Walking the Harry Potter Line

Because of the respite from work, I watched two movies on consecutive nights.

• If Joaquin Phoenix does not win an Academy Award this year for his role of Johnny Cash in Walk The Line, I'll chalk it up to Oscar politics as usual. But, if Joaquin Phoenix does not get nominated for his work, I'll personally call Oliver Stone and ask, no beg him to direct the Joaquin-Phoenix-got-jilted-by-the-Academy conspiracy movie. Phoenix's performance is superb. And, unlike Jamie Foxx in Ray, Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon do all the singing with dead-on accuracy. The movie director painstakingly researched Cash's life and the result is a good story: Cash failing to get full support from his first wife as his career begins to go full throttle, Cash dealing with an unsupportive, undermining former alcoholic of a father, and Johnny and June discovering at the end of the movie that perhaps they were meant to be soulmates. I expect, no I demand that Phoenix's and Witherspoon's name be listed on all ballots during awards season this spring.



• Meanwhile, the fourth Harry Potter movie is the best yet. Now, I have only read one of the books, a fact I'm not proud of. So when I discuss anything Harry Potter, I am strictly talking about the movies. That being said, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the most tense, most dark yet. I think this movie serves as a perfect bridge for Harry's further encounters with "You-know-who," which we'll probably see more fully in the next couple of movies. A fun movie to watch, especially when the movie theatre is full.

On a side note: the theater played the new "Superman" movie trailer. I kept asking myself as the trailer played: "Is that Marlon Brando's voice I hear or do I need to get my ears checked?"