You know what I’m going to do, now that I’m out of class?
Sit and read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Because I’m that cool.

I took Thing 1, Thing 2, and the Monkey King (which must always be capitalized because, well, he is the king!) to see New Moon.  We went to the 1o am showing so the theater was relatively empty (which I love).

So, $50 later, we’re sitting in this mostly empty theater waiting for the movie to start and I’m pulling the bag of Halloween candy dregs from my purse (you know, the gummy bears, Starbursts, Laffy Taffy and such that only is eaten, if at all, once all the good candy, i.e. chocolate,  is gone).  Hey, I bought everyone a drink, 3 slushies and a diet cola were $20.50.  I have to work for my money.  I can’t afford to buy snacks too.

Bella is just an awful person.   Really.  She gets dumped, devastatingly.  Jacob rescues her repeatedly and the second she believes that Edward might be around again, she dumps Jacob without hesitation.  Leading the poor boy on just because she’s lonely.

And Robert Pattinson is an awful actor.  I thought so when I saw him in that one Harry Potter (and the Goblet of Fire) but he was much younger so I assumed it was youth.  He has not improved.  I realize that vampires are technically dead, but there is a difference between vampire and corpse.  Pattinson’s performance leans too heavily towards corpse.  And he is not aging well.  You know how there are some people who are really attractive as kids or teens and then once they hit adulthood they hit the wall?  You know, Leonardo DiCaprio syndrome.

Thing 1 was drooling over Taylor Lautner.  My husband asks “is that the one who constantly looks like he was asked a difficult question?”  I don’t think he looks confused just by hard questions, I suspect he looks that way regardless of the question’s difficulty.

I wonder what the underlying message of all these vampire movies is.  Vampire men are older and wiser and deep and in touch with their emotions.  In fact, they are so wise that they decide that their soul mates are teenaged girls?  Look, I was once a teenaged girl not too long ago but I can’t stand to be around them that long.  Too much whining, too many hormones, it’s exhausting.  I mean, I get it, after however many years (depending on the story the vampire may be dozens or hundreds of years old) on earth a seemingly normal girl is so arresting that the vampire finds nothing else more important than her.  He never felt that way about anyone else.  That is so romantic.  For anyone to tell you that you are the most important or special thing is amazing, but for someone that has lived more than one human lifetime to do so is just so much more.  But then, what kind of men are these really that in all that time they have only matured to the level of teenaged girl? That’s actually icky when you consider it; really, really icky.   Like, felony charges icky. As though pedophilia is ok as long as the adult looks young.

Anyway, crap acting and selfish leading lady aside, the movie was light and relatively easy to watch.  The Monkey King really liked seeing the guys turn into werewolves.  I liked that too.  And seriously, I don’t understand picking Edward over Jacob.  It’s no contest.  The guy that picks up all your messy pieces and puts you back together is always their for you or the flake that blows you off and leaves you. It’s not difficult.  Here, I’ll just say it, “pick the guy who sticks with you”!!!!!!

I have to say, I never saw Twilight, and I haven’t read any of the books.  I love to read and had intended to read the series, but now I’m thinking that I wouldn’t enjoy them very much.  I like the Vampire Diaries show, but I’m pretty sure I couldn’t read those books either. Another series with a whiny, fickle lead.

Actually, the best thing about Vampire Diaries is the hilarious low budget and the way High Def is really working against the actors who are supposed to be teens! Ian Sommerholder as a 19 year old is just so laughable.  That must’ve been a rough 19 years! 6 years ago, it might’ve worked but high def shows every line.  Ian, ask them to use vaseline on the lens.  And the way that they only had one teacher (until Ian ate him) for every situation.  Now they have a different single teacher who acts as teacher, counselor, principal, janitor (not really janitor).  My husband falls asleep during that show almost every time.

Speaking of vampire books series/tv shows or movies, I love True Blood.  I normally am not into soft core porn.  But the story is interesting enough for me to get part it.  Tara’s an annoying character. I think my husband likes it because he gets to see Anna Paquin’s boobs.

You know, my biggest problem with all these shows is the lack of truly attract vampires.  Out of Vampire Diaries, Twilight, and True Blood, there’s not a single hot vampire. Totally disappointing.  Brad Pitt (in Interview with a Vampire) was/is a hot guy but looked ridiculous as a vampire.  And Tom Cruise in that movie was truly ucky. Can someone hire Johnny Depp to be a vampire?  That would work.

