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HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE (***1/2)
(First Reviewed: 11/26/01)
One of the most important things about making a great fantasy/sci-fi film is the creation of the world. That’s why HARRY POTTER is so great… The characters are rich and not cliché, which is the most surprising thing about the film. J.K. Rowling knows kids and developed all of them with different strokes… I could spend pages writing about the wonder of various scenes… I can’t wait to re-visit this world and these characters in subsequent adventures.
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From Larry Clark, the director of KIDS, BULLY is based on a true story of a group of kids in Hollywood, Florida, who killed their friend. But don’t confuse this film with those “based on true events” TV movies that are churned out after every tabloid tragedy. This is an intricate look at how violence leads to violence, and shows the truth behind the statement “idle hands are the devil’s playthings.”

Marty Puccio (Brad Renfro, GHOST WORLD) and Bobby Kent (Nick Stahl, TERMINATOR 3) have been friends since they were little kids. Ever since then, Bobby has been physically and mentally abusing Marty. The film subtly alludes to Bobby’s jealousy of Marty’s good looks and his own buried homosexuality. Marty gets into a relationship with Lisa Connelly (Rachel Miner, JOE THE KING), who Bobby eventually rapes. Later on, Bobby rapes Lisa’s friend Ali (Bijou Phillips, ALMOST FAMOUS). After this Rachel formulates a plan to murder Bobby. Rounding out the group is Ali’s druggie boyfriend Donny (Michael Pitt, HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH), Ali’s rehab runaway friend Heather (Kelli Garner, LOVE LIZA), Rachel’s overweight cousin Derek (Daniel Franzese, PARTY MONSTER) and the wanna-be hitman Derek (Leo Fitzpatrick, STORYTELLING).

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HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS (***1/2)
(First Reviewed: 12/23/01)
I liked CHAMBER OF SECRETS quite a bit, even though it didn’t blow me away like the first one did. This may be due to the fact that the plot structure is basically the same… The real delight of the film is the added details that have expanded the wonderfully immense world that was created in the first installment. I loved the plot element about mud-bloods… Another highlight is the new characters…
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Steven Spielberg made his name with this film. Every person who has any trepidation when stepping into the ocean, I think in someway it’s because they are consciously or subconsciously thinking about this film. Who hasn’t gone swimming and sung the theme to JAWS at least once in their lives? The film is a masterpiece. It’s a horror picture with heart and extremely well-developed characters.

The plot is simple, a man-eating shark has staked grown off the shore of a beach community as the summer vacation season is about start. Police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider, ALL THAT JAZZ) is new to Amityville, which won’t accept him and his family as Islanders because they weren’t born there. After the first two attacks, Brody wants to close the beaches, but community pressure forces him to open them. After a third attack, which threatened his son’s life, Brody heads out with oceanographer Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss, ONCE AROUND) and crusty seaman Quint (Robert Shaw, THE STING) to kill the beast.

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This film is what truly started the re-birth of animation in the U.S. and is one of the best films to come out of the “Me” decade. This visually inventive tale creates a unique world filling it with great characters. And for anyone who loves animation this is the best combination of toons and live-action that has ever been done.

Set in a world where cartoons live alongside humans, Roger Rabbit (voiced by Charles Fleischer, DICK TRACY) is a big movie star, but he starts fouling up onset after he suspects that his wife Jessica (voiced by Kathleen Turner, BODY HEAT) is cheating on him with the owner of Toon Town, Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye, CAT BALLOU). Studio exec R.K. Maroon (Alan Tilvern, LOVE AND DEATH) hires PI Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins, MONA LISA) to take some pictures of Jessica with Acme, but when Roger is framed for Acme’s murder Eddie gets wrapped up in clearing Roger and keeping the rabbit away from Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd, BACK TO THE FUTURE). Along to aid Eddie and Roger is Eddie’s girlfriend Dolores (Joanna Cassidy, TV’s SIX FEET UNDER).

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As you can guess from the title, the film follows the rise to fame of 1950s rock ‘n’ roll legend Buddy Holly. The story plays like most rock ‘n’ roll biopics, but it’s set apart by a wonderful performance from Gary Busey (LOST HIGHWAY) as Holly and lots of great Holly music performed live by the main actors.

Along with Jesse Charles (Don Stroud, AMITYVILLE HORROR) and Ray Bob Simmons (Charles Martin Smith, AMERICAN GRAFFITI), the Crickets became a sensation. The film follows the controversy their music caused in their Texas hometown to being the first white band to play at the Apollo. It shows Holly as the confident musician who knew what he wanted and how it should sound. At the record studio, Holly meets Puerto Rican secretary Maria Elena (Maria Richwine, HAMBURGER… THE MOTION PICTURE), who he falls for quickly. We watch as the original members part ways as Holly star rises faster than a rocket and the reunion that never happened because of that fateful plane ride on “the day the music died.”

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