We went out to Gig Harbor last night for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was a fun adaptation. Generally speaking, all the choices they made were good ones. … Except one. SPOILERS BELOW! In the book, when Draco has Dumbledore at wand-point, Harry has been petrified and covered by his invisibility cloak by Dumbledore. Because of this, he can't interrupt the proceedings. In the movie, Dumbledore simply tells Harry to stay out of sight no-matter-what. That's it? Harry Potter, who seldom does anything he's told, sits idly by? I was not convinced. Further, the choice of the Read more…

We saw Public Enemies tonight. I thought it was a pretty good film. Long, with some slow parts, but also with some fun parts too. Johnny Depp is always fun to watch, and his Dillinger is really good. Billy Crudup’s Hoover is fun too.  Michael Mann’s choice to shoot in video feels like a misstep. It just didn’t work for me and I regularly felt it was jarring me out of the picture. It had the wrong look and vibe.  Glad I saw it. But looking forward to many other movies on my list.

That’s what Ebert called Clint Eastwood’s character in Gran Torino, and it’s pretty accurate, although I don’t remember Dirty Harry being a bigot. Clint Eastwood plays “mean” better than anyone I can think of, and his growl is consistently good for a laugh. Gran Torino is a very good film. It’s engaging, interesting, and–since it’s a Clint Eastwood movie–well-directed and shot. It often borders on the implausible, but it never quite crosses the line. Certainly one of the better movies of 2008. I’m glad I caught it.