先日、生まれて初めて、ロイヤル・オペラ・ハウスにバレエを観に行った。私は、ダンス自体はは好きで、モダンダンス、フラメンコ、ベリーダンス、インド舞踏等は見に行ったことがあるのだが、これまでバレエにはあんまり食指が動かなかった。どちらかというと、ああいう優雅な踊りよりも、情熱的で躍動的なものの方が好きなのだ。それに男性のあのピチピチのタイツは、贅肉のない美しい肉体のダンサーが身にまとっていたとしても、どうしても好きになれない、ていうか目障りでさえある。それなのにどうしてバレエを見に行ったか？それは、私たちが好きな、デジタルカウンターを使ったインスタレーションで世界的に知られる現代美術家・宮島達男氏が、3演目のうちの1つの舞台美術を担当したからだ。

今回観に行った、ロイヤル・バレエによる「Agon / Sphinx / Limen」は、いずれも30分弱のモダンバレエ演目の3本立て。何しろバレエに関してはド素人。おこがましいのでバレエの批評は控え、簡単な解説を。Agon（アゴン）は、イーゴリ・ストラヴィンスキーが、名振付師ジョージ・バランシン率いるニューヨーク・シティ・バレエ団のために作曲、1957年に初演された。Sphinx（スフィンクス）は、オイディプース神話を元にジャン・コクトーによって書かれた「地獄の機械（The Infernal Machine）」にインスピレーションを得た作品。アメリカ人振付師Glen Tetley（グレン・テトリー）が、1977年にアメリカン・バレエ・シアターのために振り付けを担当した。スピンクス（Sphinx）とオイディプース（Oedipus）、そしてエジプトの黄泉の国に死者を導くというジャッカルの頭の持つ神・アヌビス（Anubis）の3者によって繰り広げられる。

そしてお待ちかねの、宮島氏がステージデザインを担当したLimen（ライメン）。Limenは心理学用語で「閾（いき）」、「ある刺激の出現・消失、または二つの同種刺激間の違いが感じられるか感じられないかの境目。また、その境目の刺激の強さ」を意味する。フィンランド人作曲家Kaija Saariaho（カイヤ・サーリアホ）氏が作曲、振り付けは、映画「Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire（ハリー・ポッターと炎のゴブレット）」も担当したロイヤル・バレエ団の振付師Wayne McGregor（ウェイン・マクレガー）が手がけた。幕開けは、LEDデジタルカウンターを投影した半透明のスクリーンの後ろでダンサーたちが踊るシーン。刻々と変わる数字が動きを変えながらスクリーンに浮き上がる中、ダンサーたちの姿がぼんやりと浮かぶ様は、とても幻想的。そしてスクリーンが上がり、明るくなった舞台の上で、カラフルな衣装に身を包んだダンサーたちが舞い踊る。再び明かりが落とされると、次に違った色の光の帯が暗い舞台に投影される。踊りよりも、ダンサー達の影が光の帯の上に落ちる様に、つい目がいってしまう。最後は、暗闇の中、バックの壁に、青いLEDライトが、違う間隔でついたり消えたりする。だんだん点灯するLEDライトが増えていき、壁が徐々に舞台前に迫って来たところで、フィナーレを迎える。

バレエ自体は、引き締まった体でしなやかに踊る様は優雅だと思ったけれど、はっきり言って印象に残っていない。バレエではなくLimenのステージデザインを目当てに行ったので、最上階の一部が見えない安い席を買ってしまったからかもしれない。そしてやっぱり、遠くからでもピチピチタイツの苦手意識は克服できなかった。宮島氏は舞台デザインは初めてだと言うが、アーティストだけあって、彼の色をうまく生かしたミニマリスト的なアプローチは夢幻的で、光と闇を上手く表現していて、バレエというよりアート・インスタレーションのよう。観に行って良かった！

I went to see a ballet at l Opera House for the first time in my life. I like dance, and have been to modern dance, Flamenco, Belly Dance, Indian dance etc, but I’ve never been really keen to see a ballet – one reason was that I prefer more energetic and exciting movement than elegant ballet, and another reason was that I just can’t stand the tights of male ballet dancers, even on their beautiful toned bodies. The reason why I went to see the ballet is because Japanese visual artist Tatsuo Miyajima designed the stage of one of the program.

What I saw is the Royal Ballet triple bill “Agon / Sphinx / Limen” – all short contemporary ballet programs less than 30 minutes each. I am completely novice in ballet, so I won’t make any comment on the ballet dance itself, but a little explanation of the programs.

One of the 20th century’s leading choreographers, George Balanchine’s Agon is his final collaboration with Igor Stravinsky and the first stage performance was given by the New York City Ballet in 1957. Sphinx was inspired by the French playwright Jean Cocteau’s 1934 play ‘The Infernal Machine’, a variation of the Oedipus legend, and it was originally choreographed for American Ballet Theatre in 1977 by the American choreographer Glen Tetley. It is a trio for the Sphinx, Oedipus and Anubis, the jackal-headed god who shepherds the dead into the Egyptian underworld.

Then Limen, which was designed by Miyajima and what I was looking for. Limen, a word that relates to ideas of limits and thresholds, is the work by Wayne McGregor , the Company’s Resident Choreographer who also choreographed the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, with music by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. The first scene is the dancers moving behind a half-transparent screen on which tumbling and spinning digital numbers are projected – it was very mysterious and dreamlike. Then the screen rises dancers in electric color costumes come on the stage with slowing changing colors. In the third scene, the light is turned down, and five different color stripes appear on the dark stage. My eyes were caught more by the shadows of the dancers casted on the stripes, rather than dancers themselves. Final act is performed in front of a giant wall of blue LED lights flashing on and off at different intervals, and the wall slowly approaches to the front of the stage as the number of LED increases little by little – and over.

