Movie Monday

We have been catching up on our movies.
This past week we saw:
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Julie & Julia
Every Little Step

Harry Potter is great for what it is... a sequel. No, it is not as good as the book, but no movie made from a book will ever be as good as the book. Your mind makes a "movie" while reading so your interpretation will not be the screenwriters and directors interpretation.....
I have heard complaints that they left out this and added to parts of the story. To Answer this complaint I think Hayden put it best...."The movie wasn't made for only those who read the books. In a movie you sometimes have to add exposition and other scenes to clear things up for those who have not nor will ever read the books. If you want a pure, untouched story then don't see any of the movies, You will just be disappointed." and this is from someone who has read all of the Harry Potter books 4 or more times each and he did enjoy the movie.
I really like Daniel Radcliff as an actor. He not only is grown up as Harry, his acting style has also matured. As an actor he should be around for sometime.
My favorite character in the Harry Potter series is Professor Snapp.......okay, probably because he is played by Alan Rickman, one of my favorite actors. I love to watch him Alan Rickman work....he plays the bad ones so well, and lucky for me I actually got to see him perform live on stage in NYC. He was in Noel Cowards Private Lives....no one does snooty bored better.

Julie & Julia we went to an advance screening of this movie. Megan and I loved it, Gary said it was a very good movie....good enough that he went and purchased both books that the film was based on for us all to read.
Julie & Julia is a women's movie and I thinks it should be promoted as an 'Art House' movie not a mainstream major motion picture. ...it will be interesting to see how it does.
Overall I found the movie inspiring and empowering. I want to be passionate about something
This movie is based on a book by Julie Powell and the biography of Julia Childs. Nora Ephron wrote the screen play and directed it...she is a women's movie maker.
I loved the Julia story setting - Paris 1949...it was fabo!, but then again it is Paris..... I loved Julie's and Julia's "need" to do/accomplish something. I loved the parallels that were drawn between two women were so different, yet the same.
I would recommend this movie to anyone for no other reason than to see Meryl Streep be Julia Childs. Meryl Streep is such a great actress, she internalizes her characters and gives them a depth and more than what was written in the script. Yes, they do her hair, make-up & clothing in the Julia Childs style. Yes, she has a great accent, but you can tell she not only studied how to sound like Julia, but how to move like her and any physical quirks that were Julia....she became Julia. After we saw it I said, "I know she doesn't really look like Julia Childs, but Meryl's portrayal is now what I think Julia was like. ---If you saw Frost/Nixon or The Queen you know what I am talking about. Frank Langella didn't really look like Nixon, nor did Helen Mirren look like the real Queen Elizabeth. They did their best with the costumes and make-up, but wow, oh wow, make-up and costumes are just a shell, these three get to the heart of who theses people were/are and let us in too. Streep, Langella & Mirren are such talented gifted, studious actors that their portrayal of these famous folks was a spot on true performance.---Go see Meryl, you won't be disappointed....and Stanley Tucci (another fine actor) as Julia's husband Paul is worth it as well.

Every Little Step
---Yes, this is an Art film...I/we-hubby and I, enjoy Art films for the depth of story, quality of film making and when it is not a documentary type piece the acting is usually at its best.--
Every Little Step is a documentary following the casting of the revival of A Chorus Line.
The film makers follow several actors through the audition process, 16 months from first audition to opening night; as well as give us an inside look at the casting process from the casting directors, director and choreographer. But the real gems in this film are the actual tape recordings between Michael Bennett and his friends from whom the Chorus Line stories came from; original footage of the 1975 A Chorus Line, and Bennett and his partner Bob Avian who is the revivals director, and others discussing the making of the 1975 A Chorus Line.
They made the film to almost mirror some of the themes of the musical....your heart breaks for those who don't make it and you cheer for the "Cassie's" of the group to make it through. We knew how it was eventually cast, but loved watching the process anyway. Actually it was great to see the final audition and see how and why some of the choices were made.
Hearing the opinions from the choreographer, director, etc.... was also fun.
This movie should be mandatory for any one who thinks that they might like to do this for real...auditions and auditioning is cruel.
If you are a musical theatre geek like we all are, or if you love A Chorus Line then this one is for you. We laughed and some of us cried....for lots of reasons. Beware that they use the F -word a few times, talk about the T and A song and their is some suggestive talk.

We will try to see more this week...since screenings are now a bummer to attend and some just plain don't appeal to me, I am behind.
MCC