after having read the book, i was really looking forward to seeing the film adaptation of "the time traveler's wife".  one thing you need to know right up front, it is a bit confusing.  but that is no fault of the film, it's just the nature of the story.  all in all, the film did a very good job of explaining the peculiarities of the lead character's time traveling ways.  the film stars eric bana and the apparent star of all past & future romantic films, rachel mcadams ("the notebook").  is it a great film?  certainly not.  but if you're looking for a sweet, romantic film, this will fill the bill.  the basic gist of it is that the time traveler, henry (bana) suffers from "chrono-impairment", which sends him hurtling through past, present and future without notice.  he first meets clare (mcadams) when she is a young girl.  one thing the film accomplishes that the book does not is that uncomfortableness of this grown man who is in love with the woman who eventually becomes his wife.  there were definitely bits of the book that never made it into the film, a few that i missed, but a few others that i did not.  don't look for some academy award winning film here, but it is definitely an enjoyable way to spend 2 hours.  and for those familiar with the book who may be wondering about the level of nudity portrayed in the film, it is minimal at best.  not a film that would be enjoyed by young children, but not so offensive that teens could not go see it.

the hogwarts crew is at it again, this time in the latest film "harry potter & the half-blood prince".  first of all let me say, good lord this film is LONG.  but that's alright, because it's definitely a lot of fun.  at this point, it has been so long ago that i read the books that i have essentially forgotten a lot of the crucial plot details.  i have to wonder though, if you haven't read the books, or seen the previous films, would you fully understand what is going on in the film.  all that aside, i think even a potter neophyte would enjoy this film.  what i DO remember from the book is that i anticipated the scene in the lake cavern was going to scare me.  and while on a scare level, it's definitely not "nightmare on elm street", but the people in the theatre definitely jumped when things got crazy.  shmoo did not accompany me to this film, deeming it "too scary".  in fact, she's only seen the first film, and even that she only saw in the safety of her own living room.  it's definitely not too scary for young kids, unless your child is like mine and won't even go on the "peter pan" ride at disneyland because it's dark inside.