Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Beset by nightmares, Harry Potter is all too happy to escape his disturbing dreams by attending the Quidditch World Cup. But something sinister ignites the skies at the Quidditch campsite--the Dark Mark, the sign of the evil Lord Voldemort. It's conjured by his followers, the Death Eaters, who haven't dared to appear in public since Voldemort was last seen thirteen years ago--the night he murdered Harry's parents. Harry longs to get back inside the safe walls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where Professor Dumbledore can protect him. But Dumbledore announces that Hogwarts will host the Triwizard Tournament, one of the most exciting and dangerous of the wizarding community's magical competitions. One champion will be selected from each of the three most prestigious wizarding schools to compete in a series of life-threatening tasks in pursuit of winning the coveted Triwizard Cup. Ministry of Magic official Barty Crouch and Professor Dumbledore preside over a candlelit ceremony as the enchanted Goblet of Fire selects one student from each school to compete. Amidst a hail of sparks and flames, the cup names Durmstrang's Institute's Quidditch superstar Victor Krum, followed by Beauxbatons' Academy exquisite Fleur Delacour and finally, Hogwarts' popular all-around golden boy Cedric Diggory. But then, inexplicably, the Goblet spits out one final name: Harry Potter. Suspecting that whoever entered Harry's name wants to put him in grave danger, Dumbledore asks Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the eccentric new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, to keep his magical eye trained on the teenage wizard. Events take an ominous turn when someone is murdered on Hogwarts grounds. As they edge closer to the Triwizard Cup, Harry soon finds himself hurtling toward an encounter with true evil.

I absolutely LOVE the Harry Potter books. I think they are extremely well written and present an excellent story as well as outstanding character development. I have also been impressed with the film translation of the books and this film is no exception. From the very beginning of this film you are shot through at an excellent pace that kept me from checking my watch until the credits rolled, amazed that two and a half hours had passed. Mad Eye Moody is incredible in this film and adds so much. I have a few issues with this movie however. At the beginning of the movie, we are introduced to Viktor Klum and the return of the Deatheaters at the Quidditch World Cup. If the director felt that he wanted to include the Quidditch World Cup as part of this movie that's fine, however I felt that the 15 minutes used for that could have been much better spent improving the character development of Cedric Diggory, Viktor Krum and especially Fleur Delacour. Fleur becomes a fairly important character later in the series and it would have been beneficial to let us know her a little more. **SPOILER** The fact that Cedric's character was not fleshed out at all made me feel little to no sorrow when he was killed. He was no more an important character to me than the twins Ron and Harry took to the ball. The same can be said for the 2nd challenge where Fleur's sister is tied underwater. I didn't even realize who she was until later. **END SPOILER** That being said, the graveyard scene is absolute perfection. Lucius Malfoy is an excellent villian that is one of the best in the series. I would have also liked to see more flashbacks in the Pensieve as there is more in the book.

This movie has been given a PG-13 rating which confuses me. I don't think this movie is any more frightening than the Prisoner of Azkeban (which received a PG rating). I agree that both movies should have a PG-13 rating for scary scenes and a bit of language, but the inconsistency in the ratings is confusing.

Honestly, when the worst complaint I have about a two and half hour movie is that I wish it was longer.... there's not much to really complain about. I suppose they could have split it into two movies or made it a 4-6 hour movie with intermissions, but neither option is really viable. That being said, aside from the very beginning, I don't think this movie could get much better.

4.8 out of 5

Zathura

After their father leaves for work, leaving them in the care of their older sister, six-year-old Danny and ten-year old Walter discover an old tattered metal board game, "Zathura." After trying unsuccessfully to get his brother to play the game with him, Danny starts to play on his own. From his first move, Danny realizes this is no ordinary board game. His spaceship marker moves by itself and when it lands on a space, a card is ejected, which reads: "Meteor shower, take evasive action." The house is immediately pummeled from above by hot, molten meteors. When Danny and Walter look up through the gaping hole in their roof, they discover, to their horror that they have propelled into deepest, darkest outer space. And they are not alone. Danny and Walter realize that unless they finish the game they'll be trapped in outer space forever. With every turn, they confront one incredible obstacle after another: They accidentally put their sister Lisa into a deep cryonic sleep, are chased by a crazed, malfunctioning six-foot robot, rescue a stranded astronaut and are besieged by lizard-like, carnivorous creatures called Zorgons. With the help of the astronaut, Danny and Walter begin to put their petty fraternal differences aside, work together to overcome the obstacles they encounter and attempt to finish the game so they can go home. But all their efforts may be in vain when they face their biggest challenge of all--a battle against an intense gravitational pull into the void of the dark planet Zathura.

