Harry in Love

There is a little bit of magic in the air.

The sixth film in the Harry Potter series, otherwise known as the Half-Blood Prince, gathers where it leaves before and makes great strides in character development and drama between the characters. It is the most elaborate portrayal of the people who populate the Harry Potter movie. Fans should be delighted in this one. The casual viewers may begin to understand why fans love the softly spoken and fragile characters who attend the sorcerer school.

It is true that much of the humor in the ongoing film series has disappeared much like one of Potters' own magic tricks. But, instead, we are getting a witty exchange between the major characters who many have come to know and love. There are some very good moments in the film as romance begins to sprout between the teenagers who are discovering the more tender side of life.

The smothering of kisses and awkward glances decorate the film scenes as it is taking place in a real life high school. The children of the school are fast growing up. They are beginning to have feelings for each other.

One of the brighter moments is Harry's friend Ron's enraged brotherly touches when he finds out his sister has a crush on someone. He is more deeply disturbed when he finds out the blossoming romance between his sister and Harry himself. And he intervenes in a very clumsy fashion.

Not only that, the love triangle explodes when Hermione Granger (always played well by Emma Watson) develops her own cravings for Ron, a teenager crush. And he becomes very jealous when he finds that he has a girlfriend and becomes upset with this process. Love is a very dangerous. It's handled deftly and beautifully, with a great humor, as she nearly assassinates Ron with several birds that strike at him like a storm. There's enough humor in the film to counter the coming darkness that would surely erupt soon.

It is almost as if the filmmakers know the most toughest and darkest film is just around the corner. So they're giving up a little more lighthearted entry into the film series in hopes of getting many people relaxed, putting them into a comfort zone. This is only the second to last film to be made.

Much of the humor is made by the always welcomed actor Jim Broadbent who plays Horace Slughorn who is a potions instructor. Where many of the love potions are derived from. He is a great actor to watch and you may have seen him before playing Indiana Jones scholarly colleague in the fourth Indy movie. Here Broadbent provides just enough comic timing to set his character apart from the others. He offers a kind of old fashioned, daffy character who is lovable, but his own side of the story is perhaps one of the most tragic... he hides some of the most key elements to the series. He is one of the best characters yet.

Noted are the acting abilities of the three main characters who clearly know how to reflect off each other. They know each others' weaknesses and strengths. They are like the pieces of the puzzle. With one piece missing, the entire puzzle would be in ruins. They are a perfect assembly of actors. The beautiful comedy part given to Daniel Radcliffe as he plays Harry as a happy-go-lucky guy is one of the film highlights when he points out about the dead spider's pinchers. It's extremely funny.

But it is like a theater of comedies that is turning into a flood of darkness. One of the best things in the film is the young boy who plays Tom Riddle, later to become Lord Vordemort, as he is actually the real-life nephew of Ralph Finnies. So there is a great amount of silimiarities between the actors due to family heritage. It's a very good movement on the casting front.

Right from the very start of the film, you do see how relationships are worked into the story. When the one restaurant waitress was almost picked up by Harry as a date. And then you dig deeper into the world of love stories that makes this film. There's an enthusiastic youthfulness about feelings and emotions. And it gives good acting opportunities for the younger members of the group to perform.

But it's not all light and dreamy as the film hurls into one of the more darker endings of any of the film series. The shock is made greater because of the film's developing of a love story for the past two hours. Then finally the film takes you by the hand and leads you into a dark place. One of the film's major characters is killed off. I'm not going to tell you who. You'll have to find out for yourself.

But Harry Potter is left on his own now to carry the fight by himself. With the help of his two best friends. He gives up his love for Ron's sister. A great sacrifice. It is becoming a personal story for Harry who must grow up far too fast. He is no longer childlike boy who first appeared to the Hogwarts school filled with optimism. Now he is an older boy who must carry the world on his shoulders. And everyone in the audience can feel his pain in doing so.

A Torchwood Week in July

Some televisions shows mature and grow. And the audiences grow with a series that tries to change. It wants to leave a mark or stand out in terms of writing. Maturity is a sign of strength.

Torchwood runs through its third season with the umbrella title “Children of Earth” which centers around a shaky negotiation between the British government and an alien intruder. It feels like a novel, this one. It writes itself as an ongoing book that runs for one week in July: one episode for every weeknight. The payoff is a pretty good one.

