Amazon Lands THE LORD OF THE RINGS Prequel TV Series

Start getting ready to journey back to Middle-earth.

Deadline is reporting that Amazon closed the deal for a new television series based on The Lord of the Rings, the classic fantasy novel series by J.R.R. Tolkien.  

According to the article, Amazon is giving the series a multi-season commitment.  The TV series will be produced by Amazon Studios in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which produced the hugely successful Lord of the Rings film series.

Set in Middle-earth, the television adaptation "will explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring.  The deal includes a potential additional spin-off series."

"The Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen," said Sharon Tal Yguado, Head of Scripted Series, Amazon Studios.  "We are honored to be working with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line on this exciting collaboration for television and are thrilled to be taking The Lord of the Rings fans on a new epic journey in Middle-earth.”

"We are delighted that Amazon, with its longstanding commitment to literature, is the home of the first-ever multi-season television series for The Lord of the Rings," said Matt Galsor, a representative for the Tolkien Estate and Trust and HarperCollins.  "Sharon and the team at Amazon Studios have exceptional ideas to bring to the screen previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings."

The article also claims that the deal came with an upfront payment in the $200 to $250 million range, just for the rights, before any costs for development, talent and production.  On top of that, they claim, the budget is likely to be $100 to $150 million per season.

Bran Stark Returns in GAME OF THRONES Season 6 Red Band Trailer

At long last, winter is coming...back.

HBO debuted the long-awaited trailer for Game of Thrones Season 6, based on the popular fantasy saga "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin.  Season 6 promises to adapt material from Martin's upcoming sixth novel, The Winds of Winter, along with some elements from the fourth, A Feast for Crows, and the fifth, A Dance with Dragons.

The one minute, forty second trailer opens at Castle Black, showing us the lifeless body of Jon Snow (Kit Harington), who was murdered by the men of the Night's Watch at the end of Season 5.  A male voice tries to convince us that "He's gone."

As a cover of the Chris Isaak song "Wicked Game" by James Vincent McMorrow begins to play, we see Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) returning home to King's Landing to tell his sister Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) that their daughter Myrcella Baratheon is dead.

"We're the only ones who matter," Jaime reassures her, "and everything they've taken from us, we're going to take back and more."

We then see the red priestess, Melisandre (Carice van Houten) having a crisis of faith.  "The great victory I saw in the flames," she says to Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham), "all of it was a lie."

Next, we see Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) on the hunt for Daenerys Targaryean (Emilia Clarke), now a prisoner of a huge Dothraki tribe.

"Every one of us is poor and powerless," says The High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce), "yet we can overthrow an empire."

"You're in the great game now," remarks Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), "and the great game is terrifying."

We see a confrontation between Lancel Lannister (Eugene Simon) and his cousin Cersei, who is accompanied by the resurrected The Mountain.  "Order your man to step aside of there will be violence," Lancel says to Cersei.

"I choose violence," Cersei replies defiantly.

Next, we see a number of fleeting images, including a Targaryen knight with two swords fighting Stark soldiers in a desert that hints at the Tower of Joy showdown and perhaps the resurrection of Jon Snow. 

The most intriguing image, however, is the return of Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright), last seen at the end of Season 4, who appears to be standing as he faces off against the Night's King.

This time, it's Davos who gets the final teasing line, remarking "I've never been much of a fighter.  Apologies for what you're about to see."

If you'd like to view the trailer, you can check it out below thanks to JoBlo TV on YouTube...




Game of Thrones returns to HBO for Season 6 on Sunday, April 24, 2016.

GAME OF THRONES Creators Confirm TV Show to Spoil Unpublished Novels

It's not much of a secret that George R.R. Martin, creator and writer of the epic fantasy novel series "A Song of Ice and Fire," has been a bit of a procrastinator when it comes to finishing his seven-book saga.  The fifth book, A Dance with Dragons, was released in 2011 and the sixth, The Winds of Winter, was recently confirmed by Martin's publisher as not seeing print until 2016 at the earliest.

So, it's not much of a surprise that Variety provided confirmation that the HBO television adaptation, Game of Thrones, will start spoiling Martin's last two unpublished books starting with Season 6.

Show creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss spoke at the Oxford Union over the weekend and addressed the issue of Game of Thrones reaching the finish line first.  "Luckily," remarked Benioff, "we’ve been talking about this with George for a long time, ever since we saw this could happen, and we know where things are heading.  And so we’ll eventually, basically, meet up at pretty much the same place where George is going.  There might be a few deviations along the route, but we’re heading towards the same destination.  I kind of wish that there were some things we didn’t have to spoil, but we’re kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.  The show must go on...and that’s what we’re going to do."

The article does mention that Martin has cancelled appearances at several conventions, which often contributed to his procrastination, so that he can finish The Winds of Winter, possibly as early as this summer.  However, as his fans know all too well by now, it won't happen 'til it happens.

And even if Martin does manage to get The Winds of Winter out before Season 6 begins airing on HBO, the odds of seeing the final book, A Dream of Spring, before the final Game of Thrones episode airs are about the same as being struck by lightning.  Twice.  

