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HP GoF
So I went out to watch GoF tonight with a couple of my brother's friends. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. "This girl lives in the middle of obscurity, how come they see it two days before we do?"
I have no idea either. :|
SO. So. So.
Well first off, I think it should be stated that books we love will never be translated into live action the way we want them to be--clearly, we all have different sorts of interpretations and there is no one god on earth who can integrate everything we want into one nice film. Thus watching a book adaptation should not be based on the same standards as reading the actual book.
I watched GoF for entertainment value, the same way I watched all the other films, and people can complain all they want about how this didn't turn out the way they thought it would or that some important bit got cut out and how, you know, it's stupid to think so on and so forth--they'll be righteously miserably disappointed and grumbling and they'll make the little kid beside them cry just by glaring, and if you like it like that then fine, but I'm ending up giggly and excitable and annoying rather than annoyed. ;)
I thought the film was rather funnier than it was meant to be, and perhaps it was a strategy for marketing rather than faith to the books that Newell decided to focus on humorous bits of the film while sacrificing some more or less important parts of the plot. I'd be an indignant fan and condemn him for underestimating the intelligence of his audience, but come on. Fans of the books will watch the film regardless of any review they see. People who have never read the books, and thus don't care about things like plot and characterisation and continuity, need to be drawn in, thus GoF was probably filmed with their reactions in mind.
And you know what, that was cool. Sure, they somehow replaced Dobby with Neville, but it made the narrative flow better. Sure, Fred and George got far too much screen time and more lines than Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour combined--and they're only the TriWizard Champions and sources of the R/Hr conflict--but hey, they cracked me up. Sure, I totally did not need to see an image of Neville dancing by himself in the dormitory, but. Yeah. I enjoyed it regardless.
Now my whole "Ron-is-so-straight-he-doesn't-need-a-ruler" mantra has been amusingly disproven, and Cedric/Harry just became The Ship, and oh, DRACO IN CRABBE'S PANTS. And Crabbe TOTALLY groping some Durmstrang student during the Ball. And Hermione dancing. And Padma OMG SWITCHING HOUSES. And Cho Chang's Scottishness. MOANING MYRTLE. HARRY BEING MOLESTED BY MOANING MYRTLE--honestly, how much more suggestive can a person BE, with a name like that? THE TWINS. Hermione's "I'm not an owl!" Ron's "Bloody hell!" while pulling his blanket up to his chest when Hermione woke him up. The CABIN BY THE LAKE moment. Hah. Cute.
Yeah. It was fun. It was fun and I liked it enough not to be pissed off, but it's not to say I'm completely satisfied.
As always, Steven Kloves has sadly remained on the film, left alone to continue his devotion to The Cult Of Emma Watson, who by the way could have pantomimed everything through her eyebrows as they moved so much more than Daniel Radcliffe's face, and who really sounded gaspy and breathy. Some scenes I'd been hoping would play out had to be left out in favour of Hermione's Moments With Harry. There wasn't any Fleur jealousy, for which I was saddened, and the Yule Brawl could have been delivered with so much more ferocity than Emma's Method of Acting, which is primarily concerned with wheezing out the words and, you know, moving her eyebrows some more.
And I really miss Richard Harris as Dumbledore. Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman were amazing, but Michael Gambon just doesn't cut it. He's too mobile, too emotional, too drabby. There is no twinkle behind the half-moon spectacles, no dignity and regale in his movement, and no aura of wisdom. He's disappointed me since PoA, but hello, I'm not the casting director here.
I'm sure there are plenty more scenes I forgot to discuss. I know I giggled more than once when something unintentionally funny happened onscreen, I know I made a face sometime, more than once too, in the course of watching the film. I know ships sailed and died in the film, and so on and so forth. But I've nothing more to say, and fewer hours to sleep, so I'll have to end it here. Night. ♥♥♥
I have no idea either. :|
SO. So. So.
Well first off, I think it should be stated that books we love will never be translated into live action the way we want them to be--clearly, we all have different sorts of interpretations and there is no one god on earth who can integrate everything we want into one nice film. Thus watching a book adaptation should not be based on the same standards as reading the actual book.
