Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone Review

Note: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is known by two different names. In the U.S. it is named Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and in the U.K. it is known as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Sorry for the delay, I had to clarify some things about the movie with Shena Tokala at Pens, Thespians, and Words ,who is a fan of the books and movies.

Thoughts: I actually watched a Harry Potter movie. I am a very Conservative Christian and as a kid I never watched them because of the "witchcraft". But my friend, who had watched the movies, said there wasn't that much in them, so I watched the movie. It wasn't much bad stuff in there. There were a few spells and some general magic used. So if you are greatly offended by it, do not watch it. There are a lot of great movies out there you should see like The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. So if don't like the idea don't watch the movie, simple as that. Now on to my thoughts about the movie.


Thoughts About the Movie: I wasn't expecting much from this movie since it is often considered one of lesser Harry Potter movies and it is a movie aimed at families and kids, so I did not think it was going to be that great. But it was actually an OK movie, especially for a family movie. The first 15-20 minutes of Harry Potter were really stupid, ridiculous, weird and just plain awful. I was wondering if this was going to be a watchable movie or not. It is possible the worst opening to an overall decent movie. But after the first 15-20 minutes it got better but still a little slow. Even though the beginning was awful but if you can survive the first 15-20 minutes it is a decent movie until the second half then it is a good movie. Most the characters were interesting, especially the young girl Hermione Granger. It also had some good humor and had an Indiana Jones feel to it at the very end of the movie. After watching this I think I want to watch the rest of the movies in the series. I will try to write the review for each movie before seeing the next one in the series so I will have an un-bias opinion of the movies and after watching all of the movies I will review the series as a whole.


Note: It might take a while to watch the whole series since the delivery of the Blu-Rays is so slow, I can only rent one movie a week in the mail.


Directed by: Chris Columbus
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure,
Release Date: 16 November 2001
Running Time: 152 minutes
MMPA rating: PG


The Good: Great John Williams soundtrack, Well placed humor, Second half was good,

The Bad: Awful first 15-20 minutes, First half was slow to start with,




Plot: The following plot summery is copied from Wikipedia.com.
Harry Potter is a seemingly ordinary boy, living with his hostile relatives, the Dursleys in Surrey. On his eleventh birthday, Harry learns from a mysterious stranger, Rubeus Hagrid, that he is actually a wizard, famous in the Wizarding World for surviving an attack by the evil Lord Voldemort when Harry was only a baby. Voldemort killed Harry's parents, but his attack on Harry rebounded, leaving only a lightning-bolt scar on Harry's forehead and rendering Voldemort powerless. Hagrid reveals to Harry that he has been invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After buying his school supplies from the hidden wizarding street, Diagon Alley, Harry boards the train to Hogwarts via the concealed Platform 9¾ in King's Cross Station.
On the train, Harry meets Ron Weasley, a boy from a large, but poor, pure-blood wizarding family, and Hermione Granger, a witch born to non-magical parents. Once they arrive at the school, Harry and all of the other first-year students are sorted into four different houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. As Slytherin is noted for being the house of darker wizards and witches, Harry successfully begs the magical Sorting Hat not to put him in Slytherin. He winds up in Gryffindor, along with Ron and Hermione.
At Hogwarts, Harry begins learning wizardry and also discovers more about his past and his parents. Harry inadvertently makes Gryffindor's Quidditch team (a sport in the wizarding world where people fly on broomsticks) as a Seeker, learning that his father was also a member of the team. Watch the movie to see what happens next.


Plot: 6.5/10- The first 20 minutes were just awful, however the last parts of the movie was OK.


Action: 5.4/10- This isn't really an action movie but there is good adventure.


Acting: 6.9/10- This had some of the better kid acting I have seen in a movie. The other actors in the movie were also solid. Except in the beginning of the movie were the acting is terrible.


Special effects: 6.0/10- Since the movie is almost eleven years old you really can't expect much from the special effects. But they were not any were in the same realm of quality as Star Wars: Episode I or The Lord of the Rings.


Soundtrack: 9.0/10- Another great John Williams soundtrack. You can hear a few slight hints of other famous John Williams soundtracks like Star Wars and Indiana Jones in some parts of it.