As for what this might do to sales of the final book whenever it does get released, Benioff was pretty optimistic, saying "I think the thing that’s kind of fun for George is the idea that he can still have surprises for people even once they’ve watched the show through to the conclusion.  There are certain things that are going to happen in the books that are different in the show, and I think people who love the show and want more—want to know more about the characters, want to know more about the different characters who might not have made the cut for the show—will be able to turn to the books."

What to Expect in GAME OF THRONES Season 5

The long wait until next April has begun.

HBO's Game of Thrones ended its fourth season this past Sunday, with 70 minutes of plot twists, character developments and more major characters being killed off.  And now, fans have another interminable ten months before the series returns for Season 5 in 2015.

The Hollywood Reporter has listed a number of things of what we might expect to see next year, as the show focuses on events adapted from George R.R. Martin's novels A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons. 

For anyone who has read Martin's novels, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that the television series will continue to add original story elements.  "We have to make a show that succeeds on its own terms," said showrunner David Benioff, "and sometimes that means veering away from the books.  Some people will be upset by that.  Some people will like it. Obviously we hope for more of the latter, but if we ever write a scene (or avoid writing a scene) because we're afraid of pissing someone off, we're sunk."

After the death of partriarch Tywin Lannister from a deadly case of crossbow arrow poisoning while on the privy, you can pretty much predict that his daughter Cersei won't be happy about her brother Tyrion's escape.  "Lena [Headey] is such a brilliant actor that I'm really into seeing what she’s going to do next," said director Alex Graves.  "What do you think is going to happen when Cersei wakes up?  Jaime set Tyrion free and he killed her father on the way out.  She is going to be really pissed off.  I don’t think I'm giving up anything if you think about what Cersei wakes up to in the morning."

Back in May, the site WinterisComing posted a casting list of new Season 5 characters, many of whom are centered in the late Prince Oberyn's homeland of Dorne...

Prince Doran Martell – Doran is described as the major new player this year, appearing in multiple episodes. The fiftysomething prince uses a wheelchair, is reclusive and rules wisely. It appears the show is looking to continue the trend it started with Pedro Pascal, and cast Latino actors for the Martell clan.

Prince Trystane Martell – Trystane, the handsome fiance of Princess Myrcella, is being aged up to 18.

Areo Hotah - Doran’s personal bodyguard will appear throughout the season, assisting the prince with his duties. The show is particularly looking for a black actor to fill the role

The Sand Snakes, Oberyn Martell’s bastard daughters (with ages ranging 18-25):

Obara Sand – The eldest and most athletic Sand Snake will be having a major fight scene with a series regular character- not one who crosses her path in the books. This is an interesting change.

Nymeria Sand – Nymeria is described as “mixed race,” with her father being the fairer Oberyn and her mother being darker skinned. The second oldest of these Sand Snakes, she’s beautiful, emotional and very strong.

Tyene Sand - The youngest of the Sand Snakes that we meet uses her wits and seductive powers, and is less of a physical fighter than the other Sand Snakes. She is just as deadly as her sisters, however, but her weapon is poison.

In addition, WinterisComing also listed some other characters we'll be seeing in Season 5...

High Sparrow - The books’ pious head of a religious movement will be appearing in several episodes in season 5.

Septa Unella – The show is looking for a character actress to play the imposing and unrelenting septa who spends a lot of time with a major series character next year.

Maggy the Frog - A fortune teller in A Feast for Crows, she’ll be in one episode next year.

Lollys Stokeworth – Just last week in “Mockingbird,” Bronn announced his intention to marry Lollys, whom Tyrion considers “dimwitted.” It looks like the sellsword will still be around next year.

Yezzan - A sleazy Meereenese slave owner.

The Waif – The strange child from the books that Arya encounters will likely be played by an older actress, one in her later teens, and we understand the show is specifically looking for a woman of East Asian descent for the part.

And while on the subject of Arya Stark, the Season 4 ending showed her sailing off to Braavos, where she will presumably find the House of Black and White, a temple associated with the Faceless Men.  "It's really important to show her moving on," said Graves.  "The story isn't that the Hound is presumably dead.  The story is that she is now moving on to adulthood on her own in a seemingly dark way.  That is an important story to tell.  She is about to take off on a bigger journey than she's ever been on."

Lastly, Daenerys Targaryen ended Season 4 having to chain up two of her increasingly uncontrollable dragons while the third continues to roam Meereen, setting fire to sheep and small children.  Jorah Mormont has been banished and Daario Naharis is elsewhere, making things considerably difficult for the Stormborn.  "You are very much setting up next year, laying out that she is now alone.  Everyone she had on the way up has been banished or sent away," said Graves.  "She is in a very, very dark place that's going to lead into next year."

Oh, and there's one last thing from the third book, A Storm of Swords, that still needs to happen -- the appearance of Lady Stoneheart.  Many fans had hoped this was going to be the Season 4 finale cliffhanger, but maybe it will be a shocking way to end the Season 5 premiere?

GAME OF THRONES Creators Know Ending to Book Series

"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.  There is no middle ground."
-- Cersei Lannister, Game of Thrones: "You Win or You Die"

As fans of the HBO series Game of Thrones may have already realized, the show is catching up to George R.R. Martin's incomplete book series A Song of Ice and Fire.  The TV series is just about to begin its fourth season, covering the last third of the third novel, A Storm of Swords, and the beginning of the fourth novel, A Feast for Crows. 