To be honest I don’t have a strong impression about the ballet performance the night, though I admit that the dance was graceful and elegant. Maybe because I bought cheap seats on the upper balcony with restricted views – as my intention was to see the stage design of Limen by Miyajima. I also failed to change my negative view against male tight costumes! It is said that this is the first experience for Miyajima to design a theater stage, but his minimalist approach with superb use of different colors and light and darkness was pretty effective and it was like a beautiful art installation. I am glad that I went!

Recently, I had the honorary privilege of interviewing an up-and-coming blogger, Amber of RobMyWorld.com.  We discussed her interests in Rob and her favorite experiences thus far and what it takes to make her blog a success.

NO SPARKS 

She admits that when she first saw Twilight in the theaters, she didn’t feel that “spark” right away.  That’s right, ladies, she didn’t feel that driving force that cried out to her with demand to create the ever-so-popular website, “Rob My World”  It wasn’t until after seeing a bunch of Rob’s interviews for Twilight that actually she gained an interest in him.

After reading The Twilight Saga, she had an empty feeling that remained and sent her into a frenzy to search for blogs online with more information.  One of her first stops (and one of my favorite sites, as well!) was Letters to Twilight which she calls “hilarious” and is one of the most popular Twilight sites out there to this day.  By checking out these sites, they all reassured her that she was not alone in her Twi-obsession and that there were actually some women out there just like her who understood her passion for the series.  After becoming a fan of LTT, this of course only led her to Letters to Rob where her laughter found her realizing “Rob was a cutie” and started to Google him (that’s what she said!) in search of more.

IN THE BEGINNING

One of the most difficult roadblocks she came across was the name change for the site.  What once started out an Esty website eventually forged into coverage of all things Rob and Twilight and the original name no longer made sense.  So, changing the name was the thing to do.  So, she took to her Twitter and blog followers and asked them to submit their blog name suggestions and therefore “Rob My World” was born.  Something she hadn’t anticipated with the big switcheroo was the turnover rate with redesign, the name change, and the purchasing of domain names.  It was definitely a lot of hard work to get it to where it is today!

ROB IS THE REAL DEAL

What initially hooked Amber was seeing Rob’s interview videos for the Twilight promotions stating that the more she read, watched and saw, the more she loved!  “He actually feels more like a real person then any other celeb.  Like he actually exists outside movies.  Does that sound creepy?”  [Pauses]  “Yeah, that sounds creepy.  But, it’s true.”  Don’t worry, Amber, we totally understand what you mean!  It is true, we’ve all been… umm… dazzled, I guess you could say, by the wonderful Mr. Robert T. Pattinson.

While we are on the subject of He-Who-Dazzles-Us, she states the one thing she likes the most about him is his sense of humor and his lack of verbal filter.  “He has no inner voice that tells him, ‘Hey, Rob, you may not want to talk about sex where you kill someone on camera.’ He says what he thinks and it is great.”  One can only hope that the same person who we got to see during the plethora of Twilight events and interviews will also once again emerge for the Twilight Saga: New Moon press junket, promotional touring and the treacherous interview schedule.  Thinking back to the Twilight press, it was hard to not feel some kind of emotional pull towards him as he normally wears his heart on his sleeve.

While she hasn’t been a fan of Rob’s for very long, ever since she saw Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire and then Twilight, there has been no turning back.  Amber definitely contributes to the girls at LTR for pushing her in this direction because “really, it’s all their fault! Moon, UC?  I WANT MY LIFE BACK!” [Laughs]

MUSICALLY SPEAKING

If you’re are considering yourself an “RPattz” fan, then you know the following:  one, he doesn’t like being called that and two, he is an excellent musician.  She claims that if Rob were to decide to quit acting tomorrow and put everything he had into starting his music career full-time, she’d “die and have gone to Heaven!”  She describes his style as a “soulful voice and lyrics with such deep meaning.”  I can’t help but agree with her that he would definitely make an impressionable impact on the music industry by broadening listeners’ horizons.  All though it is not an original song of Rob’s, her favorite is one that he personally recorded.  Van Morrison is one of his favorite artists and is his recording of “I’ll Be Your Lover, Too”, Rob vocalizes with the accompaniment of his acoustic guitar. The song “makes me feel this happiness that I can’t even explain.”  It is undeniable to say that their definite warmth and soul as his sings this track.  It’s one of my favorites, too, Amber!  Hmm… suddenly this turned into a musical review of Rob…  Let’s get back on track, shall we?

THE MOON IS A-RISIN’

With New Moon coming out a week from today [squeal!], and next year bringing us Remember Me in the spring and Eclipse in the summer, it’s hard to pinpoint which movie is her favorite because she has a feeling that after next years options, her answer will change once again!  For now, she states that for now, How to Be is her favorite choice.  She feels that his portrayal of Art Freeman, the quarter-life man struggling where he is going with his life is probably the most similar to the real Rob we’d all like to know compared to Edward Cullen, for instance.

