The Bridge to the End: "Half-Blood Prince" helps guide Potter fans to the final films

Jenny, Harry, and Hermione (right) try to calm the nerves of Ron (left) as he gets ready for his first Quidditch match as goal keeper (Photo Courtesy of Warner Bros.)

The wait is finally over! After an 8-month delay in releasing the film, Warner Bros. finally opened "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" to the world Wednesday, July 15.

In his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft, not all is well in the wizard and muggle worlds as Lord Voldemort and his henchmen are increasingly active, seeking to find the person that will carry out the most treacherous deed: to kill Professor Dumbledore. With vacancies to fill at Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore persuades Horace Slughorn, back from retirement to become the potions teacher all the while knowing that Slughorn is hiding a deep, dark secret. Professor Snape receives long awaited news from the dark lord and takes an unbreakable oath. Is Snape who Harry thought he was in the beginning or is he an ally that will do anything for Harry including sacrificing his own life? Meanwhile, Harry Potter, together with Dumbledore, must face treacherous tasks to defeat Lord Voldemort and save the world from dark magic.

The Good

• The movie really flowed well. The acting by the usual three: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, was fantastic. By the end of this series, they deserve some recognition for their fine acting.
  
• Michael Gambon played Prof. Dumbledore brilliantly for the fourth time in this series. I have to admit, in the "Prisoner of Azkaban" I was not looking forward to him. Sir Richard Harris was amazing before his death in the early 2000's. But Gambon grows on you and he really made the role his own - even if he never read any of the books.
  

The Bad

• The PG-rating was a joke. I mean this book was dark, scary and should have been made that way. At least a strong PG-13 rating.
  
• The running time was not too long but with all the necessary components in the book, it could have gone on 15 more minutes at least.
  

Rating: Solid 3 Stars out of 4 - More like a bridge between the "Order of the Phoenix" and the 2-part "Deathly Hollows" movies. Was different from other "Potter" films but was great nonetheless. IMAX 3-D on July 29 will take this movie to a different light I am sure.

Action-packed "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is a thrill in IMAX

Megan Fox and Shia LaBouf reprise their roles in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"(Photo Courtesy of Dreamworks Pictures)

The Transformers are back. The highly successful first film in 2006 that launched the careers of Shia LaBouf and Megan Fox, has returned for a second installment titled "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."

The battle for Earth has ended but the battle for the universe has just begun. After returning to Cybertron, Starscream assumes command of the Decepticons, and has decided to return to Earth with force. The Autobots believing that peace was possible finds out that Megatron's dead body has been stolen from the US Military by Skorpinox and revives him using his own spark. Now Megatron is back seeking revenge and with Starscream and more Decepticon reinforcements on the way, the Autobots with reinforcements of their own, may have more to deal with then meets the eye.

The Good

• The action was non-stop and was amazing in IMAX. The clarity of picture and sound make it a fantastic experience.
  
• LaBouf and Fox are perfect for the roles of Sam and Mikaela, but I think the person that stole the show was John Turturro as Agent Simmons. His comedic charm and smarts make his character well-rounded.
  
• The story was fairly easy to follow and even people who missed the first one could catch up.
  
• Megan Fox was very easy on the eyes and was definitely "sexed up" for all the males in the audience in this version.
  
  The Bad
  
• The running time of the movie is a bit long at 2 hours 36 minutes. Could have cut some scenes out.
  
• The conflict was resolved way too quickly. Bulding up for over 2 1/2 hours only to have the movie end within five minutes was not very good.
  
  

Rating: Solid 3 Stars out of 4 - If you are in the mood for action-packed fights between robots or looking at Megan Fox for 2 hours + then this is the movie for you. Already over the $300 million mark in the U.S., "Transformers 2" is the biggest of the summer with "Harry Potter" right on its tail.

Summer Movie Season 2009 Halftime Review

Even with the worst reviews of the year, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is this summer's top grossing movie to date with a whopping $300 + million in the U.S. in only 14 days (Photo Courtesy of Dreamworks)

Well, it's July 9. Time to take a look at the halfway point for the Summer Movie Season 2009. Below I will list the Summer Movies out so far along with how they fared fiscally then my rating of A-F depending on how it fared in the box office.

May 2009

"X-Men Origins: Wolverine"
The first movie of the Summer 2009 season started off with a whopping $74 million opening on its way to earning $363.3 million worldwide ($178.5 million in the U.S.) well over its $150 million budget.

GRADE: A
The X-Men series has never failed to produce a money-maker with all the movies topping the $100 million mark. However, the next in the series is "X-Men Origins: Magneto." Will be interesting to see if people flock to see that one.

"Star Trek"
J.J. Abrams did it. He resusitated the once-dead "Star Trek" movie franchise and is now taking it into a fresh, new dimension. With Captain James T. Kirk and crew fresh out of the academy (and young), this series is back and better than ever! Opening with $75 million, it became the biggest Star Trek movie opening in the entire franchise. The movie is still going strong as it has earned $375 million worldwide ($256 million in the U.S.) well over the $150 million budget.

