No Potter For November

Warner Brothers have made an executive decision to move the release date of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from November this year to the summer of 2009. Damn, the prices of tickets better not inflate over the next nine months.

The reason? It’s partly due to the writer’s strike early this year which left alot of empty holes for next year’s slate of movies. Them writers were not at hand to write movies thus causing some or most movies supposed to be release in 2009 shelved. Therefore, Harry Potter is Warner Brothers’ answer to filling up the aforementioned gap for their studio in 2009.

In addition, moving Harry Potter to 2009 makes Warner Brothers’ earnings look good for that year. Then you may ask, what about 2008? Won’t 2008’s earnings be sacrificed when a big earner like Harry Potter is pushed to the next year? Well, you overlooked The Dark Knight, Warner Brothers’ cash cow for the 2008. So, 2008 already look good for Warner Brothers even without the might of Harry Potter.

That’s all for this news update which contains some of my thoughts. Wait for my next post which is a review on WALL·E!

Films To Watch As 2008 Comes To An End

2008 is not a particularly memorable year in movies compared to 2007 (except for The Dark Knight and Ironman). However, there are a few films that will stand out due to hype or quality or draw as 2009 draws closer. The following are films I will watch (or try to in all my power) for the next 4 months:

1. Righteous Kill (Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in a freaking movie!)
2. Burn After Reading (a comedy crime starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney, helmed by the Coen brothers, last year’s Academy Award’s Best Director(s) for the Best Picture, No Country For Old Men. Damn, they are fast! One year after No Country For Old Men, there’s already another film by them!)
3. Blindness (starring Julianne Moore, helmed by somebody most people won’t know but that guy’s good)
4. Max Payne (a game I freaking worshipped! Starring Mark Wahlberg and LUDACRIS???!??!)
5. W. (a biopic on George W. Bush by Oliver Stone starring Josh Brolin, the main dude from No Country For Old Men)
6. Quantum of Solace (direct sequel to Casino Royale)
7. Harry Potter 6 (need any introduction?)
8. The Spirit (Frank Miller’s directorial debut. He’s the guy whose graphic novels were adapted into the movies Sin City and 300. He co-directed Sin City so he should be fine or even better here)
9. Revolutionary Road (DiCaprio and Winslet back again for Sam Mendes’s (American Beauty director) latest outing)
10. Tropic Thunder (Robert Downey Jr. freaking played a Daniel Day-Lewis satire in this!! I must watch!!)

Half of these movies won’t make it to Malaysia though (censorship and money-making issues) so I would probably download them next year in order to catch them.

EDIT: I forgot about WALL·E. It will be released in Malaysia soon enough.