In this Discussion
- agentnumone September 2007
- auntscale1 July 2007
- beckysioux April 2009
- canoe7grape April 2009
- Courtneytastic July 2007
- cross98bengal September 2007
- DJRose July 2009
- doctor5cap October 2007
- dollarflame6 July 2007
- fog05tile August 2007
- giggleguy July 2009
- indexisland4 July 2007
- jedi_grrlie September 2007
- key8poet July 2007
- kissteam1 September 2007
- llama0engine July 2009
- LolaBert July 2007
- mayonaise July 2009
- mexico39taiwan July 2007
- monday94ear July 2007
- nerverise9 July 2007
- plane8order September 2007
- QueenofthePosers July 2007
- raven1need November 2008
- Rebekker April 2009
- recordwolf57 September 2007
- sealeditor60 September 2007
- spy9black July 2007
- Surfer Rosa November 2008
- target35ghost March 2008
- taxi30dahlia November 2009
- Tempe Arizona July 2009
- thephantommilk July 2009
- tune1shade April 2009
- veinleo09 July 2007
- walk2sock August 2007
- waterrotate1 July 2009
- women60banana August 2007
Comments
I got back on the 10th, so there was no way, after having flown eight hours and across six time zones, that I was going to the movie.
And honestly, the first four movies were crap. They were. Don't argue. Okay, the third isn't total crap, but seriously. After GoF, I was so sick of the bullshit that they're putting on the screen and calling "Harry Potter" that I really had no expectations for this one, even though everyone seems to be squeeing their heads off about it.
So I saw it yesterday, and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Sometimes I eat my words, what can I say. They finally found a director who knew what he was doing. (Though it's sort of sad that it took 'til I had no expectations whatsoever for me to enjoy the film.)
SPOILER ALERT, OKAY?? IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT, YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T READ THIS.
(I know we have spoiler tags, but I have too much to say.)
Not everything worked 100%, though. My main problem was the utter lack of CAPSLOCK!Harry. Okay, he got pissy with Ron and Hermione a bit, and the "LOOK AT ME!" scene was well-placed. But that isn't enough. Book five is when Harry becomes a moody, pissy, angry, stupid teenage boy; Harry in the movie was far more level-headed. When he got to Sirius's place in the movie, his reaction to nobody having said anything to him all summer was one more of bewilderment and incomprehension rather than flat-out rage. He's supposed to fucking destroy Dumbledore's office at the end of the book; in the movie, he's sitting there, all calm, like, "Oh. Well, I s'pose I'll have to off Voldemort, then." Harry's beahaviour in book 5 is supposed to be a marked difference from that in book 4, and a foil to his behaviour (and maturity) in book 6. And I really didn't see that. Though, I think that may be more the fault of the direction than Radcliffe's choice. I think being in Equus did little Danny some good- I think he was actually acting this time around.
The tone of the fourth movie irritated me; Knowles decided to go all dark and creepy and scary, and I've never seen the whole of the fourth book as dark and creepy and scary, not until the very end. The overall tone of this movie was much, much better, although there were select moments where it was weird. Notably the "flying off to London on the Thestrals" bit and the very end. What the fuck is up with the happy ending thing? Why must they always have a happy scene, of all the kids heading off to the train, with the happy music? That's not what happens, and they did that in GoF, too. At the end of OotP, Harry isn't emotionally capable of dealing with Sirius's death, much less doing the whole, "We've got something to fight for!," let's-skip-off-to-the-train! thing. It's such a Hollywood thing. Set up the tone for the next movie, dammit!
And sometimes the exposition was a little stilted or lacking (Sirius's fireplace appearance was just badly delivered, and they conveniently forgot to give us a reason as to whyyyyyyyyy Cho turned the DA in or whyyyyyyyy Voldemort wanted the phrophecy so badly. Don't take the viewer's knowledge for granted, filmmaker.) Although there actually was exposition this time around, and despite those few moments, it was actually pretty good. (Remember how they didn't explain MWPP in the third movie? And completely skipped ALL the exposition at the end of GoF? Yeah. This is improvement.)