But thanks to Martin's notoriously slow progress on the novels, such as the six-year wait between books four and five, there's a strong possibility that the television series could end before Martin's seventh and final novel in the saga, A Dream of Spring, is released.  Martin is aware of this, commenting on the subject, "They are, yes.  It’s alarming."

Game of Thrones co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss revealed in Vanity Fair's April issue that the game plan is to wrap the series up in seven or eight seasons.  "It doesn’t just keep on going because it can," said Weiss.  "I think the desire to milk more out of it is what would eventually kill it, if we gave in to that."

Remarked Benioff, "Last year we went out to Santa Fe for a week to sit down with him [Martin] and just talk through where things are going, because we don’t know if we are going to catch up and where exactly that would be.  If you know the ending, then you can lay the groundwork for it.  And so we want to know how everything ends.  We want to be able to set things up.  So we just sat down with him and literally went through every character."

"I can give them the broad strokes of what I intend to write," added Martin, "but the details aren’t there yet.  I’m hopeful that I cannot let them catch up with me."

Martin also realizes the problem of the show's child actors aging, which adds to the time pressure.  "This is a serious concern," said Martin.  "Maisie (Williams, who plays Arya Stark) was the same age as Arya when it started, but now Maisie is a young woman and Arya is still eleven.  Time is passing very slowly in the books and very fast in real life."

In addition, Vanity Fair speaks with Peter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion Lannister.  "It just seemed like something I had never come across before," remarked Dinklgae, "especially in the fantasy genre, which I still refuse to call this, even though we have dragons.  It's just something that I was so eager to embrace, because it turned the dwarf stereotype in the fantasy genre on its head.  And he’s a hero at the same time.  Even in The Lord of the Rings, which I really loved — I loved those books as a child and I adore Peter Jackson’s movies — but there’s just that thing with the dwarf stuff.  That’s complete fantasy.  I had done The Chronicles of Narnia, with the long beard and all of that, because I definitely wanted to explore that and have an opinion of it from the inside, but I just feel like this character, Tyrion, was a complete human being.  Shock!"

And lastly, Benioff and Weiss commented on rumors that President Obama receives advance screeners of the show before everyone else.  "One perk of being the most powerful man in the world -- Yes, you get to see episodes early."

Epic First GAME OF THRONES Season 4 Trailer is Epic

At long last, winter is coming...back.

Just before the premiere of HBO's new series True Detective, HBO debuted the long-awaited trailer for Game of Thrones Season 4, based on the popular fantasy saga "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin.  Season 4 promises to cover the last third of Martin's third novel in the series, A Storm of Swords, along with some elements from the fourth, A Feast for Crows.

The trailer opens with an ominous dragon’s shadow above the city of Meereen, then gives us everyone's favorite brat villain, King Joffery, telling his uncle/birth father Jaime Lannister "They know I saved the city.  They know I won the war."  Scenes of death and carnage flash before our eyes as Jaime replies, “The war’s not won.”

As the song "Feral Love" by Chelsea Wolfe begins to play, Ser Jorah Mormont begins a voiceover.  "It’s tempting to see your enemies as evil," he says as quick glimpses of Stannis, Melisandre, Davos, and Tyrion appear, "but there is good and evil on both sides, in every war ever fought."  Over his words, a terrified man is stabbed to death in an alley.  Daenerys Targaryean, seen briefly on her new Meereenese throne, remarks "They have a choice -- They can live in my new world or they can die in their old one."

We then shift to Tyrion Lannister, who walks through the throne room of the Red Keep with shackles on his hands.  In a jail cell, he remarks "Things are tense right now...I don't think I'm talking my way out of this one."  New character Prince Oberyn Martell of Dorne (played by Pedro Pascal) stares at the empty Iron Throne.  And then it’s on to Mr. Cheerful, Jon Snow.  As Ygritte and other wildlings wreak havoc on the landscape, Jon warns the black brothers that the wildlings "If the wildlings breach the Wall, they'll roll over everything and everyone."

Shots of Yara Greyjoy sailing in a longboat follow, along with Jaime being painfully fitted with a false hand, a tear falling down Cersei’s cheek, and an infant boy being left naked in the snow.  All of this with a voiceover from Littlefinger, saying "Given the opportunity, what do we do to those who hurt the ones we love?"

Prince Oberyn instructs Tyrion to tell Tywin that he has arrived.  "And tell him the Lannisters aren't the only ones who pay their debts."  Meanwhile, Cersei is not happy (and honestly, when is she ever happy?) about Joffrey and Margaery's wedding.  "You’ll fight over him like beasts until you tear him apart!  I will burn our House to the ground before I let that happen!”

Jaime dramatically slams a massive book closed, Alliser Thorne cries out that the black brothers will fight, swords descend on bound men, and Melisandre remarks, "There is only one hell – the one we live in now."  A still tied-up Theon is slapped in bed, a girl in a dark cape enters a courtyard full of snow, Arya spins around with her sword, and Daenerys looks down, satisfied, at crowds cheering her presence.

