Movie #269 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2005 - Rated PG - 1 hr 49 min
Director: Garth Jennings
Starring: Martin Freeman, Mos Def, Sam Rockwell, Zooey Deschanel, Bill Nighy, Warwick Davis, Anna Chancellor, Alan Rickman, Helen Mirren, Stephen Fry, Thomas Lennon, John Malkovich, Richard Griffiths

A movie based on a book series filled with high-profile cameos by British actors? It's not Harry Potter but it is another excuse to enjoy Alan Rickman's unparalleled dry humor.

I've never read the Hitchhiker series by Douglas Adams, but I've heard from those that have that this movie is a good representation of his witty space tale.  Earth gets destroyed and a man in his bathrobe sets out on a journey with some weird aliens, the president of the universe, and a depressed robot.  It's fun to watch the cameos pop up and Martin Freeman is delightful, as always.  Lots of fun all around, with a really original premise, and some cool visual effects.  Now, I just need to read those books.

Movie #262 - Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince
2009 - Rated PG - 2 hr 39 min
Director: David Yates
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, Bonnie Wright, Helena Bonham Carter, Timothy Spall, Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Maggie Smith, David Thewlis, Gemma Jones

The end of this movie still gets me.  And every time, I remember reading the end of this book in my hotel room in Italy and looking at Mike and saying, "WHAT?! Are you KIDDING ME?!"

JK Rowling wasn't kidding, despite the various websites that sprung up between books 6 and 7 arguing the contrary. 

And although the end of the movie is different, it's nice that it doesn't leave the same ambiguity as the book.  No Fawkes flying into the sky imagery. No confusing colors of light deployed from Snape's wand to throw you off track.  Honestly, read it.  You'll see what I mean.

Of course, this movie has to cut out lots as well, since it's too large to comfortably fit everything into a film adaptation.  I think this is one of the better ones, but I'm always biased because I've read the books so I know what's going on.  If you watch this without reading the books, I can't promise you'll catch everything.

I guess what I'm saying is, go read the darn books already.

Movie #260 - Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire
2005 - Rated PG-13 - 2 hr 37 min
Director: Mike Newell
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Timothy Spall, Bonnie Wright, Tom Felton, Robert Pattinson, Jason Isaacs, Robbie Coltrane, Michael Gambon, Warwick Davis, Clemence Poesy, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Brendan Gleeson, Miranda Richardson, Gary Oldman, Shirley Henderson, Ralph Fiennes

The biggest book so far and it's the choppiest movie.  Maybe I'm overly critical because this is my favorite book in the series.  I'm not even partial to Hermione's S.P.E.W. subplot but I'm still mad it's not in the movie.

Still, they do a great job bringing the big stuff to life - the TriWizard Tournament, the Voldemort confrontation.  Although I didn't like the cerebral quality they gave to the maze.  It's supposed to be monsters, not their own personal demons.  Anyway, aside from this, my only other critique is the director's apparent mis-steps in some seasons.  Hermione overreacts here and there, Dumbledore basically attacks Harry in one scene -  acts that are largely out of character to the seasoned HP fan, maybe not so for the untrained eye.  It feels like Newell didn't get a full grasp of some of the relationships here.

And also, everyone needs a bloody haircut in this movie...

Oh yeah. Screw you, Twilight, for making Cedric Diggory a vampire. We had him first, you jerks.

Movie #259 - Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban
2004 - Rated PG - 2 hr 21 min
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Richard Griffiths, Gary Oldman, Bonnie Wright, David Thewlis, Warwick Davis, Alan Rickman, Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Tom Felton, Dawn French, Emma Thompson, Julie Christie, Timothy Spall

Watching these in a row, the actors are growing up right before my eyes. Actually, it's kinda cool.  It's also fun to watch the story unfold in succession like this.  It's not fun, however, to watch several 2+ hour movies in a row. My butt's starting to hurt somewhere around the end of this movie.

Still, this movie takes a marked turn away from the happy-go-lucky Hogwarts vibe that Chris Columbus established.  It's probably got a lot to do with the new director, but it aptly captures the feeling of the third book. Bleak, sad, dreary.  It's an important segue for Harry to go from Yay I'm a Wizard! to Crap, Voldemort Wants to Kill Everyone and I have to Stop Him.  Rowling does a good job in the series translating this to us and Cuaron was the right guy to take over for this film.

Movie #258 - Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets
2002 - Rated PG - 2 hr 41 min
Director: Chris Columbus
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Richard Griffiths, Fiona Shaw, Jason Isaacs, Robbie Coltrane, Kenneth Branagh, Alan Rickman, Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, John Cleese, Warwick Davis, Gemma Jones, Shirley Henderson

Dobby! And Malfoy's dad!  I remember how excited I was to see this one in theaters. At midnight of course.  It was the first movie to come out after I'd started reading the books and I was psyched. Ahh, memories.

Anyway, this one's another short book so the page to screen translation isn't so bad.  Of course, they take a few liberties here and there, trim down some other bits, but the basics are all there.  You can watch this and jump into the books at #3 if you really wanted to... but who would want to do that?

Movie #257 - Harry Potter & the Sorceror's Stone

Harry Potter & the Sorceror's Stone
2001 - Rated G - 2 hr 32 min
Director: Chris Columbus
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Richard Harris, Emma Watson, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Fiona Shaw, Richard Griffiths, Ian Hart, Warwick Davis, Verne Troyer, John Hurt, Bonnie Wright, Tom Felton, John Cleese, Alan Rickman

A Harry Potter marathon?  Ok, sure!  I've never watched all of these in order - it's a huge undertaking.  But so much fun!

Yes, I'm a fan. And yes, I'm still pissed that I'm a muggle. 

This first movie reminds me of that... and how I never got my letter to Hogwarts. But I digress... from a book-to-movie standpoint, this is probably one of the best films.  Basically, it's the shortest book so they didn't have to cut that much out.  Once we get to the complicated, longer books, I can't say the same.  Sad, but necessary.

The only thing I regret about this movie is that they didn't have the foresight to cast Ralph Fiennes to do Voldemort's voice this early on.  But when this movie came out, I don't think the fourth book had even been released yet. So I guess I can't blame them.

Onward to the Chamber of Secrets!