Well, you have to give The Woman in Black one thing; she did provide a few jump-worthy moments (lord knows she was trying). But then there’s the other 90 minutes (out of 93)…a flat 90 minutes. And we’re not talking about her chest…though she was kind of cute for dead chick.

Despite all the creepy set pieces, this is just another generic horror flick. Except this one has Harry Potter himself in the lead role, Daniel Radcliffe. While he, and the rest of the cast (Ciaran Hinds and Jane McTeer are the only other prevalent performers), gave decent performances – especially considering this is a horror product – this type of haunted tale just seems dated after the last decade (Tooth Fairy, The Messengers, The Fog remake, etc.). Translation: boring.

It’s a story set in the early 1900s in a remote British village. Radcliffe plays a young lawyer who has to settle the affairs of a massive estate that is located off on a nearby island. The townspeople warn him to just go back to London but the guy feels the need to investigate what happened to the family that once lived in the giant recluse mansion. As he spends time going through old documents, he learns of a terrible tragedy revolving around a mother and her deceased son, which ended up driving her to suicide. However, she is somehow still lurking around.

As mentioned, there were a few scenes that will surely get the audience to jump yet there was opportunity for so much more. For instance, one sequence had Radcliffe falling asleep at a desk and a ghostly figure began creeping up from behind down a long hallway. The filmmakers give us the ghost’s perspective here and just go through the motions of a slow stalk accompanied by an eerie musical score. Well how many times have we’ve seen that before? Instead, while they’re still presumably telling the story through the ghost’s eyes at this moment, they should have had her step into that shot right behind Radcliffe to throw the audiences expectations off. Now this comes from a guy (me) who prides himself on knowing the horror genre, so this sequence will probably have the ability to build suspense with other spectators; but again, it’s nothing the casual horror fan has not seen before. And the payoff is usually a letdown.

Then there’s the stupidity angle that could drive some audience members nuts. Radcliffe’s more-or-less depressed character is underdeveloped. He does well with it, but his actions can be perplexing based on the situation he finds himself in. Once the haunting portion begins in this cluttered English mansion (twisted looking dolls and paintings are all over the place – actually looks like the house from Interview with a Vampire), it does not phase Radcliffe one bit. The guy is apparently too numb to be shaken by what is happening to him, but again (and again), the script never fully sells why he would choose to stay and deal with the supernatural happenings (objects moving, entities appear right in front of him, etc.). The dude looks as lost as the story.

Now atmosphere can play a huge role in these types of films and the environment does allow the story to breathe just a bit. Yet after everything, that is fairly obvious, is exposed, the final conclusion is less than satisfying.

Overall, The Woman in Black has the right look but when she opens her mouth, her physical attributes are negligible for most of the way. Although she has some nice moves here and there that can get you going, there’s a good chance you won’t be calling her back and will more than likely be deleting her from your life. And yes, I’m still talking about the movie.

RATING: 2 out of 5

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The Woman in Black, an adaptation of the London stage play starring Daniel Radcliffe, will be distributed by CBS Films in the US and they’ve released a short sneak peek which contains some new footage not seen in previous UK trailers.

The dark and haunting atmosphere is still there (as is the creepy rocking chair), and we see brief scenes involving the supporting cast (namely Ciarán Hinds and Sophie Stuckey).

Watch below:

The movie follows a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe), who is ordered to travel to a remote village and sort out a recently deceased client’s papers. As he works alone in the client’s isolated house, Kipps begins to uncover tragic secrets, and his unease grows when he glimpses a mysterious woman dressed only in black.

Ciarán Hinds (Dumbledore’s brother in Deathly Hallows: Part II) will play the local landowner who counsels Arthur Kipps as he investigates this Victorian mystery. Janet McTeer (Tideland) will play Hinds’ on-screen wife, while Sophie Stuckey play’s Radcliffe’s.

James Watkins is directing from a script by Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass, Stardust) and The Woman in Black will be released February 2012.

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After spending more than a decade in the largest action/fantasy franchise of all time Daniel Radcliffe has decided to switch genres, and will next star in horror The Woman in Black, an adaptation of the stage play which has been running in London since 1989.

Back in April we got a teaser trailer, and now the first full trailer has been released. It’s quite creepy.

Watch below:

The movie follows a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe), who is ordered to travel to a remote village and sort out a recently deceased client’s papers. As he works alone in the client’s isolated house, Kipps begins to uncover tragic secrets, and his unease grows when he glimpses a mysterious woman dressed only in black.

Ciarán Hinds (Dumbledore’s brother in Deathly Hallows: Part II) will play the local landowner who counsels Arthur Kipps as he investigates this Victorian mystery. Janet McTeer (Tideland) will play Hinds’ on-screen wife.

James Watkins is directing from a script by Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass, Stardust) and The Woman in Black will be released February 2012.

