Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Extended Version with 7 Minutes of Footage Not Shown in Theaters) (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have to admit, I was ready to hate this movie. Having been a long-term fan of the Harry Potter books, a less-than-faithful adaptation could have spoiled it all for me. As it turns out, my fears were unfounded.
Okay, some viewers will nitpick over discrepencies in characters' appearances, but all the IMPORTANT stuff is here. The relationships between the characters are spot-on. The film also successfully convinces us that the magical goings-on are part of the protagonists' everyday lives, whilst at the same time instilling a sense of wonder in the audience. This difficult balance is one of the main reasons the books are so successful.
Some of the child actors are a little wooden at times, but generally the all-British cast is excellent. The rich characters of Rowling's books have translated perfectly. Robbie Coltrane IS Hagrid. Emma Watson (Hermione) and Rupert Grint (Ron) have immense fun delivering most of the film's best lines. Dan Radcliffe does well in the difficult task of communicating Harry's thoughts, when the audience is unable to see them written down. Deserved mention, too, for Maggie Smith's McGonagall, Alan Rickman's Snape and Tom Felton's nasty-yet-vulnerable Draco Malfoy.
The quality of the production is excellent. The sets and costumes are fabulous, and the attention to detail is breathtaking. The effects are superb, obvious highlights being Harry's invisibility cloak, and the Quidditch match (an adrenaline-pumping spectacle right up there with anything Star Wars has to offer).
In between the showpieces, director Chris Columbus remembers to let his audience take a breather with quieter moments. Harry staring out of his bedroom window, and he and Ron opening their presents on Christmas morning, are endearingly down-to-earth. And the scenes of Harry in front of the Mirror of Erised brought a tear to my eye (If you've read the book, you'll know why).
That's not to say the movie is without its faults. In an attempt to please purists, ALL the subplots have been included (though pared down a great deal), when omitting a few entirely may have helped the pacing of the film. The opening half-hour may be difficult to grasp for those who are unfamiliar with the book. A few of the magical artefacts seem rather more mechanical than mystical.
But these are all small niggles, really. The bottom line is that 152 minutes fly by as if it were half an hour. The only wish you have is that it were longer, and there can be no better sign of a good film than that.

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Faerie Tale Theatre: Bedtime Tales (1983) Review

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(More customer reviews)Four more beloved episodes from Shelley Duvall's FAERIE TALE THEATRE series. Bundled together in this set are two of the classic early shows ("Sleeping Beauty" and "Goldilocks") but also one of the rare clunkers ("Rip Van Winkle").
SLEEPING BEAUTY:
The story recounts a childless king and queen (played by Sally Kellerman and Rene Auberjonois) who are finally blessed with a child after receiving some helpful advice from a fairy. At the child's christening, all the fairies are invited to bestow gifts upon the little princess. However, the wicked Henbane (Beverly d'Angelo) gets left off the list and gatecrashes the event, cursing the princess to a premature death from a spindle-prick. Kindly good fairy Cookie (Carol Kane) remedies the curse by changing a few details: the princess won't die, only sleep until woken by the kiss of a true Prince (Christopher Reeve). Bernadette Peters stars the title role.
GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS:
Here are the adventures of a ringletted brat called Goldilocks (Tatum O'Neal) as she happens upon the 'deserted' house belonging to three bears. After helping herself to their porridge and breaking Cubby Bear's chair, she goes to sleep in his bed. When the bears return, she gets scared away...but not for long!...
JACK AND THE BEANSTALK:
Jack (Dennis Christopher) lives with his loving-but frazzled mother ("Soap"'s Katherine Helmond) in near poverty. The only thing left of value for them to sell is Jack's beloved cow Spot. Reluctantly, Jack sets off to market with the cow when he meets a strange old man who offers him 5 magic beans in exchange for the animal. When Jack returns home, his mother chides him for his foolishness and the beans are tossed outside...where they sprout into an enormous beanstalk that leads to a castle in the sky owned by an evil Giant (Elliott Gould). Jack's adventures have only just begun!
RIP VAN WINKLE:
Rip Van Winkle (Harry Dean Stanton) is a good man, he's just a too much of a dreamer is all. His wife Wilma (Talia Shire) has had just about enough of his loafing ways, the house is falling about their ears and there's no money. When Rip goes hunting in the forest, he happens upon a group of ghosts, who offer him some of their stange green drink. Sleepy and confused, Rip dozes away in the forest (for 20 years!). Once awake, Rip now finds himself in an entirely different world to the one he knew only yesterday. What has happened to Rip Van Winkle?

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Faerie Tale Theatre - Jack and the Beanstalk (1983) Review

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(More customer reviews)Many years ago, the actress Shelley Duvall created and co-produced a series for Showtime Television called Faerie Tale Theatre. The quality of most of these stories are first-rate and feature many stars of the 1970's and '80's, quite a few of whom are still working today.
This is one of the worst movies in Faerie Tale Theatre's largely ingenious stable of titles. The impressive list of stars in this, including Elliott Gould, Jean Stapleton and Katherine Helmond are wasted on a meandering, silly script that falls far short of the creativity it was attempting.
Elliott Gould's Giant is written as extremely dumb, hearkening to the caveman stereotype and immediately short-circuiting any potential suspense in the rivalry between he and Jack. Mr. Gould is such a fine actor that I wish Faerie Tale Theatre had utilized the inventiveness evident in so many of their other productions, and made the Giant smart. This would make him a worthier adversary for Jack, and increase audience enjoyment of the story.
Jean Stapleton is similarly hampered by a script which eliminates the actress's intelligence and simply makes her Giantess a kinder version of her brutish husband. Utilize as many of the gifts that the actors possess. Trust them and the original tale rather than let misguided alterations ruin a fine story.
Katherine Helmond is extremely good in this as Jack's Mother. So good, in fact, that a decision could have been made to mute a forgettable Dennis Christopher, and make her the center of the story. That may seem like a stretch, but I guarantee you that the overall results would have been better.
Overall, though, she cannot save a rare misfire in the vaunted Faerie Tale Theatre series. I do recommend seeing this, as part of the series. However, do not start with this, as it will ruin your mood for what is really a classic series.

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