New Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows trailer [again]

I see some definite departures from the book, but still super excited for the November release. Look forward to a post in the near future featuring someo f my favorite Harry Potter pictures and animated gifts.

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Two movies I want to see

Outside of the heavy promoted summer blockbusters and DVD releases there are often good movies just waiting to be seen. Here are the trailers for two movies that I am looking forward to checking out.

The Way We Get By
In Limited Release Now

"Since the first Gulf War in 1991, a group of veterans and townspeople from the area have greeted every troop flight that arrives or departs from Bangor International Airport. They’re so loyal to their mission that the airport set aside a permanent room for them.....“The Way We Get By” follows the lives of three troop greeters." from Hot Air

Official Site
IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes


The Hurt Locker
Already Out, Coming Soon to DVD

"Kathryn Bigelow’s film, which was written by Mark Boal, manages to be many things at once—a first-rate action thriller, a vivid evocation of urban warfare in Iraq, a penetrating study of heroism and a showcase for austere technique, terse writing and a trio of brilliant performances.

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The focal point is a three-man bomb squad working bravely and meticulously, on the streets of Baghdad in 2004, to disarm a succession of the improvised explosive devices that are killing civilians and soldiers alike. While all members of the squad are skilled professionals, one of them, Staff Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner), has a special relationship with bombs. He loves the circuits that must be decoded, the detonators that must be disconnected. He loves the challenge presented by each bomb, the chance to taunt fate and come up a winner or go up in flames; it’s the ultimate form of a gambler’s high. (In military parlance, bombs send their victims to the locker of the title.)' from Joe Morgenstern via WSJ.

Bonus: I hear that The Hurt Locker does not have a political edge or stance on the war in either direction and can be enjoyed for what it is.


IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes


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How LotR Should Have Ended Video

Ok, I readily admit that I am a huge geek. I don't think that there is really anyone that knows me that would challenge me on that fact. Under the general "geek' umbrella, however, I am also many types of type-specific geek, such as Anime-geek, Star Wars-geek, Fantasy Novel-geek, and so on an so forth. One of more more primary associations is as a Lord of the Rings-geek. That's right kids; I'm a Ringer. Heck, for over ten years I've had posters for the BOOK on my wall. Gandalf sits in front of my TV while poor Faramir is forced to watch me work all day from my candy tray. I tell you this so you aren't caught completely off guard when I go hardcore fanboy for a second.

**puts on uber-geek hat**

This video lacks support from the book canon. First, the Eagles only show up with a free flight at the end after the defeat of the winged Nazgul. Prior to this, any attempt to fly into Mordor would have been fruitless. Now, one could argue that the Nazgul were not given their flying mounts until after their defeat at the Ford of Bruinen. However, I think it is unlikely that they were not already stabled somewhere in waiting. I could be wrong on that.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, no ring bearer would ever willingly destroy the ring. The hold is just too intense, even after only a short time carrying it. Has no one read The Similarion? It just isn't going to happen, as we saw when Frodo failed to cast the ring into the fires of Mount Doom "unassisted". Therefore, even if the ring was carried by any other member, that ring is not going to be dropped into that fire on purpose!

**takes off uber-geek hat**

In the end, I found this video to be very funny. It did, however, cause my head to nearly explode.

These guys have a lot of "How [movie] should have ended" variants here.

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Movie: Lars and the Real Girl

This weekend Netflix finally bestowed upon my mailbox the DVD version of Lars and the Real Girl. I had been looking forward to viewing this film since the first time I saw the trailer a few months back and giggled with glee as I fired it up. I love a movie with interesting but unusual characters and a non-traditional story. To say that LatRG has an nontraditional plot is more than a little bit of an understatement.

Lars and the Real Girl is the tale of a young man that lives on the edge of society emotionally. Lars, played perfectly by Ryan Gossling, lives in a small garage while his brother and his brother’s wife live in the main house in what appears to be Michigan. He has a normal job and attends church every Sunday, but his interactions with people are limited by his own idiosyncrasies and insecurities. He loathes physical contact and at best can stumble through an awkward conversation with female co-workers. Lars cannot even join his family in the main house for a meal without visible anxiety.