GRADE: A+

Trekkies along with new discoverers of Star Trek came out to see Abrams new vision and it was a monster success. The IMAX was amazing and the buzz around this series is alive again.

"Angels and Demons"
Director Ron Howard reunited with Tom Hanks in the sequel to the mega-successful "The Da Vinci Code." Not as controversial as the first, it still brought in some good money as it opened with $46 million on its way to $131 million domestically. It's worldwide take of $342 million made it a monster success with an overall take of $473.1 million.

GRADE: C
"Angels and Demons" was saved by its worldwide gross. In the U.S., it never cracked even with its $150 million budget. It was hurt by mega-blockbuster Star Trek when it opened and just never gained the momentum "Da Vinci" did.

"Terminator Salvation"
This movie had some hype going into the summer season. But no matter how much Christian Bale yelled, this movie was a bust for Director McG and the Terminator Franchise. What was supposed to be a reboot to continue it now looks like a call for it to be put on hold while they look at what went wrong. A $200 million production budget, it only grossed $122.7 million in the U.S. while it took $227.8 million worldwide.

GRADE: D
A movie that was supposed to be one of the biggest of the summer turned into a flop as it grossed only $43 million in its opening weekend. You wonder if McG will helm the next movie with this one becoming the first major flop of the summer season.

"Night at the Museum 2: Battle for the Smithsonian"
In what looked to be even better than the first movie, Ben Stiller was back and this time was going to the Smithsonian to rescue some of the exhibits sent there by mistake. A moderate opening of $54.1 million, NATM 2 was not as ultra successful as the first one. Right now it sits at $168 million domestically, $207.1 million worldwide for a total of $375.5 million.

GRADE: C
This was supposed to be the "Family movie of the summer" but turned into a dud. The idea was great but with lukewarm reviews and limited IMAX showings, this movie failed to live up to the hype of the first one. Stiller will most likely do a third but he'd better make sure it has the gusto to capture the magic the first one created.

"Up"
The surprise hit of the summer, Disney/Pixar's "Up" blasted into the Memorial Day weekend earning $68.1 million on its way to $268 million in the U.S. and $35.3 worldwide. The $175 million budget was made back easily in the U.S. as Pixar keeps on chucking out golden eggs with these films.

GRADE: A+
Like I said, Pixar could take a movie about a pet rock and make it successful. "Up" got plenty great reviews and raked in the dough. Their 10th hit, the writers of these movies are geniuses and I can't wait to see what they have up their sleeves next!

JUNE 2009

"The Hangover"
Every summer there is an R-rated comedy that smashes through to shock the movie industry. This year, "The Hangover" opened with $45 million dollars, holding onto the #1 spot for 2 weeks and earning $209 million in the U.S. and $61.6 worldwide to date.

GRADE: A+
The promoting of this movie along with the fantastic reviews gave it the push it needed to become this years "Old School." $200+ million for an R-Rated Comedy is not seen too often, especially when there are a bunch of no-name/limited star power in the film. Already have a sequel in production.

"Land of the Lost"
Why oh why did Will Ferrell think this needed to be made? I think he wanted to make fun of it more than make a tribute to one of the weirdest and dumbest shows from the 70's and 80's. The movie opened with a weak $18 million on its way to becoming the biggest flop of the summer.

GRADE: F
Ferrell wasn't even enough to save this really bad tribute to a really bad show. With a budget of $100 million, it only took in $47 million in the U.S. and $6.8 million worldwide. Ferrell needs a hit after this clunker.

"Year One"
This movie has to be one of the biggest flops of the summer. Jack Black and Michael Cera star in a sloppily written script by Harold Ramis that blends Cavemen with The Bible.

GRADE: F

Cera and Black had their moments but the biblical times beign combined with the cavemen times was really a bad way to go. Anytime to mix religion and other subjects it backfires. Movie only made $20 million and was definitely one of the biggest summer flops.

"Transformers 2"
What can you say? Michael Bay can make money even when his films are dubbed "Worst of the Year." How about a $108 million opening on its way to making over $300 million in 14 days so far in the U.S.? The phenom series can't go wrong as a third will most likely happen after the mega-success.

GRADE: A+
Michael Bay and Dreamworks marketed this movie beautifully. No matter how bad the reviews are the fanbase always wins the box office, especially for a franchise of this magnitutde. The "T&A" from the gorgeous Megan Fox don't hurt either as the bulk of the audience are men. Definitely look for the third movie to come out in the next few years.

That is it for the Summer Movie Season so far. The scorecard: 5 blockbusters, 2 "ok" successes and 2 bombs of the summer season. Up next: Harry Potter, G.I. Joe and more!

For in-depth movie info., visit http://www.comingsoon.net/. For the latest Box Office Totals or to look up how much your favorite movie made, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/.