Catching Up

HARRY POTTER
(spoilers for the two people beside me who haven't read this book yet)
I finished it in two days but forgot to say anything other than to complain about the Hermione/Ron and Harry/Ginny romance dance. When you've seen it coming since book 2 (or so) it is not as if any of this was a surprise or especially cleverly written.

However, I loved the Fleur/Bill romance and the way every female bristled at Fleur's presence. As for Snape killing Dumbledore, I feel that he may have promised Dumbledore to do so. It was the only time that Dumbledore pled for anything and when Harry told Prof. M. later that his promises to Dumbledore carried on after death, I thought of Snape. So we shall see ... in several years, after I have no doubt forgotten all about the plot of this book.

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
Everyone else has covered this pretty well. My personal reaction is that I liked Johnny Depp's performance much better than I thought I would, especially the way he never knew the kids' names ("Oh, Little Girl...") and would snap at them ("MUMBLER! I can't understand a word you're saying, Little Boy.").

I didn't mind the back story especially as they carried it out much the way that I think Dahl would have. It was a great touch when Willie Wonka came back home and the house was literally ripped from the row of houses.

The musical numbers stink, stank, stunk. What were they thinking?

Overall, pretty good though I'd have liked to see more of Willie Wonka's factory than we did.

SPANGLISH
I rented this expecting a little, light comedy. It was good as well as amusing. However, it also was one of the most forceful statements I've seen from Hollywood about culture clash, maintaining fidelity to a marriage, and honorable behavior. Great performances from everyone, especially Tea Leoni as the unlikable wife who becomes entirely sympathetic only in a very few moments of the movie. I also didn't know what would happen and that kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering, "Surely they won't have an affair, will they? PLEASE don't ... though who could blame them?" I won't say what happens here ... rent it and find out for yourself.

WARNING: This movie is rated PG-13 but shows a sex scene complete with the wife having an orgasm. I suppose the fact that any private "bits" were covered was supposed to make it ok but we couldn't believe our eyes ... to say nothing of the fact that we were watching with Rose which was less than comfortable to say the least. I am positive they could have made the point about the wife being totally selfish and self-involved without this little scene. In fact, they had done it already. Whoever rates movies obviously has lost any perspective on what is normal for 13-year-olds to view.

Ok, I've got two words for that. In. Sane.
Tom Arnold in True Lies