And the beginning of the movie sucked. Pretty much everything from the opening to when they get into the castle. It was weird, it went too fast, why the hell wasn't Mrs. Figg upset about Harry being attacked ("just stay inside"? wtf?) or Arthur totally nervous for Harry's hearing? (although the hearing was good), Tonks was irksome, why they hell were they sitting in the carriage heading up to the school all by themselves for so long?, and I'm sorry, but you just got EXPELLED, all you're going to do is bang your fists on the wardrobe?? Although the Crookshanks/"Hermione, I hate your cat" was good.
Other than that, most things went really well. Like I said, I think Danny Radcliffe did a good job this time around. Emma Watson's Hermione has started to annoy me, because I don't really think she's an acurate portrayal of Hermione, but that's the result of how they've characterised her across five movies. Rupert Grint was FABULOUS. As always. Without him, the Trio would be lost. And there were a lot of nice little Trio moments, as well as a lot of nice Sextet or Trio-and-the-Twins moments, which worked really well.
Luna.....was good as long as she wasn't talking. She looked and moved the part. But her voice was...not what I thought it should be. And it felt underacted. And really, if it wasn't for the fact that she's such a cult character now, they could have honestly cut her out altogether, for all she did in this film. She was like window dressing.
Umbridge was good, but I feel like Umbridge is much more subtle, sneaky, and nasty. The first time Harry yells at her about Voldie in class (when he's in a total CAPSLOCK moment, which he wasn't here), she doesn't lose her cool at all. She definitely wouldn't yell, "ENOUGH!" and look distressed. But she did get the "hem hem!" down pat, and her costumes were great, and her batshit moments at the end were pretty good.
The rapport between Sirius and Harry was really, really well done. Really well done. God, I love Gary Oldman. He was totally believeable as Sirius, even if he is a little too old for the role.
I didn't know how I was going to feel about HBC as Bellatrix, but she was really, really awesome, so kudos to her. And while I don't particularly like Micheal Gambon's Dumbledore, I don't think Richard Harris's could have had the energy or the intensity to pull this movie off. The way they isolated Dumbledore from Harry worked really well.
Neville = <3. All the DA scenes were good. I think the Kiss went well. And while I wasn't so thrilled about them changing Marietta's role into Cho's, it makes sense, because it gets her out of the way for Harry's next love interest. Kreecher was great, even if we only saw him twice, and the Blacks' house was wonderfully decorated.
And one of the most thrilling things was that they actually used real cinematic elements! Like good blocking! Not just blocking that gets the actor from point A to point B but blocking that means something! (Umbridge vs. McGonagall on the stairs? Awesome.) Or like foreshadowing! (Notice that in every single shot of Cho (except the Kiss), Ginny was lurking somewhere in the background?) Or good camera angles! (The battle in the archway room and the one between Voldie and Dumbledore were beautifully shot.)
Speaking of foreshadowing, omg, so many Ron/Hermione moments. So many. So good.
Last complaint: I didn't like Sirius's death. Maybe it was because I knew what was going to happen, but I fucking BAWLED when I read that scene in the book and didn't even get upset when it happened in the movie. It was sort of awkwardly shot, and I don't think doing the dramatic slow-motion-no-sound thing helped. I think if they had kept it in full-motion after he fell and kept the sound on, I would have worked much better.
Um. That's all I can think of for now.
I've been there. You-know-who was like, "You'll see Platform 9 3/4! Take a picture!" I got there and was like, "Oh, look. A sign. And a trolley. How nice.
...
I'm going to get on the train now."
Oh, and I'm probably not doing the midnight book release thing, either. I used to do them all the time, and my friends and I would always dress up. (I just found my old Quidditch cape, although I have Angelina Johnson's, which is weird, because I know I was Katie Bell. Anyway.) But Siren is the 21st, and really, I'm more for getting sleep and seeing WAS play free at Coney Island than staying up all night. The book won't change, it can wait.
I really think everyone was just thrilled that the movie had SOMETHING to it, rather than the past four which, as you have rightly pointed out, were pretty crappy. I actually loved the beginning of the film because, as Ken pointed out, it was shot like a 70s horror film in terms of color and ambience (flickering lights, lots of wind, running shots, more flickering lights).