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Until about three weeks ago, I had no relationship with the Harry Potter franchise. Never read the books, never saw any of the movies. So I decided to catch up with all of the older movies and see the final film in theaters. And though some of those earlier films are hit-and-miss, I don’t regret my decision at all; the entire experience was unquestionably worth it just to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 wrap up this series in such an impressive way. People (myself included) throw around the word “epic” fairly often, but this movie is deserving of that description, instantly becoming my favorite of this franchise.

[It's nearly impossible to review this movie - or the entire Potter series, for that matter - without at least acknowledging the similarities to Lord of the Rings, another wildly successful franchise with a "hero's journey" story at its core. To list every similarity would be counterproductive for the purposes of this review, but suffice it to say there are many.]

Deathly Hallows: Part 2 picks up immediately where Part 1 left off, and thankfully has far more action and importance than its neutered predecessor. To the cynical outsider looking in, it would appear that Warner Bros. split the last book into two movies for no other reason than to make more money (a task at which Part 2 has excelled so far). But I’m actually glad they went down that path, considering how Part 2 feels like it’s stuffed to the brim as it is; audiences surely would have been cheated out of this film’s awesomeness if the writer had to cram the dullness of Part 1 into the same film. As long as Part 2 delivers – and trust me, it does – then I think it’s justifiable that we suffered through the spinning wheels of Part 1 as a pure setup for this finale.

Steve Kloves, who wrote the screenplays for all of the movies except for Order of the Phoenix (my previous favorite of the series, coincidentally), did a great job wrapping everything up and bringing closure to a series that spanned such a lengthy amount of time. Even among the minor characters, no one felt shortchanged, and the Big Three of Harry, Ron, and Hermione were given the send-off they deserved. The flashback sequence was a particularly inspired bit of writing (taken, I’m sure, from Rowling’s original novel), allowing for the dramatic reveal of Snape’s past. And to avoid spoilers, I’ll simply say I really enjoyed the way the elbents of the Deathly Hallows were used in the story.

The younger cast members improved dramatically during their ten year run bringing these characters to life, and this was a high point for each of them. I can’t wait to watch the trajectories of the main casts’ careers move forward from here; Radcliffe, in particular, I can envision becoming a Ron Howard-type: someone raised in front of the camera, but evolving into a serviceable filmmaker in his own right. I also loved seeing lower-tier characters like Neville Longbottom make an impact here in Part 2, coming full circle from his introduction as the laughable loser back in The Sorcerer’s Stone. The arcs of the Malfoys – both young and old - were also fun to watch as the movies progressed. (Villains who are THAT dramatic are always awesome.) One thing is for sure: now that this franchise is finished, cinema has lost one of the finest ensemble casts ever committed to film. It’s hard to beat names like Gary Oldman, Jason Issacs, Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, John Hurt, Jim Broadbent, Warwick Davis, and Emma Thompson when they join forces.

The visual effects in this movie were top notch, an unlike so many effects-heavy movies these days, these never elicited winces or scoffs from the audience. Director David Yates’ team worked wonders here, honing The Battle of Hogwarts into one of the best set pieces of the year. Yates’ vision has stayed consistent both with movies he’s helmed and the ones he hasn’t, recreating sets in Part 2 (the Chamber of Secrets, Gringotts, etc.) and in the process providing a great sense of geography and familiarity with the world of Harry Potter.

There’s not much else I can say without giving away massive plot points, but I think Tyler (my co-host on The Not Just New Movies Podcast) and I are planning some sort of retrospective discussion on the entire Harry Potter franchise sometime soon, so keep a lookout for that in the coming weeks. It’ll take a bit of reflection for me to be able to rank the Harry Potter films alongside my favorite movies, but as far as epic hero stories go, this saga is pretty damn impressive. Until next time…

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Emma Watson attended the 2011 MTV Movie Awards yesterday and presented a clip from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. I’m sure Warner Bros. had many available clips to show, but they decided to air Voldemort’s confrontation with Harry in the forest.

Watch below:

In the film, once again directed by David Yates, Harry, Ron, and Hermione return to Hogwarts after months on the run in the wilderness with the aim of finding, and destroying, Voldemorts final horcruxes. Voldemort finds out about their mission and the biggest battle of their lives begins as the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters descend upon Hogwarts.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 will be released July 15th.

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Today sees the release of both a new image and a new poster for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. The image above comes from Entertainment Weekly and gives us our first look at Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith) since Half-Blood Prince, and she is leading numerous Weasleys and Hogwarts students in the (destroyed) Great Hall.

Warner Bros. also released a new poster which features Mr. Potter himself:

In the film, once again directed by David Yates, Harry, Ron, and Hermione return to Hogwarts after months on the run in the wilderness with the aim of finding, and destroying, Voldemorts final horcruxes. Voldemort finds out about their mission and the biggest battle of their lives begins as the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters descend upon Hogwarts.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 will be released July 15th and we should be getting a new trailer soon. In the meantime, here’s the one we got last month.

