HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HOLLOWS - PART 2

What a monumental waste of time. This was a huge disappointing finish to the entire Harry Flopper series. I've enjoyed each one (have never read any of the books) because of the smart dialogue, all the magic touches, the atmosphere of the settings, the plot, the fast pace and all the various  eccentric characters. Though none of the movies have come close to duplicating the total mystery and illusion and fantasy of the first one.

 Part 1 of the Deathly Hollows was what i  have come to expect from this series - not a 10 but a solid otherworldly 8. but Part 2 needed some wizard help badly. It was too long and too damn dark - i could barely see anything on the screen - and so boring. All these interminable conversations. All the dialogue fell flat; no sparkle at all. And absolutely no magical elements! It was like everyone had become rich enough and they were tired of the whole Fizzle-dorf world.

there were also long wand-off scenes; minutes upon minutes of waving sticks at each other with fire or lightning emanating from them. It was the same thing as watching a gun battle in a Nicolas Cage movie; i felt like screaming as it seemed to go on forever.

At the end of the movie, there was an 'epilogue' - the screen said this was 19 years later. I couldn't take it as it felt like i had already been sitting for 19 years.

MOTHER HUBBARD'S - TUCSON, AZ

This is the second time i've eaten at this restaurant and it will be the last. The food is just not that good even with a new owner and new menu items.

when chris and i first got there, it was a total disaster; one waitress running around with 'deer in the headlights' panic eyes and sweat shimmering on her face. She was doing everything - taking orders, giving change, cleaning tables (most of which were laden with dishes left over from the breakfast rush) and delivering food.

I finally cleaned off the least piled-upon table and Chris and I sat down. after about 10 minutes another waitress showed up and service got back to normal.

I had scrambled eggs and 2 sausage patties and home fries - chris ate the toast which also came with the entree. The portions are big and the prices are  fairly reasonable but everything is tasteless even after i added salt. Recent ads for the restaurant said they had several varieties of "special" waffles and so i ordered the cornbread honey cinnamon. I could taste the grit of the cornbread but not the honey or cinnamon. It wasn't even as good as the waffles at breakfast bars in motels from that ingenious machine. In fact, those waffles are an 8 compared to the 4 of this one.

And the waffle was barely warm; just enough to melt the butter in tiny pools and lakes and ponds in the waffle crevices. I asked for warm maple syrup which i think was just dark corn syrup and it came in a squeeze bottle like ketchup or mustard.

The bathroom is small, dark, hot and filthy. I tried not to look around as i was sitting.

ANOTHER YEAR

This was an excellent superb movie. It was released last year. Its a British film but fortunately, all the dialogue could be easily understood; no cockney mumble.

Its the story of a happily and long time married couple and some of their friends and family members. That's it!! no murder or suspense or crime story or science fiction elements; just the tale of a year in the life of this couple and their social and personal interactions. The cohesive background that takes you through the year is Jerri and Tom working in their community garden throughout the seasons.

I can't adequately express how perfect this movie was in showing all the functional and happy and dysfunctional and terribly sad conditions that everyone faces throughout their life. One of their friends is Mary who is a heavy drinking, lonely, needy, vulnerable and lost soul who is trying desperately to belong and to be accepted and liked by others. She also would love to find a man to marry her. The portrayal of her total sense of herself coming from others with no self-approval or self-validation is the best and most heart-rending i have ever seen in a movie.

bill and i gave it a 10+.

BEGINNERS

What a loser of a movie. I entered the theater with high hopes mainly because of Ewan McGregor but 1/3rd of the way through i decided that i didn't like him after all. In fact, everyone annoyed the hell out of me;especially his French girlfriend who for some unknown quirky gallic reason had laryngitis when they first met so her inane dialogue had to be written on a pad of paper.

The basic story was about Ewan's response to the revelation that his 78 year old father was gay followed 4 years later by the dad's death from cancer. (the dad was played by Christopher Plummer who was perfectly cast; elegant, dramatic, very senior in age but handsome and mischievous and sexy, nonetheless.)

The other story line (though i feel like i'm abusing the definition of the word story by assigning it to the glacially slow (hey;, baby, he's got only one speed and it ain't fast.) and boring and dull and totally unrealistic "relationship" between McGregor and Frenchie, was their burgeoning affair.

It seemed like the movie's point (if there was one) was to show that all types and ages of people can be homosexual. But this point was not skillfully or interestingly illustrated.

2 other factors rounded out the extreme displeasure that this movie caused me (and Bill also.) Christopher Plummer the dad had a Russell Terrier dog called Arthur and he supposedly  could communicate with people and you knew this because words would appear on the bottom of the screen when he barked. He was in every single scene. I guess the adults needed something to do and look at during the interminably long pauses between "actions" and dialogue.

and the other factor was the tinkling piano music. Too loud, too honky-tonk, too repetitive, too constant.

The obituary for this film should include: McGregor's father was preceded in death by the movie itself.

Bryce trip, June 2011

Check out these pictures on our hiking trip.

MAY'S COUNTER CHICKEN & WAFFLES - TUCSON, AZ

This is a re-visit to this restaurant which Bill is enamored of and which leaves me wanting. Once again he had a chicken breast and collard greens and absolutely loved it. Bill says it is one of the 3 best chicken meals he's EVER eaten!

i did not order a waffle this time so my meal was a tad better. I had a chicken sandwich with pepper jack cheese, grilled onions and green chilies. I asked for the sweet jalapeno sauce on the side, fortunately, since it was too sweet and too spicy and too seafoam green in color.

The chicken sandwich was ok but it was dry in spite of all that cheese so i had to put mayo on it. and i'm still puzzled at bill's praise of the chicken. Its tender but sort of dry. I also had fries which were almost cold and tasteless.

There are 8 tv's in the place and they are all on at full sound blast and all on different channels PLUS there is a loud radio station playing. and the waitress kept calling me honey. I told Bill we had to wait at least 4 months before going back.

THOR

an unexpectedly entertaining fun movie! It was at the 'cheap' theaters so both of us got in for $3.00. It was WELL worth it!!!!

interesting and engaging story of 2 brothers (though one is really the child of the "other race") and their father the King played by Anthony Hopkins. Thor, who at the start of the movie is headstrong and arrogant and eager to start a battle with the Others (frost kings? icy beings anyway.) mellows quite a bit as he gets banished from the kingdom by Dad and lands in the desert of New Mexico.

Natalie Portman (jane) is there with a close friend and an associate measuring something spatial and cosmic in the skies. Naturally her and Thor are attracted to each other but there is only a small tad of 'mushiness' and only 1 kiss. The scenes that involve Thor's interacting with earth people are really good with humorous dialogue (thor looks a lot like brad pitt) and once the shady G-men become involved it gets even more interesting.

I enjoyed the ending too which was a bit of a surprise. Acting was good and special effects were done well. A delightful cinematic experience. for the type of fantasy, sci-fi genre it falls in - both bill and i give it an 8.