Comedy: 7.9/10- It had some very surprisingly funny jokes and humor in some parts.


Would I Watch This Again: If I like the other Harry Potter movies, I might watch this at some point to complete the  series.

Overall: 6.5/10- Despite the slow and ridiculous start Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone manages to be a good movie in the second half.

Closing comments: This a good start to the movie franchise and I hope the others movies are much better.

Recommended for: Fantasy fans, Adventure fans,

If you have not read my reviews for the other Harry Potter movies please click on the links below.
Harry Potter Series
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone Review
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Review.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Review.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Review.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Review.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Review.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 Review
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Review

Click here to check out more of our movie reviews.

If you want to contact us or have any please sent an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

Rio Bravo Review.

Thanks Kalya at Jedi Filmaker and Jamie at Through Two Blue Eyes for recommending Rio Bravo.
Cad Bane's chick at Pandas, Lightsabers and Cameras, oh my!! requested that we review old movies and Rio Bravo is an old movie.


Thoughts: I watched Rio Bravo and really liked, it is my 5th favorite western right now. The plot was good, the characters were interesting, there was good humor and some action at the end. Although the concept is not the most original but is told in very unique way. The movie also had some really funny moments, especially from the supporting character Carlos Robante played by Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez. All of the supporting characters were really interesting and memorable, particularly Walter Brennan as Stumpy. And the main characters Dean Martin as Dude and John Wayne as Sheriff John T. Chance were fantastic. This is probably Dean Martin's best performance and John Wayne's performance was one of his best performances. The only thing I did not like Rio Bravo was when the characters started singing. I know that Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson were famous for singing but I find it usually messes up the pacing of the film although the song was decent.

Tomorrow I am going to post the review for the first Harry Potter Movie, sorry for the delay.


Directed by: Howard Hawks
Genre: Western,
Release Date: March 18, 1959
Running Time: 141 minutes
MMPA rating: PG

The Good: Great cast, Interesting characters, Unique compared to other westerns, Good shoot-out at the end, Right amount of humor, Well written dialogue,

The Bad:




Plot: The following plot summery is copied from Wikipedia.com.
In the town of Rio Bravo, Texas, sheriff's deputy Dude (Dean Martin), who has acquired the contemptuous nickname "Borrachón", enters a saloon to get a drink. Joe Burdette (Claude Akins), brother of rancher Nathan Burdette, tosses a silver dollar into a spittoon at Dude's feet. As Dude reaches for the spittoon, Presidio County, Texas Sheriff John T. Chance (John Wayne) appears and kicks the spittoon away, looking at Dude with pity. Dude whacks Chance with a piece of wood, knocking the sheriff out cold. Joe begins punching Dude as two men hold Dude, then shoots an unarmed bystander dead when he tries to intervene.
Joe leaves the saloon and heads to his brother's saloon, where a bloody Chance arrests Joe for the murder of the bystander. When another patron draws his gun on Chance, causing a stalemate, Dude shoots the gun out of the patron's hand, Chance slugs Joe with his rifle, and the sheriff and his deputy drag Joe off to jail.
While the funeral for the unarmed man is being held, Chance's friend Pat Wheeler (Ward Bond) and his supply train arrive, with him is a young gunslinger, Colorado Ryan (Rick Nelson), riding guard. Wheeler informs Chance that Nathan Burdette's men stopped him before entering the town, meaning that the town is "bottled up" to prevent Chance from getting Joe to Presidio or any assistance in. Inside the jail, Stumpy (Walter Brennan), Chance's other deputy, keeps watch over the jail and Joe. Chance takes a package to the proprietor of the hotel, Carlos Robante (red lingerie for his wife, Consuelo (Estelita Rodriguez). A mysterious woman, Feathers (Angie Dickinson) arrives for a night. Chance tries to help her leave town the next day but the stage wheel is busted (possibly by Burdette men) and cannot leave.
Dude and Chance patrol the town, Dude trying to get off the bottle, when Carlos stops the sheriff, saying Wheeler was talking too much about Chance needing help. Chance implores Wheeler to stop, as it will draw attention from the wrong people. Wheeler and Chance discuss Dude; about three years earlier Dude was a top-notch gunman until he "met a girl on the stage", who was no good (Chance was nearly killed when he tried to tell Dude) and they left together. Six months later Dude came back without her, drunk (hence his name, "Borrachón"), but Dude has stopped drinking due to the crisis. Wheeler offers Colorado for assistance but Colorado politely declines, saying he wants to "mind his own business". Watch the movie to see what happens.


