Posts Tagged ‘movies’

Hogwarts Castle is no longer something of fiction. You can now visit it!

The brand new Orlando amusement park – which reportedly cost $265 million to build – based off of the Harry Potter books and movies has opened to rave reviews from Potter fans around the globe. A fully immersive park all on its own, though technically attached to the Universal Studios park, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter contains rides, restaurants, and enough site-seeing to make you believe you’re actually in the stories. You can hear Moaning Myrtle in the restrooms, visit Dumbledore’s office, drink pumpkin juice and butterbeer (the recipes of which were approved by J.K. Rowling), and see a quidditch match. You can even visit gift shops where if you’re looking to pick out a wand, a wand will pick you!

Let Daniel Radcliffe and MTV take you on a tour of the park here.

Watch a video documenting the grand opening of the park here.

The Gainesville Sun, of Gainesville FL, published in today’s paper their list of the Top 10 features of the new park. Here is a sampling of what they had to say (we wont spoil the rankings).

“Hogwarts: Trademark castle houses the new Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride and an elaborate queue with tons of detailing. Watch for the Mirror of Erised, Dumbledore’s office, living portraits, mandrakes, the Dark Arts classroom, levitating candles and more, all before taking off on the ride’s ‘enchanted benches.’ “

“Live entertainment: Expect regular performances by the Frog Chorus (an a cappella quartet plus two amphibians) as well as physical demonstrations by the contrasting styles of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic (dancing with ribbons) and Durmstrung Institute (very serious acrobatics and weaponry).”

For fans of Harry Potter it appears that The Wizarding World is just as wonderful as you could have hoped. Elements from both the books and the movies can be found, which bring to life one of the most successful entertainment franchises in history. If any of you readers out there get a chance to visit the park, drop us a line and tell us about your trip. We’d love to hear all about your experiences!

The Wizarding World's Grand Opening on June 18th

Interesting Factoid: The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has publicly expressed his displeasure about the fact that the Harry Potter park was built in the United States as opposed to England.

“I want to know why this Kingdom of Potter is not being built in the UK, and I won’t be fobbed off with any nonsense about the weather. They built Eurodisney in the Valley of the Marne, where it is at least as cold and drizzly as it is in London – and it has been a triumphant success”

I suppose it’s understandable that a number of Brits would have preferred the park be built in England because the character of Harry Potter is such a huge British icon, but calling Eurodisney a “triumphant success” just makes you sound crazy. The climate was no doubt a very big factor in the decision to build the park in Florida – a state which houses the most financially successful and well-attended amusement parks in the world. The Wizarding World in London would have made logical sense yes, but let’s be reasonable.

Although video games are the second largest competitor with movies in the entertainment industry, behind only television, movie adaptations of video games haven't been received very well thus far. Why is that?

Disclaimer - We have painted video games with an overly large brush, and trust us that we have done so begrudgingly. However, because perception always takes time to catch up to reality when it comes to public opinion, and perhaps in this case critical and executive opinion as well, we felt it was necessary in order to make things more explicable.

It has been interesting to note how critics have commented on the source material for the recently released Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. As most of you know by now, if you didn’t know before the release, the film is based off of a video game of the same name. And like with most films that are adapted from video games critics have pointed out the various congruencies between the two productions, such as story structure and character construction. In the case of Prince of Persia, these two things along with the aesthetics of the movie’s action sequences have been said to resemble (some say closer than others) their corresponding elements in the source material, but the intriguing thing is that the comments written that illuminate these similarities usually paint them as being faults. Anymore if the reception of a movie can be compared to the manner that video games are received (though there are many inherent differences between the mediums) it is taken to be as a deficiency or imperfection. Why should it be considered an automatic negative that a movie resembles its source material if that source material is a video game? Before we get into any sort of discussion that might explain a possible discrimination against video games, let us first try to discover why it is that so many critics find the storytelling techniques of video games and movies to be so incompatible. Read the rest of this entry »

George Lucas gave us the great fantasy of "Star Wars," but also the authenticity of "American Graffiti." Which type of venture is more worthwhile?

In an attempt for us to better know our readers, and perhaps for you to better know yourself, we would like to ask you a personal question: When it comes to the purpose and function of movies, which side are you on?

Introductory film theory splits itself up into two main schools of thought dubbed Formalism and Realism. Formalists believe that because cinema as a medium has the ability to play around with what is possible to see in a movie that those who make movies should be primarily focused on testing the limits and boundaries of what they’re able to create. Creativity is key and we should constantly be looking to see new things and new ways of conveying old messages. On the other hand, realists believe that because cinema has the unique ability to depict the real world as-is, like a still camera, that those who make films should be primarily focused on being more and more real and capturing as much authenticity as possible. Both of these schools of thought are much more intricate than what we can detail here, but you get the gist.

Now, asking you the reader to side with one purpose over another is pretty much the equivalent of asking everyone to declare themselves as either a democrat or republican. It’s a very restrictive question. However, we here at Movie-Thoughts aren’t stupid. We recognize that most people, including ourselves, believe there is a place for both ways of thinking. It’s great to have both Star Wars and the Discovery channel. However for the purposes of this newest poll, we would like to know which side you prefer to see most often.

The introduction to the Summer movie season this past week with Iron Man 2 set these thoughts in motion for us, as the season is primarily reserved for more flashy and formative fare, and so we would like to know if this is the time of year that you relish the most because of the types of movies that come out (which typically are the kind that like to push numerous visual limits with incredible special effects and outlandish spectacles). Or, do you dislike this time of year because you prefer the Fall/Winter seasons when more character-driven movies are released?

Let us know which type of movie you prefer watching most – the cool summertime star shows or the late year character studies. If you like them both equally, don’t be afraid to sit on the fence; We’re just fascinated to know if there is a tilt in either direction. Speak up and let your opinions be heard!

Disclaimer: Deciding between liking more formalist or more realist filmmaking is not a choice between the commercial and the artistic. Both types of filmmaking can be used for any purpose and thus are not constrained or limited to any one presupposed association.

Providing snack food is one way theaters ampted up their appeal in the 1930s, but how should they improve now?

Much has been talked about in recent months about the growing tensions between Hollywood studios and movie theaters, and no greater tension exists than the one over profits. The advent and popularity of 3-D technology has added to this issue, and nowhere is it being felt more than the pockets of patrons. The high prices of 3-D tickets is easy enough to understand, though many still fail to find them excusable, and it appears the “gimmick” is here to stay for at least the foreseeable future. With some audiences getting what they want with more movies being shown in 3-D and other audiences vexed about the higher ticket prices, what’s to be done? The answer may lie in film history. Read the rest of this entry »