Garnering with an average of 5.5 million viewers for each episode, reaching its height during the fourth episode, it is a good sign that perhaps audiences do appreciate creative storytelling with a clever use of science fiction themes. It is a different kind of take of television writing that tests the possibility of telling a tale in a different fashion. In this case, a small television novel that unfolds before us with same characters throughout the five episodes.

The story begins with the unsettling demand made by a creature from space, fixated in a glass atmosphere of poison, which wants a certain percentage of children. It is simply known as 456. These demands are made through the political dealing of the political elite who tries to find a way around the unearthly demand. But the alien visitor came once before to this world in 1965. And the person who led that deal at the time was Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood.

This leads to interesting layers in the story that grows more complex and yet remains solidified as a whole story as another major plot concerns an assassination attempt by the government on Capt. Jack… a high order made by Home office civil service John Frobisher. So they send agent Johnson after him—a persistent and fierce hurricane of force who stops at nothing before finishing her chores. And the believability of the role belongs to the older actress who plays her, who looks the part, her features seemingly world-weary. As if she has gone through many lifetimes before gaining her current government position. This is a nice, high pitched plot point that paces through the story at tension speeds.

Capt. Jack does get kicked around a lot in this one. He is burned, gassed, shot at, got cement poured onto him while he is a prisoner. And his longevity does have some shortfalls. After a while, this guy must starting thinking, “Man, this sucks. I can’t die.”

But the story does take darker turns, shifting through the many layers of the five-day novel, as the alien’s true intentions are made known to the Torchwood team and the British government despite working on different sides. It is the common enemy of the creature, and its insidious means of misusing children, that brings these forces of good together. And finding a solution to all the problems that are put forth to them.

However, for those who is a mother or a father, there should be a forewarning that this may not be the best of entertainment for parents who might find some themes in the story offensive. Maybe it isn’t offensive. But it can be considered disturbing.

This is a well done story with some nice themes working through it. And there are some very nice scenes with Torchwood member Gwen getting some John Woo action going on as she swings a couple of guns. She’s good with the guns. But she also has a sense of compassion that makes watching this actress worthwhile seeing on screen.

Much acting credit should be given to Peter Capaldi who plays civil servant Frobisher—as a man who works under a great deal of pressure and every second of his life seems like a torn page. His acting is great. And you really do sympathize with this guy who got the worst kind of responsibility tossed at him only because the prime minister himself is too lazy to do the actual decision making himself. His story is a sad one. And one that is greatly felt by anyone who does have a family and cares for them deeply. In the end, he is treated very badly by the government despite his frantic work habits. You feel sorry for this guy who has run out of options.

Capaldi should receive some notierity for his role because it takes a lot of courage to play a man who may be considered weak by some. Yet it is his persistence and loyalty that sets him apart from the rest of the government table who is caught up in this debacle.

However, not all alien forces are a nature of good. And this creature called 456 who lives in the air of toxics and feeds on the creativity of children is a purely insensitive being that cares nothing more than satisfying its own greed. That is why Torchwood tries to resolve the situation in their own trademark way.

It’s nice to see them make use of the contact lens that also acts as a camera for a remote setting. This has been used last year during one episode and it’s a good plot devise that helped bring the plot forward when a mere secretary Lois Habiba worked for Torchwood to help record the conversations made by the government panel. With some surprising results.

And here's a spoiler if there ever was one: a major character does get killed off in an annoying habit of bumping people off. However it doesn't distract too much with the story, instead does somehow paint a greater picture of who Capt. Jack is.

There have been novels put on television before such as Babylon-5 which ran for five years in its entirety. It was a brave attempt on bold storytelling. And Torchwood Children of Earth was another example. This is probably the strongest season they have so far.

However, like a good story, one must reach some sort of resolution. And Captain Jack must make a very difficult choice all the same about his own family. His own life comes around in full circle. He realizes that his life has the same routine that could never be broken. He continues to live forever while nearly everyone dies around him.

Such is the fate of one who can live forever in a fixed point of time. Even though humanity does survive to fight another day, Capt. Jack resigns himself to loneliness. Because getting too close to people often comes with a price. No longer wanting to use people or loved ones as shields, he departs from the world he has come to know. And therefore travels through like a wanderer without purpose. He hopes to find some small measure of comfort in his long life.

Ghosts in the Movies at the Park film festival

Yesterday serves as a bright spot for the hot season, and with good timing, for the Movies in the Park conveniently set in the Grand Opera House square. The first film, surprisingly enough, is the much beloved old supernatural comedy "Ghostbusters" which turned out to be one of the biggest box office hits to scare its way into the movie screen.