Amber wants to remind us all that “being a RobFan is supposed to be FUN!  We shouldn’t take any of it too seriously. When it starts not being fun to be a fan, then you should stop.”  Well said, Amber– well said!  With the occasional “soapbox’” moment, she likes to keep everything fun over at her site!  “I try to be funny, sarcastic, and snarky; so about seventy-five percent of what I say is not meant to be taken seriously.”  That’s right, so when you hear her talking about pulling Rob behind a dumpster when she is lucky enough to run into him, that’s not so true.  Nice err interesting idea, but not true!

It was her husband who spilled the beans to his side of the family, so they are somewhat aware of her obsession carried out vicariously through her blog.  On the other hand, her family doesn’t know it or even have an idea of how extreme the “Robsession” is.  Sorry, Amber, I don’t think you’re hiding it very well, I know I’m one to talk LOL, but I think both of our families may find out sooner or later.  You know, sooner than we prefer or like, right?  On the same note, she is fortunate because of the family members who do know about her umm… interest; they are quite passive about the whole situation.  She states, “They don’t really talk to me about it much,” adding that “I’m sure once my family finds out I will have to come back and tell you”.   Oh, Amber, we can’t wait to hear the stories.  I could share some interesting ones with you already!  LOL

ROCKSTAR MOMENTS

One experience she speaks fondly of is her adventure to Twi-Con 2009 in Dallas, Texas this past summer.  Although the convention itself was something left to be desired, in her opinion, she was amazed by a bunch of people who came up to meet her solely from the fact they recognized her from her website.  “I felt like a rock star and it was really cool.”  In preparation for her trip to Twi-Con, she got an idea to make some manipulated pictures of Rob holding up a sign inviting others to follow her on Twitter. 

“I made the mistake of handing some out at the Marcus [Foster]/Bobby [Long] show and someone gave theirs to Bobby [Long] to sign.  He put glasses on Rob and gave it back to the girl, who then emailed me and told me.”  At the time when it happened, she found it to be quite embarrassing, but now she realizes that kind of thing would have never happened if it hadn’t been her site and it is now one of her favorite memories.

Another cool moment for her via Twitter was when another blog retweeted something she had said, stating that she was now running with “the big dogs.”  It caught her off guard, she was definitely surprised and one of her Twitter followers responded to her by agreeing and saying that she was one of the big dogs!  She doesn’t see herself or her site in that way.  She still considers herself just “a normal person with real-life responsibilities.”  It still amazes her to have come so far just because she decided to blog about a twenty-three year old actor who she will most likely never get within three hundred miles of in her lifetime.  It’s hard to imagine what that would be like for her since she is reminded of the time she met musician Sam Bradley and she was shaking with excitement or the time she meet actor Peter Facinelli and had an episode of verbal vomit.

AMAZING OPPROTUNITIES

It’s true, she still gets excited about the little things in life, she is really just like you and me.  One misconception that a lot of people make in starting a blog is assuming overnight success and she here to tell us that just doesn’t happen.  It won’t happen.  There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work before ever going live and getting somewhere.

Because of the relationships she endured due to her blog and Twitter following, she joined forces with some of her new friends and created another community dedicated to music of Rob’s closest friends and talented musicians:  Bobby Long, Marcus Foster, and Sam Bradley.

She describes her involvement with her RMW site as a personal enjoyment.  Being a busy mom and wife, she knows it’s good to take care of herself, so why not do something she enjoys outside of the home life, right?  She realizes how cheesy it may sound that being a RobFan does all that for her, but she accepts that and admitting that “I would never take back picking up the Twilight books, seeing the movie, the hours of Rob interviews watched. Not in a million years!”  By picking up the books, she opened a lot of does for herself and her blog.  She is grateful for the relationships she has made, the online friends who have since become real-life friends, and new music she would have never listened to otherwise.  She has discovered that she has become confident and fun in life due to the warm reception she has received because of the blog and the following received on Twitter.

Over at her site, you can check out music reviews, Sexy Saturday YouTube videos, fan fictions recommendations and witty commentary.  I invite you all to check out Amber’s awesome website and tell her @saymmmkay sent you!

Big Special Thanks:  @AmberRMW @ RobMyWorld.com

by dkpatriarch

© 2009 David Hilton

Movies made from video games suck right?  Even worse than games based on movies.

I'm the Prince of Posers!

That’s the general consensus among both film critics and gamers, though I myself have enjoyed a few of the films like Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Hitman and even Max Payne.

No, they weren’t paragons of classy cinema worthy of deep discussion or jaw-dropping amazement, but they were entertaining enough with at least some vague tributes to the source material they were using.

Soon we have Disney’s Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, based on the last-gen game of the same name, to be released May 2010.

Will this movie amaze us, mildly entertain us, or will it simply be another crappy attempt to cash in on a game’s popularity (though luckily Uwe Boll isn’t involved in this one at least)?

I’d say the fact that it is being made by Disney was already cause for concern, except that Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer also created a number of Pirates of the Caribbean adventure movies based only on a ride at Disneyland.

• Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time Movie

And the first film at least was good fun.  Of course the films have since been made into video games that were a bit less fun, but that’s another story.

