RAGING (turn)BULL joins the ranks of the employed!

It seems everytime I get this blog on a roll, something is there to stop it again. The good news is I have been fortunate enough to get a paid job, courtesy at the nice folks over at Towergate Insurance, and am now an Assistant Underwriter.

Regular blogging will be resumed next week as I need to focus my attention on hitting the ground running, but I will be concluding the Harry Potter marathon, as well as reviewing some restaurants, games, and more.

So apologies about the delay once again, and you'll be hearing from me very soon.

James

Video of the Week: Boris Johnson vs. Germany

A lot of people saw this glorious moment on television a while back, and like many other incidents which have shared an equal amount of hilarity and awesome, has made its way onto YouTube, and subsequently gone viral.

During an England XI vs. Germany XI match, in which a mixture of old football stars and celebrities get involved and play a full 90 minute game, Boris Johnson decides enough is enough. It's the 87th minute and England are trailing 4 goals to 2, so Boris decides to make a stand...

...by spearing one of the German players.

If you missed this completely, it will be the best thing you've ever seen. If you've already seen it, then it will serve as a reminder that they might have won the match, but we won the game.

Enjoy!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

Daniel Radcliffe: No lying down on the job.

With the progression of the franchise comes a veil of shadow which casts an ominous darkness over the once child-friendly saga. The Order of the Phoenix further marks this shift to a more menacing atmosphere, and revitalizes the series after the disappointment which the Goblet of Fire provided.

When a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is installed, her iron grip strangulates Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as all kind of rules and restrictions are enforced. The plot thickens however when Harry and his friends suspect this to be a conspiracy, and they must once again race against time to prevent dark forces from corrupting their world.

Once again the role of director has changed, but for what will be the final time, with David Yates making his feature film debut on the silver screen. It's once again 'as you were' for the rest of the cast, with newcomer Imelda Staunton taking the role of the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dolores Umbridge. Evanna Lynch also makes her debut as the eccentric Luna Lovegood, and Helena Bonham Carter joins the dark side as Bellatrix Lestrange.

Imelda Staunton: Dolores Umbridge.

Yates breaks the continuity of direction style, and utilizes a more artistic brand of cinematography, which gives the film a visual edge compared to its predecessors. A washed out colour palette of bleak shades set an appropriate tone, and are very effective when utilized with more experimental camera work.

Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the film is the true evolution of every actor. Whilst Radcliffe was quite noticeably poor in the earlier films, his performance is now relatively solid. The rest of the cast still remain better, but the difference is now marginal. Newcomers Staunton, Lynch, and Carter also put on standout performances, and fill their roles with ease.


The film is far from perfect though, and despite the welcomed visual edge which Yates brings to the series, the narrative problems are still fairly apparent. The story moves at break neck speed to that of the book, leaving not much time for introductions and exposition once again, highlighting Yates' inexperience as a storyteller. The combination of the aforementioned issues lend themselves to a bigger one however, in that the film has a tendency to feel like a purely transitional movement, as opposed to a solid entity.

Nevertheless, The Order of the Phoenix is compelling viewing with some standout performances, despite having some submerged flaws which restrain its full potential. Narrative niggles aside, Yates bring more suspense, more action, and a stunning climax to the fifth installment of the Harry Potter franchise.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆



Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

Grint and Radcliffe: Get your robe, you've pulled.

Novels are always difficult to transpose onto the big screen. On average, each page of a screenplay equates to 1 minute of screen time, so trying to condense a 636 page novel into a 157 minute script is going to prove problematic. As expected, The Goblet of Fire suffers from the negative effects which would come from such an adaptation, magnifying the inadequacies of the previous installments.

Harry is now in his fourth academic year, and everyone seems to have simultaneously noticed the opposite sex. To make matters worse, the Tri-Wizard tournament, a dangerous interschool competition which sees three students compete in three challenging tasks is being hosted at Hogwards this year. Take into account that one school is full of beautiful French girls, and the other hulking Hungarian guys, and you have a recipe for adolescent disaster.

After Cuaron's success in The Prisoner of Azkaban, the obvious choice would have been for him to continue the saga. Instead he had been replaced by Mike Newell, but the change is hardly noticeable, and Newell maintains the darker atmosphere and style of the previous film. There are several new cast members, but the most notable are Brendon Gleeson as 'Mad-Eye' Moody and a more prominent role for Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort, who is suitably terrifying. Daniel Radcliffe is still trailing after his classmates, with Grint and Watson constantly improving, as well as solid performances from Felton (Malfoy) and Wright (Ginny).

Robert Pattison as Cedric Diggory: Harry's
competition in more than one way.

Setting aside these glorious bits of casting, it is difficult to ignore the ellipsed material from the novel. The entire quidditch world cup match is missing, a large majority of the backstories are missing, and several parts of the core narrative have been cut. In franchise fashion the introduction is nonexistent, which aims the film squarely at fans, but will disappoint some due to absent material.

