Background Noise: SportsCenter, ESPN (my lord, i love this show!)
Last website visited: ????
Mood: tired, druged up, harry potter high
Right now i want... ... mint tea and sleep.
but first! my immediate review of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban! which i just got out of... and home at 2:36am. i would first like to take a moment to give my thanks that i live so close to my movie theater (via the freeway, of course). i made it home in 3 mins, after finding my car (more later). admittedly, there was little to no traffic due to the fact that it is pre-dawn, but, again, not dwelling on that right now. oh, while i'm at it, i'll give thanks for pressure sensitive street lights. now, back to the movie.
WARNING: I am going to talk about Harry Potter (the movie) 3. If you haven't see it yet, and really don't want to know what i think, DON"T READ PAST THIS POINT. Consider yourselves warned. Of course, if you accidentally read this part unintentionally, and then get annoyed that you read something about the movie on my blog that you didn't want to know about, tough shit. no use crying over spilled milk.
well, the movie. i can't really give more than my initial reactions right now, because i'm exhausted and operating on way too much motrin (couldn't live without it), but, i'll give it a shot. the lines were huge. the theater didn't seem to expect it, which was pathetic, but everyone was perfectly aimiable and ready to see the movie. there were WAY too many previews, though i have to say, i saw one for the Princess Diaries 2 that i am way too excited for. the audience cheered for spiderman 2, and booed A Cinderella Story and Catwoman (they seemed to have good taste in general) ;) then it started! i have to say, my biggest disappointment was the score. i think mr. williams seriously let us down this time out, the music didn't seem to be in sync with the action, or, more importantly, the dialog. too many times David Thewlis's beautiful speeches were overshadowed by a too loud strings or brass section. really very sad, the lead editors and mixers should be shot. or fired, either way. Speaking of David Thewlis, he, and his british thespian brothers and sisters were phenomenal. i was completely sold on the world those actors created, from the kids (harry, ron, hermoine, draco, and dudley) to the teaching staff, and assorted politicians, barmaids, muggles, and dwarf singers. the artstic direction was inspired. but now that i'm writing this, i find myself repeating what most every other review has said: the acting is good, the direction is good, the effects are good. a good effort all around. so, enough bull shit. here comes some more real stuff, or what my little sister so affectionally calls "my rationalism."
while this is the best translation of a harry potter book to screen so far (and thank god, millions of people around the world would be up in arms if their favorite book 3 was betrayed in any way), it didn't completely rise to the level of stand alone film. while the first 2 movies are good background viewing, there is little continuity from film to film in the series. i was about to say that reading book 3 is required in order to properly enjoy movie 3; i'm going to revise my unwritten statement and say rather, if you haven't read book 3 before seeing the movie, be prepared for some major whiplash in the last 25 mins. that beautiful ending, that i could practically recite for you, is... abrupt in its coming. we go from nearly 0 background story on sirius, lupin, james, snape and peter to a dialog-as-fast-as-you-can-speak whirwind where the kids (and the audience) have to step back and just really accept what is happening without actually catching much of it. which is sad. personally, i think there were better ways to forshadow the ending, but, i wasn't allowed to make those decisions. not that i'm really upset about how they did it, it was good, just not slam-you-to-the-back-of-your-seat-amazing (which was what i was secretly longing for).
ron and hermione are delicious together (yeay!). rupert grint as ron has the biggest laugh in the movie, and is competely adorable. emma watson as hermoine is... :) perfect; she is so natural with her role you could almost call her perfomance understated, but, again thankfully, she nails it. but these guys weren't surprising, they've been fabulous for 2 movies now. the romance is new :) but they handle it with great care. there is no doubt after this film who belongs with who (sorry harry/hermoine shippers).
probably the biggest surprise, presence wise, is dan radcliff's harry. as in, he has it. lots of it. and while not all of the acting tricks he'll need to see harry through book 7 are there yet, he's learning faster than one might expect, and is the correct choice for harry. you want to protect him, you want to make him laugh and smile, you want to find out why things are the way they are, and when lupin describes lily and james, you want to give him the biggest hug. and then there's that patronus. very sexy, i predict a girlfriend in his future ;) he is growing up with harry, and it's very touching to watch.
so... did i like it? oh yeah. will i see it again? several more times, at least another 2 before i can break this down more (aren't you looking forward to that?!). i'm very glad i went tonight.
barb and i were chatting before my show started, after her's ended. we both, for the first time, saw harry potter alone on opening night. but we came to the same conclusion: while we could have gone with other people tonight, or put off the first showing for a large group experience tomorrow night (er, tonight), if we couldn't see it for the first time together, we wanted to see it alone. now, i admit, there were times watching the groups of friends and the dates in the audience, i was a bit jealous that i was there with my cell phone and a book. but, i liked being able to just take it in. i'll share this movie later, just, not quite yet.