I watched GoF for entertainment value, the same way I watched all the other films, and people can complain all they want about how this didn't turn out the way they thought it would or that some important bit got cut out and how, you know, it's stupid to think so on and so forth--they'll be righteously miserably disappointed and grumbling and they'll make the little kid beside them cry just by glaring, and if you like it like that then fine, but I'm ending up giggly and excitable and annoying rather than annoyed. ;)
I thought the film was rather funnier than it was meant to be, and perhaps it was a strategy for marketing rather than faith to the books that Newell decided to focus on humorous bits of the film while sacrificing some more or less important parts of the plot. I'd be an indignant fan and condemn him for underestimating the intelligence of his audience, but come on. Fans of the books will watch the film regardless of any review they see. People who have never read the books, and thus don't care about things like plot and characterisation and continuity, need to be drawn in, thus GoF was probably filmed with their reactions in mind.
And you know what, that was cool. Sure, they somehow replaced Dobby with Neville, but it made the narrative flow better. Sure, Fred and George got far too much screen time and more lines than Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour combined--and they're only the TriWizard Champions and sources of the R/Hr conflict--but hey, they cracked me up. Sure, I totally did not need to see an image of Neville dancing by himself in the dormitory, but. Yeah. I enjoyed it regardless.
Now my whole "Ron-is-so-straight-he-doesn't-need-a-ruler" mantra has been amusingly disproven, and Cedric/Harry just became The Ship, and oh, DRACO IN CRABBE'S PANTS. And Crabbe TOTALLY groping some Durmstrang student during the Ball. And Hermione dancing. And Padma OMG SWITCHING HOUSES. And Cho Chang's Scottishness. MOANING MYRTLE. HARRY BEING MOLESTED BY MOANING MYRTLE--honestly, how much more suggestive can a person BE, with a name like that? THE TWINS. Hermione's "I'm not an owl!" Ron's "Bloody hell!" while pulling his blanket up to his chest when Hermione woke him up. The CABIN BY THE LAKE moment. Hah. Cute.
Yeah. It was fun. It was fun and I liked it enough not to be pissed off, but it's not to say I'm completely satisfied.
As always, Steven Kloves has sadly remained on the film, left alone to continue his devotion to The Cult Of Emma Watson, who by the way could have pantomimed everything through her eyebrows as they moved so much more than Daniel Radcliffe's face, and who really sounded gaspy and breathy. Some scenes I'd been hoping would play out had to be left out in favour of Hermione's Moments With Harry. There wasn't any Fleur jealousy, for which I was saddened, and the Yule Brawl could have been delivered with so much more ferocity than Emma's Method of Acting, which is primarily concerned with wheezing out the words and, you know, moving her eyebrows some more.
And I really miss Richard Harris as Dumbledore. Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman were amazing, but Michael Gambon just doesn't cut it. He's too mobile, too emotional, too drabby. There is no twinkle behind the half-moon spectacles, no dignity and regale in his movement, and no aura of wisdom. He's disappointed me since PoA, but hello, I'm not the casting director here.
I'm sure there are plenty more scenes I forgot to discuss. I know I giggled more than once when something unintentionally funny happened onscreen, I know I made a face sometime, more than once too, in the course of watching the film. I know ships sailed and died in the film, and so on and so forth. But I've nothing more to say, and fewer hours to sleep, so I'll have to end it here. Night. ♥♥♥
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And yes, I also don't like Michael Gambon as Dumbledore. He's too energetic. And ugh, I really don't like what Steve Kloves is doing with the HP movies. It irked me when Hermione said Ron's 'you'll have to kill us first' line, and the too many Hermione-moments in GoF are irking me as well.
God, Moaning Myrtle. And OMG half nekkid Harry! ;p
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I thought Radcliffe developed quite well, all athletic and stuff like that. :|
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Krum Krum Krummmmmmmm!!!!
Yeah the Harry/Myrtle bathroom scene was a bit..much for me. She just wouldn't leave him alone. O.o
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Ron? Not straight? Ha! And omg Draco wearing Crabbe's underwear?! Good god, I'm not going to be able to walk into that movie with a straight face.
...No Dobby?! Is Winky in there, at least? Oh, wah. I love the House-Elves. And more Fred and George screentime is always good, I love them so.
Emma. Gah. I'm going to scream if there are too many Harry/Hermione moments. And I'm totally going to die with the Harry/Myrtle scene, but I'm looking forward to that.
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The whole movie was strangely amusing. Even when they were all IN DANGER I was all "lol". I wonder.