For more of my thoughts on the new Harry Potter movie, including who I think are the top 5 actors of the franchise, download episode 2 of my new podcast, The Billy and Bryan Show, available for free on iTunes! While you’re there, download the first episode too! Unlike when I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, aka Hermione Granger and Red Dress of Awesomeness, I somehow managed to keep my awesome British accent in check while walking around in Harry Potter glasses before seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which surprised my friends who were bracing for a night full of cockney from me. Sadly, the red dress of awesomeness was no where to be found in Hermione Granger and the Red Dress of Awesomeness Part 2. But we did get this outfit, so who am I to complain? The new Harry Potter movie was great; the crowd that was in the movie theater with us was not. A big group of us caught it at the Union Square Regal on the Friday night of opening weekend. I found the staff at the Regal to be nice and friendly, but I cannot recommend going there to see a major blockbuster like this on opening weekend. There were about 8 people ahead of us on line on the sidewalk when we were let in, but somehow there was a mass of people already in the theater when we walked in. It seems that Regal had people queuing up on the sidewalk outside, while also having people on line next to the doors of the theater inside, and other people just hanging around inside waiting to pounce once people started being let in. Line management is not their forte. The other major...

Saw the new Harry Potter and are still jonesing for a cast of Brits fighting against the unworldly? Then you need to go see Attack the Block. It was hard to get behind the protagonists initially in Attack of the Block. They start the movie robbing a woman at knife point and follow that up by acting like the loud, obnoxious teenagers that they are. I won’t lie, for a little while I was rooting for the aliens to dismember them and took a fair amount of glee when the aliens took out the teen who I found the most annoying. The aliens aren’t picky about who they kill though; a likable character is just as likely to buy it as a highly unlikeable one. Well, maybe not just as likely, but still very high. The aliens are very cool looking in Attack the Block. They’re these eyeless ape-dog hybrids with rows and rows sharp, iridescent teeth and fur that’s darker than the night. They’re vicious, speedy and deadly, which made for a movie full of great thrills. Nick Frost is hilarious as a constantly stoned pot dealer. I’m used to Nick Frost movies being really funny, but Attack the Block doesn’t have as much humor as Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz did, and if you go to this movie expecting amount of humor from those movies, you might be disappointed. But it works great as a thriller. If you’re a fan of movies like Gremlins or Aliens, I highly recommend it. Catch it while you can in the...

Originally, The Rocky Horror Picture Show was supposed be 1 of the 52 movies I saw in 2010. There are weekly midnight screenings of it at Chelsea’s Clearview on Fridays and Saturdays. Asking people to dress up in skimpy costumes in December seemed cruel though, so I held out until the summer. Plus, if I learned anything from one of my friends, it’s that you can get people to dress up in costume if it’s your birthday. I wanted to dress in costume. I knew people did this from my first exposure to Rocky Horror, an old episode of The Drew Carey Show. I couldn’t decide on a costume though. I put this outing together kind of last minute, so I didn’t have time to get too elaborate. My penchant for wearing costumes that don’t require wearing a shirt had me considering heading to American Apparel for some gold-lame briefs. My next idea was to get silk American flag boxer shorts, a pair of boxing gloves and a fake moustache and go as Apollo Creed from Rocky. I’d walk into the theater, look confused and realize I picked the wrong Rocky. In the end, I decided to go as Brad when I realized I had most of his costume in my apartment already. Ah, the path of least resistance, how I adore thee. The hot June weather would have totally justified going the Brad in his undershorts route, but instead I decided to wear dress pants, a dress shirt and a blue sweater. Because nothing says “Hello, June in New York” like a sweater. I had no tan windbreaker, but figured I looked Brad enough to get by. Before the movie, we hung out at the Trailer Park Bar, picked for its choice location of...

