KNOCKED UP (Judd Aptow, 2007, USA) A mundane “comedy” that offers few honest laughs and I’m a guy who still plays Dungeons & Dragons with my old high school friends…and I’m 41!Talk about Geekdom! The major problem with this film is that it’s truly demeaning to women because the female characters are cardboard and one-dimensional: bitchy and controlling. OK, that’s two dimensions but you get my point: their epiphany is that they can’t live happily without men. This overrated flick isn't worth your time. (D)
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (David Yates, 2007, UK) The fifth film in the series finds Harry in a subversive and angry mood. Nobody but his close friends believes that Voldemort has returned and the ministry is calling him a kook. Everything goes wrong for Harry as Dumbledore ignores him, Harry is put in detention, expelled from Quidditch, and has private Occlumency lessons with Snape…which he fails miserably. The longest of the seven books, Phoenix clocks in as the shortest movie in the series. Feels a bit rushed and if you haven’t read the books you probably couldn’t fill in all the blanks. Still an exciting movie that sets us up for the last two installments. I can't wait! (C+)