It is one of the most light hearted slapsticks created by the teamwork of Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis along with the main headliner Bill Murray who is actually a pretty nice guy in real life. The film itself made a pretty big chunk of money in 1984 which could only be explained that most like to have a good sense of humor.

It's nice to see that the film still manages a pretty good turnout as people enjoy a little Nerf football to a little summer reading before the outdoors showing of Ghostbusters. It gets shown at dusk in a way it gets played in a theater as the lights dim.

It was introduced in the soothing radio broadcast voice by marketing manager Jeff Potts who let us know that there will be another Movies in the Park every two weeks during the July and August months. That's good. Lots of people. Plenty of laughs. A vendor under the outdoors tent selling hot dogs or other commodities. There should be more things like this in Oshkosh.

I'm glad to see that people still enjoy this film that is considered a long-adage classic that now makes me feel pretty old. But watching this film is no problem. It makes me feel like the tender twelve year old who first came across this film to enjoy seeing spooks central. I feel like a kid again seeing this.

From the first scenes of the lion chiseled in stone in the New York City Public Library, letting it be known this is going to be a suburban comedy well stocked in creepy crawlies, we see the poor old librarian frightened by some ghost who probably just wants to spend a little time reading there. Or perhaps the ghost had an unpaid overdue fine.

Whatever the source may be, or the reason, it becomes the first real haunting that brings the attention of three out of the way parapsychologists who try to get their first concrete proof that there are really ghosts living in shadows. And they're somehow breaking through some strange psychic barrier. The more ghosts get into New York City, the more crowded it gets.

The central characters Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler are beautifully played by their counterparts who try to stir an ongoing business busting ghosts... which doesn't start off too terribly well when a hotel manager calls them up about a certain ugly green spud haunting the building. It gets pretty crazy. Their first capture costs five grand.

And the rest of their business blooms.

So does their popularity.

So happens to be that Venkman has a bigger interest in the Lady in the Red named Dana Barrett played by the always dependable Sigourney Weaver who, curiously enough, had another big hit on her hands in the form of “Aliens”. Otherwise, Venkman could give two spits about his ghosting business. His mind is usually in the gutter about how many women he could get his hands on.

There are some real nice moments in the film, always funny, which makes this a cultural departure film that offers great locations in the New York beat. If you look closely, you'll be able to see a lot of of New York Times Square and other legitimate scene stealers such as the Rockerfeller statue over the large ice rink. And the film managed to soak itself into popular culture with their much song-sing line repeated, “Who are you going to call?”

Other great moments? You can see the ghostbusters getting slimed for the first time in the hotel, the main characters climbing up forty stories with large nuclear accelerators on their backs in an apartment building, the first time Eddie Zeddmore gets hired as a fourth ghostbuster, a great conversational piece between the ghostbusters and the mayor and the dastardly villain Mr. Peck(er) from the EPA, and of course the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

What makes this film very well done is their sturdy, jerky villain that is much needed for the successful formula of the show and Mr. Peck does well in the guy you just want to hate as he persecute the three misfit scientists just looking to make a business just like anyone else is in New York City. It just happens that theirs involves ghosts.

There are also some nice guest spots with Larry King on his live show and Casey Kasem who gets an off-screen voice appearance with his very familiar top 40s hits countdown.

If you haven't seen this film, you should. There aren't a lot of supernatural comedies that work very well on this level. And it's not bad considering that it inspired a pretty good sequel, two cartoon series, a few video games and a third film that is now in the works under the tender hands of Aykroyd and Ramis once again.

That's good. Because the film shown in the outdoors theater brought a lot of folks together. People of all ages, young and old. Older viewers who might be taking a nostalgic trip. And they are bringing not only themselves, but also their kids to share their love for the film. Who could blame them? The film is chock full of fun humor and plenty of fun scenes. It's good entertainment that you don't get very much these days. A lot of people love it. For good reasons.

There are a lot of renowned actors who bring their sense of family (and comedy) style from the old Saturday Night Live days and you can see that they are having a lot of fun in this film. And so should you have fun watching this delightful ghosting romp that still puts a smile on my face after all these years.

Lost and Lost Again

I have always imagined a thoughtful dream where the Land of the Lost was populated by Fox News goon-bags like Glenn Beck and Megan Kelly along with Republican hounds like Rush Limbaugh where the dinosaurs would use them for toothpicks. And they might use Limbaugh for a healthy meal.