I really don't think all the hubub is purely about the movie. Really, the movie doesn't matter. My theory (which, as with most of my theories, may be completely wrong), is that it's something for people to talk about, at which to laugh and critique, to get together and experience. It's a chance for people to have common ground with not just their group of friends, but HUGE amounts of people. Honestly, I could have cared less about the movie, I just wanted to BE at the midnight showing, crammed in a seat, reacting with a huge audience. I wanted to be a part of it and that, really, is the success of Harry Potter moreso than the movie or even the books; it's a cultural rallying point that makes people feel connected with one another.
That's why I love it.
I really don't think all the hubub is purely about the movie. Really, the movie doesn't matter. My theory (which, as with most of my theories, may be completely wrong), is that it's something for people to talk about, at which to laugh and critique, to get together and experience. It's a chance for people to have common ground with not just their group of friends, but HUGE amounts of people. Honestly, I could have cared less about the movie, I just wanted to BE at the midnight showing, crammed in a seat, reacting with a huge audience. I wanted to be a part of it and that, really, is the success of Harry Potter moreso than the movie or even the books; it's a cultural rallying point that makes people feel connected with one another.
That's why I love it.
solidly put
and claret. in IMAX, it's SO badass. i loved it the first go-round anyway.... i've never been to imax before, so i was pumped. i was a bit overwhelmed at first, but i got used to it right away... and the last 20 minutes being in 3D was a very clever touch. I liked it...
Point there. Although, while I understand what they were trying to do with the camera angles at the beginning of the movie, I was thinking, "I'm sorry, when did this become The Blair Witch Project?" rather than "Oooooh scary!"
And I agree with you on all the silly Harry-sweating-in-his-sleep shots, I think there were too many. One or two would have gotten the point across.
That's why I love it.
Well, it's not purely hubub about the movie that's bothering me. It's all this Pottermania revolving around the movie AND the book that's getting to me. I have friends on LJ who have posted about nothing but Harry Potter for weeks now, and all these theories are flying around, not to mention the stupid shipping wars (with which I don't get involved, but they're there). It's like...it's overload. It seems silly.
I think, had this been any other moment in my life, I would have been totally pumped and doing the whole midnight release thing. But after having just come back from abroad, a lot of my interests have changed (and more specifically, my few obsessions have subsided), and I don't really want to do the whole spectacle right now. Which makes me sort of sad, because this is the last book. I dunno' know. Mommy keeps telling me that "I'm growing up, that's why."
weird moment, I thought when it says in the newspaper that the movie will be officially shown on thursday, the premier-thing was on wendesday night... yeah right... that was my mistake...
now i still haven't seen it and I think I will read the book first... I only hope i can get it for free ( i took part in a drwaing contest, the winner gets the book for free).
Personally I don't think the movies are that great, I mean, I've seen them all and I liked them but I understand loads of people who haven't read the books and just watched the movies that they don't like Harry Potter.
I don't know if i would. Of course there are a few moments which are just great, but then again, so many things are missing...
ok.
this whole Harry Potter "hype" made me watch those funny movies again, potter puppet pals and the "I'm too sexy..."-Snape... hence the new avatar.
I-ve just came from cinema!! I LOVED IT!! That fighting scene with Lord Voldemort and Dumbledore
So, does anyone have any good theories regarding what they think will happen in Deathly Hallows?
I hope Harry dies in the end. Anything else would be an anti climax...
If he does live, Ginny and him are going to get married and have kids or something. Pfft.
I read somewhere that Rowling might have Harry die because she didn't want someone continuing her legacy after she died. But I could be wrong.
LOL
I hope so too.
I read somewhere that Rowling might have Harry die because she didn't want someone continuing her legacy after she died. But I could be wrong.
Euh, we're terrible. Wanting the poor boy to die. Hahahaha
Euh, we're terrible. Wanting the poor boy to die. Hahahaha
It'd be a smart thing to do.
Plus, it would please us.
Who would want to displease Electra, her wife, and her kid?
No, that would be a foolish thing to do.
Plus, it would please us.
Who would want to displease Electra, her wife, and her kid?
No, that would be a foolish thing to do.
Nobody crosses the... hold up, we need a family name.
We should be the Daceydos (a combination of our last names).