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The final Harry Potter film was set to smash box office records on both sides of the Atlantic this weekend after reports that US ticket sales on Friday were the biggest in the history of Hollywood.

In the final, climactic confrontation between the forces of good and evil in the world of wizardry, there was already one clear victor

– the studio, Warner Bros.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2

opened just after midnight on Friday in both

Britain and America. It made more than £9

million in its first day in British cinemas,

easily eclipsing the previous record of £5.9

million made by the first instalment of

Deathly Hallows.

It will almost certainly overtake the British

record for an opening weekend – also held

by the first Deathly Hallows film, which

earned £18.3 million in its first three days

last November. The new film is expected to

make more than £20 million over its

opening weekend.

Deathly Hallows Part 2 is also on course to

surpass the British box office record set by

the film adaptation of the musical Mamma

Mia!, starring Meryl Streep, which made £69

million throughout its run.

In the US, the film took $43.5 million (£27

million) for midnight showings and an

estimated further $40 million during the day

on Friday.

That put the total one-day earnings at more

than $80 million, comfortably above the

previous US one-day record, set by Twilight

Saga: New Moon with $72 million.

Earnings were bolstered by higher ticket

prices for the movie's 3D version.

"Records will fly out of the window this

weekend," a studio executive said. "All 3D

theatres sold out to excellent reactions."

In the US, there were predictions that the

film – the eighth and last in the Harry Potter

series – would earn $180 million by tonight,

far exceeding the previous record for an

opening three-day weekend, held by Dark

Knight, the 2008 Batman movie, which

grossed $158 million.

Even before this phenomenal opening, the

first seven films based on the books by JK

Rowling were the largest-grossing franchise

in history, with worldwide box office

takings of $6.4 billion. The film's premiere in

London on July 7 drew crowds from around

the world, with fans queuing for more than

24 hours in the rain to catch a glimpse of

the film's stars, Daniel Radcliffe, a tearful

Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint (all pictured

above) at their final promotion of the

franchise.

Josh Berger, the president and managing

director of Warner Brothers UK, said: "This is

completely unchartered territory. The books

and films are so beloved and have such

broad appeal. Because this is the final

chapter, it seems to be attracting even more

fans than ever before."

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (U/A)

Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif, Kalki Koechlin, Abhay Deol

Director: Zoya Akhtar

Rating: ***



"Seize the day, my friend," blurts the stunning deep-sea diving instructor Laila (Kaif), on a long walk with an uptight financial broker Arjun (Roshan). Arjun hasn't lived much, nor have his friends -- the apparently spineless Kabir (Deol) and jovial, closet poet Imran (Farhan). The adage pretty much sums up ZNMD.



It's a long, boring advertisement for Spain Tourism, warned a colleague whose "sources" had these precious words about ZNMD. I can safely say, it's a little more than that.



How do they land in Spain? Well, the boys had made a certain pact that each would suggest an adventure sport and the other two would have to follow. Screenplay writers Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar (also director) bring to the table a very beautifully captured Spain, by cinematographer Carlos Catalan. No no, that's not all. Along with Spain, they bring relationships of their protagonists with themselves and each other.



Undercurrents unleashed by emotional turmoil, friendship, and finally the unloading of mental baggage, so as to emerge victorious in the truest sense.



For all this, the storywriters use heavy doses of symbolism. Deep-sea diving at Costa Brava, sky-diving in Sevilla and the San Fermin bull run in Pamplona, not to forget the Tomatina festival in Bunyol, where Arjun

finally lets go. Fears are drowned, let open in the sky and finally at the mercy of raging bulls.



Performances are honest and telling across the board, yet Farhan stands out (Warning: Some bias may be at play here). Roshan, Deol and Farhan stick to their briefs by Zoya, often contained, and true to their characters, and never over-the-top. They let the characters' intrinsic qualities do the talking.



Similarly with Koechlin, whose prim and proper Natasha is, admittedly, not much like her real life persona. They're all easy- going, playing their parts and enjoying while in the act. Kaif's "tumhari zindagi badalnewali hai" made me cringe, but overall her effort to make Laila believable cannot be undermined. You wish you could have a life like hers, jetting off to a part of the world for three months of daredevilry and loads of fun.



Witty dialogue (credited to Farhan himself), playful chitchat and the camaraderie between the friends personify ZNMD.



However, the lack of chemistry among them in the first hour cannot be ignored. ZNMD has so many silent moments, it's likely to put you to sleep. The editing tools could have been sharper to give this coming-of-age

romantic drama a facelift. Restlessness is the unwelcome guest on this road, much like Kabir's fiancée Natasha.



Sounds uncannily similar to Farhan's directorial debut Dil Chahta Hai, right? Now if you take DCH as the benchmark, it's up to you how slow/polished/boring/ unnecessary/pretty you find ZNMD.



Your heart is likely to be set upon the beats of ZNMD, from the free-spirited Ik Junnon to the mellow Khwabon Ke Parindey, not to forget the unforgettable Senorita. And Farhan's poetry infused in the narrative

needs special mention. True Akhtar blood must say!



The writers exploit luxury and frankly, ZNMD set anywhere else could be as true to character. They didn't really have to go to Spain.



