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lindsayleighh
Reviews
Instant Star (2004)
A Good Show for Teens
I've read some of the other comments about this show, where people complain about how the characters are constantly making out, or how the lead is an airhead. Clearly, these people have never seen this show. Instant Star is not about making out, or using people to make it to the top. It is about struggle. About how you have to work at stuff to make it happen.
Jude Harrison wins the Instant Star competition at age 15. She clashes with her producer, Tom Quincy, formerly Lil' Tommy Q of the hottest boy band ever. She struggles to remain true to herself, despite what her label wants. She falls in love with Tommy, has her heart broken, and gets back up. Jude Harrison is not an airhead. She is smart, and she does stay true to herself. You find yourself rooting for her to win.
Is there making out? Well, what show doesn't have it? Is it constant? No. Jude has boyfriends. Jude kisses said boyfriends. You would too. Another complaint that is lodged in my head is "you never see them at school, or doing schoolwork." That is not true at all. In season 1, Kat struggles with physics. In season 2, Jude fails a test. You see them at school. It's another thing that Jude has to deal with.
All in all, this is a good show. It is about struggle. Maybe it pushes reality a bit, but so do other shows. Jude Harrison, now 17, is a good person. This is a good show for teens to watch. In the end, what's important is what you think. As Tommy says "Don't ever ask permission to like your music", and that's applicable to everything. It can be interpreted as "Don't ask permission to like yourself", and I think that's a great lesson. Watch away, teens.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Well, better than the others...
In general, this movie was better than the others. The tasks were amazing to watch. The Yule Ball was done nicely. I'm upset by the lack of Dursley's, and the non-existent Quidditch World Cup, but I understand that certain things needed to be cut.
However, there are many things I did not like. For example, Michael Gambon's Dumbledore. In POA, I thought he was good, but in this movie, he annoyed me. He yelled way too much, when Dumbledore is supposed to be calm. He shook Harry (and in Order of the Phoenix, yells at Umbridge for doing the same thing), and in general, he lacks a proper Dumbledore attitude. Do I think that he can achieve a perfect Dumbledore? Yes, I believe he can, but he needs to work on it.
The next thing on my list of annoyances was Voldemort. I also thought that he yelled way too much. I missed the talk with the death eaters about immortality, as I believe that is one of the most crucial things in this book. I loved his costume and how it billowed about him. I also thing that with some understanding of the books, Ralph Fiennes will make a very evil Voldemort.
The last thing I'll mention is Sirius. I thought he played a fairly crucial part in the book, and was very sad to see his small part in the movie. I had hoped that Sirius would become more active, and I believe that he absolutely has to in the next film. Of course, he will play a very important part next time, so I'm really hoping for more time with Gary Oldman in the next one!
Other than those things, I thought this movie was as good as it could be for such a long book. I appreciate how closely they tried to stick to the book, and hope that they make some small adjustments to the next ones.