Plot: 8.8/10- Rio Bravo took a classic western concept about a Sheriff in a western town and made it original and fresh.

Action: 7.0/10- Rio Bravo is not an action packed western but there was good shoot-out at the end of the movie.


Acting: 8.6/10- The cast includes many actors like John Wayne, Dean Martin and Walter Brennan and they were all excellent.


Special effects: N/A

Soundtrack: 8.0/10- Rio Bravo's soundtrack is one of the best western soundtracks.


Comedy: 8.2/10- There was a good deal of humor in Rio Bravo.

Overall: 8.7/10- Overall Rio Bravo is a fantastic western.


Closing comments: With such great actors and plot it is hard not to recommend Rio Bravo.

Recommended for: Western fans, John Wayne fans, Dean Martin fans,


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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Review.

I have been getting behind with my reviews of recently released movies on Blu-Ray so I am going to review Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I have added a new criteria to my future reviews: "Would I Watch This Again". I got the idea from OneofakindKnight at Decent Movies 'R' Us .

Thoughts: I had some what high expectations for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy since the critics gave really high ratings and the book that it is based on was the only mystery novel that my father did figure out before the end of the book. Despite being based on a great book that I have not read, it was not a very good movie. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was not a very good movie. It was an OK movie but not near as good as it could have been. The plot progression was extremely slow but that is not usually a problem in a mystery movie if the time is spent advancing the plot and giving the viewer clues to the mystery. But there was not much that advanced the plot. The plot is kind of hard to follow, especially if you had no knowledge of the book previously. In most movies with a mystery there are some clues but there really were not any. The brilliant performances in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy are probably the best thing about it. Also the cast was phenomenal including: Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight), Colin Firth (The King's Speech), Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock), and Toby Jones (Captain America: The First Avenger) just to name a few. There was no reason to make this an "R" rated movie; the story could have been easily told without the "R" rating.


Directed by: Tomas Alfredson
Genre: Spy, Mystery,
Release Date: 16 September 2011 (2011-09-16)
Running Time: 127 minutes
MMPA rating: R


The Good: All-Star cast, Excellent acting,

The Bad: Painfully slow plot progression, Failed as a mystery,




Plot: The following plot summery is copied from Wikipedia.com.
In October 1973, Control, the head of British Intelligence ("the Circus"), sends agent Jim Prideaux to Hungary to meet a Hungarian general who wishes to sell information. The operation is blown and a fleeing Prideaux is shot in the back by Hungarian intelligence. Amid the international incident that follows, Control and his right-hand man George Smiley are forced into retirement. Control, already ill, dies soon afterwards.
Percy Alleline becomes the new Chief of the Circus, with Bill Haydon as his deputy and Roy Bland and Toby Esterhase as close allies. They have established their status by delivering apparently high-grade Soviet intelligence material, codenamed "Witchcraft", about which both Control and Smiley were suspicious. Alleline shares Witchcraft material with the Americans, obtaining valuable US intelligence in exchange.
Smiley is brought out of retirement by Oliver Lacon, the civil servant in charge of intelligence, to investigate an allegation by agent Ricki Tarr that there is a long-term mole in a senior role in British Intelligence. Control had made a similar suggestion earlier. Smiley chooses a small team and begins to interview people who left the Circus at the same time as he and Control. One is Connie Sachs, who had been sacked by Alleline for accusing Alexei Polyakov, a Soviet cultural attaché in London, of being a Soviet agent. Another is Jerry Westerby, who had been duty clerk on the night Prideaux was shot. Westerby reveals he had rung Smiley's house for instructions, but Smiley's wife had answered, Smiley being away. Shortly afterwards, Haydon had arrived at the Circus saying he saw the news on the tickertape at his club at 1am. Watch the movie to what happens next.