For those (which, I assume, is a lot of us), who may not be able to afford a holiday in Spain for any time soon, go catch ZNMD for good performances, music, Spain and of course, Farhan Akhtar in his element.

It's a bit perplexing to see just how young, fit and fresh Shah Rukh Khan looks in the promos of his films.



We saw the glaring gulf between the way he looked in the Ra One promo earlier this year and the way he looked on TV with Karan Johar or supporting his IPL team, and now we see him again, looking lethal in the first trailer for Don 2. Maybe those who do makeup and CGI for Rajnikanth are working their magic in SRK's films, or maybe King Khan only saves up his shininess for when it counts

the most.



Either way, the Don 2 trailer looks pretty darned sharp.

We see a speedboat slice through verdant green waters as Khan, in over- baritoned voiceover, tells us

that his enemies thought he was dead and now he's back and ready for more.



We catch peeks of Khan in tattooed longhaired Bangkok junkie/underpaid chinesevan waiter mode, both of which make sense as a disguise while the wounded tiger licks his wounds. A word about the voice, though: in a sequel to a film where he stepped into Amitabh Bachchan's shoes -- which seemed a couple sizes too big for him at the time -- this voiceover seems to be yet another tribute from Khan, trying to sound a bit like that man who keeps proving he'll never be too old.



And then, just as he uses up all the gravel in his throat mouthing the 'remember who I am, I'm the Don' lines from that classic song used smartly here as dialogue, he smiles and says 'boom', a car explodes on cue, and then it's Shah Rukh all the way.



The rest is standard blockbuster fare, explosions and slow motion turns to the camera, maximised for dramatic effect. But there's absolutely no mistaking the fact that this film looks very, very slick indeed. Clearly Farhan Akhtar's out to prove a point, and so far, he looks like he knows what he's doing. Wish they didn't throw in the weird Khan smirk at the very end, though.



What do you think of the Don 2 trailer? Do you think SRK will give us the year's biggest blockbuster with Don 2 or Ra.One? Do you think director Farhan Akhtar, who has given us unforgettable films like Dil Chahata Hai and Lakshya, and Don will be fourth time lucky?



Don 2 Trailer

CANNES as usual left me with a must-see movies list. However, generally it's quite long, and is likely to get even longer - about many films shown at the fest there is very little information yet. So I give you the five Cannes films I want to see ASAP!

CANNES as usual left me with a must-see movies list. However, generally it's quite long, and is likely to get even longer - about many films shown at the fest there is very little information yet. So I give you the five Cannes films I want to see ASAP!

I haven't gotten a tattoo in a year, and have been feeling the itch. I have an appointment for this upcoming Wednesday. I decided to get two big crows with lightning bolts, they'll probably on my ribs, unless I wuss out. It's kind of a memorial tattoo for my dad, but not totally. Anyway, I'll post pictures and you guys can feel free to make fun of them as much as you want. In anticipation of my appointment, I decided to do some looking around for terrible crow tattoos. I found a lot.

Full disclosure: I was really into The Crow when I was a teenager. Here's a photo of me being totally awesome when I was 13 or 14.

I don't have any ridiculous makeup on in that photo, but I definitely went to school made-up like the crow. The movie was filmed in my hometown (Wilmington, NC) and I went on a pilgrimage to see where Brandon Lee died. I listened to the soundtrack to the movie every day. I still really enjoy the movie. Regardless of my history with the movie, my crow tattoo idea has nothing to do with the movie The Crow. These people's tattoos do. There are so many sweet crow images out there, I don't know why they picked these out....

So here you go. Awful crow tattoos!


I think this crow is supposed to be on fire? It just looks blobby to me.


This is supposed to be the Crow logo, but it's not executed well...


This one too. Plus! Bonus barbed wire armband! I love seeing terrible versions of the same thing. (See my zombie jesus and wizard posts for more)


Crow mask + tribal + cross = goldmine!


Scarred Kanji + flaming crow = bigger goldmine!



I don't understand the spacing and sizing on this. It looks like the tattoos just got slapped on completely randomly. Also the little spritzes of red and yellow are a real nice touch. What is the black blob on the left? Can anyone tell?


skldfskdjf Brandon Lee does not look like that!


And he really, really does not look like this!!!

I hope you enjoyed this confessional edition of awful tattoos. Check back next week to make fun of my crow tattoo!

I have a confession to make. I secretly love bad straightedge tattoos (maybe because I am straightedge? probably because they are just goofy). I actually secretly love all bad tattoos, that's why I do this blog. But I have a special soft spot in my heart for three x's that are stick-and-poked into someone's ankle. Many people get them, many people regret them later, but they are still awesome. These abominations, however, are not so awesome. Behold: the bad straightedge tattoos, volume one.


Bad font, bad linework, bad coloring, bad placement, just a generally bad idea.


Ditto! Only worse.


Why did he decide to put the text in a pool of water? I don't understand!


And finally- starship troopers straight edge dude. I have to admit this is actually pretty awesome, because I too love science fiction and not drinking. I hope this guy had a sense of humor about what he was doing, because that instantly turns this questionable tattoo into a hilarious and rad one.

If you have any regrettable edge tattoos (or any other kind of regrettable tattoo, for that matter) feel free to email me: alice@vivalavinyl.org.

Man oh man... I loved the movie too, but why?