I loved Jumanji and when I heard that this movie was made by the writer of Jumanji (and alot like it), I was really excited. In it's own right, this is a great movie with great values that are taught to kids. It's made obvious in this movie that bickering with your brother or sister can only turn out bad and that you and your siblings are on the same side. A big nod to Dax Shepard, while he is obviously not to the level of Robin Williams or Kirsten Dunst in the original Jumanji, adds alot to Zathura.

There is a bit of language and some scary scenes with alien lizards. Otherwise a clean movie.

It's almost unfair to compare this movie to Jumanji until you realize that you can't help it. It's a board game, that makes things happen, that reverses everything to normal at the end. It just isn't quite as good as Jumanji. However, it is a great movie with great values for kids. Probably the best choice at the theaters until Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire comes out on Friday.

4.0 out of 5

Jarhead

Set during the Gulf War, the episodic tale follows Anthony Swofford (a.k.a. "Swoff"), a third-generation enlistee, from his sobering stint in boot camp to active duty, where he's sporting a sniper's rifle and a hundred-pound ruck sack on his back, while moving through Middle East deserts with no cover from the intolerable heat. As well, he advances with no protection from the Iraqi soldiers--and there's always a potential enemy sighting, just over the next horizon. Swoff and his fellow Marines sustain themselves on humor and camaraderie as they tread the blazing desert fields in a country they don't understand, against an enemy they can't see, for a cause they don't fully fathom.

Wow, the trailer for this movie looked promising. I was looking forward to a good movie about the Gulf War. I got a mediocre movie about the Gulf War. Alot of people go see war movies to see what war is like without having to actually go there. I think some, like Saving Private Ryan and to some extent Platoon, give an accurate representation of what that war was like. From what I read from Marines that served in the Gulf War and what friends who served have told me, the Gulf War and Marines in general are nothing like those portrayed in this movie. From the complete lack of discipline to the disregard for superior officers, the soldiers in this movie behave more like you'd expect mercenaries or pirates to behave like than highly-trained Marines. This lack of realism from a movie that supposedly shows real events really overshadowed the rest of the movie for me.

This movie barely squeezed by with a R-rating. Some might think it deserves a NC-17 rating. There is as much violence as Saving Private Ryan as well as plenty of sexual references and even a graphic sex scene. This movie takes the F word to a new level.

I enjoyed some of this movie including his boot camp experience and part of Desert Storm, but the lack of realism really kills this movie as realism is what a 'based on a true story' should be trying to acheive.

3.2 out of 5

Doom

Olduvai Research Station is a remote scientific facility on Mars where something has gone terribly wrong. All experiments have ceased, and communication has failed. The few messages that do get through are less than comforting.

I really love the Doom games. I remember playing the original Doom and how impressed and addicted I was to that game. Doom 3 was a gaming masterpiece that has no peer. There was no way I would miss seeing this movie. Fans of the games will recognize many parts of this movie. The dark, almost claustrophobic feel of the game is very well done here. Zombies from the game are done very well and the first-person section is awesome. However, there are parts of the movie that are alot different from the games. The zombies and 'demons' in this movie are not from Hell but rather genetic mutations. Neither the Hell Knights nor the Imps throw fireballs which would have been a very cool addition to this movie.

R-rated for good reason. Lots of violence and cursing in this movie. As much violence as the game.

I began to feel that this movie was Resident Evil on Mars. I enjoyed the fact that they included plenty of UAC references and that they did include some of the characters from the game, but I feel that they dropped the ball on this one. I understand why they changed some things to appeal more to the mainstream but I doubt this movie would appeal to the mainstream. Rather they should have geared it to the fans of the game and made it everything we were hoping for.

3.0 out of 5