Harry Potter 7

Yeah!  Finally got to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, movie 7, part 1a.  The following has NO SPOILERS because to do otherwise is just mean.

J's review: I was very (surprisingly) pleased.  Definitely the best this director and screenwriter has done at getting the feel of the book.  The acting was terrific, and there were lots of very atmospheric scenes full of menace and emotion.  Only a couple places where they substituted an inferior line for one from the book that would have been stronger, and none of the infuriating additions that marred movie 6.  Rupert Grint (Ron) was really strong, and Emma Watson, often berated in our house, was  ... actually good.  There were several difficult-to-film sections of the book where they got across the important bits and the feeling in a quick visual way, like the opening scene in the Malfoys' house or the camping sequence.  They even worked around several omissions and oversights from previous movies in an elegant way.  For me this ranks third in the movies so far, behind only movie 5 and the great movie 3.  Worth a watch or two at the theatre.

So, who would you rather take on?  Bellatrix, of course, has the out of her gourd thing going for her, but if it has any planning to it, I'd take K in a fight.

K's Review:  Overall, the short cuts taken were needed and was perhaps one of the better attempts in the series to bring the books to life.   I liked it enough that I'd like to see it on the big screen.

Thumbs up

• Bill Nighy as Rufus Scrimgeour.  Too little screen time, but understandable as they had to move the plot along.
• The gates and Alan Rickman's performance as Severus at Malfoy Mansion.  For those who have read all the HP books and understand the complicated feelings Rickman needed to portray, these few minutes on screen were amazing.
• Emma Watson steps up in this film and gives her most realistic portrayal of Hermione Granger.
• The three actors who gave performances of Harry, Ron and Hermione transformed.  Those folks did an amazing job of making us believe they were really Harry, Ron and Hermione.
• Great job of portraying the Malfoy's distress of having the worst house guest ever.
• The seen with Bathilda Bagshot in the cemetery and walking around her home was like watching the pages of the book come to life.

Thumbs down

• Too little of Luna and omitting the ceiling in her room was missed opportunity that would have cost little time yet had big effect.
• Messed up Ron's and Harry's best lines after the deluminator.
• Omission on the redemption of Harry's relationships with Dudley and Kreacher.

 Looks like  Severus has selected X for a special opportunity.  Concentrate...

X's review:  Do I have to review it?  Can I just say... "I saw Harry Potter part 1 and I loved it. I liked the part where the  Deathly Hallows story was animated.  I also liked when Ron broke the locket horcrux."

Y's review: 7 is much better than 6. It had more details and it was funny. Though some people (oh no, not you, Xavi) say criticizing a movie you like is a horrible and unjust thing to do, I think even good movies have faults, and this one had several. It had a couple parts where you had to have read the book to understand everything. There were also some things they could have fixed by just switching a sentence of lines for another one, but otherwise I would say it is a movie worth watching.

We got all four reviews!  A family first.

Where They Are

The kids got their chores done, so we got to go to the movie today! Yeah!

I loved it. Thought it was one of the better movies I'd seen this year. It was amazing for taking the book, and imagining why things in the book are the way they are. Great connections among the characters, between Max's wild life and home life... very intense emotionally. Visually, it's just about perfect. The special effects are seemless, and the Wild Things are amazing in physicality and in voice actors. Max is very convincing with his sparse dialogue and expressive eyes.

As to whether it's too scary for kids, Xavi says "it was kind of scary, but it was not creepy. Big dramatic scariness, and not creepy scariness. It is scary, but big, and just in one place."

It's not fluffy funny exciting... it's full of deep intense emotions like sadness, frustration, rage and joy. No woo hoo, but whoa. And maybe a long satisfying howl.



ps. On the pix, Karen says, "and I pose in front of Judith. I guess that's appropriate." Which was a very Judith thing to say.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

A reviewish post by John. No spoilers about book 7, ever.

Non-spoilery part: It was a good movie. Unfortunately we are huge or devout or rabid fans of Harry Potter and expect greatness. The movie was shot well and acted well. The fault is with the screenwriter. He just didn't get it. I was horrified to see that he is writing 7a and 7b. I was stunned to find out he wrote all of the previous, except for Order of the Phoenix. (By which I was quite impressed.) Well, not stunned for all, because of course the other movies were bitterly disappointing. Maybe sourly disappointing. But he wrote Prisoner of Azkabhan, which I love. The credit for which I will now give even more to Alfonso Cuaron.

Jim Broadbent improved Professor Slughorn from the book by really fleshing him out as a person. Really made him more sympathetic. Tom Felton made good use of his increased screen-time as Draco. And, surprisingly, Emma Watson made big strides in her acting, without even a single seriously wince-worthy moment. There were odd changes of sets, like a completely revamped Burrow, which you would only expect with a director change, but David Yates continues on from Order of the Phoenix. (And on into 7a and 7b.)

Bottom line: go see the movie. It is still Harry Potter, and worthwhile. But it could have been so much more. To know how much more, read the book.

Spoilery-Part below the book image:

But the writing! The book is so rich in characterization and connections, and the movie just falls flat. It is largely ignorant of what has come before, what happens during and what is to follow.

The DA, the focus of the previous movie, is ignored. Their role in the book is just cut. The Order of the Phoenix is largely invisible, despite the many opportunities for subtle screen time. Grimauld Place isn't even mentioned. Once again the House-elves were omitted. Shockingly, Privet Drive is cut, despite the really charming scene with Dumbledore there. But the most glaring point is how little anyone cares about Voldemort in this movie. As a part of the series, it really makes it fall flat. As a stand-alone movie, it is just confusing. The movie opens with dramatic revelation of what a threat he is, and then... nothing. For a school year.

Even connections within the movie are lacking, as everything is about the eponymous book for the first third of the movie, and then it's completely forgotten except as an excuse for messing with how Harry and Ginny get together and a throw away line at the end. The entire focus of Dumbledore's and Harry's relationship in the book, the focus of understanding Voldemort, is cut. Crucial information about the horcruxes is cut. The big funeral in the book is cut, even though it serves large emotional and plotting purposes. The big battle in the book is cut, even though it is the WHOLE CULMINATION of the Malfoy plot which was made front and center in the movie.

And the worry is, after cutting so much, how will they tell the end of the story? So much of what came before is necessary and a part of the finish. Both emotionally and logistically. I have real fears about how they are going to muddle what is one of the most satisfying and deep culminations to a story that I have ever read. I understand that things need to be cut to make a movie. But then why add in new scenes of your own? Is it because Mr. Kloves doesn't understand the story? Because he's too focused on a chapter rather than the whole story? Because his ego demands writing himself (figuratively) into the story? It just doesn't make sense. When they disapparate from the castle, Harry asks how it is possible. Dumbledore answers with a joke, but it felt like it was the writer telling us he is messing with the story just because he can. Booo. I mean Boooo!