Things take a turn for the bizarre when one cold day a UPS truck delivers a large nondescript box to Lars’s door. We quickly learn what was inside: a RealGirl sex doll. Now, before you are completely freaked out and questioning my choice in films, let me jump ahead and say that it is not what it seems. What has really happened is that Lars has had a delusional break and believes the girl is an actual real woman he has met online. The rest of the movie is how his family and the community respond to his new ‘friend’. This is not an American Pie style sex comedy. In fact, it isn't a sex comedy at all.

I won’t go into a lot of detail so as not to ruin the fun of the movie, but I don’t think I’m giving anything away when I say that it is quite humorous and sad at the same time to see the way that Lars interacts with his ‘girlfriend’ much better than the way he interacts with the real people around him.

One of the most obvious questions that this all brought to mind as how would I react if one of my friends or family members acted in a similar way. I don’t even mean necessarily the exact same thing but more if they adopted some eccentricity or other behavior as a result of mental illness that was, frankly, embarrassing to myself. Pretty close to the start of the movie his brother and sister-in-law are presenting the situation to the town priest and what I assume are other leaders in the church. After some debate the priest says the now cliché, “What would Jesus do?” What would He do? What should I do? What would I do if it was someone at my church? Do I play along the way it is suggested? At what point am I no longer being supportive and become patronizing or even mocking, even by accident? I don’t know exactly. I think it is a really interesting question, though, and one that has sprung to my mind a few times the last few days.

Despite how the plot sounds creepy on the surface, I can assure you that you will find little to no ‘ick’-factor in this movie. In the end, it is a movie about relationships in a family as well as a community. I highly recommend this movie to anyone willing to give it chance, although I realize that some people won’t like the more subtle comedy of the movie as opposed to an in your face, over the top comedy. To each his own taste – that is why the there are so many different genres. I do hope that you will think about checking out this movie. PG-13, some language.



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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Trailer

This is easily, easily my favorite book in the series and I am very excited for this movie to finally be coming out. I didn't realize there were trailers out yet, but now that I have seen them...wow.



Lol, I just remembered this picture from my old blog a few years ago.




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Movie: Helvetica

Earlier this week I sat down and watched the 2007 documentary, Helvetica, on Blu-ray. Being a fan of documentaries, obscure knowledge, and graphic design I figured I couldn't really go wrong. Fortunately, my assumptions were proven right and I was rewarded with a (dare I say?) entertaining film covering the history and prolific nature of the font type helvetica.

The documentary takes the form of interviews with well known graphic designers and the family and friends of those responsible for the creation of helvetica in Switzerland 50 years ago. These interviews are divided by images of text all over cities throughout the world using the font. I must admit that I really was made aware of just how prevalent the font is. Since watching this I have also started noticing the font everywhere!

A bit more surprising was the intense opinions about helvetica held in the graphic design community. One woman basically said that in the 1970's she wouldn't use Helvetica because it was the font type of corporations and it was corporations that sponsored the Vietnam war. Easy, killer! Of course, it is easy to laugh at her statement, but one thing I was confronted with was how fonts effect how it is we see what we are reading. Some fonts cannot say what other fonts can say with the same words. The massive use of helveica is largely due to the fact that it is neutral and can say anything. Helvetica is the font of choice for corporations - and governments, advertisers, and people making lost dog signs. Helvetica is for everyone for anything.

In the end, Helvetica served it's purpose in giving me a history of the font itself, its use and theory, as well as confront me just how widespread the use of it is. It is put together very well and the movie never drags or gets boring. I really enjoyed watching it and feel a bit smarter - which is the point, right? I would not buy this Blu-ray (or dvd) but would definitely recommend it. I feel I should add that, oddly, there are a few f-bombs dropped by some of the interview subjects.

This post was NOT in Helvetica. ;)




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