Last website visited: ????
Mood: tired, druged up, harry potter high
Right now i want... ... mint tea and sleep.
but first! my immediate review of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban! which i just got out of... and home at 2:36am. i would first like to take a moment to give my thanks that i live so close to my movie theater (via the freeway, of course). i made it home in 3 mins, after finding my car (more later). admittedly, there was little to no traffic due to the fact that it is pre-dawn, but, again, not dwelling on that right now. oh, while i'm at it, i'll give thanks for pressure sensitive street lights. now, back to the movie.
WARNING: I am going to talk about Harry Potter (the movie) 3. If you haven't see it yet, and really don't want to know what i think, DON"T READ PAST THIS POINT. Consider yourselves warned. Of course, if you accidentally read this part unintentionally, and then get annoyed that you read something about the movie on my blog that you didn't want to know about, tough shit. no use crying over spilled milk.
well, the movie. i can't really give more than my initial reactions right now, because i'm exhausted and operating on way too much motrin (couldn't live without it), but, i'll give it a shot. the lines were huge. the theater didn't seem to expect it, which was pathetic, but everyone was perfectly aimiable and ready to see the movie. there were WAY too many previews, though i have to say, i saw one for the Princess Diaries 2 that i am way too excited for. the audience cheered for spiderman 2, and booed A Cinderella Story and Catwoman (they seemed to have good taste in general) ;) then it started! i have to say, my biggest disappointment was the score. i think mr. williams seriously let us down this time out, the music didn't seem to be in sync with the action, or, more importantly, the dialog. too many times David Thewlis's beautiful speeches were overshadowed by a too loud strings or brass section. really very sad, the lead editors and mixers should be shot. or fired, either way. Speaking of David Thewlis, he, and his british thespian brothers and sisters were phenomenal. i was completely sold on the world those actors created, from the kids (harry, ron, hermoine, draco, and dudley) to the teaching staff, and assorted politicians, barmaids, muggles, and dwarf singers. the artstic direction was inspired. but now that i'm writing this, i find myself repeating what most every other review has said: the acting is good, the direction is good, the effects are good. a good effort all around. so, enough bull shit. here comes some more real stuff, or what my little sister so affectionally calls "my rationalism."
while this is the best translation of a harry potter book to screen so far (and thank god, millions of people around the world would be up in arms if their favorite book 3 was betrayed in any way), it didn't completely rise to the level of stand alone film. while the first 2 movies are good background viewing, there is little continuity from film to film in the series. i was about to say that reading book 3 is required in order to properly enjoy movie 3; i'm going to revise my unwritten statement and say rather, if you haven't read book 3 before seeing the movie, be prepared for some major whiplash in the last 25 mins. that beautiful ending, that i could practically recite for you, is... abrupt in its coming. we go from nearly 0 background story on sirius, lupin, james, snape and peter to a dialog-as-fast-as-you-can-speak whirwind where the kids (and the audience) have to step back and just really accept what is happening without actually catching much of it. which is sad. personally, i think there were better ways to forshadow the ending, but, i wasn't allowed to make those decisions. not that i'm really upset about how they did it, it was good, just not slam-you-to-the-back-of-your-seat-amazing (which was what i was secretly longing for).
ron and hermione are delicious together (yeay!). rupert grint as ron has the biggest laugh in the movie, and is competely adorable. emma watson as hermoine is... :) perfect; she is so natural with her role you could almost call her perfomance understated, but, again thankfully, she nails it. but these guys weren't surprising, they've been fabulous for 2 movies now. the romance is new :) but they handle it with great care. there is no doubt after this film who belongs with who (sorry harry/hermoine shippers).
probably the biggest surprise, presence wise, is dan radcliff's harry. as in, he has it. lots of it. and while not all of the acting tricks he'll need to see harry through book 7 are there yet, he's learning faster than one might expect, and is the correct choice for harry. you want to protect him, you want to make him laugh and smile, you want to find out why things are the way they are, and when lupin describes lily and james, you want to give him the biggest hug. and then there's that patronus. very sexy, i predict a girlfriend in his future ;) he is growing up with harry, and it's very touching to watch.
so... did i like it? oh yeah. will i see it again? several more times, at least another 2 before i can break this down more (aren't you looking forward to that?!). i'm very glad i went tonight.
barb and i were chatting before my show started, after her's ended. we both, for the first time, saw harry potter alone on opening night. but we came to the same conclusion: while we could have gone with other people tonight, or put off the first showing for a large group experience tomorrow night (er, tonight), if we couldn't see it for the first time together, we wanted to see it alone. now, i admit, there were times watching the groups of friends and the dates in the audience, i was a bit jealous that i was there with my cell phone and a book. but, i liked being able to just take it in. i'll share this movie later, just, not quite yet.
posted by Jane at 2:34:00 AM
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