(no subject)
Wow.WOW. And I'll say it again. WOW
I went to see the Prisoner of Azkaban on Sunday night and I just want to kiss the ground that Alfonso Cuaron walks on.
For the first time, in my opinion, we have a Harry Potter film that captures the essence of the books. It was just so right! One of the things that's most noticeable is the improvement in the acting department of all of the child actors, but in particular, Dan Radcliffe. Fabulous performance by Michael Gambon who has managed to portray Dumbledore the way I've always envisioned him. I liked David Thewlis as Lupin. I love that he bops along to jazz and walks with a cane. And of course, who could doubt that Gary Oldman wouldn't pull through with a brilliant take on Sirius.
The cinemetography was so impressive, the darker shots and the fact that so many scenes were shot outside made it seem so much more real. I had a particular fondness fo the Whomping Willow with personali-tay. Hilarious. The music was so wonderful. I love how they kept Hedwig's Theme to a minimum and used Chamber-style music instead. Very moody, very effective. The Dementors=well, wouldn't want to meet them down a dark alley.
I've mentioned how impressed I was with how much the kids have grown as actors. My God, I can't say it enough! All of them, Malfoy, Neville, Seamus and THE TWINS! Thank the Lord above and all the angels that they finally got the Weasley twins right! But can someone tell me, who was random chubby Gryffindor boy no.6 who kept spouting words of wisdom at various points? Anyone? Anyone? Right.
Scenes that stuck out...The Gryffindor boys first night back party, brilliant. Rawr, Ronniekins. All of Harry's scenes with Lupin were wonderful. The first Care of Magical Creatures lesson. When Buckbeak came on screen for the first time, the entire theatre went 'Oooooh'. Hermione asking 'Is that really what my hair looks like from the back?', Ron's little, erm, nightmare, and of course, any scene where Ron and Hermione had little teenage, angsty, crushy moments. Dawwww.
Have I mentioned how much I love Rupert Grint? Well, I'll do so now. Even though Ron isn't as hot-headed as I'd like, I still adore every red hair on his head. The scenes with Harry and him in Divination were funny as all hell.
There were things I didn't like, of course, but I am surprisingly subdued, even though there were some serious deviations because of the quaslity of the overall film. First, the movie did move rather at the pace of a rabid water-buffalo, but I was OK with that. The Shrieking Shack scene, however, I did not like. the only reason I could follow it was because I knew the story. Not so fortunate was my friend, Rachel, who has never read book three and was sitting next to me. As soon as Ron got pulled beneath the Whomping Willow, she began to moan, and as they moved to the Shack, her look of confusion deepened until all she could do was hold out her hands, pleadingly and turn to me with a look that could only be termed as despairing, whimpering the whole time. I just patted her on the arm and whispered, 'I'll be happy to have a question and answer session at the end of the film'. She nodded and turned back, hands still spread in confusion.
So, you see, they might have thought twice about the way that scene came off on screen. Considering that it's the climax of the story, I should think that they might have cut back somewhere else and taken the extra time to explain a bit more clearly what the hell was going on. I hate that it's never established that Remus, Peter, Sirius and James are the Marauders and that they are the makers of the Map. I hate that they don't make it clear that Snape went to school with the lot and that they were on less than good terms with each other. I hate that Crookshanks is just a normal cat. But, y'know, that's pretty much it. It was an amazing friggin film. I can't say much negative stuff about it, it's made me far too happy!
In other news, it's my last official day living in Nottingham. I take off for home tomorrow. Something really cool happened yesterday,though. I got to talk to my Weasley twin on the phone. Totally unexpected. Just went to lunch with some friends and we were discussing the film and I was telling them how perfect the twins were when one of the guys just picked up the phone, dialed a number and then shoved it at me. So I said howdy and told him that, although I had been forbidden to mention Harry Potter to him, that I had seen the film and it was brilliant, so congrats. He laughed and said 'thanks'. Cool kid. So there, good way to end my stay.
I'm off to the zoo that is the cinema to see it just one more time.