Although The Goblet of Fire does have some gaping flaws, the scenes outside the poorly executed romance stories are fairly impressive. The Goblet of Fire is by far a more violent film that its predecessors, with highlights including a stunning battle with a Hungarian Horntail dragon, an expedition into the Hogwarts lake, and an atmospheric climatic showdown. The Scooby-Doo ending is not the fault of the film-makers,
 
Like the adolescent hormonal capers it heavy-handedly depicts, The Goblet of Fire is a conflicted film. Some moments are admittedly thrilling and enjoyable, however most of what made the fourth book so engrossing has been cut. The wonderful imagination is still present though, and if you can put the undulating narrative behind you, and not dwell on the blithering romance as much as the film does, The Goblet of Fire can still be an watchable and entertaining adventure.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

The Philosopher's Stone was a great way to start the Harry Potter franchise, if not slightly lacking in comparison to the book. The Chamber of Secrets was remarkably faithful to the novel, but was mired by a poor narrative. The Prisoner of Azkaban however, overcomes these issues and is by far the best installment yet.

Returning to Hogwarts for his third academic year, Harry is once again joined by his friends Ron and Hermione. Like every year before this though, trouble is brewing, and notorious mass murderer Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban prison. On top of this, Harry's arch-rival Draco Malfoy is growing darker by the second, and is causing problems for Hagrid, the new care of magical creatures teacher.

It's as you were for the majority of the cast, with Michael Gambon replacing Richard Harris as Dumbledore, who sadly passed away prior to shooting. The most prominent new additions will more than please movie fans, with Gary Oldman filling the shoes of Sirius Black, and David Thewlis stepping on to the 'defense against the dark arts merry-go-round' as Professor Lupin. Another notable change takes place at the post of director, with Alfonso Cuarón replace Chris Columbus.

A change in director can be disastrous for a series of films. The Millennium trilogy stands as testament to this, but Cuarón performs a sterling job, and not only continues the the franchise, but vastly improves it. There is still some material from the book which is noticeably absent, but The Prisoner of Azkaban captivates from the very beginning, taking the viewer on a magical roller coaster ride. Without spoiling the story for the very few who haven't already read the book or seen the film, the final hour is an extremely engaging and well constructed piece of cinema, which will definitely get pulses racing. The only thing odd and out of place about the cinematography is the B-movie horror zoom towards the climax, which is slightly bizarre to say the least.

The evolution in acting talent is something else that also makes The Prisoner of Azkaban special, with Grint, Watson, and Felton all great despite their still tender age. The same cannot be said for Radcliffe however, who seems to be struggling to fill the boots of such a large character, and his line delivery and presence is poor. The adult actors are once again brilliant though, and as expected the combination of Oldman, Thewlis, and Spall steal the show.

The concept is also superb, and many will argue that The Prisoner of Azkaban is the best book in the series. A highly imaginative tale with some wonderful creatures, concepts, and moments that are aided once again by some gorgeous CGI, The Prisoner of Azkaban is not just a film for the fans, but one which will please audiences of all ages. The epic run-times have also become a trademark of the series, which is expected given the amount of detail in the books, but one would expect more original material to be included.

With great performances, better material, and a more cohesive narrative, The Prisoner of Azkaban is a much improved, thrilling, and wonderful tale which still doesn't top the novel, but comes much closer than its predecessors. A truly enjoyable film, and the best installment of the series yet.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Video of the Week: Harry Potter Starts a Band!

It's my pleasure to introduce you all to a debuting feature of this blog: video of the week. In this feature I'll be posting a video that relates to what I've been banging on about over the course of the week.

Kicking off things in the spirit of the Harry Potter reviews, is this amazing clip from PistolShrimps.

Video editing is something that has become increasingly popular in viral videos, and PistolShrimps is one of the best out there at producing parodies of films. The video has just short of 500,000 views, and uses clips from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. His other videos, most notably those of the Lord of the Rings variety are also brilliant, so check them out!

News: Anomalous Material

In a very exciting opportunity, I've been given the chance to write for Anomalous Material. Nominated for best film blog of the year by Total Film, and overflowing with loads of exciting content, Anomalous Material is one of the biggest movie blogs around.

I will still be updating RAGING (turn)BULL at least once a week, but this is a great chance for me to get out there, and involved in something that is read by hundreds of people every day.

I can't recommend enough that you check it out for yourself - just head to  http://www.anomalousmaterial.com/movies/ and prepare to lose yourself in the hundreds of reviews, features, and interviews they have.

I'm currently specializing in features, and have already posted top 10 lists for Tom Hank's best films and Director & Actor parterships, but will soon be posting news, reviews, and potentially interviews, so please check it out.

In other news, the Harry Potter marathon will continue tomorrow with The Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), with plenty more cool stuff headed your way soon.

Until then, stay safe!

James