Because video games don’t tend to have the narrative depth or characterisations that a good movie needs, the films based on games tend to either deviate dramatically from the source material or suffer terribly from poor storytelling and overly basic plots.

I'm the Princess to tame you young Prince

However, they are best when they replicate the sense of action and atmosphere that the games encapsulate.  This is where the Prince of Persia movie could work.

Already from the trailer we can see that filming in Morocco gives the movie the right atmosphere and there certainly seems like there will be plenty of that Prince of Persia jumping about and even a bit of the humour thrown in.  But there still needs to be plot, deeper characterisation and realistic sets and special effects.

Pirates of the Caribbean and other adventure movies like The Mummy worked because they didn’t take themselves too seriously and aspired only to be good old fashioned escapist action.  They had good dialogue and, especially in Johnny Depp, great characterisation.

That’s what the Prince of Persia movie should be aiming for.

• Prince Of Persia Sands Of Time Dev Discussion

This is what director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) could very well bring; that is if his cast that includes Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain) as Prince Dastan, Gemma Arterton (Bond: Quantum of Solace) as Tamina, and Ben Kingsley (‘insert tons of well known fims here’) as Nizam, can bring some refreshing dialogue and depth to their roles.

All too often movies based on games feel stilted or cheap in presentation and have very little sense of drama.

Mind you, the future may see movies based on games able to go beyond the ‘action adventure’ goal. 

WETA's Distric 9 defies critics

District 9, from Peter Jackson and directed by Neill Blomkamp, gave gamers a wishful thought about what a Halo movie could have been like under those two if it had gone ahead.  Could a game inspire such depth and attention to detail in the future?

Also there are the short web-films that Ubisoft are putting together for the Assassin’s Creed 2 game (see my review of the first film here).  The first one is stylistic, authentic-looking, and focuses on both plot and characterisation, even in the few minutes it lasts.  Could it have made a quality full film?  From what I saw it sure looked like it at least was heading in the right direction.

The Prince of Persia movie is focusing on the mystical dagger and time-rewind theme of the game but we will have to see if it has the style, characters and story to match.

I want to hail the movie as a prince among paupers in the game to film genre, but am worried I will instead be mocked with another Prince of Putrid.

What do you think?  Will this movie stink or smell of roses?  Comment below.

List of games made into movies:

• Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! (July 20, 1986)
• Super Mario Bros. (May 28, 1993)
• Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture (July 16, 1994)
• Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (August 6, 1994)
• Double Dragon (November 4, 1994)
• Street Fighter (December 23, 1994)
• Mortal Kombat (August 18, 1995)
• Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (November 21, 1997)
• Pokémon: The First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back (July 18, 1998)
• Wing Commander (March 12, 1999)
• Pokémon: The Movie 2000 – The Power of One (July 17, 1999)
• Pokémon 3: The Movie – Spell of the Unown (July 8, 2000)
• Shenmue: The Movie (January 20, 2001)
• Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (June 15, 2001)
• Pokémon 4Ever – Celebi, Voice of the Forest (July 7, 2001)
• Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (July 21, 2001)
• Resident Evil (March 15, 2002)
• Pokémon Heroes (July 13, 2002)
• Pokémon: Jirachi Wishmaker (July 19, 2003)
• Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (July 25, 2003)
• House of the Dead (October 10, 2003)
• Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys (July 22, 2004)
• Resident Evil: Apocalypse (September 10, 2004)
• Alone in the Dark (January 28, 2005)
• Air (February 5, 2005)
• Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew (July 16, 2005)
• Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (September 14, 2005)
• Doom (October 21, 2005)
• BloodRayne (January 6, 2006)
• Forbidden Siren (February 9, 2006)
• Silent Hill (April 21, 2006)
• Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea (July 15, 2006)
• Dead or Alive (September 15, 2006)
• Dōbutsu no Mori (Animal Crossing) (December 16, 2006)
• Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai (July 14, 2007)
• Clannad (September 15, 2007)
• BloodRayne II: Deliverance (September 18, 2007)
• Resident Evil: Extinction (September 21, 2007)
• Hitman (November 21, 2007)
• In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (January 11, 2008)
• OneChanbara (April 26, 2008)
• Postal (May 23, 2008)
• Like a Dragon (June 23, 2008) aka Ryū ga Gotoku Based on the first Yakuza Video Game
• Pokémon: Giratina and the Sky Warrior (July 19, 2008)
• Far Cry (October 2, 2008)
• Max Payne (October 16, 2008)
• Resident Evil: Degeneration (December 17, 2008)
• Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (February 27, 2009)
• Pokémon Diamond & Pearl Platinum the Movie: To the Conquering of Space-Time (July 18, 2009)

Upcoming releases

• Tekken (2009)
• The Legend of Spyro 3D (2009)
• Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva (2009)
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (May 28, 2010)
• The King of Fighters (2010)
• BloodRayne III: Warhammer (2010)
• Clock Tower (2010)
• Mortal Kombat: Devastation (2010)
• Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
• Dead Space (2011)
• Gears of War (2011)
• Army Of Two (2011)
• Uncharted (series) (2011)

© 2009 David Hilton

Source: RPLife

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth part in the Harry Potter novel series.

