'Captain America' Steals a Little Bit of the 'Harry Potter' Magic

Fine, fine, you can rub it in, my dear Harry Potter has been pushed out of the number one spot. I have to admit it, I haven't actually seen Captain America yet, but I hope to this week.


Based on studio estimates, Captain America made $65.8 million, only $100,000 ahead of May's Thor. In second place was my beloved Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 made another $48 million, bringing it's domestic total to $274.4 and it's worldwide total to $834,582,000. I hate to jinx it, but it is highly unlikely that this film won't cross the billion dollar mark, especially after it opens in China next month.


Here's how the rest of the weekend went down (in millions):


1. Captain America: The First Avenger - $65.8
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - $48.1
3. Friends with Benefits - $18.5 mil
4. Transformers: Dark of the Moon - $12
5. Horrible Bosses - $11.7
6. Zookeeper - $8.7
7. Cars 2 - $5.7
8. Winnie the Pooh - $5.1
9. Bad Teacher - $2.6
10. Midnight in Paris - $1.9

'Harry Potter' Shatters Nearly Every Box-Office Record that is Possible to Break in Just One Weekend

Don't deny it, deep down you knew this would happen. Harry Potter has rightfully taken Twilight's place as the franchise with most domestic box-office records... in just one weekend! I absolutely love Harry Potter and really don't care for sparkly vampires, so this comes as welcome news to me (sorry, twi-hards). In just three days, Deathly Hallows Part 2 has broken the records for the following: (previous record holders are in parentheses or brackets)

• Most money made from pre-ordering tickets (Fandango, Yahoo! Movies, etc.)
• Most money made through midnight showings (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse)
• Most successful first day (domestic) [The Twilight Saga: Eclipse]
• Most successful weekend (domestic) [The Dark Knight]
• Most successful weekend (international) [Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides]
• Most successful weekend (worldwide) [Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince]
• Most successful weekend (England and Australia)
• Most successful IMAX weekend (domestic) [Alice In Wonderland]
• Most successful IMAX weekend (worldwide) [Transformers: Dark of the Moon]

Wow. My hands practically ache from typing all of that. You have to admit, all of those records in just three days is pretty impressive. Can the movie make a billion dollars? Will it dominate the world? Can Twilight top Harry this fall or next summer? Will The Dark Knight Rises get revenge on him for stealing their most successful weekend record? Can Harry keep the record all for himself? Am I asking way too many unnecessary questions? Of course!

'Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2' A/95

This weekend, a worldwide phenomenon is ending. My favorite books and movies of all time are coming to a close. Out of all of my reviews, trust this one the most.


It's already made $43.5 million dollars at the box-office in midnight showings, and is set to break almost all box-office records regarding opening days and weekends, worldwide, and domestic totals. As always, spoiler alert.


Hogwarts


I'm going to put almost the whole review in this section, as almost the entire movie takes place in this square-mile area. While you would think that limiting an entire film to one location would be a terrible mistake, the movie explores so many areas of the school that it feels like a different site for every scene. Of course, the acting was great (Alan Rickman!), the makeup was heavy (Alan Rickman!), and secrets were revealed (Alan Rickman's character, Severus Snape!) throughout the entire movie. Although I practically know the books by heart, I would still be surprised at some times, as the filmmakers did a great job, and I happened to be half-asleep at some points (we had to wait outside in the rain to get in, then sit in dim lighting for two hours, don't hate). The only reason that I didn't give it a 100 is because for some reason, I just couldn't become fully immersed in the story, as I usually do with Harry Potter films. Another reason is the teenage girl sitting next to me who kept rocking herself back and forth muttering "Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God....." every time a character died. (One of my biggest pet peeves: when people don't shut up.) I absolutely loved everything about it other than that, and I think you will too. After all, everyone's gonna see it eventually! (Kidding, kidding)


A / 93


Everywhere else


The only other places in the book are the forbidden forest (which is right beside Hogwarts), Hogsmeade (only a few miles from Hogwarts), Gringotts (sort of close to Hogwarts) and the cottage (not anywhere near Hogwarts), also, if you count the epilogue, 9 and 3/4. There was barely anything to see in these locations (other than Harry's supposed death). (I know I'm overusing the parentheses). As with the rest of the movie, I loved just about every second of it.


