HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE Movie Review

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Price was released today in theaters and of course I was one of the first in line to check it out. This was one of my favorite books in the series and the movie had a lot to live up to. There's never been a Potter movie that I've enjoyed more than the book, but most have been quality films that are fun to watch. The acting seems to get better as the films go on and as the kids get older. More than the other movies, I've been anticipating this release more heavily because of what a fantastic and pivotal book the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is. I won't give anything away for those who have not read the books, but oh man. A LOT of stuff goes down in Book 6, and I have been so excited to see it come to life on the big screen.

I arrived at the theater plenty early, and even though the particular cinema I visited has assigned seating (You rock Arclight!), I was a little shocked to see how packed it was before the show. I also didn't expect to see too many freaks dressed in wizard costumes (since this is the 6th movie after all), and was surprised to see quite a few. One guy in particular, a Snape, dressed in a long robe, black wig, wand, and fake tattoo of the dark mark. I have to admit I love it when these sorts to turn up the cinema as I totally think they add to the movie watching experience.

Now for the movie. I think I actually got goose bumps as the opening credits began, and after the crowd stopped cheering you could hear a pin drop…which was when some guy in the back yelled in his best Mrs. Weasly voice "Harry Potter!", which made everyone laugh. As with the other movies, certain scenes are added that didn't happen in the book, and some are changed around, and the true Potter fans might get a little annoyed. The movie did manage to get the important scenes right however, and probably more spot on than any other movie in the Potter series. I also thought this was the best directed movie in the whole Potter series and at some points, especially during the Tom Riddle flashbacks, I felt as though I stepped right into the book.

This was a dark movie, scary at times and immensely sad in others. For those out there that haven't read the books, I would be surprised if you'd be able to watch Harry Potter Half Blood Prince and not want to read Book 7 to see how the series ends. I'm extremely interested to hear what other Potter fans thought of the movie, so please leave a comment and let me know what you thought of the film!

(You can also check out a review for the book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince here.)

THE HANGOVER Movie Review

Wow. I can't remember the last time I've been in a L.A. movie theater when an audience has erupted in such a thunderous applause after a movie. I haven't had a chance to check out other reviews yet, so I'm not sure what the "film snob" circuit is saying, but as a regular person I thought this movie was great. How great? As the credits rolled I was holding my head in my hands trying to process everything I just witnessed while tears streamed down my face and my stomach was in knots from both laughing and viewing some of the most repulsive things I've ever seen on film. In short, it was awesome.

I know what some of you might be thinking - a group of guys go to Vegas, get drunk and make some bad decisions, what's so unique about that? And you'd be right. This is a story line that has been done many times over, but even so, I promise this movie WILL surprise you. It might actually be the shock value that makes it so unexpectedly good. There is also the amazing cast to consider. I've been a long-time fan of the comedy genius of Zach Galifianakis and he totally makes the movie. I hope to see him in other projects soon. Also, Ed Helms (Andy from The Office) and Bradley Cooper (Alias) both do an amazing job of creating one of the most shocking, offensive, hilarious movies of the summer.

I don't want to go anymore into the plot because as I said before it's the shock value that makes this movie so great and I don't want to spoil anything. One last thing I will say is that if you have a weak stomach, and/or get easily offended this is not the movie for you. If, however, you are ready to be taking one of the most hilarious and bizarre rides of your life, go check it out.

I LOVE YOU, MAN Review

I LOVE YOU, MAN (4.5 out of 5 stars)

I Love You, Man, which is in theaters tomorrow, March 20, is the latest movie to star popular comedians Paul Rudd and Jason Segal. I keep waiting for these guys to make a bad movie. I mean it's bound to happen. Will Ferrell broke his streak with Kicking and Screaming, Adam Sandler broke his long before Zohan (which I have to admit wasn't that horrible), and even Vince Vaughn lost some street cred with Fred Claus. There was even a moment in time when Mike Myers and Dana Carvey could do no wrong. I guess the point I'm trying to make is comedians tend to come out with a streak of amazing movies and then they start to suck. This worries me because I really can't get enough of this latest "it crowd" of comedian film stars. Superbad, 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, these movies are like crack to me and I’m happy to say the supply has not yet dried up.

*Spoiler Alert* Without giving too much away, the basic plot is Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) a somewhat nerdy real estate agent from LA, is set to get married to his girlfriend Zooey (Rashida Jones aka Karen on "The Office") after only dating 8 months. Zooey is surprised to find out that Peter doesn't have a best man in mind for their wedding and encourages him to make male friends. After many failed and extremely funny attempts at male bonding, enter Sydney Fife (Jason Segal) a free spirit from Venice Beach that is every straight man’s dream. He's cool, he's funny, and he has the best man den is the history of testosterone.

You can expect just as many laughs from I Love You Man as Superbad, Marshall, and the like...if not even more. There is a toast scene that would make the Rachel Getting Married guests uncomfortable and a voicemail that would even make Jon Favreau’s character in Swingers cringe. Speaking of Favreau, he has a small part in the movie and is hilarious. If you weren't that impressed by the trailers, don't let that put you off going as they didn't do the movie justice. Go see this movie tomorrow and I promise you won't regret it; you may even see me there for my second time

Women Want Edward Cullen, But Get Peter Griffin

It seems as though every generation has its hero that comes along and sets unrealistic romantic expectations for the rest of us. Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle, Richard Gere in Pretty Woman, Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind, these guys set the standard for how women expected to be treated. Take Clark Gable in Gone With The Wind. He’s absolutely crazy for Scarlett O’Hara. On the surface you might think this makes sense as Scarlet is beautiful and has nice outfits. However, on closer inspection we learned that she was a gold digging, prudish-whore (sort of an oxymoron but if you’ve seen the movie you’ll know what I’m talking about). What woman didn’t want their own Rhett Butler after seeing this movie? He’s rich, dangerous, you can treat him like crap for years before he’ll leave you, and he’ll shower you in gifts.

But where has Rhett been hiding? I didn’t see any Rhetts in the latest Jonah Hill or Michael Cera movie. He’s not on the radio either, as I can’t think of any of the Jonas Brothers that I would describe as “dangerous”. But the fact of the matter is, he’s back, and like the original Rhett, he’s in a book.

Edward Cullen, the main character of Twilight by author Stephanie Meyers is the 2008 answer to the Jeopardy question “Who is destroying the lives of women everywhere?” Physically, Edward is described as nothing short of perfection. He’s tall, handsome, and muscular with super human strength and speed, infinite wealth, and oh yeah, he’s also a vampire. After spending about 90 years single he finally falls in love (before this he was probably that one guy everyone has in their family that you swear is gay but never comes out of the closet, but who is always bringing their “friend” “Steve” to family gatherings) with mortal Bella Swan. Bella is a normal looking every day 17 year old girl. Now, consequently, normal looking girls everywhere (like me) think we have a shot with an Edward. We are all Samantha Baker waiting for our Jake Ryan to ask us out (that was a 16 Candles reference for all you youngsters out there). The problem with this, and thus why Edward is destroying the lives of women everywhere, is he doesn’t freakin exist! He’s fabulous and fictional and we all just need to get over it.

Why? Because instead we got stuck with Peter Griffin from Family Guy. Peter is overweight, he farts in Meg’s cereal, he drinks a lot, and chances are if you are in a relationship he’s sitting on your couch right now. That’s right girls; men did not get the memo. While we were wasting away reading the Twilight books, learning how men are meant to behave, our husbands, boyfriends, life-partners, etc. were watching Family Guy. Even though Peter is a cartoon, he’s very real and we all need to accept it. Our guys may not drive an Aston-Martin or read minds, but they will take us to a KISS concert and watch old Pauly Shore movies with us. Is this enough? I suppose it has to be. However, on November 21st, while my Peter is at the Drunken Clam with his friends, I’ll be out with the girls watching Twilight wondering what it might be like to be Bella.