G Force Predictable but cute CG silliness. Lovable characters, and the mice steal the show. “poop in his hand! poop in his hand!” We skipped the 3D version this time, and I don’t think we missed anything because of it.
Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince Overall, I really loved the movie. I love seeing the main characters grow up – emotionally, intellectually, as well as physically. I love seeing the physicalizations of the books. Special effects are top-notch. Acting is great. However, book 6, like book 5 and possibly book 4, is simply too big a story for one movie. In the books, the multitudinous subplots really bring the characters to life – especially the love-interests and connections to family. But there are simply too many of them for a three-hour movie. The movie writer needs to accept this, and figure out what the essential story is. Write that story, then add one or two subplots at a time to support that story, and (because it’s a series) that support the main through-line of the collection of movies. HP½BP (the movie) tries to add a dollop of many subplots, and they never really develop properly.
Wizard of Oz with the NSO! Great film. I want to see Gone with the Wind and Doctor Zhivago like this now, with the live orchestra. Robert Osborne (who introduces movies on Turner Classic Movies) was on stage to introduce each half of the movie, a nice added touch. I agree that there were soundtrack problems—the music track was (of course) muted, but the voice/foley track sounded like it needed a bit of restoration. I really wanted popcorn for this one!
Blue Planet Live! with the NSO! Not really an excerpt, but a compilation of sequences from multiple episodes. A “best of,” if you will. Some really stunning footage, and some troubling statistics. I think the film suggested that the northern polar cap may be gone in 50 years, and that there are fewer than 1000 blue whales remaining in the arctic waters. I think the presentation of the statistics were truthful but misleading – they don’t tell you, for example, that there are perhaps 10 times that number of blue whales across the world (still a troubling number, but not as dire as the film suggests). Also, they present footage of ocean-bottom critters living near volcanic vents – astounding footage! But again they mislead – they make it sound as if their explorations over the last several years discovered these surprising regions teaming with life – but I was learning about them in college more than 20 years ago.
A major annoyance: We were about seven seats away from a family with two small girls that kept talking throughout the performance. Not just a couple words every ten or fifteen minutes, but a continuous drone of “A fishy! A penguin!” This isn’t a Disney matinee. This is a symphony performance, and people are paying a bit more than $6 dollars a ticket. If you can’t keep your kids quiet, they shouldn’t be there.
Oklahoma at Toby's Dinner Theatre I’m agree, Toby’s continues to provide really strong, fun performances, show after show. We’ve made it a habit of going to Sunday brunch performances – they serve champagne with your French toast and eggs! A minor bit of extra fun was that our waitress (the lead actress, as it turned out), was somewhat in character even as she offered coffee and tea, and told us we could help ourselves to the salad bar.
And I'm hoping they have meat pies on the buffet for Sweeney Todd!(That's their next show.)
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 10:11 pm (UTC)G Force
Predictable but cute CG silliness. Lovable characters, and the mice steal the show. “poop in his hand! poop in his hand!” We skipped the 3D version this time, and I don’t think we missed anything because of it.
Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince
Overall, I really loved the movie. I love seeing the main characters grow up – emotionally, intellectually, as well as physically. I love seeing the physicalizations of the books. Special effects are top-notch. Acting is great. However, book 6, like book 5 and possibly book 4, is simply too big a story for one movie. In the books, the multitudinous subplots really bring the characters to life – especially the love-interests and connections to family. But there are simply too many of them for a three-hour movie. The movie writer needs to accept this, and figure out what the essential story is. Write that story, then add one or two subplots at a time to support that story, and (because it’s a series) that support the main through-line of the collection of movies. HP½BP (the movie) tries to add a dollop of many subplots, and they never really develop properly.
Wizard of Oz with the NSO!
Great film. I want to see Gone with the Wind and Doctor Zhivago like this now, with the live orchestra. Robert Osborne (who introduces movies on Turner Classic Movies) was on stage to introduce each half of the movie, a nice added touch. I agree that there were soundtrack problems—the music track was (of course) muted, but the voice/foley track sounded like it needed a bit of restoration. I really wanted popcorn for this one!
Blue Planet Live! with the NSO!
Not really an excerpt, but a compilation of sequences from multiple episodes. A “best of,” if you will. Some really stunning footage, and some troubling statistics. I think the film suggested that the northern polar cap may be gone in 50 years, and that there are fewer than 1000 blue whales remaining in the arctic waters. I think the presentation of the statistics were truthful but misleading – they don’t tell you, for example, that there are perhaps 10 times that number of blue whales across the world (still a troubling number, but not as dire as the film suggests). Also, they present footage of ocean-bottom critters living near volcanic vents – astounding footage! But again they mislead – they make it sound as if their explorations over the last several years discovered these surprising regions teaming with life – but I was learning about them in college more than 20 years ago.
A major annoyance: We were about seven seats away from a family with two small girls that kept talking throughout the performance. Not just a couple words every ten or fifteen minutes, but a continuous drone of “A fishy! A penguin!” This isn’t a Disney matinee. This is a symphony performance, and people are paying a bit more than $6 dollars a ticket. If you can’t keep your kids quiet, they shouldn’t be there.
Oklahoma at Toby's Dinner Theatre
I’m agree, Toby’s continues to provide really strong, fun performances, show after show. We’ve made it a habit of going to Sunday brunch performances – they serve champagne with your French toast and eggs! A minor bit of extra fun was that our waitress (the lead actress, as it turned out), was somewhat in character even as she offered coffee and tea, and told us we could help ourselves to the salad bar.
And I'm hoping they have meat pies on the buffet for Sweeney Todd!(That's their next show.)