CAST: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Timothy Spall, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Tom Felton, Julie Christie
SYNOPSIS: The third installment of the series finds the boy wizard (Radcliffe) growing up and discovering dark secrets about his past. A mysterious stalker (Oldman) holds the clues.
WHAT WE SAID: Times film critic Steve Persall gave the film an A, rating it as his favorite Harry Potter. He wrote that the film is "darker, moodier than its predecessors. It's not just that the terror level has been cranked up, but because growing up is a scary proposition. . . . Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is as much a sign of good things to come from the franchise as the second movie was worrisome. In three films, we've experienced an initial amazement, followed by sameness, then a burst of inspiration and emotion making the time well spent. Kind of like the Lord of the Rings trilogy. And there are at least two more Harry Potter movies to come. Let's hope they're not sequels but continuations of a saga just beginning to roll."
MPAA RATING: PG; scary images, creature violence
RUNNING TIME: 136 min.
The Terminal
DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
CAST: Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stanley Tucci, Diego Luna, Chi McBride, Barry Shabaka Henley, Kumar Pallana, Zoe Saldana
SYNOPSIS: An Eastern European traveler named Viktor Navorski (Hanks) is stranded in a New York airport when his visa is canceled. A romance-challenged flight attendant (Zeta-Jones) is just one of the colorful people he meets.
WHAT WE SAID: Persall gave the film an A. "An airport even makes a romantic of Steven Spielberg, who, for all his blockbusters, has never directed a movie to make viewers swoon. Until now," he wrote. "Spielberg regularly makes us cheer, cringe and perhaps cry for the children, but he hasn't before made a movie as irresistibly romantic as The Terminal. . . . Even the sappiest scenes have the strength of their characters' convictions. As in all romantic films, there are acts of devotion that nobody would have the gumption or ability to perform in real life. But the insular environment that Viktor experiences makes anything believable."
MPAA RATING: PG-13; profanity, drug references
RUNNING TIME: 124 min.
Sleepover
DIRECTOR: Joe Nussbaum
CAST: Alexa Vega, Mika Boorem, Scout Taylor-Compton, Kallie Flynn Childress, Sam Huntington, Jane Lynch, Jeff Garlin
SCREENPLAY: Elisa Bell
SYNOPSIS: Unpopular teenagers join a late-night scavenger hunt to gain love and respect.
WHAT WE SAID: Times reviewer Philp Booth gave the film a C. "Tweener girls need a silly summer movie of their own, right?," he wrote. "There's little possibility that Sleepover will appeal to anyone outside of the target audience, the same moviegoers who gravitated to last year's The Lizzie McGuire Movie and Freaky Friday."
MPAA RATING: PG; themes involving teen dating, some sensuality and language
