Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince(a review from a non HP fan)

First of all let me say I am not a fan of Harry Potter at all(I have only seen the first three movies and haven't read all the books) therefore I was a bit skeptical about going to watch The Half Blood Prince. After watching it I am very glad I did. The Half Blood Prince thankfully seems to be a lot darker and more adult than the rest of the HP movies I have seen. I found the first two HP movies very childish so I greeted the change in tone with open arms. A couple of things about the movie did confuse me but that is hardly the film's fault, since I have not seen the previous two and some elements seemed to be a continuation from them. I was also surprised to see how different the actors look now, in particular Ginny Weasley. When I last saw in a HP movie she was a little girl and now there is a hint of romance between her and Harry Potter. I was also shocked by the death of headmaster Albus Dumbeldore, for fans of the books this would have been non surprise at all but I haven't read all the books. Enough of my rambling I thought it was a very good movie and definately worth the price of the cinema ticket. In fact The Half Blood Prince I may try watching the previous installments I haven't seen and await future ones with bated breath.

Jurassic Park(Spielberg)

Jurassic Park is a movie I hold close to my heart, I saw it in the cinema at the age of eight when it first came out and I was in absolute awe of it, till then I had seen absolutely nothing like it. Some movies I loved as a child I simply don't enjoy anymore(one example is Tim Burton's Batman) but there are some movies that I can still enjoy to this day,Jurassic Park is one of them. I caught it on TV around last year after not having seen it for years and realised why I loved it so much when it first came out.
Spielberg is an expert at tension, the scene where Tim and Lex are sitting in the car and the cup on front of the car starts to vibrate is an excellent scene. The final scene where they are in the helicopter on their way back and they see a bird flying through the sky is a excellent scene and is a reminder of how Dinosaurs have evolved since the Jurassic era. My love for Jurassic Park inspired me to read Chricton's novel and it's no wonder that the movie is so good when they have such excellent material to work from. It's a shame really that none of the sequels could match upto the original, I don't care for The Lost World but it has it's fan and No 3 I feel is quite underrated and whilst it is no classic is still a fun adventure yarn and it doesn't pretend to be anything else.

The Incredible Hulk(Bill Bixby- Lou Ferrigno)

Even though I was born a couple of years after the series finished I catch the reruns and used to absolutely love it and my dad used to tape them for me. For those who don't know it follows the adventures of Dr David Banner who experimenting on himself accidently exposes himself to a great deal of gamma radiation and hence the big green beast is born. Now whenever David is outraged or hurt he transforms into the green beast known as The Hulk. The Hulk is pursued by a reporter called Jack Mcgee who is under the wrong assumption that The Hulk is responsible for the death of David Banner when in fact David Banner is The Hulk. In my opinion it is Mr Mcgee's pursuit of The Hulk that really kept this show going and not run out of steam. At the end of each episode we would see David getting on a bus or hitching a ride and next week we would see him involved in another adventure. What I love so much about the show is how people injure or torture David run for their lives when he turns into the Hulk.
I have only recently purchased season 1 and 2 and currently going through them. What I have noticed that season 2 is definately a lot stronger than season 1. In season 1 The Hulk was trying finding it's feet whilst in season 2 a formula had been established. In season 2 David got to help troubled individuals. In The Killer instinct David helped a football player with anger problems, in Alice In Discoland he helped out a young girl with a drinking problem, in Ricky he helped out a dislexic kid etc. On top of the great storyline I think the theme tune deserves a very special mention. The haunting theme tune is the best theme tune I have heard to any show ever. It is a real shame that none of the big screen adaptations were able to do full justice to the legendary 70's TV show. TIH whilst an improvement on the Ang Lee still was nothing more than an entertaining summer blockbuster. It's a real shame that no TV channel has picked up the show and shown reruns of it because I for one would definately have watched it(although the Sci-fi channel did show it in the late 90's). TIH reminds me of a very pleasant childhood.

My review of the Indiana Jones series

Raiders of Lost Ark: I really cannot remember at what age I first watched it but it left such a impression that years on I am still a huge fan of it. As a child it was one of the most exciting movies I had ever seen. None of the sequels had the freshness Raiders had.

Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom: From the orignal trilogy this has dated the most. The only saving grace was the casting of Bollywood veteran Amrish Puri(coincidentally this wasn't his first Hollywood he appeared in, he was also in Gandhi which was released a couple of years before. It does to it's advantage have one of my favourite Indy moment, the ropebridge sequence was masterful. One moment cannot save TOD from being an Indy misfire.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: In my opinion the only sequel to come close to rivalling the orignal movie. There is the ingenious casting of former Bond Sean Connery who is excellent as Indy's father. Coincidentally Julian Grover appears as the villian and he is also associated with Bond because he came in For Your Eyes Only. What surprises me is twenty years after it's release and The Last Crusade is still thrilling movie that never fails to entertain me.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: In my opinion the indy series should have never been tampered and should have best been left as a trilogy. 19 years after The Last Crusade Indy returns but it's clear from the offset that the franchise has gone stale. The action sequences, which is what the Indy movies are famous I found rather boring. Add to that a poor villian in the form of Cate Blanchett. Shia Lebeouf lends Mr Ford a hand as Indy's son along with Indy's heroine from Raiders Karen Allen as his mother.
The only good thing to come from Kingdom of the lost skulls is that Temple of Doom is no longer my least favourite Indy movie. Now with the news that another Indy movie is in the making I have lost respect for Mr Spielberg who used to be one of my favourite directors. Although Kingdom was successful it received most negative reactions from fans of the orignal trilogy. My advice to Mr Spielberg is listen to the fans who have supported you throughout your career and made your movies successful.

My assessment of the Bond Books

I have been a Bond fan for 18 years yet until last year I had not read a single of Ian Flemming's Bond novels. After finishing the first one I was well and truly hooked on them. What I enjoy about the books is that they give me an more personal side to Bond that most of the movies don't do, in some books we get to see what he does when he isn't being sent on a mission. Here is my assessment of them.

Goldfinger- The very first Bond Book I read and it is quite flawed compared to the other Bond novels. First of all the golf sequence in the book in my opinion went on for far too long. Secondly the writing is quite messy in places, in particular the part where they break into Fort Knox. Still not that bad and is a worthwhile read but in my opinion the movie was far far better.

From Russia with love- This is easily my favourite Bond movie followed closely by On Her Majesty's secret service. What really works in it's favour is that it strays away from the Bond formula. FRWL involves SMERSH hatching a plan to disgrace England by getting them involved in a sex scandal. They send a girl named Tatiana Romannova to seduce the man, the target is the British spy James Bond. Bond doesn't turn up until the second half and the first half consists of SMERSH detailing their plan,which I found very engrossing. Apparently this was meant to be Flemming's last book because he wasn't happy with the sales figures of the Bond novels. He actually intended to kill Bond off in the last sequence. I prefer the book of From Russia With Love over the movie by a merry mile.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service- Yet another fantastic book by Ian Flemming. This was a far more personal Bond movie, it showed a far more human side to him that none of the books or the movies managed to do. The movie of On Her Majesty's secret service is also superb but I prefer the book slightly.

The Spy Who Loved Me- This Flemming book kind of surprised me, I thought it would involve a meglomaniac trying to create an underwater world but I got something very very different. Bond only turns up in the second half and the first half consists of a woman being harassed by two men.

Casino Royale- The first of the Bond books, Casino Royale is quite a good Bond Book. My problem with it is that it is quite descriptive and not enough thrills. But what it does succeed in is giving us an insight into the character of Bond.

(I will add more assessments of the Bond books as I read them)

Changeling(Eastwood)

There are some directors whose work look increasingly strained as they age and there are some directors who improve with age,Mr Eastwood fits into the latter. Too be honest I wasn't very familiar with Clint Eastwood's work until I watched Unforgiven a couple of months ago. I was so impressed by it I decided to hunt down all his movies and watch them one by one. Changeling is a remarkable piece of work that is gut wrenchingly heartbreaking. At the start I was torn about whether to believe the police or Angelina Jolie who was made to look like she was going mad and that is not a negative point. It is during the second half it becomes clear. Angelina Jolie was outstanding in a role that does not require her to get into tight outfits and look sexy. Until now I had been looking for my favourite movie of 2008, with Changeling I have finally found it
Very very highly reccomended by me.

The curious case of Benjamin Button

I saw TCCOBB last night and I must say it caught me by surprise. It is a surprise because I normally post on IMDB and on that board I had heard some pretty negative reviews. Most posters have complained that apparently it dragged on for too long but I didn't feel it drag on at all and I have a relatively short attention span so if it was too dragged out I would have probably would have been the first person to fall asleep. I will not go into too much details about the plot but basically all I will say is that it tells the story of a man who has a rare disorder which causes him to grow backwards, he is born old and then he gets younger and the dilemmas he faces in his life. It truly is a heartwarming and rewarding movie complimented by some good performances from Pitt and Blanchett. Highly reccomended by me.