Who dies in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire book?

Bertha Jorkins, the gardener for the Riddle is killed by Lord Voldemort with the Avada Kedavra Killing Curse after Voldemort learned valuable information about the Tri-Wizard Tournament which he would use to try and kill Harry Potter.

Voldemort killed Frank Bryce from the Department of Magical Games and Sports is killed with the Avada Kedavra Killing Curse when Bryce heard Voldemort and his servant Wormtail discussing killing Harry Potter.

Barty Crouch Jr kills innocent spider during a presentation of Avada Kedavra Spell in the Defence Against the Dark Arts class.

Barty Crouch Sr, a Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is killed by his son Barty Crouch Jr with the Avada Kedavra Killing Curse.

Peter Pettigrew uses Voldemort’s wand to kill Potter’s school friend Cedric Diggory with the Avada Kedavra Killing Swear.

Dementor kills Barty Crouch Jr is with the Dementor’s Kiss.

So answer to the question who dies in the new Harry Potter book is – 6 characters die in this book.

You know what happens when I’m bored right? I start looking for old pics for you guys. Since I didn’t have a specific theme in mind this morning, well this is what you get, all sorts of pics mixed together.

Where’s Waldo?

More pics after the jump!

Source, source, source and source

Not to be confused with The Boy Who Lived…

I thought it would be peachy to go back and watch the movie trailers for the books I’ve already read. Having only seen each film once, I was curious about the imagery now that I know the story.

First, I watched the trailer for Sorcerer’s Stone. I remembered that one the best, probably having understood it the best when I saw it. There was no need to read the books to appreciate the first film. It’s pretty verbatim from the text. Cute little wizard children, magical spells, a stirring John Williams score, and some flying. Tada!

So on to the second film, Chamber of Secrets. I remembered this one too, mostly because I remembered thinking Dobby looked a hell of a lot like Gollum.

On to the third film, Prisoner of Azkaban. My memory for this one was a bit weaker, maybe because I went into it without the books to back it up. My faulty memory for the movies left me a bit confused in the third installment, but I remembered Gary Oldman. How could I forget?

Last, I switched on the trailer for Goblet of Fire. Hmmm…I watched the trailer a second time. You know what?

I never saw the fourth movie!

There wasn’t a single aspect of that trailer that rang a bell. If I saw it…and that’s a big if…I really didn’t remember a thing. I’m not saying it’s impossible – maybe it was a particularly late viewing, maybe I was tired or disinterested or just really confused – but I really don’t think I saw Goblet of Fire. The only thing that sort of struck me as familiar was Moaning Myrtle, but I think I remembered her from the previous movie.

This explains a lot.

It explains why I sat in the fifth movie BEYOND confused! I had no idea who the Death Eaters were – did the have anything to do with the Dementors? I had no idea a student had died (as indicated by the fact that I was asking where Cedric was in the sixth movie). I didn’t know about the Quidditch World Cup or the Triwizard Tournament – the Death Eater trials or Crouch or Moody or Bagman or Snape. Nothing. Flat out nothing. All I knew was that Ralph Fiennes made a bad ass Voldemort.

Makes a lot of sense…

As for the films themselves, I will go back and watch each of them when these books are done and then get back to you.

One of the debatable upsides of reading Harry Potter after six films have been released is that I have a clear picture of how the character look. Granted, I’m all for the power of imagination and the strength of the mind’s eye, but the folks I dream up could never hold a candle to Gary Oldman or Alan Rickman. Luckily, the Harry Potter film conglomerate boasts a wide variety of notable actors – Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter (I’m not sure who she plays, but I know she plays it awesomely…cause she’s Helena Bonham Carter…).

The thing is, in addition to the veteran actors that litter the credits at the end of any Harry Potter film, there is also an army of pubescent actors who we, the audience, have watched grow up over the years. I suppose it’s a risk for any casting director to choose a child for a long-lived film series. You sort of hope the child you pick will grow up gorgeous, but your playing a wicked game of puberty Russian roulette. That cute kid from the first film could hit his early teens and go dramatically southward. A child actor who is barely a mediocre adult actor is no big deal – Hollywood can work with that. But a child actor who grows up fugly? That’s the sort of thing that results in closed-door meetings, where Hollywood big shots lament “What do we do with the fugly one?!?!”

Luckily, none of the Harry Potter teens took a flying leap from the ugly tree over the years (a few of them got a little smacked around by an ugly branch or two, but no swan diving). The result is a cast of cute kids turned young adults atractive enough to make an adult audience REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE!

This leads to the question: Is it okay to find the Harry Potter actors attractive? Owing to the number of countdowns I remember seeing in anticipation of Daniel Radcliff and Emma Watson turning 18, I suppose there are people who really have no problem with the idea. But I think a lot of it has to do with your age difference from the actor. If you’re 22 and you think Emma Watson is hot, good on you. Now, if you’re 47…

Why am I asking?

Robert Pattison.