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it out to San Diego for Comic-Con this year. Fortunately, I was glued to the internet all weekend as news was coming down the pipe and have these cool movie bits to share with you. The Avengers movie poster! This A with the arrow logo isn’t there to excite the average film goer. It’s for the diehards, the fanboys, the guys and girls who immediately know what that A with the arrow is as soon as they see it. I’m one of them and I’m excited. And it says Assemble. I’m even more excited! Big thanks to Dave Tomko for leading me to this…the full Avengers team poster! (From bleedingcool.com) Summer 2012 seriously can’t get here soon enough! DC is adapting The Dark Knight Returns into an animated feature! This has the potential of being HUGE…and the potential for being a huge letdown. But man, could you ask for better source material than Frank Miller’s classic from the 1980s. This is to me,  and I’m sure other fans as well, THE Batman story. DC has improved a lot lately with their animated offerings and their latest Batman one, Under the Red Hood, is their best in show. Hopefully they pull out all the stops for The Dark Knight Returns. Needless to say, when this is released, I will definitely be reviewing it. Is it too early to add it to my queue? The surprise at The Amazing Spider-Man movie panel! This was the show stealer at San Diego. If you haven’t watched this clip, WATCH IT NOW! It’s definitely my favorite clip from the con. I can’t wait for next summer’s movies! Between The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man, and The Dark Knight Rises, I am ridiculously psyched for next summer’s...

Just before the lights went down in a theater that had only three people in it, a couple decided that the seats they needed to have were the ones right in front of us. It was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 all over again, except more ridiculous. We waited a minute, got up and sat directly in front of them. I feared this would lead to a leapfrogging in response by the other couple. If they did leapfrog us, we could have leapfrogged them back until we were in the first two rows of the theater, but really we would have just gone back to our original seats, now with them an acceptable three rows away. But they just sat there. It felt awesome. I highly recommend pulling this move if ever confronted with the same situation. I enjoyed The Conspirator. It is definitely better than its score of 56 on Rotten Tomatoes would lead you to believe. It was like watching To Kill a Mockingbird set in the Civil War. James McAvoy plays a retired Union soldier turned lawyer who ends up defending Mary Surratt, the lone woman charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The Conspirator has a very strong cast. Big stars all around. James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Kevin Kline, Tom Wilkinson, Evan Rachel Wood, Justin Long, Colm Meany and Alexis Bledel are all in the movie. The standout performer though might be Justin Long’s moustache, which completely stole every scene it was in. I don’t know if it was real or if it was pasted on, but if it was real, more power to you Mr. Long. That was some crazy moustache. Speaking of moustaches, I noticed that James McAvoy, like me, can’t grow hair...

Unless you’ve been intentionally ignoring the internet today, or are an AT&T wireless customer (zing!), you’ve no doubt seen that Warner Brothers has released the first official teaser poster for the third Nolan-Bale Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. I love this poster. I really like how the Bat Symbol is formed by the crumbling Gotham skyline. What does this image mean? Is Gotham going to be an even more decrepit place than it was in the last two movies? But wait, the Bat Symbol is a beautiful, blue sky. Does this mean that the Gotham of old has to be torn down, both figuratively and literally, for Batman’s goal of a brighter, safer Gotham to be realized? I see this Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 poster every day on the side of a bus during my daily commute, and every time I look at it, it just looks weird to be. What’s up with Voldemort’s face? Why does it look like he’s belting out an aria? Judging by Harry’s reaction, Voldemort is tone deaf. THE NEXT POSTER IS DEFINITELY NSFW. IF YOU’RE AT THE OFFICE OR AROUND LITTLE KIDS, MAYBE YOU SHOULDN’T SCROLL DOWN. In case you were wondering whether or not the American version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo would have nudity in it, wonder no more, as even the poster for the movie has nudity in it. Your eyes don’t deceive you; that’s a nipple.  I’m putting the chances of you encountering this poster at a theater in the US at somewhere around zero. I’ve been to Europe a few times and never saw a movie poster with nudity there, but my experiences with seeing European movie posters was limited to public plazas and mass transit stations. I’ve...