Friday, July 31, 2009
One Year!
I think it is important to say that it has now been one year since I first created my blog site cashmoneymovies. I will now thank my family who helped motivate me to make the site, my friends who visit it, and the Citrus County Chronicle for giving me the opportunity to write for the newspaper because it has greatly improved the popularity of my site. Thanks to everyone and keep come back because as the school year stars and vacation ends I will start doing weekly news updates instead of movie reviews(reviews will be thrown in there every now and then as well.)
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Harry Potter The Exhibition
Last week my family and I had the great experience of going on vacation to Chicago. There are skyscrapers, great restaurants, and many museums but the highlight of our trip was visiting the Museum of Science and Industry. Inside this HUGE museum, I witnessed the first ever Harry Potter exhibit and I was not disappointed in any way.
For any Potter fan, the excitement grows as you approach the museum with incredible huge banners hung up across the entrance of the building. The ground floor where you buy the tickets to get into the museum has the only prop in the entire place that you can take a picture of and that is the flying car from Chamber of Secrets. After a few rounds of escalators you find yourself in front of the entrance of the exhibit and after a walk down a long hallway, you open the doors and are tossed into a whole different realm. Before you actually see the costumes and props from the film, a few volunteers are picked out and sorted by the Sorting Hat seen in several of the films. After a quick film presentation, the walls lift up and you find yourself at Hogwarts Station next to the Hogwarts Express and none other than Rubeus Hagrid is there to greet you. Now you are fully immersed in hundreds of artifacts from all six Harry Potter films.
The exhibit is divided into several areas and the first one is the Gryffindor common room. Here you can find costumes, wands, and accessories owned by the three main characters of the film, Harry, Ron, and Hermione(a few other character's are also featured here.) There are also several moving pictures as well. Next to the common room you can find all the teachers at Hogwarts and things that they use in the film as well including Severus Snape's robes, the giant jack-in-a-box from the third film, and all of Dolores Umbridge's pink accessories.
From there you enter the quidditch area where you can see all the sports robes worn by every character like Victor Krum and Draco Malfoy. People can also step up to a fun interactive exhibit where you can toss a quaffle into the rings seen in all quidditch games. Also in this room is Hagrid's Hut where you can step inside and see all of the half-giants favorite things from all the films including his Giant outfit. You can even sit down in his giant chair that Daniel Radcliffe himself has sat in(OMG chills.)
"First-and understand this Harry 'cause it's very important-not all wizards are good..."(Rubeuus Hagrid.) The third area of this exhibit takes us into the darker realm of the Harry Potter series with things like giant chess pieces, an eerie Dementor and the robes of Lord Voldemort. All things about the Death Eaters and dark objects can be found in this room. This was my personal favorite because it included some of the coolest artifacts from the film and I think they even tried to make this area colder than the others to add to the atmosphere.
The last section of the exhibit is the Great Hall where floating candles, replica's of the food and desert(yummy), and costumes from the Yule Ball as seen in the fourth film were present. The outfits of Albus Dumbledoor, Minerva McGonagall, and Sirius Black can also be seen here. After that you see several more moving pictures and the exhibit sadly comes to a close but the fun is not over. At the end of the exhibition, there is a gift shop that includes merchandise that I'm almost positive can't be found anywhere else(unless you buy it online.) Movie replica's of the characters' wands, the entire Marauder's Map, and a variety of artwork are just a few items up for sale. You can even purchase a replica of the Nimbus 2000 or a Firebolt broomstick(very expensive though.) I personally now own a replica of Voldemort's wand.
I was truly amazed with the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry. I have not even named half of the things that you will see at this exhibit. Near the end of September the exhibit will leave Chicago and travel to Boston but I can't wait till it finds its way n
ear Florida because when it does, I will gladly see it again.
For any Potter fan, the excitement grows as you approach the museum with incredible huge banners hung up across the entrance of the building. The ground floor where you buy the tickets to get into the museum has the only prop in the entire place that you can take a picture of and that is the flying car from Chamber of Secrets. After a few rounds of escalators you find yourself in front of the entrance of the exhibit and after a walk down a long hallway, you open the doors and are tossed into a whole different realm. Before you actually see the costumes and props from the film, a few volunteers are picked out and sorted by the Sorting Hat seen in several of the films. After a quick film presentation, the walls lift up and you find yourself at Hogwarts Station next to the Hogwarts Express and none other than Rubeus Hagrid is there to greet you. Now you are fully immersed in hundreds of artifacts from all six Harry Potter films.