For those of you scoring at home, I had to be reminded that Pattison’s Harry Potter career was short-lived, ending with the untimely death of Cedric Diggory. Now, with the “Cedric Diggory Death Watch” in full swing, I have a few things to say about this actor choice.

First and foremost, his stint as Cedric Diggory was during his “Hey, I look normal” phase, perhaps intensified by the normalcy of a school uniform (ignoring the robe and wand). By the time you get to Twilight, he’s a little too Powder for my taste. Powder, and emo. I mean really emo. I’ve seen Interview with a Vampire. I know that the life of an immortal blood-sucker can be rough. But we’re talking Linkin Park meets Dashboard Confessional meets “Mommy and Daddy never loved me and nobody understands me” emo here. Then there’s Little Ashes(photo off yonder), which did nothing for his attractiveness, but at least convinced me he can act. Note: If you’re a major Robert Pattison fan for his Cedric Diggory or Edward Cullen-ness, be wary of Little Ashes. While it’s a beautiful movie, Salvidor Dali was (surprise, surprise), one fucked up cookie.

Anyway, Robert Pattison is only three years younger than me, which means I can find him as attractive as I like, raising the question: Would I care more about Cedric Diggory’s death because I picture him as a good looking guy?

Cedric Diggory, as a character, isn’t particularly well-developed. We only know him through Harry, and Harry doesn’t know him that well. It’s like he’s a Test Death – here, let’s kill off a character you care about, but you don’t really care about, and see how you handle it. Baby steps.

So I wonder if I’ll really care. And if I do care, I wonder why that will be. I don’t have the luxury of reading the book before seeing the film, so I have to ask those of you who did: Was Cedric enough of a character to care about his death in the story?

(Note: I haven’t actually read his death yet, so the spoiler alert is still out).

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

4 stars – * * * *

Director - Mike Newell

Cast - Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Brendan Gleeson, Miranda Richardson, Robert Pattinson

—————————————-

– follows Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

– followed by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

——————–——————–

Harry Potter soldiers on in the fourth installment of the frachise. This one continues the darker tone of the third movie, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, but still has more action than the following movies. That certainly keeps the movie interesting, but keeps the characterization down a touch. The ending is a set up for the even more emotionally dark follow ups, with a death of a fairly major character. So, while a couple things at the end aren’t explained, it’s definitely better than the first two movies, and almost as good as the third.

The plot concerns an interschool tournament which Hogwarts hosts. Harry’s name, along with Cedric Diggory’s (played extremely well by a pre-Twilight Robert Pattinson) is presented as a contender by the titular “Goblet of Fire”, despite the fact only one contestant per school is allowed, and Harry is under age anyway. Harry must then fight his way through numerous trials, and by the end he has to force down “You-Know-Who” (Lord Voldermort, the series bad guy) himself. Ralph Fiennes plays the Dark Lord, and is wonderfully creepy. He keeps to the movie traditions of the movie villian, but yet still manages to branch out a bit and put his own stamp on it.

The supporting actors (almost all established British acting royalty) are all excellent in their parts. The main three are really growing into their characters, and into fine actors, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint especially. Emma Watson still has a bit of the “Orlando Bloom Syndrome” (standing there looking sexy, and then trying some screwed up thing with her eyebrows when trying to show emotion) but she’s getting better certainly. Brendan Gleeson and Miranda Richardson deserve extra mention however. He plays the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher who may have more about him than he lets on. She plays a manic wizard tabloid reporter who doesn’t mind manipulating the news to suit her angle. Both roles are crazy and fun, and I only hope they both get more to do in the upcoming movies.

The special effects are good, but not fantastic, except for a scene involving dragons. Harry must steal an egg from one of them as one of the trials, and the scene is quite thrilling. But one scene features him swimming underwater and encountering some mer-people type creatures. They look very “CGI’ed”. It doesn’t affect the story too much however, as the focus of the movie is on the characters not on the special effects.

OVRALL

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a very good entry into this increasingly solid franchise. The focus remains on the characters despite some solid CGI scenes, and the story moves at quite a nice pace. If the remaining movies keep this level of quality, we’re in for quite a good series.

——————–

TRAILER

“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” on other websites:

IMDB —– Rotten Tomatoes —– Wikipedia

—————————————-

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend spending the majority of a sunny San Diego weekend indoors, but quite frankly, there are a lot of sunny San Diego weekends, and sometimes you just need to be lazy. Below is a list of the food and entertainment I embarked on this past weekend – and if you want, you can save it for a rainy day (not that we have much of those).

• Watched: Happy-Go-Lucky (didn’t really meet my super high expectations, but still a good movie.)
• Ate: China Inn takeout (oh man, the kung pao chicken is DELICIOUS.)
• Exercised: on my beach cruiser (love biking around PB.)
• Played: Bananagrams (best. game. ever. period. the end.)
• Sat: on my couch and watched way too many Bones episodes (but it’s just so good!)
• Ordered: a My Way pizza from Hoboken (so very good.)
• Read: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (slowly making my way through the series.)

You’ve probably all read this, but I’ll put it up anyway. I don’t think it needs an introduction; almost everyone on the planet has at least heard of these books, if not owned a copy. But if you’re one of the few who -hasn’t- read it, then I highly, highly, highly recommend you to buy the book, and follow Harry from start to finish.