Plot: 6.6/10- The dialogue was well written and concept could have worked but the pacing was terrible and the plot poorly executed.



Action: N/A- That was some very graphic deaths although there was not any action but I did not expect any.


Acting: 8.7/10- The acting in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was its strongest aspect with a top notch British cast.


Special effects: N/A- Not much special effects other than some realistic gore.
 

Soundtrack: 6.5/10- The soundtrack complemented the movie well but it was nothing special.
 

Comedy: N/A


Would I Watch This Again: Not unless I happen to read the book at some point years from now.


Overall: 6.1/10- Overall Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy felt like a missed opportunity, it could have been an excellent spy mystery movie but it ultimately failed.



Closing comments: I really wanted this to be great but it was not.



Recommended for: If you read the book, Spy fans,

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Interview with Aalya Rain at Fangirl & Farmgirl.

On today's interview, I interview Aalya Rain at Fangirl & Farmgirl . She has a very cool blog Star Wars blog, you need to check it out.


What is your opinion of The Force Unleashed on how the Rebellion was formed?                 The Force Unleashed shaped the Rebellion but it didn’t actually start with that. It started in ROTS with the Delegation of 2000. Once the Empire became a galaxy spread plague the some of the delegates withdrew their signatures because in fear of the Empire. But only a brave few actually stayed as a committee. But, with The Force Unleashed the Rebellion actually did start without that fear placed before them. Galen Marek, Vadar’s secret apprentice, became I would say one of the key players. Even with the Vadar’s orders to destroy the committee he actually got them formed as a whole again. In a secret meeting on Coreilla the key players signed the Coreillan Treaty was signed. But, at the demise of Galen’s sacrifice to save his friends the Marek family crest or the Alliance Starbird was the official symbol of the Rebellion. So without Galen there probably wouldn’t be any Rebellion against the Empire after the fall of the Delegation of 2000.




What is your opinion of the Star Wars Prequels? And why do you think so many people hate them so much?                My opinion of the Star Wars Prequels is very good. They are what shaped the films before them as they are today. If they weren’t made we wouldn’t know as to who Luke & Leia’s mother was, the background of Anakin, and how Obi-Wan became who he was. I think people hate them so much because they don’t have a full understand of what actually happened and they like to think it the way they want to. I think people just don’t like the romantic tension between Padme’ and Anakin.

What is your opinion of the Star Wars Prequels? Love’em or Hate them?

Like I said before my opinion of the Star Wars Prequels is very good. They are what shaped the films before them as they are today. If they weren’t made we wouldn’t know as to who Luke & Leia’s mother was, the background of Anakin, and how Obi-Wan became who he was. The only problem I have is what happened in ROTS. It went so fast in the storyline and I think that’s why they have The Clone Wars on TV now so we get a better understanding as to what happened before. I find that this helps. Also, I can’t watch the third one anymore because it makes me cry! J

What is your opinion of Jar Jar Binks? Love’em or Hate him?
                Honestly, I love Jar Jar a lot. Sure he may be clumsy but he’s a very gifted Gungan. He tries his best to help out whenever he can and that makes him so loveable to me. I also read an article in Star Wars Insider about why people should love Jar Jar and it makes so much sense if you read it.

“We Need to Talk About Jar Jar was an article detailing ten good things about Star Wars character Jar Jar Binks. The article was written by Daniel Wallace which appeared in Star Wars Insider 131.”

If you want to be participateof in a future interview please send e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

If you want to contact us or have any question please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

New Harry Potter TV Series!

Here is the trailer for the new Harry Potter TV Series on the FX channel. The name of the series is Aurors. It is going to be a darker more mature series. Since I have only seen the first two Harry Potter movies, I do not know what The Aurors actually mean. But the series does look really cool. The series has been delayed from it's original 7-31-11 air date. Watch the trailer above.

 There was something else I wanted the followers to see, go to the bottom of the page.

Note: Due to the massive amount of spam comments, comments on this post have been disabled.

Happy April Fools!

I figured since was April fools I should fool you with this fake IGN.com trailer that IGN posted last April Fools.

If you want to contact us or have any question please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.