The exhibit is divided into several areas and the first one is the Gryffindor common room. Here you can find costumes, wands, and accessories owned by the three main characters of the film, Harry, Ron, and Hermione(a few other character's are also featured here.) There are also several moving pictures as well. Next to the common room you can find all the teachers at Hogwarts and things that they use in the film as well including Severus Snape's robes, the giant jack-in-a-box from the third film, and all of Dolores Umbridge's pink accessories.
From there you enter the quidditch area where you can see all the sports robes worn by every character like Victor Krum and Draco Malfoy. People can also step up to a fun interactive exhibit where you can toss a quaffle into the rings seen in all quidditch games. Also in this room is Hagrid's Hut where you can step inside and see all of the half-giants favorite things from all the films including his Giant outfit. You can even sit down in his giant chair that Daniel Radcliffe himself has sat in(OMG chills.)
"First-and understand this Harry 'cause it's very important-not all wizards are good..."(Rubeuus Hagrid.) The third area of this exhibit takes us into the darker realm of the Harry Potter series with things like giant chess pieces, an eerie Dementor and the robes of Lord Voldemort. All things about the Death Eaters and dark objects can be found in this room. This was my personal favorite because it included some of the coolest artifacts from the film and I think they even tried to make this area colder than the others to add to the atmosphere.
The last section of the exhibit is the Great Hall where floating candles, replica's of the food and desert(yummy), and costumes from the Yule Ball as seen in the fourth film were present. The outfits of Albus Dumbledoor, Minerva McGonagall, and Sirius Black can also be seen here. After that you see several more moving pictures and the exhibit sadly comes to a close but the fun is not over. At the end of the exhibition, there is a gift shop that includes merchandise that I'm almost positive can't be found anywhere else(unless you buy it online.) Movie replica's of the characters' wands, the entire Marauder's Map, and a variety of artwork are just a few items up for sale. You can even purchase a replica of the Nimbus 2000 or a Firebolt broomstick(very expensive though.) I personally now own a replica of Voldemort's wand.
I was truly amazed with the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry. I have not even named half of the things that you will see at this exhibit. Near the end of September the exhibit will leave Chicago and travel to Boston but I can't wait till it finds its way n
ear Florida because when it does, I will gladly see it again.Thursday, July 16, 2009
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
A NOTE TO THE FANS: THERE ARE SOME THINGS IN THIS FILM THAT YOU MAY DISAGREE WITH, LIKE WHAT THEY CUT OUT OR USE OF CHARACTERS. I WAS UPSET WITH SOME OF THESE BUT SINCE THIS IS A MOVIE REVIEW I AM CASTING MY FAN INPUT ASIDE.
Last November, fans were outraged when they learned that the sixth installment of the Harry Potter series would be pushed back until July 15th...but now the wait is over. Wednesday morning at 12:01 a.m., I set my eyes upon the visually stunning Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. In this installment, the shadow of Lord Voldemort's evil reign is very prevalent, making this film the darkest yet. However, what screen writer Steve Kloves managed to do is balance the amount of darkness with romance and comedy. This picture had more of these three elements than the first five, and they are what I will talk about in this review.
Before that though, let me explain the plot line. Now this film has many sub-plots, but after looking back, there is one main plot that looms over the whole film. After the grand opening, we see the main hero, Harry Potter(Daniel Radcliffe), alongside Professor Albus Dumbledore(Michael Gambon.) Together they travel to the home of Horace Slughorn(Jim Broadbent) so that Dumbledore can recruit him to teach at Hogwarts school. It turns out that teaching isn't the only reason Dumbledore hired Slughorn. Knowing that Slughorn holds the memory that will tell how to once and for all kill Voldemeort, Dumbledore sends Harry to become one of the his pet student in hopes of learning the secret. As always, Harry has the help of his two best friends Ron Weasley(Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger(Emma Watson.)
Now I can talk about the three main elements in this film. First, let's look at the romance. Harry's classmates are growing up, so obviously we had to know the romantic themes would arrive eventually. Sure enough, this film contains more romance than all of its predecessors and it is the element that dominated the film. When the students arrived at Hogwarts, not many scenes went by with either a couple seen making out, students acting jealous towards one anothher, or nervous tensions dominating the scene. Because of this, Half Blood Prince(HBP) is more like watching a romantic comedy rather than a fantasy epic, thus making it much different from the first five.
