South Riding

Anna Maxwell Martin, David Morrissey, Penelope Wilton, Douglas Henshall

Rating: D

Sarah Burton (Anna Martin) is a free-spirited young woman, which is a rare thing in the 1930's Yorkshire, England. Sarah applies to be Headmistress of a school for girls and helps Robert Carne's (David Morrissey) troubled daughter in the school. Overall she improves the school system and is liked by fellow staff and students. As a miniseries, other troubles brew over land that could make men rich if they invest in the right land.

South Riding had a very promising start, the few two episodes capturing your interest. The miniseries revolved around mystery of the landlord and his sick wife, an adulterous middle-aged man, and a young girl who excels in her study but has greater responsibilities. Sounds like a good show, right? Well, after trailing you along for two episodes and the promise to not disappoint in the last episode, something went horribly amiss. It was as if the last episode was cut short and the story ended on a very disappointing note. Of course this disappointment happens in the last half-hour, with a depressing ending. This miniseries deserves a "D" because of it's cruel deception that it would all end well.

Juno

Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman

Directed by Jason Reitman

Rating: B

16-year-old Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) finds out she's pregnant. The father who is her friend, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera), doesn't participate much in the goings-on of her pregnancy. Unsure of what to do, Juno finds an advertisement for a couple wanting a baby. Juno goes to meet Vanessa Loring (Jennifer Garner) and her husband Mark (Jason Bateman) to see if they would be a good match to adopt her baby. Vanessa could not be more thrilled while her husband doesn't seem to be ready for parenthood. Juno and Mark make bond over music and she goes to hang out with him a few times. However Mark seems to have the wrong idea and recklessly decides he does not want to continue his marriage.

Juno was a popular movie amongst the teenagers when it hit theaters but isn't a film that connects with all ages. Juno is one of those movies that fits in a specific category of movies that are popular among a specific group of people. For example, Napoleon Dynamite appealed to a mass group of teenagers, where many liked to quote from it but the popularity quickly died down. There's simply not much to like about Juno. A teenager girl gets pregnant and this film portrays what she goes through while she decides to give up her baby.

It deserved a "B" because while it was shortly popular, the movie was pointless. The dialogue was nothing special to comment on, the humor was short-lived, the movie overall did not keep interest. I would recommend this film if you enjoyed the humor of Napoleon Dynamite, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, or Gentleman Broncos.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman

Directed by David Yates

Rating: A-

In this conclusion to the Harry Potter, Deathly Hallows Part 2 did the series an immense justice. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) must face off Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) for the last time. Only one can make it out alive...

Read the rest here.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, Alan Rickman

Directed by David Yates

Rating: B+

There's a saying, "keep your friends close but your enemies closer." Sometimes it's best to know some background information on who you're going up against. For the past few years, Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) has been digging up lord Voldemort's (Ralph Fiennes) past. Lord Voldemort had made horcruxes, magical objects containing a part of your soul. He stopped at six and now Professor Dumbledore is on the hunt to search and destroy these. He recruits Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), teaching him about Voldemort's past. To be able to finally defeat his enemy, all of the horcruxes will have to be destroyed.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a darker movie than those made in the past. With Voldemort's rise to power, a war continues to rage on. It's a busy year for Harry, not only is he getting private meetings with the Headmaster, he is also trying to find out who the Half-Blood Prince is. Harry finds a used Advanced Potions book in class and to his advantage, the book has handwriting throughout each page with short cuts on how to make a potion. Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) is also a busy student, with a special task from the Dark Lord himself.

Half-Blood Prince could have been directed a little better. The casting was picked well, with new editions Professor Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) and Cormac McLaggen (Freddie Stroma). Unfortunately Frank Dillane, cast as the sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle, was a disappointment. In the books, Tom Riddle was portrayed as manipulative and handsome (sorry Dillane). Though his acting was convincing, I felt that Dillane wasn't the right fit. The movie was in some respects, pretty faithful to the book even though a few scenes were tweaked. For example, The Burrow (the Weasley house) was never burned down due to Death Eaters. I'm guessing this scene was created to show the danger of the times they live in.

Half-Blood Prince did get a good rating from users on the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com), better than some previous Harry Potter movies. While Half-Blood Prince was not the best out of all eight movies, it was decent enough.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Evanna Lynch, Ralph Fiennes

Directed by David Yates

Rating: B-

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) are the laughingstock of the Wizarding World when they proclaim that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (Ralph Fiennes) has returned. The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge (Robert Hardy), refuses to believe it and makes the Daily Prophet newspaper spread lies that Harry and Professor Dumbledore are crazy. After forming Dumbledore's Army (also referred to as the D.A.) Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), Hermione (Emma Watson), Neville (Matthew Lewis), and Luna (Evanna Lynch) all go to the Ministry of Magic to stop Lord Voldemort from taking the "secret" weapon.

The first Harry Potter movie directed by David Yates proves not to be the best of the four he directed. There was some disappointments being that Order of the Phoenix is the biggest Harry Potter book written, therefore the director must have had some hard decisions on what was to be cut out. Continuing the dark theme that the previous movie Prisoner of Azkaban was starting, this fifth film was just as dark with evil characters rising to the spotlight. One of the most evil characters introduced was Professor Umbridge (Imelda Staunton). Professor Umbridge was just as evil as the Dark Lord though her aspirations differed from the latter. She strongly believed in whatever the Minister of Magic had to say and had a firm hand in changing Hogwarts rules. Imelda Staunton did an amazing job with her character. She made Professor Umbridge feel like a truly evil, frustrating woman and it was very easy to hate. From her "hem, hem's" to that innocent-sounding voice when she makes Harry carve "I must not tell lies" into his hand with a quill, Professor Umbridge is someone you want to meet a bad end.

The movie did have some light humor spread throughout it. Sick of Professor Umbridge and all her rules, Fred and George Weasley (James and Oliver Phelps) have a little fun during the fifth years O.W.Ls (Ordinary Wizarding Levels). Seated upon broomsticks, the Weasley twins release their magical fireworks that creates chaos in the halls and zoom out of the castle, leaving Hogwarts behind.

While the Order of the Phoenix book is filled with many things happening, the director David Yates did a good job condensing the movie a little by moving the plot along through the use of the wizarding newspaper. Headlines would flash to let viewers know what was happening so that the plot could move on instead of lengthening the time for this already long movie.

In the end, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was a movie that could have had a few improvements. A good choice of actors to portray characters like Luna Lovegood and Professor Umbridge may have saved this movie from being a disappointment.