But of course, it's Tyrion who gets the final teasing line, remarking "If you want justice, you’ve come to the wrong place."

If you'd like to view the trailer, you can check it out below thanks to the official Game of Thrones account on YouTube...


Game of Thrones returns to HBO on April 6, 2014.

Peter Jackson Thinks Stephen Colbert is the Biggest Tolkien Geek Ever

Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, established his geek cred long ago with his various nods to comic books, science fiction, James Bond and whatnot.  Hell, the guy even devoted an episode to explaining the debt crisis using Lord of the Rings action figures.

So there was no surprise when rumors began swirling that Colbert landed a cameo in one of Peter Jackson's three upcoming films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Hobbit.  In an interview given to Playboy magazine, Colbert remarked that he was invited by Jackson last year to visit the set and saw a 25-minute cut that he described as "amazing."  When asked if was going to be an extra in the films, Colbert reportedly smiled and said "Could be."

Well, Entertainment Weekly pressed Jackson on the rumor, who did not deny that Colbert would appear.  "I read that too," Jackson said with a laugh.  "It was very, very interesting.  It's yet to be confirmed or denied."  However, Jackson would confirm that Colbert is definitely a serious Tolkien fan.  "I have never met a bigger Tolkien geek in my life," he remarked.  "Philippa Boyens is our resident Tolkien expert, and when Stephen came down to visit the set, we put him head to head with Philippa on a Tolkien quiz...and Stephen triumphed.  I have to say, his encyclopedic knowledge of Tolkien is spectacular, and points to a deprived childhood in some respects."

It's believed that Colbert's cameo will be in the second Hobbit film, The Desolation of Smaug, which is scheduled to arrive in theaters on December 13, 2013.

DAMN Good Movies -- HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2

Once again, I'm back with another of my infamous movie reviews, this time aiming my wand at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two.  If you haven’t seen this movie yet and don’t want it spoiled for you, then for cryin’ out loud, stop reading now.  If, however, you are wise enough to know that movie reviews with spoilers are always more fun and interesting than the ones without them…well, Expecto Patronum!

"It's the end...but the moment has been prepared for."  No, wait...Sorry, that's someone else entirely.

So here we are, the last Harry Potter movie.  Go on, savor the moment...We've earned it.  It’s been an entertaining ten years since Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone, with many highs and a number of lows for this unprecedented eight-film saga.  Fans of J.K. Rowling's phenomenon of Harry Potter books have been rewarded by mostly faithful adaptations of the source material, some of which actually improved on their original storytelling format.

In this final film, we concentrate on the second half of good ol' J.K.'s last 750+ page novel, thankfully the half that actually has something interesting taking place instead of camping, camping, camping and oh, yeah...camping.  The stage has been properly set for the ultimate showdown at Hogwarts, with the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army and the Hogwarts teaching staff joining forces against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eater minions of villainous bad guy evildoerdom.  LLLLet's get ready to rummmmmblllllllllllllle...

Taking a page from The Lord of the Rings films, director David Yates dives right in from the previous Part One with Voldemort obtaining the Elder Wand and presumes (correctly) that anyone watching Part Two won't need a silly recap.  And once again, cinematographer Eduardo Serra treats us to a film that looks postively stunning, with powerful visuals ranging from the underground Gringotts vaults, the burning Quidditch stadium and a strangely beautiful mystical energy shield that surrounds and protects Hogwarts from attack.  The Harry Potter films have come such a long way from their inception, growing and maturing as the characters (and their audience) have over time.  So with these spectacular visuals and such a stellar cast, it gets a bit frustrating when the film's pacing is uneven at times.  Just when things get good and the adrenaline starts to rush, the film abruptly shuts down into talking heads and any sense of building momentum is lost.  I can't fault Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves too much, however, because they're obviously limited by the poor structure of J.K. Rowling's novel.

That said, the film does what it needs to do.  Rowling's final see-what-I-did-there plot points are adequately addressed, the good guys win (although not unscathed), evil is defeated, and we send the central characters off with the 19-year epilogue that establishes the passing of the torch to a new generation of Hogwarts students.  The conclusion to this saga is satisfying enough that you overlook flaws such as the throwaway emotionless scene of Fred Weasley's death or disappointing blink-and-you-miss-them cameos by some past characters such as Madame Pomfrey or Professor Trelawney.

And about that epilogue...It's intended to be a tear-inducing sendoff that makes you want to find out what happens to the next generation, but instead comes off as more of an underwhelming "Oh, that's nice" bit of supplemental material.  I have to wonder, though, if the epilogue would've been more effective and resonating if the camera had pulled back just before the end to reveal Rowling herself reading the final lines from her book to a group of children: 

The last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air.  The train rounded a corner.  Harry's hand was still raised in farewell.

"He'll be all right," muttered Ginny.

As Harry looked at her, he lowered his hand absentmindedly and touched the lightning scar on his forehead.

"I know he will."

The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years.  All was well.

There...Isn't that more lovely and fitting of a sendoff?

