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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Something evil has returned to Hogwarts!
Filmmaker(s): Chris Columbus

Cars fly, trees fight back, and a mysterious house-elf comes to warn Harry Potter at the start of his second year at Hogwarts. Adventure and danger await when bloody writing on a wall announces: The Chamber Of Secrets Has Been Opened. To save Hogwarts will require all of Harry, Ron and Hermione’s magical abilities and courage.

Shakespearian Architecture did not like the first Potter film. Indeed, I've been generally unimpressed by all the manufactured Hollywood spectacles that have been moving through the promotional pipeline. So this one caught me unawares. One element of its craft was done so very well, that...


Published March 7, 2025
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Something wicked this way comes.
Filmmaker(s): Alfonso Cuarón

Year three at Hogwarts means new fun and challenges as Harry learns the delicate art of approaching a Hippogriff, transforming shape-shifting Boggarts into hilarity and even turning back time. But the term also brings danger: soul-sucking Dementors hover over the school, an ally of the accursed He-Who-Cannot-Be-Named lurks within the castle walls, and fearsome wizard Sirius Black escapes Azkaban. And Harry will confront them all.

Spaniard in the Works franchise is being managed extremely well, better than any other. The `Lord of the Rings' films were all of a single whole, while these Harry Potter movies are each cognisant of what went before, changing and maturing just as would an...


Published March 7, 2025
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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Dark and difficult times lie ahead.
Filmmaker(s): Mike Newell

When Harry Potter's name emerges from the Goblet of Fire, he becomes a competitor in a grueling battle for glory among three wizarding schools—the Triwizard Tournament. But since Harry never submitted his name for the Tournament, who did? Now Harry must confront a deadly dragon, fierce water demons and an enchanted maze only to find himself in the cruel grasp of He Who Must Not Be Named.

Unmagical bottom line is that the first two films engaged us on the sheer visual invention of the magical world. The third film was a good film as a film, architectural, Sculpted rhythm that matched the physical spaces shown. This one fails on both accounts. Oh,...


Published March 11, 2025
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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
The rebellion begins.
Filmmaker(s): David Yates

Returning for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts, Harry is stunned to find that his warnings about the return of Lord Voldemort have been ignored. Left with no choice, Harry takes matters into his own hands, training a small group of students to defend themselves against the dark arts.

Nothing Up My Sleeve were previous editions of the franchise that I liked. One had a real rhythm; another leveraged architecture in a truly competent way. I suppose if you are invested in the books, this one advances the story a bit: some few revelations; another...


Published March 11, 2025
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
Let the magic begin.
Filmmaker(s): Chris Columbus

Harry Potter has lived under the stairs at his aunt and uncle's house his whole life. But on his 11th birthday, he learns he's a powerful wizard—with a place waiting for him at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As he learns to harness his newfound powers with the help of the school's kindly headmaster, Harry uncovers the truth about his parents' deaths—and about the villain who's to blame.

Hermione's Mouth a long time, we have been warned about what will happen when a couple large companies own all the news, publicity, publishing and film channels. Now, we have the results, a film product that is as moribund as Microsoft software. In both the...


Published March 12, 2025
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Captain America: Civil War (2016)
United we stand. Divided we fall.
Filmmaker(s): Joe Russo, Anthony Russo

Following the events of Age of Ultron, the collective governments of the world pass an act designed to regulate all superhuman activity. This polarizes opinion amongst the Avengers, causing two factions to side with Iron Man or Captain America, which causes an epic battle between former allies.

Dialog matters is the second of the Russo Marvel movies. I find it less tedious than other Marvel movies for two reasons: the dialog is superb, at the level of real films. This spills over to a reasonably successful mix of humour in the fights,...


Published June 17, 2025
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Fountain of Youth (2025)
The best secrets are the hardest to find.
Filmmaker(s): Guy Ritchie

A treasure-hunting mastermind assembles a team for a life-changing adventure. But to outwit and outrun threats at every turn, he'll need someone even smarter than he is: his estranged sister.

Architecture Under normal circumstances, I would warn you away from this. It is an unintegrated collection of elements designed to take a few dollars and hours in exchange for an escape. It supposes to triangulate that zone among ‘Indiana Jones’, ‘National Treasure’, and ‘The DaVinci Code’....


Published June 17, 2025
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Ghost Ship Part 2 (1957)
Filmmaker(s): Sadatsugu Matsuda

As Part I opens, Jubei (Denjiro Okochi), the best of sea skippers, is unable to overcome the stormy seas of Luzon. All hands on board the Kannonmaru were lost except for Shinkei, who alone made his way to land & eventually home to inform his grandson Jiromaru (Kinnosuke Nakamura) that his father Jubei met with disaster. Young Jiromaru tells his grandfather that he doesn't want to be a skipper like his father, but wants to go to Kyoto and become a samurai…

Pirates! Ghosts! Samurai! not sure how much I will be able to devote to a study of Japanese cinema. I am attracted to films that rinse modern concepts through a Shinto lens. So the filmmakers and projects I value are actually few. But you have...


Published June 17, 2025
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Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025)
Our lives are the sum of our choices.
Filmmaker(s): Christopher McQuarrie

Ethan Hunt and team continue their search for the terrifying AI known as the Entity — which has infiltrated intelligence networks all over the globe — with the world's governments and a mysterious ghost from Hunt's past on their trail. Joined by new allies and armed with the means to shut the Entity down for good, Hunt is in a race against time to prevent the world as we know it from changing forever.

Comparative Truths live in era of extreme local situated information. Trump and his ilk exploit this model, refined by Fox News, but I think it is a set of deeper and more global effects. Here’s how it works: If you want certain elements in your...


Published June 26, 2025
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Spellbound (2024)
Experience a twist on happily ever after.
Filmmaker(s): Vicky Jenson

When a powerful spell turns her parents into giant monsters, a teenage princess must journey into the wild to reverse the curse before it's too late.

The Divorce Cartoon one excellent element of this that gives it a two. Whoever designed the blocking/ staging is someone I want to meet again. The way the scenes are ‘shot’, mostly just beyond what a camera can do, and the way the aggressive editing...


Published June 29, 2025
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