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Jun. 8th, 2004 01:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kittydesadeLukewarm tomato soup tastes like vomit. I don't know why. Hot tomato soup tastes like tomato, cold tomato soup tastes like gazpacho. But lukewarm tomato soup tastes like vomit.
Finally copied over review from Harry Potter. Review from Troy incoming. I didn't take notes on a popcorn bag for Harry Potter. Go me. Also revised review, because I read a bunch of other people's reviews and snarks, too.
I'm betting some of the inadvertent foreshadowing that Rowling talked about is the way Lupin talked about Lily. I don't remember the exact speech, but there was something about how she and him were close, and how she saw to the heart of people better than anyone. I'm betting this means either a) he loved her and told her and was politely rejected or b) she was the first one to discover he was a werewolf. Possibly both.
The film was lovely. They're growing up so fast! And part of that is probably because I watched Sorcerer's Stone the night before, but it's amazing how much they've grown. They're all taller. They've lost some of the baby fat pudgy face look. Neville... I barely recognized him. Seamus too. Draco's looking quite handsome as he grows up... but I had issues with the way they portrayed him as a snivelling coward. I didn't see him that way in the books. Nasty, dangerous, and unscrupulous yes. But I didn't see him as a snivelling coward. Pfui. Maybe he'll grow up later. Addendum: Tom Felton is 6'1" and HOLEE FUCK. He really does look like a member of a boy-band. Suddenly I forsee him being in a documentary about Hanson. Except maybe he's too tall.
They kept in most of the plot points that I thought were vital to the book, although I think they should have done just a hair more with the MWPP plotline. They didn't, for example, put in who Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs were. And I think they could have done with just a line said over Remus's shoulder, something at the end like "Your father would have been proud of the way you're using his map" or something. Something to explain how Remus knew how to use the parchment, I didn't think the Remus = Moony bit was clear. And why Harry's Patronus was a stag. And that was another minor bit that they botched, when Harry sees himself conjuring the Patronus he sees the stag, but when he conjures the Patronus it's just the big glob of light. But. Yeah. Addendum: Still waiting for anyone else to point this out. Also the bit with Harry riding on the Patronus and Harry not doing any riding whatsoever when he conjured it.
I also think they should have talked about how Snape was going after the werewolf and James Potter stopped him. Because that's pretty vital to the whole Snape-Remus/Potter/Black dynamic. Also it ties in with... wait, they didn't put the Snape's hatred because Potter saved his life bit in the first movie, did they. I'll have to check and see. Either way, I think that should have gotten explained. Addendum: Still haven't checked. Bad me.
I did like the way Snape's instinctive reaction was to protect the kids. And how he kept himself interposed between the werewolf and the kids at all times. And yelled for Potter to get back there, I think that was possibly the best I've seen of Snape in all three movies. Snarling and nasty, but rather noble when the chips are down, and not just in a muttering-countercurse way, but in a very visible way. I wish there'd been some discussion of that between Hermione, Ron, and Harry afterwards, but that's much less necessary to the plot.
Gary Oldman and David Thewlis did absolutely wonderful jobs. I had some doubts about Gary Oldman in the beginning, but it was perfect. Spot on. Not that Sirius looked nearly as attractive as I wanted him to, but come on! Just got out of Azkaban, probably not that with it. And Oldman did a wonderful job with the manic, half-crazed Sirius Black. It was lovely. Peter Pettigrew, I think, should not have been so ratlike in human form. I think that was a bit overweening, but that's just me. I loved the way Thewlis and Oldman portrayed the friendship and bonds between Lupin and Black. In the book I think there's just the hint of homoeroticism, and in the film there was too. Not enough to actually state that either one was interested in the other, or even that there might have been a relationship, but just a deep friendship with the underlying questions of do they? are they? will they? did they? Addendum: Now that I think about it, yeah, Harry taking candy from strangers was a bit suspect. As was Remus's delayed reaction to the Dementor. But I'm going to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and think that, in the case of the former, Harry thought it was ok 'cause Ron and Hermione didn't yell and scream. Also cause Remus had 'Professor' on his luggage (I think) which, although not exactly a sterling qualification, at least provides a good guess that he's okay. And in Remus's delayed reaction case, I'm going to presume it's because he didn't want to piss off a dementor that was going to be guarding the school until he knew it was doing something nasty. That's significantly less likely to fly, but hey.
The Time Turner stuff was brilliant. I loved it all. Buckbeak was beautiful. Gambon wasn't quite Richard Harris, but he was very much Dumbledore and that's what counts. The Dementors were ... a little too Ringwraithy, but I think that's probably more of an issue of timing rather than design. They looked very much like Dementors as well.
Did I mention I loved Thewlis and Oldman? 'cause I did.
Ummm. What else. Hermione punching Draco, which isn't really a spoiler 'cause we saw it in the previews, but that was (as Ron said) brilliant. I think it should have been more of a fistfight, but I already said I hated Draco snivelling and whining like that. Quidditch was... eh. I really could have done without the closeup of Harry's face at the end; I appreciate what they were trying to do but, eew. Map: well done, well done there. Honeydukes was not wall to wall psychodelia but it looked very Wonka, so that's all right. Loved the Something Wicked This Way Comes chorus. With the frogs. Brilliant.
Addendum: I need to see this movie again just for all the sexual tension bits. Apparently I missed a lot. There was a lot less of Harry's classmates in this film, but I think that's 'cause there was also a whole lot more plot to deal with. As![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
almightyhat said, it's nice to see they have extracurriculars besides Quidditch. And the doomed dueling club.
