These were not on my list of films to view, but I happen to watch them this week.
COLD MOUNTAIN (2003) - I recommend this very good Civil War drama that surprised me. Good story, cinematography, and acting especially from Renee Zellweger and Nicole Kidman. The one young blond bad guy character kinda looked like Klause Kinski in THE GREAT SILENCE (1969) which was also shot in the snow. A film about Southern hardships during the Civil War.
HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (2004) - Good and well made like the previous films. Always like the beginnings with the step parents and the arrival at the school. After that I kinda loose interest. Good childrens fantasy about sorcerery.
HITCH (2005) - Good romantic comedy starry Will Smith, Kevin James, and Eva Mendes. Interesting concept with the professional dating coach played by Will Smith and I can see how some may really have enjoyed this "honest" look at relationships.
Post Edited (09-20-05 23:27)
I was mixed on Hitch. And I still have yet to see Cold Mountain, which I still firmly believe is the absolute worst title for a film or anything.....ever.
I always thought Cold Mountain sounded like a good name for an ice cream sundae.
Anyway, speaking of Harry Potter, we were at a trivia night last night and about three of the questions was about the little bugger. Our Harry Potter expert [my girlfriends sister] had left the table at a crucial time to get some drinks and left us high and dry for one of the questions, which we should have got. We ended up losing by a few points, which was a bugger.
I've never read the books, but since my sister is a fan, we have all the dvds and I also watched Azkaban the other day, and it wasn't too bad, all things considered! Nice and dark in places [which I liked] but I still won't bring myself to read the books, but the movies aren't so bad, even if one of my friends has a disturbing thing for Hermionie [whose character is a good 8 years younger than him, and any thoughts are quite illegal.]
Well, about 'Hitch'....Does Will Smith say "Aw, Hell no!" in it anywhere? If he doesn't, there's no need for me to see that movie...boy I just can't get enough of that.
Gimme a "Hell no!"
Cold Mountain was a bit of a surprise for me as well. My wife forced me into renting it last year, and it actually wasn't too bad. Great acting and a decent storyline. I do remember it being quite long though.
Azkaban was a great flick. My wife got me into the Harry Potter films shortly after we were married, and I've loved them ever since. We actually saw Azkaban in the theater and it's by far the best in the series. Quite a bit darker than the other films and entertaining as hell. Can't wait for the next film.
Hitch....well...I fell asleep halfway through, shortly after the "food allergies" bit. Didn't care much for the film. For me, it was "by the books" as far as romance films go. I have no clue why it made so much bank at the theater. Not even Kevin James could save this one for me....that guy needs to pick a good script, and fast!
Hitch wasn't too bad when I saw it, but like Skaboi said it's pretty 'by the books'
I have to admit, what I like about the Harry Potter series is that they actually, for the most part anyway, have a good use of CGI effects in which alot of them are fairly seamless and actually add to the film rather than take away from a film, such as the rubber man effect in the later Matrix movies. I guess with all the CGI-hating out there, its always nice to see a movie when it actually works. I'm not saying the Harry Potter crew get it right all the time, but for me it does its job pretty well.
Out of the three films COLD MOUNTAIN is definately my favorite.
I thought "Cold Mountain" was great. I mean, I could have done without Renee Zellweger (she was VERY annoying in this one), but otherwise I found the misadventures of Inman to return home both entertaining and moving. the subplot concerning Zellweger's father and the local militia taking over Cold mountain were also interesting.
On the other hand, I'm done with the Harry Potter franchise. All of them seem to be overlong, over-serious and not that imaginative, despite the intensive use of CGI trickery in the key scenes.
Yepper, it's that time again when I rack them up. Saw 17 films last month and here's how I rated them and I even put them in order from favorite to least favorite this time.
Kibakichi *****
House of the Flying Daggers *****
The Life Aquatic *****
The Gun and the Pulpit ****
Cold Mountain ****
The Golem ****
Spanglish ****
Sin City ****
Gacy ****
Anchorman ***
Rushmore ***
Rocky Jones Space Ranger: Crash of the Moons ***
The Painted Desert ***
Sahara ***
Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban ***
Hitch ***
Ghost Lake **
Note: 5 stars is the hightest. If it has three stars it passes as good.
Post Edited (10-02-05 19:45)
I'm going to go against the trend and say that Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban was the worst of the three Potter films so far.
When you look at all the continuity errors (they moved Hagrid's Hut for no apparent reason) and the missing chunks of the book (they completely left out any reference to the makers of the marauder's map having been James Potter , (Prongs) Remus Lupin (Mooney) Sirius Black (Padfoot) and Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail)) you understand why anyone who read and enjoyed the books or the pervious movies should be disappointed in the movie.
Gary Oldman chewed on the scenery even more than Jeremy Irons did in the Dungeons and Dragons movie.
The new director completely lost the feel of the first two movies.
The cast is in the middle of their 'ugly gawky teen' years. This was not a pretty film by any stretch of the imagination...