We got both Green Hornet and Green Lantern previews on Friday when we saw HP7 but no Cowboys and Aliens (which I wanted to see) but instead got that awful Yogi Bear movie (sorry JT I just can't) and Cars II but we also got Tron (in IMAX) so it balanced out.

As for HP7, my husband hasn't read any of the books, even so he enjoyed it but said it was confusing leading to a discussion between the kids and I about what got left out/added in which just made things worse for the DH. It seemd to go pretty fast to me - didn't seem like 2.5 hours for the most part and it was enjoyable.

We got Green Hornet, Green Lantern, Cowboys and Aliens, Yogi Bear and . . . I think there was something else but I cannot remember what it was.

The sucky part about when the Buffy movie fails is that they will say that a young woman can't carry a movie. Because they said it about "Amelia" which failed not because it was a movie about a woman, but because it was a picture postcard with words in it(And not particularly compelling words, at that. I am the target for such a film, and I barely got through it on a Saturday afternoon, pre-paid. If I had paid folding money for that specifically, I'd be pissed.)

oops, I liked "Amelie", but it does have its faults. :-)

I saw the "Yogi Bear" trailer and I nearly cried out with rage. What did they do to my boo-boo?

The Earhart movie...not Amelie. Amelie was good...very French, but good. The Earhart movie with Hilary Swank(who now always makes me think of the Office poll on her,) was beautiful, but somehow...flat. I don't know why.

Hasn't Anne Hathaway carried a number of recent movies in which she was the protagonist?

Alonso Duralde makes me laugh:

As one critic who caught an early screening confided, "It's not the next 'Showgirls'...but it might be the new 'Coyote Ugly.'" And now that I’ve seen "Burlesque" for myself, I'm in the awkward position of having the defend the honor of "Coyote Ugly."

[link]

I ended up loving every minute of it...including one of the very most romantic moments I've ever seen on film.

The bit where he brings her flours is my number one most romantic film moment of all time ever. Also, I love Will Ferrell. Sorry.

Saw HP7-1 last night. Was impressed by a lot of things--the whole look and feel of the movie. And those kids were in most scenes and I only remember cringing at their acting once...I was really impressed with them.

I was suitably entertained that my brain wasn't going, "But what about..." all that often. I think it had been long enough since I read it that plot points had faded into the background.

I loved, loved, loved the animation of the story of the Three Brothers. So beautiful.

At the same time...like the middle LOTR it felt like an interminable expository trip...to the next film. I felt that the chase with the snatchers could have been cut in place of something else.

Was it really the first time Harry's met Bill? (Where do they find all these good looking gingers anyway? I need to book me a ticket there.)

Because they have to jam so many scenes in the film a lot of scenes don't really have a moment to rest or settle with the actors/audience before they cut away to another scene. I felt this especially with Dobby's death, and a little less with Ron's return. Dobby's death and funeral seemed to be so quick didn't really have a chance to land with me.

Would have loved to have some scenes at Hogwarts. I was sure that one scene on the train would have lead to more Neville and Ginny.

Sue,

this time around it seems the screenwriter has an almost slavish devotion to the book in comparison to the previous movie where they made up stuff out of whole cloth and messed up the narrative. I would agree with you that in a perfect world, it would have been nice to show more Hogwarts, but this wasn't in the book at all, so I guess they decided to err on the side of keeping the narrative structure of the book if it was at all possible. The changes they did make in the movie that were different from the book are inexplicable to me though.