Now for the comedy: HBP is also the funniest Potter film to date with comedy falling into almost all of the scenes that weren't dark or intense. Most of the time the comedy interacted with the romance, but there are all forms of comedy in this film and interestingly enough, this is the funniest film I've seen all summer (I've seen some pitiful comedies.) Both the romance and comedy were important because it helped the film not be sad and dark the whole two and a half hours. When a sad or intense scene would come up, comedy would bounce up after it.
THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH CONTAINS A FEW VERY MINOR SPOILERS.
This film has more romance and comedy but it also contains more dark, intense elements than the first five as well. Besides the fact that the world is falling into darkness because of Voldemort, there are other subjects and scenes that are very intense. For example, near the climax, Harry must force Dumbledore to drink a liquid that is torturing his mind and soon after they are attacked by zombie like creatures. HBP contains several battles, some bloody moments, and at times feels very sad and hopeless with the essence of death throughout the film. If it were not for Harry's somewhat reassuring word's at the picture's end, I would have left feeling very sad.
Let me wrap up with a few other variables of the film. The special effects were great and exceeded the past films like everything else. I was very happy to see Quidditch back in the film and the sport looks much more real than the first three films. All the action sequences had great CGI, which made them more enjoyable. Also, as the trio grows older(Dan, Rupert, and Emma), their acting improves as well and it shows in HBP. Other actors such as Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, and especially Alan Rickmen(who once again acts greatly as Severus Snape) all put on solid performances.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is a stunning film that has just about everything... action, romance, comedy, suspense, drama, and good deal of redemptive content, like sacrifice and putting one's self before another. While this Potter film may not be as impressive as Mike Newell's Goblet of Fire(the fourth in the series), it is a great installment in the series and it leaves me longing for the final two films. 4 stars out of 5.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince has a running time of two hours and thirty-three minutes. It is rated PG for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality.
Last November, fans were outraged when they learned that the sixth installment of the Harry Potter series would be pushed back until July 15th...but now the wait is over. Wednesday morning at 12:01 a.m., I set my eyes upon the visually stunning Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. In this installment, the shadow of Lord Voldemort's evil reign is very prevalent, making this film the darkest yet. However, what screen writer Steve Kloves managed to do is balance the amount of darkness with romance and comedy. This picture had more of these three elements than the first five, and they are what I will talk about in this review.
Before that though, let me explain the plot line. Now this film has many sub-plots, but after looking back, there is one main plot that looms over the whole film. After the grand opening, we see the main hero, Harry Potter(Daniel Radcliffe), alongside Professor Albus Dumbledore(Michael Gambon.) Together they travel to the home of Horace Slughorn(Jim Broadbent) so that Dumbledore can recruit him to teach at Hogwarts school. It turns out that teaching isn't the only reason Dumbledore hired Slughorn. Knowing that Slughorn holds the memory that will tell how to once and for all kill Voldemeort, Dumbledore sends Harry to become one of the his pet student in hopes of learning the secret. As always, Harry has the help of his two best friends Ron Weasley(Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger(Emma Watson.)
Now I can talk about the three main elements in this film. First, let's look at the romance. Harry's classmates are growing up, so obviously we had to know the romantic themes would arrive eventually. Sure enough, this film contains more romance than all of its predecessors and it is the element that dominated the film. When the students arrived at Hogwarts, not many scenes went by with either a couple seen making out, students acting jealous towards one anothher, or nervous tensions dominating the scene. Because of this, Half Blood Prince(HBP) is more like watching a romantic comedy rather than a fantasy epic, thus making it much different from the first five.
Now for the comedy: HBP is also the funniest Potter film to date with comedy falling into almost all of the scenes that weren't dark or intense. Most of the time the comedy interacted with the romance, but there are all forms of comedy in this film and interestingly enough, this is the funniest film I've seen all summer (I've seen some pitiful comedies.) Both the romance and comedy were important because it helped the film not be sad and dark the whole two and a half hours. When a sad or intense scene would come up, comedy would bounce up after it.
THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH CONTAINS A FEW VERY MINOR SPOILERS.