A / 97


Overall grade: A / 95


Just for reference, here is a list of my favorite Harry Potter films.


1. Deathly Hallows Part 2 (That's right, I said it)
2. Goblet of Fire (In very close 2nd)
3. Chamber of Secrets
4. Sorcerer's Stone
5. Half-Blood Prince
6. Deathly Hallows Part 1
7. Prisoner of Azkaban
8. Order of the Phoenix


They are all practically equal to me, but I had to choose, and that's just what I did.

'Mr. Popper's Penguins' - F/50

Poster from buzzbo.com

Aah Jim Carrey. First he's the Grinch, then the Cat In The Hat, and now? Apparently, he's a divorced man who lives with six penguins and enjoys turning his multi-million dollar condo into a "winter wonderland". Meanwhile, no one in the movie finds this odd. Oh, and of course, spoiler warning.


Childhood Life


The movie starts out showing Jim Carrey at about age 4 to age 8 talking to his dad over a radio set, as his dad is always away looking for an unknown treasure. This part was touching to some, but to most, it was just plain cheesy. Sadly, this part of the film was one of the okay parts, and only lasted for about two minutes.


F / 55


Business As Usual


As every kids movie, this film features a man who apparently hasn't figured out what life is all about. Instead, he's doing crazy things like making a living. So, he attempts to get an old lady who has owned a "very special" restaurant for a long time to sell, but she refuses to. His bosses then start freaking out, but he assures them that he'll have it done soon enough. He arrives at his multi-million dollar condo and finds a box. He opens it and places what he thinks is a stuffed penguin on a side table. And get ready for your minds to be blown: it's a real penguin! Wow. Never saw that coming. He tries to make the penguin go away, but all of his desperate attempts fail.


Grade: F / 30


The Ex-Lovely Lady and Her Children

Of course, he gets another box filled with five more penguins, and then he begins to freak out. He had already invited his ex-wife and her children over for his son's birthday, and his son mistakes the penguins as his presents. A zoo-keeper comes to get the six waddling birds, but Carrey refuses to give them to him, and promises to his son that he can keep them.


F / 40


Getting Re-Connected


The ex-wife decides to let her kids stay with Carrey for the night, and the older girl immediately assumes that Carrey has fallen in love with his ex-wife all over again. Which of course happens all of the time. The former family begins to bond and grow closer (which is quite a bit considering how much the kids hated him at the beginning), especially with the penguins. They go to the park, build a snowman, and Carrey and his ex go on a date at an ice skating rink.

D- / 70


What Life Is but Isn't All About


Are you enjoying the titles for the different sections? I sure am. Anyways, Jim then begins to fall apart when the first penguin's egg doesn't hatch, and gives the penguins to the zoo. His ex calls him "heartless", his kids hate him again, good stuff. After that, he gathers up his kids and takes them to the zoo to kidnap the penguins. He calls his ex-wife and of course she wants to get back together again and cancels her super-expensive vacation with her extremely eco-friendly boyfriend.


F / 60


Saving the Penguins and Impressing the Grandma


They then break into the zoo offices, steal the penguins out of a freezer, and lock the zookeeper in the freezer. They begin to waltz out the gate of the zoo, when they realize they are missing one. The first penguin has been chased onto the roof of the main building by two thugs who of course can't out-run a penguin. Said penguin then flies off of the roof with a toy plane and lands in the limo that is waiting for them. Sound exciting? It wasn't. He then gets the old lady's approval to buy the restaurant because she sees how kind he is. Yeah, not like she was just waiting for a better offer or something ridiculous like that. He remodels it and sits at his "special table" with his newly-reunited family. And..... it's over. Finally!


F / 45


All in all, I hated every second of it. The only part that I came close to enjoying was getting to see his condo in all of it's stainless steel glory. If that's not a big enough hint, don't go see it.


Overall Grade: F / 50