VIDEO REVIEW: Captain America: The First Avenger

Rounding out the Marvel lineup this summer, we have Captain America: The First Avenger.  Even with the lackluster villain, I must say they saved the best for last- I haven't seen a Marvel movie this good since the original Iron Man.



The way this movie avoided relying on blatant and ham-fisted patriotism was refreshing.  It would have been all too easy to make Captain America a symbol supporting America, the country/governmental body.  Instead, he's a representation of the ideals America often claims to have been founded upon: Courage, heart, determination, comradery.  Ironically, it's his own country's ignorance of these traits and reliance upon judging him by his outward appearance that often leave him feeling misunderstood or underestimated.  Go check out this movie for yourself: it's certainly worth your time.

VIDEO REVIEW: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Here's our review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. i flew solo for the review this week, and this was filmed all in one take, so it's a bit less refined than usual. I didn't get to say all I wanted to in my review because we were hurting for time while we shot it. I thought it Isaac also makes a guest appearance to review the new Winnie the Pooh movie, which he went to with his nephew.







As an added takeaway from this review, I'm going to jot down a few additional thoughts on this film.

• It was an adequate finale to the series, but didn't live up to the hype I had built up in my head for four years.
• The main action sequence was disappointing to me because it lacked tension and a sense of fear for the main and supporting characters.  Rowling offed a bunch of characters in this battle in her book, but only bothered to tell the reader this after the battle was over.  Similarly, we never see any characters we recognize in danger in the movie's battle.  This was an opportunity for Yates to communicate the stakes of this conflict and ratchet up the battle's tension by giving proper onscreen deaths to some of the more beloved characters of the series.  he fails to do this, however, leaving their deaths seeming empty and meaningless.
• The first death in the movie is played for laughs, and we see bloodied corpses by the dozens, but the main villain just *SPOILER ALERT* just floats away in a cloud of ash?  Talk about anti-climactic.
• Warwick Davis gets some well-deserved moments in the limelight for his two Harry Potter roles, Griphook and Professor Flitwick.  It was nice seeing some of the ancillary characters given a few moments to shine.
• When Harry, Ron, Hermione make their triumphant return to Hogwarts about halfway through the film, I got a little chocked up thinking back on all the films and how much this imaginary school of wizardry meant to me while growing up.  There are some great moments of emotion in this film, despite my nitpicks and complaints.  The scene in the ghostly King's Cross Station, Neville's impassioned speech to his classmates, and Snape's backstory (though a shadow of it's literary self) are all excellent reminders of why Potter fans have grown to love this series so much. 

We'll miss you, Harry.  You've had a long and occasionally uneven run, but you've meant the world to a generation of readers and moviegoers alike.

VIDEO REVIEW: X-Men: First Class

Well, it's been quite a while since my last post.  Over the past month I've been busy getting married, enjoying my honeymoon, and getting settled into temporary accommodations, so forgive me if my posts have fallen by the wayside.  Here are a few links to reviews my new brother-in-law Isaac and I have filmed in the meantime.

This first one focuses on X-Men: First Class, an excellent return to quality for the series (in at least my humble opinion).



Second comes Isaac's solo review of the disappointing Green Lantern, filmed while I was honeymooning in New Orleans.



Coming soon, the Snob and the Slob will have reviews finished for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and Captain America: The First Avenger.  I also hope to have a discussion of the critically acclaimed animated film Persepolis posted shortly.