Best place(s) for a comprehensive movie review as far ahead as possible?

[emeleel]

I dunno if there's anything like this out there, I'm not much of a movie person.

But, I'm looking for a fairly comprehensive review of the next Harry Potter movie, which opens in 15 days, as soon as would be normally available. I would love to take the kids, but I'm concerned (as any good parent would be) about the scariness factors in it. (Sean is 8 1/2, Erin is 5 1/2)

I want to know as close to the release date as possible, in this case, because if I take them, I want to take them that Friday or Saturday. Sean is taking a "class" at a local college the week following, and guess what topic he picked? So I'd love for him to be able to see the movie before the class so he can be right up on things with the other kids.

Normally I'd just wait a few days past the national release, read up on Screenit.com, but in this case the timing throws things off. Any pointers would be appreciated!

[frazzledspice]

Might it be released in England earlier? If so, maybe you could read a British review of it.

A good parent-friendly movie reviewer is Nell Minow, "Movie Mom." She used to have her own website, "MovieMom.com" but she's now been contracted out to Yahoo.

http://movies.yahoo.com/moviemom/

If you look at this site, you can see a trailer and summaries of the movie:

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0304141/

[drmomentum[$]]

"ScreenIt" ( http://www.screenit.com/search_movies.html )

They're pretty detailed in their descriptions regarding whether a film will be child-friendly or not. They even note whethe the movie has "jump" scenes (scenes that make you jump).

I don't know how far in advance, though. Probably not too far. Still, it's an excellent resource.

-JP

[Redlass]

Don't throw tomatoes, but...

What about Epinions? There are usually reviewers there who are able to get into pre-screenings and they typically post their reviews very quickly to be among the first.

[emeleel]

Yep, seen the trailers and whatnot. Re-read the book, too. (I'd forgotten about the succession of creepy nasty things in the boggart lesson in DADA class - that's one thing I want to know if it's in the movie. I know Ron's giant spider is there, and of course Snape in the grandma get-up. But I want to know if the other things ended up in the movie, too.)

Good idea about trying for British sites, I'll give that a looksee. Thanks for the other link, too!

[emeleel]

Yep, I know about Screenit. I love their work, but like you say, I don't know how far in advance they are able to see movies.

Don't throw tomatoes, but...

Duck! Splat!

Yes, I thought about Eps, I'm just not sure I feel like checking in every few hours to see if a review is posted or not. But I may give it a try.

Thanks everyone!

[CurtisEdmonds]

Rotten Tomatoes, of course.

If you can get me a screener, I'll do a review ASAP.

[frazzledspice]

Well, June 4 is the earliest release date worldwide, so looking at international news sources won't pan out.

June 4, 2004: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Russia, UK, USA
June 10, 2004: Australia, Czech Republic
June 17, 2004: New Zealand
June 18, 2004: Bulgaria
June 25, 2004: Spain
June 26, 2004: Japan
July 15, 2004: Hong Kong
August 6, 2004: Norway

[emeleel]

Rotten Tomatoes? Check. :thumbs:

[emeleel]

Finally found most of the answers I was looking for - kept hunting around, and stumbled across the "Mugglenet" Harry Potter fan website. Some of the members there made to the premiere and have been answering questions.

Apparently, the worst of the lot in terms of real scariness is when Lupin transforms to the werewolf. Gets pretty up close and intense, I understand. Everything else is fairly creepy, but most kids didn't have a problem with it. So I think we'll be okay, as long as I prepare my kids ahead of time.

Thanks for all the feedback!

[frazzledspice]

Movie Mom gives it an "A" and says it can be recommended for kids 10 and up.

http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf...&id=1808404334

The Christian review, from Preview Online, decries its emphasis on divination, incantations and dark themes.

http://www.gospelcom.net/preview/freerev2.php3?2592

It's the shortest Potter so far, only 2 hours and 10 minutes.

[emeleel]

LOL, I'm not a bit surprised about the 2nd review. That's exactly the way my mother feels about the whole HP phenomenon.

Thanks for the post to the other one, too. LOL - I'm *still* trying to make up my mind! Yes, my middle name ought to be "Waffle".

Guess what's playing on the telly as I type? Movie #1

[erik_kosberg]

Film Freak Central:
http://www.filmfreakcentral.net/scre...rofazkaban.htm