As always, this last Harry Potter film boasts one of the strongest casts in cinema history with many of them making the most of their spotlight scenes.  Here’s what I felt stood out about their characters this time around…

HARRY JAMES POTTER:  The final showdown between Harry and Voldemort mandated that Daniel Radcliffe step up to the plate and he certainly hit a solid home run.  Radcliffe hasn't always been the strongest of the cast but he seems to give his all here and depicts Harry as ready and determied to end this one way or the other.

RON BILIUS WEASLEY:  Ron gets somewhat marginalized here, understandably, but he finally gets to kiss the girl and sadly loses his older brother Fred.  His best scenes, though, have to be when he impresses Herimone with his cleverness and shows that he's more than just a lovable dolt.

HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER:  As bad as Ron gets sidelined, Hermione gets it even worse.  In addition to her scenes with Ron, she does get a fun sequence where she uses Polyjuice Potion to impersonate Bellatrix Lestrange to amusing results.  Hopefully, she remembers at some point to go back and remove the memory-wiping spell from her parents.

LORD “HE WHO MUST NOT BE CALLED TOM RIDDLE” VOLDEMORT:  After film after film of buildup, ol' Lord Voldemort finally gets to stop posting on Twitter and get down to the business of fighting his teenage nemesis.  Ralph Fiennes is in fine form here, chewing some scenery when not weakened every so often by a destroyed Horcrux.  Unfortunately, his actual death after a wand battle is a bit anticlimactic and looks like someone threw the movie script on a campfire and watched the ashes rise up in the wind.

BELLATRIX LESTRANGE:  Helena Bonham Carter always seems like she enjoys playing the crazed Bellatrix and her last outing is no different.  She shows some nice comic timing portraying Hermione pretending to be Bellatrix, but like Voldemort, she ends up with a POOF-she's-gone death that feels a bit cheap.

SEVERUS SNAPE:  Alan Rickman gives his best Alan Rickman performance as Alan Rickman's answering machine when addressing the Hogwarts students as headmaster.  He does, however, get the best death scene in the movie and the flashback scenes with the younger Snape make you wonder if he's really Harry's father instead of James.

DRACO MALFOY:  After being confronted about his lie to Bellatrix in Part One, we don't really see Malfoy much until he needs to be rescued in the Room of Requirement.  He does manage to be one of the few characters shown in the epilogue to establish his son, Scorpius.

LUCIUS AND NARCISSA MALFOY:  It's always fun to see Jason Isaacs as Lucius, but he gets so little screen time here.  Helen McCrory has a bit more to do as Narcissa when she lies to Voldemort about Harry surviving the Avada Kedavra curse.  Unfortunately, there's no explanation that the Malfoys manage to avoid being sent to Azkaban prison.

NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM:  Matthew Lewis finally gets to truly shine as Neville in a way that he really hasn't since the first film ten years ago.  Apart from giving a big (albeit modestly polite) eff you to Voldemort, he takes out a bunch of Snatchers destroying the Hogwarts bridge, acquires the sword of Godric Gryffindor and uses it to decapitate Nagini, making Voldemort mortal once again in the process.  Oh, and he professess his sudden and abrupt love for Luna Lovegood.  Not bad for a guy who ends up becoming the Hogwarts Herbology professor.

MINERVA MCGONAGALL:  As ever, Dame Maggie Smith is so much fun to watch as McGonagall.  She gets to show off McGonagall's rare playful side with one spell, then turns around and rallies everyone to prepare for the Death Eaters' assault on Hogwarts.  It would've been nice if a quick explanation was worked in to reveal that she becomes Headmistress of Hogwarts after Snape's death.

ALBUS PERCIVAL WULFRIC BRIAN DUMBLEDORE:  Yes, his character is still dead, but Michael Gambon gets one last shot as Dumbledore in a flashback scene with Snape which reveals that Dumbledore was dying anyway.  He also gets a touching scene in the limbo-like King's Cross where he explains, in typical vague terms, that Harry must die because he's another Horcrux.  For a role that the late Richard Harris owned so early on in the series, Gambon quickly managed to make it his own and his portrayal will be the one remembered for years to come.

ABERFORTH DUMBLEDORE:  Ciarán Hinds gets the role of Old Exposition Guy now that his character's brother is dead.  His job is simply to get Harry, Ron and Hermione from one place to another in the story and explain how Dobby the Dead House Elf rescued them from Malfoy Manor.

GRIPHOOK:  After occasional cameos as Professor Flitwick, Warwick Davis finally gets some decent screen time as the backstabbing goblin Griphook.  He also gets another of Rowling's see-what-I-did-there moments by explaining that he was the goblin in the first film that escorted Harry and Hagrid to Harry's vault.

HELENA RAVENCLAW:  As another of Rowling's beloved expository characters, Boardwalk Empire's Kelly MacDonald gets to deliver some necessary plot information as the Grey Lady.  At this point, Macdonald has to be glad she squeaked in as a member of the Harry Potter U.K. Actors Club so she can get invitations to a better societal class of parties.

OLLIVANDER:  Yet another character who was there at the beginning and brought back for the end, John Hurt returns as Ollivander to provide expository information about the Elder Wand.  Hands up if you're seeing a pattern in J.K. Rowling's writing style by now.

