craigmcn

What do these 2 larger-than-life characters have in common? Each had a brand-new movie released this weekend that Big Cracker went to see.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was playing at the Paramount downtown at 9:15pm. So h! is for Hulk and I were planning to meet up at 8:00pm, pick up tickets, head out for a coffee and a chat, then get in line for the movie. There was only 2 of us, so there shouldn’t have been too much trouble getting decent seats, even if we didn’t get in line until 8:45pm. The problem we ran into was that all but the 2 latest shows were sold out when I got there at 8:00pm. h! didn’t get there ’til 8:30pm (a long story about not getting off the subway at the right stop). We decided we’d get tickets for the 11:00pm show and figure something out until then. So h! buys his ticket … and the show’s sold out. Yes, that’s right, Big Cracker got no ticket! Well, h! went to see the manager and he was able to sell me another ticket. Wicked!

And what a good movie! I’m always a little disappointed by the small amount of magic and Harry’s reluctance to live up to his reputation as the boy who almost destroyed Voldemort. Especially since Harry, along with Ron and Hermione always manage to outwit or out-magic any evil-doers in all the stories. Of course, there’s often some help from others, but isn’t that really just magic in another guise? Anyway, to avoid spoilers, I’ll say it’s excellent and you should see it!

Ah, Johnny Cash and the lovely June Carter. What can I say? Johnny was a troubled boy who became a troubled man who just wanted to sing the gospel music his mother taught him, but instead became an icon of rock ‘n’ roll. And that’s exactly what we see in Walk the Line. This was an entertaining and informative biopic of Johnny’s life from the early ’50s until the late ’60s. It gives some background into his relationship with his family (his father and his first wife, most importantly), the development of his relationship with June and his drug addiction. We get some fun and unique glimpses at Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and Waylon Jennings. And the music is excellent. If I remember correctly, all the singing (and most of the playing) was done by the actors portraying the characters and it was all quite realistic and believable.

Good times!! Definitely two movies that you should check out. (Oh, and Gwildor warns that with Walk the Line you really have to like Johnny Cash music. It’s true.)