At the Movies: capsule reviews of ‘Harry Potter’ and other films this week

Capsule reviews: ‘Harry Potter’ and other films

Capsule reviews of films opening this week:

“500 Days of Summer” — Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy tries to win girl back: It’s a tale you’ve heard a million times before. But it’s told here in such a relatable, inventive way, it almost feels like the first time. It is the first time for director Marc Webb, who puts his music video and commercial background to good use with stylish tactics that are lively — a cheeky dance sequence, perfect song choices, a clever use of split screen — but never feel gratuitous. And the script from Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber keeps things moving by jumping around in time between Day 500, Day 1 and everywhere in between; the structure also creates a feeling of curiosity throughout, because we know the relationship is doomed, we just don’t know how it falls apart. We see that through the lovelorn eyes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Tom Hansen, a would-be architect toiling away at a greeting card company. He thinks he’s found the perfect girl in Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel), his boss’ beautiful new assistant who’s just arrived in Los Angeles. “500 Days of Summer” allows Tom to regale us with memories of this life-altering romance — and because they’re his memories, told entirely from his perspective, they’re more than a little romanticized in both the highs and lows. But that’s part of the film’s charm: the spot-on observation that everything seems magnified and it matters more when it’s happening to us. PG-13 for sexual material and language. 96 min. Three stars out of four.

— Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic

“Death in Love” — Boaz Yakin begins by showing graphic erotic images interspersed with shots of a Nazi concentration camp doctor performing bloody surgical procedures. Later, the writer-director intercuts images of an aging Holocaust survivor attending a funeral with shots of that same woman lying on her back having sex. Because we never would have known what “Death in Love” was about from the title alone. Yakin hammers us over the head early and often with what he hopes will be a shocking juxtaposition of sex and violence. He has said he wanted to tell us up front about the direction the movie was headed — you know, so we wouldn’t feel misled. Well, he does stay the course, that’s for sure. “Death in Love” is nonstop emotional torture with no payoff. It’s not as if we learn anything or feel any insight or catharsis from watching his characters destroy themselves and others. Boredom is the primary effect of this pretentious endeavor, one Yakin has said was extremely personal — his way of working through his own painful past. Clearly, the film functions as therapy. “Death in Love” follows the generational cycles of misery within a New York family in the 1990s, the volatile matriarch of which (Jacqueline Bisset) was the lover of a Nazi doctor while she was being held in a concentration camp as a girl. Josh Lucas and Lukas Haas play her screwed-up sons. R for disturbing violent and graphic sexual content, nudity and language. 96 min. One and a half stars out of four.

— Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” — The sixth movie in J.K. Rowling’s fantasy series about the young wizard is the franchise’s best so far, blending rich drama and easy camaraderie among the actors with the visual spectacle that until now has been the real star. The hocus-pocus of it all nearly takes a back seat to the story and characters this time, and the film is the better for that, brimming with authentic people and honest interaction — hormonal teens bonding with great humor, heartache that will resonate with anyone who remembers the pangs of first love. The movie escalates the peril for Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and his best pals, Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), while giving the threesome that first collaborated as prepubescent kids their best platform yet to show their maturing acting chops. Director David Yates, who made the fifth film and is doing the final two, stays true to the Rowling recipe yet infuses it with a freshness and energy that make it seem like a new start, not the stale old chapter six it could have been. Harry’s main challenge this time involves an assignment from headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) to retrieve a critical memory that a new teacher (Jim Broadbent) possesses about the evil Lord Voldemort. Along with the splendid visuals, the movie offers stirring support from Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane and other co-stars. PG for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality. 153 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.

— David Germain, AP Movie Writer

“Humpday” — The mumblecore genre goes adult in more ways than one with this comedy about a couple of longtime buddies, both straight men, who decide to make a gay porn film together. Writer-director Lynn Shelton has said she’d prefer not to have her third feature classified as part of the mumblecore movement, indies known mostly for featuring twentysomethings who sit around and talk about themselves. Nevertheless, many of the trademarks are undeniably there: the low-budget aesthetic, the naturalism of the dialogue and the unabashed solipsism. “Humpday” marks a maturation of this style: The characters are in their early 30s and one of them has a steady job, a house and a wife. (He’s played by Mark Duplass, who was behind such mumblecore staples as “The Puffy Chair” and “Baghead” with his brother, Jay.) Also, there’s a discernible plot with actual tension. “Humpday” has a lot of intentionally awkward laughs but it also has some quiet, intimate moments that will make you hold your breath, wondering how they might play out. Ben (Duplass) and Andrew (Joshua Leonard) are old college pals who haven’t seen each other in a decade. When world-traveler Andrew shows up on Ben’s suburban doorstep in the middle of the night, they easily return to a teasing banter. Then at a booze-and-drug-fueled party the next night, they wind up daring each other to have sex on camera for a film contest. Duplass and Leonard have such great chemistry, they make this premise easier to believe than you’d expect. R for some strong sexual content, pervasive language and a scene of drug use. 95 min. Three stars out of four.

— Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic