One thing I like to do is watch a good movie. Doesn't matter if it's at home or in the theatres, a good movie is a good movie. I also like the fulfillment of reading a good book.
This weekend, I was blessed to catch two flicks at the theatre with friends and family, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Unstoppable.
The Deathly Hallows: Part 1
I had not read any of the Harry Potter books before this last book of the series, which I read two summers ago. I was excited to see the movie, more excited than I've been to see a Harry Potter movie, simply because I'd actually put the time in to this book.
I must confess, I think I'm a bit disappointed by the movie, which covered 2/3 of this thick book. The problem is that there is so much in the book, so many events, so many levels to relationships between the characters, that there's no way that movie makers could truly do an excellent job. The movie would just be too long. It occurred to me today that this last book would really have made a great TV series. In fact, I'm sure there was a lot left out of most of the books, so maybe they should have made the whole book series into an everlasting TV series. I know I would have tuned in each week. Well, I would have once I realized how great it was.
(I wasn't an immediate Harry Potter fan. In fact, I remember a friend giving me the first book as a gift. And though I tried to read it and get in on the hype surrounding it, I just wasn't interested. Then the movies started coming out, and I wasn't interested in watching those at first, either. Somehow, somewhere, I started to enjoy the movies. And now that I've read the last book and was hooked the whole way through, I want to go back and read and see how much more I can learn from the other Harry Potter books.)Of course I went back through the book to figure out what was missing. I even made a pretty hefty list (yes, I'm a list maker). Then, I also read through the last 1/3 of the book closely to review it for the next movie coming out in the Spring. A few family members who went to see it thought it was slow. They expected more action. (They obviously hadn't read the book to know most of the action happens at the end.) All-in-all, I think I will give Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 three and a half stars out of five. Maybe Part 2 will be more fulfilling.
* * * 1/2
Unstoppable
Unstoppable is another great Denzel Washington movie that also stars Chris Something-or-other from the newest Star Trek movie. It was inspired by a true story of a runaway train in Ohio. It had funny moments, not just smile-because-it's-humorous but laugh-out-loud funny moments, even in the touching ending. While I felt the beginning was somewhat slow, the middle and end really picked up speed and were very interesting and entertaining. I'm torn between giving it three and a half or four stars.
* * * *
On a side note, I did see Despicable Me with my husband and his brother while we were in California at the end of the summer, and I thought it was great. I did not catch Nanny McPhee Returns in the theatre, so we'll have to rent that. I also have not yet seen MegaMind. It is yet to be determined as to whether or not I'll have to rent it or if we'll make it to the theatre before it leaves. I am also interested in renting Tangled once it comes out on DVD (it just entered the theatres), and I know Mom has already made plans for us all to see the latest Narnia film The Voyage of the Dawn Treader during the Christmas break.
Yikes! Lots of movies!
Happy movie watching!