RUBEUS HAGRID:  Robbie Coltrane comes back once more as Hagrid just to turn up as a captive in the Death Eaters' camp in the Forbidden Forest and to carry Harry's only-mostly-dead body out of the forest.  At least he gets a quick hug from Harry back at Hogwarts after everything's said and done.

LUNA LOVEGOOD:  I always enjoy seeing Evanna Lynch as Luna and I wish she had gotten more to do in the final film.  She gets to flesh out the Ravenclaw searching scenes a bit and it's fun when she yells at Harry to pay attention and focus.

FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY:  Fred dies (somehow) and George and some of the other Weasleys are understandably a bit upset about it for a little while.  That's it.

GINEVRA “GINNY” MOLLY WEASLEY:  Bonnie Wright returns as Ginny shows up to give Harry a quick kiss and tell him she knows he loves her before he goes off to duke it out with Voldemort.  She then turns up in the epilogue to look nineteen years older and show that she married Harry.  An appropriately unremarkable end.

ARTHUR AND MOLLY WEASLEY:  Arthur only gets a quick cameo to fight Death Eaters and grieve over Fred, but Molly gets the big "Step back from my daughter, beyotch" moment when she takes out Bellatrix.  Both Julie Walters and David Yates kind of undersold such a classic moment from the book, but at least it was in there and that's really all that matters.

REMUS LUPIN AND NYMPHADORA TONKS:  David Thewlis and Natalia Tena come back just long enough to show that their characters were killed off.  No mention whatsoever that they have a son named Teddy and that he's now an orphan.

SEAMUS FINNEGAN:  At last, someone realizes that Seamus' true talent lies in blowing shit up even if you don't actually get to see him do it here.

LILY AND JAMES POTTER:  In addition to the aforementioned flashback scenes with Snape and give more background on their deaths, Lily and James turn up as ghosts to give their best Obi-Wan Kenobi so that Harry knows his parents are with him when he makes his self-sacrifice at the hands of Voldemort.

SIRIUS BLACK:  The always brilliant Gary Oldman also makes a return appearance, pulling the same Obi-Wan shtick as Lily and James.  Thanks for the help from beyond the grave there, Sirius.

ARGUS FILCH:  David Bradley makes of couple of quick final cameos as Filch, once to grumble that students are out of bed and another to show that he's probably going to be the one stuck with cleaning up that whole damn mess.  Sucks to be you, Filch.

NAGINI:  Dies.  Finally.  Snakes...Why'd it have to be snakes?

All in all, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part 2  was a solid final installment of the series, (Hog)warts and all.  Judging by the initial box office reports, this film could've been half as good and still would haul in a boatload of cash because everybody needs to know how it ends...even if they've already read the book.  I still find it incredible that there was only one major recasting throughout eight films over the span of ten years and even that was due to the actor's death.  It's so rare to accomplish this for four films these days, let alone eight, so I think we should take comfort that these films turned out as well and as consistent as they did.  It was nothing short of...well...magic.

And for anyone who might be wondering, here’s my personal ranking of the Harry Potter films:

1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two (2011)
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One (2010)
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
8. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

DAMN Good Movies -- HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1

Those lucky, lucky people who already follow me on Facebook know that I have a fondness for writing up movie reviews so I’ve decided to start posting them here.  If you haven’t seen this movie yet and don’t want it spoiled for you, then for cryin’ out loud, stop reading now.  If, however, you are wise enough to know that movie reviews with spoilers are always more fun and interesting than the ones without them…well, rock on.

So here we are, the penultimate Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.  It’s been a long, nine-year road to get to this point in the movie saga and needless to say, expectations are understandably high.  Unfortunately, returning director David Yates already suffered a big misstep with his previous film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, so my big concern was whether we were in for more of the same.

To give the final novel in the series by writer J.K. Rowling its proper due, the decision was made to split it into two films which proved wise, in my opinion.  The book ridiculously comes in at over 750 pages, so there’s an important decision to be made of where to divide it into two films.  And unfortunately, the novel is so poorly structured and uneven, with a lot of pointless detail and drawn-out sequences between actual events that could and should have been trimmed out by any reasonably competent editor.

Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves, thankfully, trim away a lot of Deathly Hallows’  fat and gristle but because of the need to adhere closely to the final novel, there’s still far too much left on the plate.  Some very cool and entertaining scenes and filled in with overly long sequences (I’m looking at you, cross-country camping!) that make the film just draaaaaaaag at times.  Characters will stand around debating their various motivations or something and you sit there wishing they’d just GET ON WITH IT. 

It also doesn’t help that viewing this film requires you to be a master of all things Potter.  Any newbie jumping in with this film will be completely lost as little to nothing is explained from what happened before or who all these characters are.  That’s not a bad thing necessarily, but it means that you’ll need to be current on your homework before seeing this movie.

The thing is, Deathly Hallows Part 1 isn’t a bad film and at times, it’s really quite good.  If you can survive all the unnecessary story padding, this was the most cinematic adaptation in the series so far.  The cinematography by Eduardo Serra is exquisite at times, making those endless, uneventful camping scenes at least pretty to look at.  In addition, there’s a beautifully animated sequence in the third act when Xenophilius Lovegood explains the significance of the Deathly Hallows.  The Potter series has stepped up its game, at least in terms of presentation if not narrative.

