I also thought it was a good film, but it's used as one of the recent examples of torture porn.

Yeah, Saw wasn't what I expected (especially since I saw Saw II first). It was much more psychological; it wasn't some non-stop gorefest.

Yeah.. As I've said to you previously, I think, P-C I've not seen 2 or 3 as they just don't appeal. What I've heard -- right or wrong -- suggests it's just milking a franchise now.

I've seen a few reviewers saying Captivity marks the beginning of the end for torture porn flicks, but I'd tend to disagree (although I hope I'm wrong). With that kind of money, they're going to keep coming. It's turned Lion's Gate from a struggling film company to a massively profitable movie corp.

Since the reason I called in sick to work (a) wasn't really all that bad, and (b) cleared up by noon, I decided to go to the 1:40 showing of Harry Potter and give it a second looksee. Very few people at the cinema (about seven others), and the first reel had an annoying soundtrack issue (about every 5 minutes, but sometimes more frequently, about 5 seconds of sound would repeat, overlaying what was supposed to be said), but I did manage to catch a bit that I missed due to crowd reactions and mishearing the accents the first time around.

Mrs. Black's portrait is there--that's what Kreacher is talking to the first time Harry sees him when he first arrives at Number 12, and you can hear her talking back to the house-elf.

Also, I noticed a lot more what DR was doing with Harry's neck roll--he only does that when he's feeling a bit Riddle-ish. It's a nice echo of the one that Ralph Fiennes does.

Definitely worth a second viewing. Oh, and because I mentioned the problem with the soundtrack to the manager afterwards, I got two free passes! Now I can go see Bourne Ultimatum in the evening instead of waiting for a weekend matinee (which is still $7.50, so not much of a savings!).

Oh, I must see it again if only to avoid the idiotic server thing.

Stuart Townsend, Joseph Fiennes and Naomi Watts have all been cast in HP and the Half-Blood Prince.

Naomi Watts = Narcissa?

Naomi Watts = Narcissa?

::cries and cries::

::cries and cries::

Really? Who did you have in mind? She seems kind of perfect to me--brittle and blond and capable of falling apart.

I'm trying to figure out who they would be, and other than Joseph Fiennes as a younger Voldemort, I'm drawing a blank. Watts is waaay too young for Narcissa, and Townsend is too young for Scrimgeour.

Entertainment Weekly had some guesses at casting HBP when it was released, and I liked their suggestions of Brian Cox for Scrimgeour and Bob Hoskins for Slughorn.

Watts is waaay too young for Narcissa,

Huh? She's like my age (38). Look at her hands!

ETA: she's almost exactly my age. She turns 39 in Sept. the month after I do

Brian Cox for Scrimgeour

That must have stuck in my head subconsciously because he was exactly who I was seeing when I was just re-reading 6.