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After spending more than a decade in the largest action/fantasy franchise of all time Daniel Radcliffe has decided to try his hand at different genres. He is currently starring in the Broadway musical How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and last year he filmed Hammer Films adaptation of The Woman in Black.

The stage play of The Woman in Black has been running in London since 1989, so it should generate a lot of interest in the UK. Today IGN release the first teaser trailer for the film, and it really is a teaser.

Watch below:

The movie follows a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe), who is ordered to travel to a remote village and sort out a recently deceased client’s papers. As he works alone in the client’s isolated house, Kipps begins to uncover tragic secrets, and his unease grows when he glimpses a mysterious woman dressed only in black.

Ciarán Hinds (who will be seen with Radcliffe as Dumbledore’s brother in Deathly Hallows: Part II) will play the local landowner who counsels Arthur Kipps as he investigates this Victorian mystery. Janet McTeer (Tideland) will play Hinds’ on-screen wife.

James Watkins is directing from a script by Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass, Stardust) and The Woman in Black will be released 10 February, 2012 in the UK.

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Back in May the cast and crew of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II got a bit of attention as they were filming at Kings Cross station in London. Due to the public setting images of Daniel Radcliffe, Bonnie Wright, Tom Felton, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson looking much older appeared online, and fans worked out that they were shooting the final scenes of the Harry Potter saga.

It seems the chaos and limited time in which they had to shoot didn’t result in the best ending possible, so director David Yates and the gang will be re-shooting parts of scene in the comfort of Leavesden Studios.

From HitFix:

“We are re-shooting some parts of it,” Radcliffe confirms. “It was an interesting one. I think we made it very hard on ourselves because we shot it at King’s Cross for real. And this time we’ll be shooting it at Leavesden on set. To have to rush that sequence and it’s an important sequence, is not something any of us want to do.

Radcliffe continued and reiterated, “It’s a train station and people actually needed to use that platform. We made it very hard on ourselves and we really want a slightly slower, more measured pace next time.”

Co-star Emma Watson later confirmed how difficult it was to shoot the scenes in a real station, describing it as a “stressful one.”

“I mean, you can imagine, we stopped trains when they said we could do the scene. I mean, we are special – we are ‘Harry Potter,’” Watson says in an intentionally sarcastic and light-hearted tone. “We only had two days to shoot it and we needed so much more time than that. We have reshoots at Christmas.”

The scene, which catches up with the trio many years after the events of Deathly Hallows, will most likely be the final scene of the whole franchise so they obviously want to get it right, and they will be able to do that back in a controlled environment.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 will be released in less than a weeks time, on November 19th, and Part 2 will be released July 2011.

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Yahoo! has released what will likely be the first of many behind the scenes featurettes for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. This video is called ‘Epic Finale’ and begins with a montage of footage from the previous films, followed by a closer look at Part I.

We get to see a few new shots including more of Hagrid and Harry trying to escape from the Death Eaters, and we also get our first (blink and you’ll miss it) look at Neville on-board the Hogwarts Express.

Watch below:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is released on November 19th.

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This is genius. Daniel Radcliffe, next seen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, will be making a guest appearance in an upcoming episode of The Simpsons but he will not be playing himself nor Harry Potter. Instead, Radcliffe will be voicing Edmund the vampire, a clear spoof of Twilight and Robert Pattinson’s character Edward Cullen.

Spoiler TV got the first image of the character, which you can see above.

The episode, titled Treehouse of Horror XXI will air on Fox in the US on November 7th. Here’s the synopsis for the episode:

Beware of ouija boards, vampires, and unexpected guests in the 21st annual installment of the “Treehouse of Horror.” In “War and Pieces,” the first of three spine-tingling tales, Marge (Julie Kavner), worried about the effects of excessively violent video games, encourages Bart (Nancy Cartwright) and Milhouse (Pamela Hayden) to give wholesome, classic board games a shot. The best friends discover that board games aren’t boring after all when they find themselves playing a real-life game in which they must beat all the challenges before they are allowed to return to home.

The supernatural spells continue in “Tweenlight,” when Lisa (Yeardley Smith) becomes smitten with a mysterious new student, Edmund (guest voice Daniel Radcliffe), who also happens to be a vampire. When a romance blossoms, the young lovers run away to Dracula-la Land, leaving Homer (Dan Castellaneta) to come to Lisa’s rescue.

In the final frightening fable, “Master and Cadaver,” Homer and Marge set sail on a romantic second honeymoon, but are interrupted when they rescue Roger (guest voice Hugh Laurie), a castaway who escaped an attempted poisoning on his ship. Convinced that Roger is sabotaging their getaway and plotting a murder of his own, Homer and Marge take matters into their own hands.

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