It helps that the themes in this film are more mature.  Characters die or are maimed throughout the film and you find yourself thinking back to the first film with Harry getting sorted into Gryffindor and playing Quidditch and realizing that this isn’t a kids’ fantasy series anymore.  Just as Harry Potter readers grew up with the books, now Harry Potter audiences are forced to grow up with the film adaptations.

Once again, though, we have a Harry Potter film that focuses primarily on the three lead characters, Harry, Ron and Hermione, leaving the rest of the cast to little more than glorified cameos.  Here’s what I feel stands out in this film…

HARRY JAMES POTTER:  At this stage of the game, playing Harry Potter has to be effortless for Daniel Radcliffe.  He gives Harry a hardened weariness in this film, showing him as determined to do what it takes to finish Voldemort while being worn down by all the crap that has happened to him and his friends up until this point.  Harry’s ready to end this, once and for all, even if it means stripping down to his underwear and diving into an ice-covered pond at night to retrieve a sword.

RON BILIUS WEASLEY:  I always enjoy seeing Rupert Grint as Ron.  He’s the regular guy you can relate to in all this wizardry nonsense, although here he ends up becoming Samwise Gamgee to Harry Potter’s Frodo Baggins.  Ron, like Hermione, is there to keep Harry focused on the task at hand, but also falls victim to the evil of the Horcrux locket in a pretty unsettling scene where he believes he sees Harry and Hermione making out with one another while naked.  I’m sure the so-called “family values” groups will love that one.

HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER:  Emma Watson gets to step up to the plate in a big way this time.  After Ron is written out of the story in a Horcrux-fueled jealousy huff, it’s Hermione who gets promoted to Chief Sidekick, urging Harry onward in their cross-country camping quest.  She’s the truly competent one who knows what she’s doing, but still ends up becoming someone for Harry to save every so often.

LORD “HE WHO MUST NOT BE CALLED TOM RIDDLE” VOLDEMORT:  Finally secure in his place as the Big Bad, Voldemort gets to sit at the head of the table of bad guys and call the shots.  However, because this isn’t the final film, he’s relegated to searching for the Elder Wand and being the film’s cliffhanger ending.  As he fires a bolt of magical energy into the air, I half-expected him to go all He-Man from Masters of the Universe and shout “I HAVE THE POWERRRR!”

RUFUS SCRIMGEOUR:  Finally making an appearance in a Harry Potter film is geek-favorite Bill Nighy.  Although cut from the adapation of The Half-Blood Prince, Scrimgeour gets to be the one who reads Dumbledore’s will to Harry, Ron and Hermione to give them their magical thingamabobs that pay off later on. 

BELLATRIX LESTRANGE:  Just like Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter also gets a promotion to Chief Sidekick, only for Team Voldemort.  With her street cred of killing Sirius Black, Bellatrix has become the second biggest threat so she gets to torture and threaten to kill Hermione.  More importantly, though, she adds another kill to her resume by being the one who throws a knife into Dobby’s tummy.

DRACO MALFOY:  Once Harry’s arch-nemesis, Draco has become a minor plot point now that Voldemort has moved in and taken over his family’s home as his Hall of Doom.  He gets to wince as Muggle Studies teacher Charity Burbage becomes snake food for Nagini and act conflicted about whether all of this bad guy stuff was really a good idea. 

LUCIUS MALFOY:  Another former threat reduced to henchman status, Lucius gets to hand over his wand to Voldemort for the aforementioned smoking of Charity Burbage.  Oh, and he also gets to look scared and conflicted about everything.

SEVERUS SNAPE:  After taking out Dumbledore in the previous film, Snape should be primed for this film but he merely gets to sit at the bad guy table and presumably bide his time for the final film.  He does get announced, however, as the new Headmaster of Hogwart’s, which would’ve been interesting if we had actually gotten to see Hogwart’s.

DOLORES UMBRIDGE:  Once the Big Bad of Order of the Phoenix, Imelda Staunton makes a nice, albeit brief return here as Umbridge.  As the head of the Muggle-born Registration Commission, she gets to head up the Joseph McCarthyesque “Are you now or have you ever been a Muggle” witch—errrr, Muggle hunt inside the Ministry of Magic. 

PETER “WORMTAIL” PETTIGREW:  Still rocking the silver replacement hand given to him by Voldemort, Wormtail continues his Grima Wormtongue-like underling role.  He, however, doesn’t get to sit at the bad guy table and merely gets to keep an eye on prisoners that eventually escape.

MUNDUNGUS FLETCHER:  For some reason unexplained in the film, the Order of the Phoenix lets this former Azkaban prisoner become one of the Harry Potter impersonator decoys used to get the real Harry out of Privet Drive.  He’s also the guy who gets the Slytherin’s locket Horcrux to Umbridge.  Essentially, he’s yet another superfluous character in Rowling’s narrative doing something that could easily have been done by someone else.

RUBEUS HAGRID:  Hagrid doesn’t get too much screen time in this one, but he does get to dust off the flying motorcycle that we haven’t seen since way back in The Sorcerer’s Stone to get Harry out of Privet Drive to safety.  He also gets a quick reunion with his girlfriend Madame Maxine at Bill and Fleur’s wedding.