This film has more romance and comedy but it also contains more dark, intense elements than the first five as well. Besides the fact that the world is falling into darkness because of Voldemort, there are other subjects and scenes that are very intense. For example, near the climax, Harry must force Dumbledore to drink a liquid that is torturing his mind and soon after they are attacked by zombie like creatures. HBP contains several battles, some bloody moments, and at times feels very sad and hopeless with the essence of death throughout the film. If it were not for Harry's somewhat reassuring word's at the picture's end, I would have left feeling very sad.
Let me wrap up with a few other variables of the film. The special effects were great and exceeded the past films like everything else. I was very happy to see Quidditch back in the film and the sport looks much more real than the first three films. All the action sequences had great CGI, which made them more enjoyable. Also, as the trio grows older(Dan, Rupert, and Emma), their acting improves as well and it shows in HBP. Other actors such as Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, and especially Alan Rickmen(who once again acts greatly as Severus Snape) all put on solid performances.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is a stunning film that has just about everything... action, romance, comedy, suspense, drama, and good deal of redemptive content, like sacrifice and putting one's self before another. While this Potter film may not be as impressive as Mike Newell's Goblet of Fire(the fourth in the series), it is a great installment in the series and it leaves me longing for the final two films. 4 stars out of 5.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince has a running time of two hours and thirty-three minutes. It is rated PG for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Harry Potter Updates
The time to start viewing the first five Potter films have arrived because the long and I mean LONG awaited sixth installment of the franchise is less than ten days away. Last November fans(including myself) were largely upset by Warner Brothers decision to push Half Blood Prince(HBP) to this summer. This was due to the fact that The Dark Knight made so much money so WB pushed it back so they could spread out the wealth. But now the wait is over and there are several news bits about the new film and the last two. Several reviews have been posted on various websites and all of them have been positive. While I do not have the names of the site...you can Google it.
-First of all, the three main actors will be appearing on select talk shows several nights this week. The schedule is as followed:
WEDNESDAY
Late Night with David Letterman-Emma Watson
THURSDAY
Live with Regis and Kelly-Rupert Grint
Late Night with David Letterman-Daniel Radcliffe
FRIDAY
Live with Regis and Kelly-Daneil Radcliff
-Next on the list is that HBO aired there about twelve minute behind the scenes look at HBP. You can find the two parts at the bottom of the screen above the trailer for the film. WARNING...the clips involve some spoilers and it shows tidbits of new footage. The spoilers aren't that bad but if you are wanted to see as little of the film as possible before opening night...don't click it.
-There is a small casting update for the last two Potter films. Actor Bill Nighy(most would know him for the last two Pirates of the Caribbean films where he stared as Davy Jones) will appear in the last two films but he is not allowed to say what character yet. Most people think he will play the new Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour. It's about time Nighy was cast in a Potter film; he's a very talented actor(even with tentacles hanging from his face.)
-So there's your Harry Potter update. I will personally be going to the midnight showing at my local theater and I will probably see it again in IMAX when it's released on the BIG screen July 29th. The best film of the year is coming our way on July 15th at 12:01 a.m.!!
For all kinds of Harry Potter news go to one of my favorite sites...http://mugglenet.com/.
-First of all, the three main actors will be appearing on select talk shows several nights this week. The schedule is as followed:
WEDNESDAY
Late Night with David Letterman-Emma Watson
THURSDAY
Live with Regis and Kelly-Rupert Grint
Late Night with David Letterman-Daniel Radcliffe
FRIDAY
Live with Regis and Kelly-Daneil Radcliff
-Next on the list is that HBO aired there about twelve minute behind the scenes look at HBP. You can find the two parts at the bottom of the screen above the trailer for the film. WARNING...the clips involve some spoilers and it shows tidbits of new footage. The spoilers aren't that bad but if you are wanted to see as little of the film as possible before opening night...don't click it.
-There is a small casting update for the last two Potter films. Actor Bill Nighy(most would know him for the last two Pirates of the Caribbean films where he stared as Davy Jones) will appear in the last two films but he is not allowed to say what character yet. Most people think he will play the new Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour. It's about time Nighy was cast in a Potter film; he's a very talented actor(even with tentacles hanging from his face.)
-So there's your Harry Potter update. I will personally be going to the midnight showing at my local theater and I will probably see it again in IMAX when it's released on the BIG screen July 29th. The best film of the year is coming our way on July 15th at 12:01 a.m.!!
For all kinds of Harry Potter news go to one of my favorite sites...http://mugglenet.com/.
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