Posted on July 12, 2009 at 3:57 pm
As we get ready for the new Harry Potter movie and look forward to the final two, it’s a good time to remember where it all started. Look at how young the stars were in the first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone!
Posted on July 9, 2009 at 12:00 pm
I’m very excited about the new Harry Potter movie, opening next Wednesday and already setting records in ticket sales. Want an early peek? Making its worldwide debut today is an exclusive podcast titled “Being Me Has Its Privileges,” from the upcoming theatrical release, hosted by Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger. In their continuing search for the retrieval and destruction of Voldemort’s Horcruxes, Dumbledore takes Harry on a dangerous venture into an unknown cave where he believes they will find one of the dark objects. Because of the perilous nature of the journey, Dumbledore makes Harry promise that he will do whatever it takes to save himself – no matter what.
Also debuting today is an all-new “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” app that is available for free on the Apple App Store at www.itunes.com/appstore/. Fans can interact with an authentic recreation of Dumbledore’s Pensieve – a device that allows them to view memories by unlocking Memory Vials to explore the vast assortment of official film content that appears in the Pensieve including: videos, posters, character information; and much more. . They can insert themselves and their friends into a Wanted Poster or the Daily Prophet by using the iPhone camera or uploading a photo from their album on to an iPod touch.
Additionally available is a special Harry Potter Retrospective clip, which gives fans a chance to relive the magic of years one through five.
Posted on July 9, 2009 at 8:00 am
My fellow Beliefnet blogger Susan Gregg, has a new post about her favorite angel characters in movies and a link to a Beliefnet gallery about angels in movies and television in the past 20 years.
These are all good choices but of course I have to add some of my own recommendations, including some films from before 1990 as well. Claude Rains was a dapper angel assisting a boxer who was sent to heaven before his time in Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Spencer Tracy was a flier killed in a crash who came back as something between a ghost and an angel to help the woman he loved find love again in A Guy Named Joe
The most elegant angel in movie history had to be Cary Grant as Dudley in The Bishop’s Wife
In “Wings of Desire,” angels observe rather than guide, and one of them finds heaven on earth.
Roy Scheider flirted with a sympathetic angel of death played by Jessica Lange in “All That Jazz.” In “A Matter of Life and Death” (sometimes called “Stairway to Heaven”) a dashing wartime aviator played by David Niven must argue for his life in a celestial court. In “Death Takes a Holiday,” Fredric March plays the Angel of Death who learns what it is that makes humans cling to life so dearly.
And don’t forget Clarence getting his wings at the end of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” George Bailey was not the only one who had a happy ending.
Posted on July 8, 2009 at 10:11 am
You know them. That is, they look familiar, but you might not be sure if that is because you saw them in a movie or because you saw them on a train. These are character actors, the indispensible performers who are there for the leading men and ladies to talk to, fight with, run from, almost marry, rescue, punch, shoot, chase, or watch die so they can learn an important lesson. They provide comic relief and when it is necessary they die onscreen to give the main character a growth experience. And while they get paid a small fraction of those 7-figure salaries that go to the stars, their contribution to the movie’s power to entertain and inspire is often as great or greater.
I’m going to share some of my favorites in this and upcoming posts and you can learn more about them in Hey! It’s That Guy!
The films of the 1930’s had some classic character actors who appeared over and over. Here we can see two of the best, Edward Everett Horton (specialty: silly upper class types) and Eric Blore (specialty: looking down on silly upper class types). Do their voices sound familiar? They both provided voice talent for the Rocky and Bullwinkle series.
“Ball of Fire” is one of my all-time favorites, in part because of its wonderful collection of character actors playing Gary Cooper’s professor colleagues. You can see some of them here including Oscar Homolka, Henry Travers (the angel in “It’s a Wonderful Life”) and the hilariously nasal Richard Hayden.
More character actors in future posts, and of course I’d love to hear about your favorites.
Posted on July 7, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Slate’s movie critic, Dana Stevens, invited readers to propose “Transformers”-like summer blockbusters inspired by action figures and other toys. The result was hilarious. My favorites were “Night of the Cabbage Patch Kids–This Time, Your Vegetables Will Finish You” and “Lego Ship Apocalypse: Menace of the Mom Expecting Company.” And there was a whole category for the Transformers’ downmarket rivals.
The second-banana status of Go-Bots, a cheap Transformers knockoff, was highlighted by several titles: Jeff Ryan’s “Go-Bots: Revenge of the Trademark;” Shawn McKinnon’s “Go-Bots: Waiting for Our Loud Overlong Movie that Critics Hate;” and Joe Trabucco’s heartbreaking “Go-Bots: Revenge of the Poor Kids.”
Check it out yourself for the magnificent double-feature titles that won the top prize.