DOWNLOAD
(4shared)

I. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
II. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
III. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
IV. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
V. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
VI. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
VII. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I landed in Boston with what I like to call “Harry Potter Shoulder” – the kink in your shoulder that develops when you haul Goblet of Fire on a bus, subway, train, shuttle, 2 airplanes, and 2 cars through 3 cities in an oversized purse. I didn’t do any reading on the first plane, mostly because we kept dropping from the sky. And I didn’t do any reading on the second plane, because we were landing practically before we took off. But last night I had a good hour to get into this fourth book, and I’m starting to develop an opinion (though I have no idea where it’s going yet).

It seems like this one’s not going to spend much time in Hogwarts. They even managed to avoid Diagon Alley, though the third book spent the first half living there. I’m not sure what I think of that. On one hand, I love the Hogwarts side stories – the descriptions of the classes, the commentary about the students, the ghosts, the picture frames. But I sense that this book is going to step away from the childishness of the first three and into a more adult world in stepping away from the school. So far, so good. I’ll be honest, though, it took some getting used to.

Still, there’s plenty of Weasley time in this fourth book, so I’m happy with it!

Twitter died… I wonder who killed it this time. Did Oprah or Ashton do something in particular that I’m unaware of? Oh well, anyways since we have to live without Twitter this morning and I’m running on only 4 hours of sleep and can’t think of anything intelligent to say how about some pics?

See more pics after the jump!

คงปฏิเสธไม่ได้ว่าภาพยนตร์ที่สร้างจากตำนาน เกมส์ Prince of Persia   จากเกมส์แนว Action Adventure เน้นการเอาตัวรอดและต่อสู้ด้วยดาบ ทุกด่านทางวงกตและกับดักอันตรายให้คุณท้าทาย ที่ชาวเกมส์เมอร์หลายคนตั้งแต่อดีตจนถึงปัจจุบันได้เคยสัมผัสกันเป็นอย่างดี
 
และแล้วความสนุกหรรษาจากเกมส์ ก็ถูกถ่ายทอดสู่ภาพยนตร์สุดมันส์โดยใช้ชื่อเรื่องว่า Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time โดยผู้กำกับที่มารับหน้าที่นี้คือ Mike Newell ผู้เคยเป็นหนึ่งในผู้กำกับภาพยนตร์ตำนานพ่อมด Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire มาแล้ว คงการันตีได้กับจินตนาการที่ล้ำลึกกว้างไกลได้ไม่น้อย ยิ่งได้ผู้ที่ให้ดำเนิดตำนาน Prince Of Persia เองมาร่วมเขียนบทเอง กับ Carlo Bernard แล้วด้วยคงไม่ทำให้ผิดหวังแน่นอน!! ผู้มารับบท Dastan เจ้าชายเปอร์เซียรูปงามก็คือ Jake Gyllenhaal และผู้รับบท Tamina เจ้าหญิงแสนสวยคู่ปรับพระเอก คือ Gemma Arterton(Quantum of Solace) และดาราอีกคับคั่ง

Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time เรื่องราวของเจ้าชายเปอร์เซียนาม Dastan(Jake Gyllenhaal) ถูกหลอกโดยกลอุอายให้ไปปลดปล่อยทรายที่จะส่งผลให้ทั้งอาณาจักรของตัวเขาเองต้องพังพินาจ เขาจึงต้องรีบหาทางแก้ไขในสิ่งที่เขาได้กระทำลงไป โดยร่วมมือกับเจ้าหญิง Tamina (Gemma Arterton) คู่ปรับ คู่กัด เพื่อที่จะนำทรายกลับไปยังในที่ๆ ของมัน ตัวเอกสามารถใช้ความสามารถในการควบคุมกาลเวลาได้เพราะเขาเป็นผู้ครอบครองมีดแห่งกาลเวลาอยู่ในมือ

ในภาพชุดนี้เป็นเหตุการณ์หนึ่งในเรื่องที่เจ้าชาย Dastan(Jake Gyllenhaal) กำลังบุกช่วยเจ้าหญิงแสนสวย Tamina (Gemma Arterton) เนื้อตัวเปียกปอน ที่กำลังเผชิญเหตุการณ์ตามล่าของศัตรูท่ามกลางสายฝนที่เหมือนจะเพิ่งหยุดตก โดยควบม้าเพื่อหนีไปด้วยกัน เป็นภาพที่เท่ห์มากครับ และภาพเบื้องหลังการทำงานของ Mike Newell ผู้กำกับภาพยนตร์เรื่องนี้

ภาพยนตร์ Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time จะมาโลดแล่นบนแผ่นฟิล์มทั่วโลก  28 พฤษาภาคม 2010 นี้แน่นอน

ที่มา :

I realized that you guys really liked the previous  Harry Potter post so i have decided to get some other Harry Potter downloads for ya’ll. Here are some of the antique Harry Potter Muvees (add jcanswer on twitter):

Click here for: Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone

Click here for: Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire

Click here for: Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban

Click here for: Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix

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