XENOPHILIUS LOVEGOOD:  Future Spider-Man movie villain actor Rhys Ifans gets to play Luna Lovegood’s father.  His sole purpose in the movie seems to be to give Harry, Ron and Hermione background information on the significance of the Deathly Hallows and set up them for a pointless Death Eater assault to get the return of his kidnapped daughter.

LUNA LOVEGOOD:  After a couple of great appearances, Luna is relegated to a couple of brief cameos, once at the wedding and once as a prisoner at Malfoy Manor.  Hopefully, she gets more screen time in the final film.

FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY:  The twins’ primary appearance is during the Harry Potter decoy sequence, but George gets his left ear severed in an unseen battle.  He does, however, get a very funny appearance later on with a toothbrush sticking out of the hole in his ear.

GINEVRA “GINNY” MOLLY WEASLEY:  Once again, the love of Harry Potter’s life gets absolutely nothing to do.  Ginny’s sole purpose for being in this film to give Harry a passionate kiss before the wedding that gets interrupted by one of her brothers.

ARTHUR AND MOLLY WEASLEY:  Arthur and Molly get another cameo appearance but simply as Order of the Phoenix members and for the wedding.  Molly does gets a bit more screen time to fret over her wounded son, George.

ALASTOR “MAD-EYE” MOODY:  Brendon Gleeson makes a welcome return as Mad-Eye as he leads the decoy operation with the Order, but then is killed off-screen and mentioned only in a far too quick “Oh, by the way, Mad-Eye Moody’s dead” explanation.

REMUS LUPIN AND NYMPHADORA TONKS:  Lupin and Tonks return for the Privet Drive decoy operation to reveal that they’re now married and Tonks is preggers, although that revelation is only implied.  Sadly, Tonks is no longer as hot as she used to be in Order of the Phoenix, especially with her fondess of banging middle-aged werewolves.

NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM:  Neville’s sole purpose in this movie is to tell Death Eaters that Harry Potter isn’t on the train going to Hogwart’s.  Seriously, that’s it.

ALBUS PERCIVAL WULFRIC BRIAN DUMBLEDORE:  Yes, he’s still dead.  However, he does make an appearance as a perfectly undecomposed corpse so that Voldemort can take the Elder Wand from his grave.

VERNON, PETUNIA AND DUDLEY DURSLEY:  The Dursleys get a quick cameo as they’re scene getting in their car to flee from Privet Drive.  That’s it.

DOBBY THE JAR-JAR BINKS ELF:  Dies.  Finally.  He does, however, get the most heroic death in the movie, at least the only one to have any real meaning.

KREACHER:  Doesn’t die, but stops being a jerk for unexplained reasons.

NAGINI:  Voldemort’s pet snake gets more screen time than most of the Potter cast, especially with a creepy sequence when she impersonates Bathilda Bagshot from inside her own corpse. 

HEDWIG:  Harry’s pet owl dies abruptly in an absolutely thankless death during Harry’s escape from Privet Drive.  Harry mentions that it appears as if she was trying to protect him, but then he makes absolutely no mention of her for the rest of the entire film.

All in all, I felt Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part 1  was a solid, albeit uneven, installment of the series.  It suffers from having to adhere closely to the first half of a poorly structured final novel, leaving little room for improvement.  However, it does provide sufficient raising of the stakes for the final showdown in Part 2 next summer and should be more entertaining if you watch both parts back-to-back.

And for anyone who might be wondering, here’s my personal ranking of the Harry Potter films:

1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010)
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

Sylvester McCoy is Unofficially Officially in THE HOBBIT

Rumors that Sylvester McCoy, the former Seventh Doctor from Doctor Who, is going to be in the upcoming screen adaptation of The Hobbit have been circulating for a while now.  Some have speculated that McCoy is going to play Bilbo Baggins, the part he previously lost to Ian Holm in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, but it seems more and more likely that he will be portraying Radagast the Brown instead.

According to an article posted on TheOneRing.net, they received a "spy report" claiming that McCoy has verified his casting as Radagast:

My brother works at Katmandu in the city (Melbourne) and who should walk in looking for appropriate attire for New Zealand but Sylvester McCoy! He was more than willing to discuss The Hobbit, and is indeed playing Radagast the brown. He said he was “some wizard”, to which my brother offered up “Radagast the brown?” and Sylvester said “Yes, that’s it!”. He then confessed he couldn’t find him anywhere in the book. Unfortunately my brother isn’t as big a fan as myself, so didn’t give Sylvester the grilling I certainly would have! He did offer up this interesting tidbit, though: He was pipped at the post by Ian Holm to play Bilbo in the original lotr trilogy!

Obviously, a spy report (especially by someone using the alias "Viggo Yearning") isn't official confirmation by any means, but it does add a good bit of fuel to this particular fire.  Supposedly, Radagast's part has been beefed up for the film adaptation, so hopefully this means that another previous Doctor would get to appear in a major motion picture.  It's certainly been a while since that young upstart David Tennant was Barty Crouch, Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire...

New HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS Trailer Goodness!

If there's a choir, you know things have gone full-blown epic.  Enjoy...