8Ju4VADicUYHYsASBHUm65L7HWhyphenhyphentoEGbAhY-ENH1_i97jKfCuaJ4uIxeNWgzRQtnlsn6vzImOhyQsX2jy36X1TgOUI6QZyBKZQBbAgcOEV6-KqvokyiQ4s2T5g/s320/7harrypotter.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2010 rating: *1/2</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b>HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1:</b> </span>These are dark times, and this is pretty dark film, the first of two parts wrapping up the Harry Potter series. And gone is the safety of Hogwarts as Harry seeks those essential elements to takes pieces out of Voldemort soul – and most of the film is setting up for the next, and last, adventure… <br />
<br />
There are only a few good action scenes, and the characters spout so much exposition you’ll need a court typist to dictate everything... <br />
<br />
The very beginning loses a couple important characters in a flying broom attack so hard to see, a lot of the punch is lost. Add a lot of whining by a jealous Ron, as Harry and Hermione discover a subliminal love on a long journey through a seemingly endless desert.<br />
<br />
The best scene involves a story told by Hermione, reading from BEEDLE THE BARD, a book left to her from Dumbledore: the story is shown in a fantastically gloomy animation (much like Lucy Lieu’s backstory in KILL BILL) – here we learn about the Elder wand and of course, the Deathly Hallows, encompassing three items that, when combined, will mean the end of Harry and just about everything.  <br />
<br />
And although Harry takes the death of Dobble, the Elfin Jar Jar Binks, very seriously, this reviewer felt a gigantic sigh of relief upon the horrendously annoying creature’s demise… Thankfully, part 2 peels away all the superfluous junk and thins down into a neat plot: a light a the end of the tunnel, though still quite a long tunnel… <br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCcqyLjEH4l3NJF3DgRBI0KYR0hcNijzXHoLYbttUCyplPix5gcRKtZtdf8AecCG138y6MGbQGvjYwTH523EdCNpLdftwOKuuBpiM1IdId4FH_BHNYyIP5kVXlalvJxxWyR2rcWYLQaA/s1600/8harrypotter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCcqyLjEH4l3NJF3DgRBI0KYR0hcNijzXHoLYbttUCyplPix5gcRKtZtdf8AecCG138y6MGbQGvjYwTH523EdCNpLdftwOKuuBpiM1IdId4FH_BHNYyIP5kVXlalvJxxWyR2rcWYLQaA/s320/8harrypotter.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2011 rating: ***</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b>HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2:</b> </span>The three main characters are in search of the last “horcrux” to finally get rid of Voldemort… But with everything else aside, if there is any kind of noticeable arc throughout the series, it’s how much Daniel Radcliffe grew as an actor: in the first film, Emma Watson’s Hermione stole the show while the two boys, though natural, seemed a bit overwhelmed… Yet this point Radcliffe delivers lines like a stage actor, and a good one at that… It’s his ride… <br />
<br />
The best scenes have the characters going from each location, riding a dragon or thinking up ways to find the key to kill the dark villain… Then they finally return to Hogwarts, which is now a really dark place.<br />
<br />
Alas, the movie hits a wall the further in we get to the final answer: during long, brooding scenes with deceased characters, the cinematography, basking in white glow, tries too hard to mirror the ambiguous 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY ENDING and is a little too much… especially for young viewers, or old impatient ones.  <br />
<br />
Leading to a final standoff, which includes Harry joined by several of his ragtag friends, that’s too rushed and resulting in a tacked-on conclusion showing the main characters twenty years in the future, looking pretty almost exactly the same… Anyone ever attend a 20-year high school reunion? </div>

adaptation, daniel radcliffe, emma watson, fantasy, harry potter, richard harris, robbie coltrane