And I think that's it. Great movie. Will definitely be purchasing when it comes out on DVD.
Finally copied over review from Harry Potter. Review from Troy incoming. I didn't take notes on a popcorn bag for Harry Potter. Go me. Also revised review, because I read a bunch of other people's reviews and snarks, too.
I'm betting some of the inadvertent foreshadowing that Rowling talked about is the way Lupin talked about Lily. I don't remember the exact speech, but there was something about how she and him were close, and how she saw to the heart of people better than anyone. I'm betting this means either a) he loved her and told her and was politely rejected or b) she was the first one to discover he was a werewolf. Possibly both.
The film was lovely. They're growing up so fast! And part of that is probably because I watched Sorcerer's Stone the night before, but it's amazing how much they've grown. They're all taller. They've lost some of the baby fat pudgy face look. Neville... I barely recognized him. Seamus too. Draco's looking quite handsome as he grows up... but I had issues with the way they portrayed him as a snivelling coward. I didn't see him that way in the books. Nasty, dangerous, and unscrupulous yes. But I didn't see him as a snivelling coward. Pfui. Maybe he'll grow up later. Addendum: Tom Felton is 6'1" and HOLEE FUCK. He really does look like a member of a boy-band. Suddenly I forsee him being in a documentary about Hanson. Except maybe he's too tall.
They kept in most of the plot points that I thought were vital to the book, although I think they should have done just a hair more with the MWPP plotline. They didn't, for example, put in who Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs were. And I think they could have done with just a line said over Remus's shoulder, something at the end like "Your father would have been proud of the way you're using his map" or something. Something to explain how Remus knew how to use the parchment, I didn't think the Remus = Moony bit was clear. And why Harry's Patronus was a stag. And that was another minor bit that they botched, when Harry sees himself conjuring the Patronus he sees the stag, but when he conjures the Patronus it's just the big glob of light. But. Yeah. Addendum: Still waiting for anyone else to point this out. Also the bit with Harry riding on the Patronus and Harry not doing any riding whatsoever when he conjured it.
I also think they should have talked about how Snape was going after the werewolf and James Potter stopped him. Because that's pretty vital to the whole Snape-Remus/Potter/Black dynamic. Also it ties in with... wait, they didn't put the Snape's hatred because Potter saved his life bit in the first movie, did they. I'll have to check and see. Either way, I think that should have gotten explained. Addendum: Still haven't checked. Bad me.
I did like the way Snape's instinctive reaction was to protect the kids. And how he kept himself interposed between the werewolf and the kids at all times. And yelled for Potter to get back there, I think that was possibly the best I've seen of Snape in all three movies. Snarling and nasty, but rather noble when the chips are down, and not just in a muttering-countercurse way, but in a very visible way. I wish there'd been some discussion of that between Hermione, Ron, and Harry afterwards, but that's much less necessary to the plot.
Gary Oldman and David Thewlis did absolutely wonderful jobs. I had some doubts about Gary Oldman in the beginning, but it was perfect. Spot on. Not that Sirius looked nearly as attractive as I wanted him to, but come on! Just got out of Azkaban, probably not that with it. And Oldman did a wonderful job with the manic, half-crazed Sirius Black. It was lovely. Peter Pettigrew, I think, should not have been so ratlike in human form. I think that was a bit overweening, but that's just me. I loved the way Thewlis and Oldman portrayed the friendship and bonds between Lupin and Black. In the book I think there's just the hint of homoeroticism, and in the film there was too. Not enough to actually state that either one was interested in the other, or even that there might have been a relationship, but just a deep friendship with the underlying questions of do they? are they? will they? did they? Addendum: Now that I think about it, yeah, Harry taking candy from strangers was a bit suspect. As was Remus's delayed reaction to the Dementor. But I'm going to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and think that, in the case of the former, Harry thought it was ok 'cause Ron and Hermione didn't yell and scream. Also cause Remus had 'Professor' on his luggage (I think) which, although not exactly a sterling qualification, at least provides a good guess that he's okay. And in Remus's delayed reaction case, I'm going to presume it's because he didn't want to piss off a dementor that was going to be guarding the school until he knew it was doing something nasty. That's significantly less likely to fly, but hey.
The Time Turner stuff was brilliant. I loved it all. Buckbeak was beautiful. Gambon wasn't quite Richard Harris, but he was very much Dumbledore and that's what counts. The Dementors were ... a little too Ringwraithy, but I think that's probably more of an issue of timing rather than design. They looked very much like Dementors as well.
Did I mention I loved Thewlis and Oldman? 'cause I did.
Ummm. What else. Hermione punching Draco, which isn't really a spoiler 'cause we saw it in the previews, but that was (as Ron said) brilliant. I think it should have been more of a fistfight, but I already said I hated Draco snivelling and whining like that. Quidditch was... eh. I really could have done without the closeup of Harry's face at the end; I appreciate what they were trying to do but, eew. Map: well done, well done there. Honeydukes was not wall to wall psychodelia but it looked very Wonka, so that's all right. Loved the Something Wicked This Way Comes chorus. With the frogs. Brilliant.
Addendum: I need to see this movie again just for all the sexual tension bits. Apparently I missed a lot. There was a lot less of Harry's classmates in this film, but I think that's 'cause there was also a whole lot more plot to deal with. As
almightyhat said, it's nice to see they have extracurriculars besides Quidditch. And the doomed dueling club. And I think that's it. Great movie. Will definitely be purchasing when it comes out on DVD.