Harry Potter

First impressions of upcoming movies, based on trailer (Click on the title to watch the high-resolution trailer: You may need QuickTime for most). Release dates are subject to change. --Ellen

Duplicity (dir. Tony Gilroy): After playing cheating spouses in Closer, Julia Roberts and Clive Owen re-team as ex-spies and ex-lovers for this con film by Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton). Given that it also stars Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti, I was all set for a shaky-camera/gritty drama (Gilroy is also the writer of the Bourne films) but halfway through... whoa, it's a comedy! It's like Mr. and Mrs. Smith without blowing up the house! It'll be interesting to see if the wink-wink banter works here, but I'm a believer in Gilroy (not to mention the two pretty leads), so I'll bite. (Mar. 20)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (dir. David Yates): I admit, I can no longer remember what happened in Order of the Phoenix as it was the least memorable book and movie for me. And in an alternate universe where Warner did not push this movie to next summer and opened last weekend as planned, we'd all be talking about it now instead of that one about vampires that would've been opening in another three weeks (Instead it moved into HP's slot). The newest trailer covers less about the story than the first one, just offers more comedic moments, the usual flash of characters and Jim Broadbent as Prof. Horace Slughorn.  (Jul. 17)

The Wrestler (dir. Darren Aronofsky): You may have heard something in the trades linking "Mickey Rourke" and "Oscar" and thought someone was playing a prank. But it's true; after winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, Aronofsky's tale of a down-on-his-luck wrestler with one more chance at glory is putting Rourke on the Best Actor shortlist with Milk's Sean Penn. And why? Watch the trailer. Watch Rourke's face, once handsome and now weathered and leathered, so vulnerable, pitiful, and hopeful at once, and try not to be moved. (Dec. 17)

Gran Torino (dir. Clint Eastwood): That sneaky Clint Eastwood. Just as he did two years ago making Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima back to back, he's gone and quietly made Gran Torino while everyone was flapping about the Angelina Jolie-starrer Changeling. Here, Eastwood also stars as a racist, grizzled Korean war vet who becomes an unintentional protector to a Hmong family next door who are threatened by a gang. And you can bet, all these decades later, seeing Clint (now 78 years old) squint at you and make a gun with his thumb and forefinger, you're still gonna pee your pants a little. Have they figured out how to clone this guy yet? (Dec. 17)

Up (dir. Pete Docter): As a Pixar fan, I am a little tired of new Pixar trailers starting with a lot of clips from all the old Pixar movies. (We get it, you guys rock, move on!) Maybe they just didn't have enough footage to fill out this teaser, which is about an ol' grumpy man (voiced by Ed Asner) who ties thousands of balloons to his home to fulfill his dream of floating to South America. Strangely, this guy is supposed to be 78 years old and looks nothing like Clint Eastwood. (May 29)

In this week's roundup, we learn the winners of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, think about black-and-white books, and contemplate a Harry Potter all-breakdancing musical:

What do Harry Potter, Michael Jackson's "Thriller," and Wal-Mart have in common? So I'm just going to ask this once: What more do I need to say to convince you to watch a video clip other than "Dumbledore breakdances at 5:05"? Like almost every video on the Internet (the Mexican Cat Dance excluded), it's probably a little too long--but you really need to see this gloriously weird bit of amateur Harry Potter-ified political activist video:

(Thank you to the ever-awesome Fuse #8 for the tip!)

New Notes from the Horn Book. Roger Sutton notes the new Notes from the Horn Book. He too modestly plugs "[a]n interview with Mini Grey, books about heroes, villains, talking dinosaurs, and more. Subscribe now and tell your friends." The interview alone is worth your time, in which Grey (Traction Man Meets Turbo Dog) reveals herself to be an apologist for plastic and talks about a train operated by her two-year-old that delivers raspberries to her kitchen.

The new Notes also mentions another book that's popular at our house, Dinosaur vs. Bedtime. Although, while that little dinosaur is an extremely cute roar-er, Oliver still wins this year's "Best Cute Roar in a Picture Book" award at our house. (One of Silas' first animal noises was the answer to "What does Oliver say?" "ROAR!")

Roald Dahl Funny Prize winners! It seems like only yesterday we mentioned the shortlists for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, an award for "the most hilarious children's authors." But we already have winners!

With thanks to achockablog, these are them:

Ages 6 and under: The Witch's Children Go to School
Ages 7 to 14: Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear

Forever Young review and a deep thought. Kid-lit blog 100 Scope Notes reviewed the Bob Dylan picture book Forever Young this week, and he made what I think is a pretty smart and novel observation:

I see this one getting a lot of looks come high school graduation time, as a new alternative to the Oh the Places You’ll Go buyers. I can’t count myself among those who advocate picture book gifts for young adults (unless they are aspiring children’s librarians), but that’s the audience that will be most in Forever Young's wheelhouse. Very nice to look at, and a great song, but the message and meaning will be largely lost on young readers.

Whatever its target, it's a very enjoyable book--which you can get a good feel for from the trailer he points out:

The best black-and-white books. Author and blogger Gail Gauthier was recently praising the beautiful Cat and Fish (which was followed by Cat and Fish Go to See), and when she started poking around to learn more about it, she discovered this great post from pixie stix kids pix that listed a dozen recommendations (and more, counting ones from readers) for remarkable books with black and white illustration. Now I need to get my hands on a copy of 365 Penguins (based on reviews by both pixie stix and, on NPR, Daniel Pinkwater)!

Three quick Harry Potter-related links:

• JK Rowling reflects on her favorite--sorry, favourite--scene from the books (via Bookninja)
  
• the far-reaching Harry Potter Lexicon case gets appealed, and former lawyer and current kid-lit blogger Liz B. edifies us on the implications
  
• the spooky new Half-Blood Prince trailer is out (hat tip to our own Omnivoracious... thanks, Brad!)
  

Harry Potter fan-sites got a very special delivery from Hogwarts today with a sneak-peek at the new trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. And it seems appropriate that the trailer will make its big-screen debut next week in front of Twilight, who zoomed into the Half-Blood Prince's original pre-Thanksgiving release date when the Potter pic moved to Summer 2009. [via Leaky Cauldron]

--BTP