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[sigh]

This is not going to be easy. As a long-time Harry Potter evangelist, I've got to confess... there is good news, and there is bad news. I reviewed this in two parts the first is more warm and fuzzy for those of you who don't want to believe this movie has flaws.

Here is my "good news" review:

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is finally here! The same old cast returns with some pretty great additions (Freddie Stroma as Cormac McLeggan and Jim Broadbent as Professor Slughorn) for their sixth year at Hogwarts. Voldemort is alive and well - as are his Death Eater buddies, who are causing serious trouble for wizards and muggles alike.

We left HP in Order of the Phoenix just after he learned of the prophecy told at the time of his birth ("neither can live while the other survives" or something like that). HBP picks up a few weeks later. Dark times for wizards. Everyone is in danger.

The Half-Blood Prince (the book) does a masterful job setting up the dramatic, tragic, perfectly-woven conclusion to this series. The Half-Blood Prince (the movie) does not... see why below.

The acting is greatly improved in this movie, though. Dan Radcliffe is flexing his chops. One scene in particular (when he downs some Liquid Luck) stands out, proving he has started taking his craft quite seriously.

Jim Broadbent is also a fantastic addition. I was amazed by his performance. Professor Slughorn is a tricky role to play, and Broadbent definitely delivered the disguised regret necessary to pull off the character.

That at least gives me hope for Deathly Hallows.

Visually the film is stunning. Even when you're pissed about the s**tty script choices, you'll have something pretty to look at.

That's the end of my good review. If you don't wanna hear the bad news, then stop reading now!

****SPOILER ALERT! PLOT SPOILERS FROM HERE FORWARD!****

For HP book fans, however, this movie will be like eating a giant cheeseburger that leaves you starving.

Unfortunately for serious book fans, HBP eliminates some of (what I think are) the most crucial character development storylines. Specifically, the entire flashback series of Voldemort's mother, father, love potion, orphanage thing isn't even mentioned. Also, the actual "half-blood prince" potions book plotline is barely developed.

These two sub-plots provide details that not only enhance Snape and Voldemort as characters, but give deep insight into their emotional struggles. These stories tell us why Snape and Voldemort are who they are. Without those details, their some of their actions make no sense to filmgoers who haven't read the books.

It feels like the filmmakers took the easiest path. They picked out the most marketable movie moments from HBP (the book) - teenage lust, quidditch, cool magic special effects - to create a cash cow. But the way they've done it gives birth to a Swiss cheese-style flick. Also, the way they put these major moments together makes the two-part finale (Deathly Hallows) completely predictable.

I guess the book fans are supposed to spend an hour explaining the missing details (WTF are those people in the water? Why did HP freak out when he touched that ring? Wait so Ginny and Harry...? Why did Snape make the unbreakable vow if he isn't on the dark side?) to their friends who care about understanding the plot in full.

****MAJOR SPOILER ALERT****

My final beef is with the Dumbledore death scene. WTF were they thinking here?

In the book, Harry is defenseless when Snape avada kedavra's Dumbledore. He is under his invisibility cloak and Dumbledore has paralyzed him. He couldn't do anything to stop Dumbledore's death, even if people knew he was there.

In the movie, he stands silently under the floor and watches the whole thing happen after Snape finds him and tells him to shush up.

I call serious bullsh*t on that. No way would HP stand quietly and watch his mentor get zapped by the Death Eaters. No f**king way. HP is not the kind of hero who would allow that to happen.

The only reason he doesn't do anything in the book is because he physically can't. HP isn't going to b**tch out because Helena Bonham Carter has her wand drawn with her hair all bat-sh*t crazy. Sorry. Not buying it.

Sorry that I have high expectations, but you can successfully adapt a detailed sci-fi book to the big screen (Lord of the Rings).

OK, now that you know, feel free to tell me I'm wrong in the comments.

My Sister's Keeper is the latest project from Nick Cassavetes (Alpha Dog, The Notebook) and stars Abigail Breslin, Sofia Vassilieva, Jason Patric, Evan Ellingson, and Cameron Diaz.

Adapted from Jodi Picoult's popular novel, the story centers around 11-year-old Anna Fitzgerald and her older sister Kate. Kate has a rare form of Leukemia, and Anna is a test tube baby genetically engineered by her parents and doctors to save Kate's life. Since birth, Anna has donated blood, stem cells, bone marrow, etc. to keep Kate alive. But, she doesn't want to do it anymore, so she sues her parents for the rights to her own body (medical emancipation).

First, don't go see this movie unless you want to cry for two solid hours. I mean waterworks the entire time. I think I even saw the uptight security guard at the critics screening with a tear in his eye. However, you will laugh between emotional breakdowns.

The easy way to go with this movie is to say it's about a fractured family, but it's deeper than that. It's about the sacrifices the family has made that lead them to this crossroads. Sara Fitzgerald (Cameron Diaz) quit her job as a lawyer to take care of ailing Kate. Son Jesse (Evan Ellingson) faded into the background while Kate's wellbeing took priority. Father Brian (Jason Patric) became a sole provider and peacemaker. Anna gave up her physical health.

Abigail Breslin shines, as usual. Her ability to play young girls in such a modern way always blows me away. I pray she doesn't start partying and doing cocaine, because if she keeps her head on straight, we'll see great things from her in the future.

You could call this Sofia Vassilieva's breakout movie role. The transformation she went through as Kate (physically and emotionally) showed her versatility. A scene that amazed me is her monologue about accepting her inevitable death. Waterworks.

Finally, two snaps in a Z formation for Cameron Diaz. This is not a glamorous movie. Diaz is not the usual perfect, perky 20-something we're used to seeing. She's a worn out, desperate, and determined mother. Wearing very little makeup, bulky sweaters, jeans and a disheveled ponytail, the former super-model is hidden. She's no Meryl Streep, but this could be the performance of her career.

Alec Baldwin and Joan Cusack add more emotional bulk to the story as Anna's lawyer and the judge in her case. Thinking about Joan Cusack always makes me smile. She'll make you smile in this movie, too.

For those who've read the book... the ending is NOT the same. I was waiting to see the audience's reaction as the story wound down, and I got taken. If you've read the book, you'll be disappointed in the way it ends. If you haven't, you'll cry your eyes out for two hours and leave thinking you saw a pretty decent flick.