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Wednesday, July 11, 2007
All you need to know about new movies this weekend
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At least nine new movies are available this weekend.
Here’s my indubitable list of what matters most:
1. “Talk to Me.” The always excellent Don Cheadle plays the late, real-life, in-your-face D.C. DJ Petey Greene. The film’s good. Cheadle’s great. See it as soon as you can.
2. “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. You mean you haven’t seen it yet? If you’ve never heard of British actress Imelda Staunton (she plays the officious Dolores Umbridge) you’ll never forget her after this.
3. “Rescue Dawn.” Christian Bale and Steve Zahn pretend they’re in “The Deer Hunter.” But this time there’s no guy shouting, “MAU!”
4. “Introducing the Dwights.” When does Brenda Blethyn not play a terrifically dysfunctional mother? I thoroughly enjoyed much of the movie but not the parts where she’s screeching.
5. “Joshua.” A mildly creepy devil-child story that could sure use more doses of creep.
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I survived ‘Potter’ in 3-D at midnight. So I want a T-shirt
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I distinctly recall donning a colorful Hawaiian shirt and white slacks to attend a Beach Boys concert at the long-gone Omni Coliseum. So who am I to cast aspersions on the fully grown woman walking around at 2:30 this early morning in a purple robe and toting a blond wand at the Mall of Georgia’s Regal theater.
She, like me (though I wore much more everyday attire), attended the first screening in Georgia of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” in 3-D at Regal’s IMAX theater. It started at midnight.
And she’s got nothing on the young man waiting in line for the 3 a.m. show (do “Potter” fans ever sleep? I am afraid not). His head is ensconced in some putrid, creamed pea-colored cloth that renders him oddly identical to the noseless Ralph Fiennes, who plays the film series’ evil and horrid-looking Lord Voldemort. I rate the waiting young man’s costume both pitiful and perfect.
“Potter” fans love their “Potter” movies. For the “Order of the Phoenix,” our sold-out crowd often reacted with laughter and applause. They clapped and exhaled sounds of joy when the cat ate the big ear (either read the book or go see the movie; it would take forever to explain). They laughed knowingly when little white-haired Luna Lovegood said, “Pudding.”
But they did not whoop and holler when Harry Potter had his first lip-to-lip kiss ever in his entire life. He smooched Cho Chang and it looked like it might last as long as “Goblet of Fire.” The audience, however, remained mostly hushed … until the follow-up tell-all scene with Potter pals Hermione and Ron. They laughed especially hard then.
Anyway, this screening was about IMAX and that means big. I think it’s a great way to see a summer movie, but there’s bad with the good.
For one thing, I grew tired of seeing Daniel Radcliffe’s big-old head pancaked with makeup. But at the same time, when mean-old Dolores Umbridge makes him write with her special quill with his right hand so that it ultimately scratches “I must not tell lies” into his skin on top of his left hand, the effect is much stronger on IMAX than in regular showings. I should know because I’ve now seen it in both formats.
But didn’t I say that this “Potter” was in 3-D?
I did. And it’s the first Potter movie ever in 3-D. Except there’s only about 20 minutes of the 2-hour plus movie actually in 3-D. And understand, this movie wasn’t really made to be shown in 3-D so there’s nothing in it like in the 3-D “Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein” where a spear goes through a guy’s body and dangles his bloody innards right in front of your face.
In “Order of the Phoenix” there’s just obvious depth perception — like a very long hallway with a faraway door and it does look pretty imposing in 3-D which I guess is why a girl in the back unexpectedly uttered a big “WOW.”
But no sight in the whole film was as stunning as one of the guys standing in the 3 a.m. line with our very own He Who Must Not Be Named. This dude had stringy long black hair and wore a black plastic garbage bag that left his hairy legs exposed. He also had on long elf ears.
If he was trying to look like the film’s house-elf Kreacher, he, uh, missed.
After walking past him, I just kept wanting to turn around and say, “For Frodo.”
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