Bye, bye Britain.
I went to see the Prisoner of Azkaban on Sunday night and I just want to kiss the ground that Alfonso Cuaron walks on.
For the first time, in my opinion, we have a Harry Potter film that captures the essence of the books. It was just so right! One of the things that's most noticeable is the improvement in the acting department of all of the child actors, but in particular, Dan Radcliffe. Fabulous performance by Michael Gambon who has managed to portray Dumbledore the way I've always envisioned him. I liked David Thewlis as Lupin. I love that he bops along to jazz and walks with a cane. And of course, who could doubt that Gary Oldman wouldn't pull through with a brilliant take on Sirius.
The cinemetography was so impressive, the darker shots and the fact that so many scenes were shot outside made it seem so much more real. I had a particular fondness fo the Whomping Willow with personali-tay. Hilarious. The music was so wonderful. I love how they kept Hedwig's Theme to a minimum and used Chamber-style music instead. Very moody, very effective. The Dementors=well, wouldn't want to meet them down a dark alley.
I've mentioned how impressed I was with how much the kids have grown as actors. My God, I can't say it enough! All of them, Malfoy, Neville, Seamus and THE TWINS! Thank the Lord above and all the angels that they finally got the Weasley twins right! But can someone tell me, who was random chubby Gryffindor boy no.6 who kept spouting words of wisdom at various points? Anyone? Anyone? Right.
Scenes that stuck out...The Gryffindor boys first night back party, brilliant. Rawr, Ronniekins. All of Harry's scenes with Lupin were wonderful. The first Care of Magical Creatures lesson. When Buckbeak came on screen for the first time, the entire theatre went 'Oooooh'. Hermione asking 'Is that really what my hair looks like from the back?', Ron's little, erm, nightmare, and of course, any scene where Ron and Hermione had little teenage, angsty, crushy moments. Dawwww.
Have I mentioned how much I love Rupert Grint? Well, I'll do so now. Even though Ron isn't as hot-headed as I'd like, I still adore every red hair on his head. The scenes with Harry and him in Divination were funny as all hell.
There were things I didn't like, of course, but I am surprisingly subdued, even though there were some serious deviations because of the quaslity of the overall film. First, the movie did move rather at the pace of a rabid water-buffalo, but I was OK with that. The Shrieking Shack scene, however, I did not like. the only reason I could follow it was because I knew the story. Not so fortunate was my friend, Rachel, who has never read book three and was sitting next to me. As soon as Ron got pulled beneath the Whomping Willow, she began to moan, and as they moved to the Shack, her look of confusion deepened until all she could do was hold out her hands, pleadingly and turn to me with a look that could only be termed as despairing, whimpering the whole time. I just patted her on the arm and whispered, 'I'll be happy to have a question and answer session at the end of the film'. She nodded and turned back, hands still spread in confusion.
So, you see, they might have thought twice about the way that scene came off on screen. Considering that it's the climax of the story, I should think that they might have cut back somewhere else and taken the extra time to explain a bit more clearly what the hell was going on. I hate that it's never established that Remus, Peter, Sirius and James are the Marauders and that they are the makers of the Map. I hate that they don't make it clear that Snape went to school with the lot and that they were on less than good terms with each other. I hate that Crookshanks is just a normal cat. But, y'know, that's pretty much it. It was an amazing friggin film. I can't say much negative stuff about it, it's made me far too happy!
In other news, it's my last official day living in Nottingham. I take off for home tomorrow. Something really cool happened yesterday,though. I got to talk to my Weasley twin on the phone. Totally unexpected. Just went to lunch with some friends and we were discussing the film and I was telling them how perfect the twins were when one of the guys just picked up the phone, dialed a number and then shoved it at me. So I said howdy and told him that, although I had been forbidden to mention Harry Potter to him, that I had seen the film and it was brilliant, so congrats. He laughed and said 'thanks'. Cool kid. So there, good way to end my stay.
I'm off to the zoo that is the cinema to see it just one more time.
Bye, bye Britain.