Sadly, that would never be the case on television. But it would make for a pretty good segment of Faux proportions with a rather satisfying conclusion.

However, we are getting the Land of the Lost television series on the DVD treatment finally. Though it’s coinciding with the movie hitting the big screens. I hate that kind of stuff. When they try to package it with a blow-for-blow for commercial stunts. Not for justified reasons.

Never mind that. I always did have a soft spot for the old Sid and Marty Krofft Saturday morning serials that ran in the mid-seventies.

It was pretty good stuff if you didn’t mind stop motion action model shots with the dinosaurs, very limited resource of creatures at every corner and southern folk music. If that didn’t get to you, then you wouldn’t let it bother you much. If you didn’t mind a series with dinosaurs nicknamed Dopey and Grumpy, then it’s not so bad. Actually, the series knew for what it was, a kid’s entertainment with an intelligent touch of stories. Not a big budget movie turned into comedy.

And it was a series at a very imaginative stretch. And they knew how to hire very an excellent gallery of science fiction writers to get the run for their decent stories. They certainly had a long list of good science fiction writers. Let’s start with David Gerrold, D.C. Fontana, Theodore Sturgeon and Norman Spinrad from Star Trek writing fame, and Ben Bova and Larry Niven to name a few more.

Not only that, Gerrold functioned as the story editor. So you’re getting some pretty good concept writers even if you had to deal with the Saturday morning kid’s stuff. There are even guest writers such as Walter Koenig who penned one story “The Stranger.”

The stories. Here, they did run through some interesting time and space concepts concerning doorways to other worlds along with the garden variety of strange alien technology and certain crystals that function as a sort of gateway keys to crack open more portals that managed somehow to trap a Civil War soldier and a Marshall family. The science fiction mammoth surrounding family ideals.

Ah, yes, the Marshall family. Who could forget with a nostalgic tripping of Rick Marshall, Will and Holly? Not to mention Uncle Jack who came later in the third season, played by Ron Harper, after the father tumbled over something that sent him whirling back home.

The series had their run of strange gorilla type creatures such as Cha-Ka which may have interesting throw-backs to the evolution of other worlds, perhaps where humanity might have branch off, and the lizard-like monsters in the form of the Sleestak. Thanks to the ingenuity of science fiction writers, we were given the internal mythology of alien temples, a formidable array of dinosaurs in loving respect to the old Ray Harryhausen films and extravagant narratives that only made you wonder how they managed at all with a shoestring budget. But they did.

This was living proof that imagination can be a positive tool in the world where low budget crunches could be felt during the series and where studios were often shot at and small scale miniatures were created in effort for savings costs. And the stories revolved the long-term possible solutions of finding a way home for the stranded Marshall family.

Much of this really hit the old soft spot of the heart that makes you remember many of the old wobbly sets and characters that was far away better than the idiotic garbage of the new film that was making its way into the theaters at this very moment.

But if the new film of writers were using the Krofft brothers as the co-producers, then why the hell did they not bother to make a final conclusion to the original series? This was a missed opportunity on a much grander scale, with the high budget, it could have been a great way to make a final note to the much loved series. What of the possibilities? It would have been easy to re-introduce characters.

What of several loose threads that could have been easily tied up if they were to make the film in the proper fashion? And the young boy and girl who played the children were still around. And I’m certain the actors playing the father and uncle would still be around. Much older, perhaps. But still capable of telling the story of the Marshall family.

Since they forgot entirely the science fiction authors of yesteryear, they instead went for sappy stories with eye candy for special effects. And very dumb characters.

It would have been nice to see how the children evolved, as they were much more intelligent characters than the lame bunch in the film. What an incredible waste. A waste of money, a waste of talent and a waste of time. A huge blow. There could have been many ways of telling a further story of the original series. But they opted out. Stupid, eh?

Stick with the original run of the series. You’re more than willing to share a nostalgic warmth of that made me like it all over again. See the Marshall family caught in time and space. And see how they were able to fend for themselves against all the strange creatures in the Land of the Lost. After a while, the series might not have seem so dopey after all.

Find out maybe the old stories were pretty spectacular to the Nth degree. You’ll find out how far they’ve gone rather than some high-minded movie that grossed $7.1 million on the first weekend in a pretty embarrassing comedy mode. The new film really does suck it. Stay with the old science fiction stories of the seventies. You might do better with those.